Teach English in TiAnzhujiancaichang - Wuwei Shi

Modals are: can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must, have to, have got to, need to, needn't and ought to. They are used before each other verb to add meaning to the main verb. Modals can be used to express a number of different ideas, such as: - obligation - possibility/probability - permission/prohibition - ability - advice Modal auxiliary verbs can be used to express differing degrees of formality Modal verbs don't change in form according to person Modal verbs are followed by a verb in its base form (applies for both present and future meanings) - to use modals to express ideas in the past the situation is somewhat more complicated; modals with more than 1 meaning may express past ideas in different ways according to meaning. Teaching ideas 1) Role play 2) Rules 3) Signs Passive voice - in the passive, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb. Both sentences basically have the same meaning, but the focus is different. in the active voice, the focus is on the agent. In the passive voice, the focus is on the subject. But in the passive voice, the agent is much less important, or doesn't appear. Only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object, such as sell, take, buy, write, etc) are used in the passive. It is not possible to use verbs such as 'happen, sleep, come and seem' (intransitive verbs) in the passive. Form: auxiliary verb 'be' + past participle For both active and passive, the tense of the sentence always remains the same. In the passive voice, the tense is indicated by the auxiliary verb 'be', and in the active voice, the tense is shown by the main verb. Usage: the passive is most frequently used when it is not known, not important, or we don't want to say, exactly who performs an action. the passive may be used with a 'by' phrase when the speaker or writer wants the listener or reader to know who performs the action. Typical student errors/mistakes: leaving the verb 'to be' out of the sentence, using the verb 'to be' in the wrong tense, overuse of 'by' Teaching ideas - cutting up varied active/passive sentences and getting students to match them - students write a general knowledge quiz using passive examples Relative Clauses a clause is a group of words containing a subject and a verb Three categories of clauses 1) independent clause = a complete sentence. It contains the main subject and verb of a sentence 2) dependent clause = not a complete sentence. Must be connected to an independent clause 3) relative clause = is a dependent clause that modifies a noun. It describes, identifies, or gives further information about a noun. It can also be referred to as an adjective clause. A relative clause is introduced by a relative pronoun: who, which, that, whose, whom, etc or there may be no relative pronoun. 2 types of Relative clause: 1) Defining = the information given in a defining relative clause is essential to the meaning of the sentence. A defining relative clause makes clear which person or thing we are talking about. 2) Non-Defining = the information given in a non-defining relative clause is not essential to the meaning of the sentence. In fact, that information can be taken out without substantially changing the meaning of the sentence. Commas are critical in non-defining relative clauses. A comma is put before the relative pronoun and at the end of the clause. Phrasal verbs aka multi-word verbs, consist of a verb plus one or two particles (a particle may be a preposition or an adverb, or an adverb plus a preposition). They operate as one item. 3 basic types of Phrasal verbs: 1) Intransitive = cannot be followed by a direct object 2) Transitive separable = an object pronoun can only come between the verb and the particle. An object noun can come either between the verb and the particle or after the particle 3) Transitive Inseparable = the object phrase or object pronoun both come after the particle. This type also includes phrasal verbs that have two particles: an adverb followed by a preposition.