Homework

--------
Read the dialogue and complete the assignments

Dialogue 1
----------
Tom: "Hi, Samantha. How are you?"
Samantha: "I'm ok. I have a lot of work right now."
Tom: "Why are you so busy?"
Samantha: "My boss wants me to create a forecast for next year's investments."
Tom: "Is your company buying stocks or bonds?"
Samantha: "We are mostly buying stocks. I have to figure out which companies are
the riskiest ones."
Tom: "Which ones are you working with?"
Samantha: "I have a portfolio of twelve companies. Microsoft is the biggest
company in the group and it shouldn't be risky. Novell and Nvidia are big, too.
They are bigger than smaller companies like Softech, and Valiant but not as big as
Microsoft, and IBM."
Tom: "Which criteria are you using to judge them?"
Samantha: "I look at a company's cash reserves, stock performance, and sales
projections. The risk should go down if a company is wealthy but the wealthier
companies can make big mistakes. Those mistakes can be expensive."
Tom: "What can you say about their stock performance?"
Samantha: "All of the stocks are stable. Nvidia had a very good year but it still
wasn't their best year. I hope IBM can improve their stock price. Their sales
next year look very promising."

A) Write a few sentences describing Samantha's task and problems.

B) Write five questions about the comparisons between the companies.

Dialogue 2
----------
Mr. Smith:"Hello, Ms. Clarke."
Ms. Clarke:"Good morning, Mr. Smith. How can I help you?"
Mr. Smith:"I am looking for a bigger desk for my office. My new computer takes up
more than a third of my current one."
Ms. Clarke:"I'll look in our database to see which desk you have and which ones are
available."
Mr. Smith:"Thank you."
Ms. Clarke:"Oh, this isn't good. I looked at our whole supply of desks and you
currently have the biggest desk size that we have in our warehouse. I would have
to order you a new one."
Mr. Smith:"How long will that take?"
Ms. Clarke:"It might take one and a half months, or two. Our supplier is in
Thailand and only builds the desks after we order them and we have two already
ordered so your desk would be the third one."
Mr. Smith:"Is there anyway to get the desk more quickly?"
Ms. Clarke:"Sadly, no. I can offer you a small side table. It would be big enough
for your computer and free up some space for your work."
Mr. Smith:"It doesn't sound great but beggars can't be choosers."
Ms. Clarke:"I'll have someone bring it to your office later this week and I will
send you an e-mail as soon as I know when the new desk will arrive."
Mr. Smith:"That will be great.
Ms. Clarke:"I'm glad I could help. Have a nice day, Mr. Smith."
Mr. Smith:"You, too, Ms. Clarke."

A) A brief description of Mr. Smith's problem.

B) Write five questions based on the conversation.

C) Write the e-mail that Ms. Clarke will send to Mr. Smith after she receives the
delivery date information.

Sentence Structures
-------- ----------
Basic components:
Subject: Who/What does something?
Predicate: What does the Subject do?
Direct Object: What does the Subject Predicate?
Indirect Object: Where, Why, Who...with, etc.?
Indirect Object of Time:When does the action take place?

Statements:
S-P-DO-IO-IOT.
or
IOT, S-P-DO-IO.

Negation:
S-P-DO-IO.
P: auxiliary verb - not - nucleus verb

Questions:
---------
General rule:
(Wh-)-Auxiliary Verb-S-P-DO-IO?

Closed Questions:
Aux.V-S-P-DO-IO?

Subject Q:
Who/What P-DO-IO? (no additional AuxV for Simple Present)(also, because we don't
know who the Subject is, the P will be conjugated in the third person singular)
Predicate Q:
What AuxV-S-P-IO? (the P is a conjugated form of "to do")

DO Q:
What AuxV-S-P-IO?

IO Q:
Who... with, Where, When, Why, etc.?

