Filed under: Grammar, Vocabulary, Writing | Tags: compound modifiers, compound words, hyphens, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL
Objective: To help students gain familiarity with patterns used in forming compound words (open, closed, and hyphenated forms).
Level: intermediate to advanced
Materials needed: depending on the compounds you wish to target, magazine photos or household items may be needed (see suggested “stations” below)
STEP 1: Create stations around the room. Each station has a theme with theme-related items. Post the name of the station as well as the instructions for the task(s) to be performed there. By physically circulating from station to station, students will be better able to sort common compounds into groups according to their written forms: closed (one word), open (unhyphenated), or hyphenated.
Suggested stations:
- Colors. Display 3 photos showing people’s physical appearance. Number them. Task: Describe each person’s appearance using at least one compound word. Example: Photo #1 shows a brown-haired and green-eyed boy.
- Pages. Place 3 books, reports, essays, or pamphlets at the station. Task: Describe the items according to how many pages they have. Example: There is a 3-page essay on crime.
- Ages. Task: Ask your partner’s age. Write a sentence about your partner using a compound word. Example: My partner is a twenty-two-year-old woman.
Alternative or additional task for ages. Display 2 photos showing a young and an old person. Number them. Task 2: Describe each person’s appearance using the compound [age-something]. Example: The person in photo #1 looks thirty-something.
- Jobs. Display 6 photos showing people in various uniforms and/ or dressed for a specific workplace. Number them. Task: Identify the hospital workers, the factory workers, the restaurant staff, etc. (Depending on the photos you use.) Example: #1 and #3 are hospital workers. #2 is a factory worker. #4 and #5 are restaurant staff. #6 is a TV repairman.
- Family. Use magazine photos to create a family tree having four generations. Name the people. Task: Identify the great-grandchildren. Identify any great-aunts or great-uncles. Example: Kim and Pete are the great-grandchildren of Victor and Ellen. They have one great-uncle, Tom, and one great-aunt, Lucy. Variation: Show second marriages and ask about stepparents and stepchildren.
- Technology. Display 5-6 photos of electronic items. (Suggestions: cell phone, mp3 player, pocket calculator, laptop computer, DVD player.) Task: Find out which items your partner has. Example: My partner has an mp3 player and a cell phone. He shares a DVD player and laptop computer with his brother.
STEP 2: Have students work in pairs moving from station to station. Partners may discuss answers, but each student is responsible for writing his/ her answers on paper.
STEP 3: Gather as a class. For each station, ask a volunteer to write his/ her answers on the board.
NOTE: The preparation time will pay off especially if you recycle this activity. Try it with different groups.
Filed under: Grammar, Student Stumpers | Tags: compound modifiers, compound words, compounds, Englisgh with Jennifer, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, student stumper
QUESTION: How do we know if a compound word is written as a single word, as separate words, or with a hyphen?
ANSWER: Look it up in the dictionary.
I love a question that allows me to give a clear and satisfying answer to a student. Unfortunately, not all questions are like this. The question above about compound words is one that doesn’t lead to immense gratitude from the questioner when I tell the answer. There isn’t one simple rule that makes it easy to know if a compound word is closed (one word), open (two or more words), or hyphenated. This question can cause as much frustration for language learners as questions about gerunds v. infinitives or separable v. inseparable phrasal verbs.
However, compound rules do follow some patterns. Awareness of them will lead to greater accuracy when writing compound words. Most sources I’ve checked agree on the following:
- Compound modifiers with numbers: Hyphenate these modifiers before nouns. Example: a thirty-year-old man. Note the use of the singular unit year. Contrast it with the plural form in this word order: The man is thirty years old.
- Compound modifiers with past participles: These modifiers are hyphenated. Examples: age-related, web-based, drug-induced.
- Color combinations: These modifiers are hyphenated. Example: a blue-green scarf.
- Well-known compounds: Some compounds involving three or more words are so common that there’s little if any chance of confusion, so open forms are used. Examples: a ham and cheese sandwich, high school students, parking lot attendant.
