WRITING 01: SOMETHING AMAZING THAT HAPPENED TO YOU LAST SUMMER.

REPORTED SPEECH

When you are reporting someone's words you've got two ways to do it: 

• using the exact words used by the speaker  >>>    DIRECT SPEECH  (Example:  'I'm tired', he said)

• reporting the speaker's words    >>>   REPORTED SPEECH or INDIRECT SPEECH (Example: He said he was tired)

However, before we begin explaining how it works, we must say that the reported speech we will be talking about is a very artificial one as we suppose the situation in which the words were said and the situation in which the words were reported are completely different, but this is not always true. Actually, they may be exactly the same, as in the following example:

- "I have brought you here these exercises" (SITUATION: the teacher is speaking and the students are listening)

- One students raises his hand and says: "Pardon. What did you say?"

- "I have just said that I have brought you here these exercises." (There are no changes at all because the situation is exactly the same: the teacher is speaking and the students are listening at the same time and in the same place.)

Apart from this, remember that there are indirect ways of speaking like in the following sentences:

- I don't know what time it is (instead of 'What time is it?')

- I wonder where I can buy some bread (instead of 'Where can I buy some bread?')

- I don't know if Dad is at home. (instead of 'Is Dad at home?')

- Tell me how fast you can run. (instead of 'How fast can you run?')

Anyway, we will make all the possible changes in our examples and all these transformations are what we call the BACKSHIFT, which is a change that we make backwards. This BACKSHIFT affects three main areas:

1. TENSES.- The changes are similar to the ones made in our language and the try to express the time gap there is between the moment of speaking and the time when the words were reported. Just remember to keep the time gap. For example, the past simple can stay the same or change into the past perfect. (Jane: "I arrived at 7"  >>  She said that she arrived / had arrived at 7"), but in the following example it is better to have it in the past perfect to keep the mentioned time gap: 'This is the present my boyfriend gave me yesterday', said Jane  >>   Jane said that was the present her boyfriend had given her the day before.)
2. PERSONS.- The speaker is represented by the first person and the listener by the second person, while there are no changes in the third person. So there may be changes in the personal pronouns, possessive adjectives and pronouns...
3. OTHER WORDS CONNECTED WITH TIME AND PLACE, which have to be learned by heart, although most of them are similar to our language.

Let's begin with this third area:

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH	DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
Now	Then	Three days ago	Three days before
This	That	Next Friday	The next Friday
These	Those	Tonight	That night
Here	There	Last week	The previous week, the week before
Yesterday	The day before, the previous day	tomorrow	The next day, the day after
Today	That day

 

Reported statements

Peter: "Money is the only thing I live for."   >>>  Peter said money was the only thing he lived for.

Reported questions

We've got two types of questions: WH-questions and Yes/No questions. Remember to undo the inversion because the reported question is actually a statement.

Pam: "Do you like my dress?"    Jim: "Yes, I do"   >>>  Pam asked if/whether he liked her dress and he answered he did.

Albert: "When are you going to read this book?"    >>>    Albert asked the students when they were going to read that book.

Reported orders and requests

A TO-INFINITIVE structure is required.

Mother: "Would you buy some bread for dinner, please?"   >>>  My mother asked me to buy some bread for dinner.

Students: "Don't give us any homework for tomorrow.">They asked Albert not to give them any homework for the next day.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE REPORTED SPEECH YOU CAN HAVE A LOOK HERE!!!!

