Homonyms - Mean

·         What does ‘ludicrous’ mean (verb)?

·         Mean (adjective) people are often miserable people.

·         That was a rather mean (adjective) thing to say to Vincent. You ought to apologize to him.

·         We’d love to come to your party. Unfortunately, we have no means (=no way) of getting there.

Homophones - Meat V Meet V Mete

Meat

• My brother has never gone a day without consuming meat.

Meet

·        Extroverts enjoy meeting people while introverts tend to shy away (=avoid) from people.

Mete (something out) – to give or order  

• The emperor regularly meted out harsh punishment to anyone who disobeyed or defied him.

Phrasal Verbs - Call (Call for V Call off V Call on/upon sb V Call on/upon sth)

Call For – require

• Your promotion calls for a celebration. Where would you like to celebrate?
• The dire economic climate calls for stringent measures by the government.

Call Off – abandoned or cancelled

·         The meeting was called off as the manager was still out of the office.

·         The company managed to persuade the union to call off the strike at the last minute.

Call on/upon (sb) – to ask formally for someone to do something

·        I would now like to call upon Mr Wilkins to hand out the prizes to our lucky winners.

Call on/upon (sth) – to make use of something

·         Many companies have called on Sean’s expertise to boost their social media presence.

·         She had to call on all her emotional strength to get through the tough times.

Confusing or Misused Words - Continual V Continuous

Continual (adjective)– happening repeatedly with periods of silence in between

• I’ve had continual problems with this bicycle ever since I bought it.
• It’s almost impossible to work with the continual interruptions from the renovation next door.
• Ben and Jenny have been arguing continually (adverb) about money lately.

Continuous (adjective) – without a pause or interruption

• Sam’s been experiencing continuous pain in his right foot for the past three days.
• Ken worked continuously (adverb) for 4 hours till his wife called him down for lunch.

Phrasal Verbs - Brush Up (On Something)

Meaning – refresh your knowledge of it

• I must brush up on my Spanish before I go to Europe next year.

Grammar - Prepositions of Time and Duration (Until, Between...and, For, Since)

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The rules:

1. To, from…to, until
• To is used to refer to an exact time before the stated hour.
• From…to is used to refer to a period of time when an activity or event begins (from) and when it ends (to).
• Until is used to period of time but the focus is on when the activity or event ends.                 

Examples:

·         The annual general meeting ended at quarter to five.

·         The bank is open from 9am to 4pm.

·         The boys were playing basketball until 7pm.

2. At, between…and

·         At is used to refer to exact times.

·         Between…and is used to refer to an action that takes place after a stated time and before the second stated time.

             Examples:

·                     Randy will arrive here at 6 o’clock this evening.

·                     Sally will arrive here between 5 o’clock and 6 o’clock. (We           do not the exact time Sally is arriving)

3. For, since

·         For is used to refer to how long an event or situation continues or lasts (ie minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years).

·         Since is used with an event or time in the past to point out that the activity, event or situation is going on from then until now.

             Examples:

·                     Lenny stayed with her aunt for a month before returning               home.

·                     Danny has been here since January. (He is still here.)

4. Prepositions of time (in and on) are not used before noun groups that begin with this.

           Examples:

·                     Mr Wilkins will be retiring this month. (NOT retiring in this             month.)

·                     I will see you this Saturday. (NOT see you on this                       Saturday.) 

Remember!

• Prepositions at, in and on can’t be used before each, every next, one and last.

Common Idioms - Bite Off More Than You Can Chew

Meaning – to undertake to do something which is too much or too difficult for you to manage

• While I admire Vincent’s tenacity and confidence, I think he’s bitten off more than he can chew this time. I haven't seen him so tired or stressed out in a long time.  

Confused and Misused Words - Confident V Confidant : What's the Difference?

Confident (adjective)

• Confident individuals are usually well-received and respected by their peers.
• After seeing Sally working diligently on her dance routines for weeks, I’m confident she will do well in the dance competition.

Confidant (noun) – a person you trust and share your feelings and secrets with

• Luke was not only Mr Johnson’s accountant, but also a family friend and close confidant. It’s no surprise Luke knows so much about that family.

Confused and Misused Words - Childish V Childlike

Childish

·        Despite being a husband and father of three, John is still very childish (= behave in a way that would be expected of a child). It’s a mystery that his children are so well-behaved.

Childlike

• Everyone is drawn to Sally’s childlike (=like a child in a good sense) innocence/behaviour. It’s no wonder she’s so popular in her neighbourhood! 

