Try + and + verb or Try + to + verb?

Following a link on a recent tweet, I found myself on an interesting web page called English Language FAQ. Followers of this blog know that I have, in the past, posted a few FAQs myself, usually in response to students' queries. Grammar rules often intrigue me, and drive most of us up the wall because for every rule, there are one, or three, exceptions.

The post I was reading asked this question:

Well, I thought...curious? Perhaps not so. There are a lot of anomalies between formal and informal speech, and this is one of them. To be pedantic, one can argue that 'try to + verb' is grammatically correct. But if 'try and' is used so often in informal speech, why is it incorrect?

My answer to Jay's question went like this:

If you follow the comments, the subject of Google Fight came up. Although it's an interesting idea, the results are to be digested with a pinch of salt. To further demonstrate this, and the fact that there are other peculiar forms of speech, I told Kieran, the page's editor to Googlefight 'she do' and 'she does'. In any case, here are the results of that and also that of 'he do' vs 'he does'.

Actually, if you look at it carefully, it's rather peculiar. 'He does' display 103 million hits, and 'he do', 2.45 billion, but yet, 'he does' is shown as the winner.

In the case of 'she', 'she does' gave 591 million hits, and 'she do', 958 million, but again, 'she does' was proclaimed the winner.

Talk about anomalies...

In any case, what I wanted to show was that there are many grammar rules that aren't exactly followed in informal usage, the third person singular form being one of them. Of course, popular usage doesn't make it right, but if something is used often enough, sooner or later, it creeps into mainstream use, and then, what?

Can you think of any other examples?

Lie or lay? How to remember these nasty words?

No doubt, these words are among the most problematic for a lot of people, myself included! Pop music only serves to make things worse; just as groups like The Beatles singing "She's got a ticket to ride, but she don't care" doesn't help learners with the third person singular verb, Eric Clapton's "Lay down Sally" and Bob Dylan's "Lay lady lay" don't help us with lay and lie.

What not many people realise, however, is that don't was a standard contracted form of does not until the early 20th century, and is still being used today in some parts of Britain by the British (not by foreigners in case you were thinking that) in spite of it being grammatically incorrect. Since when does colloquialism bother about grammar, right?

Similarly lay being used intransitively (I'll explain shortly) instead of lie is frowned upon, but, according to Merriam-Webster, has been used since the 14th century, and was accepted until the late 1700s, when attempts were made to correct the misuse. Just as don't for third person is being used colloquially now, so is lay instead of lie.

All that aside, you're here to learn the right forms, correct? So, let us take a look.

LAY - LAID - LAID

This is a transitive verb, meaning it needs an object: we lay someone or something down, we can lay a table, and birds lay eggs.

Remember that both Dylan & Clapton were using it 'incorrectly'.

LIE - LAY - LAIN

This is an intransitive verb, meaning it doesn't need an object: we lie on the bed, Sally lies on the grass next to me. For other meanings, click on the heading above.

We also have the phrasal verbs 'lie in - lay in - lain in' meaning to stay in bed for longer than usual, and 'lie down - lay down - lain down' meaning the same as lie. So, we can say we lie on the bed or we lie down on the bed.

LIE - LIED - LIED

This is a regular verb, meaning to say something that is not true: she's always lying about her age, why did you lie to me?

When do you use 'a', 'an' and 'one'? Are they interchangeable?

When do you use 'one', and when do you use 'a'? Are they interchangeable?

I get asked this quite often, unsurprisingly, so I'll try to explain it in words here.

'A' is used before numbers and measurements to mean 'one' and is more common in an informal style. However, in more formal language, or when we want to be precise, we use 'one':

   A hundred people came to the conference.

   One hundred people came to the conference.

Both are correct.

   I'd like a coke, please.

   I'd like one coke, please.

Although both are grammatically correct, the former sounds more natural, unless we are trying to be precise: I want just one coke, not two.

   This tablet weighs only a hundred grams!

   This tablet weights only one hundred grams!

The latter carries a stress on 'one' to indicate the lightness of the tablet.

