Nouns as modifiers

We can use a noun as an  adjective when it precedes a noun that it modifies; The second noun takes the plural form, while the first behaves like an adjective and consequently does not, unless the word is normally used in the plural (sports anchor) or refers to people (women footballers).

I recomend you the next page:

http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/adj_nounmodifiers.html

Topic sentences

Noun/Verbs

Nouns and verbs with the same form...

In English, sometimes the same word can be either a noun or a verb.  The only way to know if the word is a noun or a verb is from its context in the sentence.

I found this excellent video in youtube:
(Thank you Mr. Duncan)
(This video is not mine)

Skimming a text

When you decide to read, sometimes you do it because you want to know every detail of a story... In this case, Skimming is not for you.

We use skimming to find the general idea of a text or book. 

There are some techniques for reading, depending on the purpose of our reading. The most important techniques are:

• Skimming - running the eyes over quickly, to get the gist
• Scanning - looking for a particular piece of information
• Extensive reading - longer texts for pleasure and needing global understanding
• Intensive reading - shorter texts, extracting specific information, accurate reading for detail.

Skimming 

It is used to quickly identify the main idea of a text. When you read the newspaper, you're probably not reading it word-by-word, instead you're scanning the text. Skimming is done at a speed three to four times faster than normal reading. People often skim when they have lots of material to read in a limited amount of time. Use skimming when you want to see if an article may be of interest in your research.

There are many strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first and last paragraphs using headings, summaries and other organizers as they move down the page or screen. You might read:

• the title
• subtitles
• subheading
• illustrations

 Consider reading the first sentence of each paragraph. This technique is useful when you're seeking specific information rather than reading for comprehension. Skimming works well to find dates, names, and places. It might be used to review graphs, tables, and charts.


If you need to practice about reading techniques, I recommend you this link:
http://www.learningtolearn.group.shef.ac.uk/read/read_reading.html

Past participle

Present Perfect

Past Perfect Simple and Past Perfect Continuous Tenses in English (5th.level)

Present Perfect

Relative clauses (5th. Level)

click here if you need information about this topic.

Relative Pronouns

Conditionals

Zero conditional

(for always real situations)

f clause	Main clause
If + Present tense	Present tense
If you freeze water If he takes an aspirin, If she comes here,	it turns into ice. he gets an allergy. she always sing.

First conditional

(for  real or possible situations)

If clause	Main clause
If + Present tense	will / can / may / must + verb
If it rains today, If I have time, If they don´t invite you,	I'll stay at home. I will visit you in the afternoon. you must not go.

Second conditional

(hipotetical situations)

If clause	Main clause
If + Past Simple	would / could / might + verb
If I won the lottery, If I were you, If I were younger,	I would travel around the world. I would marry with him. I would travel a lot.

Third conditional

(hipotetical past situation)

If clause	Main clause
If + Past Perfect tense	would/could/might + have + past participle
If I had won the lottery,	I would have own the biggest shop in town.

theory

2nd. conditional

LOTS OF vs. A LOT OF

In spoken English we often use lots of or a lot of. In written English, it is more common to write many (for countable plural nouns) or a great deal of (for uncountable nouns) in positive statements.

A common mistake is to use lot of. For example, "There are lot of accidents on this road". To avoid making this mistake, remember either to use a before lot, or to makelot plural – lots.
We can say either a lot of or lots of before a noun. For example, "There are a lot of people here" or "There arelots of people here". There isn't any difference between the two expressions.
We can also use a lot as an adverb to say how much you do something. For example, "She talks a lot".
A lot is also used in short answers. For example, "Do you like swimming?", "Yes, a lot."

hello / good bye!

(1st.Level)

Prefixes and Suffixes

(5th. Level)

An English word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix and a suffix.


