Commonly confused Words #2

 Words Commonly Confused #2

For each of the following problems,  circle the correct choice.

Example: (Who’s, Whose) been sitting in my chair?

The correct answer is Who’s, so I would circle it

     (Who’s, Whose) book is this?

The correct answer is Whose, so I would circle it.

1. My cat had (its, it’s) kittens last night.

2. Please be (quiet, quite) during the test.

3. Our school’s (principal, principle) shaved his head when the soccer team won the

state championship.

4. Be careful with (your, you’re) new cell phone; you’d hate to lose or break it.

5. Sam just barely (passed, past) his driver’s exam.

6. When Rachel got hit with a baseball, we thought she might not be (conscious,

conscience).

7. (There, Their, They’re) going to be angry when they find out that their trees were

toilet papered last night.

8. I can’t stand it when people give me (advice, advise) that I don’t need.

9. Please put (your, you’re ) clothes in the laundry basket.

10. How many fans (were, where) at the game?

11. I’m sorry, but this restaurant doesn’t (accept, except) credit cards.

12. In science class, we learned about the Greenhouse (affect, effect).

13. When Jen told a joke, we all (burst, busted) out laughing.

14. I don’t know (who’s, whose) going to pick you up after school.

15. The (principle, principal) problem facing our company is that we need to advertise

our products more.

16. Stay on task because you don’t have (alot, a lot, allot) of time to finish the project.

17. When (your, you’re) going on a long trip, make sure to pack clothes for all weather.

18. That shirt is (to, too, two) small for you!

19. I would love to come over tonight, (accept, except) that I have to write a paper.

20. They went to dinner and (than, then) went mini-golfing.

21. I live (passed, past) the grocery store on 7th Street.

22. I was not (conscious, conscience) of the fact that my car was nearly out of gas.

23. When you go (to, too, two) the store, could you pick up a gallon of milk?

24. I would (have, of) been on time, but my car got stuck in the snow.

25. The recipe calls for (to, too, two) eggs.

26. I would rather read a mystery novel (than, then) a romance.

27. Do you know if (its, it’s) supposed to snow this weekend?

28. The girls can’t find (their, there, they’re) uniforms anywhere.

29. Yes, this test will (affect, effect) your final grade.

30. Once we have the money counted, we will (alot, a lot, allot) it among the four of us.

31. (Their, there, they’re) are several things you need to do for homework.

32. Everyone keeps telling me that I should (of, have) gone to the concert last night.

33. Have you figured out (who’s, whose) backpack this is?

34. I would not (advice, advise) you to poke the bear.

35. In the (passed, past), farmers used oxen to plow their fields.

36. (Its, It’s) been a long time since I’ve heard this song.

37. I think strawberries are better (than, then) bananas.

38. Jessie (passed, past) a police car going 10 miles over the speed limit!

39. A lack of sleep can have a bad (affect, effect) on your grades.

40. I’m going to the concert, (to, too, two).

Commonly Confused Words Worksheet

English 10A Words Commonly Confused Sentence Practice

For each pair of words listed below, write one sentence that uses both words correctly.

For example:

a lot and allot:  I didn’t have a lot of candy, but I allotted it among my friends.

1. affect and effect

2. than and then

3. loose and lose

4. accept and except

5. its and it’s

6. lay and lie

7. your and you’re

8. than and then

9. their, they’re, and there

10. quite and quite

Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Book Review

Yes, I know that books about English grammar just don't seem like light hearted reading  For the most part, when I teach in a class face to face, when I start to write sentence diagrams, the students, one by one fall asleep. . . and then the bell rings, or someone coughs, and they wake up to do the exercises or run out the door.

I'm here to tell you that this is one book about English grammar that will keep you laughing!  Where you put a comma, can change the whole sentence! 

Yes, it's true. 

http://amzn.to/1JRI8dT

How would you say the following sentences? 

A girl, without her cat, is nothing. 

A girl; without her, cat is nothing. 

