THE GRAMMAR CORNER

Hi everybody, nice day today!  

As I told you last day, here you can see my explanations about POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS, SUBJECT AND OBJECT PRONOUNS.

SUBJECT AND OBJECT PRONOUNS (Pronombres personales sujeto y complemento)
Subject - Sujeto      
I :  yo
you: tú
he: él
she: ella
it: ello
we: nosotros
you: vosotros
they: ellos/ellas

Object - Complemento
me: me
you: te
him: se (de él), le, él
her: se (de ella), la, ella
it: se (de ello), lo
us: nos, nosotros
you: os, vosotros
them: se (de ellos, ellas), , les, las

Ejemplos:
- He likes me but I don't like him: le gusto pero a mí no me gusta él.
- They have invited us to a party:  ellos nos han invitado a una fiesta.
- Could you give me some water? : ¿Puedes darme agua?
- I'm taller than her:  Soy más alta que ella.

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS
Adjetivos y pronombres posesivos

ADJECTIVE
my: mi
your: tu
his: su (de él)
her: su (de ella)
its: su (de ello) animales y cosas.
our: nuestro/a
your: vuestro/a
their: su (de ellos/as

* Los adjetivos (cualquier tipo) van siempre a compañando a un NOMBRE, por lo que NUNCA se quedarán solos en una frase.

PRONOUNS
mine: mío/a/os/as
yours: tuyo/a/os/as
his: suyo/a/os/as (de él)
hers: suyo/a/os/as (de ella)
its: suyo/a/os/as (de ello)
ours: nuestro/a/os/as
yours: vuestro/a/os/as
theirs: suyo/a/os/as (de ellos/as)

* Los pronombres (de cualquier tipo) al contrario que los adjetivos NO acompañan al nombre sino que se quedan solos en la frase.

Ejemplos:
- Whose is this notebook? It's mine: ¿De quién es este cuaderno? Es mío.
- That's my bike over there: Esa de allí es mi bici.
- John and his wife both play tennis: Los dos, John y su mujer, juegan al tenis.
- Their house is bigger than our house, but I think ours is nicer than theirs:  Su casa es más grande que nuestra casa, pero yo creo que la nuestra es más bonita que la suya.
- Whose is that coat? Mine.  ¿De quiénes ese abrigo? Mío.

*************************************************************************

EXERCISES
1.- Write a personal subject pronoun in the blank.
a- Your parcel has arrived.  _______  was delivered this morning.
b- Jane and I have already eaten.  ______  had a meal before we left home.
c- Who's that?  _____ 's my mother.  Would you like to meet her?
d- Who's Jane Wilson?  _____'s  the woman who's just started working for our company.

2.- Write the possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns that you consider.
a- What a beautiful baby girl! What's ______ name?
b- This is your towel. It's yellow. And that's your husband's.  _____ is blue.
c- This car isn't _____.  My car has a different registration number.
d- That umbrella doesn't belong to you. _____  is the one with the leather handle.
e- John's son wants to be an actor and _____ daughter wants to be an actress.

* En inglés antes de rellenar el hueco de un ejercicio, hay que leer toda la frase, porque a veces si no lo hacemos, podemos equivocarnos.



                                                            ******************************


SOLUTIONS 

1 a) it  b) we  c) she  d) he

2 a) her  b) it  c) mine  d)  yours  e) his


SEE YOU!!!

NEW GRAMMAR EXERCISES

Hi again, here you are some new grammar exercises. 

1.- WRITE THE MISSING WORDS.
a- She doesn't sing as well _____ me.
b- Your pronunciation is a lot better _____ mine.
c-The meeting is at the same time ____  last week.
d- My sister's personality is very different ______ mine.
e- "I didn't like the film much". Neither _____ I.
f- "Would you like to come to a party tomorrow?" "I'd love ____."
g- A good motorbike costs nearly as much _____ a car.
h- "Did anything interesting happen?" "I don't think _____".
i- I need some stuff _____ cleaning silver.
j- "I haven't got anything to wear."  "What _______ your blue dress?"
k- Why _______ you borrow something of mine?

2.- CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD.
a- Where's  my/mine  brother gone?
b- You can't take that bike. It's  my/mine.
c- Ann and Johnny's garden is much nicer than  our/ours.
d- "Whose is that coat?"  "Your/yours".
e- They're nice people , but I don't like  their/theirs   friends.
f- Jane lost all  her/hers  baggage when she went to America.
g- If you show me  your/yours  holiday photos, I'll show you  my/mine.