Synonyms - Absurd

Meaning – Crazy, foolish, illogical, laughable, ridiculous, stupid, silly

·        Prices of most things including food are absurd (=ridiculous) during the festive seasons.

·        What an absurd (=illogical) suggestion! Who on earth would want to go swimming when it’s raining cats and dogs (=raining heavily) outside?

·        Do I look absurd (=silly) in this outfit?

Confused and Misused Words - Censor V Census: What's the Difference?

Censor

·         I was really annoyed that so many scenes in the movie had been censored.

        Census

·         It’s very common for most countries to have a census (=an official survey to find out a country’s population and to collect information about them) every 5-8 years.

Synonyms - Abrupt

Sudden: hasty, quick, rapid, sudden, unexpected

• John stood up so abruptly that he almost knocked the cup of coffee off the table.
• Our conversation came to an abrupt end when I entered the lift.

Rude: blunt, brusque, curt, rude, short

• My apologies for being so abrupt this morning. I just have a lot on my mind.
• His abrupt reply took everyone by surprise.

Homophones - Main V Mane

Main

• The main reason I was in Singapore last month was to meet some prospective antique buyers and traders.

Mane – the hair that covers an animal’s (mainly horse and lion) neck

• Look at that horse’s thick mane! Isn’t it lovely? 

Similes With Like - Like A Bat Out of Hell

Meaning – very quickly

Tom and his friends were starving but none of them had any money to buy food. As they wandered aimlessly around the neighbourhood, they came across a house with some mango trees in the backyard. The mangoes were huge and ripe. The boys decided to take a chance and steal some. When the boys each had two mangoes in their hands, they decided to leave. Just then, they heard someone shouting at them. It was owner of the house! The boys fled the house like a bat out of hell. 

Synonyms - Abandon (as A Verb and Adjective)

Leave: desert, forsake, leave, leave behind

• They had to abandon the car when it broke down in the middle of the road.
• John was abandoned by his friends as he was too slow and couldn’t keep up.
• The ship was sinking fast, so the captain gave the order to abandon ship.
• That abandoned (adjective) factory became the homeless man's new home.
• An abandoned (adjective) baby boy was found on the hospital steps this morning. 

Give up: drop, give up, quit, renounce, withdraw from

• We had to abandon the idea of starting our own company due to lack of funds.

Homophones - Loan V Lone

Loan - noun

·        I managed to secure a loan with the bank to buy the home of my dreams.

    Lone – adjective

·        I noticed a lone (=alone/one person) figure standing across the street from my apartment for more than an hour and alerted security.

Homonyms - Flush

·         Janet flushed (=turn red in the face) with pleasure as she received her prize from the CEO of the company.

·         One glass of wine was all it took to make Sally’s face flush   (=turn red)

·         Please remember to flush the toilet after you.

·         In a state of panic, the drug addict flushed all the drugs down the toilet when the police came knocking on his door.

Proverbs and Sayings: Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse

·               A: I think it’s a great time to invest in Irish properties given how cheap they are now.

         B: That’s a huge investment. Let’s do some research before we  decide on anything.                     After all, it’s best not to put the cart before the horse.

Homonyms - Firm

·         People often remark that I have a very firm handshake for someone as small as myself.

·         It’s important to know when to be firm with children or they’d climb all over our heads.

·         Janet recently hired a personal trainer to help her firm up her body.

·         I much prefer sleeping on a firm mattress than a soft one.

·         Although this firm (=company) is fairly new, it has succeeded in building a good reputation for itself.

Homonyms - Bolt

·         We need to put a bolt on that door in order to keep it closed.

·         The framework of this house is held together by bolts and nuts.

·         All the horses bolted (=ran away) when the stable caught fire.

·         Sensing trouble, Sam made a sudden bolt (= rush) for the door as soon as he got the chance.

Homophones - Deer V Dear

Deer

·        Deer often travel in a herd. Unfortunately, the slowest one rarely survives the day.

Dear

• It’s shocking how dear (=expensive) everything has gotten in the past 3 years.
• Sarah is a dear friend of mine. I’ve known her for more than 10 years.

Homophones - Ensure V Insure

Ensure

• Please ensure that you fasten your helmet before take off on your motorbike.

Insure

• We insured the furnishings and fixtures in the house for $100,000.

Prefixes - Bi-

Meaning: two, twice

·        Bicycle – a two-wheeled vehicle

·        Bilingual – speaking two languages

·        Bisect – to cut into two parts

·        Bisexual – a person who is attracted to men and women 

Exercise 28 - Punctuation

Grammar - Punctuation: When and How to Use Them

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The rules:

1. A comma (,) is used to separate words or phrases in these ways:

1. Place a comma between each noun or adjective of quality in a list, BUT use and before the last noun or adjective.
• We brought ham sandwiches, jelly and soft drinks for the party.
• Patrick’s puppy is a cuddly, mischievous and adorable animal.  

