ALTHOUGH - DESPITE

ALTHOUGH - DESPITE

(Although - even though / Despite - in spite of)

Meaning and use in English.

---

Although/even though and despite/in spite of are used to combine or link two contrasting statements.

• Although/even though are followed by a subject and a verb.
  
  Even though is a slightly stronger form of 'although'.
  
  Although and though have the same meaning and are interchangeable in most cases.
  
  
  • Although/even though it was raining, she walked to the station.
  • Although/even though he had enough money, he refused to buy a new car.
  • Although/even though Amy was wearing glasses, she couldn't read the notice.
  Although/even though he disapproved, he said nothing.
  • Although/even though Jack had worked hard, he failed the exam.
    
• Despite/in spite of are followed by a noun, a pronoun or a verb ending in -ing.
  (The gerund, a verb ending in -ing,  is the 'noun' form of a verb.)
  
  N.B. Despite/in spite of  have the same meaning, but despite is used without 'of'.
  
  
  • Despite/in spite of the rain he walked to the station.
  • He noticed the rain but he walked to the station in spite of it.
  • Despite being wet and tired, he walked to the station.
  • He decided to go sailing despite/in spite of the bad weather conditions.
    

Example:
He had enough money. He refused to buy a new car.

The above two statements can be combined as follows :

• Although/even though he had enough money, he refused to buy a new car.
• Despite/in spite of having enough money he refused to buy a new car.
• He had enough money, but despite/in spite of that he refused to buy a new car.

ALREADY - STILL - ALWAYS - YET

ALREADY - STILL - ALWAYS - YET

Already, still, always and yet are words that are often used incorrectly by learners of English. 

ALREADY

• Already is used to say that something has happened earlier than expected or
  earlier than it might have happened :
  • Hurry up Susan. Breakfast is ready!
  • I've already had breakfast thanks. I woke up early.

STILL

• Still is used to refer to continuing situations.
  • They've been married for 40 years and they still love each other.
  • I moved to this town five years ago and I'm still living here.
  • Are you still smoking? I thought you had stopped!

ALWAYS

• Always is used to refer to something that happens regularly, very frequently
  or forever.
  • I always send cards at Christmas.
  • Sue always takes the 8 o'clock train to work.
  • Alex is always complaining about his job.
  • I will always love you.

YET

• Yet is used to ask if something expected has happened, and in negative sentences.
  Questions:
  • Has the postman arrived yet?
  • Have you finished the book yet?
  
  
• Negative sentences:
  To say that something hasn't happened so far, or up until the present .
  • The book I ordered hasn't arrived yet.
  • We have yet to find out the cause of the delay.
    (=We still haven't found out the cause.)
    
• Yet can also be used to link two clauses or contrasting ideas
  (in the same way as, for example, 'nevertheless' or 'nonetheless').
  • She was offered an interesting job with good pay. Yet she refused it.
  • He felt alone in the world, yet he was surrounded by friends.
  • He was a strict yet fair teacher.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives


Comparative adjectives are used to compare two things or people to each other.

• A bus is bigger than a car.
• Bill is older than Harry.

Superlative adjectives are used to compare one member of a group to the whole group.

• The Nile is the longest river in the world.
• In our class Maria is the oldest and Charlie is the youngest.

 Formation of comparative and superlative forms of adjectives  

Form	Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
One syllable Add : -er / -est to the adjective.	long nice hot	longer than nicer than hotter than	the longest the nicest the hottest
Two or more syllables Add: more-less or most-least before the adjective.	interesting practical	more interesting than less practical than	the most interesting the least interesting
Two syllables ending in -y The 'y' becomes 'i' before -er/-est	funny easy happy	funnier than easier than happier than	the funniest the easiest the happiest
Irregular Adjectives	good bad much/many little far	better than worse than more than less than farther/further than	the best the worst the most the least the farthest/furthest
Please note: 1) Some two-syllable adjectives have two possible forms of comparison, for example: commoner/more common likelier/more likely politer/more polite simpler/more simple stupider/more stupid subtler/more subtle
2) Adjectives ending with a vowel and a consonant double the consonant, for example: big  bigger  biggest except when the consonant is 'w'or 'y' : new   newer   newest Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

American Slang For The Day

American Slang For The Day

Hickey

- a mark on the neck or face or any part of the body by a person biting or sucking the skin ; love bite


My History professor came to class with a hickey on his neck.

Today's Tongue Twister

If I assist a sister-assistant, will the sister's sister-assistant assist me?