For hundreds and thousands, we usually use 'a' at the beginning, but not in the middle:

   159      a hundred and fifty-nine / one hundred and fifty-nine

   5159    five thousand, a hundred and fifty-nine

              five thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine

However, see these:

   1000    a thousand / one thousand

   1001    a thousand and one / one thousand and one

   1159    a thousand a hundred and fifty-nine

               a thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine

               one thousand, one hundred and fifty-nine

In other words, when it is a thousand and some hundreds, we say 'one thousand', not a thousand.

While I'm on the subject of 'a', let me touch on 'an', too.

Be careful not to make the mistake of using 'an' before all vowels. 'A' is used before a word that begins with a consonant sound, while 'an' is used before a word that begins with a vowel sound.

In the above image (click it to see an enlarged version), you can see how vowel sounds are represented. When in doubt, consult a dictionary. Here are some examples of possibly confusing words:

an MP3 /ˌem piː ˈθriː/ player
a university /ˌjuːnɪˈvɜː(r)səti/
an HIV /ˌeɪtʃ aɪ ˈviː/
a hi-fi /ˈhaɪˌfaɪ/ system
an hour /ˈaʊə(r)/
a hotel /həʊˈtel/
a one-man show /wʌn/

If you are still unclear, post a comment, and I will try to help.

Related posts:

Teaching & Learning Pronunciation
Mobile Pronunciation Application
What is your English?
Pronunciation website
Pronunciation of regular past simple

A Wordle of Tricks and Ideas: 101 Ways to Use Word Clouds

There were quite a lot of questions regarding the use and creation of word clouds in my talk at TEA 2010, so, as promised, I'll try to divulge some tricks, and suggest more ideas on how to use these clouds with your students.

If you use any of these ideas, a link to this post would be appreciated. That's not too much to ask for, is it?

Why they might not work

For a list of where you can create these clouds, see the page Useful Resources, under Word Clouders. If they don't work for you, check that you have the required programs installed and allowed - check their FAQ. Wordle, for example, uses the Java web browser plug-in. If you don't know how to enable Java in your web browser, see here.

Tagxedo, on the other hand, uses Silverlight.

How they work

What word clouders do is basically read a string of words and display them in a graphically attractive format. The higher the frequency with which a word appears, the bigger the word is. So, if you want a word to appear bigger, just duplicate it several times.

Also, note that most common words and numbers are removed by default. If you find that words you input have not appeared, check the configuration. In Wordle, this is found in 'Language'; in Tagxedo, it's in 'Word Options', and in Word It Out, click on 'Word List' to change the configuration.

Tricks

Forcing words to appear together

To force words to appear together, insert a tilde (~) between the words. In Spanish keyboards, the tilde is obtained by pressing Alt Gr and 4 together. Then, press the space bar, and the tilde will appear. With Word It Out, the underscore (_) also works. You could even configure your own character to replace these.

Removing words after cloud is created

Wordle allows you to remove words after the cloud has been created, without having to redo the cloud, by right-clicking the word and selecting 'remove'.

In Tagxedo, go to Word Options, open Customise words, then click on the word you want to remove. If you make a mistake, click the same word again. It shows either skip or keep.

Inserting background images to your cloud

Here's how you can insert a background image using PowerPoint. First, prepare your word cloud. Some word clouders allow you to save your creation as an image file, while in others, you may have to resort to using Print Screen to get an image. Lately, I find it more convenient, and I think it results in better quality too, to use a snapshot tool such as Greenshot (again, look at the Useful Resources page). You select exactly what you want, copy it, and paste it in PowerPoint, without having to edit nor save the cloud.

When you have it in PowerPoint, select the cloud, click on format>recolour>set transparent colour.

Move the mouse over to your cloud (you'll see an icon with an arrowhead), and click on it. What this does is to remove the background of your word cloud.

Now, insert the image you want. Some images work better than others - it depends on the colours. Play around with it until you're satisfied. When you've inserted it, send it behind your cloud.

You'll probably find that the image will obliterate some of the words unless you have chosen an appropriate picture. You can either redo your cloud with different colours, choose a different image, or recolour your existing choice: format>recolour

Here are some more examples on word clouds with background images.

