COLLOCATIONS SHAPE OUR LANGUAGE

DETERMINERS, QUANTIFIERS AND ADVERBS OF QUANTITY

DETERMINERS, QUANTIFIERS AND ADVERBS OF QUANTITY-B1 AND B2

Resumimos muy rápidamente este tipo de palabras, aun a riesgo de repasar las reglas y ejemplos muy por encima:

MUCH, MANY, A LOT OF, LOTS OF


As you know, much is used with uncountable nouns, and many is used with countable nouns.

A lot of and lots of are preferred in affirmative sentences, but much and many are more formal.
In negative sentences, we use much and many.


I don’t have much money.
You can get to meet lots of people at that camping.
There are many reasons to continue studying.
Much and many can be followed by of+a possessive or the article “the”.
I spent much of my money on records.
He is one of the many youth who have moved abroad.
This organization is proud of its many contributors

LITTLE/FEW:  I have little time    There are (too) few cars in Madrid


ENOUGH: Lo suficiente-She has enough money BUT  I am (not) strong enough

TOO, TOO MUCH, TOO MANY:  The bag is too heavy/ I am too weak
            You gave me too much  information
             There are too many cars in  Madrid

SOME: Usado con contables e incontables: Some people think...  I have some fruit. Oraciones positivas y preguntas con ofrecimiento en el que se espera respuesta positiva: Do you want some water?   De esta palabra se derivan somewhere, somehow, somebody, someone.

NEITHER OF: We use it to refer to two people or things:
Neither of us went to the party.


NONE  OF: We use it to talk about more than two people or things:
None of us went to the party.
None of the teachers is over 50.

Sometimes we don’t include the noun, if it’s clear because of the context:
Have you won any awards?
No, I’ve won none so far (no awards).

.
Uncountable nouns


NONE: Do you have salt? There's none left ("nada de sal")

NOBODY/NO ONE: Nadie: There was no one//nobody in the room. ANYBODY: There wasn't anybody in the room.

NOTHING-nade  NOWHERE-en ninguna parte

ALL, BOTH, WHOLE

We use all or all of when we are talking about the total number of things or people in a group, or the total amount of something.
Example:
- All (of) my cousins were at my sister’s wedding.
- The baby seems to cry all the time.
-Not all the vacancies were covered.
-Have you all heard the news already?


In modern English we use “everyone” and not constructions like “all the people”:
Everyone was listening to the lecturer (and not all the people were listening to the lecturer).


Before singular countable nouns we usually use the whole(of) rather than all (of) the.
The man didn’t stop coughing during the whole of the play


We use both (of) when we want to talk about two things together. Both (of) and all (of) are used in the same places in sentences.

-Both (of) the rooms are free.
-Both (of) the cars have been sold.
-They have both eaten their dinner.
-Are you both coming to the party?


EXERCISE

Fill in the gaps using all, few, a few, less, many, much, lot, none and whole


1-___________ were shocked by the verdict. They didn’t expect it.
2- Give me some water, there’s __________________ left.
3- _________________ of us are trying to find accommodation.
4- A _________________ of them disagree with the measure.
5- The ___________________ region is devastated.
6- He’s lying on the sofa __________ the time.
7- After you do it ______________ times it is not so terrible.
8- There are too_________________ chairs. We need more.




Answers-1- Many 2-none  3-all 4-few  5-whole  6-all  7-a few  8-few

WORD FORMATION-B2 (MAYBE REVISION FOR THOSE STARTING TO PREPARE TO SIT C1)

WORD FORMATION (B2-C1)


Having a good command of word formation is essential for your learning. Here are some examples:





(picture taken from morguefile.com, free stock)


NOUN                     VERB                   ADJECTIVE/PARTICIPLE                  ADVERB


ADVERTISMENT               ADVERTISE         ADVERTISED
KNOWLEDGE                    KNOW/ACKNOWLEDGE  KNOWLEDGEABLE              
BITE                                     BITE                    BITTEN
ENGAGEMENT                  ENGAGE            ENGAGED

SMELL                                SMELL                SMELLY (smelling bad)SWEET-SMELLING
BELIEF                               BELIEVE             BELIEVABLE/UNBELIEVABLE                                    UNBELIEVABLY
TOP (ie.top of a page)
TOP (top model)                  TOP (to top as a footballer)
EASE                                   EASE                   EASY                                                                                       EASILY
THOUGHT                         THINK               THOUGHTFUL/THOUGHTLESS                               THOUGHTFULLY
LONELINESS                  ----                         LONELY
RISE                                    RISE                    RISING                                            
BEAUTY                            BEAUTIFY         BEAUTIFUL                                                                   BEAUTIFULLY
MEASUREMENT/measure MEASURE       MEASURABLE                                                     MEASURABLY
PAYMENT                           PAY                    PAYABLE/UNPAID
POLITICS/POLITICIAN POLITICIZE         POLITICAL                                                                 POLITICALLY
LOGIC                                                             LOGICAL/ILLOGICAL                                      LOGICALLY/ILOGICALLY
BREAK                               BREAK                BROKEN
CRITIC/CRITICISM          CRITICIZE          CRITICAL                                                                     CRITICALLY
EXPECTATION/EXPECTANCY EXPECT    EXPECTED/UNEXPECTED                          (UN) EXPECTEDLY
SCIENCE/SCIENTIST                                    SCIENTIFICAL                                                           SCIENTIFICALLY
ADDITION                         ADD                     ADDED
ANNOYANCE                   ANNOY                ANNOYING/ANNOYED                                            ANNOYINGLY
ENDURANCE                   ENDURE                ENDURING

