HS_Wednesday

A. Either Or....Neither Nor

Either means one, neither means none, and not either equals neither. Or goes with either and nor goes with neither.

Click here and open up the document and let's do the exercises in class


B. Singular or Plural?

a. Singular Verb with Singular Elements

If the pairings either/or (often the either is omitted) or neither/nor form part of the subject of a verb and both elements are singular, then the verb must be singular too. For example:

• Neither Mark nor Dawn is at the function. 
(As Mark is singular (i.e., one person) and Dawn is singular, then is is correct. (The plural version are would be wrong.)
• Neither Dickens nor Thackeray was a panderer to the public taste. 
Dickens (singular), Thackeray (singular), was (singular – i.e., not were panderers)
• Either the clerk or the secretary has the keys to the Rover. 
clerk (singular), secretary (singular), has (singular – i.e., not have)
• Neither Simon nor Gary do as they are told. 
Simon (singular), Gary (singular), do (plural – should be does)
• Either a mouse or a rat eats the cable at night. 

b. Plural Verb with a Plural Element

If the pairings either/or (often the either is omitted) or neither/nor form part of the subject of a verb and at least one of the elements is plural, then the verb must be plural too. For example:

• Neither the lawyer nor the detectives are able to follow the sequence of events. 
lawyer (singular – i.e., one person), detectives (plural - i.e., more than one person), are (plural - i.e., not is)
• There were neither cakes nor ice-cream at the party. 


• Neither the firemen nor the policemen know him. 
(i.e., not knows)
• Either the budgies or the cat has to go. 

Choose the correct pair (either / or and neither / nor)

1. In this game, you __ win __ lose. It depends on you.                         either - or            neither - nor          
2. ___ Sue ___ Sara will help you with your homework. They are both busy at the moment.                         Either - or            Neither - nor          
3. This is my offer. You ___ take it ___ leave it.                         either - or            neither - nor          
4. When I go to the restaurant, I eat ___ fish ___ roast chicken. These are my favorite meals.                         either - or            neither - nor          
5. His father believed ___ his son ___ his friend. He thought that both were lying.                         either - or            neither - nor          
6. I need ___ your help ___ your compassion. I can perfectly handle my problems all alone.                         either - or            neither - nor          
7. ___ Charly ___ Bill will write the report. Just ask one of them.                         Either - or            Neither - nor             
8. ___ you return the money you had stolen ____ I'll call the police.                         Either - or            Neither - nor          
9. My mum can ___ read ___ write. She is illiterate.                         either - or            neither - nor          
10. You can use ___ this computer ___ the other one. Someone must fix them first.                         either - or            neither - nor          

How about some options?

Whenever providing options, use EITHER OR...

1. When discussing plans with your buddies for the weekend

2. When thinking about what to have for lunch tomorrow

3. When giving a couple of options to your parents about universities that you would like to attend in the near future

Now using NEITHER NOR...

1. Expressing your dislike for what's available in the menu at McDonalds (use negative)

2. Expressing your dislike of the two options given to you by your parents as chores (tasks at home) for next week. (positive)
3. Expressing your disagreement of the reasons given by a friend for not calling you last week. (positive)

C. How and when to use the Present Perfect Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past and with the present and its use is based on whether it deals with a finished or unfinished action and whether the time in the past is specified or not.