The root is the part of the word that contains the basic meaning (definition) of the word. The root is the base element of the word.

ex.  write

 A prefix is a word element that is placed in front of a root. A prefix changes the word's meaning or makes a new word. A suffix is a word element that is placed after the root.

ex.  rewrite

 The suffix changes the word's meaning as well as its function (use). Prefixes and suffixes are called affixes because they are attached to a root.

ex.  writer 

PREFIX	MEANING	USAGE
ab,abs	from, away from	abduct,   abstinence
ad, ac, af, ag, an, ap, ar, as, at	to, forward	accord, affliction,  aggregation  annexation   addition
ambi	both	ambiguous ambivalent
an, a	without	anarchy  amoral
ante	before	antecedent  antediluvian
anti	against, opposite	antipathy   antithetical
arch	chief, first	archetype archbishop
be	over, thoroughly	bedaub  befuddle
bi	two	bicameral  biennial
cata	down	catastrophe cataract  catapult
circum	around	circumnavigate  circumspect   circumscribe
com, co, col, con, cor	with, together	combine coeditor collateral   connected conference corroborate
contra, contro	against	contravene  controversy
de	down, away	debase decadence  deterioration
demi	partly, half	demigod
di	two	dichotomy dilemma
dia	across	diagonal  diameter
dis, dif	not, apart	discord differ
dys	faulty, bad	dysfunctional
ex, e	out	exit exodus
extra, extro	beyond, outside	extracurricular extraterritorial  extrovert

Suffix	Meaning	Usage
able, ible	capable of (adjective suffix)	portable - able to be carried legible
ac, ic	like, pertaining to	cardiac - pertaining to heart aquatic - pertaining to water
acious, icious	full of	audacious - full of daring, avaricious - full of greed
al	pertaining to	maniacal - insane portal - doorway logical - pertaining to logic
ant, ent	full of	eloquent - pertaining to fluid, effective speech. verdant - green
ary	like, connected with	dictionary - book connected with words honorary - connected with honor
ate	to make (verb suffix)	consecrate - to make holy mitigate - make less severe
ation	that which is (noun suffix)	irritation - that which is irritated
cy	state of being (noun suffix)	democracy - ruled by people obstinacy - obstinate state, stubbornness
eer, er, or	person who (noun suffix)	mountaineer - person who climbs mountains teacher - one who teaches advisor - person who advises
escent	becoming (adjective suffix)	evanescent - tending to vanish pubescent - arriving at puberty
fic	making, doing (adjective suffix)	fantastic - arousing great wonder terrific - arousing great fear
fy	to make (verb suffix)	magnify - to enlarge petrify - turn to stone
iferous	producing, bearing (adjective suffix)	pestiferous - carrying disease vociferous - having a loud voice
il, ile	pertaining to, capable of (adjective suffix)	civil - polite docile - easily taught or led
ism	doctrine, belief (noun suffix)	monotheism - belief in one God socialism - kind of governance
ist	dealer, doer (noun suffix)	realist - one who is realistic dentist - deals with teeth
ity	state of being (noun suffix)	sagacity - state of being wise
ive	like (adjective suffix)	quantitative - concerned with number or volume
ize, ise	to make (verb suffix)	harmonize - make harmonious revolutionize - make revolutionary
oid	resembling, like (adjective suffix)	ovoid - like an egg anthropoid - resembling a human
ose	full of (adjective suffix)	verbose - full of words
osis	condition (noun suffix)	psychosis - diseased mental condition hypnosis - induced sleep
ous	full of (adjective suffix)	nauseous - full of nausea ludicrous - foolish
tude	state of (noun suffix)	fortitude - state of strength certitude - state of certainty

If you want to play a prefixes and suffixes game, click here.


If you want to play another kind of game,  click here.


if you want to practice, click here.

The following resources were used to create this article:
. vocabulary workshop 
 http://www2.southampton.liu.edu/academic/pau/course/webesl.htm

. Michigan Proficiency Exams
http://www.michigan-proficiency-exams.com/prefix-suffix.html