The Auxiliary Verb ‘Do’

The auxiliary verb ‘do’ in English (also called a helping verb), has the job of giving further information about the main verb in a sentence. It is used most commonly in interrogative (question) and negative constructions. Such as these examples:

1. Do you want to go to the party on Thursday? / Does he like the new sweater you bought him? (interrogative, yes/no answer)
2. What do you want to do this weekend? What does he like to do on Saturdays? (interrogative with ‘Wh” word, information answer)
3. I don’t want to go to the party. / He doesn’t like the sweater. (negative)

Also, when using an auxiliary in a sentence, we do not change the main verb, it stays in the infinitive form. The same rule applies when using the past auxiliary ‘did’.

Example:

She likes reading books.  (We change the verb ‘like’ to 3rd person singular.)

She doesn’t like reading books. (The verb stays in its infinitive form)

The structure of the sentence:

Negative Statement: Subject + Auxiliary + ‘not’ + Verb

I don’t like going to the movies.
She doesn’t eat meat.

Information Question: ‘Wh’ Question Word + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb

Where do you live?

Who does she look like?

*When answering this type of question, we do not use the auxiliary ‘do’ in the answer.

What does she like to eat for lunch.

She likes to eat salad.

 She does like to eat salad.

Yes/No Question: Auxiliary+Subject+Verb

Do you go to Europe in the summer?

Does your sister study Spanish?

*When answering yes/no questions, we can use the auxiliary in the answer:

Do you like spinach?

Yes, I do. or No, I don’t.

Or we can just answer yes or no.

Do you want some water?

Yes, thank you.

We use ‘did’ for the past tense in all persons:
 

Negative Statement: Subject + Auxiliary + ‘not’ + Verb

I didn’t like the movie we saw last night.

She didn’t like horror films when she was a child.

They didn’t have class on Monday.

Information Question: ‘Wh’ Question Word+Auxiliary+Subject + Verb

What did I say to you?

What did he study in college?

Who did they say they were visiting last week?

Yes/No Question: Auxiliary+Subject+Verb

Did you like the zoo?

Did your mother cook this meal?

Did we forget our books on the table?

 

Here are exercises for practice:

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day
provided by The Free Dictionary

Study Tips for Language Learning

Learning a language can be a long, hard road. Anything that we can do that would be helpful in achieving our goal is always appreciated. I know I do when someone gives me an idea on how to do something better or in a different way.

Everyone has a their own system for studying, and  sharing study tips can be helpful. Perhaps they can give you an idea on how to get over that particular stumbling block that's been in your way.

While reading theses tips, try to imagine how they would affect or improve the way you study.

• Watch, listen and imitate. How do little babies learn to speak? They watch the people around them, listen to the sounds that are made and imitate them. You can tell that they understand what is being said to them after a while, but it takes a little longer for them to vocalize these same words. Nevertheless, this is a good system to use when trying to learn a language. 

Watch videos, movies, TV or just watch and listen to people who are using English outside or inside the home. 

Listen to the other students in your class when they speak. Did they pronounce correctly? Did they use the correct word? Was there a mistake? You can learn a lot from your own or other people's mistakes. Pay attention.

• Speak. You have to speak out loud in order to hear yourself pronounce the words. Saying something in your head isn't going to be enough. Read books aloud or read your lessons aloud when you study. 

Learn short phrases and practice them until you say them right.  

Record yourself and listen to the way you are pronouncing words. 

Speak up in class and if your teacher corrects you, repeat the correction over and over a few times. 

Watch learning videos online and repeat the lesson in front of the mirror. Does your mouth move in the same way when you pronounce those words?

• Keep a vocabulary notebook. I would recommend a beginner to learn at least 5 new words a day and higher levels more. You know best what you can do. 

Buy a small, cheap notebook and draw a line down the middle of the page. On the left write the words you are learning and on the right the translation of the word in your language. Then, fold the page so that the words in your language don't show. 

After that, study the words, recite them, spell them, and learn the definition in English. As soon as you have learned all the words on that page, you can start a new page in the same way, except that while learning the new daily words, you have to review all the words you have previously learned. 

