Monday, 7 March 2022

EF56 20 class- noun clauses

 

English Foundations 5/6

Good morning, everyone.

We will get started at 8:30

 

Al Haley ahaley@vsb.bc.ca

Class blog: haleyshec.blogspot.com

 

 

Today’s agenda

·      Begin complex sentences- noun clauses

·      Begin “Roses Sing on New Snow”

Group Discussion

·      Begin “Literary Terms”
HW   “Literary Terms”

 

Tuesday

·      Continue with noun clauses

·      Continue with “Roses Sing on New Snow”

·      Continue “Literary Terms”

 

Wednesday

·      Quiz#4 noun clauses

 

Thursday or Friday

·      Test #3 Paragraph about “Roses Sing on New Snow”

 

**

Two-week Spring Break- March 14th-25th. We will be back on the 28th.

**

We will have four more weeks in the term.

 

 

 

Noun Clauses-

 

Review of sentence styles:

1.    Simple        SV   SSV   SVV   SSVV   Imperative   Interrogative

2.    Compound          SV, SOBA SV.   FANBOYS SOBA! More practical.

SV; SV.

SV; TRANS, SV.  

      3. Complex    -adverb clauses

                              -noun clauses

                               -adjective clauses

Those are all the sentence styles that you will need. There are derivations on these basic styles, but these three styles of sentences are the foundations for all writing.

 Absolute basic skills that you must have down cold, automatic.

The only way to get it down cold is to practice- steady, everyday, consistent practice.

The hard work will pay off.

 

SIDE POINT:

Grammerly – checks grammar and spelling

                     -gives suggestions about grammar

                     -gives suggests about phrasing, word choice

grammery.com – free option

 

MSWord has a grammarcheck. It will make suggestions.

 

My wife uses to use it but not anymore.

 

It is like having training wheels on your bicycle. At some point, you have to take off the training wheels.

 

*The best #1 way to improve sentence writing is to practice the sentence styles and, very importantly, read in English.

You do not have to difficult books.

Read the news- cbc.ca   globalnews.ca   bc.ctvnews.ca/

Read books for teenagers. Young Adult books.

Read magazines. -food, cooking (https://www.bonappetit.com), sports (Sports Illustrated www.si.com/), computers, gaming, travel, music, science, psychology

 

 

Fiction for adults. Pick a genre that you like. genre: romance, fantasy, science fiction, horror, action

 

Read something! Set a goal.

My goal is to read about 50 pages a day. One book a week.

50 books a year.

 

Go to the Vancouver Public Library. Find something you like. Try it.

 

VPL Book Club- https://www.vpl.ca/program/book-clubs-adults

 

My personal guideline: I give a book 50 pages. If I like it, I finish it. Don’t give up too early.

 

The power is in your hands. If you want it, you can get it.

 

 

 

Noun Clauses

 

Noun clauses are part of complex sentences.

Noun clauses are used with verbs that have to do with the brain, thinking or cognition: think, feel, believe, know, understand, forget, remember, realize, murmur, express

 

Also verbs about speaking: say, yell, whisper, shout, state

 

Noun clauses most often begin with these words: that, what, why, how

 

Two lists of words:

A.   think, feel, believe, know, understand, forget, remember, realize, say, mention, murmure, yell, shout, whisper, etc.

B.    that, what, why, how

 

Choose an A word and put it with a B word.

Mix and match A+B to make noun clauses.

 

Examples of complex sentences with noun clauses:

Your example:

*think + that

I think that he is upset about his dog. main clause noun clause

Joanne thinks that her son is very tall for his age. noun clause

I think that it will rain today.

Jun doesn’t think that Marta is telling the truth.

I think that you forgot your key.

Shira doesn’t think that she should stay out too late tonight.

I don’t think that you should go to the party.

Mei’s sister thinks that Mei should get a Covid test.

DIFFERENT STYLE: I think that studying English will give me new opportunities. gerund

 

*realize + that

I realize that I gave you the wrong answer.

I realized that he cheated me.

I got to school and realized that I forgot my phone at home.

I realize that you don’t like math class, but you have to do your best.

 

**You can omit ‘that’ if you wish. It’s pefectly ok to leave it in. I will not teach it that way. I will keep it simple.

Either way is ok.

Joe thinks the boots are nice.

Joe thinks that the boots are nice.

 

*find out – learn, discover

I found out that my daughter has potential in piano.

I found out from my classmate that we have a test today.

Maria found out that her boss will be getting transfered to a new branch next week.

Some people people just learned what ‘branch’ means.

 

*NOTES ‘that’ is a tricky word in English

that – many uses

noun clauses and adjective clauses, confusing

          ‘that book’

- a lot of different function, a lot of different uses

 

I think that would be nice. – possibly will happen

I think that will be nice. – definitely will happen

 

We could go for a hike tomorrow. I think that would be nice.

