Steve Jobs 24 Feb 1955 - 5 Oct 2011, R.I.P.

This is indeed a sad day for many, and whether you're an Apple fan or not, I'm sure it must have affected you.

There's nothing I can add to what has been said before, and what is still being said now, so I'll let Steve speaks for himself.

 

       

All I want is OR are...?

I recently stumbled upon a tweet by @beth0513: "Which is correct? All I smell is burning tires *or* are burning tires".

This is quite interesting. Intuitively, I'd say 'is' because I remember the song,"All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth"! But, remember my "Lay down, Sally" post? So, I decided to check up on cleft sentences, as these structures are grammatically called.

Michael Swan in Practical English Usage (3rd Edition 130.1-130.5) says "We can emphasise particular words and expressions by putting everything into a kind of relative clause except the words we want to emphasise... The words to be emphasised are joined to the relative clause by is/was and an expression like the person who, or what".

What I smelt was burning tyres.
What I wanted for Christmas was my two front teeth.

'What' can be substituted by 'all' in these cases, and it means "everything" or "the only thing". More examples:

All the students asked for was less of grammar and more of situational dialogues.
All we did at the weekend was swimming and reading.

Michael Swan went on to say "A what-clause is normally considered to be singular; if it begins a cleft sentence it is followed by is/was. But a plural verb is sometimes possible before a plural noun in an informal style."

In other words, @beth0513, we can also say, albeit informally,

All I smell are burning tyres!

I love a grammar challenge, so if you have one, send it to me!

   

Truth or Lie: Activity for any classroom

I recently responded to a blog challenge by a video recording of myself - you can see it by clicking here. Most EFL teachers are probably aware of the activity where students are asked to say some things about themselves, and the others are to guess if they're true or false.

I suggested taking this a step further and have the students bring video recordings of themselves saying those things.

But, you can take it yet another step further. Although this activity is popular in the EFL classroom, there's no reason why it can't be used in the other classes, too. The topic doesn't need to be personal; it could be on anything. Examples:

• What is a tangent, or an apex? (Geometry/Art)
• They could describe an animal or an ecosystem. (Science)
• They could talk about the rules of rugby. (PE)
• They could talk about countries, or climate. (Geography)

As you can see, the limit is the extent of your imagination! Try it and let us know!

Blog Challenge: Compare & Contrast

This challenge has been suggested by Anne & Brad.

Although there are many personal photos in my collection that I can choose, I decided on these two, which weren't taken by me. And that's all I'm going to say about them!

What can you say? Add your comments below.

Best Grammar Blog 2011

I'm very pleased to be able to say that a cLiL to cLiMB has made it to the finals of Grammar.net's Best Grammar Blog 2011 competition. Voting lasts for three weeks, from today, 26th September until 17th October. The winner will be announced on or before 27th October.

Of course, I will be chuffed if you were to vote for me (thanks to those who voted to ensure that I made it to the finals), but even if you don't, have a look at the terrific list of finalists.

Good luck to all finalists!

Adjectives with -ed and -ing endings, but how about relaxed and relaxing?

Most learners very quickly grasp the concept of the difference between adjectives ending in -ed and those ending in -ing. They would have been told that adjectives ending with -ed describe our feelings and those ending with -ing describe what cause the feelings in the first place.

Compare:

We were bored out of our minds in today's class.
Today's class was terribly boring!

Suzanne was terribly interested in what Pedro had to say.
Pedro was saying some very interesting stuff.

I was all right until he started explaining about learning theories, then I got totally confused.
I found his explanation of learning theories very confusing.

More often than not, these adjectives describe emotions and feelings. For more examples and activities, click here.

However 'relax' sometimes generates doubts.

Although we can say "I feel very relaxed working in here; it's got an extremely relaxing atmosphere" to mean I'm relaxed working in here because the atmosphere is relaxing, a relaxed atmosphere and a relaxing atmosphere can actually mean two different things.

Relaxed could mean informal, comfortable, cozy, lenient, easygoing, free from tension, calm while
relaxing refers to a feeling of physical or mental rest.

So, a relaxed atmosphere doesn't necessarily mean a relaxing atmosphere. Imagine a scenario where you work in an office where it's generally very relaxed - you can dress how you wish, working hours are flexible, managers' doors are always open, etc, but you may be an odd fish and actually find this way of working contrary to your perception of work, and, as a result, don't find working here very relaxing!

Do you agree? Can you think of other adjectives like this?

You might also like this: http://aclil2climb.blogspot.com.es/2010/04/adjectives-of-emotions-and-feelings-ed.html

What is the difference between "used to" and "would"?

I was asked this recently: What is the difference between "used to" and "would"? Let's take a closer look at this.

When we talk about repeated actions or events in the past, especially when they no longer happen, we can use "used to":

I used to bang the pillows with a pair of drumsticks.

Most grammar books actually say you can use "would" instead of "used to" in this context, but take this example:

I would bang the pillows with a pair of drumsticks.

I wouldn't say it. Why? It doesn't sound natural. But, I would say this:

When I was a child, I would bang the pillows with a pair of drumsticks.

In this example, both "used to" and "would" sound perfectly natural. The difference now is that there is a time reference attached to the action.

More examples:

I used to write poems. Not: I would write poems.

I used to/would write poems when I felt lonely.

Sheila used to go for long walks.

When Sheila was living in Sydney, she used to/would go for long walks when the weather was good.

It is worth mentioning here that we often use would to talk about annoying habits:

I would bang on tables with my bare hands everywhere I went and that would drive everyone up the wall!

Note, however, that in questions, we won't use "would":

Did you use to play the drums when you were a teenager? (Answer: yes, I did -> I was in a band)

Not: Would you play the drums when you were a child?

The same rule applies to negatives:

Rob didn't use to sing much when he was younger (suggesting that it wasn't a habit he used to have).

Rob wouldn't sing when he was younger. (This implies that he refused to sing.)

When we talk about past states, we don't use "would":

I used to live in London, and I used to own a convertible.

We used to be computer programmers.

This building here used to be a fantastic cinema.

Complicated? My advice is to stick to "used to", and you won't go far wrong. Just remember that "would" means the same sometimes.