3.- WRITE "got"  WHERE IT IS CORRECT.
a- Have you _____ a light?
b- Goodbye.  Have ____ a good holiday.
c- I usually have _____ lunch at one o'clock.
d- Excuse me.  Have you _____ the time?
e- I've ____ three brothers.
f- Have you ____ a few minutes? I'd like to have ____ a talk with you.
g- "What's the matter?" "I've _____ a headache".
h- My parents have ____ a small farm in Yorkshire.
i- Hello.  Nice to see you.  Sit down and  have ____ a drink.
j- She always has ____ a bath before she goes to bed.

* I hope you'll do the exercises well but if not, next day I'll write a grammar explanation about: Comparatives and  Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns,


SOLUTIONS 

1 a) as  b) than  c) than  d) from  e) did  f) to  g) as  h) so  i) for  j) about  k) don't

2 a) my  b) mine  c) ours  d) yours  e) their  f) her  g) your  /  mine

3 a) got  b) ___  c) ___  d) got  e) got  f) got / ___  g) ___  h) got  i) ___  j) ___


SEE YOU !!!

READING "THE TRUTH"

THE TRUTH

One day, Socrates was sitting under a tree by the side of the road leading into Athens when a atraveller approached.

"Good afternoon" said the traveller, "I'm from Macedonia and I'm coming to start a new life in Athens.  Can you tell me:   what are the people of Athens like?
Socrates looked at the man and asked:  "What are the people of Macedonia like?"
"Terrible", answered the traveller.  "They're cruel and arrogant".
"I think that you will find the people of Athens very similar", said Socrates.

After a while, a second traveller came along the road towards Socrates.
"Good afternoon", he started, "I'm from Macedonia and I'm coming to live in Athens.  I wonder if you can tell me:  what are the people of Athens like?
Socrates looked at the second traveller and asked:  "what are the people of Macedonia like?"
"Well, they are excellent people", replied the traveller.  "Generous, noble and friendly".

"I think you will find the people of Athens very similar", said Socrates.

PRACTICE

1.- Read the text and say if these statements are True or False.

- Socrates was walking along the road to Athens when the travellers approached him.
- The two travellers were going to Macedonia.
- The first traveller thinks that people from Macedonia have very positive qualities.
- Socrates gives the same answer to both travellers.

2.- ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.
- Do you think Socrates told the first traveller the truth?  And the second traveller?
- What is the meaning of the story?
- Can it help in people's life?

* PAY ATTENTION TO THIS QUESTION:  What are the people of Athens like? : ¿Cómo es la gente de Atenas?

Siempre que queremos saber "cómo" es una persona, animal o cosa, ésta es la forma de preguntar.  Veréis que la palabra "like" aparece al final de la pregunta.  Pues bien, aquí no se refiere al verbo To like : gustar, sino que significa "cómo", por eso va colocada al final y además ya tenemos el verbo is (what's) al principio.

Otros ejemplos:
- What's the weather like today? ¿Qué tiempo hace hoy? ¿Cómo está el tiempo hoy?
- What's your English teacher like?  ¿Cómo es tu profesor de inglés?
- What's her new car like? ¿Cómo es su nuevo coche?
- What's his dog like?  ¿Cómo es su perro?

* Ya veis que no hemos utilizado la palabra "how" que literalmente en inglés significa "Como" por lo que tendréis que tenerlo en cuenta si queréis hacer este tipo de preguntas.

SEE YOU!

BONJOUR!

Comme je sais qu'il y a aussi des personnes qui veulent apprendre la langue française, je vais écrire quelques choses aussi.

À LIRE ET TRADUIRE.
Une recette facile:  Les crêpes

Les ingrédientes:  huile + farine + oeufs + sel.

Dans un grand saladier verse la farine, le sel, les oeufs et une cuillerée d'huile.
Mélange bien.
Verse lentement le lait en battant avec un fouet.
Laisse reposer la pâte pendant une heure.
Verse un peu d'huile dans la poêle.
Quand la poêle est bien chaude, verse un peu de pâte.  Attends une minute et retourne la crêpe.
Tu peux manger tes crêpes avec du sucre, de la confiture ou du miel.
Bon appetit!

VOCABULAIRE
- VERSER: echar
- FOUET: varilla batidora
- LAISSER:  dejar
- POÊLE:  sartén
- SUCRE:  azúcar.
- RETOURNER:  dar la vuelta.
- HUILE: aceite.
- OEUFS:  huevos.
- CUILLERÉE:  cucharada.

VAMOS A VER EL INFINITIVO DE ALGUNOS VERBOS.  El francés es un idioma que deriva directamente del latín como el español, por lo que la forma de construir los tiempos verbales es parecida, formando los tiempos añadiendo terminaciones a los infinitivos.  Nada que ver con el inglés.  Sin embargo, las conjugaciones son un poco diferentes, ya os las iré poniendo.

