My Skype Lessons

12/05/2017

Even the best of us can make a mistake.

09/05/2017

Don't let bitter old men hold you back!

03/05/2017

Another quick-and-easy grammar meme.

27/04/2017

https://youtu.be/mPuqJR4NEB4

Download this video (with mp3 version and full transcript) in a special collection of Master English Conversation 2.0 lesson sets available here → http://www...

23/04/2017

Here is my quick-and-easy grammar meme. Please share.

26/03/2017

How long/how often/how many times...?

Hello everyone,

To help English learners everywhere get a grasp of the oddities of the English language, I'm going to post a series of English Q&As. Enjoy!

Bye for now,

Karl at:

http://www.myskypelessons.com/

Q: How can I use 'how long','how often' and 'how many times' properly?

A: How long? is used to ask questions about amounts or periods of time. Take a look at the following: • 'How long have you been waiting?' 'Only for a minute or two.'

• 'How long have they been married?' 'Oh, for a very long time. More than 25 years.'

• 'How long will the concert last?' 'It should be over by ten o’ clock, I think.'

• 'How long was your stay in Malaysia?' 'The project lasted for two years, but I was there for two and a half years.'

• 'How long have you been living in this house?' 'For 12 years now, ever since my mother died.'

• 'How much longer can you stay?' 'Not much longer. For another ten minutes perhaps. I have to be home before midnight.
Note that this construction is often used with the prepositions for or since in the reply.



How long...? can also be used to ask about the measured length of something. Study the following:• 'How long was the wedding dress?' 'It was very short, knee-length really.'

• 'I see you are growing your hair. How long do you want it to be?' 'Shoulder-length at least.'



If you use the construction How many times…?, you are enquiring about the specific number of occasions something has happened. Study the following:• 'How many times have you read that book?' 'At least ten times. I really like it.'

• 'How many times did you visit them last summer?' 'Almost every weekend.'

• 'How many times did the phone ring last night?' 'We must have had about twenty calls.'

• 'How many times have I told you not to play football in the garden?'



Note that the construction How often…? is more versatile and is used more frequently than How many times…?

When you use this construction, you are asking about how frequently something happens. Unlike How many times…? which usually refers to past occasions, How often…? is used to refer to past, present and future situations. Take a look at the following examples:

•'How often do you plan to play tennis this summer?' 'As often as possible. Every day, if I can.'

• 'How often will you visit your mother in hospital?' 'I shall try to visit at least once a week.'

• 'How often did you go to the cinema when you were young?' 'Every weekend, without fail. There was no television then.'

• 'How often do you go to the big supermarket to do your shopping?' 'Not very often. Perhaps once a month.'

• 'When you lived in London, how often did you go to the theatre?' 'We used to go three or four times a year – something like that.

19/06/2016

Apart vs. A Part: What’s the Difference?

Hello everyone,

It can be difficult to remember the difference between “apart” and “a part.” They are awfully close in their appearance, and when you say the words verbally, they are almost indistinguishable. But despite similar sounds, the two have very different meanings, making it that much more important to keep them straight.

What is the Difference Between Apart and A Part?

In this post, I will clear up any confusion you may have about apart vs. a part and give you a few ways to remember the differences.

When to Use Apart

Apart or a part grammar rules

“Apart” is an adverb meaning (of two or more people or things) separated by some distance; at a specified distance from each other in time or space. For example,
•The rocks fell 30 feet apart.
•The family was split 100 miles apart.

“Apart” can also function as a preposition when paired with “from.” “Apart from” means with the exception of, besides. For example,
•Apart from this cookie, I haven’t eaten anything all day.
•The whole room was silent, apart from Becky.

“Apart” can also function as a phrasal verb when it is preceded by certain verbs. For example,
•Pull apart
•Drift apart
•Come apart

When to Use A Part

Difference between apart versus a part grammar “A part”, which is actually two words, has a different meaning. “A” is an article, and “part” is a noun meaning a piece or segment of something. For example,
•May I have a part of your sandwich?
•Once we’re a part of this group, we all must pay dues.