If you have forgotten any of the old words, you must write it on a new list and learn it again. 

This is a pretty good system and I've had a lot of success with it over the years.  

•   Read everything you can in English. Practice trying to read by context. Do not translate every single word, it will take you forever. 

Start out with children's books because they're fairly easy to read and you will start to be familiar with common phrases. Also, they usually have pictures and those will help you with understand the context. 

Listen to a song in English, perhaps something slow, and look up the lyrics on the Internet. This will help you to practice reading quickly while you follow the words of the song on the screen. 

Get the English version of your countries newspaper or even get English newspapers online. 

Whatever you do, just practice your reading every day. Being consistent is what helps you to become better.

•  Make a study schedule and keep it. Take a certain time, every day and set that aside for your language learning studies. 

It doesn't have to be once a day, you can divide it up into different segments. Perhaps a half hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon and another slot of time in the evening. Do whatever your time will allow, but do it. 

Your study area should be neat and free of noise. You can't concentrate in a noisy, cluttered space.

Do not deviate from your schedule. If you absolutely have to, you must make up for it. For example, if you have an appointment and can't study at your usual time, make your study time earlier or later the same day. You should really try to keep to your schedule as much as you can.

Do you have any tips that you use and you feel they help you immensely? What other study habits do you think are good for learning a language? Do you think it makes a difference having a scheduled time to study? 

Please feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion below in 'comments'. I'd love to hear from you!

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

Pronunciation of 's' or 'es' endings in English

Similar to the 'ed' endings on English verbs, the 's' or 'es' we add to nouns and verbs do not sound the same. It also depends on the end sound of the word that it is attached to. Watch the slide show below.

Pronunciation of 'S' endings

View more presentations from ydietzel.

Here are some good listening exercises I found on You Tube:












Feel free to leave a comment (Click the word 'comments' below), question or suggestion.


Have a wonderful day!

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

Pronunciation of 'ed' Endings on Regular Past Tense Verbs

Students are often confused by the pronunciation of 'ed' endings of the regular past tense verbs in English. There are three rules on the pronunciation of 'ed' endings, they are:

1. If the end sound in the word is k, s,ch, sh, f, p, th, the 'ed' is pronounced 't'.

Example: baked - puffed - stopped - missed - wished - watched

2. If the end sound in the word is 't' or 'd', the 'ed' is pronounced 'id'

Example: tested - waited - ended -  faded

3. All others are pronounced 'd'.

Example: rubbed - dragged - waved - caused - judged - called - seemed - cared - loaned - flowed - annoyed

Now remember in all these cases we are not talking about spelling, we are talking about sounds. Don't get confused by that. Pronounce the word first without the 'ed' ending to listen to what exactly the end sound is, then you will know how to pronounce the ending when it's attached to the word.

English

Pronunciation Quiz

View more webinars from jamie wilmott.

Here are some more practice lessons:

Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4

Feel free to leave a comment, question or suggestion. (click on the word 'comments' below)

Word of the Day

espousal
Definition:	The act of accepting with approval; favorable reception.
Synonyms:	adoption, acceptance, acceptation

Word of the Day
provided by The Free Dictionary

'S' Endings in English

 There are three instances when we add an 's' (or 'es') to the end of a word in English. They are:

1. Plural 's' is used when we change a noun from singular to plural.

•  hat / hats
•  car / cars

You must add 'es' for nouns that end in 'ch', 'sh', 's', 'x', and 'z'.

• watch / watches
•  box / boxes

     For nouns that end in a consonant + 'y', you must take off the 'y' and add 'ies'.

• lady / ladies
• city / cities

If the noun ends in a vowel +'y', just add 's'.

• boy / boys
• day / days

If the noun ends in 'f' or 'fe', we take off the 'f' or 'fe' and add 'ives'. But not in all cases, Sometimes we only add 's'. The difference is, if the ending 'f' has a soft 'f' sound we add only 's', but if it has a hard 'f sound, we add 'ives'.