Ok, well it works better with men and women, but you have to read the book for other examples!  

Have fun with punctuation! 

Here is an at home course that you can use to improve your English
Learn English at Home without a Teacher!

Rachael Alice Orbach - English teacher

Depends on or Depends upon

Many people make the mistake when using the phrase "Depends _____"  Many ESL learners put many different prepositions next to the word depend.

But, there are really two options.  One is when you are speaking and one when you are writing.

Speaking usually is less formal, and you can use "depends on."

Writing is more formal, and you have to use "depends upon"


Examples:

Spoken English:

When are you going to go to China?  Well, it depends on the price quote I can get from the factory.


Where are you going on vacation next year?  It depends on the weather, we might go to Thailand or to Bali.


Written English:

Which car you purchase depends upon which state you live in.

The lawyer depends upon his paralegal to do most of the research about the case.


I hope that this post makes it a bit clearer for you with these two phrases.

Rachael Alice Orbach - Professional English teacher.

http://www.italki.com/rachael.alice

Will/Won't Future tense English Grammar

Will and won't are one way that is used to signify the future tense in English

Example: Will is for positive events about the future

I will go to Paris next month.

Won't is used to negate an event in the future.

I won't eat meat, I'm a vegetarian!

Exercise:

Will/won’t  fill in with the correct word

1. My friend ________________________ send me an e-mail, he doesn’t have a computer!

2. They _____________________ ride bicycles tomorrow, it’s going to rain!

3. I love to play tennis, tomorrow I ___________________ play with Tom.

4. Dan and David are going to play soccer, but I broke my arm so I ____________________ play.

5. I ________________________ kick the ball to win the game!

6. Yossi is sick, he _____________________ go skiing tomorrow.

7. How can you ride a bike with a broken arm? Don’t worry I ___________________.

8. They _____________________ go to the movies today, there is too much homework!

9. She ______________________________ go to the doctor because she is sick!

10. He ___________________play computer games tonight, he has to study!

11. Marcie __________________ study at the library tomorrow.

12. Jan __________________ get a new phone, his just fell into the sink.

  13. I ________________ write a new blog post next week.

14. _______________ you come with me to the party?

15. Clean up your mess! Ok, I _________________!

There is / There are - Englis grammar

Review exerise using    There is / There are



Name__________________  Date_____________________

Fill in the correct form: There is / There are
There is : used for singular subjects  There are is used for plural subjects 

Example:  There is a woman hanging out her laundry.

1.  _______________________ a man reading a newspaper on the roof.

2. _______________________ two people leaving the hospital

3. _______________________ a workman on the roof.

4. _______________________ five people eating in the restaurant.

5. _______________________ an ambulance next to the clinic.

6. _______________________ Nan!

7. _______________________ the twins crossing the street!

8. _______________________ the bleach, under the sink.



Write your own sentences using There is or There are.
 Use correct punctuation!

1. ___________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________


Questions using There is or There are. 

Move the Is /are to the beginning of  the sentence

Example:  Is there an apple on the table?
                Are there any forks in the dishwasher?

Write in the correct form of is/are in the following questions.

1._______________________there enough room in the class for me?

2. ______________________ there any pencils in the drawer?

3. ______________________ there a jacket in the closet?

4. ______________________ there any tickets available for the concert tonight?

5. ______________________ there an extra battery for my phone? 

6. ______________________ there some people at the party already?

7. ______________________ there any dishsoap left in the bottle?

8. ______________________ there any space left on the bookshelf? 

Silent Letters in English

Silent letters in English represent a challenge both to the student and to the teacher. 

Often, the silent letter seems to serve no purpose, and this is what causes such frustration. 

Gh is one of the letter combinations that is silent. 

This is a left over from Middle English when it was pronounced.  Light, Knight, fight are some examples of this type of silent letter. 

Another type of silent letter is a word related to a cognate word, that is a word coming from another language.  phlegm  The g is silent, practically  the second a is silent. 

