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Sometimes, we do not place clauses and phrases properly. So, in this post, I will explain you all about How-to Place Clauses and Phrases correctly. We can place Phrases and clauses in such a way that they relate to the words they modify.
I will give you some a task. Please move a phrase or clause in each of these sentences so that they will make sense.
1. They saw many kinds of birds flying in the blue sky.
2. They gave all the left-over food to a cat that was ready to throw away.
3. Diana took the meatball back to the seller that was too small to cook.
4. I bought a watch from a dealer with crooked hands.
5. We shall meet again God willing.
6. I read that the terrorist had been killed in the paper.
7. I could see the mountain clearly flying at a thousand feet.


One of the most difficult points in English Grammar is using the articles correctly. But now, I will explain some rules regarding the correct usage of the definite and indefinite articles.
When we talk about a person or thing for the first time, use the indefinite articles (a and an) with them. Study the following examples:
  • I saw a tall man. (NOT I saw the tall man.)
Use the in subsequent references to that person or thing.
  • The girl was very beautiful. (NOT A girl was very beautiful.)
Use the indefinite article to talk about a person or thing not known to the speaker or the listener.
  • She is going out with a French guy. (NOT She is going out with the French guy.)
We can use the in subsequent references to that person or thing.
  • The French guy she is going out with is an architect. (NOT A French guy she is going out with is an architect.)
Plural countable nouns can be used without articles, especially when we are talking about things in general.
  • Spiders have eight legs.
  • Computers are useful machines.
  • Apples are red.
A singular uncountable noun is used without an article.
  • Milk is nutritious. (NOT The milk is nutritious.)
  • Gold is precious. (NOT The gold is precious.)


An interrogative form is a more polite form of the imperative. However, the addition of ‘or not’ adds a touch of threat to the command.
Look at the following example:
  • Imperative: Stop talking.
The sentence above can be changed into an interrogative like the sentence below:
·         Interrogative: Will you stop talking?
Even, we can make it more polite by adding ‘please’. Study the following sentence:
  • Will you stop talking, please?
Here are some examples of “changing imperative into interrogative”:
1. Open the door - Will you, please, open the door?
2. Get me a glass of coffee. - Will you get me a glass of coffee, please?
3. Get out of here. - Will you get out of here?
4. Sit down. - Will you sit down, please?
5. Ask John to come here. - Will you ask John to come here?
6. Wait here. - Will you come here, please?
So, we can conclude that “although the interrogative is more polite than the imperative, the addition of ‘or not’ will add a touch of threat to the question”.

Now, you can compare these sentences:
Get out of here. (Imperative)
Will you get out of here? (Polite question)
Will you get out of here or not? (Threat – the addition of ‘or not’ adds a touch of threat to the question.)

A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot

A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot are used in informal English. A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot mean ‘a great quantity of’. Beside that, A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot also have meaning ‘large number of’. I will describe it one each one.

A lot of / lots of
A lot of / lots of can be used before a countable or an uncountable noun. Example:
• A lot of people want to buy cars.
• A lot of money was wasted on the project.
• I have a lot of work to do.
• There is a lot of meat left.

Verbs are a lot of / lots of
There is a condition when the verb is plural. This will happened if a lot of / lots of is used before a plural subject. But, the verb becomes singular if these expressions are used before a singular noun. Example:
• A lot of patience is needed to learn a new language. (NOT A lot of patience are needed to learn a new language.)
• A lot of my friends live abroad. (NOT A lot of my friends lives abroad.)

A Lot
A lot means ‘a great deal’. It can be categorized into an adverb. You should note that a lot is not followed by a noun. I will give you example:
• I like him a lot. (NOT I like him a lot of.)
• She reads a lot.
• James travels a lot.

Notes
The expressions a lot of and lots of are rather informal. We prefer expressions like ‘a great deal of’, ‘a large number of’, much or many in formal use. Here is an example:
• A great deal of time is needed to learn a new language.
A lot of and lots of are not normally used in questions or negative sentences.

A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot are used in informal English. A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot mean ‘a great quantity of’. Beside that, A Lot of, Lots of and a Lot also have meaning ‘large number of’. I will describe it one each one.
A lot of / lots of
A lot of / lots of can be used before a countable or an uncountable noun. Example:
• A lot of people want to buy cars.
• A lot of money was wasted on the project.
• I have a lot of work to do.
• There is a lot of meat left.