• cliff / cliffs
•  roof / roofs
• thief / thieves
• wife / wives

If the noun ends in 'o', we add either 's' or 'es'. If a vowel comes before the 'o', we add only 's'. If a consonant comes before 'o', we add 'es'.

• radio /radios
• disco / discos
• tomato / tomatoes
• hero / heroes

 2. When using simple present third person singular (he, she, it).

• Mr. Smith plays tennis everyday.
• She writes to her mother all the time.
• The earth spins on its axis.

You must add 'es' for verbs that end in 'ch', 'sh', 's', 'x', and 'z' or end in consonant + 'o'.

• He always washes clothes on Saturday.
• Mother fixes broken clocks in her free time.
• Sally does housework on Fridays.
• She goes to school four days a week.

Verbs ending in vowel + 'y', just add 's', but verbs ending in consonant + 'y', take off the 'y' and add 'ies.

• She plays the piano well.
• Mother worries too much.

3. When showing possession. In this case we add 's' to the end of a name and it means 'belonging to someone' (someone, a person or people).

• That is Mary's  book.
• The Smith's house is green.

If the name already ends in 's', then we just add an apostrophe ( ' ) at the end of the word.

• That is the Jones' car.
• The Wess' store was robbed last night.

These are the three rules for adding an 's' to the end of a word in English. I hope this is helpful . Also, please feel free to leave a question or comment in the comment box below. (Click on the word 'comments' and it will open), or you can email me.

~Have a great day!

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

The Simple Present Tense to express the Future

I know, it sounds strange. Present tense to talk about future?

This is a very simple rule in grammar and it's used to talk about something that has been scheduled, like a trip or an appointment with the doctor that will happen soon, in the near future. Another thing to remember is that almost always a time is indicated, or voiced.

Here are some examples:

• I take the bus tomorrow at 8:00.
• I go to the doctor at 4 o'clock this afternoon.
• She runs in the marathon in three days.
• I start spring cleaning this week.

Another way we use the simple present to express, or talk about, the future is in a dependent adverb clause.

A dependent clause is a part of a sentence that cannot stand alone, it must be used with an independent clause or it won't make any sense. Also, in a complex sentence, a sentence that has both a dependent and independent clause, there will be an clause marker like in example below:

I'll go to the store when I finish cleaning the house.

Here we can divide the sentence into two parts.

1. I'll go to the store,
2. when I finish cleaning the house.

Part 1. is a dependent clause, which means it is a complete sentence with a complete meaning by itself.

Part 2. is an independent clause, which means alone, the meaning isn't complete, it doesn't make sense. In this case it is a dependent adverb clause and the clause marker is the adverb 'when'.

Now, to use simple present to express future in a complex sentence, like in the example above.

• The teacher will give the exam when the students sit down.
• I'll go to the new dentist after you go.
• Before we take the bus, we will have to get a schedule.

That's it! These are the only ways to use the present simple tense to express a future action. Thank you to my lovely friend from Germany for asking me about this. 

If anyone has a comment or a question, feel free to leave a comment in the comment box below (you have to click on the word 'comments' and it will open) or you can email me by clicking the link on the right side of the page and also in the 'Contact Me' tab.

Have a great day!

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day provided by The Free Dictionary

Have Faith in Yourself!

Today I'm going to share something that no teacher should tell her students. When I was in school I absolutely hated English class! There! The cat's out of the bag… Uh oh!

Now, though, I really find English interesting, the structure and most of all the history. And I absolutely love teaching it. The rewards are endless, especially when you get that student who asks questions, participates, and really, truly wants to learn.

So let me explain just why my teachers turned me off in my early years. (In the past when I was young)

The first teacher that made me hate English in school was my 9th grade Reading teacher. I was in a speed reading class (that was a new trend back in the old days) and there were two boys that sat in front of me. One day they just kept doing things, like banging their chairs against my desk or making stupid, whispered comments, that only I could hear. I got caught by the teacher (who was not in a good mood that day)  when I slapped one of them across the back of his head. Well, she didn't want to hear what I had to say, dragged me into the hall and proceeded to paddle me (hit me with a small board across my behind). Yes, back in those days teachers could spank students. Nevertheless, I never attended her class again.

