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LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

Lect.univ.dr. Camelia Firică

2011


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UNIT 11. INTRODUCING ONESELF AND GREETING PEOPLE

In this unit you will:

- Brush up on your knowledge about how to (1) introduce yourself and greet people; (2) givedirection and describe locations; (3) express possession;

- Practise grammar issues: indefinite, definite, zero articles; possessive adjectives and pronouns; present indicative of the verbs to be, to have; plural of nouns; numeral; demonstrativeadjectives and pronouns; there is, there are constructions; interrogative pronouns and adjectives.

Let’s Talk!

Introduce yourself by answering the following questions. What is your first name? What

is your second name? Have you got a middle name, a nickname, or a name day? What are you?

What’s your occupation? What are your parents’ names? What is your marital status - are you

married, single, divorced? Have you got siblings? What are their names? What are they?

About age! How old are you? How old are your parents? How old is your girl/boy friend?

About where someone is from. What city are you from? What is the name of your country? Is Romania a foreign country for you? What is the capital of your country? What is your mother

tongue? How many inhabitants are there in your country?

About friends. Have you got a girlfriend/boyfriend? How old is she/he? What is her/his

name? Have you got friends abroad?

About greeting someone. What do you say when you meet someone for the first time? How

do you greet your friends? What are the greetings in English?

About spelling. Can you spell in English? Are you familiar with the English alphabet?

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the phrases in bold and change the followingindirect questions into direct ones according to the model:

Model : Ask me if I am hungry. - Are you hungry?Ask if the guests are thirsty. - Are the guests thirsty?

Ask if the students are usually late or early.Ask if it is late or early.Ask if the child afraid of animals. Ask if it is cold or warm today. Ask me what I am fond of.

Ask if we are through with our work.Ask what play is on at the theatre.Ask what movie is on at the cinema.

Ask a boy what his girl friend’s name is.Ask how old my parents are. Ask someone how he is today.Ask someone how his colleagues are today.Ask someone where his pen friend is from.

Ask how much the book is.Ask how much the pens are.

-

Good morning! Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Mrs. Black and I am a teacher. Iam your teacher of English. You are students. You are all my students. You are all freshmen. Youare not teachers. You are all present for our first class. I’m happy to see that nobody is absent.She is a girl and he is a boy. She is not a woman and he is not a man. We are all in the classroom.It is our classroom. It is not their classroom.

Let’s have a talk in English, to know one another better. Please answer my questions, will you?


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- What are you?-

We are students.- What is my name and what am I?-

Your name is Mrs. Black and you are our English teacher.- What are they?-

They are students, too. They are our colleagues.- What is your name?

-

My name is David.- What is her name?-

Her name is Marianne.- What is his name?-

His name is Dan.-

What are their names?-

Their names are David, Marianne and Dan.-

Who are you? -

I am Martin. -

How old are you, Marianne?-

I am twenty years old. I’m young. I’m a young woman, you know. We are all young people.

-

Who is he?-

He is Dan. He is my colleague and friend, too.-

How old is Dan? Is he twenty, too?-

No, he is not. He is not twenty. He is nineteen years old.-

How are you today?-

I’m fine, thanks. We are all very well.-

How is your girl friend, today, David?-

She is not so well, I’m afraid. She is not in the pink. She is rather ill, right now.-

I’m sorry to hear that. How are your colleagues? How are they?-

Oh, they are all right.-

Where is the teacher, Jane?-

The teacher is in the classroom, and so are we all.

-

What country are you from, Benjamin and what is your native language?-

I’m from England and English is my native language, of course.- Where is Martin from and what is his mother tongue? -

He is from Romania and Romanian is his language. English is a foreign language for him.Martin is from Bucharest. I know Bucharest is the capital of Romania, as London is the capital ofEngland and Paris is the capital of France. Bucharest lies in the middle of large fields and it issituated on the banks of the river Dâmboviţa, in the Danube Plain. My girlfriend is from France.France is a European country; its people are French and their language is called French too. The

people of the United States of America are Americans but their language is English, too.-

You are right, Benjamin. But there are still so many differences between British English andAmerican English. That is why Oscar Wilde said: The British and the Americans have everything incommon, but English. Tell me, have you friends from foreign countries and what are theirlanguages?

-

I have friends in Italy and their language is Italian, and in Spain and they speak Spanish. Theyare my pen friends. The people of Germany are German and they speak German, the people ofGreece are Greek and their language is Greek. Turkish people are from Turkey and their language isTurkish. Danes are from Denmark and their language is Danish as Dutch people are from Hollandand their language is Dutch. Norway is inhabited by Norwegians. Its inhabitants speak Norwegian.China’s inhabitants are Chinese and Chinese is their mother tongue.

-

Very well, thank you.


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GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

The indefinite article a / an:

•

is placed before the nouns it determines: a teacher, a headmaster, a student, a classroom; • a is pronounced [ei ] when it is stressed and [∂] when it is before a word beginning with a

consonant, a semivowel (w, y), a vowel with a consonant sound or before u pronounced like'you' in 'youth': a good teacher, a woman, a year, a European county, a unit ofmeasurement ;

• an, pronounced [∂n], is used before words beginning with a vowel or a mute h: an Englishbook, an accountant, an hour ;

• has the same form irrespective of the gender and case of the noun it determines;

• does not precede nouns in the plural;

• is not used with uncountable nouns;

• is not placed before the names of the meals, except when these are preceded by an adjective: I never have breakfast. She prepared us a good dinner.

The indefinite article is used:

• before nouns that refer to a profession, occupation, trade, nationality, religion and before: man, woman, child :

I am a teacher. He is an Englishman. My husband is not a Catholic. Our English teacheris a woman not a man. They have a child. • when it refers to an unknown or unimportant person: A Mr. Brown looked for you yesterday.

• when a comparison is made: She considers herself to be a Queen Victoria.

• after: such , what , half : Such a beautiful weather! What a stupid thing to do! We talked for half an hour.

•

in expressions of quantity, speed, ratio:60 lei a dozen, a hundred books , a million years , a little money, 120 kilometres an hour,three times a week.

The indefinite article is used in a great number of phrases.a great many, a lot of, as a matter of fact, at a loss, for a short/ long time, in a hurry, it is a pity!,

once a day/week/year, to cut a good figure, to go for a walk, to make a mistake, to take/have a rest,

to have a seat, two/three/ four ... at a time, What a good idea you have!, What a shame!, What a tiny

world!

POSSESIVE ADJECTIVES

PERSON SINGULAR PLURAL

I My OurII Your YourIII His

HerIts

Their

Possessive adjectives in English:

• are placed before nouns:


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my relatives, your opinion, his file, her associate, its shape, our reasons, your co-workers, their arrival .

• do not change their form irrespective of the gender and number of the noun they determine;my wife/husband/child/children.

• are used with clothes and parts of the body:my coat, her slippers, your hand.

• can be followed by own to add emphasis:

their own contribution.

REMEMBER! Its is used for animals or things but, if the sex of the animal is known, his/her would often

be used.Mind the form of its as a possessive adjective - without an apostrophe; it’s (with apostrophe)

means it is; Nouns accompanied by possessive adjectives bear no article:

my English partner , your appropriate behaviour , her bad language.

THE PRESENT INDICATIVE OF THE VERB TO BE

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE/ NEGATIVEI am / I’m I am not / I’m not Am I (not)?You are/ you’re You are not / aren’t Are you (not)? / aren’t you?He is/ he’s He is not / isn’t Is he (not)? / Isn’t he?She is/ she’s She is not /isn’t Is she (not)? / Isn’t she?It is/ it’s It is not / isn’t Is it (not)? / Isn’t it?We are/we’re We are not / aren’t Are we (not)? / Aren’t we?You are/you’re You are not / aren’t Are you (not)? / Aren’t you?They are/ they’re They are not / aren’t Are they (not)? / Aren’t they?

REMEMBER!The only situation when the verb to be is conjugated with the auxiliary to do is in the

Imperative - Negative form: Don’t be so cruel to him! Don’t be late to school ! Don’t be sorry!

TO BE is normally used to denote the existence of, or to give information about the status or profession of a person or thing:

The students are diligent . Her husband is the Manager Assistant. That bracelet is made of gold .

REMEMBER!To be is always used to express age in English:

How old are you? I’m 20. I’m 20 years old (never say: I’m 20 years.)

How old is your son? He is 25. He is 25 years old. How old are your children? They are both eleven. They are both eleven years oldPrice is also expressed with the verb to be:

How much is this book? It’s 2 dollars. How much are these shoes? They are 100 dollars.

To be plus infinitive construction can be used to express:• a future plan:

Professor Smith is to give a lecture next week.We are to meet our friends tomorrow.