Uses of word clouds in education

There are many ways you can use them in your classroom - only your imagination sets the limit. Here are some of the ways I've used them.

1. Biography

Example in my TEA presentation, slide 47. In that instant, I used some basic information on President Obama. There are, however, many ways you can develop on this. On a new class, you can cloud yourself, and have the students form sentences or make questions. You can even make a game of it and award points for correct answers.

You can have them cloud their classmates, get them to make sentences and guess who the protagonist is.

For lower levels, you can have each student come up and key in their favourite, say, colour. Have them guess which is the most popular. Make a cloud, and see if they are right. Choose a colour, and have them guess the number of students with that as favourite. Have them guess who. And so on...

If you're brave enough, ask each student to come up and key in some adjectives they would use to describe their teacher, that is, you. You stay away from the screen. Tell them not to look at what the others have keyed in (although it doesn't matter all that much). Tell them they can repeat the adjectives.

Don't blush when you see the final cloud!

2. Jumbled sentences

TEA presentation, slide 48, shows an example of adverbs of frequency. Students put words in their correct order to form sentences. Slides 51 and 52 used science topics, and slide 55 tests on idioms.

3. Matching words

TEA presentation, slide 49, shows how you can use word clouds to work on rhymes.

In slide 50, the exercise is to match an animal to its category, e.g. whale - mammal.

Naturally, there are many other ways to test on matching. You don't have to stick to valid answers only. For example, you can work on plurals by including words that are wrongly spelled, or likewise, on tenses, synonyms, opposites, etc.

4. Gap-fill

Slide 53 shows an example of a gap-fill exercise. Again, to make it more challenging, you can include false clues.

Similarly, you can use clouds for multiple choice, or any other types of exercises where clues are needed.

5. Listening

Next time you have a listening exercise, put the clues in a cloud and they fill in the gaps. Add false clues, and have them pick out the words they actually hear.

Wordle the lyrics of a song, and have them guess the title and what it is about before they listen. You can do this for films, too, by having parts of the script clouded.

6. Find the words

Choose a topic, say Christmas. Make a cloud of words both related and non-related to Christmas. Ask students to find words related to Christmas. Ask them for their relation.

You can make it more specific. Make a cloud of many words, but only, say, five are the right ones. Example exercise: Find five reptiles, or find three vertebrates and three non-vertebrates.

7. Remembering Names

Each of us have different techniques of trying to remember students' names. Next time, in your first class, have each student come up and type in their name. Make a cloud of them. Then, have each key in three adjectives describing themselves. Make them do this very fast, or the rest will get bored. Check spellings, then make the cloud. They try to match the adjectives to a classmate, e.g. Maria is tall, shy, and kind.

Alternatively, form them into groups, and they try to guess the adjectives for the others.

If there are enough computers, you can get them to do the clouds themselves, and then guess which group the clouds belong to.

Extend this activity by using hobbies, likes and dislikes, etc.

So there you have it. Let your imagination run wild and the sky's the limit. Your feedback will be highly valued.

Word Clouds: Wordle and Beyond

    

For Your Browsing Pleasure: problems solved (kind of)

Well, I'm not sure what has happened. My files which controlled the script for the dynamic tree control disappeared. I re-uploaded them, but that didn't work either. I tried another file server, but it didn't work properly, so, for the time being at least, I've decided to use ids' (from The Blogger Guide) files.

For Your Browsing Pleasure: problems

I have to apologise to users for the malfunction of the For Your Browsing Pleasure section. My files have suddenly gone missing from the file server I'm using, so I'm looking into it. Meanwhile, you'd have to use the other options available to browse, e.g., labels, Wowzio, archives, etc.

Open or opened? Welcome or welcomed?

When do we use 'open' and when do we use 'opened'? Do we say 'You're welcome' or 'You're welcomed'?

These questions often pose problems to even advanced learners, let alone beginners. I've also seen teachers making mistakes with these.