Today's American Slang

Ace
-- means very good

example: He's an ace reporter.

Phrasal Verbs for today

Angle for

- Try to get something indirectly, by hinting or suggesting

e.g. The police is angling for clues of the crime from the suspect.

Today's Idiom

hammer (something) home


If you hammer home a point or an argument, you repeat it often to make sure that it is fully understood.



►The policeman hammered home the dangers of drinking and driving.

Today's Idiom

learning curve

This expression refers to the length of time needed to learn something new.

►The new system has a long learning curve so we'll have to give the staff time to get used to it.

Word of the Day

rubicund \ROO-bih-kund\, adjective:Inclining to redness; ruddy; red.

The men are second cousins, around forty, resembling each other not very much, one taller and leaner, less rubicund than the other, who has just returned from California.-- John Lukacs, A Thread of Years

Rubicund from his cocktail, big, broad, lustrous with power, he exuded what Walter Pater called the "charm of an exquisite character, felt in some way to be inseparable from his person."-- Edmund Morris, Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan

Rubicund comes from Latin rubicundus, "red, ruddy," from rubere, "to be red."
Dictionary.com Entry and Pronunciation for rubicund

from: dictionary- word of the day

Phrasal Verbs for today

Account For - To explain

e.g. The mamager is accounted for the missing files.

Ache for -- Want something or someone a lot

e.g. The kid ached for the new robot.

Act on- - To take action because of something like information received

e.g. The mayor of the city acted on the sewage problem.

Act out- - Perform something with actions and gestures.
- Express an emotion in your behaviour

e.g. The witness acted out how the accident happened.

Act up- - Behave badly or strangely

e.g. The girls act up when they saw the rockstars.

Add on- - Include in a calculation

e.g. Please add on the paper clips and pens on the office supplies request.

Add up- - To make a mathematical total
- Be a satisfactory explanation for something

e.g. All of the expenses adds up to one thousand euros.

Add up to- Have a certain result

e.g. Your not being serious to your job adds up to your termination.

Aim at- - To target

e.g. The vigilant aims at the drug pushers of the city.

Allow for- - Include something in a plan or calculation

e.g. The children are allowed for picnic by themselves this weekend.

SENTENCE ERRORS

1. Fragments
A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence; it lacks either a subject, a verb, or both. The type of sentence fragment produced by ESL students is often a subordinate clause detached from the main clause.


Even with disguises and intricate systems of personal security.
When people eat and drink to excess.
Since the cost of living is so high in Hawaii.
Having suffered all day from a migraine headache.
The doctor, who is a prominent member of society.

2. Run-Together Sentences

When two sentences are written as one with no punctuation between (nor an appropriate conjunction), you have a run together sentence.

My back hurts it is weak.
This is my last course / graduate next month.

To correct:
a) Use an appropriate conjunction.
b) Separate the two sentences with a period.
c) Separate the two sentences with a semicolon.

3. Comma-Splice

When two sentences are separated by only a comma, the result is a comma splice.

He ate chicken that was not cooked properly, it made him sick.
/ read many books when / was a child, my favourite books were about animals.

To correct:
a) Use an appropriate conjunction.
b) Separate the two sentences with a period.
c) Change the comma to semicolon.

Source: ESL Lessons for you

Idiom for today

on ice

To say that a plan or project is put on ice means that all further action has been postponed for an indefinite period of time.


►Plans for a nuclear power station have been put on ice.

Word for the day

fettle \FET-l\, noun:A state or condition of fitness or order; state of mind; spirits --

often used in the phrase "in fine fettle."

Aside from the problems with her voice . . . Miss Garland was in fine fettle last night.-- Vincent Canby, "Judy Garland Sets the Palace Alight", New York Times, August 1, 1967

Back in 1987, the Conservatives won a thumping majority in a June general election, primarily because the economy was seen by grateful voters to be in fine fettle.-- Larry Elliott, "Danger of a recurring nightmare", The Guardian, June 18, 2001

Many of the nuns were in fine fettle, even into their 80s and 90s.-- John McCrone, "Sisters of mercy", The Guardian, August 18, 2001

He seems in fine fettle when we meet, and happy to discuss the film that gave him his break.-- Charlotte O'Sullivan, "Naked ambition", The Guardian, February 7, 1999

Fettle is from Middle English fetlen, "to set in order," originally "to gird up," from Old English fetel, "a girdle."

from: word for the day

English abbreviations

@ - at

a/c - account

AGM - annual general meeting

a.m. - ante meridiem (before noon)

a/o - account of (on behalf of)