My son is to marry in October.


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The President is to make a statement tomorrow.

• an order, instructions:You are to stay here until I come!They are to learn the grammar rules.

No one is to smoke inside this building. To be in phrases: to be hungry, to be thirsty, to be cold, to be hot, to be warm, to be right, to bewrong, to be sorry, to be afraid, to be at a loss, to be fond of, to be late, to be early, to be in a hurry,

to be over, to be through, to be in the pink, to be on, to be about to, to be worth, to be particularabout.

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS - I

English nouns can be:- common: woman, building, cat, computer; -

proper: Ireland, Manchester, Mr. Brown, Mary:- abstract: belief, friendship, justice, anger;-

concrete: river, mountain, tree;- collective: family, committee, crowd, team, group;

-

countables: armchair, bed, desk;- uncountables: sugar, coffee, meat, knowledge, advice, tennis.

Gender:- masculine - nouns designating men or male creatures;-

feminine - nouns designating women or female creatures;- neuter: inanimate things, animals and babies whose sex we don't know.

EXCEPTIONS: Vehicles, when personified or regarded with affection, as well as countriesreferred to by name are considered feminine in gender:

England was famous for her navy. She was a fine car.

Note: a noun which designates both males and females is of common gender - cousin, spouse, parent, relative, baby.

As a rule the plural of English nouns is made adding s to the singular:

SINGULAR PLURAL

student students teacher teacher s

boy boys Nouns ending in ch, sh, s, ss, x, zz and o preceded by a consonant form their plural by

adding the ending es:

SINGULAR PLURAL bench benches

bush bushes boss bosses bus buses box boxes buzz buzzes potato potatoes

When the ending ch is pronounced [k] the nouns form plural by adding s:


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SINGULAR PLURALCzech Czechs epoch epochs

Words of foreign origin or abbreviated words that end in o add s to form the plural: SINGULAR PLURAL

concerto concertos

dynamo dynamos soprano sopranos kimono kimonos

piano pianos photo photos kilo kilos

Compound nouns expressed in writing by a single word add the plural ending - s - to thelatter term:

SINGULAR PLURALclassroom classrooms schoolboy schoolboys

blackboard blackboards

armchair armchair s The same do the compound nouns ending in ful :

SINGULAR PLURALcupful cupfuls handful handfuls tablespoonful tablespoonfuls

Compound nouns consisting of a noun followed by an adjective or any other qualifier,whether hyphenated or not, form the plural by adding the plural ending to the noun:

SINGULAR PLURAL boyfriend boy- friends passer- by passer s- bylooker-on looker s-onrace horse race horses attorney-general attorneys-generaldaughter-in-law daughter s-in-lawheir apparent heir s apparentnotary public notar ies public

If none of the components of a compound noun is a noun –s is added to the last element:

SINGULAR PLURALforget-me-not forget-me-nots grown-up grown-ups

break- in break-ins

Compound nouns formed with the words man and woman make both terms plural:

SINGULAR PLURALmanservant menservants woman doctor women doctor s


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Nouns ending in - y preceded by a consonant change - y in - i and add – es in the plural:SINGULAR PLURAL

city citiesfactory factories

party parties

The change does not take place:

when - y is preceded by a vowel: boy – boys, play – plays, day – days; with proper names: the Kennedys;

with compound nouns: stand – by – stand – bys.Letters, numerals and abbreviated words add ’s (apostrophe and s) to make the plural:three A’s , the ABC ’s , 1990’s , 2’s , OAP ’s (Old Age Pensioners), UFO’s (Unidentified Flying

Objects), MP ’s (Members of Parliament) VIP ’s (Very Important Persons), PhD’s (Doctors of Philosophy/Philology), pc’s (postcards)

Still, in contemporary English a more and more frequent tendency can be noticed of adding,in writing, only s (without apostrophe) to form the plural of letters, numerals, and abbreviatedwords: three As, the ABC s , 1990s, 2s ,OAP s , MP s , VIP s PhDs.

The pronunciation of the nouns in the plural:

[-s] after unvoiced consonants /k/, /f/,/p/,/t/:books, proofs, lamps, carpets;

[-z] after voiced consonants and vowels: gloves, tables, boys, trees; [-iz] after the sounds /s/, /z/ /dз/:classes, noses, roses, badges.

NOTE: Names of languages and nationalities are always written with capital letter: Romanian, English, German, Spanish, etc.


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2. LOCATIONS AND DIRECTIONS.WHAT IS THIS? WHAT ARE THOSE?

Let’s Talk!

About where people, things, places are or are located or situated. Where is youruniversity located? What do you call the room we are in? Name the objects in the classroom andrefer to them using the demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those). Where is Romania

situated? Where does Craiova lie? Where is your house?

Imagine a dialogue with a person who wants to get to your house coming from the airport

or railway station. Give him directions to follow.

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the phrases in bold and then ask questionaccording to the model:

Model: Show your colleagues your pen and ask what it is. - What is this? This is a pen. Show the wall and ask what it is. - What is that? That is the wall.

Show your colleagues some books / some sheets of paper and ask what they are.

Show that blackboard and ask what it is?Show those desks and the chairs and ask what they are.Show this window and ask what it is.Show that door and ask what it is.Ask if there is a computer in the classroom.Ask if there are pictures and maps on the walls.Ask if there are many people in the street.Ask if there are many new words in the new lesson.

- What is this?-

This is an office. This office is large, clean and bright. It is very modern, too. There are a lotof things in this office: two desks and two chairs for the clerks, two shelves and two computers on

each desk. One computer is on, one is off. This is the door and that is the window. The door isclosed; the window is open and it is opposite the door. This is the floor and that is the ceiling.There are not carpets on the floor but there are lamps on the ceiling above the desks. There are lamps on the desks too. The floor is down, the ceiling is up. The floor is under our feet, the ceilingis above our heads. Those desks are in front of the window and those chairs are behind the desks.There are shelves in this office, too. These two shelves are against the wall and between themthere is a modern clock that tells the right time. There are pots with plants all over this office. The

place is very welcoming.-

What are these, and what are those?-

These are the sheets of paper and those are the files. These sheets of paper are in this drawer and those files are on those shelves. Oh, look! Here’s a drawer full with envelopes, stamps,labels, glue, paste, paper clips and folders. There are fountain pens, pencils, ballpoint pens, rubbers

and rulers on the desks. There are not inkstands or inkpots on the desks because nowadays peoplerarely write in ink using an old fashioned pen with nib.

-

There is a calendar on the wall, but there aren’t pictures.-

Are there posters in this office?-

Yes, there are. There are some posters on the walls of this office. -

Is there a map, too?-

No, there isn’t. There isn’t any map in this office.-

Is that the computer?-

Yes, it is. That is the computer-

Are these the clerks and secretaries?


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- Yes, they are. These are the clerks and secretaries.-

Are those their desks and chairs?- No, these are. Those aren’t theirs.

ASKING FOR DIRECTIONS GIVING DIRECTIONS

- Excuse me, can you tell me the way tothe hospital?

-

Go straight on.-

Go straight ahead.

- I beg your pardon, how do I get to the Art Museum?

- Go down this road and take the third turningon the right/left.- You can take the bus and get off at thesecond/at the third/at Patria station.

- Pardon me! How do I get to the nearestPost Office?- How can I get to the nearest PostOffice? Can I get there by car/by bus/bytaxi?

-You go straight along this road and take thesecond turning on the left/right.- Keep straight on past the school and turn tothe left/ right.- Go back for about... metres there’s the bus

stop.- Am I on the right way to University? -Yes, you are./No, you are not.

- Where is the Ministry of Education? - It’s right down the street.- It’s on the right/left hand side of the street.

- How can I reach to the nearest PoliceStation?

Follow this street to the end.

- Is this the way to the City Hall? You are going on the right/ wrong way.- You are going in the opposite direction. Go

back and take a taxi/the bus/the tube and getoff at ... station.


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GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE

The, the definite article in English is used for all genders and for both singular and plural. It

is:• is placed in front of the noun it determines;

• is read [ð∂] when in front of a word that begins with a consonant, a semivowel, u in separatesyllable and when it precedes the word one:

the chair, the window, the year, the U nited States, the one;

• is read [ði ] when in front of a word that begins with a vowel or when there is an intention tostress the respective word:

the economist, the E nglish dictionary, ”the” is an article;

• is mandatory before nouns accompanied by prepositions:on the table, in the classroom, in front of the table, behind the desk.

