GRAMMAR QUESTION Dec. 21

Correct the errors in the following sentence:

Coming down the hill, we seen the truck driving to fast and couldn't of stopped before hitting a car on the intersection: there were debris laying all over the road.

Note: you can still see previous Grammar Questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar and listed a year previous to their date of posting.

PUZZLE Dec. 21

Puzzle

Here is the answer to last week’s puzzle.
1. blankout + beep = bleep
2. pain + sting = pang
3. haggle + tussle = hassle
4. dumb + confound = dumbfound
5. ditsy + dotty = ditty

New Puzzle
Can you identify the language of the following greetings--each one means “Merry Christmas”. Each student identify just one of the languages before allowing another student a chance--there are plenty of opportunities!

1. Gesëende Kersfees
2. Boas Festas
3. Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rock
4. Glaedelig Jul
5. Felice Navidad
6. Hyvää Joulua
7. Joyeux Noel
8. Froehliche Weihnachten
9. Kala Christouyenna
10. Mele Kalikimaka
11. Merry Christmas, Bada Din Mubarak
12. Nollaig Shona Dhuit
13. Bono Natale
14. Shinnen omedeto
15. Kuwa na Krismasi njema
16. Sung Tan Chuk Ha
17. Linksmu Kaledu
18. Feliz Navidad
19. Natale hilare
20. Maligayang Pasko
21. Wesolych Swiat Bozego
22. Narodzenia
23. Feliz Natal, Gajan Kristnaskon
24. Srozhdestovm Kristovim
25. Suksun Wan Christmas
26. Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
27. Nadolig Llawen

ALL CHANGE Dec. 21

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.

The fresh snow outside makes the neighbourhood look Christmassy.

1. change the subject noun 2. change the direct object noun
3. change the indirect object noun 4. change the adjective
5. change the adverb 6. change the verb name
7. change the verb tense

SENTENCE COMPLETION Dec. 21

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after (not both) the clause below:

... I am looking forward to the holiday season...

1. Use a phrase
2. Use a dependent clause
3. Use an independent clause

Note:you can still see previous Sentence Completion questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar.

VOCABULARY Dec. 21

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

insidious (adjective) + engender (verb)

To further improve your vocabulary, check Word of the Day every day! There are also word games and puzzles on this site.

SENTENCE COMBINATION Dec. 21

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Try to combine the following three sentences.

Sentence 1: The Christmas and New Year holiday make a wonderful break for many people.
Sentence 2: For those people working in sales, the Christmas season and New Year can be the busiest time of the year.
Sentence 3: People who have had a really busy holiday season may well feel that they need a real holiday when it is all over and done with.


Check the archives for previous questions and answers.

WELCOME

Welcome to the English 177 Blog.

The goal is to increase the communication between students and instructors, and also provide you with an opportunity to communicate with each other. If you post general questions about the assignments or the course, they will be answered in the blog. If you have detailed questions you want answered, then e-mail your instructor.

We hope you will also post your general comments and suggestions for how to improve this blog.

Click here for the course syllabus.

COURSE ANNOUNCEMENTS

NEW STUDENTS.
Seven new students are starting the course in December: Josephine, Marian, Katherine, Jean-Christophe, Colin, Kaitlin, and Maya. Welcome, and we hope that you will enjoy the course and participate in the blog.

CONGRATULATIONS
Andrea has successfully completed the course: well done!

BLOGGER AWAY!
The blogger (Veronica) will be away between Dec. 5th and Jan. 4th. In her absence, Tamara Renkas (tamaraAT…) will coordinate the blog. Look forward to some holiday specials coming up and keep on participating!

LAST WEEK'S GRAMMAR QUESTION
The team is real happy that they won the game so easy and now the players recover from the party they had thrown afterwards.

1. Subject-verb agreement: In this sentence, “team” is plural; notice the use of the plural pronoun “they” to refer to the team. Change the verb “is” to “are”.
2. Word form: use an adverb to modify an adjective--change “real” to “really”.
3. Word form: use an adverb to modify a verb; “easy” modifies “won”, so change it to “easily”.
4. Verb tense: for something that is occurring at the present time, use the present progressive tense: change “recover” to “are recovering”.
5. Verb tense: the past perfect tense refers to something that happened before another event in the past, but the party happened after the game. For this reason, use the simple past “threw”.
6. Punctuation: When two independent clauses are separated by a coordinating conjunction (and), use a comma before that conjunction.