The second teacher was when I was in 10th grade. To this day I don't know what her problem was, but she was just plain mean to everyone. We had an assignment to write a poem, and I went home and just poured my heart out in this poem. I was so proud of myself (and no, I won't post it here *giggle*). The next day I took it to class and gave it to her. She read it, looked up at me and formed a scowl with her mouth. "What is this?", she asked. I told her it was my poem and I had worked on it all night. She sneered and said, "This looks like something off a Hallmark card." I didn't know what she meant! This was my heart on paper! I wanted to run away crying, but I turned off all emotion and sat down at my desk.  I never tried to write another poem until I was much older. I didn't know if she thought card writers were bad, though I'm sure they make a good living at it, or if she thought I plagiarized it. I didn't care what she meant because she hurt my feelings and I hated her for it.

So now for my point in writing all of this. Everyone gets humiliated. Sometimes we get over it quickly and sometimes it lingers in our minds for years. I want to say this: Don't let anyone humiliate you when you are trying to learn! Ever! 

I have students who hate English class (ESL students),  because their teachers or other students make fun of them. I always try to reassure them that all speakers of a new language have problems with pronunciation and other skills, it's nothing to be ashamed of.  Also, those teachers and students might make fun because they are insecure themselves. No teacher should make fun of their student! Period!

Try your hardest,  practice all the time and eventually you will be perfect! Never let anyone try to get in the way of your goal. When it seems more than you can handle, slow down a little bit. You can do it,  I have faith in you!

Please write any questions or comments below. Click on the word 'comments' and the comment box will open.

Word of the Day

cloven
Definition:	Split; divided.
Synonyms:	bisulcate

Word of the Day
provided by The Free Dictionary

Simple Past Tense

This was the president's car.

Simply put, the simple past tense is an action that takes place in the past, a series of completed actions or an action that went on for a duration of time but ended in the past. The time is before now, which could be a thousand years, a hundred years, or even one second ago. 

It began in the past and it ended in the past. And like the simple present it expresses habits and routines (in the past), and general truths or facts that are no longer true.

The form for simple past is to add an 'ed' at the end of the verb for common verbs and for irregular verbs we change the the word itself. 

An example of an irregular verb is the verb 'to be', of which the simple past forms are 'was' and 'were'. Students usually catch on to the 'ed' ending because it's fairly easy to comprehend, but they always ask me how they can remember the irregular verbs. Well, there is only one answer: memorize them. 

It takes some time, but with a system, you can memorize practically all of them. Write them in a notebook and study them every day. Maybe you could try learning 5-10 a day or every two days. Write them in the notebook and when you're sure you have them memorized, write some new ones on a new page. Make sure when you go back and look at the new ones, read the ones you have memorized just in case you've forgotten one and also so you don't forget them.

Now here are some examples of using the simple past:

A completed action in the past:

• I saw my grandmother yesterday.
• Mother cooked dinner yesterday evening.
• I left my book in the car. 

A series (more than one, one after the other) of completed actions:

• Nick came home, made a sandwich and watched TV.
• Mother cooked the meal and washed the dishes.

Something that started in the past, went on for a duration of time and ended. They should be used with a stated time in the past:

• John went to Ohio State University for two years.
• We were at the beach all day yesterday.
• She lived in Istanbul for ten years.

Past habits or routines:

• I worked at McDonald's when I was younger.
• When we were children we played together.
• She ran all the time in high school.

Past truths or generalizations:

• David lived in Texas when he was in school.
• They liked broccoli when they were children.
• The astronauts walked on the moon.

If you just keep in mind these simple rules, memorize your irregular verbs and practice using the past tense every day, you will master it in no time.

Here are a few exercises to help you to test yourself.
Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5 
Exercise 6
Exercise 7
Exercise 8
Exercise 9
Exercise 10

As always, I hope this lesson was helpful. Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Present Simple Tense

Grammar can be very confusing when learning a new language. Tenses, verb conjugation, sentence structure. It really is a lot of information to be remembered along with memorizing words and their spelling. It can be a long, slow process, but there is nothing wrong with that. There are people who catch onto languages very quickly and others who need to go at a slower pace. No matter which one you are, just remember everyone is different in how they look, talk and walk, so it only goes on to reason that everyone is also different in the process of learning, no matter what kind of learning it is. 