The use of the definite article is compulsory with:• proper names of rivers, seas, oceans:

the Danube, the Atlantic Ocean, the Black Sea;

• hills and chains of mountains:the Carpathians, the Alps, the Cheviot Hill;

• names of institutions:the British Museum, the National Theatre, the City Hall;

• names of hotels:the Intercontinental Hotel, the Savoy, the Marriott;

• names of ships:the Titanic;

• names of newspapers: The Daily Mirror, The Times, The New York Times, The Guardian;

•

names of deserts, bays, capes and proper names formed with the word “of“:the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Mexico, the Cape of Good Hope, the United

States of America;

• family names in the plural: the Browns, the Smiths.

NOTE: the + name in the singular + preposition can be used to distinguish between two personswho bear the same name:

I am talking about the Mr. Brown who is a clerk.

• nouns of plurality:the poor, the rich, the dead, the old, the blind ;

• abstract nouns:the beautiful, the good, the sublime;

•

unique nouns:the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, the sky, the universe, the present, the past, the future;

• nouns that denote a class of animals or things (the noun man used to refer to the human raceis not articulated):

the lion, the fir tree, the whale;

• titles that contain the word of : the Duke of Normandy, the Queen of England;

BUT: Lord Nelson, Captain Hook.• names of instruments:


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to play the piano, to play the violin, to play the guitar;

• times of the day: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening; BUT: at noon, at midnight

• ordinal numerals, adjectives and adverbs in the relative superlative and the word only:the first , the second , the best way, the only way.

The definite article in phrases:

all the year round, at the beginning, at the same time, by the hour, in the country, in themountains, on the right/ left, on the whole, he day after tomorrow, the day before yesterday, to tellthe time, to tell the truth, Many happy returns of the day!

THE ZERO ARTICLE

The use of the zero article is compulsory with: • proper names of places or persons except for those mentioned above:

Romania, Bucharest, Mary;

• a noun preceded by possessive adjective:my book, their books, his dictionary;

•

the meals of the day: Breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper are the four meals of the day.

• names of games:to play football, to play golf, to play tennis;

• the words bed, church, hospital, court, prison, school, college, university, institute whenvisited or used for their primary purpose: to bed – to sleep , to church – to pray, to hospital – as

patients or doctors, to prison – as prisoners, to school/ university/ college/ institute – as students/ pupils/ teachers; still the words university and institute are often accompanied by article.

NOTE! When these places are visited or used for other purposes the use of the definite articleis compulsory. With the verbs to be, to get back, to leave the above mentioned nouns areunarticulated: to be at hospital, to get back to prison, to leave university;

•

the word home when used alone, not preceded or followed by a descriptive word or phrase: Are you at home? • the days of the week, the months of the year and seasons:

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday , Sunday are the days of theweek. January is the first month of the year . I like spring because it is a beautiful season.

• the noun mankind ; Mankind is struggling for peace.

• names of continents, countries, states, provinces, towns: Europe, Australia, France,Canada, California, Transylvania, Moldavia, Bucharest.

Exceptions: the Argentina, the Congo, the Sudan, the United States of America, the Hague, the Netherlands, the Yemen.

• nouns that demote substances, materials, colours: Chalk is a white substance white. Gold and silver are precious metals. Yellow is my

favourite colour.

• proper names denoting persons when accompanied by: young, old, little, poor, dear, honest, pretty, lazy, silly:

poor John, dear Kitty, lazy Jim.

• names of subjects and languages: English is not an easy language. We study English at school.

• abstract nouns: life, happiness, death, knowledge: Life is beautiful . Happiness is relative. Death is inevitable. Knowledge is power.


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• the preposition by and the means of transport:by car, by bus, by train, by tube.

• common nouns associated with cardinal numerals: Lesson 2; Room 34; Floor 4.

NOTE: Nouns denoting the days of the week, months of the year, seasons, substances, materials,subjects, languages, colours, abstract notions and proper names of person accompanied by theadjectives young, old, little etc. have definite article if some further information about them is given

are preceded by the indefinite article: Sunday is a dull day for me but the Sunday we spent together was a wonderful day. Life is difficult but the life of this poet is impressive. Chalk is white but the chalk on the

blackboard is red. Breakfast is usually a light meal but the English breakfast is the most importantmeal of the day. The poor Mr. Black whom we all know died last week.

• uncountable nouns: sugar, coffee, oil, chocolate, milk, tea.

• the nouns: father, mother, grandfather, grandmother .

• nouns considered in generic sense: I like coffee. Sugar is sweet. Children love toys.

DEMONSTRATIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS DEMONSTRATIVEADJECTIVES

THIS [ðis] Read this! Read this book!THESE [ði:z] Read these! Read these books!THAT [ðæt] Take that! Take that book!THOSE [ðouz] Take those! Take those books!

REMEMBER ! The Demonstrative Adjectives, like all the others adjectives in English, always precede the noun.

THERE IS, THERE ARE CONSTRUCTIONS

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE( NEGATIVE)

There is/ There’s There is not/ There isn’t Is there (not)? / Isn’t there?There are/There’re There are not /There aren’t Are there (not)?/ Aren’t there?

When a noun representing an indefinite person or thing is the subject of the verb be (meaning exist/happen/take place) we normally use a there + be + noun construction.

There is no longer an adverb when it is followed by the forms of the verb to be.The Romanian equivalents of these constructions are: se află, este, sunt, se găseşte, se

găsesc.There is a teacher in the classroom. There are students, too.

There is not a bookcase in the classroom. There are not dictionaries on the desks. Is there a fountain in the centre of the town? No, there isn’t. Are there any theatres in your town? Yes, there are.The there construction can be used with other auxiliaries + be or seem + be, or other verbs

such as: to live, to come, to appear, to occur.There must be a better way. There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice.

There seems to be no good reasons for all these. Once upon a time there lived a man...There came a

day when he had to leave.


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1. Insert the definite and indefinite articles (a, an, the):

a). I and my family live in ... Canada. .... house in which we live in is old. .... students study.... students you see in ... street are going to ... university. We are at ...university. At ... university ...

students have ...big library. ... Richard! Come to ... blackboard and put down ... following examples.... doctors and ... nurses work in … hospitals. ... doctors in this ... hospital are ... best. We go to ...hospital to visit a friend.

I always wash my hands before having ... breakfast, ... lunch or ... dinner. ... breakfast wehad yesterday was too large. I’ll never forget ... dinner we had at ... restaurant on my birthday lastyear. I enjoy ... stories. ... story you are telling now is such ... funny one. This summer we are goingon ... trip to ... seaside. We like ... trips very much. ... trip we are planning to make seems exciting.Today is ... Friday ...12th of ... October. ... October is ... autumn month. What ... beautiful autumnweather!

... Sahara is a desert in ... Africa. ...Atlantic Ocean lies between ...Europe and ...America. ...Carpathians are high, beautiful ... mountains. ... Danube flows into … Black Sea. Do you knowsomething about ... “Titanic“? What newspaper do you read, ... “Morning Star“ or ... “Daily

Telegraph“? ... former is more interesting than ... latter. Is ... first lesson easier or more difficult than... last?


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3. EXPRESSING POSSESIONI HAVE GOT MY DICTIONARY. WHOSE IS THIS?

Let’s Talk!

Use of this is, that is plus possessives. Speak about the place where you are now. Name theobjects you have got on your desks.

Describing a house. Where is your house/flat situated? Describe your house referring to itsrooms and the furniture in every room using the phrases there is, there are.

Asking about school facilities. Is your university a public or a private one? Has youruniversity got a library? Has it got a phonetic lab, too? Is your university supplied with computers?

Where are they placed?

What do you understand by ’modern conveniences’? Has your house got all the modern

conveniences?

Comment on the following proverbs: A man’s house is his castle. There’s no place like

home.

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the phrases in bold and then change thefollowing indirect questions into direct ones:

- David, what have you got on your desk?-

I have got a dictionary. It‘s an English- Romanian dictionary.- Whose dictionary is it?-

It is my dictionary. It is mine. - Whose conversation guidebook is this? Is it your conversation guidebook? Is it yours?-

Yes, it is mine, too. It is my conversation guidebook .- My daughter has got a computer at home. She has not got a typewriter. It is her computer.

It is hers. What has she got?- Your daughter has got a computer.

-

What has your boy friend, Maria?- He has a car. He has got a car. It is his car. It is his. His car is new.-

Whose car is that? Is that car yours? Is it yours? Is that car yours?-

No, it isn’t mine. It is his car. It is his.-

We have got a laboratory at the University. This is our laboratory. What have we got?-

We have got a lab. It is a phonetic lab. We listen to English tapes here. This is our phoneticlab. This lab is ours. Our University has also got a library with lots of books in it. We borrow

books and dictionaries from our University’s library, in order to study them. The librarian lends us books and takes care that we return them in due time.