“Part” does not always appear with the article “a”, however. The article “a” can be dropped when “part” is not followed by an adjective. For example, we can rewrite the two examples from above as follows,
•May I have part of your sandwich?
•Once we’re part of this group, we all must pay dues.

Be there an adjective before “part,” the article “a” is necessary. For example,
•May I have small part of your sandwich? (WRONG)
•May I have a small part of your sandwich? (CORRECT)
•Once we’re registered part of this group, we all must pay dues. (WRONG)
•Once we’re a registered part of this group, we all must pay dues. (CORRECT)

Quiz and Sentence Examples
1.I need to become ______ of a book club.
2.It’s been three years since we split ______.
3.Make sure to keep your feet spread ______.
4.He was asked to be ______ of their inner circle.
5.______ from the windy, it’s quite nice outside.

Display the answers below.

Remember the Difference

A good way to remember the difference between “apart” and “a part” is to remember the prepositions with which they are often paired.

“Apart” is often paired with the preposition “from.”
•Keep those two apart from each other.

“A part” is often paired with the preposition “of.”
•I am a part of this community.

Another easy usage test is to take away the article “a” and see if the sentence still makes sense. If you can remove “a” from the sentence and not change the meaning, you probably want to use “part.” If it doesn’t make sense once you remove the “a,” you probably want to use “apart.” For example,
•I am part of this community. (CORRECT)

This sentence still makes sense once we remove the “a,” so we want to use “part.”
•The rocks fell 30 feet part. (WRONG)

Here the sentence doesn’t make sense once we remove the “a,” so we want to use “apart.”

Finally, a reader recently tweeted me a cute mnemonic to remember the difference. It goes,
•A part of me can’t bear to be apart from you.

Any of these tricks can help you remember the grammar of a part vs. apart.

Summary

Apart is an adverb, meaning, “separated” or “separately.”
•Usually paired with “from.”

A part is a noun, meaning, “a piece of segment of something.”
•Usually paired with “of.”

Answers
1.A part
2.Apart
3.Apart
4.A part
5.Apart

I hope this helps.

Karl

19/06/2016

Hello everyone,

Today I want to focus on verb + preposition combinations or collocations to help you speak more fluently and accurately. So, try the exercise below to see if you know the correct combinations. Good luck!

Bye for now,

Karl

Complete the following sentences using an appropriate preposition.

1. What are you thinking ……………………..?

2. You are the person I was looking ………………..

3. She is not very easy to work …………………

4. She is not very easy to talk …………………

5. I am not certain ………………. what I am supposed to do.

6. She enjoys being looked ………………….

7. I hate being shouted …………………

8. She saved money ………………. giving up smoking.

9. She rang me ………………..

10. I half believe ……………….. life after death.

11. My parents never showed if they were disappointed ……………….. me.

12. I would like to see a big increase ………………. productivity.

13. I am very impressed …………….. your work.

Answers

1. What are you thinking about?

2. You are the person I was looking for.

3. She is not very easy to work with.

4. She is not very easy to talk to.

5. I am not certain of what I am supposed to do.

6. She enjoys being looked at.

7. I hate being shouted at.

8. She saved money by giving up smoking.

9. She rang me up.

10. I half believe in life after death.

11. My parents never showed if they were disappointed with me.

12. I would like to see a big increase in productivity.

13. I am very impressed with/by your work.

12/06/2016

Writing better sentences for IELTS

Hello everyone,

To do well in the IELTS writing exam, you will need to demonstrate a variety of sentence structures. So, let's refresh the basics.In English, there are three main types of sentences.

*Simple sentence

*Compound sentence

*Complex sentence

A simple sentence has just one clause. A complex sentence has one main clause and one or more subordinate (dependent) clauses. A compound sentence has more than one main clause. Expert English writers will use a variety of these structures in their writing. This is what the IELTS examiner is also looking to see a candidate demonstrate.

