Linkers, connectors and expressions

PERSONAL OPINION, CONTRAST:

• In my opinion
• In my view
• Personally
• As far as I am concerned
• From my point of view
• On (the) one hand..... on the other hand
• On the contrary
• Although
• In spite of / Despite
• Anyhow
• Anyway
• However / Nevertheless
• As I see it
• As far as I know
• I believe / think
• It seems to me that
• I'm convinced that
• To my mind
• I (completely) agree / disagree with
• But

CONCLUSION:

• In short
• Finally
• To sum up
• In conlusion
• In the end
• On balance

ADD INFORMATION:

• And
• Not only.... but also
• As if / As though
• Apart from
• In addition / Besides / Futhermore / What's more / Moreover
• Too 
• As well
• Also
• For instance / For example
• In the same way

RESULT, REASON, CAUSE:

• That's why
• Therefore
• As a result of
• Consequently
• As
• So
• Whereas
• Such a ..... that
• Because (of this)
• The main reason is

TIME, SEQUENCING:

• When
• As
• While
• Meanwhile / In the meantime
• Previously
• Since
• Until then
• Before 
• After
• Later
• Then
• As soon as
• One day
• At midnight
• At first / Firstly
• Secondly
• Afterwards
• In the end / Finally

MOST COMMON EXPRESSIONS IN WRITING:

• According to
• After all
• As a matter of fact
• By the way
• Considering that
• Current events
• Even though
• If I remember right
• In general
• In order to
• It is believed that
• By all means
• By that time
• It is said that
• It's time that
• Otherwise

DO YOU KNOW ANY OTHER EXPRESSION WE CAN ADD TO THE LIST? 

PLEASE, LEAVE YOUR COMMENT BELOW.

Adjectives followed by prepositions

I'm afraid there is no logical rule for this. You have to study them. But here you have the most common ones:

• FAMOUS FOR:  France is famous for its food.
• PROUD OF: He is very proud of this new car.
• INTERESTED IN: Julie is very interested in sport.
• PLEASED WITH: John is very pleased with his new suit.
• BAD / GOOD AT: They are very bad at maths. / Einstein was very good at physics.
• BAD / GOOD FOR: Don't smoke, it is bad for you. / Eat vegetables. They're good for your health
• MARRIED TO: My mother has beedn married to my father for 20 years.
• EXCITED ABOUT; I'm very excited about my holidays.
• DIFFERENT FROM/TO; Coffe is different from tea.
• AFRAID OF: I'm afraid of spiders.
• ACCUSTOMED TO: Sally is accustomed to studying for hours.
• IN CHARGE OF: I'm in charge of teaching 40 students.
• ADDICTED TO: She is addicted to watching TV.
• ANXIOUS ABOUT: Betty is anxious about making the presentation.
• BORED OF: I am bored of doing the same job.
• CAPABLE OF: He is capable of winning a gold medal.
• COMMITTED TO: She is committed to improving her English.
• CONCERNED ABOUT: Sarah was concerned about being late.
• CONTENT WITH: Tim is content with winning second place.
• DISAPPOINTED WITH: Fiona is disappointed with coming in third place.
• DISCOURAGED BY: I was discouraged by not getting the job.
• INVOLVED IN: He was involved in making the movie.
• KNOWN FOR: She was known for causing problems.
• OPPOSED TO: They are opposed to building a new road in the park.
• TIRED OF: Margaret is tired of making dinner every night without help.
• WORRIED ABOUT: The hikers were worried about not having enough water.

Links to exercises:
LIST
Exercise 1
Quiz

CHOOSE THE CORRECT PREPOSITION.

MATCH COLUMN I WITH THE CORRECT ENDING IN COLUMN II.

CHOOSE THE BEST OPTION FOR EACH SENTENCE.

---------------------------------------------

Here you have the SOLUTIONS.