-

My neighbours have a new house. Their house is cosy and beautiful.-

Whose house is that?-

That is their house. It is theirs. Listen to its description:

-

We live in a new house and I want to tell you about this. Let me show you around our house!-

Our house is on a quiet street in a district on the outskirts of the town. As a matter of fact,all kinds of modern houses have been recently built in this district. Some of them are many-storied

but most of them have only one storey. Ours has two storeys – the ground floor and the first floor.-

On the ground floor we have the dining-room, the living- room or sitting-room, as theAmericans say, the kitchen, the larder, the hall and a lavatory.

- On the first floor there are the three bedrooms, for the children and for the parents, and the bathrooms.

- We have new, modern furniture in every room: new armchairs, a sofa, a chest of drawers,bookcases and a TV- set on a TV stand in the living-room, new kitchen cabinets, a table, stools


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and chairs in the kitchen, a dumb waiter, a sideboard and a big dining table with six chairs in thedining – room, new wardrobes, beds and night tables in the bedrooms, beautiful Persian carpets on the floor and curtains at the windows, lamps and sconces on the ceiling and walls. Oldpaintings hang on the walls. In the hall there is a stand, for hats and umbrellas, and a mirror.

- We also have all the modern conveniences in our house: electricity, gas, running water,central heating and a telephone. Its roof is made of tile.

- The house has a garden in front of it and a small orchard at the back of it, where we plant

flowers and fruit – trees.- Has your house a garage?-

Of course it has, at one side of it.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE PRESENT INDICATIVE OF TO HAVE

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE

(NEGATIVE)I have/ I’ve I have not / haven’t Have I (not)?/ Haven’t I?You have/ you’ve You have not /

haven’t Have you (not)?/ Haven’t you?

He has/ he’s He has not / hasn’t Has he (not)?/ Hasn’t he?She has/ she’s She has not / hasn’t Has she (not)?/ Hasn’t she?It has/ it’s It has not / hasn’t Has it (not)?/ Hasn’t it?We have/ we’ve We have not / haven’t Have we (not)?/ Haven’t we?You have/ you’ve You have not /

haven’t Have you (not)?/ Haven’t you?

They have/they’ve

They have not /

haven’t Have they (not)?/ Haven’ t they?

The verb to have, meaning possess, has also the form have got very commonly used in spokenEnglish.

I have got a new car . What has he got ? What have you got there?To have got, however, is not used in short answers and question tags:

Have you got a dictionary? Yes, I have. She’s got talent, hasn’t she?

To have can also mean: to take (a meal/food or drink, a bath, lessons), to give (a party), toencounter (difficulties), to suffer (pain, illness), to experience, to enjoy. When used with thesemeanings, to have is not followed by got , it can be used in the continuous tenses, and its negativeand interrogative forms are made with the auxiliary do.

They have lunch in town every Saturday. We are having a party this week-end. Did youhave trouble with the translation? I’m having a headache. I’m sure we’ll have a good holiday aswe are visiting Germany.

REMEMBER! The negative and interrogative forms are formed in two ways:- with the auxiliary do for habitual actions:

Do you often have dinner so late? No, I don’t.-

simply, by adding not after the verb and by inversion, when there is not the idea of habit.This is more common in England, while in other English-speaking countries the do forms are

preferred here, too.To have can also express the idea of necessity, being an alternative of the modal must .


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The child has to drink milk . We have to be there in time.

T o have in phrases:to have a fancy for, to have a good/great mind to do something, to have a good /thin time, to

have a bash doing something, to have bats in the belfry, to have butterflies in one’s belly, not to

have a bean, to have a bee in one’s bonnet, to have a heart of gold, to have a heart of stone.

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS

The possessive pronouns have the same form as the possessive adjectives to which the ending-s is added, except for the first person singular. REMEMBER! The possessive pronoun its is not written with apostrophe; it’s is the short for ofit is.

PERSON SINGULAL PLURALI Mine OursII Yours Yours

III

His

HersIts

Theirs

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES: WHO? WHAT? WHICH?

CASE

N.WHO?Who comes? (pron.)

G.WHOSE?Whose is that ruler? (pron) Whose ruler is that? (adj.)

D.(TO) WHOM?To whom are you giving the ruler? (pron.) orWhom are you giving the ruler to? (pron.)

Ac.WHOM?/WHO?Whom do you know? (pron.)

WHAT?What is your friend? (pron.) What food do you like? (adj.)WHICH? (implies selection)Which of these persons do you know? (pron.) Which person isthe manager? (adj.)

REMEMBER!

When the interrogative pronoun or the noun preceded by an interrogative adjective is the subjectof the sentence, the predicate in the interrogative sentence is in the affirmative:

Who comes? What touches her most? Whose book fell down?If who and what fulfil other functions (direct objects) the interrogative is made with the

auxiliary do:Whom do you see? What do they say?

This rule applies with how much, how many: How many students study English?


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UNIT 24. DESCRIBING THINGS AND PEOPLE

WHAT ARE THINGS MADE OF? WHAT ARE PEOPLE LIKE?


- Brush up on your knowledge about (1) how to describe things and people; say what thingsmay be made of; (2) relatives and family members; (3) daily activities;

- Practise grammar issues: the plural of nouns II; adjectives; the genitive case; the simple present tense of verbs; reflexive and emphasising pronouns.

Let’s Talk!

We all come in different SHAPES and SIZES. We all have STRENGTHS and

WEAKNESSES. Comment on these.

Describing what someone is like. Describe yourself from the point of view of yourcharacter and appearance. Who do you take after, your mother or your father? What are your

family members like? What qualities do you appreciate in people? Do you consider that appearance

counts more than moral traits? Do you judge people by their look? Did it happen to you to

misjudge people? How did you feel about this?

Describing buildings. Describe your town? How would you describe skyscrapers in NewYork?

Comment on the proverb: Like father, like son.

READING Read the text and then change the following indirect questions into direct ones:

When we speak about things or persons we refer to their shape, size, colour or materials they are made of.

The buildings of a town are high or low, big or small, new or old, modern or oldfashioned, ugly or beautiful. The height of some buildings may be really astonishing or

breathtaking. So are the skyscrapers in New- York.The rooms of a building are large or small, dark or bright, square or rectangular. The

doors and windows of a room are wide or narrow, open or shut.Furniture is made of wood, metal or straw.Some figures are round, or oval, or rectangular or square, or triangular.Lines are straight or curved, long or short, thick or thin.A triangle has three angles and its angles are sharp, or right or obtuse.Exercises are easy or difficult but an attaché-case is heavy if it is full and light if it is

empty.Colours are light or dark , pale or loud. The sky is light- blue at noon, on a summer day,

and dark- blue at night. Grass and leaves are green but flowers are white, blue, yellow, red, pink orviolet. Oranges are orange, but blackboards are black or grey. The Romanian flag is blue, yellowand red. The English one is blue and white and red.

People can be young, old, tall or short, fat (plump, stout) or thin (lean, skinny, bony),strong or weak, ugly or beautiful or handsome. Men are usually strong and women and childrenare almost always weak . I know a lot of people and they are very different from one another. Some


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of the people I know are happy, some are unhappy, some are merry and some are sad, some aregood, some are bad, some are brave, some are coward, some are calm, and some are impatient,some are interesting and some are awfully boring, some are bold and some are shy (coy, timid),some are quiet others are noisy or talkative, honest or dishonest, clumsy or skilful, tidy oruntidy, careful or careless, stupid or clever (smart, intelligent), lazy or hardworking (diligentor industrious).

Children may take after their parents, and may be like their father and mother. Sometimes

grandchildren look like their grandparents. If children are twins they are as like as two peas.Things are made of different materials. My watch is made of gold. It isn’t made of silver,iron or steel, or plastic. It is waterproof or shockproof .

My shoes and handbags are made of leather or patent leather but hoses, or the soles of thefootwear and tires are made of rubber. Some shoes are handmade.

Clothes may be made of cotton, silk , wool, plastic materials. Gloves may be made ofleather, lace, silk or wool. Mirrors and windowpanes are made of glass. Books, notebooks,newspapers are made of paper.

Buildings are made of brick , stone, wood, concrete, glass, prefabricated panels.Cutlery may be made of silver, stainless steel or plastic; plates and cups are made of china

or porcelain.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE PLURAL OF NOUNS IISome nouns in English have different forms for plural:

SINGULAR PLURALman men

woman women

child children

foot feet

tooth teeth

goose geese

mouse mice

louse lice

die dice

ox oxen

Twelve nouns that end in - f or - fe in the singular, form their plural by changing these endings in - ves.

SINGULAR PLURALcalf calves

elf elves

half halves

knife knives

leaf leaves

life lives


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loaf loaves

sheaf sheaves

shelf shelves

thief thieves

wife wives

wolf wolves

The other words that end in -f, -fe form their plural by adding s to the singular: beliefs,

chiefs, cliffs, safes, handkerchiefs, roofs, proofs, gulfs etc.