The important thing is to go step by step, just like a baby. Learn one step thoroughly before going on to the next. Most English language books or courses start with the basic, fundamental steps first. The reason for this is that you (the student) need to know these things because they will be applied to other things as you you go along. Understanding the basics will help you in understand the more complex parts of grammar and structure when you get to that point. Remember, don't be in a hurry. Relax and make your learning enjoyable.

As Teddy pointed out in his comment to me earlier today, many students have a hard time knowing when to use the present, past and other tenses. Below is an explanation of the present simple tense. I think this will be enough to start with for now and I will follow up on it in the coming days.

We use the present simple tense in the following ways:

1. To talk about habits and or routines: I go to school everyday. / I swim every summer.
2. Facts or general truths: The earth is round. / The tiger attacks its prey.
3. To present thoughts, feelings, states or conditions: I understand. / The teacher thinks we are good students. / They like ice cream. /  It is warm today. / The north pole is always cold. 
4. To show scheduled events in the near future (The simple present tense will show future) My plane takes off at nine a.m. tomorrow. / We go to Disney World next week. 
5. To show events at any time in the future in a dependent clause: I'll cook when everyone comes home. / She eats when she is happy.

In the present simple, English uses the verb in its base (infinitive) form, without any additional endings.

• (walk) I walk my dog every morning at ten. 
• (drive) You drive very well. 
• (eat) I always eat lunch at 12:00 p.m.

But when we use it in third person singular (he, she or it), we add an 's' or an 'es'.

• (walk) Mary walks her dog every morning at ten.
• (drive) He drives very well.
• (eat) My father always eats lunch at 12:00 p.m.
• (wash) She washes dishes as soon as they are finished eating.

The present simple tense is very often used with adverbs of repeated time:

• (never) I never swim after I eat.
• (always)  He always forgets to walk the dog.
• (sometimes) I sometimes look for sales on the weekends. 

 Here are some links to exercises that can help you to apply what you have just read, enjoy! Practice makes perfect!


Exercise 1
Exercise 2
Exercise 3
Exercise 4
Exercise 5 
Exercise 6 
Exercise 7 
Exercise 8 
Exercise 9
Exercise 10

'To Be' or not 'To Be'

In all the years that I have been teaching English, I have found that one of the most or perhaps even the most troublesome verb in the English language for learners of English is the verb 'be' (am, is, are). The verb 'be' is the most used verb in the English language. Well, this verb, along with many others, is an irregular verb. Unlike regular verbs, irregular verbs conjugate differently and the reason for this is the history of those particular verbs, which I won't elaborate on here. The literal meaning, simply put, is to exist. You can find the conjugation table and other helpful information at ESL Gold.

The best way to remember the ways of using 'be' is practice, practice and practice some more. Sometimes people are not in an English speaking country where they can go out and talk to people in order to practice their language skills. Here are some helpful tips on how you can practice alone.

• Create flashcards or find flashcards (click study when the page opens) online to test yourself. You can also make flashcards by just using 3X5 cards and writing a sentence with a missing word on the front and the answer on the back. Such as this:

 Front

Back

• You Tube has a lot of English practice videos for the verb 'to be'. These are very helpful because you can watch the movement of the mouth forming the words as well as hear the correct pronunciation.
• When at home with your family, form sentences while doing everyday things. For example: I am sitting down. My mother is cooking. We are going to sleep now.
• Test your knowledge by taking an online test. Bradley's English School has a user friendly test that you can use to check yourself. You may also be able to find useful tests that fit your needs for general English at English-Test.Net.

 Learning a new language is fun, so don't let the little things that seem difficult get you down. In time it gets easier. Just keep on practicing and don't give up. Remember: Use it or lose it!
Feel free to leave any comments or questions and don't forget follow me or subscribe so you can get your answer and keep up with the posts to come!