What is the question?

English students often have problems to make questions. What is the solution?.... Practice!

Let's start an activity.
I will start with 3 sentences. They contain some information that is in yellow.
The next person that comes to the blog and writes a comment has to write the questions for these sentences and add 3 more sentences.
The sentences can be in any tense. Try to make good sentences!

Example.

I start: 1. My friends went to the beach last Saturday to celebrate Mario's birthday.

The next person that comments will write: 1. When did your friends go to the beach to celebrate Mario's birthday?

After writing the questions, he will write 3 more affirmative sentences for the next person.


Ready??

These are my sentences:

1. The IPG802 students have done all their homework during the whole course.
2. The teacher works in FESI from 7 to 3 pm four days a week.
3. The light bulb was invented in 1880 by Thomas Alva Edison.

LOVE STORY: Narrative tenses.

Use the correct tense (past simple, past continuous, past perfect)

A LOVE STORY

It was Friday again, the day for famous parties at Wellington High School. Students were dancing in the garden and everyone was enjoying the pleasure of being away from boring lessons.
When Sarah came to the party, the music had already started. Tim suddenly noticed Sarah and felt shocked. He had looked for her for 2 years. They had met each other at a holiday camp in 1999, but mysteriously Sarah disappeared after a while. He was thinking about her since then.
At the party, Sarah was talking to one of her friends while most of the students were drinking as much as they could. Tim decided to talk to her and waited for her friend to leave. When he went next to her, she was searching something in her bag, so she didn’t see him. As soon as he touched her on the shoulder, she raised her head and couldn’t believe her eyes. She had never forgotten him.
At the end of the party, no one was happier than Sarah and Tim as they had found each other after 2 years.



When we narrate stories we use: past simple, past continuous and past perfect.
Here are some tips that will help you to know how to use them.

PAST SIMPLE

When we start the narration, the first sentence. Example: It was Friday again...

Lineal narrations. --> --> --> Example: Tim suddenly noticed Sarah and felt shocked.

PAST CONTINUOUS

To set the scene. Example: ...students were dancing in the garden and everyone was enjoying the pleasure of being away from boring lessons.

To emphasize long duration activities. Example: At the party, Sarah was talking to one of her friends... (she talked for a looong time)

An activity with a long duration that is interrupted by one of short duration. Example: When he went next to her, she was searching something in her bag...

PAST PERFECT

To go back in the past. Introduce an event that happened before the one we are talking about.
Examples: When Sarah came to the party, the music had already started. (We are talking about Sarah. She came to the party but before that the music had started: 1° music started 2° Sarah came to the party)
At the end of the party, no one was happier than Sarah and Tim as they had found each other after 2 years. (1° they found each other 2° they were happy)

If you can notice this narration isn't lineal --> --> --> They go back --> --> [ sth before that] -->

Using this tips, share your LOVE STORY...

Indirect questions.

What for?
To sound more polite.
To beat about the bush (andarse con rodeos :P)

Common expressions used to "ask":

I wonder if...

I would like to know...

I don't know...

I'm not sure....

I don't remember...

Can/ could you tell me...?

Do you know...?

Do you have any idea...?

Do you happen to know...?

Word order
If we do not begin a question directly, but begin it with something like: Can you tell me...? Do you know...? I wonder if...? the word order is the same as in an affirmative statement (subject + verb).

Example:
Direct question: What is he doing? Indirect question: Do you know what he is doing?
Direct question: Where have they been? Indirect question: I wonder where they have been?

Do, does, did
If the direct question contains do, does or did, we omit it in the indirect question.
Example:
Direct question: What do you want? Indirect question: Can you tell me what you want?
Direct question: When did she leave? Indirect question: Do you know when she left?

Yes/no questions
In yes / no questions, we use if or whether and we have to change the word order.
Example:
Direct question: Have you seen my dog? Indirect question: Could you tell me if you have seen my dog?

Exercises:
http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/312.html
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.inqu.i.htm
http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/intermediate/a_grammar/unit11/hwy_int_unit11_1/
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoEnglish/gr.inqu.p.htm

Report what we heard

We can report what another person says in two ways:

1. Quoting people. By using the exact words of the speaker.
We repeat the exact words used by the speaker and keep the exact words within quotation marks.

Example:

He told me, “I'm an architect”

"I love him", she said.

"I'm working", he said to me.

2. Reporting. By using our own words to repeat what the speaker said.
Here we do not use the quotation marks.

Example:


Direct: He told me, “I'm an architect” Reporting: He told me he was an architect.
Direct: I love him", she said. Reporting: She said that she loved him.
Direct: "I'm working", he said to me. Reporting: he said to me that he was working.





When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

• Tenses (backshift): "Marco lives in the South", she told me. = She told me (that) Marco lived in the South.
• Pronouns. "I love you", she said. = SHE said she loved me.
• Place and time expressions: "We will wait for you here, tomorrow", they said. = They said they would wait for me there, the following day.
  

More info about reported statements:
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/statements



Exercises:
http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/tm-reported1.html
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?03
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?04
http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_reported1.htm
http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/reported1.htm
http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/indirect1.html

Reported speech

If we report what another person has said, we usually do not use the speaker’s exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech.
Therefore, you need to learn how to transform direct speech into reported speech.
The structure is a little different depending on whether you want to transform a statement, question or request.