Some words ending in - f, - fe take either s or es in the plural:

SINGULAR PLURALscarf scarfs, scarves

hoof hoofs, hooves

wharf wharfs, wharves

REMEMBER!• Certain nouns are always plural in form:

fireworks , stairs , wages , thanks, news , works , outskirts , damages, goods, wares,

greens, premises, quarters, savings, valuables, mathematics, acoustics, economics, physics;garments, tools and instruments consisting of two identical parts: trousers, pyjamas , scissors,

binoculars, tongs, spectacles, glasses, pliers, shears;games: cards, billiards, darts, draughts, dominoes;diseases: mumps, shingles, rickets.

• Used in the plural, fish and fruit indicate several kinds:Oranges and apples are fruits.What fishes do you like?

• Sheep and deer have the same form for both the singular and the plural. All the sheep are white only one sheep is black.

It is forbidden to hunt deer .• The noun game (animal/animals hunted) is always in the singular and takes a singular verb.

1. Write the words in brackets in the plural:

1.

Take care! Those (knife) and (penknife) are sharp.2.

What drawer are the (scarf) and the (handkerchief) in?3.

I’ll tell the (child) a fairy tale with (elf) and (dwarf).4.

Did the police catch the (thief)?5.

Let’s buy some (potato) and (tomato)! We haven’t any left.

6.

(Louse) and (flea) are insects; (mouse) and (rats) are animals.7.

We had a party and we enjoyed (ourself).8.

(Hundred) and (hundred) of (man) and (woman) are gathered in the square.9.

It’s a beautiful autumn. The (leaf) turned yellow and now they are falling down.10.

The (dictionary) are on those (shelf) over there.11.

Two (wolf) attacked the (calf) on the farm.12.

Who said ’The (die) are cast’?13.

(housewife) have to do all the housework.14.

I buy two (brush) – one for my hair and one for my (tooth).15.

How many (t) are there in “butter“?


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2. Make the following sentences plural. Make changes where necessary:1. The car factory is near the town. 2. That car is of the latest design. 3. A big city is crowded andnoisy. 4. My child and the other boy, who is with him, are crossing the street carefully. 5. This childis his family’s first born. 6. The bench near the pillar-box is less comfortable. 7. This man is ourregular customer for many years. 8. That woman runs an enterprise quite successfully. 9. A mouseis a harmful rodent small animal that can cause much trouble. 10. A louse is a parasite.

3. Fill in the definite or indefinite articles where necessary:

1. This student’s paper is best.2.

There’s new match between former and latter team on May 26th.3.

How many bridges are there across Thames in London?4.

oak tree is a tall tree.5.

Can you drive lorry?6.

Can she ride bike?7.

Mont Blank is highest mountain in Alps.8.

Mount Everest is highest one in Himalayas.9.

I do not know about Rockies and I am not very sure about Andes.

10.

My father-in-law travelled from Germany to Romania during Second WorldWar.


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5. RELATIVES. ALL ABOUT MY FAMILY

Let’s Talk!

About family members: Speak about your family. Say if you have siblings, where they live,how old your siblings are, what they do and what they are like, what their likes and dislikes are.

Say if they are your seniors or juniors. Speak about your wife/husband, about your children and in-laws if you are a married person. Who is the person in your family you feel attached to?

What do you call, in English, the person whose first name you bear? If the person whose

name you bear is your godfather/godmother what is the word that defines you in relation to them?

READING. Read the text to remember the words that describe family relationship andcomment on the sayings: A good friend is my nearest relation. A good friend is another self.

Let me introduce you to my family today!This is my family: my wife, my daughter , my son and I. I am Mr. Black. My wife is Mrs.

Black. I am Mrs. Black’s husband . We have two children: a boy and a girl. The boy’s name isRobert and the girl’s name is Mary Ann. My son is seventeen years old and my daughter is ten.They are both pupils, go to school and learn very well. Robert is Mary Ann’s brother and MaryAnn is Robert’s sister . Robert is Mary Ann’s senior by seven years and Mary Ann is his junior byseven years. Our son is a handsome teenager and our daughter is a very pretty girl. I am Robert andMary Ann’s father and my wife is their mother . We are their parents.

We have a very big house and we live with my wife’s parents. They are my parents-in-law.My father -in-law and my mother -in-law, who are old people, are retired on pension. They are verygentle persons and they are very fond of our children, who are their grandchildren. We respect theirold age and seniority. My son is their grandson and my daughter is their grand daughter .

Children love their grandmother and grandfather very much. My parents- in- law have two

children: a daughter – my wife, and a son – my brother -in-law, whose name is John. I am their son-in-law, and their son’s wife is their daughter -in-law.My brother-in-law is our children’s uncle and godfather at the same time and his wife is

their aunt and godmother , too. They haven’t got children, so Mary Ann is their favourite niece and goddaughter , and Robert is their beloved nephew and godson.

On Sundays we, the men of the family, watch a football match on TV or go fishing and thewomen do the housework and then chat over a cup of coffee or tea.

We are a happy family. Our daughter is a little sad because she has no cousins to play with. Nevertheless, she has a very good friend, the same age, our neighbours’ daughter, Carla. Carla is asold as our daughter and they are not only good friends but also schoolmates. They both attend thesame secondary school.

Since last week my daughter has been in the raptures. She has got two pets – a parrot and a

kitten. The white furred kitten is like a snowball. It plays all day long and at night it sleeps and purrs, curled up in a basket. The beautifully coloured parrot stays in its cage and, when Mary Annfeeds it, it pecks grains from her palm.


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GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE PLACE OF QUALIFYING ADJECTIVE

English adjectives have the following characteristics:

• are always placed before the nouns it denotes;

• are always invariable irrespective of the gender and number of the noun they determine:

a handsome teenager, a pretty little girl, the right answer, round figures, old people.

EXCEPTION: the demonstrative adjectives which have different forms for plural.There are instances when the adjective follows the noun:

• in phrases:Court martial, first/second/third person singular, Asia Minor, A major (in music), ’Paradise Lost’ ;

• when the adjective follows after one of the verbs: to be, to become, to seem, to feel, to get/grow (= to become), to make, to look (to appear), to turn:

This man is bad. The manager became rich in a few years’ time. Your friend seems sad.

I feel cold . She made her parents happy. The woman looks bored. The clerk got/grewimpatient. The girl turned pale.

•

in titles or ranks: Attorney General, Lieutenant General;

• when the adjective itself has a complement:a glass full of wine, a man worthy of respect, the person responsible for the damage;

• when the adjective replaces a possible relative clause:They bought the best materials available. The system adopted has a lot of advantagesover the system preferred by our rivals.

NOTE: Both present participles (ing ) and past participles (ed ) can be used as adjectives. Present participle adjectives - amazing, encouraging, fascinating - are active and mean having this effect, past participle adjectives - amazed, encouraged, fascinated -are passive and mean affected in this

way.• when the adjective expresses dimension or age:

He’s twenty years old tomorrow. Their new car is fifteen feet long .

NOTE: Certain adjectives - alive, asleep, awake, aware, unaware, ashamed, alone - are neverfound in front of a noun, being often introduced by to be or perhaps some other verb.

THE GENITIVE CASE

There are two ways to express the Genitive Case in English:1. The Analytical Genitive or the OF Genitive mainly used with:

• nouns denoting objects or small animals:

the colour of the flower, the title of the book, the cover of the textbook, the tail of themouse;

• geographical names followed by a proper name:the City of London, the Tower of London, the Gulf of Mexico;

• nouns denoting person names preceded by indefinite or demonstrative articles I am a great fan of this actor.

2. The Synthetical Genitive or the ’s Genitive, rendered by ’s (apostrophe and s) or just ’(apostrophe) is used with singular and plural nouns not ending in s that denote:

• proper and common nouns defining human beings:


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Tom’s brother, Mary’s friend, schoolgirl’s name, teacher’s book, a man’s job, children’s

room;

• nouns defining countries or continents; Romania’s population, England’s inhabitants, Europe’s countries;

• initials: MP’s secretary, VIP’s escort;

• nouns defining distances:

a five miles’ distance, at a stone’s throw; • time expressions, expressions of money + worth and other phrases:

today’s newspaper, a five days’ trip, in two years’ time, a twenty minutes’ delay,

yesterday’s meeting, tomorrow’s departure, a ten minutes’ break, a pound’s worth of

sugar , to be on a razor’s edge, to my heart’s content, a bird’s eye view, out of harm’sway;

• nouns defining large animals: lion’s mane, elephant’s ears ;

• phrases with for + noun+ sake: for goodness’ sake, for pity’s sake, for form’s sake;

• the noun ship:the ship’s crew.