1. Unfinished Actions

We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions that started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' an action or state has continued with 'since' and 'for' I've known Karen since 1994. She's lived in London for three years. 2. Completed Actions I've gone there already I've seen it a: Life experience (we don't say when the experience happened, just sometime in the past) I have been to Tokyo. She has lived in Germany. They have visited Paris three times. We have never seen that film. Have you ever read 'War and Peace'? b: A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result) I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house). She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today). They've missed the bus (so they will be late). I've cooked dinner (so you should come and eat). c: With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today, in the last year) I have not gone to that restaurant yet. She's drunk three cups of coffee today. This week, they've gone skiing three times already. Note: We can't use the present perfect with a finished time word: I've seen him yesterday. D. Past Simple or Present Perfect  1)Change the verb into the correct form of the past simple or present perfect 1) Last night I  (lose) my keys – I had to call my flatmate to let me in.. 2) I  (lose) my keys - can you help me look for them?. 3) I  (visit) Paris three times.. 4) Last year I  (visit) Paris.. 5) I  (know) my great grandmother for a few years - she died when I was eight... 6) I  (know) Julie for three years - we still meet once a month... 7) I  (play) Hockey since I was a child - I'm pretty good!.. 8) She  (play) hockey at school but she didn't like it.. 9) Sorry, I  (miss) the bus - I'm going to be late.. 10) I  (miss) the bus and then I  (miss) the aeroplane as well!... 11) Last month I  (go) to Scotland.. 12) I'm sorry, John isn't here now. He  (go) to the shops.. 13) We  (finish) this room last week.. 14) I  (finish) my exams finally - I'm so happy!.. 15) Yesterday, I  (go) to the library, the post office and the supermarket... 16) I  (go) to the supermarket three times this week.. 17) She  (live) in London since 1994.. 18) She  (live) in London when she was a child.. 19) I  (drink) three cups of coffee today.. 20) I  (drink) three cups of coffee yesterday.. 2) Choose the past simple or the present perfect tense: 1) I  (never/go) to Vienna.. 2) My great great grandfather  (have) five sisters.. 3) He  (live) in Manila for a year when he was a student.. 4) Oh no! I  (lose) my wallet!.. 5)  (you/see) Julie today??. 6) At the weekend, they  (play) football, then they  (go) to a restaurant... 7) I  (read) six books this week.. 8) Amy  (live) in Portugal when she was young.. 9) She  (visit) her grandmother last month.. 10) The Vandals  (invade) Rome in the year 455.. 11) She  (live) in seven different countries, so she knows a lot about different cultures.. 12) I  (go) to the cinema last night.. 13) Ow! I  (cut) my finger!.. 14)  (you/see) 'The King's Speech'?. 15) John  (never/understand) the present perfect.. 16) She  (break) her leg the day before her exam.. 17) We  (see) Oliver yesterday.. 18) He  (be) here all morning.. 19) King Henry the Eighth of England  (have) six wives..

E. Still, Yet and Already

Still  

We use still to say that a situation or action is continuing. It hasn't changed or stopped

• It's 10 o'clock and Abdullah is still in bed.
• When I went to bed, Mohammed was still working.
• Do you still want to go to the party or have you changed your mind?

***Still usually goes in the middle of the sentence with the verb.

Yet 

Yet =' until now'. We use yet mainly in negative sentences ( I haven't finished yet) and questions (Have you finished yet?). yet shows that the speaker is expecting to happen.

***Yet usually goes at the end of sentence:

·         It's 10 o'clock and Abdullah hasn't got up yet.

·         I'm hungry. Is dinner ready yet?

·         We don't know where we are going for our holidays yet.

We often use yet with present perfect ( Have you finished yet?).

Compare yet and still:

·     Abdullah lost his job a year ago and is still unemployed.

Abdullah lost his job a year ago and hasn't found another job yet.

·     Is it still raining?

Has it stopped raining yet?

Still is also possible in negative sentences(before the negative):

·    She said she would be here an hour ago and she still hasn't come.

This is similar to 'she hasn't come yet'. But still.. not shows a stronger feeling of surprise or impatience. Compare:

·    I wrote to him last week. He hasn't replied yet. (but I expect he will reply soon).

·    I wrote to him months ago and he still hasn't replied. (he should have replied before now)

Already  

We use already to say that something happened sooner than expected. 

***Already usually goes in the middle of a sentence:

• 'When is Sara going on holiday?'    ' She has already gone.' (= sooner than you expected)
• Should I tell Fatima the news or does she already know?

Here is a good recap of the uses of these adverbs:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammarchallenge/pdfs/gc_31_still_yet_already_explanation.pdf

Here is a short multiple choice quiz to evaluate your knowledge:

1: I haven't _____ done my homework

 still yet again

2: Although he treated her badly, she ______ loves him.

 still yet again

3: I only arrived here last week, and I haven't _____ met all the people.

 still yet always

4: He told me once, then he told me the same thing ______ .

 still already again

5: I've been trying this for hours, and I _____ can't get the right answers.

 still yet again

6: Have you ______ not found out how to do it?

 still yet already

F. Tell me something about yourself...

1. List 3 beautiful/exotic places (countries, cities, regions, etc) that you want to visit but that you haven't yet (hint: use yet)
2. List 3 memorable activities that you have done in the past (hint: use already)
3. List 3 things that you plan to do but that you may not have started or you may have started but not finished (hint: use still)

G. Additional Exercises

Go over the following exercises and note the answers for all of the questions. We'll go over the questions in class

http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammarchallenge/pdfs/gc_31_still_yet_already_quizzes.pdf

H. What the following video and note the following:

1. Can you name all of the things that the main character learned to do? 
2. Have you already done any of them? All of them? Not yet? Would you like to?