I’d like to add these patterns and see if others agree or wish to challenge them:
- Compound words with numbers: If the numbers are not being joined with common nouns used for weights and measures (such as year, pound, page), a hyphenated form is used as a modifier, an adverb, and a complement. Example: A two-handed throw. / He threw the ball two-handed. / The throw was two-handed. Similar compounds: two-headed, one-armed, three-legged, one-eyed.
- Compound modifiers with present participles: They are hyphenated just as the [noun + past participle] combination is. Examples: ever-changing, all-knowing, fast-growing.
- Compounds with of and only: These multi-word compounds are hyphenated. Examples: state-of-the-art, man-of-war, read-only, text-only.
- Compound words with in-law: These compound nouns are hyphenated. Examples: mother-in-law, brother-in-law, daughter-in-law.
- Compound words with great: These compound nouns are hyphenated. Examples: great-aunt, great-grandfather, great-grandchildren.
- Compounds with single letters: These compounds are hyphenated. Examples: a U-turn, an A-frame, L-shaped, x-ray, t-shirt.
- Directional compounds: These are closed forms. Examples: northeast, northeastern. Exception: if a range is implied a hyphen is used between the two possible directions. Example: travel south-southwest.
Do you need to present the concept of compound words to your students? These short clips may be of help. They’re based on the work done by elementary school children:
Do you need ideas to help students practice using compound words? Check back soon. I’ll offer an activity in my next posting.
Sources:
Mauer, Jay. Focus on Grammar: An advanced course for reference and practice. Longman: 2000.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/compounds.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyphen#Compound_modifiers
Filed under: Grammar, Student Stumpers | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, student stumper, modifiers, adjectives, word order, adjectival phrases, placement of adjectives
QUESTION: Do adjectives always come before nouns in English?
ANSWER: No.
This question was shared with me by my Finnish colleague, a remarkable teacher with a firm grasp of grammar. She was challenged by her students to prove that adjectives in English always precede the noun they modify. Apparently, other sources led them to believe there was a hard and fast rule about word order. Well, she didn’t have to prove what she knew to be untrue.
At first, when asked about adjectives, we might automatically state a textbook-like definition: Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. Of course, more readily understood wording could be used, but the basic idea is the same: Adjectives describe people and things, and they typically answer the questions which and what kind. The examples that would most likely come to mind first are simple and common ones: good book, tall man, happy girl, etc. Indeed, the more frequent practice is to place an adjective before a noun or pronoun. (We can say these adjectives function attributively.)
But with deeper reflection, we have to consider a number of constructions in which an adjective is placed after the noun or pronoun it modifies (i.e., functioning predicatively). Let’s start with these two:
- Participial adjectives/ passive constructions: Bruce Lee was, of course, a man trained in the martial arts.
- Reduced adjective clauses (without participial adjectives): Who would play the lead role in this movie? The producers were looking for someone young yet mature./ The patient, now healthy and happy, thanked the doctor before leaving the hospital./I’ll eat anything sweet and chocolaty.
Wikipedia notes the role complex wording plays in deciding the placement of an adjective. This example is cited online: “an evildoer devoid of redeeming qualities”.[1] The point being that a simple adjective generally precedes a noun, but a complex adjectival phrase is more natural when placed after the noun. Going back to our first example, we could talk about a trained artist, but trained in the martial arts is too long and complex to place before the head noun.
I agree with the logic above, and yet does that mean it’s wrong to place a single adjective after the noun it modifies? Consider this statement: I like my coffee strong. This has a different meaning from I like my strong coffee, doesn’t it? The former means I prefer strong coffee to weak coffee. The latter suggests that I have some coffee in my possession, it’s strong, and I like it. Or it might mean that I like my strong coffee, but I don’t like yours. Hmm, so can we add another construction to our list?
- Omission of infinitive to be: I like my coffee (to be) strong. / She likes her men (to be) tall, dark, and handsome.
Here’s final construction Wikipedia poses for consideration:
- Adjectives qualified by an adverb phrase: “I saw three kids happy enough to jump up and down with glee.”[2]
Can you think of other cases when adjectives follow the nouns or pronouns they modify?