Tenses
------
X X X X X X X X X X X X X
§ O %
|-----------------|----------------->
Past Present Future
to play
-------
Present Simple X X X Present Continuous O
-------------- ------------------
I play I am playing
you play you are playing
he/she/it plays he/she/it is playing
we play we are playing
you play you are playing
they play they are playing

Simple Past § Simple Future %

----------- -------------
I played I will play
you played you will play
he/she/it played he/she/it will play
we played we will play
you played you will play
they played they will play

REMEMBER: Present covers the time it takes to speak the sentence!

to be
-----
Present Simple X X X Present Continuous O
-------------- ------------------
I am I am being
you are you are being
he/she/it is he/she/it is being
we are we are being
you are you are being
they are they are being

Simple Past § Simple Future %

----------- -------------
I was I will be
you were you will be
he/she/it was he/she/it will be
we were we will be
you were you will be
they were they will be

Infinitives:
-----------
S-P-DO-IO-IOT-Infinitive-DO-IO-IOT...

Infinitives are the desired effect of the previous verb. They can be used as chain
reactions. The DOs and IOs that come after an infinitive are related to that
infinitive and not previous verbs.
REMEMBER: The introduction of a new verb ends the connection of objects to the
previous verb!

Gerunds:
-------
S-P-DO-IO-IOT-Gerund-DO-IO...
Gerunds are the immediate effect of the previous verb without saying if they were
wanted. They can be used as chain reactions. The DOs and IOs that come after a
gerund are related to that gerund and not previous verbs.
REMEMBER: The introduction of a new verb ends the connection of objects to the
previous verb!

REMEMBER: Both infinitives and gerunds can be “stacked”, creating a chain reaction.
Peter plays soccer to impress the girls to get kisses to appear popular....
Peter plays soccer impressing the girls getting stares appearing
popular....

Modals:
------
Modals are verb forms that describe actions that are possible or desirable but do
not actually occur.

would: an action that the subject wants to engage in but is prevented from doing
so.
Peter would play soccer but his leg is broken.

should: an action which would have desirable effects or be seen positively if

engaged in.
Peter should play soccer.

could: an action is possible should the right circumstances arise. (aka the right
circumstances are not present at the time of speaking)
Peter could play soccer if the weather was nice.

can: an action is possible.

Peter can play soccer.
Prepositions:
-------------

in: The beginning, middle and end of the action take place within a confined space.
Peter plays in a stadium.
Mary walks in a room.

into: The action ends with the entering of a confined space.

Mary walks into a room.
Peter kicks a ball into the goal.

on: the action takes place while touching the object's surface.
The picture hangs on the wall.
The computer is on the table.

over: the action takes place vertically above the object (without touching)
The drone is hovering over the field.
The lamp hangs over the desk.

under: the action takes place vertically below the object (without touching)
The pen is under the table.
The dog is sleeping under the bed.

behind: the action takes place near the backside of the object.
Sarah hangs her clothes behind her house.
The playground is behind the school.

in front of: the action takes place near the frontside of the object.
He stopped in front of his car.
The ambulance stopped in front of the hospital.

with: the action takes place with an equal also performing the action
Peter plays soccer with Tom.

WARNING: I drive with my car.

This means that the car is a passenger in another vehicle!!!

against: the action is directed in opposition to the object

Peter plays against Steve.
The broom leans against the wall.

from: the action starts here.

I drive from home.
Mary received a gift from Peter.

to: the action ends here.

I drive to work.
Peter gives a gift to Mary.
for: the object receives a benefit from the action.
Peter plays for his team.
Steve buys a present for Tom.

next to: the subject performs the action while in close proximity of the object.
Peter lives next to his friend's house.
The school is next to a restaurant.

Pronouns:
--------
Subject: Object: Possessive:
I me my
you you your
he him his
she her her
it it its
we us our
you you your
they them their

We can also show possession through the possessive form, which adds an apostrophe
and an 's' after a noun.
e.g. Peter's ball is round.

Conjunctions
------------
They connect two sentences.

and: two unconnected sentences. No causal relationship.

Peter plays soccer and Mary reads a book.

but: two sentences describing contrasting actions. No causal relationship.

Peter plays soccer but Mary reads a book.

therefore: the first sentence is the reason the second sentence happens. A causes
B.
Peter plays soccer therefore Mary reads a book.

because: the first sentence is the reaction to the second sentence. B causes A.
Peter plays soccer because Mary reads a book.

