Friday, 21 June 2013

Monday, 17 June 2013

EF 2/3 100 most common adjectives and some example sentences

The Top 100 Most Common Adjectives
This selection of the 100 most common adjectives in modern American English was adapted from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA), an extensive body of 450,000,000 words: http://corpus.byu.edu/coca





1.      other
2.      new              newer                   newest
3.      good
4.      high             higher                   highest
5.      old
6.      great
7.      big
8.      American
9.      small
10.    large
11.    national
12.    young
13.    different
14.    black
15.    long
16.    little
17.    important              more important              most important
18.    political
19.    bad
20.    white
21.    real
22.    best
23.    right
24.    social
25.    only
26.    public          more public          most public
27.    sure
28.    low
29.    early           
30.    able             more able             most able
31.    human                   more human                   most human
32.    local           
33.    late
34.    hard
35.    major
36.    better
37.    economic
38.    strong
39.    possible               
40.    whole
41.    free
42.    military
43.    true              truer            truest
44.    federal
45.    international
46.    full               more full               most full
47.    special                   more special                   most special
48.    easy
49.    clear
50.    recent          more recent          most recent
51.    certain                   more certain                   most certain
52.    personal
53.    open
54.    red
55.    difficult
56.    available
57.    likely           more likely           most likely
58.    short
59.    single
60.    medical
61.    current                  more current                  most current
62.    wrong
63.    private                  more private                  most private
64.    past
65.    foreign                  more foreign         more foreign
66.    fine              finer                      finest
67.    common      more common      most common
68.    popular       more popular       most popular
          poor
69.    natural
70.    significant
71.    similar
72.    hot
73.    dead
74.    central
75.    happy
76.    serious
77.    ready
78.    simple
79.    left
80.    physical
81.    general
82.    environmental
83.    financial
84.    blue
85.    democratic
86.    dark
87.    various
88.    entire
89.    close
90.    legal
91.    religious
92.    cold
93.    final
94.    main
95.    green
96.    nice
97.    huge
98.    popular
99.    traditional             more traditional   most traditional
100.  cultural

COMPARITIVE- “than”
My family is more traditional than yours.
She is closer to her mother than her father. UNCLEAR
She is closer to her mother than to her father. CLEAR
I like ice cream more than you. UNCLEAR
I like ice cream more than you do. CLEAR
She likes ice cream more than he does. CLEAR
I am taller than you (are).

You are on a higher floor than I am.

Friday, 7 June 2013

EF2/3 run-on sentence exercises

Part 1
1.                 Our tires are old.  We need new ones because we might get into an accident with these.
Our tires are old, so we need new ones because we might get into an accident with these.
We might get into an accident with our old tires, so we need new ones.
Our tires are old.  We need new ones, or we might get into an accident with these.
Our tires are old, and we might get into an accident with them; therefore, we need new ones.

4.           I’d like to get the recipe for this because it is delicious.                    Also, I’d like some more, please.
    5.       The game ended in a tie, so neither team won.    
6.       The reckless driver got a speeding ticket, and it was his third ticket this year.
The reckless driver got a speeding ticket which was his third ticket this year.
The reckless driver got his third speeding ticket this year.
7.       I’d love to see that movie again because it was good.
It was a good movie, and I’d like to see it again.
9.       When the phone rang, I answered it.  It was Jim.
Part 2- possible solutions
1.     Elena was late, so they started the meeting without her.
They started the meeting without Elena because she was late.
2.     Bill had so much work to do.  He had to do the laundry, go shopping, and then make dinner.
3.     When Claudia made a mistake, she tried to hide it, but she got caught.
Claudia got caught when she tried to hide the mistake that she made. DIFFICULT?
4.     Julio found a wallet in the street.  When he looked inside it for identification, he found a driver’s license and some credit cards.
5.     The children are tired, so put them to bed.

Put the children to bed because they are tired.

Thursday, 6 June 2013

EF 2/3 sentence fragment exercises

1.     Pete and Bob are sitting on the grass and watching a game of football.
Pete and Bob who are sitting on the grass are watching a game of football.
Pete and Bob are sitting on the grass; meanwhile, they are watching a game of football.
Pete and Bob are sitting on the grass. Meanwhile, they are watching a game of football.
3.     The diamond ring was stolen last night.
The diamond ring that was stolen last night is hers.
I know that the diamond ring was stolen last night.
4.     It was raining while we waited for the mechanic to fix our car.
We had lunch while…
5.     I can’t meet you for supper because I won’t be able to get off work until 6 o’clock tomorrow.
I won’t be able to get off work until 6 o’clock tomorrow because I have to finish my job.
I have to finish my job because I won’t be able to get off work until 6 o’clock tomorrow. NOT LOGICAL
7.     John held his friend’s shoulder, sat on the bench, and then listened to him trying to explain the story.
He met his friend at the coffee shop and then listened to him trying to explain the story.
He met his friend at the coffee shop; then he listened to him trying to explain the story.
semicolon ;
9.The man who entered the country in May and left again in July worked for this computer company last year.
At first, he entered the country in May, and then he left again in July.
He entered France in May and left again in July.
10.     If the recession continues, many people will lose their jobs.

          Even if the recession continues, people will continue    to buy luxury goods.