1. Choose the correct preposition:

1. TO
2. OF
3. ABOUT
4. IN
5. WITH
6. FOR
7. AT
8. BY

2. Match the columns:

1. She was surprised by the results of her exam.
2. Tom's good at remembering names.
3. Joe's always late for school because he never wears a watch.
4. He's afraid of large dogs.
5. Amy isn't satisfied with her job so she is looking for a new one.
6. I'm very interested in British culture.
7. I'm worried about your poor health.

3.Choose the best option:

1. FOR
2. WITH
3. IN
4. AT
5. ABOUT
6. OF
7. TO
8. ABOUT

Listening: SOLUTIONS 1

Here you have the solutions for the first three listenings:

PHONE MESSAGE

Hi Craig. This is Rob here. It's about quarter past one and I'm going out on the bike for the afternoon. I was just wondering if you'd like to meet up this evening for a beer. Errmmm.... and if you've got time and you feel like it, give me a call back on 01 702 592 781. Speak to you later. Take care. Bye!

CHECKING INTO A HOTEL

- Hello. Good evening.

+ Good evening sir, How can I help you?

- Erm.. I have a reservation for a double room for three nights.

+ Ok... and... sorry, your name again? I beg your pardon, sir.

- Yeah... sorry, it's Colin Smith.

+ OK. Yes, I have that. Erm.. if you could just take erm.. a few details.. could you just note down your address on the.. on the.. er.. paper sir.

- Sure. OK.

+ And while you're doing that, could you give me your ID. I just need to know the numbers.

- Of course. Here's my... here's my passport.

+ Thank you. Was that a smoker or a non-smoking room, sir?

- Non-smoking, please.

+ OK. Then.. here's your..erm.. hey card, sir.

- Thank you.

+ Breakfast will be from 6 o´clock in the morning 'till 9 o´clock. And the lifts are just round on the left hand side.. er.. next to the coffee table. And your room is on the 8th floor, sir. If you need anything, give me a call.

- Just one question. Is there... erm.. a good restaurant you'd recommend around here?

+ What kind of food are you looking for, sir?

- Erm.. oo.. anything;...erm Chinese, ..erm..Indian.. anything.

+ There's a Thai restaurant just around the corner, sir.

- A Thai resturant?

+ About 200 metres down the road.

- Right..er.. OK. Erm... Do I have to wear a tie?

+ I think you'll find a tie is provided, sir?

SAY "NO" TO TV

You don't have a television either?

No, for..7, 8 years.

Why did that happen? How did that happen? Did you just decide one day to throw it out the window?

Heh..no, erm.. when I came to Germany, er.. I had had a TV back in the UK.. erm.. and my girlfriend in Germany didn't have a TV and we didn't see any reason to buy one. Erm.. I didn't speak german, so there was nothing that I could've watched and had much from.. erm..and..erm.. she had never had a TV and didn't see the point.

Ours died. We had a TV..erm.. for quite a few years. One day it stopped working. We agreed that we needed to buy another TV..erm.. and argued about the size of the screen. I wanted a big screen to watch the football games, and widescreen TV with the speakers.. the surround sound speakers. And in the end we said okay, we'll.. we'll wait for a few months. And six months passed with no TV. We found that we went to the cinema more often. We.. we spoke to each other.. we listened to music..

The lost art of conversation...

..exactly! And really, our life improved a lot; erm.. socially and as a couple. So, we.. we've been without a TV now fro probably 6 or 7 years.

Fantastic. It's much nicer without a TV, you do actually speak to one another, you maybe play board games in the vening, you go walking or, like you say.. you speak to people, you develop a social life rather than vegetating in front of the screen.

And I don't know if you agree, but I actually think that there's some mild manipulation and brainwashing involved, especially with the advertisements..

Oh, completely, yeah.

...that they throw in, and the type of sitcom programmes.. comedy programmes.

With product placements in everything with encouragement for certain for politicaly parties or.. yeah.

And some of the programmes are mindless, the.. the.. they're just...

Almost all of them!

...you sit there like a vegetable.

Completely mindless, yeah...

