LESSON 23: Compound adjectives for describing people in English

Soft-spoken
Self-conscious
Well-behaved
Left-handed
Right-handed
Middle-aged
Middle-class
Easygoing
Good-looking



Strong-minded. Decidido.
Hard-working(worker. Muy trabajador.
Thick-skinned.Poco sensible.
Soft-hearted.Compasivo,bondadoso,no muy estricto.
Hot-headed. Impetuoso,irascible

Other compound adjectives for describing people.

Cool-headed. Imperturbable.
warm-blooded. De sangre caliente.
cold-blooded. De sangre fria.
old-fashioned. Anticuado, pasado de moda.
Kind-hearted. De buen corazón, bondadoso.
hard-hearted. De corazón duro, despiadado.
hard-headed. Testarudo, cabezota.
hard-hitting. Implacable, feróz.
hard-boiled,hard-bitten. Endurecido,insensible.
strong-willed. Con mucha fuerza de voluntad.

LESSON 22: Motor vehicles. Differences between American and British

Tara lives in England and she has a car. Tammy lives in the USA, and she has an auto. She also sometimes calls this a car, but for her this is also a car. Tara calls it a 'railway carriage'. Though Tara and Tammy are both drivers, there are many differences between their vehicles. Did you notice the real difference? Tammy's steering wheel is on the left, because unlike the English, Americans drive on the right-hand side of the road. But the main difference is in the language that Tammy and Tara use to describe cars and driving - this can be very confusing.

Let's start from the bottom and move up. This vehicle is on the road surface. For Tammy, the road surface is the pavement (here is Tammy walking on the pavement). In England, the pavement is the place on the side where pedestrians walk. Tammy calls that the sidewalk. So Tammy drives on the pavement in the USA, but Tara would be arrested for driving on the pavement in England. There are a few other things for drivers to watch out for. In the USA this is a freeway. In England it is a motorway. Neither freeways nor motorways have what the English call traffic lights, and the Americans call traffic signals; and the middle light is called 'the yellow light' in America but 'amber' in England.

But let's go back to the motor vehicle. Tammy and Tara agree that the wheels have tyres. But Tara spells the word 'tyres' and Tammy spells it 'tires'. Things don't get better as we move up. Look at this part of the vehicle. What does Tara see? She sees a bumper with number plates. Tammy sees something different. She sees a fender with license plates. For Tara, the short form of 'number plates' is 'plates'. when Tammy wants to be brief, her license plates are called 'tags'.

Tammy and Tara agree that their vehicle has an engine. Tara's engine uses petrol, and she gets it from the local garage or petrol station, but Tammy's engine runs on gas, or gasoline, and she gets it at a filling station. Her car has a gas pedal which makes it go faster. (Which is why Americans say 'hit the gas' when they mean 'speed up.') Tara's car has an accelerator to make it go faster. And where is the engine? For Tara it is under the bonnet. Over in America Tammy thinks a bonnet is a good-looking hat, like the one she's wearing now. Her auto's engine is under the hood.

When Tara wants the car to go backwards, she reverses. Tammy backs up. Perhaps this is because things are also different at the back of the car. Tara's car has a boot. Tammy's car has a trunk. And remember,if Tammy is going to stop the car 'momentarily' it means she will stop IN a moment. But for Tara in England, when she stops momentarily, she stops FOR a moment and then carries on driving.

It's just as well that Tammy and Tara don't drive in each other's countries, because there might be a minor traffic accident. Or as Tammy would say, 'a fender-bender'.

LESSON 21: LITTLE BRITAIN

LESSON 20: THE GERUND IN ENGLISH (EL GERUNDIO EN INGLÉS)

El gerundio inglés se forma añadiendo la 'ing' (sin 'to') al infinitivo del verbo.


To play------> playing

TERMINACIONES

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en consonante precedida de una sola vocal pronunciada más fuerte, la consonante última se duplica:

To sit ------> sitting

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en '-e' muda, ésta desaparece.

To drive----> driving

- Cuando el infinitivo termina en 'ie' cambia a 'y' + 'ing'

To lie ------>lying

USO DEL GERUNDIO

- Como sujeto en una expresión cuando nos referimos a hechos en general.

Reading English is easier than speaking it. Leer inglés es más fácil que hablarlo

Smoking is bad for your health. Fumar es malo para la salud.

Reading is a good way for learning new vocabulary. Leer es una buena manera de aprender nuevo vocabulario.