Next blog: Friday, December 21st

GRAMMAR QUESTION Dec. 11

Correct the errors in the following sentence:

An economic prof at Simon Fraser university describes Canada that it is an over weight country who needs going on the low-carb diet--low in carbons emissions--and loose some weight.

Note: you can still see previous Grammar Questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar and listed a year previous to their date of posting.

PUZZLE, Dec. 11

Here are the answers to last week's puzzle:

1. bold + rash = brash
2. chuckle + snort = chortle
3. internal + communication = intercom
4. blow + spurt = blurt
5. flutter + hurry = flurry

What are the blended words that have come from the following pairs of words:

1. blankout + beep
2. pain + sting
3. haggle + tussle
4. dumb + confound
5. ditsy + dotty

ALL CHANGE Dec. 11, 2009

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.

Susan is still eating candy from last Halloween.

1. change the subject noun 2. change the direct object noun
3. change the indirect object noun 4. change the adjective
5. change the adverb 6. change the verb name
7. change the verb tense

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE Dec. 11

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after (not both) the clause below:

The fluffy snowflakes fell slowly from the sky.


1. Use a phrase
2. Use a dependent clause
3. Use an independent clause

Note:you can still see previous Sentence Completion questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar.

SENTENCE COMBINATION, Dec. 11,09

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Try to combine the following three sentences.

Sentence 1: The snowfall lay heavily on the ground.
Sentence 2: People were shovelling driveways and sidewalks and piling up snow into snow mountains.
Sentence 3: There was little traffic on the roads until the snow ploughs had cleared the major routes.


Check the archives for previous questions and answers.

HALF WAY THERE CHALLENGE Dec. 11, 09

This exercise is advanced sentence combining; it is designed for students who have completed Lesson 9 in the course.

Sentence 1: We were very worried about the latest news to come out of our homeland.
Sentence 2: Our homeland has been in the news lately because of the widespread political unrest and violence.

Grammar:1. Use an appositive to combine the sentences.
2. Use a gerund to combine the sentences.
3. Use a relative pronoun to combine the sentences.

Correct answers for previous assignments are in the Archives.

VOCABULARY Dec. 11

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

disproportionate (adjective) + antipathy (noun)


To further improve your vocabulary, check Word of the Day every day! There are also word games and puzzles on this site.

LAUGH WITH ENGLISH

For the next few weeks, our LWE section will all be "Did you wonder why ...?"

Laugh at some of the strange things that can happen with English!

Did you ever wonder … Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

GRAMMAR QUESTION, Dec. 1st, 2009

Correct the errors in the following sentence:

The team is real happy that they won the game so easy and now the players recover from the party they had thrown afterwards.

Note: you can still see previous Grammar Questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar and listed a year previous to their date of posting.

PUZZLE, Dec. 1st, 2009

Here is the answer to last week’s puzzle; congratulations to Abby who almost solved it;-)
1. flap + drop= flop
2. emotion + icon= emoticon
3. gorilla + baboon = goon
4. marionette + puppet = muppet
5. slovenly + language = slang

THIS WEEK:
What are the blended words that have come from the following pairs of words:
1. bold + rash
2. chuckle + snort
3. internal + communication
4. blow + spurt
5. flutter + hurry

ALL CHANGE! Dec. 1st, 2009

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated.If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make.

The excited children eagerly awaited Santa at the mall.

1. change the subject noun 2. change the direct object noun
3. change the indirect object noun 4. change the adjective
5. change the adverb 6. change the verb name
7. change the verb tense

COMPLETE THE SENTENCE ..., Dec. 1st, 2009

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after (not both) the clause below:

… there is only one month left in 2008…

1. Use a phrase
2. Use a dependent clause
3. Use an independent clause

Note:you can still see previous Sentence Completion questions; they are posted in the archive in the side bar.

VOCABULARY, Dec. 1st, 2009

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

posthumously (adverb) + colloquial (adjective)

To further improve your vocabulary, check Word of the Day every day! There are also word games and puzzles on this site.