Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3

Unit 1 World of English

World of English

The most common suffix for nationalities in English is -AN. ➤➤ For example: Italian, Chilean, Russian, Indian.

The nine most common letters in English are: E (12.51%) N (7.09%) T (9.25%) S (6.54%) A (8.04%) R (6.12%) O (7.6%) H (5.49%) I (7.26%) common are: The three least J (0.16%) Z (0.09%) Q (0.11%)

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Stress the syllable before -AN or -IAN.

Unit 2 World of English A silent E at the end of words is a common aspect of English. Of the 100 most common words, these 12 end with a silent E. are before come here little give make more some there where take

Unit 3 World of English Some letters have special roles. ➤➤ Use S for: 1 plurals: keys. 2 possession: John’s keys. 3 verb be (is): John’s American. 4 the third person: He lives in Miami. ➤➤ Y is a common ending for adjectives: happy, crazy, sleepy. With weather nouns, add -y to form the adjectives: rain – rainy. Words ending consonant-vowel-consonant double the final consonant: sunny.

World of English Learning key phrases is a great way to sound fluent! Common phone phrases include: ➤➤ Are you busy? ➤➤ Call you later. ➤➤ Don’t worry. ➤➤ Sorry, wrong number. ➤➤ No problem. ➤➤ I can’t hear you. ➤➤ The line’s busy. ➤➤ My battery’s dying.

World of English The usual question for occupation is What do you do? What does s/he do? You can also use: What’s your job? his occupation? her profession? But use subject + be + article to answer all of them. ➤➤ I’m a singer / an actor. ➤➤ What do you do?

World of English Informal language is full of contractions, incomplete sentences and omission of auxiliaries. Grammatical English ➤➤ Are you tired? ➤➤ Do you want to go home? ➤➤ Yes, (please). ➤➤ Would you like a cookie? Informal English ➤➤ You tired? ➤➤ Wanna go home? ➤➤ Yep / Yeah! ➤➤ (Like a) cookie?

World of English In British and Australian English, people say autumn instead of fall.


World of English

American and British English are similar, but not always the same. In the USA, people call this sport soccer, but the British call it football. And the Americans call this sport football, but the British call it American football.

-tion and -sion are two of the most common noun suffixes. The stress is always on the syllable before them: ➤➤ occasion / expression / profession / information / pronunciation

World of English

World of English

A lot of English words have more than one meaning. Can, for example, means: ➤➤ be able to – I can speak English. ➤➤ be possible to – Can you help me? ➤➤ be allowed to – Can I go to the toilet? ➤➤ an object – That’s a can of Coke.

Some words sound the same, but have different meanings. ➤➤ For example: there – they’re – their. ➤➤ They’re their keys over there, on the table.

World of English The suffix -ist is NOT stressed. ➤➤ Our dentist is an artist. The suffix -ique is stressed. ➤➤ She uses a unique technique.

Other common examples include: ➤➤ buy – by – bye ➤➤ our – hour ➤➤ to – two – too ➤➤ wear – where

World of English Clothing sizes in English are becoming universal: S for small M for medium L is large XL means extra large


World of English

Many English words are similar in your language. This means you can recognize them and only need to focus on spelling or pronunciation differences.

Many grammar items are similar in your language too. For example, the superlative = the most + adjective.

World of English

World of English

Like can be both a preposition and a verb. I’m like my mother. = similar to (preposition) We both like relaxing. = enjoy (verb)

English adapts very fast to changes in our world and new words are invented every day. Many are a combination of two words. ➤➤ to couch + surf = couchsurf ➤➤ a stay + vacation = staycation ➤➤ an emotion + icon = emoticon

World of English Language is not just words! You can express a lot that you don’t know how to say using mime and gesture.


World of English

Say years as two numbers. 19-99 (nineteen ninety-nine). From 2000-2009, say them as complete numbers: two thousand, two thousand (and) nine. You can also say 2K9 (K = 1000). After that you can choose! 2010 is two thousand (and) ten or twenty ten.

The three most common prepositions are to, of and in. Prepositions of place can have one, two or three words. For example, next to, in front of.

Unit 7 World of English Silent vowels are an important aspect of spelling and pronunciation. ➤➤ musically, guitar, goodbye, more, etc. With -ed endings, don’t pronounce the e as an extra syllable: lived, died, tired, etc. Exceptions: verbs ending in /d/ or /t/ – started, recorded, transmitted (box 3 in 1B).

World of English The 12 most frequent verbs are irregular in the past tense: 5. go – went 9. think – thought /ɔ/ 1. be – was / were 6. get – got /ɑ/ 10. take – took 2. have – had /ae/ 7. make – made /eɪ/ 11. see – saw /ɔ/ 3. do – did 8. know – knew 12. come – came /eɪ/ 4. say – said /ɛ/

World of English There are two ways to say dates: ➤➤ My birthday is on the first of March / March (the) first. ➤➤ In the USA, they write dates mm/dd/yy. Be careful with prepositions: ➤➤ He was born in May, but on May (the) twenty-fourth. ➤➤ She was born in 1943.


World of English

Did you know that /ə/ is the most common sound in English? It even has a name – the schwa! For example, there are eight /ə/s in this list: A computer, a pizza and a banana. Over 10% of all sounds in spoken English are /ə/s.

Two of the most obvious differences between American and British pronunciation are the letters T and R. Compare these words in American and British English. ➤➤ butter ➤➤ party ➤➤ potato ➤➤ artist ➤➤ refrigerator

World of English A little + means a small quantity: I have a little money (so I can lend you some). A few + noun means a small number: There are a few students in class (not just me!).

Pronounce them as you prefer, but you need to understand both forms.

World of English World of English People sometimes say “and” before the last two digits: four hundred and fifty-six.

World of English The most common ways to order at a restaurant are: ➤➤ I’d like the soup, please. ➤➤ Can I have a glass of red wine? ➤➤ I’ll have a steak, please.

It’s best to learn words together, not alone, one-by-one. Alliteration (the repetition of a sound at the beginning of words) can help you to remember phrases. ➤➤ do the dishes ➤➤ make a mistake

Unit 9 World of English The verb get has many uses and meanings: get an e-mail (= receive), get tired (= become), get home (= arrive), etc. To ask about transportation we often use get in the question, but not in the answer. ➤➤ How do you get to work? By car. ➤➤ How did you get here? I took the bus.

World of English The USA uses pounds (lb) and miles. 1 lb = about half a kilo (0.454 grams to be exact) 1 mile = just under two kilometers (1.62 km)

World of English Use the Present Continuous for future arrangements that you can control. Sometimes, there is only a tiny difference between a plan (Present Continuous) and an intention (going to), so you can choose. E.g., I’m getting a taxi home or I’m going to get a taxi home. If you are not sure, use going to.

World of English Professions often end with: ➤➤ -er / -or = designer; actor ➤➤ -ian = musician; optician ➤➤ -ist = journalist; dentist But we don’t stress the suffix.

World of English Going to is usually pronounced gonna. E.g., in fast speech, What are you going to do? becomes Whatcha gonna do? Can you remember any song lines or song titles with gonna?

World of English The two most common comparative forms are better and worse. Adjective

Comparative

Example

good

better

My grades are better than your grades.

bad

worse

My job is worse than your job.

Unit 10 World of English So is one of the 20 most common words in English. Look: ➤➤ I’m tired, so I’m going to bed. (= a conclusion) ➤➤ You’re so intelligent! (= an intensifier)

World of English We normally stress words that carry the message. Other words are often unstressed, reduced and said faster. If you don’t hear them, you can still understand the meaning.