English ClassesAn Introduction for Intermediate-Advanced Students

Im going to give you some information about what an intermediate/advanced student needs to know in order to communicate better. These will not be the only things youll need to learn, but if you use this information as a foundation for learning, you will find that the whole process will go easier for you.

At your level the process isnt so much about learning vocabulary or grammar, its about communicating effectively with the English you already know. Here I will go into three important elements to help you achieve that end.

What You Must Manage WellStructure PhraseClauseSentence

TensesMeaningAuxiliariesTime MarkersThree basic Sentence formulasActive SentencePassive SentenceQuestionModalsWhat are true modalsWhat are their characteristics?

First, communicating well in English requires that you structure your sentences and questions well. Im going to teach you two formulas that will help you with that.

Secondly, you have to have a good handle on tenses. You should know what each tense means, what their auxiliaries are, and which time markers signal which tenses. Ive got some tools you will find very useful for that.

Finally, it seems to me after many years as an instructor, that students dont learn modals well, and wind up using the modal auxiliary must too often when there are many more, and many more appropriate options available. Modal auxiliaries are very idiosyncratic, which probably explains why most students fail to use them properly. Im going to touch on the weird world of modals and tell you where to go to get more info about them.

During this presentation I will go through these three main points and give you some rules, tips, and charts. If you master this information, you will find that speaking and comprehension will be much easier.

The Anatomy of a SentenceStructure

PhrasePhrase: Any collection of words without a subject and functional verb.A phrase takes its name from the first wordin the park - Prepositional Phrasegoing to the beach - Gerund Phraseto be or not to be - Infinitive Phrase

ClauseClause: A clause is ONE configuration of a subject and a functional verb. If it is independent, it can stand alone as a sentence.I like cake. - An independent clause (also a sentence)

SentenceSentence: At least one clause. I like cake. - An independent clause (also a sentence)I went to the movies frequently when I was on vacation. (Two clauses)

The Structure of English

Formulas

Because English does not have verb endings that express the person who does an action - except in the case of the third person singular - he goes, he works, etc, English relies on structure to express who does an action.

Most sentences, therefore, must have a set structure to convey that meaning and to separate them from questions, which have a different form.

We can express nearly every sentence and every question in English as two formulas. These formulas can be repeated multiple times to create a very long sentence.

No matter how long the sentence is, it will almost always fit in one of the two formulas. With a little adjustment we can create another, special sentence, which I will include here because it is important for medical professionals.

Active SentenceSubject is what does the action.Verb is the main verb in the sentence, the one that gets conjugated.Object receives the action.

This is the most basic sentence.

Here we see that the person who does the action in the sentence comes first. We call it the Subject. Then, the action is expressed as a conjugated verb and finally, in the event that the verb is transitive, the object follows. The object is what receives the action

Note that I said immediately after. Normally, you cannot put things after the verb unless they are objects. For example, you cannot say "I went with my friend to the store," because the object of where you go is the place you go. You say "I went to the store with my friend."

Another common mistake is when you say, "Tomorrow comes my friend." I've heard that so many times, and it is wrong in so many ways! First of all, where's the subject? it's not "tomorrow." Tomorrow is an adverb (except in sentences like that). Also, the object of the verb (comes) in that sentence (my friend) is the person who does the action, so it's in the wrong place.

The correct way to say it would be, "My friend comes tomorrow," or even better, "My friend will come (is going to come) tomorrow," because we're dealing with a future event here.

When you are speaking, try to start with a subject for now. Dont put words in front of the subject. For example, Put time expressions on the end of the sentence (tomorrow, next week, etc.) to avoid confusion and to conceptualize the relationship between subjects and verbs better.

Passive Sentence Patient (original Object) comes first, the thing to be acted upon.To Be Verb is the main verb in the sentence, the one that gets conjugated.The main verb of an active sentence is expressed as a participle in passive.Agent is the person who does the action, the subject of an active sentence *When agent is needed, it is always preceded with by.A Restructuring of the Active Sentence

I am including this structure in my introduction because it is important for medical professionals. It is a kind of sentence you will always see in medical journals.

A passive sentence is really just an active sentence that makes the object more important than the subject.

Let me show you how this looks graphically. Here is a standard sentence. We talked about this already. The subject comes 1st, followed by the verb. In this particular sentence the verb is conjugated for the past tense. After the verb, comes the object.

The passive begins with the object of the sentence. That is followed by the to be verb, which is the verb that gets conjugated. In this case, the verb is conjugated for the past tense, because it was past in the original standard sentence. The to be verb is always followed by a participle. The participle was the original verb in the standard sentence. The actual subject of the sentence goes on the end, and is preceded by the word by. We call it the agent.

QuestionQuestion word, such as what, when, where.Question word object, such as what time or whose book.Auxiliary sets the tense.Subject does the action.Verb is the action. In a question the auxiliary gets the conjugation.

This is the structure of a question in English. At 1st glance, it may seem a little complicated, but take a look at the 2 elements that are not in parentheses.

The 1st element is the auxiliary, which sets the tense of the question. This always appears 1st if the question requires only a yes or no answer (Do you speak English?), and will appear 2nd if there is a question word involved with a few exceptions (when do you speak English?). The auxiliary is followed by the subject, and the subject is how you will begin when you answer the question.

At the very beginning of the question we have a question word, if you need a particular piece of information (what, when, where). A question word may be followed by a question word object (what time, which book). Dont confuse question word objects with subjects. In the sentence what time is it? The subject is it. It is 5 oclock.

Finally, after the subject in a question there is frequently a verb. The verb does not get conjugated (where do you go, where did you go), except in the perfect tenses (where have you gone?). Now, there is much more to this, but those are the basics. We will go deeper into this class.