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective
Filed under: Grammar, Writing | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, phrasal verbs, informal English, two-part verbs, multi-word verbs, formal writing, register, professional English, business English, academic English
The purpose of this exercise is to reinforce students’ understanding of the differences between formal and informal English, highlighting the role phrasal verbs can play in changing the register. Students will begin with informal speech and edit it for a more formal context, using one-word equivalents for the selected phrasal verbs.
Level: High intermediate to advanced
STEP 1 – Ask students to name people in positions of power who can effect change, for example, a president, mayor, or school director. List their ideas on the board.
STEP 2 – Ask the students to choose one person in power and list 2-3 actions they would like that person to take. Each item on the list must use at least one phrasal verb. Be sure students have access to a good phrasal verb reference chart that includes definitions, such as the one in the appendix of Book 4 of the Focus in Grammar series. Model:
I want our governor to:
- come up with a way to help out state college students with tuition
- put together a program to help students find work after college
- make laws that will stop people from using up too much gas, water, and electricity
STEP 3 – Students will use their lists to compose a short letter. Model the business letter format on the board, indicating the correct positions of the addresses, the greeting, the closing, and the signature. In the body of the letter, one-word equivalents must replace the phrasal verbs. (Additional revisions may be necessary to increase the formality, e.g., elimination of contractions and abbreviations, more appropriate greetings and closings, etc.) Model:
Dear Sir:
I would like to make three requests. First, I kindly ask you to find a way to assist students who attend state colleges. Tuition is difficult to pay, and students like me need more help to get a good education. Second, the state government needs to create a program to help students find work after college. You could create free job centers at libraries, for example. Finally, I am worried about the environment. I believe the state government can make new laws that will stop people from wasting gas, water, and electricity. Until there are such laws, people will continue to waste.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
VARIATION: Instead of a business letter, students can write a short article. Tell them to imagine they are writing for a local newspaper. The headline can be Time for Change or Changes We Need.
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: chain story, English With Jennifer, grammar games, Jennifer ESL, Jennifer Lebedev, multi-word verbs, phrasal verbs, two-part verbs, verb transivity
This activity puts a spin on a familiar classroom game: chain stories. It’s best to do it in writing so that the final product(s) can be reviewed. One option is to work as a class, having each student make a one or two-line contribution with the teacher acting as the scribe at the board. A more interesting and perhaps more beneficial approach is to have several stories being formed at once on paper. More stories mean more contexts in which to study the given phrasal verbs. I will use this second option to illustrate the activity.
Objective: To increase awareness of object placement with transitive phrasal verbs
Level: Intermediate to advanced
STEP 1 – Select 6-8 transitive phrasal verbs and list them on the board. Include both separable and inseparable phrasal verbs. Be sure students have access to a phrasal verb reference chart to confirm definitions and whether a given verb is separable or inseparable. You can cue them by listing the phrasal verbs with objects in correct positions. Model:
Ask someone over
Go along with something/ someone
Hang something up
Look forward to something
Point something out
Show something off
Talk someone into something (or doing something)
Think something over
Wake someone up
STEP 2 – Next to the list of phrasal verbs, write 8-10 possible objects. You can ask students to volunteer ideas. Try to include some unusual choices to make the activity interesting. You should also include one or two pronouns and at least one very long object that will force students to make a decision regarding the best position of the object in a separable phrasal verb. Model:
a really cool-looking sports car
a late night party
neighbors
a problem
big scary dogs
it
him
them
an idea which at any other time would sound crazy
the question
STEP 3 – Ask students to work in pairs. Give each pair a blank sheet of paper. They must choose one phrasal verb and one object from the list to begin a short story. Once they write their first line, they pass their paper to the pair on the left. Students will continue the story they’ve just received by using a different phrasal verb and a different object from the lists. Sometimes an additional sentence will be necessary to transition from one idea to the next. This second sentence doesn’t have to contain a phrasal verb. End the activity when each story has five or six phrasal verbs.
STEP 4 – Collect all the stories. Read each one aloud to the class. As you read each line aloud, allow for feedback and corrections.
Possible story:
Jim was taking a nap. His brother, Matt, woke him up.
Jim and Matt had plans. Their friend Pete had asked them over.
