MAKE VS. DO

Although they seem similar to us Spanish native speakers, they are not so.
Make implies to create, while Do implies an action. Let me give you a couple of examples:
1. The carpenter makes beds from wood.
2. I do exercise to keep fit.

Anyway, there are always exceptions. Here is a list of things or activities that follow each if you are more practical:

DO +
better
one's best
business
damage
one's duty
evil
an exercise
a favour
good
harm
homework
an injury
a job
justice (to)
a kindness
an operation
repairs
right
a service
wonders
work
worse
one's worst
wrong

MAKE +
an appointment
arrangements
attacks (on)
the best (of)
certain (of, about)
a change
a choice
a complaint
a confession
a decision
a demand
a difference (to)
a discovery
an effort
enquiries
one's escape
an excuse (for)
faces (at)
a fool (of)
friends (with)
fun (of)
a fuss (about)
a guess
haste
a journey
a mistake
money
the most (of)
a movement
an offer
peace
preparations
a profit
progress
a report (on)
a request
room (for)
a search (for)
a speech
a success (of)
sure (of)
a trip
trouble (for)
use (of)
a voyage
war (on)
way (for)
welcome
work (for others)

SAY vs. TELL

a) Say and tell with reported statements.

Look at the sentences:

Paul: You've got mail

Paul said I've got mail.

Paul told me that I've got mail.

These sentences mean the same, but the uses of the verbs tell and say are different.

Say means ‘speak the words’. It has no object.

Tell usually means ‘inform a person’ and with this meaning always has a personal object (eg. me)

Tell can also have other meanings like in tell the truth, a story (relate); I can tell a twin from another (distinguish); tell the time (read the time from a clock or watch)

b) Say and tell with reported commands.

Mom: Don’t do that again.

Mom said that I shouldn’t do it again.

Mom told me not to do it again.

Note that a reported command with say is followed by that and the auxiliary should (not). The reported command with tell takes an infinitive.

c) Say and tell: passive

Note the passive forms:

People say The Death Hallows is a good film.

The Death Hallows is said to be a good film.

People have told me that The Death Hallows is a good film.

I’ve been told that The Death Hallows is a good film.

THE CONJUGATION OF BODIES

It is sometimes confusing the conjugation of words such as everybody, somebody or anybody because some of them englobing, well, everybody, one may suppose it would conjugate as a plural, but no, it conjugates as a singular.

Here are some examples:

Everyones is expected to Wendy's party.
Somebody should check if the boiler is on.
Has anybody seen my baby?

On the other hand people is a plural noun -or pronoun, as some Grammar books may categorize it- and therefore should be conjugated as plural.
Eg. People are generally kind-hearted.

Here is a small exercise for you to practise:

Put the verbs in prenthesis in the correct form depending on the subject:

1. Everything possible (have) been done to save the patient's life.
2. Everyone (agree) with you.
3. Everyone (want) to be happy.
4. Most people (be) ambitious.
5. Many people (travel) by bus.
6. A few people (be) not frightened by earthquakes.

If you wish solve the exercise and post your results!

TOPS & BOTTOMS

ceiling.- n. inner top of a room or building. eg. The lamp hangs from the ceiling.

roof.- n. outer top of a room or building. eg. After the rins they had to sweep the tree leaves from the roof .

floor.- n. 1. inner bottom part of room or building. 2. one of several stories in which a building might be divided. eg. The rug on the wooden floor is imported from China.

ground.- n. the bottom part of everything, where one sets foot on. eg. The sailors were glad to arrive to safe ground finally.

GUIDELINES FOR PROBLEM-SOLUTION SPEECH

When starting to write your speech, start with a killing sentence to grsp your audience's atention, then keep in mind the following questions to round your speech:

1. What type of problem was it?

2. Where were you?

3. When were you there?

4. Who was with you?

5. What were you doing?

6. Why were you there?

7. How were you feeling?

8. Why did you feel that way?

9. What was your goal?

10. How did you react?

11. How was the problem solved?

SPEECH RUBRICS

Considerate Punctuation
Eye contact
Vocabulary
Grammar
Fluency
Pronunciation
Use of gestures
Pose
Average:

BURGLARS, MUGGERS AND OTHER UNPLEASANT PEOPLE

How do you call unpleasant people that threaten your peace on the streets or even home?
Well, it depends on what they do because even in the low districts there is a hierarchy!

Burglar.- n. Someone who breaks into a place (house, flat, office, etc.) to take things illegally.

Mugger.- n. Someone who stops you in the middle of the street to take your things away.

Robber .- n. Someone who steals by force.

Thief .- n. Someone who steals.

Ok, so you say, "Well, the last three are very similar." Yes, they are, but check the minor details, they are there for a reason. Read again. A mugger appears out of nowhere and takes your things, maybe he scares you but he doesn't harm you. A robber is violent, he uses force, he may be armed or he may hit you. Finally a thief can be a poor person that takes an apple from a stand out of pure hunger without harmful intentions. Anyway if he steals your wallet, he's still unpleasant!

CONFUSING WORDS: A MATTER OF FEELINGS

Often, for Spanish natives, it is easy to confuse emotion and excitement because of the false cognate of emoción and emotion. Ok, here's the tip:

emotion n. 1. strong feeling such as love, anger, or fear 2.emotional inteligence or sensibility [MFr, rel. to MOTION]
eg. The intense emotion invaded her and she started crying.

excitement n. 1. excited state of mind 2. eciting thing (exciting.- arousing great interest or enthusiasm)
eg. The excitement over the football match was great, people were roaring and a vibrant atmosphere could be sensed in the stadium.

WORD FORMATION -less, -ful

Adjectives can be formed adding -less or -ful to nouns. eg. shameful, shameless
In this case -less rests the quality while -ful adds it, therefore shameless means with no shame and shameful means full of shame.
Try to deduct the meaning of the following adjectives:

fruitless
fruitful
harmful
harmless
spoonful