Modals of obligation: Have to / Don't have to

We often want to talk about choices. For example,

1. "What do you want: a chicken sandwich or a cheese sandwich?" Here there is a choice. You can eat chicken or cheese. "You don't have to eat chicken. You can eat cheese."

2. "What do you want: a chicken sandwich or a chicken sandwich?" Here there is no choice. You can only eat chicken. "You have to eat chicken."

Vocabulary: Food games

Here are some games you can play to learn vocabulary for food. Some of these are good for pronunciation too. Which games do you like?

1. https://elt.oup.com/student/i-spy/games/food?cc=gb&selLanguage=en
2. http://www.angles365.com/classroom/fitxers/1r2n/vegetables01.swf
3. http://www.angles365.com/classroom/fitxers/1r2n/food/fruitmemory.swf
4. http://www.angles365.com/classroom/fitxers/3r/food/vegetables2.swf
5. http://gamestolearnenglish.com/likes/
6. http://gamestolearnenglish.com/food/

Grammar: How much/how many?

How many squares are there in the picture?

 

Grammar: a/an/some/any

What can you see in the pictures?

1.

2.

 

3.

 

Spelling: Plurals

Do you need to practise spelling plural nouns? This game can help you.

(image: http://fallingrock1.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/gnome-fishing.jpg)

Remember, for most words                                      + s
If the word ends with vowel + y                               + s
If the word ends with consonant +y                         + ies
If the word ends with sh, ch, s, z, x or o                   + es

This is true for 3rd person verbs too: Carlos watches TV. Martha goes to the cinema. Saddam studies every day.

Here is the link for the game: http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/game/en16plur-game-plural-fishing

Grammar: Countable or Uncountable Quiz

This is a link to a quiz about countable and uncountable nouns: http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/ch-countnouns.html There are 107 questions!! All you need to do is click on Countable or Non-countable.

Conversation: In the restaurant

Look at this restaurant conversation that takes place in a restaurant in Manchester:

Jane:   Is this a good place to eat?
Ryan:  I think so. I've been here many times.
Jane:   What do you recommend?
Ryan:  Well, there are lots of things to try if you like spicy food. Do you want a starter or just a main course?
Jane:    If we're ordering starters, I will have the chicken satay.
Ryan:   OK. So if you order the chicken satay, I'll have the dumplings.
Jane:    Oh, if you have the dumplings, can I have one?
Ryan:   Yeah, if we order starters, we'll share them.

Waiter: Can I get you something to drink?
Jane:    Do you have any orange juice?
Waiter: Sorry, I'm afraid not. We do have some pineapple juice, though.
Jane:    Fine. I'll have a pineapple juice unless you want to share a bottle of wine?
Ryan:   No, you go for the pineapple juice. I'll have a bottle of Kirin Ichiban beer, please.
Waiter: Of course. One beer and one pineapple juice.

Jane:    Oh dear. There's so much choice. I don't know what to have. It all looks so strange and unusual.
Ryan:   You always say you want to try new things?! If you didn't want to come here, where would you prefer to go?
Jane:    I don't know. They just have so many new things. If they had sweet and sour chicken, I would order that. 
Ryan:  But they don't, so you can't. Why don't you try the Pad Thai? It's a famous and traditional dish from Thailand. If you don't like it, I'll eat it.  Or, you could try a curry? If you ordered the curry, you wouldn't need to order rice because rice is included.
Jane:   I'll try the Pad Thai. But if I don't like it, you will have to eat it.
Ryan:  No problem.

Grammar: First and Second Conditionals

We know that it always rains in Manchester, so when it rains, you need an umbrella. Sometimes, though, we want to talk about things that are not definitely true but probably (80/90%) true. Sometimes, we want to talk about things that are possibly, but unlikely to be, true (20/30%). Look at the weather forecast for next week:

Today is Saturday. On Sunday, it's definitely going to rain. On Monday, there will probably be some sunshine. On Tuesday and Wednesday, it will be warm and sunny: it's unlikely to rain on Tuesday and Wednesday.

To talk about things that are definite,   we use a zero conditional
To talk about things that are probable, we use a first conditional
To talk about things that are unlikely,   we use a second conditional

Zero:      When it rains, people stay at home.
First:       If it's a nice day on Monday, I will go out with my friends.
Second:  Tuesday is going to be a nice day, but if it rained, I would stay at home.

Grammar: Zero conditionals

Look at this conversation:

Ryan: What do you do during the day?
Aziz:   I come to college.
Ryan:  Good answer. How do you get here?
Aziz:   On foot. But this is Manchester so sometimes it rains. If it rains, I don't walk.
Ryan:  So what happens if it rains?
Aziz:   Well, if it rains, I get the bus. Actually, to be honest, most days I get the bus.

If it rains, I get the bus. Why does Aziz get the bus? Because it rains.

There are two actions here: Aziz gets the bus and it rains. But Aziz gets the bus because it rains: this is the result of the rain, this is what happens when it rains.

When we talk about actions (it rains) and results (Aziz gets the bus), we use a conditional sentence:

Grammar: Many men, many men, many men men men.....

How many men are there?

How much cheese is there?

Grammar: Adjectives

We use adjectives to describe nouns. Look at the two dogs in the picture. One is big, the other is small.

Listening: Shopping and clothes

Here are two short videos of people discussing shopping and fashionable clothes. They speak very quickly but the words are shown on the video.

Grammar: Countable or uncountable? Singular or plural?

What can you see in the picture? Which are countable and which are uncountable?

Countable nouns are things we can count. ("That's a piece of cake", says Tarek. "Yes, Tarek. It is," says Ryan.)

 So ......

bananas    oranges    carrots    tomatoes

But things like

bread   pasta   cheese   oil    milk

are uncountable. We cannot have two pastas, please and we cannot order three breads. We can't count these nouns so they will always be singular.

We can count countable nouns so they can be singular or plural

We cannot count uncountable nouns so they are always singular

Vocabulary: Clothes and items of clothing

Think about these questions:

What's the difference between formal clothes and casual clothes?

Man wearing a dinner jacket

What kind of clothes would you wear to a job interview?
What sort of clothes would you wear to a wedding?
When you go shopping, how many items do you usually buy?
Do you browse, or do you know what you want before you go shopping?
When would you wear evening dress?
Look at the picture. What's this man wearing: formal clothes, casual clothes or evening dress?
How would you describe the man?
smart    scruffy    sophisticated    trendy    fashionable
well-dressed    good-dressed     messy     
     (one of these words is rubbish: which one?)
What different patterns do you prefer: Stripes, checks or spots?
Do you like pictures and patterns on your clothes, or do you prefer plain clothes?
Do you like light or dark clothes?
Do you prefer dark or bright colours?
What size are you? Do you prefer loose-fitting clothes or tight-fitting clothes? Skinny jeans are very popular and tight-fitting.