The last two lessons focused on adjectives and their opposites, including:
big~ small // high ~ low // sharp ~ blunt //
easy ~ difficult // rough ~ smooth //
quiet ~ noisy // fat ~ thin // safe ~ scary
Complete the sentences with the correct adjective.
I can’t cut my hair, my scissors are __________
My puppy is so _______ however, my hedgehog is very _____________ .
The maths test was so _______ however the science test was so ________________ .
Be careful, Ms Thuy ! The man is very ______ .
Laurel and Hardy are so funny. One is very _____ however, one is very ______ .
Yoyoko is only _________________ however she is very ______________ !
Harold is climbing very _____
Oh, no ! Crocodiles have very ______ teeth.
Now … your turn
Get out your list of adjectives. Write THREE sentences with new adjectives.
To help, look at these photos:
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Being able to use complex sentences, effortlessly, is vital in attaining a respectable IELTS score. With that in mind, this blog is to help students practise.
Quite simply, give more information about your subject.
To form a complex sentence, we simply need to combine two pieces of information in one sentence, linked by a relative pronoun.
As with all grammar exercises, it makes far more sense to show than tell:
This is Rabindranath Tagore. He was a poet. He was born in Kolkata, India. He won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913.
So, we have several pieces of information. Let’s start by making a long but simple sentence:
Rabindranath Tagore won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913.
As you see, we start with the subject (Rabindranath Tagore) therefore we don’t need the pronoun ‘he’ in this new sentence.
To make this sentence complex, we just add a further piece of information about the subject, by using a relative pronoun:
who = for a person // which for a thing // where = for a place // whose = possession
The name is clearly not English, so let’s talk about his background:
Rabindranath Tagore, who was born in Kolkata, won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913.
Rabindranath Tagore won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913 is our main clause (clause being part of a sentence containing a subject and a verb).
who was born in Kolkata gives extra information but it makes no sense on its own. Therefore, it needs the main sentence to give it meaning. In grammar, this is known as a subordinate clause.
Now – we could develop this further:
Rabindranath Tagore, who was born in Kolkata which is in India, won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913.
The first subject was Rabindranath Tagore, so we used ‘who’ to give more information.
The second subject was the city, Kolkata ‘which’ is in India.
Yes, confusion ! Kolkata is a place so why use ‘which’ and not ‘where’ ?
Good question; it depends on the clause:
Kolkata which is inIndia
India is not a person, therefore we treat it as a thing and use ‘which’. Again, show don’t tell:
London, where I was born, is the capital of the UK. [object is ‘I’, a person, so we use ‘where‘.]
London, which is the capital of the UK, is where I was born. [object is ‘capital’, not a person, so we use ‘which‘]
Let’s get back to our Indian poet. The third subject is the Noble Prize … you could add more information here (awarded every year in Sweden).
Naturally, one could write endlessly, constantly adding more information about subjects but, for this exercise, just focus on a main clause and a subordinate clause.
NOW … Your turn
Subject (comma) + relative pronoun + (comma) main clause starting with a verb:
Rabindranath Tagore, who was born in Kolkata, won the Noble Prize for literature in 1913.
Make complex sentences:
Stockholm. Capital city of Sweden. Is very expensive. Is very cold in winter.
Louise Glück. Born in 1943. Born in New York, USA. Won Noble Prize for Literature in 2020. She is a poet.
Starbucks is a coffee chain. Company founded in 1971. Company started in Seattle in north-west USA. Starbucks is the world’s largest coffeehouse chain (information from Wikipedia).
Seattle is in USA. Seattle is famous for Grunge music. Many bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden came from Seattle.
Mozart. A famous composer. Born in Austria. Died in 1791. Buried in a common grave.
Vincom Centre. In District 1 by Hotel Continental. Largest shopping mall in Sai Gon. Has many international brands such as Hugo Boss and Ralph Lauren.
Frida Kahlo was an artist. She was born in Mexico. She was born in 1907. She painted many portraits and self-portraits.
Sergei Eisenstein is a famous film director. He was born in Latvia (then part of Russia). In 1930 he began a film in Mexico. It is about the Day of the Dead festival. This festival is every year at the beginning of November.
Louise Glück – Noble Prize winner 2020NirvanaFrida KahloDay of the Dead, Mexico. Film by Sergei Eisenstein.
Grammar: Yes, I am / No, I’m not ||he is / she isn’t ||Is she / is she / Are they ? ||Where is ? ||What do you want ? || He does / she doesn’t ||What’s he wearing ? / She’s wearing a …
Song: “I would go out tonight, but I haven’t got a stitch to wear.”
The Smiths with ‘This Charming Man.’
As usual, divide the class into teams, give points to make the games more exciting.
First up: feelings
Choose some top cat students, one by one. Outside of the class, show them a flashcard (happy, sad, thirsty etc). The student has to mime or act the emotion.
Next up:
Have a small group of students hold the flashcards. Model a question e.g. “Is Tina thirsty ?” Students reply, “Yes, she is,” or “No, she isn’t,” depending on whether she is holding that card. Appoint a new teacher (thay in Viet) to ask the next question.
