środa, 6 listopada 2013

day and night... night and day...

day    /deɪ/ noun [C]
     1. a period of 24 hours, especially from 12 o'clock one night to 12 o'clock the next night

                    Warning: choose the correct preposition!
                        To talk about when something happened or will happen, don't say 'in/at this/that day', say 'on this/that day':
                                                 I will always remember where I was in that day.
                                                 I will always remember where I was on that day.

     2. used to refer to the period in 24 hours when it is naturally light
                    a bright, sunny day

night    /naɪt/ noun [C] DARK PERIOD     
     the part of every 24-hour period when it is dark because there is very little light from the sun 



niedziela, 8 września 2013

The Present Continuous Tense

     To describe what is happening at the moment we are talking (in other words, now this minute) we use the present continuous.


To make the present continuous positive we ude the verb 'to be' (am, are, is) and the verb root with the suffix -ing
          I am reading a book.
          He is playing football.
          We are watching TV. 

niedziela, 21 lipca 2013

The Simple Present Tense

     Verbs have forms called tenses that tell you when the action happens. The simple present tense expresses an action in the present taking place one, never or several times. It is also used for action that takes place one after another actions that are set by a timeable or schedule. The simple present also expresses facts in the present. 


To make the present simple positive we use the personal pronoun (I, you, we, they) followed by the verb root. 
          I play tennis every Saturday. 
          We learn English every day.

To make the negative, we put do and not before the main verb. the short form of this is don't.
          I do not (don't) play football.
          We do not (don't) learn German.

To make a question, we put the helping verb Do at the beginning of the sentence. in short answers we do not repeat the main verb. 
          Do you play tennis every Sunday?     No, I don't.
          Do they learn English every day?     Yes, they do.
          

środa, 17 kwietnia 2013

"too" or "enough" ?

Meaning

1. We use "too" to mean more than sufficient or more/less than necessary.

          [too + adverb]     It's too late to stop him.
          [too + adjective]     Jerry was too young to watch the movie.
          [too many + noun]     There are too many people on this train, there's nowhere to sit.
          [too much + noun]      You have too much money, give some to me.
          [too much/many + of + pronoun/determiner]     You've eaten too many of those cakes.

środa, 27 marca 2013

Easter traditions

For Christians Easter is the most important religious holiday. It celebrates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A lot of Easter customs exist in various countries.


In Poland the whole families gather together to celebrate Easter. On Holy Saturday they prepare special Easter baskets. The baskets contain eggs, bread, meat, salt, horseradish and a figure of lamb made of sugar or cake, which represent the Lamb of God – Jesus Christ. The baskets are decorated with white cloth and box twigs. Once a basket is ready, it is taken to a local church where a priest blesses it with holy water. On Holy Sunday a great Easter breakfast takes place, when family members eat the contents of their baskets and much more.

In the United Kingdom and the United States parents prepare for Easter by buying chocolate eggs and bunnies or similar items made of sugar. On Saturday morning they hide the treats in their gardens where children go looking for them. Some children receive small gifts given to them by an Easter Bunny. Special games take place such us egg rolling (a race with rolling eggs on the grass) and egg tapping. There are some foods associated with Easter,such as hot cross buns (sweet buns with spices), Simnel cake (fruitcake with marzipan) and roasts. 

niedziela, 3 marca 2013

Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

In English we use in before months, years, centuries and parts of the day:
  • in 1997           I was born in 1984.
  • in January          In England, it often snows in December.
  • in the 20th century          There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
  • in the morning          I usually meet my friends in the evening.
  • in the Ice Age          Mammoths became extinct in the Ice Age.
  • in the summer          
  • in the 1990s          
  • in the past/future          Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?

niedziela, 10 lutego 2013

small and little

Form and meaning
"Small" and "little" are both adjectives. We use "small" to talk about the size of something.
          Your cat is very small.
          Can I have two small pizzas please?
We can use "little" to refer to size in the same way as "small", but we usually use it with another adjective to express an emotion.
          He's a clever little boy.
          Nobody's looking after that poor little dog.

Additional points
In comparative and superlative form, "small" is more common in British English, and "little" is more common in American English.
          That's the smallest phone I've ever seen.          British English
          That's the littlest phone I've ever seen.          American English




czwartek, 24 stycznia 2013

Irregular verbs are often mistaken for other verbs


FALL / FEEL
fall /fɔːl/fell /fel/fallen /ˈfɔː.lən/     /upadać/
to suddenly go down onto the ground or towards the ground without intending to or by accident
He has fallen flat on his face.
The book fell to the floor.

Warning: Check your verb endings! Many learners make mistakes when using 'fall' in the past tense. The past simple and past participle of 'fall' is 'fell'.
Paul felt off the roof and broke his leg.
Paul fell off the roof and broke his leg.
'Felt' is the past simple and past participle of 'feel'.

feel /fiːl/felt /felt/felt /felt/     /czuć/
to experience something physical or emotional
I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder.
She has felt ashamed of herself.

FIND / FOUND
find /faɪnd/found /faʊnd/found /faʊnd/     /znaleźć/
to discover, especially where a thing or person is, either unexpectedly or by searching, or to discover where to get or how to achieve something
I found my keys under the bed this morning.