 

Unit 8. Extra-exercises

PASSIVE VOICE. Rewrite these sentences into the PASSIVE VOICE:

1. Bakers make bread from flour.

2. They offered Jane a wonderful job.

3. Somebody has sent me a strange letter.

4. Alexander Bell invented the telephone.

5. A woman was training the guard dogs.

6. People of all ages can play Trivial Pursuit.

7. People sell fresh eggs in Vélez Benaudalla.

8. She has packed the books.

9. Someone types letters for my boss.

10. Israeli troops have attacked the town several times since the beginning of the war.

DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES. Insert the clauses in brackets into the main sentences as defining relative clauses:

1. I went to see the doctor....(she had helped my mother)

2. The dog .... belonged to my neighbour.  (it bit me)

3. This is the house ....   (I was born here)

4. Alexander Bell is the man ....    (he invented the telephone)

5. The dogs ....... were really aggressive.    (she was training them)

6. Trivial Pursuit is a game ........  (people of all ages can play it)

7. The eggs  ...... are cheaper than in Mercadona  (they sell them in Vélez Benaudalla)

8. She has packed the books ......  (she has used them this school year)

9. We'll go to the restaurant ..... (my brother works there)

10. Israeli troops have attacked the town ......  (it is very near the Gaza Strip)

PASSIVE VOICE. Rewrite these sentences into the ACTIVE VOICE (remember you will sometimes have to invent a subject):

1. The castle was built in 1546.

2. The letters were being written in English by Jane.

3. The parcel has been sent from this post office.

4. Mobile phones mustn't be used during the speech.

5. These exercises can be done without using a dictionary.

6. John was asked a lot of difficult questions.

7. The jewel was taken from this box.

8. This site is visited by many students in Salobreña.

9. The job is going to be finished before midnight.

10. Diana was given a camera.

  NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES. Insert the clauses in brackets into the main sentences as non-defining relative clauses. Remember to add the commas.

1. Mont Blanc .... is the highest mountain in the Alps.  (it is between France and Italy)

2. Alfred Hitchcock .... worked for many years in Hollywood.   (he was born in Britain)

3. We recently visited Cambridge .....   (Albert studied there many years ago)

4. Mireia ..... loves travelling.   (she is in 4º ESO)

5. London .... has over 6 million inhabitants.  (it is the capital of Britain)

6. Mr Baraq Obama .... has never visited Spain.   (he is the President of the United States)

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Articles to read about the issue we are dealing with at the moment, that is, HEALTH:

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE IN MY BLOG

UNIT 5   >>>   Things to remember about USED TO, BE USED TO & GET USED TO and the comparatives & superlatives:

- Difference between USED TO, BE USED TO + V-ing & GET USED TO V-ing  

I used to walk to school when I was a student.

I am used to playing tennis three or four times a week.

You'll have to get used to keeping your things tidy when you go to university.

- COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

1. We use more.... for adverbs that end in -ly: more slowly, more quietly
2. You can use -er or more... with some two-syllable adjectives, especially: quiet, clever, narrow, shallow, simple
3. IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES:  good/well  >  better, bad/badly > worse, far > further/farther
4. FURTHER & FURTHEST meaning 'more' or 'additional': Let me know if you hear any further news
5. Before comparatives you can use QUANTIFIERS such as: much, a lot, far, a bit, a little, slightly (He's much / slightly taller than his sister).
6. You can use any, no + adjective in the comparative form. Ex. I'm not waiting any longer.
7. Two comparatives of superiority connected by and meaning 'CADA VEZ MÁS'. Ex. The situation is becoming harder and harder.
8. COMPARATIVE OF EQUALITY: so, as....as....    Fernando Alsonso is as fast as the wind.
9. COMPARATIVE OF INFERIORITY: less....than...    My cousin is less intelligent than my sister.
10. Difference between LESS & FEWER.   Examples: I've got less money than you. A bicycle has got fewer wheels than a bus.
11. Some interesting collocations: the same as, different from, similar to   
12. After superlatives we use in with places (the longest river in the world) and of for a period of time (the happiest day of my life)
13. ABSOLUTE SUPERLATIVE meaning 'very'. The book you lent me was most interesting.

RELATIVE CLAUSES   

What do you need a relative clause for?

1. to specify which person, thing or place you are talking about such as in these examples:

The teacher who teaches us English at school was born in Colone (Germany)

The unit which we are going to see next is also about the Present Perfect tense.