The reason for this confusion is that the adjective form of some verbs is exactly the same as their verb form. "Open" and "welcome" are two examples. Look at these following sentences:

There's a shop around the corner that is open for business 24 hours a day.

Who left these windows open?

He was slumped in his armchair, fast asleep, snoring with his mouth wide open.

'Open' in the above examples is used as an adjective. However, in the sentences below, it is used as a verb. Remember that both the past tense and the past participle of 'open' is 'opened'.

Do you mind if I open this window?

The school gates are opened at 8.25. (Passive form)

The shop around the corner first opened in 2009.

'Welcome' is used in the same way:

You know that your friends are always welcome here.

You are welcome to that last piece of cake; I'm too full.

Everyone is welcome to attend tomorrow's meeting.

'Thank you!' 'You're welcome!'

'Welcome' in the above sentences is used as an adjective. These below use it as a verb:

They all welcomed the new proposals put forward at yesterday's meeting.

Visitors to this hotel are always so warmly welcomed. (Passive form)

I always welcome comments from my readers.

CLOSE

Although close exists as an adjective, as in 'We can walk to the cinema from here; it's quite close', when used to mean 'shut', the past participle form is used.

This shop is closed on Mondays.

Who left these windows closed?

Improved Categories Menu Using Dynamic Tree Control

I'm in the process of improving the categorization of my posts (For Your Browsing Pleasure on the left), especially with the games and quizzes as this section is getting bigger and more awkward to browse. If you've got any comments to make with regards to this; if you like to see something in some way, or if you don't like what you see, I'd love to hear from you.

Happy browsing!

Superlative adjectives without the definite article 'the'

We've always repeatedly told our students, 'Don't forget the definite article when using the superlative!' so it wasn't all that surprising when one of my students, Saulo, asked me the other day, 'Isn't that sentence wrong? Isn't it missing the definite article?'

I don't remember the exact sentence in question, but it isn't important. I'll explain the rule anyway.

When we are comparing between three or more objects, we normally use the superlative with the definite article:

New York is the most exciting city in the world. (We are comparing New York with many other cities).

Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the world. (We are comparing Usain Bolt with all the other men in the world).

My boss is the most generous person I know. (I'm comparing my boss with all the other people I know).

However, when we are comparing one object with itself, we do not use the definite article, 'the'. This is best illustrated with examples:

New York is most exciting in spring. (We are comparing New York with itself, albeit at different seasons, so we DON'T say New York is the most exciting in spring).

Usain Bolt is fastest when he is running with very fast runners. (We are comparing Usain with himself, not with other runners: we compare him when he's running with fast runners and when he's running with slower runners).

My boss is most generous when we make a big sale. (Again, I am comparing my boss at different times, so the definite article is not used).

Well, Saulo, I hope this little explanation has clarified your doubts!

Read this if you have problems entering my blog

It has been brought to my attention that some users are unable to enter this blog without seeing some error message or other. I've tried to get to the bottom of this problem, and it all points to Internet Explorer as the culprit.

There are two choices; either you install Firefox, which, in my humble opinion, is a far better browser anyway, or you have to make sure that your system has all the latest updates. Read about it in Wiki or go to Microsoft Windows Update site.

In case you're wondering, there is no problem whatsoever with having two browsers; in fact, it can be rather useful. Some web sites work better with Internet Explorer, while others have been designed more for Firefox. These are the two most popular browsers at the moment. Google Chrome is trying to get a slice of the pie, but it still has some way to go. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is which you would prefer as your default browser.

Please email me if you have any further problems.

Problems in Science games

Some of you might have been put off by the message 'Page not found' with an image of a baby crying in the two Science States of Matter games...

Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea why this is happening, but don't worry. If you scroll a little way down, you can 'click here for full screen version', and that will open the game on a new tab/window. Don't forget to tell me your scores!

Ideas for the First Lesson

Soon, it’ll be the start of the new academic year; don’t wait until the very last minute to think about ideas for the first lesson. To help you, here are a few tried and tested activities. Some of your students are possibly known to you from previous years, so you’ll probably have an idea as to what will or won’t work with them. If you have a new class, you’ll have to be flexible. Be aware that their level may not be as high as you expect, so have a few plans ready in your mind.