Statements
When transforming statements, check whether you have to change:

• Tenses (backshift): "Marco lives in the South", she told me. = She told me (that) Marco lived in the South.
• Pronouns. "I like chocolate", she said. = SHE said she liked chocolate.
• Place and time expressions: "We will wait for you here, tomorrow", they said. = They said they would wait for me there, the following day.
  

More info about reported statements: http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/statements


Questions
When transforming questions, remeber that you have to:

• Transform the question into an indirect question: “Why do you study English?" = He asked me why I studied English.
• Use the interrogative (wh- word) or in case of yes/ no questions use if / whether: “Do you speak English?” = He asked me whether / if I spoke English.

Exercises on reported statements:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/9901/tm-reported1.html

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?03

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?04

http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_reported1.htm

http://wwwedu.ge.ch/cptic/prospective/projets/anglais/exercises/reported1.htm

http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/indirect1.html

Exercises on reported questions:

http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoEnglish/gr.repqu.i.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?05

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/reported-speech/exercises?06

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/reported_speech/questions.htm

More practice:
http://pagesperso-orange.fr/absolutenglish-972/notes/pandorabot/askmybot.html

A native speaker of English, however, will often use reporting verbs other than just say, tell and ask. Compare the following:

"I didn't do it!"
He said that he hadn't done it.
He denied that he had done it OR He denied doing it.

"I'll bring the book back tomorrow."
She said that she would bring the book back the following day.
She promised to bring the book back the following day.

"Please will you think about it some more?"
He asked me if I would think about it some more.
He begged me to think about it some more.

"First you should put the money in the slot and then you should press the button."
She said that I should first put the money in the slot and then press the button.
She explained what I should do.


DIFFERENT VERBS TO REPORT
We use reporting verbs to report what someone said more accurately than using 'say' and 'tell'.

verb + infinitive
agree
decide
offer
promise
refuse
threaten

They agreed to meet on Friday.
He refused to take his coat off.

verb + (^.^) + infinitive
advise
encourage
invite
remind
warn

Tom advised me to go home early.
She reminded me to telephone my mother.

verb + gerund
deny
recommend
suggest
They recommended taking the bus.
She suggested meeting a little earlier.

verb + (^.^) + preposition (+ gerund)
accuse someone of
blame someone for
congratulate someone on

He accused me of taking the money.
They congratulated me on passing all my exams.
My brother blamed me for the accident.

verb + preposition + gerund
apologize for
insist on

They apologized for not coming.
He insisted on having dinner.

verb + (that SVC)
admit
agree
decide
deny
explain
insist
promise
recommend
suggest

Sarah decided (that) the house needed cleaning.
They recommended (that) we take the bus.

Exercises on reporting verbs:
http://www.us.oup.com/elt/global/products/headway/intermediate/a_grammar/unit12/hwy_int_unit12_2/
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.report3.i.htm
http://perso.wanadoo.es/autoenglish/gr.report2.p.htm

More practice:
http://www.englishlearner.com/tests/reported_speech_quiz_1.shtml

Past perfect. (the past of the past :P)

The Past Perfect expresses the idea that something occurred before another action in the past. It can also show that something happened before a specific time in the past.

It is used to sequence the past events in narrations. It helps to show which event heppened first

For example:

1) A: Why didn't you call me?

B. I wanted to call you, but I had spent all my credit. (that happened before "want to call you")

2) He was nervous because he had never dived before.

FORM

[had + past participle]

Affirmative: You had studied English before you moved to New York.

Question: Had you studied English before you moved to New York?

Negative: You had not studied English before you moved to New York.

Exercises:

Recognize past perfect: http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/410/grammar/pastpf1.htm

Work on the form: http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/StudyZone/410/grammar/pastpf2.htm

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/past-perfect-simple/exercises

Simple past and past perfect:

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastperfect/exercise1.html

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/pastperfect/exercise6.html

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/140.html

Simple past and past perfect in context: http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbs11.htm

TASK

You are very annoyed with one of your classmates. The teacher asked you to do a project in teams but he is really lazy and irresponsible so you finished doing almost all the project alone because he never finished the work on time.

Tell us what happened.

Example:

"Ronald is really irresponsible! I don't want to work with him anymore.

Before he answered my text message, I had already sent him 3 messages to his cellphone asking him to call me.

I had looked up for new words and I had written a list by the time he sent his list.

He paid for the material that we used in the project after I had asked him many times to pay it."

TAG QUESTIONS

YOU SPEAK ENGLISH, DON'T YOU?

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question.
This structure is often used in Spoken English.

INTONATION

WHEN THE QUESTION GOES UP (a real question)
We use it for confirmation. It means something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?"

WHEN THE QUESTION GOES DOWN.
We use it for making conversation, encouraging someone to carry on talking. We mean: "Talk to me".

Here are some mixed examples:

• But you don't really love her, do you?
• This will work, won't it?
• Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
• But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
• We'd never have known, would we?
• The weather's bad, isn't it?
• You won't be late, will you?
• Nobody knows, do they?

The basic structure is:

+ Positive statement,	- negative tag?
Snow is white,	isn't it?
- Negative statement,	+ positive tag?
You don't like me,	do you?

Grammar lesson in You tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pttjfRa2Udw

Exercises:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pttjfRa2Udw
http://www.better-english.com/grammar/questiontags2.htm

More info and exercises in different tenses:
http://english-zone.com/index.php?ID=110