BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

Grammar, vocabulary and more (upper-intermediate and advanced)  

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CONNECTORS

Tired of always using the same connectors in your writing? 
Click here to see examples of common linkers in context and try to use them in your compositions next time!

GRAMMAR REVIEW

Check here the main grammar aspects covered this year.

DISCOURSE MARKERS

Here is some practice on discourse markers that can help you improve the organization of ideas for your writing paper.

RELATIVE SENTENCES PRACTISE...WITH LAUGHTER

Click here to download the exercise sheet.
Click here for the key.

Inversion in spoken English

We are going to work on inversion by looking at some examples in which inversion is used by native speakers.

Let´s start with Gwyneth Paltrow´s speech  when she was awarded the Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love"

A couple of useful words you'll need to understand her speech:

SOULFUL: passionate and deeply expressive
OXYMORON: contradiction

Where does she use an iversion?

Here goes a selection of links to pretty comprehensive explanations of common INVERSION PATTERNS:

INVERSION I
INVERSION II 

You may as well find extended practice in your grammar bible MyGrammarLab in Unit 76.

R.E.M. - Leaving New York: A SONG FOR A GRAMMAR STRUCTURE

Listen to this song by R. E.M. and notice how the structure "might have (done)" is pronounced and what it is used for. It is connected to the grammar of perfect tenses with modal verbs to talk about things that have happened and we can't change but we hypothesize about them.Use the scroll buttons to go back and forth in the song.

Song Lyrics

PERFECT TENSES

This is extra practice for the grammar section in unit 1 of your book.

WISHES AND REGRETS

This is a worksheet with explanations about how to use the third conditional and wish followed by several structures. There are also practice questions. Polish up this grammar point! We'll review it in class today.Click here.

 Narrative tenses worksheet with exercises

Do you need more practice with tenses and connectors? Surely it won't do you any harm. For doubts or questions, check the Narrative tenses worksheet that the author has linked at the bottom of the page, following the exercises. It's a thorough explanation accompanied by useful time lines.

REVIEW OF GRAMMAR POINT

This is an activity sheet from the BBC website to review the use of certain verbs which are followed by object + to-infinitive. At the end of the document, you can find the key.

COMPARISON PRACTICE

Here's some extra practice of comparative structures besides the activities on page 23 of the book that we'll work on in class.Click to download.


COMPARATIVES 1
COMPARATIVES 2

STRUCTURES: have/get something done

Practise the structures have/get something done, have someone doing something and others 

Click above to see how to use it and click here to do an online exercise.

UNIT 2 GRAMMAR: VERB PATTERNS

Verb patterns are the combination of a verb plus another verb, which can adopt the form of an infinitive, or an -ing form. In addition, there can be an object in the middle. Some verbs can combine with both infinitive and -ing (sometimes there's a change in meaning and some other times it makes no difference). 

To practise this important grammar content, I propose two activities: 

GRAMMAR UNIT 1: PASSIVES AND OTHER STRUCTURES

Here's some more practice of certain passive and other structures we use to establish distance with the information provided.

Using an abridged version of a Guardian article about Madelaine, the child who disappeared in Portugal, I propose an exercise of rewriting. Hope you find it useful. You can do this after I present the structures in class, or now if you can't wait!

Grammar unit 1 distance with passive and others

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GRAMMAR PRACTICE UNIT 1

Here's some practice about verbs and adjectives + prepositions and passive reporting (grammar points in unit 1). There are 2 download options: from Rapidshare or from Slideshare. If you have a premium account in Rapidshare, the first is the best option. If you don't, click on the Slideshare links. You will have to sign up (free and quick). This way you will not only be able to view the document but also to download it. 

RAPIDSHARE DOWNLOAD:



PREPOSITIONS FOLLOWING VERBS+ADJECTIVES 1
PREPOSITIONS FOLLOWING VERBS+ADJECTIVES 2
PASSIVE REPORTING 1
PASSIVE REPORTING 2

SLIDESHARE DOWNLOAD:
PREPOSITIONS FOLLOWING VERBS+ADJECTIVES 1
PREPOSITIONS FOLLOWING VERBS+ADJECTIVES 2
PASSIVE REPORTING 1
PASSIVE REPORTING 2

CONDITIONAL AND WISH: USAGE + EXERCISES

Read the explanations and do the exercises about the use of the third conditional and wish

Conditional and wish usage+exercises

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GRAMMAR: INVERSION

In Unit 4 one of the grammar points is inversion. This is a brief explanation with a list of adverbs that can experience inversion. I'll give you a practice handout in class.

Inversion

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