Relative clauses

Here's a bit of grammar to help you understand the use of relative clauses. And here you will find more information about relative clauses and lots of exercises and tests for further practice. Good luck!

Made in Spain

The Passive voice is a very important issue in English language. Maybe Spanish speakers are not aware of its importance because we don't use it that much in our own language; instead we use other structures which are more appropriate or popular. When we turn to English though, we must learn to appreciate what a useful structure the passive voice is and how many things we can express with it.

Basically speaking we use the active voice when want to put the stress on the subject of a sentence -I bought a new T-shirt yesterday. And we opt for the passive when the focus is on the action itself and we don't know or don't care about who or what performed that action -My car was stolen last night.

Click here you will find some notes explaining some aspects of the use of the passive voice in English. For further practice and more exercises use this link.

She refused to tell me what Mary had told her...

Reported speech means using our own words to report what another person has told us. Reported speech is so important in English first because we use it all the time and second, because it allows us to choose the most appropriate words in order to be as faithful as possible to the original message.

You can find a few grammar tips and exercises here. For further exercises click here.

Here a couple of tutorial videos to illustrate different aspects of the use of Reported Speech. The first one is focussed on the forms, and the second one deals with the use of "say" and "tell" among other things. I think they can be quite useful.

CV and cover letter

If you are considering or planning to make an application for a job with an English speaking company you will probably need to get familiar with the terms: CV, resume, cover letter, application letter, etc. Here's a link where you can check the definitions of these terms.

Here are some more interesting hints and examples to help you write a good cover letter.

Gerund or infinitive?

To be or not to be? Or shall we better say "to be or being?" One of the most common difficulties for foreign learners of English is when to choose an infinitive or a gerund; and it is not an easy choice indeed. In these notes I have prepared for you you will find lots of information to help you make a correct choice. However the best way is to practise and listen to your inner voice advising you whether to opt for an infinitive or a gerund. If you want to practise a bit more click here.

On the Internet you can find lots of useful materials illustrating the use of gerund vs infinitive. I found this video quite useful and clear. Have a look at it.

Quantifiers

What are quantifiers?

Like articles, quantifiers are words that precede and modify nouns. They tell us how many or how much. Selecting the correct quantifier depends on the distinction between Count and Non-Count Nouns. See a representative list of quantifiers.

Click here to read a bit more about quantifiers and do some exercises.

And a quick video