Jim and Matt were looking forward to a late night party at Pete’s house.
Pete wanted to show off a really cool-looking sports car which his parents bought for him.
When the brothers got to Pete’s house, Jim pointed out a problem – big scary dogs.
Pete spoke sweetly and talked them into leaving Pete’s front door. Now they could go in and have fun!
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, phrasal verbs, particles, prepositional verbs, phrasal prepositional words, two-part verbs, three-part verbs, multi-word verbs
QUESTION: How can we know if a phrasal verb is separable or inseparable?
ANSWER: There isn’t always an easy way to find this out, but a good appendix like those in the upper level books of the Focus on Grammar series will prove to be a useful reference for students. The authors of books 3, 4, and 5 included lists of intransitive and transitive phrasal verbs, noting in the latter which transitive phrasal verbs can or must be separated.
You can explain that three-word verbs are easier to work with than two-word verbs. Three-word verbs end with a preposition. The preposition must be followed by an object. One general rule is not to separate a three-word phrasal verb:
Come up with something
Follow through with something
Get out of something
Go along with something
Keep up with someone
There are exceptions to the rule but not many. Consider three-word verbs that take two objects. The first object must separate the verb from the adverb particle:
Give it up for John! = Let’s applaud John!
Put it down to inexperience = The cause is/ was inexperience.
Of course, since prepositions are followed by objects, students could be taught to categorize phrasal verbs according to whether the verb is followed by an adverb, a preposition, or both. This practice makes the distinction among phrasal verbs, prepositional verbs, and phrasal prepositional verbs. I’ve come to prefer simplifying my instruction and using the term particle to refer to the short words following the verb. I think it’s less taxing to simply view the phrasal verb as a unit: a verb plus one or two particles. As each two- or three-word unit is studied, the student must learn three things about it: what it means, if it’s transitive or intransitive, and if it’s transitive whether it can be separated or not.
How do you teach phrasal verbs? What terms do you use with your students when talking about structure?
Filed under: Classroom Tips, Grammar | Tags: EFL textbooks, English With Jennifer, ESL textbooks, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL
A controlled exercise in a textbook might target what you want but not exactly in the way your students need. Sometimes an exercise seems too short or too long. Here are some quick fixes which beginning teachers might have yet to learn and which more experienced teachers have yet to try out.
- Too few items in the exercise.
It’s a great exercise, but there are only half a dozen items in it. You know it won’t offer more than 5 minutes of practice, and you predict that won’t be enough.
Do students need more practice?
1. Lengthen the exercise by creating new items yourself.
2. Lengthen the exercise by having students create new items for their classmates. Completing the ready-made items prepare them for the challenge of composing their own. This three-step process translates into controlled practice (students do the items in the textbook exercise) > free practice (students create their own items) > controlled practice (students do the items created by their classmates).
Do you need more opportunity to observe students’ performance?
3. Mix up the format. Don’t do the entire exercise as a whole class. If an exercise has only 5 items and there are 12 students in your class, having volunteers complete the 5 items won’t help you evaluate the other 7 students’ understanding. You can create additional items so everyone has a turn giving an answer, or you can make this short exercise a solo or paired activity. As students work independently, you’ll have enough time to make your rounds and judge who may be having difficulty. You can mix it up even more by having students first work solo, then compare work with a partner, and then correct all items as a class.
- Too many items in the exercise.
It’s a well-constructed exercise, but 25 items seems too much.
Is half enough?
4. If students demonstrate accuracy and confidence halfway through the controlled exercise, it’s not necessary to finish it in class. Assign the remaining items for homework. Move on to the challenge of free practice.
Is it too monotonous?
5. Students may benefit from doing all the items in a lengthy exercise, but you may need to break it up to help them stay on task until the last item is completed. What can you do?
(a) Vary the format, as in #3 above. If an exercise has 25 items, do the first few as a class on the board. Do a second, longer set in pairs. Correct their work as a class. Finally, ask them to work solo and tackle the remaining items. If some students finish that last set more quickly than others, have them start putting their answers on the board as preparation for the final correction.