TensesThe Three Skills You Need to Master

SkillsUsage: When to use the tenses.Auxiliaries: each tense has its own auxiliary verb(s) and are used for questions, short answers, verb substitutions, tag questions and more.Time Markers: used to fix a sentence in a particular tense.

Students do not learn the tenses very well because they lack a way to organize the many and often contradictory rules governing their use. In effect, they lack a system for organizing what they learn.

When you learn a tense, you need to keep three aspects of the tenses in mind:

- You need a clear idea of when to use the tense. for example, the present tense is used for habit and custom. The past tense is used for completed actions in the past.

Each tense has its own auxiliaries. the auxiliaries for the present tense are do and does. The auxiliary for the past tense is did

Every tense is associated with several adverbs of time. When you see these adverbs, they tend to fix a sentence in a particular tense. Usually is used for the present tense, yesterday is used for the past tense, however, since yesterday or since 5 oclock is used with the present perfect.

A Chart of the Tenses

Im going to play through a few slides which comprise a chart of the tenses. This is a work in progress, so its not complete. If you are watching the video of this presentation, you can stop the video on each page to get a better look.

The simple and compound tenses are included.

TenseUseAuxiliariesMarkersPresent Stativeexisting present state (no action)is, am, areSimple Presenthabit, customdo, does usually, sometimes, ever? never, frequently, seldom rarely...Present Progressiveongoing actionis, am, are now, these days; sometimes follows imperative (!)Past Stativepast state (no action)was, wereSimple Pastcompleted actiondid yesterday, last (week, month, etc.), ago...Past Progressiveongoing action in the pastwas, werespecific hour in past; interrupted action

TenseUseAuxiliariesMarkersFuture Stativefuture state (no action)will (be)Simple Futurefuture actionwill, going totomorrow, next (week, month, etc)Future Progressivefuture ongoing actionwill + be + -ingspecific hour in futurePresent Perfect Stativeunfinished time, no actionhave beenPresent Perfectunfinished time, time frame in which an action occurshave + participleyet/already, recently, lately, so far, up to now, since+point in time, for+durationPresent Perfect Progressiveunfinished time, ongoing, uninterruptedhave + been + -ing

Peter Mangiaracina

TenseUseAuxiliariesMarkersFuture Perfect StativeFuture event after other future event. No action.will + have + beenFuture PerfectSomething that will happen in the future after another action (expressed as present)will + have + participlewhen, by the time, by (time)Future Perfect ProgressiveSomething that will be happening in the future during another future action (expressed as present)will + have + been + -ingwhen, by the time, by (time)Past Perfect StativeAn state that occurs before another state or action in the pasthad + beenPast PerfectAn action that occurs before another action in the pasthad + been + participlewhen, by the time, by (time)Past Perfect ProgressiveProgressive action before another action in the past.had + been + ingwhen, by the time, by (time)

Peter Mangiaracina

Modals

Modals are very complicated to learn; in fact, they are actually modal auxiliaries, which means they have more in common with auxiliaries like do did and will then they do with verbs.

One of the things that complicates learning models is the fact that every modal also has an alternative, for example the alternative of can is to be able to

True Modal AuxiliariesThe true modals:Can/CouldMayMightShouldHad BetterMust(Will, Would)Peter Mangiaracina

So, in order to sort out what is a modal and what isnt, we separate things that can act like a modal from things which are true modals.

Characteristics of True ModalsTrue modals never take infinitives, they take root formsThe negative of a true modal has a distinct meaning. True modals cannot be conjugated for the pastTrue modals have different meanings in different contextsTrue modals have alternate forms that can be conjugated.Peter Mangiaracina

So that you can identify a modal, heres a list of characteristics which true modals share.

True modals never take infinitives, they use the root form of the auxiliary. We say I must go and not I must to go.

Frequently the negative of the true modal is not the opposite of its meaning. If I say please go, it means you should leave. If I say dont go, it means you shouldnt leave. However, if I say you must stop, you are obligated to stop. If I say you must not stop, it does not mean that you are not obligated to stop. It means you are prohibited from stopping. I hope you can see the difference. The actual opposite of you must stop is you dont have to stop. This is a subtlety which I hope to teach you during our time together.

True modals cannot be conjugated for the past - with one notable exception, can. Can is conjugated as could in the past. But thats it. The past tense of must is not musted

True modals have different meanings in different contexts. For example, if I say you must see a doctor, it means that it is a necessity, an obligation. But if you walk into my class and your clothes are wet, I might say, Oh! It must be raining. In this case, must is not an obligation or necessity, it is a conclusion that I draw from available evidence. Other examples: You must be tired after being on call all night (conclusion). You must eat healthy foods if you dont want to get sick (obligation, necessity).

True models have alternate forms that can be conjugated. I cant conjugate can for the future, I will can see you tomorrow. I can, however, say, I will be able to see you tomorrow.

I realize that all of this is quite a bit to take in all at once. We will get to the strange world of modals in due time. If you want to take a look at a presentation thats a little bit more in depth, you can go to my website, in the presentation section, and look for a presentation called introduction to moguls.

ConclusionsSentences and questions are controlled by formulas.Tenses are controlled by use, auxiliaries, and markers.True modals are idiosyncratic, but follow some general rules.Peter Mangiaracina

In conclusion, it boils down to 3 things:

Sentences and questions are controlled by formula.

Tensions are controlled by use, auxiliaries, and time markers.

True models are idiosyncratic, but do follow some general rules.

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Number started for this presentation. I hope you have a little better idea of how to think about English, and what to expect to be taught during our time together. For more information about me and my classes, you can contact me on the web, subscribe to my twitter account, or go directly to my presentation area, why have short presentations introducing different grammar points.

Thank you, and Ill see you in class.