In case two nouns are the possessors of the same object, ’s is placed after the latter noun: Mary and Dan’s parents.

If the second noun (the possessed object) is one of the words shop, house, museum, store itis, as a rule, omitted:

at the baker’s (at the baker’s shop), at the butcher’s, at the grocer’s, at the chemist’s, at

Bill’s (= at Bill’s house), at Madam Tussaud’s ( at Madam Tussaud’s Wax Figures Museum. In compounds nouns, or nouns consisting of several words ’s is added after the lastcomponent element: my sister-in-law’s pearls, my dear Aunt Mathilda’s new dress, the sergeant- major’s

uniform, Henry the Eighth’s wives.

Nouns ending in s take only (‘):

the students’ hostel, the Smiths’ car, Dickens’ works, Pythagoras’ Theorem, Archimedes’ Law.

There is a form called Double Genitive used when the speaker wants to insist on the personwho possesses rather than the thing possessed:

a friend of Paul’s, a habit of my doctor’s, a colleague of her fiancé’s.

This Double Genitive is quite often preceded by a demonstrative pronoun too, especiallywhen the speaker has a rather negative attitude towards the thing he is speaking about:

I don’t really like those new friends of Mary’s.

Those new shoes of Valerie’s are really hideous.

sight, with curly hair, with quick wit, with hasty temper, with hot temper, with pointed chin, with pale face, with broad chest, with white feathers, with soft voice, with hoarse voice, with feeble

voice, with broad forehead, with high forehead, with low forehead, with straight eyebrows, with bushy eyebrows, skinny face, with lean face, with round face, with long face, with wrinkled face,with bony cheeks, with hollow cheeks, with delicate features, with coarse hands, with thick lips,with tiny teeth.


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6. DAILY ACTIVITIES. WHAT I USUALLY DO EVERY DAY

Let’s Talk!

About daily activities. Speak about your daily program, your job and responsibilities. Arethe other members of your family busier than you are? What do you prefer: chatting with friends,

walking, reading or watching TV? How do you usually spend your weekends?

Do you treasure time? Are there any rules, related to time, you learned as a child. Speak

about something you did and you didn’t want to do. If you could take back something you did, whatwould it be?

Do you give a helping hand with the housework? When? What exactly do you do?

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the phrases in bold and then change thefollowing indirect questions into direct ones:

Ask your desk mate what the weather is like today.Ask someone what his girl friend is like. Ask someone what his children / parents are like.Ask your desk mate what his/her house/car is like. Ask someone what his footwear is made of .Ask what the Romanian flag is like.

Every weekday, from Monday through Friday, we are very busy and we work from morningtill night.

My husband is a businessman and he runs a factory. He has great responsibilities towardshis employees and their families. He’s fortunate his best friend assists him with his work, and hisassistance is very helpful to my husband. The period to come is going to be hard for them, as their

factory is about to merge with a smaller one.As for me, I am a journalist and I work for a local newspaper. A journalist’s work is veryexciting as I consider a journalist is like an explorer. He always has to find out new exciting factsor data; he has to sort the false ones from the true ones. The following qualities are considered to beessential for a journalist: he has to be prompt in finding out the news and transmitting them, he has

to be self-confident, reliable, impartial, vigilant, alert, open- minded, accurate.As a matter of fact the press in general should be impartial, objective and prompt. Moreover,

when a journalist’s words or statements annoy somebody he has to be able to prove their rightnessand justify them. Once the newspaper printed, nothing can be deleted, cut out or replaced. A

journalist’s style ought to be concise, attractive and direct. It mustn’t be floppy. My fellow workersand I always correct the articles we write.

As we have to be at our offices at eight o’clock, we always wake up at a quarter to seven

when we hear the clock strike, we get out of bed. My husband does his morning exercises and thechildren go to the bathroom, wash themselves and brush their teeth, while I put on my dressinggown and slippers open the windows to air the bedrooms, make the beds, go to the bathroom and

put on my clothes. I cook breakfast while my husband takes a shower or a bath, shaves himself,combs his hair and dresses himself. It takes us about forty – five minutes to wake up and getready.

We generally eat bread and butter, ham, cheese or marmalade, or bacon and eggs, anddrink coffee for breakfast but our children drink milk, tea or orange juice.

We leave home at a quarter to eight and go to work by car or by tram. We can’t walk towork, as there’s a long distance to our places of work and offices. Children come home at noon,


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have lunch and, after a short rest, do their homework. After that, they ride their bikes, play tennis or games or go for a walk with their friends. My husband and I have lunch in town. Lunch is a

proper time to discuss business so my husband often has to meet some client and have lunch withhim or her in town. If the day is busy our lunch means just a sandwich. We come back from work atabout five in the afternoon and all the family has dinner in the evening. After dinner we spend theevening talking with our children, watching TV, or reading something. At about ten o’clock we aredead tired and sleepy so we take off our clothes, put on our pyjamas, set the alarm clock to ring and

go to sleep.We all keep early hours during the week but sometimes, on weekends, we meet some

friends, go to a restaurant or to the theatre.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE SIMPLE PRESENT

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE (NEGATIVE)I write I do not /don’t write Do I (not) write?/ Don’t I write? You write You do not / don’t write Do you (not) write?/ Don’t you write?He writes He does not / doesn’t write Does he (not) write?/ Doesn’t he write?She writes She does not / doesn’t write Does she (not) write?/ Doesn’t she write? It writes It does not / doesn’t write Does it (not) write// Doesn’t it writeWe write We do not / don’t write Do we (not) write?/ Don’t we write?You write You do not / don’t write Do you (not) write?/ Don’t you write? They write They do not /don’t write Do they (not) write?/ Don’t they write?

The Simple Present Tense follows the patterns:Affirmative: subject + bare infinitive

Negative: subject + do/ does + not + bare infinitiveInterrogative: do/ does + subject + bare infinitive

The verb takes the -s ending in the IIIrd person, singular, affirmative.Verbs ending in ch, sh, ss, x, o add an -es: he watches, he washes, he kisses, he boxes, he goes;When verbs end in y that follows a consonant, y changes into i and -es is added: he carries.The simple present is used to express:

• habitual actions with adverbs or adverb phrases such as: usually, generally, often, always,ever, never, every day/ week/ month/ year/, as a rule, on Sundays, etc., or time clauses expressingroutine or habitual actions.

People go to church on Sundays.

Whenever it rains I stay in the house.

•

general truths: The Moon moves round the Earth. Dogs bark . • future planned actions:

The tourists visit Bucharest tomorrow.

• train, planes schedules, shops timetables;

• date: Tomorrow is the 26 th of May.

• future in conditional sentences type 1 and time sentences: The manager will be mad if we are late. We shall call you when / as soon as he arrives.

The Simple Present Tense can also be used:

• in newspaper headlines:


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MURDERER ESCAPES

• with the verb say, when we are asking about or quoting from books, notices or very recentlyreceived letters:

What does that notice say? - It says, Keep off the grass.

• it must be used instead of the present continuous with verbs that cannot be used in thecontinuous forms.

REMEMBER! The affirmative form of the verb is compulsory if there is an adverb of negationin the sentence. We never go to University in weekends.

REFLEXIVE AND EMPHASISING PRONOUNS

PERSON SINGULAR PLURALI MYSELF OURSELVESII YOURSELF YOUSELVES

HIMSELFHERSELF IIIITSELF

THEMSELVES

•

These pronouns are used as objects of a verb when the action of the verb returns to the does,in other words when subject and object are the same person:

He shaves himself . They blame themselves for what happened . We enjoy ourselves at herbirthday party.

• The emphasizing pronouns are identical in form with the reflexive pronouns. Theyemphasize the subject of the sentence and are placed after the subject.

He himself did this. Alternatively the emphasizing pronouns can be placed after the object, if there is one:

I baked the cake myself.

When it emphasises another noun it is placed immediately after it:

We spoke to the Mayor himself.

NOTE! When preceded by the prepositionby

they mean:singur, singură, singuri, singure.

I do the homework by myself . The children don’t wake up by themselves unless the alarm

clock rings. Mother lives by herself .

1. Change the verbs in the following text into the third person singular of the Present TenseSimple. Make the necessary changes:

On weekdays I wake up at seven o’clock in the morning. I wash and shave myself

carefully. I brush my teeth, comb my hair and then I get dressed. I have breakfast or just drink acup of coffee while I read the morning newspapers and afterwards I leave my house to get to myoffice. I walk to my office, as I love walking.