AOB - any other business

ASAP - as soon as possible

ATM - automated teller machine (cash dispenser)

attn - for the attention of

approx. - approximately

cc - copy to

CEO - chief executive officer

c/o - care of (on letters : at the address of)

Co - company

cm - centimetre

COD - cash on delivery

dept - department

e.g. - exempli gratia (for example)

EGM - extraordinary general meeting

ETA - estimated time of arrival

etc - et caetera (and so on)

GDP - gross domestic product

GNP - gross national product

GMT - Greenwich mean time (time in London)

i.e. - id est (meaning : 'that is')

Inc - incorporated

IOU - I owe you

IPO - initial public offer

Jr - junior

K - thousand

lb - pound (weight)

£ - pound (money)

Ltd - limited company

mo. - month

N/A - not applicable

NB - Nota Bene (it is important to note)

no. - number

PA - personal assistant

p.a. - per annum (per year)

Plc - public limited company

pls - please

p.m. - post meridiem (after noon)

p.p. - per pro (used before signing in a person's absence)

PR - public relations

p.s. - post scriptum

pto - please turn over

p.w. - per week

qty - quantity

R & D - research and development

re - with reference to

ROI - return on investment

RSVP - repondez s'il vous plait (please reply)

s.a.e. - stamped addressed envelope

VAT - value added tax

VIP - very important person

Idiom for today

a free ride

Someone who gets a free ride benefits from a collective activity without participating in it.


e.g. ►Only those who share the work can share the benefits - nobody gets a free ride!

Conversation Question: Silly Questions

from: conversation questions

A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.

1. What is your favorite way to eat a cockroach?

2. Who fell out of the apple tree?

3. Why did the ghost cry on Halloween Day?

4. Do you enjoy swimming when it is snowing?

5. Why don't you want Christmas presents this year?

6. How did you escape from the alien space ship?

7. How did you feel after watching television for 24 hours?

8. Would you ever wear your mother's dress to your all boys high school?

9. What is a typical day in the life of your dictionary (pet frog, walking shoes, classroom)?

10. Did your parents ever have children?

11. Would you rather kiss a crocodile or a bear?

12. What is on your mouse pad?

13. If you were a color, what would you be? Why?

Conversation Questions: Tell me about

from: conversation questions

A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.

1. Tell me about something you love.

2. Tell me about something you hate.

3. Tell me about something you really care about.

4. Tell me about someone you dislike.

5. Tell me about a dream you've had.

6. Tell me about a goal you have.

7. Tell me about yourself.


8. Tell me about your childhood.

9. Tell me about something you believe in.

10. Tell me about a place you've visited.

11. Tell me about an accident you've seen.

12. Tell me about a time when you were happy.

13. Tell me about a time when you were sad.

14. Tell me about a time when you were excited.

15. Tell me about a time when you were frightened.

16. Tell me about your favorite pastime.

17. Tell me about chocolate.

18. Tell me about rainy days.

19. Tell me about something beautiful.

20. Tell me about something ugly.

21. Tell me about something delicious.

22. Tell me about something pleasant.

23. Tell me about something boring.

24. Tell me about something with four legs.

25. Tell me about something with a tail.

26. Tell me about something spicy.

27. Tell me about your education.

28. Tell me about your work.

29.Tell me about a teacher you had.

30. Tell me about a boss you had.

31. Tell me about the hardest thing you ever had to do.

32. Tell me about a time you lied.

33. Tell me about something you regret.

34. Tell me about a mistake you made.

35. Tell me about someone in your family.

36. Tell me about your favorite book.

37. Tell me about someone you envy?

38. Tell me about something you've achieved?

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage (also referred to as gay marriage), is a term for a governmentally, or socially, recognized marriage between two people of the same sex. Same-sex marriage and gay marriage are the most common terms used in news media and politics. Other terms used are included below.