Study the examples given below.

A) Copyright laws are necessary for society.

As you can see this sentence has just one clause and therefore it is a simple sentence. The number of clauses in a sentence is equal to the number of finite verbs in it. Note that to-infinitives and –ing forms are not finite verbs.

B) Copyright laws are necessary for society, as they provide rewards and protection to original artwork creators.

This sentence has two independent main clauses which have been joined by a co-ordinating conjunction.

C) Because they provide rewards and protection, copyright laws are necessary for society.

As you can see this sentence has two clauses: one main clause (Copyright laws are necessary for society) and one subordinate clause (Because they provide order and reward) We have already learned that a sentence containing one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses is called a complex sentence.

Below are some simple ways to transform a simple sentence into a complex or compound sentence:

Use co-ordinating and subordinating conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that ‘join’ two parts of a sentence or separate phrases within a sentence together. Co-ordinating conjunctions, such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘or’, ‘yet’, and ‘so’, are used to join two parts of a sentence that are grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses. Co-ordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join. Most intermediate ESL students are comfortable with using co-ordinating conjunctions.

For example:

Traditional schooling is out of date. There should be educational alternatives.

Traditional schooling is out of date, and there should be educational alternatives.

Subordinating conjunctions; however, often prove more challenging to master. Subordinating conjunctions are used to join a subordinate (or dependent) clause to a main (or independent) clause. They are the essential ingredient in a complex sentence. Subordinating conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate clause.

Below are some common subordinate conjunctions:

For example:
Communication between family members is less nowadays (independent clause), even though (subordinating conjunction) we have more technological advances (dependent clause).
Children often play video games (independent clause), rather than (subordinating conjunction) conversing with their parents (dependent clause).

Change the part of speech used

You will recall that there are 9 main parts of speech in the English language – nouns, pronouns, verb, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and articles. The function of an individual word and the word class it belongs to depends on where it is positioned in a sentence and its relationship to other words. (i.e. the meaning of the word ‘work’, for example, can function as a noun or verb.) In general, sentences in English follow the standard pattern of subject – verb – object. However, by changing up the pattern and using different parts of speech we can vary our sentence structures.

For example:

A) From 1990 to 1998, UK car sales fluctuated slightly (verb + adverb)
B) From 1990 to 1998, there was a slight fluctuation in UK car sales. (adj. + noun)

Start the sentence with a prepositional phrase
Prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence. A prepositional phrase is made up of the preposition, its object and any associated adjectives or adverbs. Common prepositions include: ‘about’, ‘among’, ‘at’, ‘of’, ‘since’, ‘through’, and ‘with’. These are the patterns for a prepositional phrase: Preposition + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause / Preposition + Modifier(s) + Noun, Pronoun, Gerund, or Clause

For example:

Since the beginning of the 1990s, technology has become an increasingly important part of our everyday lives.
With regards to age group three, one can see that over 50 year olds ate 60% more pulses than 0-24 year olds.
In time, I hope that copyright laws become obsolete.

Use relative pronouns
At the base level, pronouns replace and/or moderate nouns. We are probably more familiar with personal pronouns such as ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘you’, ‘him’, etc. Relative pronouns are important parts of speech to use when you want to link subordinate clauses in sentences. The most common relative pronouns are: who, whom, which, whoever, whomever, whichever, and that.

Study the examples given below.

A) Children enjoy video games. Children prefer playing sports. They have better reflex abilities and social skills.
In this example we have three simple sentences. We can combine them together and form a complex sentence:

B) Children who (relative pronoun) enjoy video games and playing sports have better reflex abilities and social skills.

Creating a variety of complex and compound sentences, through the use of subordinating conjunctions, different parts of speech, prepositional phrases, and relative pronouns, will ensure that you get full points for grammatical range on your IELTS exam. Use the worksheet below to practice some of the above techniques.