A. Learning names

1. Ask them to imagine they are at a party. Play cheerful music, and while the music is playing, have them walk around the class, gesturing with their hands and body, miming some dialogue, etc. with another student. Make sure they change their partners every 5-10 seconds. When you stop the music, they introduce themselves to each other, e.g. “My name’s Lara, What’s yours?” When the music is resumed, they change partners again, and when it is stopped, they ask their new partner the same question.

At the end of the activity, ask them how many names they have remembered, pointing out the student as they mentioned their names, e.g. he’s Pablo, she’s Carolina.

If you like, you can have them extend the conversation to include things about themselves. Write key words/expressions on the board: family, hobbies, pets, favourite things (football team, food, music, etc.), dislikes, and so on. At the end of the activity, check what they remember.

2. Instead of freely moving around the class, you can arrange them in two concentric circles, or in two lines, facing each other (see Ideas for practising dialogue).

3. Test their memory: the first student says, ‘My name’s María.’ The next say, ‘Her name’s María and mine’s Pablo.’ The following student says, ‘Her name’s Maria, his is Pablo and my name’s Samuel.’ This carries on until the chain’s too long for them to remember!

4. If you see they enjoyed that, you can add another piece of information, e.g. ‘My name’s María and I have two sisters.’

In these activities, it’d be best if you include yourself. Apart from learning their names firsthand you’ll be demonstrating to them that you intend to create a communicative atmosphere in your classroom.

B. Chain Whisper

You can combine learning names with another activity, such as Chinese Whispers. Ask them to form a line, but with a particular criteria which you choose. For example, you can tell them you want them in alphabetical order of their first names. Explain how the conversation should go. Write them on the board, if necessary:

What’s your name?
María.
Erm..., I’m before you – my name’s Javier.

The Chinese Whispers activity can be used to incorporate English sounds into the first lesson, too. Use the line formed as above, or form a circle. Whisper either a phoneme or a word or phrase which include the sound you’d like to demonstrate, to one student. She or he whispers what you said to the next student, and so it carries on until the last student. The last student announces the sounds or words to the whole class. You correct, if necessary.

C. Questions

From my experience, I have found that learners have tremendous problems constructing questions correctly. You could plan a questions activity to gauge their knowledge on this aspect and, if necessary, write down examples on the board for them to follow. You can always explain them in subsequent lessons.

1. Ask them to write between 3 to 5 questions on a piece of paper. While they are preparing their questions, monitor their mistakes, and help them if they have difficulties. Write examples on the board. Get them into one of the formations explained in the ‘ideas for practising dialogues’ post. They ask their partners the questions. At the end of the activity, they report their findings to the class. Example:

• Pedro, Tania, Sonia and Paula don’t like animals, but Carlota has a dog and two birds.
• Susanna has three sisters. Pablo has four brothers.
• Javier likes rock music, but Raquel can’t stand it.

2. Instead of asking the questions, they predict the answers first. Later, they report it to the class: I guessed that Paul likes salsa music, but he doesn’t. I thought that María has one sister, but she has none.

3. You could also have them asking you the questions instead of their classmates. Add some variance to this by telling them they can only ask questions which require a yes or no answer, or give them three different answers and they have to guess the right one. This may get rather noisy, so allow the questioner the first guess.

D Ask someone who

Write a few instructions on the board:

• Find someone who hates cats
• Find someone who lives near you
• Find someone who loves Japanese food
• Find someone who likes the same type of music as you

Make sure they know how to structure the questions. At the end of the activity, they tell the class what they have discovered.

E Vocabulary test

Choose a criterion and brainstorm all the words that fit it. If it’s a complete beginner’s class, ask for any English words they know. Examples of criteria you could use are words beginning with a certain alphabet, words of a certain length, or a combination of both, e.g. all 3-letter words beginning with K. The choice is limitless. Increase the challenge by further restricting the selection to nouns, proper nouns, adjectives, or verbs.