Moving on up: Pronunciation, intonation and stress
Thay Paul loves coffee so does his friend Agent Cooper: Students can act out the scene. Not only does it require stress and emotion, but also pacing.
No time to lose: Run ‘n’ write
What are the five senses ? One student from each team writes a sense on the board. Then say a noun – one student from each team will tick which sense applies e.g. ‘Pizza.’ Students can tick ‘see,’ ‘taste,’ ‘smell’ & ‘touch.’ ‘Guitar‘ (‘see,’ ‘hear,’ ‘touch.’)
Answer with Yes, they are OR No, they aren’t. They’re ________
Are they police officers ?
Are they students ?
Are they football players ?
Are they The Smiths ?
Snack time: What do you want to eat ? Choose six students and give them a food flash card. They must say what they want (the card they hold) and then name something they don’t want e.g.
I want soup however I don’t want salad
Change students, then model a question, “Does Max want eggs ?” Students answers could include,
“No, he doesn’t want eggs, he wants spaghetti.”
Quick fire round: Have the students ask each other, “What do you want ?” and they have to answer,
“I want [french fries] however I don’t want [steak].”
Dress to impress:
Finally, have the students describe other student’s clothes, using at least two adjectives e.g. Thay Paul is wearing a plain white shirt.
A quick recap of recent language. Tell me what you like.
Example
Google Images (photostockeditor.com)
I like playing guitar as well as playing with elephants.
freepik.com
I love playing loud music as well as playing with big grey intelligent elephants.
Elephants are very strong as well as very hungry.
Sometimes Mr Elephant is so clever, he can play piano
What does he like ?
NOW, who works in a:
hospital // a school // a restaurant // a bus ?
Does she work in an airport ?
Does he work in a school ?
Do they work in a school ?
Do they work in a school ?
What do you want ?
I want some delicious spaghetti
Why ? Because I’m very hungry.
I want some delicious spaghetti because I’m very hungry.
What does he want ?
He wants _______________ because he’s ______
What does she want ?
She __________________ because she’s _______
Does he want salad ?
Does she want steak ?
What do you want to eat ?
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Regular verbs: just add -‘ed’. However, as you see, in this list only one common verb, ‘want’, is regular.
NOTE: ‘to be’ is different:
I am hungry / You are hungry / She is hungry / We are hungry
Now, practice: In groups of three or four, ask each other questions in order to feel more natural using the past tense. Let’s start simply:
What did you do today ?
Each student takes turns describing their day. Use these photos to help you.
Extra practice:
buy / drink / surf the internet / help parents / cook / do homework
Present tense ——– Past tense
act —— acted
go —- went
learn —— learned OR learnt
play — played
read —– read (pronounced ‘red)
ride —— rode
sleep —– slept
watch —- watched (pronounced ‘watch -t‘)
win —- won
What is the past tense ?
I act in a film. Last week I ______ in a film.
I go to London. Last year I _______________ to London.
I ride an elephant. Last month I ___________ an elephant.
I learn English.
Last Saturday, we ___________ English with Mr Paul.
The monkey plays piano.
Last night, the monkey _________ piano.
She reads a book. Last Sunday she _____ a book.
He sleeps all day. Yesterday he _______ all day.
I watch the amazing Spiderman.
Last week I ______ the amazing Spiderman.
Put these verbs into the past tense, then complete the sentences:
want ———
take ———
decide ———
see ——–
buy ——–
think ——–
learn ——–
I —— to stay in bed this morning
She —– great photos with her new iPhoneX
We have —— to go to Thailand for Tet
Last night I —- a great film !
He —- food for Christmas from Harrods.
Tuesday ! I —— today was Wednesday
We —– about past simple in our lesson.
Pronunciation guide
In English, verb can be regular or irregular.
Regular verbs add -ed or -d in the past tense.
EXAMPLE:
I walk to work // I WALKED to work
I play guitar // I PLAYED guitar
She smiles on TV / She SMILED on TV
They dance in T-ara // They DANCED in T-ara
-ed past tense verbs pronunciation
Words have 3 end sounds:
‘t’
‘d
‘id’
If the word ends with:
ch / f / k / p / s / sh / thi – The sound is ‘t’ look = ‘lookt’
t /or / d/ – The sound is ‘id’ visit – ‘visitid’
Other sounds are ‘d’ bang = ‘bangd’
What is the correct pronunciation for these regular verbs ?
Look = Looked // laugh = laughed // end =
beg = / visit = / kiss =
brush = / breath = / love =
Read these sentences:
He cleared up the mess / He rolled up the newspaper / I have visited India
No Homework ! That sounded good / Teacher shouted, ‘No way !’
We all worked hard today / Tom talked so much /
The students played many games and laughed.
They have visited India
She has banged the drum !
Please Note: All photos are taken from Google Images or free photo sites, and are used for educational purposes only. No copyright infringement or offense is intended. If I have used your photo or image, and you wish me to remove it, just ask. This site is not monetized, I run it on my own dollar. Thank you.
Thay Paul's Notes 