(b) Get creative. Intersperse the controlled items with free practice. For example, in Azar’s Understanding and Using English Grammar (3rd edition), there’s useful exercise on gerunds vs. infinitives. (Ch. 14, Exercise 19, pp.316-7) 22 items might test students’ concentration if the exercise is done straight through as a whole class. You can pause after every 7-8 items and pose questions for students to answer (call on students who didn’t just provide answers to the exercise or write the questions on the board for students to discuss with a partner). Your questions need to focus on the language targeted by the set of items you just covered.
Model (as written in the book):
- Keep (talk) ____. I’m listening to you.
- The children promised (play) ____ more quietly. They promised (make, not) ___ so much noise.
- Linda offered (look after) ___ my cat while I was out of town.
- You shouldn’t put off (pay) ___ your bills.
- Alex’s dog love (chase) ___ sticks.
- Mark mentioned (go) to the market later today. I wonder if he’s still planning (go) ___.
- Igor suggested (go) ___ (ski) ___ in the mountains this weekend. How does that sound to you?
PAUSE. POSE QUESTIONS (created by you):
- What do you do when someone interrupts you? Do you keep talking?
- Do you always do what you promise to do?
- Do you ever offer to help your neighbors?
- Do you put off doing things you don’t like, such as housework?
- What do you love to do in your free time?
CONTINUE WITH NEXT 7-8 items.
Filed under: Grammar | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, Verb Tenses, musical chairs, ESL games with song lyrics, grammar games
This is a simple concept that allows the teacher to choose songs and verb tenses that are most appropriate for a given group of students, depending on their age and language level.
STEP 1 – Select a song for your students. Distribute copies of the lyrics. NOTE: It may not be ideal to use the entire lyrics of a song. Sometimes a single verse will work best.
STEP 2 – Play a recording of the song. Discuss any new vocabulary to help students comprehend the lyrics.
STEP 3 – Place three chairs in the front of the classroom. Designate one PAST, one PRESENT, and the third FUTURE. (Index cards can be used as labels on the backs of each chair, or you can place the chairs near the board and write a time periods above each chair.) Explain that three different students will take turns reading the lyrics in the three different chairs. One student will be able to read the lyrics as written, but the other two students will be required to make changes to suit the tense designated by the chairs they are sitting in.
STEP 4 – After the lyrics are changed correctly to a different tense, the class can discuss the changes in meaning.
VARIATION:
With lower level students, you’ll have covered fewer verb tenses. In this case, use only two chairs to contrast the tenses the students already know (e.g., the simple present and the present progressive) with newer tenses (e.g., simple past and the past progressive).
MODEL: (Demonstrate for the students)
First lines of I’ve Been Working on the Railroad
(As is – Present: present perfect progressive)
I’ve been working on the railroad
All the livelong day
I’ve been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time of day
= I started working early this morning, and I’m probably still working.
(Past: change present perfect progressive to past perfect progressive)
I’d been working on the railroad
All the livelong day
I’d been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time of day
= I was working up to some point in the past, and then something else happened.
(Future: change present perfect progressive to future perfect progressive)
I’ll have been working on the railroad
All the livelong day
I’ll have been working on the railroad
Just to pass the time of day
= I will work until some future point in time.
Other Song Suggestions:
Filed under: Grammar, Student Stumpers | Tags: English With Jennifer, JenniferESL, Jennifer Lebedev, student stumper, possessive nouns, possessive adjectives, possessive pronouns, genitive case, genitive constructions, of-construction, of-genitive, apostrophe
QUESTION: I heard someone say a friend of mine. Is this different from my friend?
ANSWER: They could be seen as synonymous structures. Couldn’t we introduce a friend both ways?
I’d like you to meet my friend, Bill.
I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Bill.
However, if we take the time to ponder the two structures, we may discover some subtle differences. Let’s start with the fact that sometimes we have more than one way to express possession. Consider another example that’s similar but doesn’t make use of a possessive adjective or possessive pronoun:
The couple’s families and friends attended the beach wedding.
The families and friends of the couple attended the beach wedding.
Here again we have a choice of two ways to express possession or belonging, and one of the choices is the of-construction. Do we have this choice of alternatives with all nouns? No.