On my way to work I often meet a friend and we chat about all kinds of things. I reach myoffice at ten minutes to nine and I get ready to start work. I work about eight hours a day butsometimes I have to work more. I work more when I have to check the sales figures or when Idiscuss with different suppliers. In the afternoon I take a bus back home, as I am a bit tired. I have my meal and I take a nap. In the evening I watch TV, listen to the wireless or read a book.

2. Change the following sentences to the negative:


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Model: If we hurry, we shall be in time.

If we don’t hurry, we shall not be in time.1.

If she goes to the theatre, she will have a good time.2. If we leave the house at 6 o’ clock, we shall get there in time.3.

If you open the window, it will be too cold.4. If you listen to the teacher, you will understand the lesson.

5.

If he arrives early, we shall see him.6. If you work hard, you will finish before 10 o’ clock.7.

If he invites us, we shall go.8. If she studies hard, she will get good marks.9.

If it rains, we shall go by bus.10.

If it snows for two or three days, there will be enough snow for skiing.


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UNIT 37. WORK, PROFESSIONS, OCCUPATIONS, TRADES


- Brush up on your knowledge about (1) work, professions, occupations, trades; (2)expressing time and date;

- Practise grammar issues: compounds of some, any, no; the cardinal numeral; the ordinalnumeral.

Let’s Talk!

About career fulfilment. Why is it important to find out everything you can about your future career or the job you want to obtain? What do you know about your future job? Explain what

you imagine economists or accountants do. Do you consider this profession will give you

satisfaction and you will be truly successful in performing it? To what extent do you consider that

the working environment is important and getting stuck in a routine is dangerous?

About job security. Enlarge upon the advantages of working for an establishedorganization, upon the promotion opportunities a position must grant. Why is it important to find

out everything about the company that employs you?

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the words bold and then say:

Where you would like to work after graduation?

Which is, according to your opinion, the most interesting job?What else would you like to be if you hadn’t chosen to be an economist?

Name as many traders as you know and the services they offer their clients or customers.

- What is your profession? What kind of work do you do?-

I am a teacher. I teach foreign languages in a language school. The teaching profession alsoincludes schoolmasters, lecturers, professors. Teaching is a beautiful profession that brings a lotof satisfaction.

- I am a chief accountant. I keep the books for a big company. Economists are specialists ineconomic problems. My husband is an electro- technical engineer. He works in a factory. Othersare civil, mechanical or electrical engineers.

-

I, on the other hand, am a doctor, a physician, and my wife is a medical nurse but the medical profession includes surgeons, dentists, radiologists, biologists, family doctor, generalpractitioner, eye and throat specialists, cardiologists, paediatrician, psychiatrist, pharmacists,veterinarians and so on. They all take care of sick people and help them to be healthy again or get

well soon. Doctors help people by operating on them, making tests, or by prescribing them pills.We must not forget to mention the work of our colleagues the vets, who take care of animals or

people’s pets.-

I am a shorthand typist and I work as a secretary in an office. I can type, shorthand, work oncomputer and I speak French, English and a little German. All this knowledge is important to find a

proper job. My office hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. but whenever it is the case I work more thanthat. I have got a full time job but other clerks have part time jobs. My boss is an engineer and amanager, too. He runs a profitable business in the food industry and he does a lot of fieldwork.

-

I am a lawyer and I defend my clients but the profession of law includes solicitors, barristers, assessors and judges.


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- I am a carpenter. I build houses and make furniture, but a building – site also employsbricklayers (or masons), plumbers, painters, glaziers and locksmiths. All these are calledskilled workers and I think these jobs are very important, too. Can you imagine life without theseartisans’ work? I consider it unimaginable.

- I am a journalist and a writer, too. I write articles for a daily newspaper. As to the books Iwrite, I give them to a publisher after I correct them. The publisher has a publishing house whereprinters print the text books, the grammar books, the guide books, the poetry books, the essay

collections, the novels, the albums and so on and the bookbinders bind the books in covers. Then,the booksellers sell my books in bookshops and the librarians, who buy them for the publiclibraries, lend them to the readers.

- Some traders offer their services to their clients and customers: these are tailors,dressmakers, furriers, shoemakers, cobblers, barbers, hairdressers, watchmakers,photographers, dyers, dry cleaners, waiters, cooks, shop assistants, merchants, bakers, butchers, grocers, greengrocers, florists.

-

Actors, actresses, musicians, conductors, players, singers, conjurers, tamers, clowns, rope – walkers they all entertain people when they go to the theatre, cinema, opera or circus.

-

Anyone who drives a car, a bus, a taxi is a driver, but a train has an engine driver.-

The profession of arms, also very important because the army provides security for our nativeland ever since the world began, includes officers in the Navy, the Army, the Air Forces and the

Police Force. Someone who serves in these institutions is called a sailor, a soldier, a fireman, anairman, a policeman or a customs officer.

-

I think no one has a profession as beautiful as mine. I am a farmer and I have my own farm.The farm I owe is in a plain region and it is very large. I tend and harvest the crops of wheat andmaize, I grow pigs, cows, sheep that give meat, milk and wool and I plant fruit – trees.

- I am a stockbroker. I am a car dealer. I am a freelance writer. I am a sales representative. Ihave a small business of my own.

- I am unemployed at the moment. I’m looking for a job right now.

GRAMMAR FOCUS

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS AND ADJECTIVES

AFFIRMATIVESENTENCE

INTERROGATIVESENTENCE

NEGATIVESENTENCE

SOME ANY NO ANY SOME ANY

COMPOUNDS OF SOME, ANY, NO

BODY ONE THING WHERESOME Somebody

cineva (af., neg.)Someonecineva (af., neg.)

Somethingceva (af., neg.)

Somewhereundeva (af., neg.)

ANY Anybodycineva (int.)nimeni (neg.)oricine (af.)

Anyonecineva (int.)nimeni (neg)oricine (af.)

Anythingceva (int.)nimic (neg)oricine (af.)

Anywhereundeva (int.)nicăieri (neg.)oriunde (af.)

NO Nobody No one Nothing Nowhere

Some and its compound forms are used:

• in affirmative sentences:


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We bought some groceries in the supermarket. He had something to tell me.

• in interrogative sentences where a positive answer is expected or where there is a doubt: Did mother tell you something about our conversation?

• when stress falls on some of the object mentioned: Did you do some of the exercises the teacher asked us to do?

• in offers and requests:Would you like something to drink?

Any and its compound forms are used:• in interrogative sentences as equivalents of some and its compounds:

Was there anybody there? Have you anything to declare?

• in affirmative sentences meaning: oricare, orice, oricine;

• with verbs in the negative: I was not able to hear anything .

• with hardly, barely, scarcely:We’ve hardly seen or heard of our new neighbour, lately.

• with without when without any means with no:The newly appointed manager settled the situation without any difficulty.

No and its compound forms are used:

•

in negative sentences with the verb in the affirmative: He knows nothing . We go nowhere. I hear nobody. I have nothing else to declare.


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8. EXPRESSING TIME.WHAT TIME IS IT? WHAT’S THE TIME

Let’s Talk!

About how to tell the time in English. How can people know the time of the day? How canthey tell the right time? How did people use to measure time in ancient times? Do you wear awatch? Where do you wear it? Can you tell the time in English? What is the most particular rule

about telling the time in English? What is the time by your watch now? What happens when your

watch is slow or fast?

Do you know what GMT stands for? If you don’t, how would you ask about this in English?

READING. Read and pay attention to the use of the phrases in bold and then:

Go round the clock and give all the five minutes from three o’clock to four o’clock.Match each definition with a word: a.m., day, digital, half-hour, hour, midday, minute,

minute hand, morning, night, noon, o'clock, p.m., quarter-hour, second, sunset, today, tomorrow, yesterday: 1.

The time elapsed between sunset and dawn.2. The sixtieth part of a minute.3.

Midday.4. The Latin phrase post meridiem.5.

The part of a watch or clock that measures the minutes.6. A type of watch or clock which uses numerals to tell the time.7.

The day before today.8. The sixty seconds.9.

The period between sunrise and sunset.10. Thirty minutes.

11.

Sixty minutes.12. A word placed at the end of the phrase giving the time.13.

The earliest part of a day.14. A clock or watch with hands for seconds, minutes, hours.15.

The moment the sun disappears from the sky.16. Fifteen minutes.17.

The middle part of the day.18.

The latin phrase ante meridiem.19.

The day after today.20.

The present day.21.

The time between noon and evening

People can tell the time by a clock or a watch. A clock is big and it usually hangs on the wallor stands on the mantelpiece above the fireplace. Some clocks are very big, for example Big Ben,the clock on the House of Parliament in London.

The minute hand of Big Ben is fourteen feet long, and the hour hand is nine feet long. Wecan hear Big Ben every night on the wireless at nine o’clock when it strikes and its sound goes allover the world.