Swimming is easy. Nadar es fácil

Going to parties is fun. Ir a fiestas es divertido.

- Como complemento directo (objeto directo) de ciertos verbos y expresiones: like, dislike, love, enjoy, deny, suggest, consider, miss, admit, avoid, finish, imagine, practise, stop (pero no stop to, que va seguido de infinitivo), remember (pero no remember to que va seguido de infinitivo)…

His hobby is painting. Su hobby es la pintura

I enjoy reading. Disfruta leyendo.

She loves dancing. Le encanta bailar.

She loves playing the piano. Le encanta tocar el piano.

He enjoys cooking. Disfruta cocinando.

I want to avoid speaking to them. Quiero evitar hablar con ellos.

They remember seeing her leave an hour ago. Recuerdan haberla visto salir hace una hora.

Have you finished doing your homework? ¿Has terminado de hacer los deberes?

- Cuando a un verbo precede de forma inmediata una preposición (in, at, of, to, for, from, while, after, before, by, without,…).

I’m good at drawing. Se me da muy bien dibujar.

We’re tired of waiting. Estamos hartos de esperar.

Did he give any reason for arriving so late? ¿Dio alguna razón por haber llegado tan tarde?

After swimming I felt cold. Después de nadar me sentí resfriado

They had difficulty in finding a parking place. Tuvieron dificultad para encontrar una plaza de aparcamiento.

Before going to bed he turned off the lights. Antes de irse a cama el apago las luces.

She avoided him by walking on the opposite side of the road. Ella lo evito caminando por el lado opuesto de la carretera.

We arrived in Madrid after driving all night. Llegamos a Madrid después de conducir toda la noche.

He told the joke without laughing. Contó la broma sin reírse.

- Después de ciertos adjetivos.

He’s afraid of going by plane. El tiene miedo de ir en avión.

I’ am interested in visiting the museum. Yo estoy interesado en visitar museos.

He is clever at skateboarding. El es hábil con el monopatín.

The girl is crazy about playing tennis. La niña esta loca por jugar al tenis.

I’m worried about making mistakes. Estoy aburrido de cometer errores.

- Después de ciertos nombres seguidos de preposiciones.

What is the advantage of farming over hunting?. Cual es la ventaja de cultivar sobre cazar.

There’s no point in waiting any longer. No sirve de nada esperar más.

He is in dubt about buying a new car. Duda sobre comprarse un nuevo coche.

There’s a real reason for winning the contest. Hay una razón real para ganar la competición.

- Se utiliza frecuentemente después de los verbos 'to go' y 'to come'



Come sailing with us next Saturday. Ven a navegar con nosotros el próximo sábado

- Detrás de ciertas expresiones: get/be used to, can’t help, can’t stand, don’t/doesn’t mind, it’s no use, look forward to, …

I can’t imagine them playing golf. No me los imagino jugando al golf.

They are getting used to working with computers. Se están acostumbrando a trabajar con ordenadores.

It’s no use complaining. No merece la pena quejarse

- Siguiendo la estructura VERB+PREPOSITION+ING FORM: insist on, think of, dream of/ about, participate in, approve of, talk about, agree on, feel like, work on, decide on/against, apologise for, believe in, depend on, get on with, pay for...

I’ve always dreamt of living in Paris. Siempre soñé con vivir en Paris.

I am working on improving my English. Estoy trabajando para mejorar mi inglés.

- En algunas expresiones de prohibición.

No smoking. Prohibido fumar

- Se emplea para obtener la forma progresiva de los verbos.

I am reading a book. Estoy leyendo un libro

LESSON 19: IRREGULAR VERBS

LESSON 18: Word Stress in Sentences

Many words in spoken English are unstressed and this makes then hard to hear. In order to understand word stress, you need to know about content and function words.

• Content words are the big words: In general are stressed and they are fairly easy to hear. They are nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

• Function words are the little words. In general are unstressed, and sometimes they can be very hard to hear. They are articles (a, an, the), pronouns (you, she), prepositions (in, on, at) , and helping verbs (have, is, does, did, will)

LESSON 17: English pronunciation

LESSON 16: PRONUNCIATION HAMBURGUER

I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A HAMBURGUER

LESSON 15: PRONUNCIATION THE SCHWA

The phonemic symbol for this sound is:

 







Interesting links:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/pron/features/schwa/