Then there are empty letters, that don't have a sound, but are in the spelling of the word.  
answer, the s is silent.  When I am teaching this word as a spelling word, I tell the students to pronounce the s! 
island, the s is silent, subtle, the b is silent, in ballet, the t is silent, but since this word comes from French it is easy to understand why it is silent. 

Where there are words that have come from other languages, such as Greek, many letters are silent. 
psychology, in the ps  it is not really silent, but the p is almost silent.   The word mnemonic, the m is silent.

Not all silent letters are without use however, 

There are some words that have silent letters, but serve as markers for homophones, words that have the same sound but different meanings. 

bee - be  The second e in bee tells me that this is an insect. 
see - sea  The a in sea give the word a different meaning.  
read - red  Red is the color. 

This is useful to spelling, as if you know the meaning of the word, you will know how to spell it. 

Exercise: 

Put the correct word in the blank. 

I have a _______________________________ pencil. 

Do you really want to study ____________________________?

Please ______________ reasonable, and put on a coat to go outside in the snow! 

Turn off the __________________________, your sister is sleeping.

Tell me the ________________________, and then write it down. 


Good luck with silent letters! 
Rachael Orbach 

Rachael' profile on www.limudnaim.co.il

Use the Correct Verb exercise!

I use this as a homework assignment when I am working on the irregular verb chart.

This helps to the student to actually use the verbs!

Niece: I (tear, tore, will tear) my sweater this morning!  It (is, will be, was) my favorite, I wore it all last winter!

Aunt:  Let's go to Gimbels to (get, getting, got) a new one!

Uncle: Have you (forgot, will forget, forgottn ) that Gimbels has been (close closes, closed) for a few years now?  Could you (try, tried, have tried) Saks Fifth Avenue? Don't (take, took, will take) too long. We've (getting, got, will get) tickets for a helicopter ride over Central Park at 4:00pm. and at 7:00pm we're (go, going have gone) to the Royal Ballet at Lincoln Center.

Niece What will you (doing, do, did) tomorow?  I'm (go, going, have gone) to Greenwich Village to see the street musicians.  I want to (get, go, gone) tips on outdoor performing,  I (play, played, have played) the saxophone for two years now.

Aunt: We want to (will see, have seen, see the Empire State Building and Ground Zero. I'm (go, going, will go) to put up the pictures on my blog!


Uncle: She always (takes, take, will take) my picture next to all the momuments, and puts me on her blog.  But she is never in the pictures herself!

Aunt.  Have you actually ( looked, will look,  looking, )  at the offical Website of New York City?

Uncle:  We'll (sit, sat, sitting) in the Fountain Cafe to decide how to get to the Lincoln Center.

Niece: You (knowing, know, knew) that all riders on the bus (must have, will have, had) the exact fare.  Sincethe busses (stop, will stop, have stop) running at midnight, you have to take a cab, and they take only exact change.

Uncle: Where can I (would exchange, exchange, will exchange) shekels for dollars?  Is there a black market for a good rate?

Niece:  I'll (ask, will ask, asked) in Greenwich Village when I go tomorrow.

Questions:

Where is this conversation taking place?

Why does the niece have to go shopping?

Why does she want to go to Greenwich Village?

Why is Auntie not in any pictures on her blog?

Where are they going right now?


About the Author:

Rachael Alice is available for private English lessons, as well on the www.live-english.net website. She is the principle blogger of  http://www.live-english.net/blog/ as well as the English blogger for the www.live-hebrew.net  http://www.live-hebrew.net/online/celebrating-rosh-hashana/

The short vowel u

Rachael Orbach  - this is background why it is difficult for Israeli children to pronounce the short u sound. 

The Problem With The Vowel Short U.