POLITENESS                                                    POLITE/IMPOLITE                                            POLITELY/IMPOLITELY



READING

Complete with the right form considering the root word in brackets:



EX.4
LIKE KIDS


Language has frequently been characterized as an attribute of the human species which distinguishes it from the rest of animals. Thus, although the latter count on more or less complicated systems of _______________(communicate), human language has the following special features that make it distinctive:
It is a system of arbitrary symbols, that is to say, there is no _______________(connect) between the sounds and the objects that they represent (this principle is not__________(truth) for onomatopoeias and interjections), which permits us to have abstract ideas.
It_________________(involvement) a representation of reality without the _______________ (stimulate) being present.

Animals stick to a symbolic representation of first range, without being able to get far from the designation of objects at a concrete moment (they send out ________________(warn) signals when a predator is in front of them, or communication signals in front of a _______________(desire) stimulus, such as an ________________(alliance) ).

This communication is carried out_________________(instinct) according to the meaning that the object carries for the species.
A second step would be to connect objects or examples when one of them is present.
This is the case of the boy who says “dad” when he sees his father’s car, even if he’s not present, in order to express the idea of ____________________(belong).


EX.4-ANSWERS
1-communication NOUN  2-connection NOUN   3-true ADJ   4-involves VB  5-stimulus NOUN  6-desirable ADJ  7-warning ADJ 8-ally NOUN  9-instinctively ADV  10-belonging NOUN

Fijaos en que una misma palabra puede ser nombre o adjetivo. No es lo mismo "warning" como "advertencia" que como adjetivo o complemento del nombre. Así, en "a warning signal", la primera palabra  complementa al nombre "signal". Llegados a este punto hay que distinguir entre la categoría gramatical de, por ejemplo, un nombre ("child") y su función, que puede ser de adjetivo ("child autism", "autismo infantil"), y en cuyo caso irá siempre en singular ("shoe shop", "car race").

Have a nice week!

REVIEW FOR CAE

REVIEW OF A SHORT STORY (FOR C1)

THE WHOLE WORLD ESCAPING FROM OUR HANDS

Rarely have I found such a poignant and insightful text as “Hands”, widely praised as an accurate mirror of human passions and contradictions.

Pencilled at one snowy night in Chicago to become part of Sherwood Anderson’s finest compilation of short stories, Winesburg, Ohio, which was published in early 1916, “Hands” is a narration which debunks the myth of small towns in the United States as places where friendliness, love and moral values prevail.

The illusion of a city upon a hill and a peaceful life in small communities as originating from the days of the pioneers is challenged due to the fact that increasing hypocrisy, bigotry and narrow-mindedness turn that utopia unreachable.

Wing, a former school teacher, lives now in almost utter isolation, and his hands are valued only for their capacity to pick up berries. Nevertheless, the continuous references to them make the reader realise that he is not being esteemed as a person at all. Mechanisation has entirely cut all divisions between nature and cities and Wing’s far-fetched desire for a Socratic paradise, of a pure Eden where he used to share knowledge and love, only allowed in his distorted mind.  

He was forced into fleeing from Pensylvania and hiding somewhere else after having been accused of a felony he may not have been guilty of. As a consequence, local citizens cruelly refused to try to understand him or to hear other versions. In Winesburg, he inhabits a “waste land”, looking much older than he is, and with only one confidant as a helping hand. 

What struck me most about "Hands" was the way the author deftly depicts modern western society through gloomy landscapes and an unconvencional protagonist. I would strongly recommend it to everyone, as it is not likely to disappoint all those who are eager to discover the hidden keys to our feelings.

Author: Jorge Sánchez (C)

to pencil: escribir a lápiz

deftly: hábilmente

to depict: pintar con palabras

embody: representar una idea: The lead character embodies evil.

pervades: impregnar: a sense of defeat/success/freedom pervades the novel.

widely praised: ampliamente elogiado

criticism: crítica/s

Nótense las inversas, pasivas, modales perfectos, relativos con which en non-defning clauses (después de coma) y cómo se cambia which originates por "originating". Ex: The band performing this afternoon is Foo Fighters. (which/that performs).

También se deben incluir construcciones adverbiales y otras con gerundios ("Having been widely acclaimed by critics and readers worldwide, it stands the test of time, as its message may be considered as universal") y participios ("Pencilled at a snowy night in Chicago, Hands..."), cleft sentences para dar énfasis ("What struck me most was...") y verbos o adjetivos seguidos de preposición, que con el tiempo usaréis con soltura.

En futuras entradas repasaremos todas estas construcciones.

Good luck!