Listening: Advanced

SAY "NO" TO TV

You are going to hear a conversation about television. Read the notes below. Listen the audio and complete.

1. One of the speakers lives in.......

2. One of the speakers wanted to buy a large screen to watch .........

3. The advantages of not having a TV for one speaker are: speaking more, listening to ...........  and going to ........

4. For the other speaker, the advantages of not having a TV include : playing................., speaking to people, going for walks and developing a ..............

5. Both speakers agree that TV programmes and advertisements can brainwash and ............ the public.



SAY NO TO TV AUDIO (click here)

STAY TUNED TO SEE THE SOLUTIONS IN THE NEXT ENTRY.

Listening: Intermediate

CHEKING INTO A HOTEL

You are going to hear a man checking into a hotel. Read the questions below. Listen the audio and answer.

1. What kind of room has the man reserved?

     a) Single room.

     b) Double room.

     c) Luxury suite.

2. How long is the man staying at the hotel?
     a) One night
     b) Three nights
     c) Four nights.

3. Does the man ask for a smoking or a non-smoking room?

4. What time does breakfast start?

     a) 6 o´clock

     b) 7 o´clock

     c) 9 o´clock

5. On what floor is the man's room?

     a) 80th floor.

     b) 18th floor.

     c) 8th floor.

6. What kind of restaurant does the hotel recepcionist recommend?
     a) Chinese
     b) Thai
     c) Indian

7. How far is the restaurant from the hotel?
     a) 20 metres
     b) 200 metres
     c) 2 kilometres

CHECKING INTO A HOTEL AUDIO (click here)

STAY TUNED TO SEE THE SOLUTIONS IN THE NEXT ENTRY.

Listening: Easy

PHONE MESSAGE

You will hear a recorded phone message. Read the questions below. Listen the audio once and answer.

1. What time is it?

     a) 12.45

     b) 13.15

     c) 13.30

2. Why does Rob phone Craig?

     a) to go out for a beer in the evening.

     b) to go cycling in the afternoon.

     c) to go shopping.

3. What is Rob's telephone number?

PHONE MESSAGE AUDIO (click here)

Now listen the audio again. Fill in the sentences. You can hear it twice. 

Hi Craig. This is Rob _________________. It is about _______________ and I'm going out on bike for the ________________. I was just wondering if you'd like to _______________ up this evening for a beer. Errmmm.... and if you've got __________ and you feel like it, give me a ________ back on ___________________. Speak to you later. Take care. Bye!

STAY TUNED TO SEE THE SOLUTIONS IN THE NEXT ENTRY.

Tips for writings: SUMMARY

A summary includes only the most important information in an article.

PLAN:

Ideas are organised into one cohesive paragraph with simple language. There are no unnecessary examples, details or personal information. Use only about 60 words.

EXAMPLE: Zoos - Then and now.

• Paragraph 1: Zoos first built for entertainment.
• Paragraph 2: Now zoos are changing. Save animals from extinction.
• Paragraph 3: Zoos now planned differently: take into account health and safety of animals and visitors. Educational role is now important.

Tips for writings: STORY

In a narrative, you are basically telling a story, which can be exciting, serious, informative or amusing.

PLAN:

• Opening: Give details of the time, place, main character and atmosphere.
• Body: Describe the events as they happened.
• Closing: End the story by stating the final details or consequences.

EXAMPLE:     Write a story about an occasion when everything went wrong.

• Opening: Dominic, driver, alone, cold and wet night.
• Body: Car stopped - couldn't fix it - thunderstorm - mobile phone didn't work.
• Closing: Frightened - no help - someone near his car - his father!

USEFUL LANGUAGE:

• When
• While
• Before / After
• As soon as
• By the time
• Until
• During
• Yesterday / the previous day / the following day / a week later...
• It all began when...
• Suddenly
• Meanwhile
• At last / in the end / finally
• Later / next

Tips for writings: FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY

There are often two sides to an issue. When we are asked to discuss such an issue, we should present both sides of the argument objectively.

