Study newsletter 2016, week 9 Content Language level Page Phrase of the week It's not up to much All levels 1 Mind map Job 3 All levels 2 Czenglish Finish by vs. finish until Pre-intermediate (B1-) Advanced (C1) 3 Business Writing Dangling modifiers Pre-intermediate (B1-) Advanced (C1) 4 5 Test Adjectives and adverbs Pre-intermediate (B1-) Advanced (C1) 6 Phrase of the week It's not up to much We use this expression to say that something is not very good. You can use this phrase in language. Spoken Written Informal Example 1 A: That s a nice looking phone. Is it a smart phone? B: Yes, but it s not up to much. I m going to get a new one soon. Example 2 A: Let s go and see Sherlock Holmes. B: A friend told me it s not up to much. Why don t we see that new thriller instead? A: OK. 1
Mind map Learning new vocabulary in the most effective way Vyzkoušejte si interaktivní Mindmapy zde: http://www.jazykovka.info/studujeme-jazyky/mindmap/job-3/ Klikejte na slova, uslyšíte jednotlivá slovíčka namluvená rodilým mluvčím. Slovíčka Slovo Maternity leave Working conditions Offer of employment Qualifications Promotion Working hours Leaving date Starting date Paternity leave Bonus Význam slova mateřská dovolená pracovní podmínky nabídka zaměstnání kvalifikace povýšení pracovní doba datum odchodu datum nástupu otcovská dovolená prémie 2
Czenglish WRONG: RIGHT: I have to finish the project until Friday. I have to finish the project by Friday. This week s Czenglish error is a small but significant one that takes a bit of explaining. It concerns the use of by and until in terms of a deadline. You cannot say, I have to finish the project until Friday. The word order is wrong, making the sentence sound strange. In English, you have until a time to do something, you don t finish something until a time. So here, you have to say, I have until Friday to finish the project. The alternative way of saying this information is I have to finish the project by Friday. Friday is the deadline you have to do something by. The word by comes at the end of the sentence followed by the time clause. So is there any difference between the two correct sentences? Yes, slightly. When you use until you are stressing the days before the deadline. For example, you are saying, I have until Friday, that s plenty of time! When you use by you are stressing the deadline, meaning Oh no, I have to work quickly, the deadline is on Friday! So together: Boss: You have to finish the project by Friday. Employee: By Friday? I ll never manage it. Can you give me until Monday to do it? Boss: Ok, you have to finish the project by Monday, at the very latest! 3
Business Writing Dangling modifiers What is a dangling modifier? And if we don t know what they are, are they really so important? When it comes to writing well it is important to get rid of dangling modifiers. I suggest you find out what they are, then seek them out and remove them. I hope this post will help. What is a modifier? Before I talk about the problematic dangling ones, it s important to know what a modifier is. In short, it is a word that modifies something. It changes something. And it does it in different ways. It may: Add some extra information about something Clarify something Describe something Modifiers work best when they are close to the words they are modifying. Modifiers can be words that we classify as adjectives or adverbs, or they can be phrases. It s when they are phrases that we may encounter the dangling modifier. What is a dangling modifier? Quite simply a dangling modifier is one where it isn t clearwhich word is being modified. The best way to show you what I mean is with an example. As a new member, I would like to welcome you to this committee. When you look at this example, it suggests that I am the new member. The sentence should read: I would like to welcome you to this committee as a new member. Here s another example. Looking through the campaign materials, the beautiful images make me believe that this campaign will inspire our clients. Of course the beautiful images are not looking through the campaign materials. This sentence should read: Looking through the beautiful images included in the campaign materials, I believe that this campaign will inspire our clients. 4
As we write, our thoughts wander and it s easy to put a modifier in the wrong place. And you can t rely on your grammar checker. It s unlikely to pick up this type of error. Just for a laugh To demonstrate the problems, and the unintentional humour that can arise, I ve included the following example sentences from The Little Green Grammar Book, by Mark Tredinnick. Never refresh vegetables that you aren t going to eat immediately under water as it takes away the flavour. We make recommendations for fixing all the problems in this report. Before she d even finished laying, Lucy chased the hen out of the coop. DALICE TROST, původem z Austrálie, je absolventkou magisterského studia managementu lidských zdrojů na University of Canberra v Austrálii. Lektorka je držitelkou certifikátu TEFL opravňující k výuce cizích jazyků. V rámci své profesní praxe zastávala vysoké manažerské pozice jako personalistka, senior supervizorka, HR manažerka, a to mimo jiné ve společnostech v Dubaji a Austrálii. Aktivně se věnuje publikační práci v oboru vzdělávání a anglického jazyka. Lektorka je autorkou knihy, ze které čerpáme tyto tipy: Business Writing-A Tip a Day for 30 Days 5
TEST: Adjectives and adverbs Dear Natasha, Well, here I am in Wales. Thank you for your (1) letter. You ask me what it's like here. I must say, it's pretty (2)! The art school is very (3) organised. On the first day we had to do a test, which I found rather (4) However I got a (5) good mark, so I'm the second in my art class. I didn't talk much at first, because I couldn't think of the words (6) enough. But (7) I've become much more talkative. I'm staying with a family who live (8) the school. They are quite (9) although I don't see much of them. I'm always so (10) with my new friends from my art school. 1. A kindly B kind 2. A good B well 3. A efficient B efficiently 4. A hard B hardly 5. A surprising B surprisingly 6. A quick B quickly 7. A late B lately 8. A near B nearly 9. A pleasant B pleasantly 10. A busy B busily Správné odpovědi se dozvíte ihned po dokončení on-line testu zde: http://www.jazykovka.info/studujeme-jazyky/minitest/adjectives-and-adverbs/ Správné odpovědi z minulého týdne (Relative clauses): 1C, 2B, 3A, 4B, 5D, 6A, 7B, 8D, 9B, 10A 6