Sentence Transformations Worksheet

Complete the gaps in the sentences below so that the second sentence is expressed in a different way.

Example (Change using a different part of speech):
There were dramatic fluctuations in the number of people who bought used cars in the UK from 1990 to 1998.

The number of people who bought used cars in the UK fluctuated dramatically from 1990 to 1998.

1. The cost of relocating a company from the city to a regional location is expensive. You have to build new facilities. (Change using a subordinating clause)
The cost of relocating a company from the city to a regional location is expensive _________ you have to build new facilities.

2. It is highly advantageous to stay in the same job for life. (Change using a prepositional phrase.)
__________ _____ _____ same job for life, ____ ______ _____________.

3. A dramatic change in technology in over the last ten years has led to a decline in family communication. (Change using a different part of speech).
Technology _____ ________ ______ over the last ten years, ______ ____ ___ ______ in family communication.

4. Humans should adapt to technology. Humans are inherently lazy. (Change using a relative pronoun.)
Humans, ______ _________ ______ _______ , should adapt to technology.

5. In general, American businesses will spend much more on relocating companies than China over the next 20 years. (Change using a different part of speech).
In general, ______ ______ _______ ______ ________ on relocating companies by America businesses than in China over the next 20 years.

6. Copyright laws reward creativity. Copyright laws protect the creator’s works of art. (Change using a subordinating conjunction).
Copyright laws reward creativity ____ ______ _____ protect the creator’s works of art.

7. The aging population in America has grown incrementally over the the last 10 years. (Change using different part of speech).
_____ _____ ______ _____ _______ in the aging population in America over the last 10 years.

8. The price of educating children has risen dramatically since 2010. (Change using prepositional phrase).
______ _______, the price of education children has risen dramatically.

9. Family members like communicating through Skype. Family members can now communicate with each other anywhere in the world for free. (Change using relative pronoun)
Family members _____ _______ _______ _________ ________, ____ _____ communicate with each other anywhere in the world for free.



Sentence Transformation Worksheet Answers

The cost of relocating a company from the city to a regional location is expensive. You have to build new facilities. (Change using a subordinating.)

1.The cost of relocating a company from the city to a regional location is expensive because you have to build new facilities.

2. It is highly advantageous to stay in the same job for life. (Change using a prepositional phrase.)
Staying in the same job for life, is highly advantageous.

3. A dramatic change in technology in over the last ten years has led to a decline in family communication. (Change using a different part of speech).
Technology has changed dramatically over the last ten years, leading to a decline in family communication.

4. Humans should adapt to technology. Humans are inherently lazy. (Change using a relative pronoun.)
Humans, who are inherently lazy, should adapt to technology.

5. In general, American businesses will spend much more on relocating companies than China over the next 20 years. (Change using a different part of speech).
In general, much more will be spent on relocating companies by American businesses than in China over the next 20 years.

6. Copyright laws reward creativity. Copyright laws protect the creator’s works of art. (Change using a subordinating conjunction).
Copyright laws reward creativity as well as protect the creator’s works of art.

7. The aging population in America has grown incrementally over the the last 10 years. (Change using different part of speech).
There has been incremental growth in the aging population in America over the last 10 years.

8. The price of educating children has risen dramatically since 2010. (Change using prepositional phrase).
Since 2008, the price of education children has risen dramatically.

9. Family members like communicating through Skype. Family members can now communicate with each other anywhere in the world for free.
Family members who like communicating through Skype, can now communicate with each other anywhere in the world for free.

I hope this helps.

Bye for now.

Karl

12/06/2016

Hello everyone,

To help improve your spoken and written style, you will need a good understanding of synonyms. Study these examples.

12/06/2016

Hello everyone,

How well do you know prefixes? Perhaps these examples will help.

Bye for now,

Karl