This vowel can be hard to pronounce by Israeli children because it doesn’t exist in Hebrew.  The Hebrew vowels are

 אִ     אּוּּ      אוֹ.     אֵ    אֶ    אָ 

The pronounciations of these vowels are:

[ i:]        /a:/     /e/      /ei/                            /u:/

There are many more vowels in English.   The vowel short u, most Israelis pronounce as as Hirik, [ i:]

This vowel u   pronounced as : / ә/   appears in the word mother, and the color rusty.  In the word rusty ,  [rәstı:]  sometimes it is pronounced  “ risty” [rıstı:]. 

The way to pronounce the vowel   /ә/ is as follows: 

The mouth is opened,  the tongue is placed on the bottom of the mouth, the throat is opened.  This is a open-mid vowel. 

Practise with the vowel /ә/ 

First I will say two words, and you will have to tell me which vowel I am saying.

We will choose   the vowel [ i:]  and the vowel  /ә/

Bit                                burr                             

Pit                                purr

Mitt                              murmur

Sit                                summer

Now you will practice saying the two words in our list.

Now say more words with the vowel /ә/

Rusty                            Humble                        Hush                            Hunt    

Roughhouse                  Gymnasium                   Gumshoe                      Mother

Run                              Fun                              Father                          Hydration

Serve                           Sesame                        Trunk                           Villager

Make up your own words with the vowel   /ә/

                         

How to teach word order in English to young children

 Word Order or Syntax 

How to teach it to young children

Rachael Orbach

Syntax is word order.  This essay will help teachers to teach the proper word order to their students.

The difference between  Hebrew speakers as compared to  English speakers shows up very early in the language learning of English.

Because language is structure dependant, the student must understand where each part of speech appears in each language. 

In Hebrew, the adjective appears after a noun, whereas in English the adjective goes before the noun in a sentence. In the following sentence:  I have a green pencil, the adjective green is before the noun pencil.   In Hebrew, יש לי עיפרון ירוק  , the adjective is ירוק   appears after the noun עיפרון .  

The difference between Hebrew and English in adjective, noun placement causes many Hebrew speakers problems.  One of these might be that students might not even know the parts of speech.  The students speaks and says the native language without being aware of why what he is saying is correct.   The students might not know the native grammar before they are being taught a new language with a different grammar.

1. Ask the students the words for everyday objects:

Pen, sweater, desk, backpack

2. A person, place or thing is called a noun.

3. Ask the students to say something about the pen, sweater or the backpack.

4. Green pen, red sweater, small desk, large backpack

5. These words that tell something about the nouns are adjectives.

6. Ask the students to put the two words together.

7.  this explaining word is an adjective and it goes before the noun, whereas in Hebrew the adjective goes after the noun.

 One way to reinforce this idea is to read a book to the class, I have chosen, is Mary Wore Her Red Dress, by James Cross Giblin.   Each page has a different noun and a different adjective.  The students then can add different adjectives, instead of colors, small, short, long, big, little can be used and sung in the song. 

Passive Simple and Passive Past Simple

Here is a sample of an exercise that I wrote this past week for class.

If you want to see my creative writing go to: www.rachaelorbach.weebly.com

Name________________________ Date__________________________

Argentina thieves tunnel into Buenos Aires bank

Bank robbers in Argentina have tunnelled into a vault and emptied more than 100 safety deposit boxes, police say.

The robbery in Buenos Aires was only detected when bank staff returned to work after the new year weekend.

The thieves are thought to have spent six months digging a 30m (100ft) tunnel complete with lights and ventilation.

Alarms were heard several times overnight but police saw the doors of the bank were shut and took no further action.

Bank executives did not say how much was stolen as the contents of the deposit boxes are confidential.

Hundreds of angry clients were gathered outside the state-owned Banco Provincia branch in the Buenos Aires district of Belgrano to demand their savings and find out if their boxes were broken into.

Exercise:

1. Find all the passive verbs Circle Present Simple Passive, Underline Past Simple Passive.
2. Write your own passive sentence about this event:

Form of Passive :

Present Simple:

Write the sentences that your teacher dictates in this tense:

Form of Passive

Past Simple

Write the sentences that your teacher dictates in this tense: