English Language II

Unit 7: Conference English

• ever-increasing: continuing to grow, prosper (constantly, continually)

• executive(s): administrator, manager, director, official

• conference: a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject or to bring together people who have a common interest

Unit 7: Conference English

• to call the conference

• to serve on committees

• set up the committee

• advisory capacity

Unit 7: Conference English

• time-table: agenda, calendar, curriculum, list, order of the day, program, schedule

• footnote: a note at the bottom of a page in a book which provides more detailed information about something that is mentioned on that page – biljeska, primjedba

Unit 7: Conference English

• appendix/appendices: (to a book) extra information that is placed after the end of the main text – dodatak, dopuna, prilog

• minutes (of a meeting): an official record of the proceedings of a meeting

Unit 7: Conference English

• mimeographing (service)

mimeograph /ˈmi-mē-ə-ˌgraf/

Unit 7: Conference English

• rostrum /’ rɒstrəm/: platform on which someone stands when they are speaking to an audience, receiving a prize or conducting an orchestra

• objection is sustained/overruled

• motion is put forward / voted upon / seconded

• to abstain from voting

• unanimously /juˈnænɪməsli/

Unit 7: Conference English Exercise 4:

1. adjourn meeting

2. stand for election

3. pass a resolution

4. desire to intervene

5. a closing speech

6. close debate

7. sustain an objection

8. put forward a motion

9. propose a vote

10. go up to the rostrum

Unit 7: Conference English Exercise 6:

1. serve on a committee

2. attend a congress

3. name officers of the conference

4. rules of procedures

5. official documents

6. keep to the point

7. adjourn the meeting

8. discuss the matter

9. opening statement

10. official translator

Present Perfect Tense

The Present Perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and the perfect aspect, used to express a past event that has present consequences.

A: Do you live in London?

B: Yes, I do.

A: How long have you lived here?

B: I’ve lived here since 1990.

A: Then you’ve lived here for more than ten years.

B: That’s right.

Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The problems come with the use of the tense.

Present Perfect Tense - structure -

The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participle of a verb:

to have + past participle

You have seen that movie many times.

Have you seen that movie many times?

You have not seen that movie many times.

Present Perfect Tense - use -

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past and with the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:

experience

change

continuing situation

Present Perfect Tense - for experience -

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from the past. We are not interested in when you did something. We only want to know if you did it:

I have seen ET.

He has lived in Bangkok.

Have you been there?

We have never eaten caviar.

The action or state was in the past. In my head, I have a memory now.

Connection with past: the event was in the past.

Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the event; I know something about the event; I have experience of it.

Present Perfect Tense - for change -

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:

I have bought a car. /Last week I didn't have a car. Now I have a car./

John has broken his leg. /Yesterday John had a good leg. Now he has a bad leg./

Has the price gone up? /Was the price $1.50 yesterday? Is the price $1.70 today?/

The police have arrested the killer. /Yesterday the killer was free. Now he is in prison./

Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present.

Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.

Present Perfect Tense - for change -

Note: Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British speakers. Americans often use the past tense instead. An American might say "Did you have lunch?", where a British person would say "Have you had lunch?"

Present Perfect Tense - for continuing situation -

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing situation. This is a state that started in the past and continues in the present (and will probably continue into the future). This is a state (not an action). We usually use for or since with this structure.

I have worked here since June.

He has been ill for 2 days.

How long have you known Tara?

Connection with past: the situation started in the past.

Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.

For and Since with Present Perfect Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.

We use for to talk about a period of time - 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.

We use since to talk about a point in past time - 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.

I have been here for 20 minutes. I have been here since 9 o'clock.

John hasn't called for 6 months. John hasn't called since February.

He has worked in New York for a long time.

He has worked in New York since he left school.

Note: For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only.

Present Perfect Tense Write a suitable sentence using the PRESENT PERFECT TENSE :

1. Ann’s hair was dirty. Now it’s clean. (wash) ......... Ann has washed her hair............

2. Tom was 80 kg. Now he’s 70. (lose weight)

3. Bill played football yesterday. Now he can’t walk; his leg is in plaster. (break)

4. My sister is looking for her pen. (lose)

5. Mary is on holiday in France. (go)

6. Mr. Hill was in Canada last week. He’s back in London now. (be)

7. Look! Mrs. Smith has got a lot of packages. (buy)

8. I can’t eat anything now. (eat too much)

9. Mrs. Jenkins is very tired. (clean / house) .

10. Tony needs a holiday. (work / hard / this year)

Present Perfect Tense 1. (I / go / to the library today)

2. (you / keep a pet for three years)

3. (you / come here before?)

4. (it / rain all day?)

5. (who / we / forgot to invite?)

6. (we / not / hear that song already)

7. (he / not / forget his books)

8. (she / steal all the chocolate!)

9. (I / explain it well?)

10. (who / he / meet recently?)

Present Perfect Tense 1. I ___________________ (never / go) to Vienna.

2. My great great grandfather ___________________ (have) five sisters.

3. He ___________________ (live) in Manila for a year when he was a student.

4. Oh no! I ___________________ (lose) my wallet!

5. ___________________ (you / see) Julie today?

6. At the weekend, they ___________________ (play) football, then they ___________________ (go) to a restaurant.

7. I ___________________ (read) six books this week.

8. Amy ___________________ (live) in Portugal when she was young.

9. She ___________________ (visit) her grandmother last month.

10. The Vandals ___________________ (invade) Rome in the year 455.

Adverbs

Adverbs are words that modify

a verb: He drove slowly. /How did he drive?/

an adjective: He drove a very fast car. /How fast was his car?/

another adverb: She moved quite slowly down the aisle. /How slowly did she move?/

Adverbs often tell when, where, why, or under what conditions something happens or happened. Adverbs frequently end in –ly, however, many words and phrases not ending in –ly serve an adverbial function and an –ly ending is not a guarantee that a word is an adverb.

Position of Adverbs

Adverb of Manner (e.g.: slowly, carefully, awfully)

These adverbs are put behind the direct object (or behind the verb if there's no direct object).

subject + verb(s) + direct object + adverb

He drove the car carefully.

He drove carefully.

Position of Adverbs

Adverbs of Place (e.g.: here, there, behind, above)

Like adverbs of manner, these adverbs are put behind the direct object or the verb.

subject + verb(s) + direct object + adverb

I didn't see him here.

He stayed behind.

Position of Adverbs Adverbs of Time (e.g.: recently, now, then, yesterday)

Adverbs of time are usually put at the end of the sentence.

subject + verb(s) + indirect object + direct object + time

I will tell you the story tomorrow.

If you don't want to put emphasis on the time, you can also put the adverb of time at the beginning of the sentence.

time + subject + verb(s) + indirect object + direct object

Tomorrow I will tell you the story.

Position of Adverbs Adverbs of Frequency (e.g.: always, never, seldom, usually)

Adverbs of frequency are put directly before the main verb. If 'be' is the main verb and there is no auxiliary verb, adverbs of frequency are put behind 'be'. Is there an auxiliary verb, however, adverbs of frequency are put before 'be'.

subject + auxiliary/be + adverb + main verb + object, place or time

I often go swimming in the evenings.

He doesn't always play tennis.

We are usually here in summer.

I have never been abroad.

Prepositions of time

ON + days, weekend (American English)

Many shops don’t open on Sundays.

What did you do on the weekend?

IN + months/seasons/year; morning/evening/afternoon; period of time

I visited Italy in July, in spring, in 1994…

In the evenings, I like to relax.

This is the first cigarette I’ve had in three years.

Prepositions of Time

AT + night; weekend (British English); used to show an exact or particular time It gets cold at night. What did you do at the weekend? There’s a meeting at 2.30 this afternoon / at lunch time.

SINCE: from a particular time in the past until a later time, or until now

England have not won the World Cup in football since 1966.

FOR: used to show an amount of time

I’m just going to bed for an hour or so.

Prepositions of Time

AGO: back in the past; back in time from the present The dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago.

BEFORE: at or during a time earlier than

She’s always up before dawn.

TO: used when saying the time, to mean before the stated hour

It’s twenty to six.

Prepositions of Time

PAST: telling the time It’s five past ten.

TO: until a particular time, marking end of a period of time

It’s only two weeks to Christmas.

FROM: used to show the time when something starts

The museum is open from 9.30 to 6.00 Tuesday to Sunday.

Prepositions of Time

TILL / UNTILL: up to (the time that) We waited till/until half past six for you.

BY: not later than; at or before

She had promised to be back by five o’clock.

Giving Advice - Elementary -

(I think/I really think) you need to/must/should ...

How about ...?

It is usually a good idea to ...

My suggestion/advice is (to) ...

Why don't you ...?

You could (try) ...

You probably/definitely/really should ...

Giving Advice - Pre-Intermediate -

Have you tried ...?

I (would) (strongly) suggest/advise that ...

If I was/were you, I'd ...

In my experience, ... works really well.

It's generally best/a good idea to...

One idea is to ...

One thing you could/should/have to do is ...

The best/most important thing (to do) is to ...

Giving Advice - Intermediate -

... might work.

... would probably work.

... (always) works for me.

If I was/were in your place, I'd ...

If that happened to me/In that case/If I had that problem, I'd ...

My (main/personal) recommendation is/would be ...

You'd better ...

In this (kind of) situation, I (would) always recommend/advise ...

Giving Advice - Upper Intermediate -

(If I was/were) in that (that kind of) situation, I'd ...

Have you thought about ...?

If it was/were me, I'd ...

Make sure you (don't) ...

The sooner you ... the better.

Whatever you do, ...

Your only option is to ...

You have no choice but to ...

Giving Advice - Advanced -

... is worth a try.

A (self-help) book I read recommends ...

A piece of advice from ... that I'd like to pass on is to ...

A wise man once said ...

As the proverb says, ...

I can't recommend ... strongly enough.

You should ..., no doubt about it.

It might be an old wives' tale, but ...

Giving Advice

Choose one (or more) of the problems below. Offer advice in the comments using expressions from the Giving Advice page.

1. My dog jumps up on people.

2. I always get headaches.

3. My cell phone battery runs out every day.

4. There is always too much laundry to do.

5. My feet are always cold.

Giving Advice

6. Our neighbours don't clean up their toys.

7. I'm bored of the meals we eat.

8. I hate winter.

9. The back wheel on my car is making a strange noise.

10. My fingernails always break.

Giving Advice

Example advice:

1. Have you tried taking your dog to obedience school?

2. Make sure you don't need glasses.