Verbs are a lot of / lots of
There is a condition when the verb is plural. This will happened if a lot of / lots of is used before a plural subject. But, the verb becomes singular if these expressions are used before a singular noun. Example:
• A lot of patience is needed to learn a new language. (NOT A lot of patience are needed to learn a new language.)
• A lot of my friends live abroad. (NOT A lot of my friends lives abroad.)
A Lot
A lot means ‘a great deal’. It can be categorized into an adverb. You should note that a lot is not followed by a noun. I will give you example:
• I like him a lot. (NOT I like him a lot of.)
• She reads a lot.
• James travels a lot.
Notes
The expressions a lot of and lots of are rather informal. We prefer expressions like ‘a great deal of’, ‘a large number of’, much or many in formal use. Here is an example:
• A great deal of time is needed to learn a new language.
A lot of and lots of are not normally used in questions or negative sentences.


Possessive determiners are a part of speech that used in front of a noun to express possession or belonging (as in "my phone").


The possessive determiners in English are my, your, his, her, its, our, and their.


Possessive adjectives/determiners can eliminate repetition in a sentence by replacing a determiner phrase. They allow us, for example, to say the girl took off her glasses instead of the girl took off the girl's glasses.
Possessive determiners are sometimes called possessive adjectives, weak possessive pronouns, or simply possessives.


Ways for Identifying Phrases

Many students are still confused with ways for identifying Phrases. Here, I will give you some explanation about ways for identifying phrases. There are several ways to identify a phrase.

·         Adjective Phrase (AP)

ADJECTIVE PHRASE (AP) can be identified by some ways. One of the characteristic is the Head word is an adjective.

Here are some examples:

Diana is [AP clever]
The nurse is [AP very late]
My niece is [AP fond of animals]

There also another way to identify phrases, especially adjective phrases. The pre-Head string in an AP is most commonly an adverb phrase such as very or extremely. Adjective Heads may be followed by a post-Head string:

[AP happy to meet you]          
[AP ready to go]
[AP afraid of the dark]

A small number of adjective Heads must be followed by a post-Head string. The adjective Head fond is one of these. Compare:

My sister is [AP fond of animals]
*My sister is [fond]

·         Adverb Phrase (AdvP)

Adverb phrase can also be identified by two ways. In an ADVERB PHRASE, the Head word is an adverb. Most commonly, the pre-Head string is another adverb phrase:

Shinta graduated [AdvP very recently]
Ashley left [AdvP quite suddenly]

In AdvPs, there is usually no post-Head string, but here's a rare example:

[AdvP Unfortunately for him], his wife came home early

·         Prepositional Phrase (PP)

There also some ways for identifying prepositional phrases.

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES usually consist of a Head -- a preposition -- and a post-Head string only. Here are some examples:

[PP through the window]
[PP over the bar]
[PP across the line]
[PP after midnight]

This makes PPs easy to recognize -- they nearly always begin with a preposition (the Head). A pre-Head string is rarely present, but here are some examples:

[PP straight through the window]
[PP right over the bar]
[PP just after midnight]

I think those is some ways for identify phrases in English. For more information, please feel free to contact me or visit here again at www.enjoy2learn-english.blogspot.com



Description of Adjective

“An adjective is a word that describes a noun.”

Adjective tells you something about the noun.

Examples: yellow, tall, amazing, bad, green, high, quick, important.

Adjective also can be described as word or combination of words that modifies a noun (blue-green, central, half-baked, temporary).

Homeschooling is an alternative way to educate our kids beside sending them to public school. Homeschooling is becoming more popular every day. There are about two million children currently learning at home. However it has some advantages and disadvantages.
Parents choose homeschooling to educate their kids because they believe that homeschooling can be a personalized schedule. Home schooling allows parents and children to work out a schedule that will best work for the child.
Another advantage is flexibility in time and curriculum. By home schooling parents can set the curriculum around vacation, illnesses, and other surprise event
On the other hand, homeschooling can spoil parents' time. Homeschooling needs a lot of time in preparation and delivery. Parents have to research topics, prepare the lessons, set up the projects and field the trips.
So, when thinking about putting children through home school, we should make sure that we understand all of the criteria involved in the home education.
Note: this example of discussion text "The Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeschooling is simplified and arranged from: whitney05.hubpages.com/hub/Advantages-and-Disadvantages-to-Homeschooling