This is the classroom where we have most of the classes.

2. to give some extra information about a person, a thing or a place  such as in these examples:

Albert,  who teaches us English at school, was born in Colone (Germany)

Unit 4, which we are going to see next, is also about the Present Perfect tense.

This is the English Department, where we have class once a week.

This is the difference between Defining Relative Clauses and Non-defining relative clauses. Now let's think about the differences:

DRC provide you with relevant and essential information >< N-DRC provide you with some extra informationwhich is not essential for the understanding of the message. 

For example, do you understand the sentences: Let's do the exercise! or This is the girl or This is the place?

The answer is NO. However, if I say: Let's do the exercise which is on page 77 // This is the girl who studied at the British School in Almuñecar // This is the place where I left my CD player, you understand what I mean.

Therefore, if DRC provide you with relevant and essential information, THEY CANNOT BE OMITTED.  On the contrary, if N-DRC provide you with some extra information which is not essential for the understanding of the message, THEY CAN BE OMITTED and they go in between COMMAS (or a comma and a full stop or something similar). As a result, the intonation is obviously different in the DRC from the intonation you have in the N-DRC. 

Talking about the antecedent and the connection between the antecedent and the relative clause. And remember that the relative pronoun substitutes the antecedent in the relative clause.

If the antecedent is a person, you use the relative pronoun who.

If the antecedent is a thing or an animal, you use the relative pronoun which.

If the antecedent is a place and has the function of adverbial of place in the relative clause, you use the relative pronoun where.

You can use these three relative pronouns both in the Defining Relative clauses and in the Non-Defining Relative clauses. Both who  and which  can be substituted by that , which cannot be used in the Non-Defining Relative clauses

When can you omit the relative pronoun in the Defining Relative Clauses? You can omit it when the antecedent is the direct object of the relative clause, as in the example. Remember that this is optional, so you would have 3 possibilities:

This is the boy (who / that / -) I saw at the supermarket.

The pet (which / that / -) my mother bought me for my birthday is really cute.

Exercises to do: 1  2  3     

DIFFERENT USES OF GET:   

1. GET as a synonym of 'become' + ADJ. >>  get... tired, better, upset, dark

2. GET as a synonym of 'obtain, receive, buy' + NOUN/NOUN PHRASE  >>  get... a job, a present for/from, a driving licence, a goal (score)

3. GET as a phrasal verb  >>  get... away (escape), together (meet), up

4. Other uses of GET   >>   get... home, to school (arrive), the flu (an illness), a bus (use transport)

UNIT ONE

SURPRISE  + AGREE / DISAGREE
1. The market is open everyday.     >>  ¿Sí? Y también la tienda de discos. / Pues la carnicería no.
2. Hanif often wears hats.  >>  ¿Sí? Y nosotros también. Pues su hermana no.
3. Rachel thinks relationships are easy.  >> ¿Sí? Y también Dan. Pues Hanif no.
4. They are coming with us.   >>  ¿Sí? Y también mis padres. Pues mi tía no.
5. He looked upset.   >>  ¿Sí? Y yo también. Pues su novia no.
6. I can speak German.  >>  ¿Sí? Y también tú. Pues yo no.
7. I've got a pencil.    >>   ¿Sí? Y también mi compañero. Pues el profesor no. 

8. It isn't sunny in Salobreña.   >>   ¿No? Ni tampoco en Motril. Pues en Granada sí.
9. I don't usually wear hats.   >>   ¿No? Ni tampoco mi madre. Pues mi padre sí.
10. Mary didn't come to the party.   >>   ¿No? Ni yo tampoco. Pues mi primo sí.
11. We haven't got any classroom on Monday.   >>>   ¿No? Ni ella tampoco. Pues mi tío sí.
12. She shoudn't speak like that.  >>  ¿No? Ni tampoco su madre. Pues yo sí.
13. Djokovic didn't win Wimbledon this year.   >>   ¿No? Ni tampoco Nadal. Pues Federer sí.