Forming opposites with affixation - word formation exercise (in-, im-, un-, dis-)

Choose the correct affixation to form opposites of the words in the sentences in this exercise.

Go to the link below to begin.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/wfmation/ex3.htm

Word Formation

Today's word is 'Magic'

Remember to go to the Floe-Joe website regularly to practise FCE Use of English parts.

Here is a link for you to try word formation, but you can also try phrasal verbs and collocations.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/wordbank/wform.htm

Vocabulary Revision - Career, Work, Job

Do you remember when to use the words career, work and job?

Have a go at answering the drop-down menu questions in this online exercise. Go to the link below to begin.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/mcclze/colloc1.htm

Vocabulary Revision - Trip, Journey, Travel

Do you remember when to use the words trip, journey and travel?

Have a go at answering the drop-down menu questions in this online exercise. Go to the link below to begin.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/strategy/mcclze/colloc2.htm

Relative Clause Online Practice

Do the exercises below on relative clauses and click on the button to check your answers.

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-relative-clauses.php

Non-defining Relative Clause

A non-defining relative clause (also called non-identifying relative clausesor non-restrictive relative clauses) provide interesting ADDITIONAL information which is not essential to understanding the meaning of the sentence. It tells us more about someone or something, but do not define it.

For example:

• Elephants that love mice are very unusual.
  * This tells us which elephants we are talking about.
• Elephants, which are large and grey, can sometimes be found in zoos.
  * This gives us some extra information about elephants - we are talking about all elephants, not just one type or group.
• My sister, who lives in France, is coming to stay with me next week.
  * "who lives in France" is not essential, which means that I only have one sister and she does not need to be defined by the "relative clause")

Punctuation Correct punctuation is essential in non-defining relative clauses. If the non-defining relative clause occurs in the middle of a sentence, a comma is put before the relative pronoun and at the end of the clause. If the non-defining relative clause occurs at the end of a sentence, a comma is put before the relative pronoun.

For example

• My friend John, who went to the same school as me, has just written a best-selling novel.

Relative pronouns The following relative pronouns are used in non-defining clauses:

	Person	Thing	Place
Subject	who	which
Object	who/whom	which	where
Possessive	whose

Notes:

In non-defining clauses, you cannot use "that" instead of "who", "whom" or "which".

You cannot leave out the relative pronoun, even when it is the object of the verb in the relative clause:

For example:

• He gave me the letter, which was in a blue envelope.
• He gave me the letter, which I read immediately.

Non-defining clauses can be introduced by expressions like "all of", "many of" + relative pronoun:

	Person	Thing
all of	+ whom	+ which
any of	+ whom	+ which
few of	+ whom	+ which
both of	+ whom	+ which
each of	+ whom	+ which
either of	+ whom	+ which
half of	+ whom	+ which
many of	+ whom	+ which
most of	+ whom	+ which
much of	+ whom	+ which
none of	+ whom	+ which
one of	+ whom	+ which
two of etc…	+ whom	+ which

For example:

• There were a lot of people at the party, many of whom I had known for years.
• He was carrying his belongings, many of which were broken.

The relative pronoun "which" at the beginning of a non-defining relative clause, can refer to all the information contained in the previous part of the sentence, rather than to just one word.

For example:

• Chris did really well in his exams, which was a big surprise.
  * = the fact that he did well in his exams was a big surprise.
• An elephant and a mouse fell in love, which is most unusual.
  * = the fact that they fell in love is unusual).

Examples:

• Mrs. Jackson, who is very intelligent, lives on the corner.
• We stopped at the museum, which we’d never been into.
• I’ve just met Susan, whose husband works in London.
• I spoke to Fred, who explained the problem.

Three things about Non-defining Relative Clauses.

1. The relative clause is closed off by commas and is quite similar to information in brackets.

2. Non-defining relative clauses are NOT used in spoken English. It would sound unnatural.

3. The relative pronoun can never be omitted. Click here to try the exercise

Defining Relative Clause

A defining relative clause (also called identifying relative clauses orrestrictive relative clauses) gives essential information about the noun or noun phrase it modifies, the purpose of a defining relative clause is to clearly define who or what we are talking about. Without this information, it would be difficult to know who or what is meant.

For example:

• The hotel that we stayed in wasn't bad. ("that we stayed in" tells the listener which hotel we are talking about; it defines the hotel)

Punctuation Commas are not used in defining relative clauses.

Relative pronouns The following relative pronouns are used in defining relative clauses:

	Person	Thing	Place	Time	Reason
Subject	who/that	which/that
Object	who/whom/that/ø	which/that/ø	where	when	why
Possessive	whose	whose

Notes:

"Who", "whom" and "which" can be replaced by "that". This is very common in spoken English.

The "relative pronoun" can be omitted (ø) when it is the object of the clause.

For example:

• The mouse that the elephant loved was very beautiful.
• The mouse /ø the elephant loved was very beautiful.

"Whose" is used for things as well as for people.

For example:

• The man whose car was stolen.
• A tree whose leaves have fallen.