A watch is small; we can put one in our pocket or we wear it on the wrist as it has a strap.On the dial, under the glass we see twelve Roman or Arabic figures. The figures round the dialmark the hours and minutes. Each hour may be divided into two halves and four quarters. A quarter


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of an hour has fifteen minutes and half an hour has thirty minutes. A full hour has sixty minutes.Each minute has sixty seconds. There are three hands on the dial: a short hand for the hours, a long

hand for the minutes and a very long one for the seconds. The wheels and spring, which are insertedinside the case, move the hands.

My watch keeps good time and only stops when I don’t wind it up and then I set it right bythe radio signal. When my watch is out of order I take it to the watchmaker, who repairs it.Otherwise, my watch is neither fast, nor slow.

I don’t consider it is difficult to tell the time in English. First of all, let’s deal with the hours:we say it’s one o’clock sharp, two o’clock sharp, three o’clock and so on. We use the letters a.m. (ashort form of the Latin words ante meridiem meaning before noon) and p.m. (a short form of theLatin words post meridiem meaning after noon). Twelve o’clock may refer to midnight or tomidday.

For the quarters we say: it’s a quarter past five, half past five, and a quarter to six . We canalso say five fifteen, five thirty and five forty- five when we refer to the times of trains or aeroplanes,shops etc.

Going round the clock and giving all the five minutes from twelve o’clock to one o’clock wesay: five past twelve, ten past twelve, a quarter past twelve, twenty past twelve, twenty- five past

twelve, thirty past twelve, twenty- five to one, twenty to one, a quarter to one, ten to one, five toone.

Thus we use the preposition past for the former half hour and the preposition to for thelatter half hour.

- What time is it by your watch? What’s the time by your watch?-

By my watch it is two to two, but my watch is wrong.- Is your watch fast or slow?-

Sometimes it is a few minutes fast and sometimes it is a few minutes slow. It does not keepgood time. Sometimes it loses, sometimes it gains. I must take it to the watchmaker to have itmended.

-

Listen! The clock in the tower is just striking four o’clock and now I can set my watch correctly.

-

Is it four already? Is it that late? Is it as late as that? We have no much time left to go to thelibrary before the math class so, let’s go at once.

-

You are right. Let’s.


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GRAMMAR FOCUS

THE CARDINAL NUMERALCardinal numerals from 13 to 19 are formed with the suffix – teen added to the numerals from 3 to9:

13 THIR TEEN

14 FOUR TEEN 15 FIFTEEN 16 SIXTEEN 18 EIGHTEEN 19 NINETEEN

Mind the spelling of 13 - thirteen and 15 - fifteen in comparison with that of 3 - three and 5 - five.Cardinal numerals 20, 30, 40 ... 90 are formed with the suffix – ty.

20 TWENTY 60 SIXTY 30 THIR TY 70 SEVENTY 40 FOR TY 80 EIGHTY

50 FIFTY 90 NINETY

Mind the spelling of 20 – twenty, 30 - thirty, 40 - forty, 50 - fifty.There is a hyphen between tens and units: twenty-one, thirty-four, ninety- seven.When writing în words, or reading, a number composed of three or more figures we place and

before the word denoting tens or units:two hundred and thirty; two thousand and nine; ten thousand, one hundred and two. When used as numerals, the words hundred, thousand and million are never plural:

nine hundred, two thousand, three million.

When used in the singular, the can be preceded by indefinite article or numeral one. They must be made plural:

• when used as nouns: Hundreds come to the library every day.

• when followed by preposition of : Hundreds and hundreds of people are in street. Thousands and thousands of books are

deposited in our university’s library. Millions of people live in this city.A comma is used instead of the full stop to separate figures: 2,029 (two thousand and twenty

nine). Numerals are used to express:

• years:official style: 1999 – one thousand nine hundred and ninety - nine;

spoken language: 1999 – nineteen ninety-nine (figures are read two by two). • arithmetic operations:

Two plus two is four. Four minus two is two. Two multiplied by two is four. Four dividedby two is two.

• phone numbers:My phone number is 116603 – double one six oh three.

NOTE: 0 is read [ ∂u].


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1. Read the following years:1066, 1172, 1391, 1601, 1735, 1877, 1918, 1944, 1955, 1956, 1978, 1989, 2000, 2003.

2. Translate into English:sute de studenţii, şase sute de studenţi, mii de cărţi, trei mii de cărţi, milioane de oameni, multemilioane de oameni, douăzeci de milioane de locuitori, zeci de profesori, multe zeci de profesori,miliarde şi miliarde de lei pagubă.

3. Rewrite the following sentences using infinitives: Model: I have nothing I can wear.

I have nothing to wear .1.

Have you anything you want to say?2.

The police have no evidence they can offer.

3.

The secretary has a lot of letters she must write.4.

I have a lot of work I must do.

5.

Can’t you find something better you could do?6.

She buys a hat she can wear at that party.7.

The doctor has tens of patients he must see.8.

We have a lot of friends we must visit.9.

We haven’t much money we can spend.10.

Has he anything he wants to add?


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9. EXPRESSING DATE. WHAT DATE IS IT?

Let’s Talk!

How can people keep track of days, weeks, and months? Who made our calendar? How

many years are there in a century? What century are we in? What year did our century begin in?

When does it end? What do you call the year when February has 29 days?

They say that: “This century will be religious or it won’t be at all”? Comment on this.

READING. Read the text paying attention to the use of the phrases in bold and then read thefollowing dates in English:

1 aprilie 2003, 25 august 1768, 12 ianuarie 1243, 2 iulie 1645, 3 mai 1159, 14 februarie1989, 8 martie 2000, 25 decembrie 1967, 31 decembrie 1979, 20 septembrie 1978, 9 iulie1978, 4 martie 1977, 1 octombrie 2005

As the clock is for the time, the calendar is for the date.

We measure time by seconds, minutes, hours, by days, weeks, months or years, bydecades or centuries, by millenniums.

There are twelve months in a year. Here are their names and their successive order:

January- the first, February- the second, March- the third, April- the fourth, May- the fif th,June- the sixth, July- the seventh, August- the eighth, September- the ninth, October- the tenth,November- the eleventh and December- the twelf th.

Some months have thirty days, others have thirty-one. February has only twenty- eight days, but every fourth year, in a leap year, it has twenty- nine days.

Our calendar was made by Sosigenes at the special request of Julius Caesar. The month ofJuly was named after Caesar’s name. Later Augustus named the month of August after his name

and he decided to make August as long as July. He took an extra day off February that was

shortened by one day.There are fifty- two weeks in a year, or three hundred and sixty- five or sixty- six days.Seven days, five working-days (weekdays) and two holidays form a week. Monday, Tuesday,Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday are the days of the week. Monday is thefirst day of the week and Sunday is the last. The English consider Sunday as being the first day ofthe week so when they start to enumerate the seven days they start with Sunday not with Monday.Two weeks make a fortnight.

A day has twenty- four hours. A day is the time it takes the Earth to move right round itsown axis while a year is the time it takes our planet to move round the Sun. There are two parts inone day- the day and the night. The period of twenty- four hours is divided into morning,afternoon, evening and night. A day begins in the morning and ends in the evening. In themorning the sun rises, in the evening it sets. The middle of the day is called midday while

midnight is in the middle of the night. We refer to this day as today. The day before today is calledyesterday and the day before yesterday is called the day before yesterday. We call the day aftertoday tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow the day after tomorrow. In the morning, until 12o’clock a.m., when we want to greet people whom we are not friends with, we say Good morning,in the afternoon, between 12 a.m. and 6 p.m., we say Good afternoon, in the evening, after 6 p.m.till late at night, we say Good evening. If it is night, and we leave or go to bed we have to sayGood night.

The 1st of January is the first day of the year. December 31st is the last and it is called NewYear’s Eve. One of the greatest holidays for the Christians, Christmas, is on the 25th of December(or December 25th). People celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Saviour or Redeemer.


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A year may also be divided into four seasons: spring, summer, autumn or fall as theAmericans say, and the season of snow- winter.

Ten years form a decade and one hundred years form a century. One thousand years or tencenturies form a millennium. The third millennium of mankind’s history has just begun.At present we are living in the first decade of the twenty- first century A. D. The twentieth centuryended some years ago.

HOW ARE YOU GETTING ON WITH YOUR MATH?

Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are the four mathematical operations:

How much is/are five and seven? Five and seven is/are twelve.How much is/are five plus seven? Five plus seven is/are twelveAdd five and seven. Five and seven is/are sevenHow much is/are twelve minus six or sixsubtracted from twelve?

Twelve minus six or six subtractedfrom twelve is six.

Take five from five. Five from five leaves no

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