Using Colon

To use Colon, there are some terms and condition that must be fulfilled. They are:
1.      Colons are used before explanations.
Example
  • We decided to cancel the match: it was raining.
2.      A colon can be used when direct speech is introduced by a name or short phrase.
Example:

3.      Colons can also used when famous sayings are quoted.
  •  ‘Reading makes a full man, writing an exact man, speaking a ready man.’ Said Bacon.
  • Polonius: ‘What do you read, my lord?’
  • ‘Words, words, words.’ (Hamlet)

Computer, tablet, mobile phone, and other devices connected to Internet have been the most outstanding innovation in the history of mankind. As with every single innovation, internet has its own advantages and disadvantages.
The target of internet has always been the communication. By the advent of computer's Internet, our earth has reduced and has attained the form of a global village. Now we can communicate in a fraction of second with a person who is sitting in the other parts of the world. Today for better communication, we can avail the facilities of e-mail; we can chat for hours with our loved ones. There are plenty messenger services in offering. With help of such services, it has become very easy to establish a kind of global friendship.
However, Internet also has disadvantageous sides. One of them is the wide spread of unsuitable content for kids. It is a very serious issue and related to children's healthy mental life. There are thousands of such inappropriate contents on the Internet which can be easily found.
Though, internet can also create havoc, destruction and its misuse can be very fatal, the advantages of it outweigh its disadvantages.

This example of discussion text about the advantage and disadvantage of internet is arranged from: www.buzzle.com/articles/advantages-disadvantages-internet.html


Story Writing Tips

There are many story writing tips. Here I will give you some of them. The first you need to tell a story well is some practice. They are:
·         A good story writer has a plan to what he wants to write about and looks ahead as he tells the story.
The point above is the most important one. To write a story, the writer should make a plan about what will he or she wants to write about,
·         The writer must have the whole plot clear in your mind.
You must also have the main points arranged in their proper order.
·         To be a good story writer you must have a fertile imagination.


Some Conjunctions and Their Usage
 There are many conjunctions in English. Now I will explain it one by one.

Than
The function of THAN is to follow an adjective or adverb in the comparative degree.
Example:
  • Wisdom is better than riches.
  • He is wiser than I am.
  • I am smarter than you are.
Lest
Although it is rarely used, it can be categorized to conjunction. Lest can be used as a subordinating conjunction expressing a negative purpose. Lest has a similar meaning to ‘for fear that’. As I mentioned previously, lest is rarely used in English, even in modern English. It is important to know that the only auxiliary that can follow lest is should.
EXAMPLE
  • He fled lest he should be killed.
While
While is also one of conjunction. While has some meaning. While used to mean:
a) During the time that; as long as; as
  • While the sun is still rise, there is a hope.
  • While I was sleeping, my mother came in.

Going to college or getting a job right after graduating high school is the common choices of teens will likely face. Some likely choose to continue studying at college or university but the others try to find job. Here are the reasons.
Why is it so important for student to continue on to post-secondary education; university or college? The reason is that post-secondary education will allow them to get the skills and tools that they will need to help them prepare for a good career. It has been said that the more education they have the more careers will be open for them to choose from. Employers today will tend to be more open to a person with the more education.
However some of them choose to get job right after high school. They believe that education is critical but college is not. In fact, there are numerous careers, such as in healthcare, technology, operations, transportation, and the building trades, that do not require a four-year degree from college or university. Furthermore, as they advance in these careers, there is also nothing stopping them from pursing a college degree at a later age.
So, what are you doing after graduating high school? Think carefully!

This example of discussion text about life after high school is arranged from:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/growth/growing/after_hs.html
http://www.r-go.ca/postsecondary.htm
http://www.quintcareers.com/college_alternatives.html

What is discussion text? Discussion is a text which presents a problematic discourse. This problem will be discussed from different points of view. This kind of text is commonly found in philosophical, historic, and social text. Read the following example of discussion text!