Debates over terminology

Some proponents of same-sex marriage use the term "equal marriage" to stress that they seek equality as opposed to special rights.[1] Opponents argue that equating same-sex and opposite-sex marriage changes the meaning of marriage and its traditions.[2] Furthermore they frequently use the term "homosexual marriage," and some surveys have suggested that the word "homosexual" is more stigmatizing than the word "gay."[3]
Some have suggested reserving the word "marriage" for religious contexts, and in civil and legal contexts using a uniform concept of civil unions. Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, for instance, writes that such an arrangement would "strengthen the wall of separation between church and state by placing a sacred institution entirely in the hands of the church while placing a secular institution under state control."[4] Some proponents and opponents of same-sex marriage on both sides find such a suggestion impractical. "Why do we suddenly have to throw out the entire system, invent some whole new thing, just because gay people want to get married?," asks Evan Wolfson of Freedom to Marry and a contributor to the landmark cases in Vermont and Massachusetts that led to the legalization of same-sex civil unions and marriages, respectively. "I don’t actually see Alan Dershowitz doing anything about this, other than writing an article, because he probably rightly understands it would be an immense project to go around the country and convince 200 million plus people to trade in their marriage for something new and explain why we are doing this when we actually have a legal system that already clearly distinguishes between civil and religious marriage."[5] Conservative critics in the US like National Review's Jennifer Morse contend that the conflation of marriage with contractual agreements is itself a threat to marriage that "has undermined more heterosexual marriages than anything, with the possible exception of adultery," but has not cited specific evidence to support the claim.[6] However, in the case of one US state in which same-sex marriages are recognized, Massachusetts, there is a long history of marriage being regarded as purely a civil institution, as illustrated in Governor William Bradford's history Of Plymouth Plantation:
May 12 was the first marriage in this place [i.e., Plymouth] which, according to the laudable custom of the Low Countries, in which they had lived, was thought most requisite to be performed by the magistrate, as being a civil thing, upon which many questions about inheritances do depend, with other things most proper to their cognizance and most consonant to the Scriptures (Ruth iv) and nowhere found in the Gospel to be laid on the ministers as a part of their office. [7]

Use of scare quotes in print and online media

Some publications that oppose same-sex marriage adopt an editorial style policy of placing the word marriage in scare quotes ("marriage") when it is used in reference to same-sex couples. In the United States, the mainstream press has largely abandoned this practice. The last major U.S. print daily to employ this editorial style was The Washington Times, which abandoned the policy in February 2008 at the behest of newly appointed editor John Solomon[8].
Some online publications such as WorldNetDaily and Baptist Press still follow the practice. Cliff Kincaid, editor of the conservative American media-watchdog group Accuracy in Media and president of an anti-U.N. group called America's Survival, agrees with this method, arguing that "marriage" is a legal status denied same-sex couples by most state governments.[9] Same-sex marriage supporters argue that the use of scare quotes is an editorialization that implies inferiority, and point out that the quotes are even used when referring to same-sex marriages in states where such unions are legal.[10]
Associated Press style, which professional journalists in the United States generally adopt, recommends the usages gay marriage and gay marriage amendment with no hyphen and no scare quotes.

History

Main article: History of same-sex unions
There is evidence that same sex unions have occurred since the beginning of recorded history in Egypt, China, Greece, Rome and Japan. [11] Famous lovers include the Egyptian couple Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum and the Greek couple Harmodius and Aristogiton. The first recorded use of the word "marriage" for same-sex couples occurs during the Roman Empire. A number of marriages are recorded to have taken place during this period. [12] The rise of Christianity changed attitudes to same-sex unions and led to the persecution of gays. In the year 342, the Christian emperors Constantius and Constans declared same-sex marriage to be illegal.[13] In the year 390, the Christian emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius I and Arcadius declared homosexual sex to be illegal and those who were guilty of it were condemned to be publicly burned alive. [14]

