OUGH!

Hello folks!

Today I am going to write about pronunciation. Have you ever noticed that words with same spelling patterns may be pronounced in different ways? Have a look at the following words:

• Bomb , Comb , Tomb , Sombre 

All of these words have the spelling 'omb' but all of them are pronounced in a different way. This is the right pronunciation for each word:

• Bomb /bɒm/
• Comb  /kəʊm/
• Tomb  /tuːm/
• Sombre  /ˈsɒmbə/

Can you think of a similar example? Have a look at the following video: 

Exactly! The words: bough, rough, through and cough are spellt similarly but they are all pronounced differently. This is the phonetic transcription of each word: 

• Bough /baʊ/
• Rough /rʌf/
• Through  /θruː/
• Cough  /kɒf/

So, we could say that the spelling 'ough' has different pronunciations. Here is the full list of pronunciations: 

/ʌf/	enough, hough, rough, slough, tough
/ɒf~ɔːf/	cough, trough
/aʊ/	bough, drought, plough
/oʊ/	dough, furlough, though
/ɔː/	bought, brought, ought, sought, thought, wrought
/uː/	brougham, slough, through
/ə/	borough, thorough
/ʌp/	hiccough
/ɒk/	hough
/ɒx/	lough

No, have you got enough /inʌf/ ? I leave you practising the different sounds. Have a nice week!

I wish upon a star

Hello folks!

Do you know where the sentence 'I wish upon a star' comes from? For those of you who have thought that it is the title of a song, you are  right.  The song 'When you wish upon a star' was created for the Disney's adaptation of the popular tale Pinoccio, in 1940. About fifty five years later, in 1996, another Disney film was titled: 'Wish upon a star'. A film about two teenage girls that swap bodies because a wish made on a shooting star. Now, what's the meaning? 'To wish upon a star' means that according to popular legend, if someone makes a wish when you see the first star come out at night, the wish will come true. It may be a matter of believing or a matter of fate... What do you think?
However there are other very popular structures with 'I wish...'  in English and those are the ones which we are going to have a look at in today's entry. Have a look at the following sentences:

• I wish Christmas would come earlier this year. I can´t wait for six more months to get my presents! 
• I wish my brother were nicer to me. He is always winding me up! 
• Sarah wishes she had studied more for the exam. She is not happy with her mark. 

We use "Subject + wish" when we want something to happen. However, as you see in the examples above, there are three different structures that we can use after the expression. So, when do we use each structure?

1. We use  would + infinitive, when we make a wish about a future circumstance. Christmas is sometime in the future, so we use would + infinitive after "I wish". 
2. We use Past Simple, when we make a wish about a present circumstance. My brother usually winds me up so the circumstance is in the present. 
3. We use Past Perfect, when we make a wish about a past circumstance. In this case, the wish looks more like a kind of 'regret' since the past circumstance can not be changed. Sarah has already done the exam so she can not study more for that exam in the past. 

Got it? So, have a look at the following sentences and fill the gaps with the right structure:

• My mother is always driving me to uni.  I wish she ____________ (lend) me her car sometimes. 
• The students in the class wish the exam ____________ (take place) at the end of the semester instead of in the middle of it. 
• I wish _____________ (arrive) earlier. By the time I found a seat, the lecture was about to finish. 

So, what are your three answers? Well, the three answers are: - lent, - would take place, - had arrived.

Did you get them right? I hope you have. If not, have a quick read to my entry again...

Bye!

RFT (Racists for Trump)

Hey guys!

I have another brilliant video to share with you.
This time, it is not about the Goyas and about how competent in English our country is. This time is about something much more serious: Donald Trump.
This video was made by the popular show: "Saturday Night Live" and it is a very clever video about what  may be happening in America in the months to come. Here you are. Enjoy it!

Now, have a look at some of the vocabulary and expressions used in the video:

• To be a winner (n): to be someone who typically succeeds. Example: Peter is a winner. He always has brilliant ideas that turn into brilliant businesses.
• To write the book on something (id): to enough about something to write the definitive book on it. Example: My sister definitely wrote the book on fashion. She is not only a successful model but she also owns several boutiques around the world.
• To be an outsider (n): a person not belonging to a particular group or party. Example: Tim is an outsider. He always does whatever he pleases no matter who is involved.
• To be (a little) out there: to be crazy; mentally deranged; scatter-brained, loony. Example: Your friends are out there. What a crazy bunch!
• To be a BC (slang): to be someone who was born before Christ, old-fashioned.  Example: My parents are definitely BC. They don't approve that my boyfriend and me share the same bed after ten years together!

Time Clauses

Hello boys and girls!

Today, we are going to have a look at 'time clauses'. Time clauses in English are sentences introduced by a conjunction such as: before, after, as soon as, until when, whenever, while or some other time expression. Even though these sentences are about future activities, we do not use a future tense in these sentences. Have a look at the following two examples:

• My sister will come to Madrid and she will take me to the theatre. 

•  My sister will take me to the theatre when she comes to Madrid. 

 In the first sentence, we have two future actions related to each other. In the second sentence the clause after 'when' is a time clause and even though the activity will take place in the future,  the tense used is present simple.

There are many other examples of time clauses. Have a look at the following examples where the first sentence is made of two sentences with will and the second sentence is made of a sentence with will and a future time clause.

• The holidays will finish and the teacher will publish the results vs The teacher will publish the results as soon as the the holidays finish
• Don´t start the exam. First I will explain what you need to do vs Don't start the exam until I explain what to do. 
•  I'll have a quick lunch and I will leave for work vs I'll have a quick lunch before I leave for work. 
• Your father will arrive and then we will have dinner vs We will have dinner when your father arrives 

Well, I really hope this post helps you understand better time clauses and when / how to use them... I will write another one before you know it!