F End of Lesson

You may like to experiment this with your class – decide if there is enough rapport between the students and you for this to work. It is basically a relaxation exercise, an extension of meditation techniques, but is now gaining popularity in pedagogical circles under the guise of names such as stilling, visualization, scripted fantasy and guided imagery. Leave yourself about 10-15 minutes before the end of the lesson. The activity consists of first relaxing the students, then transporting their mind through a fantastical journey. For the latter, use your imagination, or an appropriate text from somewhere such as text books or stories.

Soft soothing music is optional.

Explain words they might have difficulty with before you start. You don't want any interruptions once you begin.

Speak to them in your most relaxed and calming voice, soft but loud enough for everyone to hear. It is best if they’re seated in a circle, but if this is not possible, decide if it is better for you to be seated somewhere in the middle or in the front (or at the back) of the classroom.

Close your eyes... Straighten your back... Sit deep in your chair, your back against the back of the chair...Put your hands on your lap...Both of your feet are flat on the floor.

Clench your fist... now relax them and feel them open.

Curl your toes...now relax them slowly.

Take a deep breath...let it out slowly...take another breath, slowly and deeply...feel your stomach expand outwards as you breathe in...breathe out slowly.

Do this a couple of times until you find them sufficiently relaxed.

Now, listen to the sounds in this room...listen to your own breath...feel it entering and leaving your body...feel your blood flowing from your heart down your left arm and up...down your left side of your body...down your left leg and up again...now it moves down your right leg...and up...down your right arm...and up...up your head...moves round, then down back to your heart.

Keep your eyes closed, but feel your third eye opening, this is your mind’s eye...look at the door...it opens...we’re leaving the classroom...we’re walking down the corridor...there isn’t anyone; they’re all in their classes...through the windows, you see that it’s a sunny day...we walk down the stairs...we walk through the door, into the open...

Feel the wind blowing into your face...feel the sun shining...feel its heat on your skin...hear the sounds of the cars...hear the birds singing...Breathe in the fresh air...

Ok, now we turn back...we walk back indoors...feel the sunlight behind you...we walk up the stairs...through the corridor....the classroom door opens...

Walk slowly to your chair...sit down gently...feel your breath...in...out...in...out...now, slowly open your eyes...move your fingers and your toes...look around you slowly...

If there is time, you might like to ask them if they had enjoyed the experience. Make sure they get up slowly and not rush out of their seats like they usually do! The body (and the mind) needs to get back to the ‘normal’ world gradually: If they stand up abruptly they might feel dizzy.

fhqhosting site down?

Ok, folks, it was just a minor hitch - it's back up again! Have fun learning!

fhqhosting site down?

Apologies - the site I used to host my flash games appear to be down today. I'll be keeping an eye on it and will post some news soon, hopefully. Meanwhile, you still can play the other games hosted on Classtools.net.

Feedburner email subscription problems

Some of you might have noticed that I'd finally solved the problem with the subscription link. I thought I'd post it in case anyone else has similar problems.

I wasn't able to access Feedburner (now part of Google) in Firefox - the page kept refreshing. Even after clearing the cache and whatnot, it remained stubborn. When I tried with Internet Explorer, it kept crashing.

So, I decided to reset IE, and hey presto, it worked!
In IE, click on tools, then Internet Options. Choose advanced, click reset and ok. A pop up warning appears. Click Reset.

How to make hyperlink open in a new window

This is for you bloggers out there. When you insert a link, by default it takes the browser away from your blog to the link. Ok, we know that by right clicking on the link, the user can choose to open the link in a new tab/window, but you probably also know that a significant percentage of users aren't aware of that. So, here's a way to force it to happen.

After writing up your post and inserting the link, click on EDIT HTML at the top. Look for the code where your link appears. Between the quotes and the greater than symbol, add target="_blank".

Be warned, however, that it has been claimed this code has been deprecated and is not XHTML compliant, but it still works for me. :-)

w00t!

W00t! I finally did it! You might have noticed that the layout of this page has been changing constantly. Well, I've finally solved the 2 things that were niggling me: I've managed to remove the header box and I've finally made the 3 column layout to work! If you're a wizard on HTML, please contact me!