2. Place a comma between each phrase in a list, BUT put and before the last phrase.
• I looked out the window and saw a man playing a guitar by the side of the street, a lady buying a drink and a middle-aged man getting out of his car.

3. Place a comma after an adverbial clause of time that begins a sentence.
• After we had finished lunch, we went for a movie.

        (adverbial clause of time)

·         We went for a movie after we had finished lunch.

                                             (adverbial clause of time)

4. Place a comma after a long phrase that begins a sentence.
• Desperate to make some money, Sam worked 72 hours a week during the summer break.

5. Place a comma before and after a clause or phrase that gives additional information in a sentence.
• Zack, my friend’s cousin, is pursuing a course in law.

                  (extra information)

2. A colon (:) is used in these ways:

1. To introduce a list of items that add to what was mentioned in the first part of the sentence.
• We brought many items to the weekend flea market: vases, teapots, plates and bronze figures.

2. To introduce information that explains what was mentioned or described in the first part of the sentence.
• I have a question for you: why is your work incomplete?
• Finally, I decided to hire a web designer to design my website.

Important!

• Colons are usually used after phrases like as follows, for example, in this way and like this.

3. A semicolon (;) is used in these ways:

1. To bring together two separate sentences which are connected in ideas.
• Sally is down with the flu; her husband is not in the best of health either.
• This company is well-known; its health products have won many international awards.

2. To separate phrases in a list when they have commas within them BUT use a semicolon with and before the last phrase.

·         The companies that have agreed to sponsor our event are Wilkins, Smith and Sons; Stanley and Associates; and Baxter Incorporated.

4. A hyphen (-) is used in these ways:

1. To join two or more words to make compound words
• Great-grandparents, brother-in-law, a chocolate-flavoured drink, a UK-based company, a well-known artist, state-of-the-art technology

2. To join prefixes to words
• Anti-social, anti-ageing
• Ex-boyfriend, ex-classmate
• Self-conscious, self-discipline, self-employed
• Semi-final, semi-furnished, semi-finished

3. To join words for fractions and numbers
• Twenty-nine, thirty-five
• Two-thirds, one-quarter

4. To join two or more words to form an adjective (eg. five-year old, twenty-dollar) used before a noun (eg. boy, the park) to modify the noun.
• His niece is four years old. He has a four-year-old niece.     

• She picked up five dollars at the train station. She picked up a five-dollar note at the train station.

    

Proverbs and Sayings: You Cannot Have Your Cake and Eat It

Meaning: Sometimes, you have to make a choice and be happy with one thing or the other.

• You won’t be able to go drinking with your friends as often when you’re married, but you can’t have your cake and eat it.
• I realize I won’t be able to have Asian food as often when I relocate to London for work, but I can’t have my cake and eat it. 

Business Writing - Sales letter (Email Version)

First paragraph

·         States the reason for writing.

·         Attracts the readers and connects with them on a personal level.

Eg.

I noticed from our records that it’s been over 6 months since you last visited our gallery/store and we’re wondering if all is well with you.

Second paragraph

·         Invites connection and participation from the readers by simply presenting the website address.

Eg.

If you have any comments or inquiries regarding our products, we’d love to hear from you. You can log on to www.emperorsantique.com and select the ‘contact us’ icon. Additionally, you can access our latest catalogue by going to www.emperorsantique.com/catalogue/

Third paragraph

·         Gives information about the special offer to keep the message as brief as possible.

·         Hopefully, this will trigger action.

Eg.

We would also like to offer you a special 20% discount as a returning customer if you make a purchase within 30 days of the date of this email. Purchases can be made online to save you the trouble of coming over to our gallery/store too.

Final paragraph

·         A polite close to the message.

Eg.

All the best to you and please let us know if you’d like any more information about our products.

Proverbs and Sayings - Blood Is Thicker Than Water

Meaning: Family loyalties are stronger than anything else

A: It’s amazing how Sam can tolerate his brother’s bad behaviour!

B: Well, blood is thicker than water. I would do almost anything for my family too.

Similes with As - As Black As Night

• I don’t know how we’re going to find your dog. It’s so dark and he’s as black as night!

Homonyms - Bank

• We saw some boys fishing on the river bank this morning. 
• You should put your savings in the bank.
• I used to put all my money in a piggy-bank when I was a child.
• I bank with local and foreign banks.