Current status

Marriage, as defined by the civil law, is currently available to same-sex couples in six countries. The Netherlands was the first country to allow same-sex marriage in 2001. Same-sex marriages are also legal in Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain, along with two states in the United States, Massachusetts and recently California (for status in California see California Proposition 8 (2008)). In 2005, Spain became the first country in the world to recognize same-sex marriage (including adoption rights) on equal terms and under the same law.
In 1996, the United States Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman amongst other stipulations.[15] As of May 2007, twenty-six states have passed constitutional amendments explicitly barring the recognition of same-sex marriage.[16], eighteen of which prohibit the legal recognition of any same-sex union. Nineteen additional states have legal statutes that define "marriage" as a union of two persons of the opposite-sex.[17] The territory of Puerto Rico ratified a similar statute in 1998. Nonetheless, some states are beginning to offer legal recognition to same-sex couples, whether in the form of marriage or as civil unions or domestic partnerships.
As of July 8, 2008, Massachusetts and California permit same-sex couples to marry. The states of Vermont, Connecticut, New Jersey and New Hampshire offer civil unions. Also, California and Oregon have domestic partnership laws that grant all of the rights and responsibilities of marriage. Maine, Washington, and the District of Columbia grant certain limited benefits through domestic partnerships, and Hawaii has reciprocal beneficiary laws.
At the federal level, Australia bans recognition of same-sex marriage, but the current federal Australian Labor Party government favours synchronised state and territory registered partnership legislation (as in Tasmania) although the Australian Capital Territory favours the introduction of civil unions with official ceremonies. By stark contrast, same-sex marriage in Canada was preserved when a proposed repeal bill failed at its first reading in 2006, while New Zealand's Parliament similarly heavily defeated a private members bill that would have prohibited same-sex marriage in New Zealand in December 2005. However, as far as current jurisprudence goes, New Zealand's Marriage Act 1955 still recognises only opposite-sex couples as marriageable (although it has also included transsexuals who have undergone reassignment surgery as the 'opposite sex' for these purposes, since Family Court and High Court of New Zealand decisions in 1995.
Israel's High Court of Justice ruled to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other countries, although it is still illegal to perform them within the country. A bill was raised in Knesset to rescind the Israeli High Court's ruling, but the Knesset has not advanced the bill since December 2006. (This makes the practice of same-sex marriage, as far as Israel is concerned, like the performance of a Reform or Conservative Jewish wedding.)
Canada, Spain and Norway are the only countries where the legal status of same-sex marriage is exactly the same as that of opposite-sex marriage, though South Africa is due to fully harmonize its marriage laws. Other nations all have requirements or restrictions that apply to same-sex marriage that do not apply to opposite-sex marriage.

from: Same-sex_marriage

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Comprehension Questions:

1. Personally, what is your stand on this issue?

2. What suggestion or advice can you give to someone close like a family member. relative or friend who is planning for a same-sex marriage?

Conversation Question part 1

from: conversation questions

A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.

Note: You can follow up most of these questions with a why or why not or with the question "In what situation(s) would you consider doing so?"

1. Would you ever adopt a child?

2. Would you ever give your child up for adoption?

3. Would you ever cheat on your husband/wife?

4. Would you ever consider being a criminal?

5. Would you ever consider being a farmer?

6. Would you ever consider getting plastic surgery?

7. Would you ever consider going bungee jumping? Would you ever consider going skydiving?

8. Would you ever defy your boss if he/she asked you to do something you didn't agree with?

9. Would you ever donate a kidney or another vital organ?

10. Would you ever donate blood?

11. Would you ever drive a car if you had forgotten your license at home?

12. Would you ever drive at night with only one headlight?

13. Would you ever drive your car with a flat tire?

14. Would you ever eat rat meat?

15. Would you ever eat rice with sugar?

16. Would you ever feed the animals at the zoo?

17. Would you ever get hair implants?

18. Would you ever give money to a charity?

19. Would you ever give money to a panhandler? (a beggar)

20. Would you ever go skinny dipping? (swim naked)

21. Would you ever lie to your children?
... to your husband/wife?
... your boyfriend/girlfriend?

22. Would you ever lie to help a friend?

23. Would you ever marry someone your parents didn't approve of?

24. Would you ever paint your living room black?

25. Would you ever pick up a hitchhiker?

26. Would you ever slap someone for something they said?

27. Would you ever smoke in a no smoking area?

28. Would you ever spank your child?

29. Would you ever steal from your family or friends?

30. Would you ever "take a bullet" for someone else?

31. Would you ever walk downtown without any shoes on your feet?

32. Would you ever walk home alone at night?
... in this country?
... in your own country?

33. Would you eat a live cricket for $500? If not, how much would it take?

34. Would you ever consider killing yourself?

35. Would you ever eat human flesh?

36. Would you ever resort to cannibalism if it were the only option left to stay alive?

37. Would you divorce your husband/wife if your favorite celebrity wanted to marry you?

38. Would you name your children after favorite characters in movies or books? Would you do so if the names were strange, as in science fiction movies or books?

39. Would you ever pull over and help someone on the side of the road?

40. Do you think this could be dangerous to do?

41. Would you ever say yes to someone even if you meant no?

42. Would you ever donate an organ in order to save other person's life?

43. Would you ever consider plastic surgery if a friend suggested it to you?

44. Would you ever consider writing your own book?

45. Would you ever try staying in the jungle for a month?

46. Would you ever consider surrogacy?

47. Would you ever consider being a surrogate mother yourself?

48. Would you ever consider egg or sperm donation?

49. Would you ever pretend to be someone (like a policeman, or a teacher, or a survey taker) just to get something that you wanted?