The Pros and Cons of School Uniform
School uniforms are dress codes that are determined by the teaching institutions and students has to follow the designed code obediently everyday. Many people believe that school uniforms should be applied but the others don't.
Uniforms have various advantages for both the family and the child. A united school apparel can relief a financial stress of the backs of many families. As kids tend to compete and imitate each other, the race of following new trends in fashion or, providing different attire for every school day is considered a financial burden, not every family can afford it.
Additionally, a uniform creates a sense of equality between all pupils. Young kids tend to judge others according to their look and what they wear. Uniting their school attire will draw their attention to other criteria and, the only advantage of one student over another would be personality, academic achievement or being good at sports.
On the other hand, as repetition can lead to boredom, children can get frustrated of wearing same thing to school every day. Also, prevent their first steps of individuality by taking away their right to choose what to wear on their own free well.
In conclusion, I believe uniforms aren’t meant to suppress the creativity or freedom of children. It helps redirecting kids’ creativity towards more important things than outer look, and waive financial burden of their families.
Note: This example of discussion text about the pros and cons of school uniform is adapted from http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic40618.html


Attributive adjectives after nouns

Hola! Today, Mr. Enjoy wants to talk about Attributive adjectives afternouns. In English, many adjectives can go in two main places in a sentence. They are in attributive position and predicative position. I will explain both of them.
1.     
In attributive position

An adjective comes before the noun it modifies. Look at examples below:
  • Nolan is a nice girl.
  • Jean married a rich businessman.
2.      In predicative position

An adjective goes after the verb. Look at examples below:
  • Nolan is nice.
  • He looked upset.
While attributive adjectives usually go before the nouns, a few can be used after nouns. This happens in some fixed phrases. Look at examples below:
  • Secretary General
  • Poet Laureate
  • Attorney General
  • Court martial
Some adjectives ending in -able/-ible can also be used after nouns.
  • It is the only solution possible.
  • Book all the tickets available.
After something, everything etc.
Adjectives come after words like something, everything, anything, nothing, somebody, anywhere etc.
  • I would like to go somewhere quiet. (NOT I would like to go quiet somewhere.)
  • I heard something interesting today. (NOT I heard interesting something today.)
In most expressions of measurement adjectives come after the measurement noun.
  • ten years older (NOT Older ten years) (NOT ten older years)
  • six feet deep
  • two miles long

Here is the formula:

VERB + OBJECT + ADJECTIVE

Adjectives can be placed after the object.
  • You make me happy.
  • Can you get the children ready for school?


Hola! Mr. Enjoy feels so sorry because in few days ago, Mr. Enjoy did not post any article. It was because Mr. Enjoy have to do the mid term examination. But don’t worry. Today Mr. Enjoy back to you again and we will discuss about Adjective Phrases.

In an adjective phrases sentence, sometimes a group of words does the work of an adjective.
Study two examples below:
  • The minister was a wealthy man.
  • The minister was a man of great wealth.
In the first example, the adjective wealthy says what sort of man the mayor was. In the second example, the group of words ‘of great wealth’ also says the same thing. It qualifies the noun man as an adjective does. Therefore, it does the work of an adjective. It is called an adjective phrase.


RECOGNIZING ACTIVE AND PASSIVE MEANINGS

Sometimes, in English there is no object (with or without by) after a verb. Don’t be panic, man! Thing that you should do is you must look at the meaning of the sentence to determine if the verb should be active or passive. Sentences with an incorrect passive verb and no by + object to tell you that the verb should be passive are the most difficult passive errors to recognize on the English Language Tests. Here I give you examples:

  • ·         They mailed the package at the post office.
  • ·         The letter was mailed by them today before noon.
  • ·         The letter was mailed today before noon.
  • ·         The letter mailed* today before noon.

The first three examples above are correct. The reason is because it has the active verb mailed used with the object package.
The second example has the passive verb was mailed used with by us.
The third sentence has the passive verb was mailed used without an object.
The fourth example is the type of passive error that appears most often on the TOEFL test. This type of sentence has the following characteristics: (1) an incorrect passive verb that looks like a correct active verb, and (2) no by + object to tell you that a passive is needed. To correct the fourth example, the active verb needs to be changed to the passive was mailed.

To determine that such a sentence is incorrect, you must study the meaning of the subject and the verb. You must ask yourself if the subject does the action of the verb (so an active verb is needed) or if the subject receives the action of the verb (so a passive verb is needed). In the incorrect example, you should study the meaning of the subject and verb, the letter mailed. You should ask yourself if a letter mails itself (the letter does the action) or if someone mails a letter (the letter receives the action of being mailed). Since a letter does not mail itself, the passive is required in this sentence.

The following chart outlines the difference in meaning between active and passive verbs:

I think that is enough
See you in the next post!

Mr. Enjoy

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