"Whom" is very formal and is only used in written English. You can use "who/that, or omit" the pronoun completely.

For example:

• The doctor whom/who/that/ø I was hoping to see wasn't on duty.

"That" normally follows words like "something, anything, everything, nothing, all, and superlatives".

For example:

• There's something that you should know.
• It was the best film that I've ever seen.

Examples:

• The woman who lives in apartment No. 34 has been arrested.
• An elephant is an animal that lives in hot countries.
• Do you know the girl who is talking to Tom?
• The house /ø is being renovated.
• Has anyone seen the book I was reading?
• The document that I need has "important" written at the top.
• Let's go to a country where the sun always shines.
• A seaman is someone who works on a ship.
• The boy /who/whom/ø we met yesterday is very nice.

Defining Relative Clauses Exercise

	Relative pronouns
people	-that / who / whom
owners	-whose
things	-that / which
places	where

Click here to try the exercise

Writing - using connectors

above all	from my point of view	such as
because of this	furthermore	then
even so	however	therefore
firstly	instead	whereas

Practise using these connectors to organise sentences.
Go to the link below and complete the exercise.

http://www.autoenglish.org/generalgrammar/ConnectorsExercise.htm

Adjectives ending in '-ing' and '-ed'

Main points

• Many adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ describe the effect that something has on someone's feelings.
• Some adjectives ending in ‘-ing’ describe a process or state that continues over a period of time.
• Many adjectives ending in ‘-ed’ describe people's feelings.

1. You use many ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe the effect that something has on your feelings, or on the feelings of people in general. For example, if you talk about ‘a surprising number’, you mean that the number surprises you.

alarming amazing annoying astonishing boring charming confusing convincing depressing disappointing embarrassing exciting frightening interesting shocking surprising terrifying tiring welcoming worrying

He lives in a charming house just outside the town.

She always has a warm welcoming smile.

Most ‘-ing’ adjectives have a related transitive verb. 

2. You use some ‘-ing’ adjectives to describe something that continues over a period of time.

ageing booming decreasing dying existing increasing living remaining

Britain is an ageing society.

Increasing prices are making food very expensive.

These adjectives have related intransitive verbs.

3. Many ‘-ed’ adjectives describe people's feelings. They have the same form as the past participle of a transitive verb and have a passive meaning. For example, ‘a frightened person’ is a person who has been frightened by something.

alarmed amused astonished bored delighted depressed disappointed excited frightened interested satisfied shocked surprised tired troubled worried

She looks alarmed about something.

A bored student complained to his teacher.

She had big blue frightened eyes.

Note that the past participles of irregular verbs do not end in ‘-ed’, but can be used as adjectives.

The bird had a broken wing.

His coat was dirty and torn.

4. Like other adjectives, ‘-ing’ and ‘-ed’ adjectives can be:

• used in front of a noun
They still show amazing loyalty to their parents.
This is the most terrifying tale ever written.
I was thanked by the satisfied customer.
The worried authorities cancelled the match.
• used after link verbs
It's amazing what they can do.
The present situation is terrifying.
He felt satisfied with all the work he had done.
My husband was worried.
• modified by adverbials such as ‘quite‘, ‘really‘, and ‘very’
The film was quite boring.
There is nothing very surprising in this.
She was quite astonished at his behaviour.
He was a very disappointed young man.
• used in the comparative and superlative
His argument was more convincing than mine.
He became even more depressed after she died.
This is one of the most boring books I've ever read.
She was the most interested in going to the cinema.

5. A small number of ‘-ed‘ adjectives are normally only used after link verbs such as ‘be‘, ‘become‘, or ‘feel‘. They are related to transitive verbs, and are often followed by a prepositional phrase, a ‘to‘-infinitive clause, or a ‘that‘-clause.

convinced delighted finished interested involved pleased prepared scared thrilled tired touched  worried

The Brazilians are pleased with the results.

He was always prepared to account for his actions.

She was scared that they would find her.

Try the exercise below.

http://www.autoenglish.org/generalgrammar/gr.ad.inged.i.htm

Confusion Words - Manage / Reach

Learning to use the right vocabulary isn't always easy

The best way is to put it to use by practising so that you eventually retain the new words.

This on line exercise allows you to do just that. Click on the link below to start.

http://www.autoenglish.org/gr.achieve.i.htm

Can / Could / Be Able To

'Can' and 'Be able to' are both used to speak about abilities, and the possibility of doing something. 'Can' and 'Be able to' are known as modal verbs in English.

Here are some examples of 'can' and 'be able to' used to speak about abilities.

Can for Abilities

She can play tennis.
They could speak English at a very young age.
Peter can type 100 words per minute.

Be Able to for Abilities

My sister is able to run a marathon.
The students were able to get an A on the test.
We will be able to attend the class next semester.

Here are examples of the two forms to speak about possibilities.

Can for Possibilities

Can you come to the party next week?
Do you think he can help with my homework?
Peter told me he could pick you up at the airport.