PRENDRE:  coger, tomar    
DESCENDRE:  bajar          

FAIRE:  hacer                      

ÊTRE:  ser/estar                   

AVOIR: haber/tener    
ÉCRIRE:  escribir        

MANGER: comer        

SALUER:  saludar       

ENTENDRE: oir

AIMER: amar y gustar

FINIR: terminar, acabar

VENIR:  venir

VOCABULAIRE

PISCINE: piscina          
VOYAGE: viaje                  

CONCERT: concierto          

RADIO:  radio                      

CERF-VOLANT:  cometa   

POÉSIE:  poesía            
MUSIQUE:  música 

AMI:  amigo                   

ÉTUDIANT: estudiante  

LETTRE:  carta 
  
MÈRE: madre

PÈRE: padre

FRÈRE: hermano

SOEUR: hermana

FILS: hijo

A CONTINUACIÓN tenéis unas frases en francés, ¡a ver qué tal se os da traducirlas!

- Elle s'apelle Noémie.
- Elle a vingt-cinq ans.
- Elle habite à Boulogne.
- Elle est mariée.
- Elle est étudiante.
- Nous avons étudié.
- Il a beaucoup mangé.
- J'ai pensé à vous.

- Vous êtes espagnols.
- Elle écrit des lettres.
- Nous travaillons trop.
- Ton fils pleure beaucoup.
- Ton père lit le journal.

VERBO ÊTRE en presente                      
Je suis                                                        

tu es                                                        

il/elle est                                                   

nous sommes                                          

vous êtes                                                 

ils/elles sont                                          

VERBO AVOIR en presente

J'ai                                                
tu as

il a

nous avons

vous avez
ils/elles ont

                                               ***********************************

TRADUCTION DES PHRASES - TRADUCCIÓN DE LAS FRASES

-Ella se llama Noémie.
-Ella tiene 25 años.
-Ella vive en Boulogne.
-Ella está casada.
-Hemos estudiado.
-Él ha comido mucho.
-He pensado en vosotros.

-Sois españoles.
-Ella escribe cartas.
-Trabajamos demasiado.
-Tu hijo llora mucho.
-Tu padre lee el periódico.


À BIENTÔT!

SOLUTIONS / SOLUCIONES

Good Morning everybody, here you are the solutions to the sentences and exercises.

SENTENCES (20th March)

- I'm from India. I'm sixteen years old.  Are you English?
- She is Lisa.  Her name is Lisa.
- Is Lisa an engineer?  Yes, she is.
- When you were a little boy, were you happy?  Yes, I was.
- We weren't rich but we weren't poor, either.
- There is a big table in the kitchen.
- Is there any milk in the fridge?  Yes, there is.
- Are there any oranges? No, there aren't any.
- There was coffee on the table.  There wasn't any ice in the freezer.
- There weren't any potatoes.

- You have got blue eyes.
- Have you got any brothers or sisters? Yes, a sister.
- We have got a new car.
- When Mary was a young girl she had long, fair hair.
- What time did you have breakfast this morning?
- She always has a bath in the morning.
- Did they have any money?  Yes, a lot.

SOLUTIONS (23rd March) Write the negative and interrogative form.

1.-
Negative: Mary didn't go to the theatre...
Interrogative:  Did Mary go to the theatre...?
2.-
Negative: My friends didn't travel to London...
Interrogative:  Did my friends travel to ... ?
3.-
Negative: I didn't buy a new ...
Interrogative:  Did you buy a new...?
4.-
Negative: The children didn't ask me ...
Interrogative:  Did the children ask me ...?
5.-
Negative: My father didn't come with my sister...
Interrogative:  Did my father come with my sister...?
6.-
Negative:  The party wasn't really funny.
Interrogative:  Was the party really funny?
7.-
Negative: Lisa didn't have dogs and a cat.
Interrogative:  Did Lisa have...?
8.-
Negative: Teachers didn't organize a...
Interrogative:  Did teachers organize a...?
9.-
Negative: Shakespeare wasn't a ...
Interrogative:  Was Shakespeare a ...?
10.-
Negative: Cervantes didn't write the Quixote.
Interrogative:  Did Cervantes write the Quixote?

MORE GRAMMAR EXERCISES

Let's continue with our exercises.

1.- WRITE THE THIRD PERSON SINGULAR FORMS OF THE PRESENT.
(you know that we have to add an "s" to the third person of the singular of all verbs, except the modal and some special ones) ¡Cuidado con las terminaciones de algunos verbos, tendremos que añadir algo más que una S)

a)- STOP, he _______.
b)- SEE, she ________.
c)- FINISH , she __________.
d)- PASS, he __________.
e)- HURRY, he _________.
f)- GO,  Peter _________.
g)- CATCH,  Lisa __________.
h- WORK,  he __________.