PLAN:

• Opening: What is the issue? Where do I stand?
• Body: State arguments for and against. Give examples.
• Closing: Refer back to the topic and restate views.

EXAMPLE:     Discuss whether smoking should be prohibited in public places.

• Opening: Smoking is antisocial. Should be banned.
• Body: 
• Arguments against prohibition: affects personal liberties.
• Arguments in favour of prohibition: health risk to others.
• Closing: Goverments should prohibit smoking in public places. Health more important than pleasure.

USEFUL LANGUAGE:

• On the one hand / On the other hand
• In contrast
• Moreover
• Furthermore
• Finally
• In the first place / Firstly
• Secondly
• In conclusion
• To sump up
• In short

Tips for writings: DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON

When we describe a person, we should try to write in such a way that, by the time the reader finishes the description, he/she feels like he/she really knows the person.

PLAN:

• Opening: Introduce the person and describe his/her physical appearance.
• Body: Describe the person's nature and personal characteristics. Give examples.
• Closing: State your personal feelings towards the person you have chosen.

EXAMPLE:     Describe one of your best friends.

• Opening: Diana, average-looking, dark hair, slim...
• Body: Sense of humour, kind, outgoing, curious...
• Closing: I enjoy being with Diana.

USEFUL LANGUAGE:

• Physiscal Appearance
• Tall / Short
• Good-looking / Attractive / Beautiful / Handsome / Pretty / Stunning / Ugly
• Overweight / Underweight / Slim / Fat / Thin 
• Long / Short
• Straight / Curly / Spiky / Wavy / Bald
• Dark / Light 
• Dark skinned / Pale
• Nature and Characteristics
• Quiet
• Has (a/no) sense of humour / Funny 
• Extrovert / Outgoing / Introvert / Shy
• Pleasant
• Kind 
• Wicked
• Boring / Interesting / Intriguing / Fascinating
• Patient / Impatient
• Feelings
• Love
• Hate
• Admire
• Adore
• Despise
• Be fond of
• Intrigue
• Interest
• Bore

Tips for writings: OPINION ESSAY

In an opinion essay, we express and justify our personal opinion on a particular subject.

PLAN:

• Opening: State the topic.
• Body: Give facts and examples. When you introduce a new idea, begin a new paragraph.
• Closing: Say your opinion.

EXAMPLE:     Does the Internet cause more harm than good?

• Opening: Does the Internet cause harm? 
• Body: 
• Internet breaks geographical, social and personal barriers.
• Innocent surfers are not usually harmed by the Internet.
• Closing: If you use the Internet properly, it will change your life!

USEFUL LANGUAGE:

• In my opinion
• As I see it
• It seems to me that
• It is clear that
• I think/feel/believe
• I agree/disagree
• Obviously
• Clearly
• As far as I'm concerned
• Personally
• (Un)Fortunately
• Of course

Tips for writings: PROCESS FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING

1. BRAINSTORMING
1. Make sure that you have understood the topic. Then very quickly write down all the ideas that you can think of.
2. PLANNING
1. Group similar ideas together.
2. Cross out any irrelevant ideas.
3. Give each group a name.
4. Number the groups in a logical order.
3. FAST WRITING
1. Quickly write down your points for each of the main ideas. If you can't think of a word in English, write it in your own language. Don't write complete sentences and don't worry about spelling. At this stage, your ideas are more important!
4. DRAFTING
1. Now you are ready to begin writing, using your plan from Step 2.
2. Write in pencil. Leave wide margins for notes. Leave space between lines for additions and corrections.
3. Write quickly. Don't worry about neatness or accuracy.
5. IMPROVING
1. When you have finished writing the first draft, you will almost certainly need to improve it. Read your paragraph/essay again and clearly mark the things that you need to improve.
6. GIVING FEEDBACK
1. Read again and make suggestions. Ask for another opinion if neccesary.
7. PRESENTING
1. When you are satisfied with your work, present it in a neat, attractive manner. Be sure to include all your corrections and your paragraphs clearly indicated.