Be Able to for Possibilities

We weren't able to get tickets to the concert.
She'll be able to study for the test tomorrow.
Jack won't be able to come for another three days.

Try this on line exercise. Click on the link below.

http://www.autoenglish.org/gr.can.i.htm

Cambridge FCE Use of English

Modal Verbs

Practise using modal verbs with this on line gap-fill exercise in preparation of your FCE Use of English test

http://www.autoenglish.org/tenses/auxiliarymodals.htm

Use of English Part 2 Practice

Practise doing Use of English Part 2 (Open Cloze) by visiting Flo-Joe.
Click on the link below and complete the gaps for each question.
You can click for hints or to see the correct answers if you wish.

http://www.flo-joe.co.uk/fce/students/tests/2_oclts3.htm

Reported Speech

When we report someone’s words we can do it in two ways. We can use direct speech with quotation marks (“I work in a bank”), or we can use reported speech (He said he worked in a bank.)

In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be different from those in the original sentence.

Present simple and present continuous tenses

• Direct speech: “I travel a lot in my job” Reported speech: He said that he travelled a lot in his job.

The present simple tense (I travel) usually changes to the past simple (he travelled) in reported speech.

• Direct speech: “Be quiet. The baby’s sleeping.” Reported speech: She told me to be quiet because the baby was sleeping.

The present continuous usually changes to the past continuous.

NB:

• “I work in Italy” Reported speech: He told me that he works in Italy.

It isn’t always necessary to change the tense. If something is still true now – he still works in Italy – we can use the present simple in the reported sentence.

Past simple and past continuous tenses

• Direct speech: “We lived in China for 5 years.” Reported speech: She told me they had lived in China for 5 years.

The past simple tense (we lived) usually changes to the past perfect (they had lived) in reported speech.

• Direct speech: “I was walking down the road when I saw the accident.” Reported speech: He told me he’d been walking down the road when he’d seen the accident.

The past continuous usually changes to the past perfect continuous.

Perfect tenses

• Direct speech: “They’ve always been very kind to me”. Reported speech: She said they’d always been very kind to her.

The present perfect tense (have always been) usually changes to the past perfect tense (had always been).

• Direct speech: “They had already eaten when I arrived” Reported speech: He said they’d already eaten when he’d arrived.

The past perfect tense does not change in reported speech.

Try this online exercise by completing the second sentence in each question using reported speech.

You can check your answers after to see how you did.
Go to the link below to start.

http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-exercise-reported-speech.php

Reported Speech

Backshift

You must change the tense if the introductory clause is in a past tense (e. g. He said).

Example:
He said, “I am happy.” – He said that he was happy.

Examples of the main changes in tense:

Direct Speech	Reported Speech
Simple Present He said: "I am happy"	Simple Past He said that he was happy
Present Progressive He said: "I'm looking for my keys"	Past Progressive He said that he was looking for his keys
Simple Past He said: "I visited New York last year"	Past Perfect Simple He said that he had visited New York the previous year.
Present Perfect  He said: " I've lived here for a long time "	Past Perfect  He said that he had lived there for a long time
Past Perfect  He said: "They had finished the work when I arrived"	Past Perfect  He said that they had finished the work when he had arrived"
Past Progressive He said: "I was playing football when the accident occurred"	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been playing football when the accident had occurred
Present Perfect Progressive He said:"I have been playing football for two hours."	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been playing football for two hours
Past Perfect Progressive He said: "I had been reading a newspaper when the light went off"	Past Perfect Progressive He said that he had been reading a newspaper when the light had gone off
Future Simple (will+verb) He said: "I will open the door."	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would open the door.
Conditional (would+verb) He said: "I would buy Mercedes if I wererich"	Conditional (would+verb) He said that he would buy Mercedes if he had been rich"

The modal verbs could, should, would, might, needn't, ought to, used to do not normally change.
Example:
He said, "She might be right." – He said that she might be right.

Other modal verbs may change:

Modal	Direct speech	Reported speech
can	"I can do it."	He said he could do it.
may	"May I go out?"	He wanted to know if he might go out.
must	"She must apply for the job."	He said that she must/had to apply for the job.
will	"They will call you."	He told her that they would call her.

Reported Speech Use of English Part 4 Homework

VERB PATTERNS (VERB + PREPOSITION + -ING) TRANSFORMATIONS

For these type of transformations you need to study verb valencies or verb patterns. Here is a list of some patterns which have turned up in the exam:

ACCUSE He accused me OF using his phone. APOLIGISE I apoligised FOR forgetting her birthday. FEEL LIKE I didn't feel LIKE watching TV. INSIST He insisted ON going out in the rain. PREVENT Her parents prevented her FROM going camping. SUCCEED She succeeded IN getting her degree.

This online exercise will help you prepare:

Keep trying to resolve these questions where you must re-write the second sentence and maintain the same meaning and content of the original one.

Click on the link below and remember that you can check your answers if you wish.

http://www.autoenglish.org/FCEUse/ReportedSpeechTransformations.htm