2.- COMPLETE THE TEXT WITH THE  NEXT WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS.

always  /  beautiful  /  blue  /  each other  /  forget  /  grilfriend  /  her  /  is doing  /  laughed  /  listen  /  long  /  fair  /  neither  /  nor /  nose  /  person  /  quite  /  Shakespeare's  /  smile  /  tired  /  worked

My first real 1______ was a very 2______ girl called Penny.  She was 3______ tall, 4_____ slim  5_____  fat, with a lovely figure.
She had 6______, 7 _____ hair and  8______ eyes,  a funny short 9______, and a wide mouth with a wonderful 10______, like the sun coming out.  Her voice was soft and nice to 11______ to.  She had a great sense of houmour, and we 12______ a lot.  At nights she 13______ as a nurse in a mental hospital, and she was often very 14______ when we saw 15 ______, but she was 16______ fun to be with.  She was a very talented actress, and I will never  17______ her playing Hermione in a student production of 18_______ Winter's Tale.  Penny was a lovely 19______, and I was lucky to know 20_____.  I often wonder she 21______ now.

3.- WRITE A DESCRIPTION OF YOURSELF OR OF SOMEBODY YOU LIKE.  You can use words and expressions from exercise 2.  (escribe una descripción de ti o de alguien que te guste. Puedes usar palabras y expresiones del ejercicio 2).


4.- IS or HAS ?

a)- She's 37
b)- It's late
c)- He's 1m 85cm tall
d)- What's he done?
e)- She's got blue eyes.
f)- He's wearing a dark suit.
g)- She's hungry.
h)- He's cold
i)- He's married.
j)- What colour's your new car?
k)- She's gone to London.
l- She's tired.

SOLUTIONS  

1 a) stops  b) sees  c) finishes  d) passes  e) hurries  f) goes  g) catches  h) works

2 1 girlfriend  2 beautiful  3 quite  4 neither  5 nor  6 long  7 fair  8 blue  9 nose  10 smile  11 listen
12 laughed  13 worked  14 tired  15 each other  16 always  17 forget  18 Shakespeare's  19 person  20 her  21 is doing.

4 a) is  b) is  c) is  d) has  e) has  f) is  g) is  h) is  i) is  j) is  k) has  l) is


SEE YOU!!!

Here again! À nouveau ici!

My dear friends, hera I am again after some special busy days / mes chers amis je suis ici à nouveau après quelques jours très occupés.
Queridos amigos aquí estoy otra vez después de unos días muy ocupados.

Let's do some  English grammar exercises, ok?
Vamos a hacer unos ejercicios de gramática en inglés, ¿vale?

We're going to practise the CONTINUOUS PRESENT tense.
Vamos a practicar el tiempo PRESENTE CONTINUO.

Se forma de la siguiente manera:  sujeto + verbo To be en presente + otro verbo terminado en -ing.
Se utiliza para expresar acciones que se realizan en el momento de hablar o que van a ocurrir en un futuro muy muy próximo.
En español lo formamos igual:  sujeto+verbo ser en presente + otro verbo terminado en -ando/-endo.
Ejemplo:  I'm reading a book / Estoy leyendo un libro.

Para negar o interrogar lo haremos con el verbo To be, sin necesidad de partículas.
I'm not reading / Are you reading?


EXERCISE 1
Complete with the forms of the verb To Be.
a)- I ______ going to the airport right now.
b)- _____ you studying Maths?
c)- Lisa _____ meeting Paul tonight.
d)- My friends ________coming this afternoon.
e)- We ______(not)  visiting our friends until tomorrow.


EXERCISE 2
Complete the sentences with some of these words or expressions:

are getting /  are going  /  army  /  average  / changing/  fast  /  height  /  is getting  /  is happening /  price  /  problem/  slowly  /  unemployed  /  worse  .

a)- The _______ of petrol is going up again.
b)- Three years ago there were two million people without jobs.  Now there are over four million______.
c)- The housing problem is getting ________.
d)- Food prices _________ up.
e)- Things are changing very _________ these days.
f)- Restaurants ______ more and more expensive.
g)- In 1981, the _______ cost of a good meal for two, with wine, was 25 pounds.
h)- There are 300,000 men in the ________.
i)- What _______?  I can't see.

                            **********************************************

SOLUTIONS

1 a) am  b) are  c) is  d) are  e) are

2 a) price  b) unemployed  c) worse  d) are going  e) slowly/fast  f) are getting  g) average  h) army   i) is happening


SEE YOU!!!