A second S-P-O structure connected through a causal conjunction can be moved in

front of the primary sentence.
e.g.
Peter plays soccer in the park because Mary reads books in the library.
--S-- --P-- --DO-- ------IO--- --Conj- --S- --P-- --DO- ------IO------

Because Mary reads books in the library, Peter plays soccer in the park.
--Conj- --S- --P-- --DO- ------IO------ --S-- --P-- --DO-- ------IO---
REMEMBER: You must seperate the two sentences with a comma if you move a secondary
sentence forward and you do not change either the meaning nor the internal order of
the sentences.

Prepositions of Time:
--------------------
last: the action happened on the previous occurrence of the object.
Peter played soccer last Tuesday.

next: the action will happen on the proximate occurrence of the object.
Peter will play soccer next Tuesday.

this: the action will happen on the proximate occurrence of the object.
Peter will play soccer this Tuesday.

on: the action takes place during a specific day.

Peter plays soccer on Tuesdays.
Molly reads Dickens on Christmas.

WARNING: the expression “on time” - the action happens at a planned time.

at: the action takes place at a time measurable on a clock.

Peter plays at noon.
UK: Molly reads Dickens at Christmas.

in: the action takes place during a period of time (seasons, years, decades,
centuries, millenia, etc.)
Peter played soccer in the middle ages.

yesterday: the action happened the day before the statement is made.
Peter played soccer yesterday.
--S-- ---P-- --DO-- ----IO---
('yester' was a normal preposition in old English but we use it almost exclusively
as part of 'yesterday' now)

Time Words:
----------
before: the action takes place prior to the object.
'before' can be a preposition, an adverb, or a conjunction.

Peter plays soccer before school.

--S-- --P-- --DO-- -----IOT-----
('school' is not a place here. It is an abbreviation of 'the school day')

Sandy reads books before going to bed.

--S-- --P-- --DO- -----Ger---- --IO--
Sandy reads books before she goes to bed.
--S-- --P-- --DO- -Conj- -S- -P-- ---IO-

after: the action takes place once the object has passed.
'after' can be a preposition, an adverb, or a conjunction.

Peter plays soccer after school.

Tom bought his house after selling his old one.
Tom bought his house after he sold his old one.

then: the action precedes the secondary sentence but is not causally connected
Peter played soccer and, then, he walked home.

WARNING: don’t confuse 'then' with 'than'! ('than' compares two things with the
object having less of a quality than the subject)

Time Measurements:
-----------------
seconds
minutes
hours
days
weeks
months
years
decades
centuries
millenia

6:00 am -> 06:00

6:00 pm -> 18:00
am: anti meridiem
pm: post meridiem
12:00 am -> 00:00
12:00 pm -> 12:00

2:00 pm EST
EST -> Eastern Standard Time
PST -> Pacific Standard Time

Numbers, percentages, numeration:

--------------------------------
one ->1 100%->one hundred percent ->a whole 1st->the first
two ->2 50% ->fifty percent ->a half 2nd->the second
three->3 33% ->thirty three percent->a third 3rd->the third
Comparatives and Superlatives:
-----------------------------

Regular: Irregular: 1 Syllable + y:

Adjectives: big tangible tiny
Comparative: bigger more tangible tinier
Superlative: biggest most tangible tiniest

Regular adjectives are one syllable long.

Irregular adjectives are two or more syllables long.
One-syllable-plus-y adjectives are semi-regular.

Comparatives tell us that something has more of a quality than something else.
Superlatives tell us that something has the most of this quality of anything in the
world or of a specific group.

If we want to say that something has less of a quality we build the following
structures:

big tangible tiny

less big less tangible less tiny
least big least tangible least tiny

Avoid using these negative comparatives if there is a readily available alternative

comparable (e.g. don't say "less big" say "smaller").

Articles:
--------

Definite: the
Indefinite: a/an

The indefinite article tells the listener/reader that a new bit of information is
being introduced to the conversation.

The definite article tells the listener/reader that information has already been
introduced previously OR we are describing a unique item that has a descriptive
name.

Peter has a ball. The ball is blue.

The president lives in the White House.

America is a big country. The United States is a big country.