We are going for a hike tomorrow. I think that will/ that’ll be nice.

How am I doing in the class? I think that you doing pretty ok.

 

 

* wonder + why

I was wondering why you are always so happy.

I wonder why my dog stares at me.

 

IDIOM no wonder – obvious, very clear, no doubt

He spends a lot of money on clothes and jewelry. It is no wonder why he’s always broke. No wonder he’s broke. No wonder. It’s not a surprise.

 

 

* wonder + how – to do something

I wonder how I can fix this computer.

I wonder how the mouse got into my apartment.

 

*know + why

Jim doesn’t know why Keiko is angry at/with him.

Jim didn’t know why Keiko was angry at/with him.

          Jacob knows why Sarah quit her job.

Jacob doesn’t know why Sarah quit her job.

          I don’t know why she is not feeling well.

          Sarah knows why her sister is smiling, but she doesn’t want to tell me. COMPOUND COMPLEX

Do you know why the bus is late?

Do you know why Sarah has missed a week of school?

 

Why is Mei late today? question

I don’t know why Mei is late today. answer, with a noun clause

I don’t know. SIMPLE

 

I don’t know why I can’t remember the words that I learned yesterday. noun clause adjective clause

          I don’t know why my car engine light is on. natural-sounding

          I don’t know why my car’s engine light is on. also ok

 

I don’t know why my son was working so hard yesterday.

I don’t know why you like to climb mountains in the rain.

I don’t know why the class is so quiet today.

Nasrin doesn’t know why her friend failed her English exam.

 

* like + how (less common)   how – situation, scenario

I like how you always listen to me. pays attention to your words

Sarah doesn’t like how her husband loses his temper easily.

Sarah doesn’t know why her husband loses his temper easily.

lose your temper- get very angry

Sarah doesn’t like how it rains so much in Vancouver.

Sarah doesn’t like that it rains so much in Vancouver.

 

I like how you sang that song.

She likes how he tells funny stories.

I like how you treated me when I was sick.

Sarah likes how her mother cooks chicken.

 

* say + that

Michelle said that she would come early today.

The teacher said that we will do a quiz on Friday.

The little boy said that there was a monster under his bed.

Sahara said that there will be a party on Saturday.

I said that I would pick up some milk on the way home.

My mother said that the recipe is easy to make.

I didn’t say that I would do that.

My son said that he will treat me to lunch/ to dimsum next Sunday.

treat someone to lunch- you invite someone and pay

My treat! It’s on me! I will treat you. I insist.

 

We’ll split the bill. Seperate checks.

 

 

* forget + why

Sharin forgot why she came into the kitchen.

I forget why I called you.

Mike forgot why he was mad at his brother.

 

 

REMINDER:

A.   think, feel, believe, know, understand, forget, remember, realize, say, whisper, etc.

B.    that, what, why, how

 

Knowing which A goes with which B is the tricky part. That will take a lot of listening to English speakers, reading, etc.

 

* believe how

Mr. Hassim couldn’t believe how hard it was to immigrate to Canada.

She can’t believe how much she misses her dog.

IDIOM don’t believe – am very surprised

May doesn’t believe how much it rains in Vancouver.

I can’t believe how expensive a purebred puppy is.

shed(v)- a dog loses hair

Her dogs sheds a lot.

non-shedding

hypo-allergenic – will not bother people with allergies

 

* understand + why

I understand why you want to stay in English Foundation 5.

Jun’s mother understood why she wanted to marry Taka.

I don’t understand why my brother won’t forgive me.

Mary didn’t understand why her son could not make it to school on time.

 

* understand how

I understand how hard it is to learn a new language.

I understand how challenging it is to ...

I don’t understand how you could say that to me.

Susan doesn’t understand how to do this math problem.

 

New style: how SV  //  how infinitive – both ways are common

John does not know how to play piano.

Mr. Wong knows how to speak French, English, and Mandarin.

Mei doesn’t understand how to make her daughter happy.

Mohamed didn’t understand how the teaching method could be so different in Canada than it was back in his home country. adv cl

 

* understand why

Clara doesn’t understand why my tomatoes are not growing.

The little boy could not understand why he was not allowed to stay up late.

I don’t understand why people came up with segregation laws/rules.

Joan understands why she did not pass.

 

You probably know a lot of these already. To get comfortable with these, you really need to use them in your daily life. It’s really important for you to engage with authentic English daily.

 

 

COMPLEX SENTENCE – two clauses

Michelle said that she would come early today.

Michelle said – main clause, independent clause

that she would come early today – subordinate clause, dependent clause, noun clause

 

I think that you are a very kind person. complex sentence

 

 

For homework, try a few of your own sentences with noun clauses. Email them to me by tomorrow morning 6am. We can share them tomorrow.

 

 

 

“Roses Sing on New Snow”

Small group discussion – talking over the questions

 

 

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