Study newsletter 2016, week 26 Content
Language level
Page
Phrase of the week – Fine by me
All levels
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Mind map – Conference calls
All levels
2
Czenglish – On vs. for
Pre-intermediate (B1-) – Advanced (C1)
3
Business Writing – Who or Whom?
Pre-intermediate (B1-) – Advanced (C1)
4-5
Test – Articles
Pre-intermediate (B1-) – Advanced (C1)
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Phrase of the week Fine by me We use this expression to agree with an idea suggested by someone else. You can use this phrase in ………… language. Spoken Written Informal Example 1 A: Can we meet up at 9, not 8? I’ve got lots to do before we go out. B: Fine by me. Example 2 A: Shall we order one XXL menu and share it? It’ll be cheaper. B: Fine by me. I’m not too hungry.
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Mind map Learning new vocabulary in the most effective way
Vyzkoušejte si interaktivní Mindmapy zde: http://www.jazykovka.info/studujeme-jazyky/mindmap/conference-calls/ Klikejte na slova, uslyšíte jednotlivá slovíčka namluvená rodilým mluvčím.
Slovíčka Slovo Objective Participant Agenda Distribute Moderator Landline phone Pay attention Keep track Clarify Outcome
Význam slova cíl účastník agenda/obsah roznést moderátor pevná linka dávat pozor sledovat/mít přehled objasnit výsledek
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Czenglish WRONG:
I waited on my wife in front of the supermarket.
RIGHT:
I waited for my wife in front of the supermarket.
In most cases, the verb ‘wait’ is followed by the preposition ‘for’. We wait for the bus, we wait for a phone call, we wait for a winning lottery ticket! We also wait for people. To say, as in this example, ‘I waited on my wife in front of the supermarket’, implies that you were physically on top of her, either sitting or standing on the poor woman. We assume that this was not the case. Instead, you should say, ‘I waited for my wife.’ To wait ‘on’ someone does have a meaning in English. It is the job of a waiter in a restaurant. He waits on tables, meaning he attends to the customers sat on them. Here’s the two put together: Customer: Why haven't you taken our drinks order? We have been waiting for 15 minutes. Waiter: I'm sorry, sir. We are understaffed tonight, and I have to wait on over 20 tables!
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Business Writing Who or Whom? Pronouns Before I start talking about who and whom, I want to talk about pronouns. Way back in Business Writing Tip #1 I wrote: Pronouns seem to confuse people but they’re really not difficult. The form of the pronoun that you need to use depends on whether it is a subject or object in the sentence. 1. If it’s a subject, it performs the action. Use I, he, she, they , we, who 2. If it’s an object, it receives the action. Use me, him, her, them, us, whom Subjects and Objects Do you remember what subjects and objects are? The subject is the person or thing that is doing something.
I am writing this blog. ‘I’ is the subject. ‘I’ am the person who is performing the action of writing.
He ran as fast as he could, but still missed the train. ‘He’ is the subject. ‘He’ is the person who is performing the action of running.
Objects are the person or thing having something done to him/her/it.
I patted the dog. ‘The dog’ is the object. It is the thing that I, the subject, am patting.
He is writing the report. ‘The report’ is the object. It is the report that he, the subject, is performing the action of writing.
Who and Whom
Now when it comes to who and whom, who is the subject pronoun and whom is the object pronoun. If you want to know the name of the person writing the report, you would ask, “Who is writing the report?” because you want to know the subject, the person who is performing the action.
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If you want to know the name of the person or people that were invited to the meeting, you would ask, “Whom did you invite to the meeting?” because you want to know the object. The subject is you – you invited the people to the meeting. Now I’ll give you a quick way to work out which word to use. Look at that example again:
You invited the people to the meeting. Maybe you invited Bob to the meeting. If I replace Bob with a pronoun I would say, “You invited him to the meeting.”
When the pronoun is ‘him’, the question is ‘whom’?
‘Whom did you invite to the meeting?’ ‘I invited him.’
We also use ‘whom’ after prepositions. A couple of examples:
To whom was he speaking? About whom were they talking? For whom did you buy the ring?
When it comes to Bob going to the station to catch the train, if I want to replace Bob with a pronoun I would say, ‘He went to station to catch the train.’ In this case, the question would be ‘Who went to the station to catch the train.’ Bob is performing the action. So, if you can't remember that you use "whom" when you are referring to the object of the sentence, just remember that if you can replace the word with "him", then you use "whom." It’s really not so difficult. Then again, English is changing and some people never use the word ‘whom’. Its use is more common in US English than in UK English. As always, if you’re writing a formal document, it’s best to try and use it correctly, but don’t get hung up over it! Happy writing.
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
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TEST: Articles We enjoyed our holiday. ....(1) view from our hotel was very nice. Can I ask ....(2) question? Of course. What do you need? You look very exhausted. You need ....(3) holiday. Where is Joel? He is in ....(4) living room. Kimberley is ....(5) interesting person. You must meet her! 'Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to ...(6) city centre?' 'Yes, turn right and then take ...(6) next turning left.' Yes, that's ...(7) good idea! Let's go! It's ...(8) nice morning, we should go for a walk! Petra lives with two friends in ....(9) apartment. Don't forget to turn off ....(10) lights when you go out.
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B an ... a
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Správné odpovědi se dozvíte ihned po dokončení on-line testu zde: http://www.jazykovka.info/studujeme-jazyky/minitest/pasive-active-voice/ Správné odpovědi z minulého týdne (Relative clauses): 1B, 2D, 3A, 4C, 5D, 6C, 7B, 8C, 9A, 10C
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