Let’s recall the limitations of the apostrophe. Use of the apostrophe to show possession is most common for people and animals. We also use it for organizations like a company, a committee, and the administration. According to Greenbaum and Quirk, “[g]eographical names take the genitive inflection, especially when they are used to imply human collectivity.” This would mean the following are all appropriate and acceptable to use:
Lisa’s mother
The cat’s fur
The school board’s decision
Pittsburgh’s football team
It would also mean that the following are not appropriate and not acceptable:
The house’s condition
Boston’s highways
Instead, we should use alternative structures:
The condition of the house
The highways in Boston
But rules are not always clear when we’re dealing with objects that are inanimate and without gender. For example, should we say:
The Sun’s diameter OR the diameter of the sun?
The ship’s captain OR the captain of the ship?
Look online and you’ll find many uses of the apostrophe as well as the of-construction to indicate the genitive with words like sun and ship.
Let’s consider a larger context and see if that helps us decide on a structure when two alternatives exist.
Context A:
The Earth has a diameter of about 12,742 kilometers.
- Really? And what about the diameter of the Sun?
Context B
Class, today we’re going to learn about the Sun.
The Sun’s diameter is about 1,392,000 kilometers.
While exploring the choice between the two structures, Greenbaum and Quirk discuss the role of focus and the order of new and old information.[1] I would argue that these two factors explain why the of-construction works better in Context A and the use of the apostrophe works better in Context B. In Context A, the Sun is the focus. In Context B, diameter is new information. Would you agree?
Greenbaum and Quirk also consider the possible need for clarity in number.[2] They use these examples:
George’s sister is coming to stay with us.
= ambiguous (How many sisters are there? Just one?)
One of George’s sisters is coming to stay with us.
= clear (He has more than one sister.)
If we now return to our original examples, I don’t think we can argue that one or the other structure puts more focus on Bill, but I do think there’s a nuance regarding number:
I’d like you to meet my friend, Bill.
= ambiguous (How many friends do you have? Just one?)
I’d like you to meet a friend of mine, Bill.
= clear (You have more than one friend.)
What are your thoughts? What possible differences do you see between my friend and a friend of mine?
[1] Greenbaum, Sidney and Randolph Quirk. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman, 1995. Pp.387-388.
[2] Greenbaum, Sidney and Randolph Quirk. A Student’s Grammar of the English Language. Longman, 1995. Pp. 103-105.
Filed under: Grammar, Student Stumpers | Tags: English With Jennifer, existential sentences, here, Jennifer Lebedev, JenniferESL, there, there as the subject
QUESTION: This sentence doesn’t make sense: There’s a mistake here. How can there and here be in the same sentence? Is the mistake here or there?
ANSWER: Students first learn to use here and there to identify the location or proximity of a person or thing. In the following examples, here and there function as adverbs:
- I live here. = in this place, in this town, in this house, etc.
- Bob lives there. = in that place, in that town, in that house, etc.
English has many informal, spoken uses of here and there that can confuse language learners, such as here you are, there you go, hi there, and here we go again. But one other standard use of there is to express the existence of a person or thing. We don’t have to teach the tongue-twisting term existential sentence, but we can explain that we need the help of there to state something is. In the following examples, there functions as the subject and has nothing to do with distance in terms of space or time:
- There is a book on the table. = The book exists, and it is on the table.
- There are papers on the table. = The papers exist, and they are on the table.
You can write a sentence on the board with one misspelled word and ask students to identify the mistake. (I see books on the tabel.) Once they do, you can confirm the location of the mistake and point to it, saying, “Yes, there’s a mistake here.” Ask which word expresses location, here or there? They should now understand that here still functions as an adverb and there functions as the subject, helping us explain that a mistake exists somewhere.
Here are similar stumpers for you. Are any of the following sentences incorrect? If so, why? Post your answer, and I’ll tell you if I agree.
- There’s no reason to panic.
- There’s always lots of things to talk about.
- There is always something to do.
- There are never enough minutes in a day.
- There are two projects due this week.
- There are a business plan and a sales report due.
- There is a business plan due on Wednesday and a sales report due on Friday.
