Learn English and Make New Friends!
Today, my friend has a question about ‘past participles’.
Q: What is a ‘past participle’?
A: Good question! A past participle is a kind of verb form.
| See my answer with examples here:
http://www.askjohnenglish.com/learn/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=291#p1670
Make sure you also try the activity! |
What is Easter and Why Do You Eat Chocolate at Easter?
One of my friends asks: I love chocolate!! But I don’t know “Easter“. Why is Easter a day of chocolate?
A: Good Question!!
Actually, many people do not know why we eat chocolate at Easter.
Part 1: What is Easter?
A: Easter is a special holiday that comes once a year, like Christmas.
Christmas is every December 25, but Easter does not follow the usual calendar.
Easter is always on the first Sunday after the full moon on or following the spring equinox.
The date for Easter changes every year, as the day of the full moon is different every year.
Sometimes it is in March and sometimes in April.
Easter is celebrated over 4 days:
Why 4 days?
Easter is a time when Christians remember something important that Jesus did for us all.
Jesus died on the cross on a Friday. He then remained dead on the Saturday, but rose to life again on a Sunday.
In Western Countries we celebrate God’s gift for us by:
Many people also go to church on these days.
Many people do not go to church every week in Western countries anymore, but they will often still go to church at Easter.
So that is a simple outline of Easter!
Tomorrow: Part 2 – Why do we eat chocolate at Easter?
Question: Do you know what ‘Hot Cross Buns’ are?
Activity: What does ‘equinox’ mean? take a look in a dictionary, and let me know in the comments!
One of my friends asks about subject verb agreement:
QUESTION: Can you please explain this?
I , we , you , they … play football
but
he, she plays football
Why is there an ‘s‘ after the verb play for he and she, but not for we and they?
MY ANSWER: Good question!
The reason for this is because in English we follow a rule that we call subject verb agreement.
Every sentence has a subject and a verb:
Example 1: I play football - Subject: I Verb: play
Example 2: He plays football - Subject: He Verb: plays
So when should you use an ‘s’ with the verb? Let’s take a look!
Using regular verbs:
| First Person: I, We Rule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: I play football, We play football |
Second Person: YouRule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: You play football |
| Third person singular: He, SheRule: Use ‘s’
Examples: He plays football, She plays football |
Third person plural: TheyRule: Do not use ‘s’
Examples: They play football |
Using Irregular verbs: Examples of irregular verbs: do, have
| First Person: I, We Rule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: I do it, We do it, I have it, We have it |
Second Person: YouRule: Do not use ’s’
Examples: You do it, You have it |
| Third person singular: He, SheRule: Use ‘s’
Examples: He does it, She does it, He has it, She has it |
Third person plural: TheyRule: Do not use ‘s’Examples: They do it, They have it |
SUMMARY: USE ’S' FOR HE / SHE (Third person singular)
Correct these sentences:
1) He live in China.
2) I loves to eat icecream.
3) They watches movies all the time.
4) She eat slowly.
5) We goes swimming every weekend.
Put your answer in the comments!
Want more practice? Go here: http://www.askjohnenglish.com/?p=439
Today, one of my friends asks:
My friend wrote me an email saying: “It was fun to ring in the new year.” What does it mean the word “ring” in this sentence mean?
MY ANSWER:
Good question! Let’s look at the phrase ‘ring in’.
To understand this phrase, let’s look at some history of celebrations.
In many countries, most local churches used to have a bell in a tower. These days many new churches do not have bell towers, but older churches almost always do.
The bell was used like a clock for the local community. For example, the bell would be rung to remind people that it was time to go to church!
The bell was also rung on special occasions and events. One of those events was the start of the new year – midnight on January 1st.
So many people would know it was the new year, because they would hear the church bell ringing.
So today, we still say ‘ring in’ the New Year!
EXAMPLES:
Let’s ring in the New Year together. = Let’s celebrate New Years eve together.
I had a great time ringing in the New Year. = I had a great time celebrating New Years eve.
QUESTION:
How did you ring in 2009?
Many students ask me about how to be fluent in English. They want to be able to use English fluently.
This is a good question, but I think many students do not really understand what ‘fluent’ means. They know what the word ‘fluent’ means, but they do not know how to measure fluency.
How do you know if someone is fluent in English?
It depends on what you want to do with English.
The first thing YOU need to decide is, how will you know when YOU are fluent?
Do you:
When you have decided clearly your goal, then it is easier to reach it.
Recently I answered a friend’s question on this.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ADVICE I GAVE HIM.
CHALLENGE: Share your advice and opinions. How do you know when you are fluent?
Hi friends! Welcome to the new site!
Ask John English started as a simple blog. You can still see how it started here: http://askjohn.seesaa.net/
When I started writing, most of my visitors were Japanese and so I wrote lessons especially for them and their language needs. But, the site quickly grew and so I have started this new version. I hope everyone can enjoy Ask John English!
Recently one friend asked me: “How many people are there now on the Ask John English site?”
Now that is a good question! Let me answer this way.
We now have members from the following 46 countries:
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I am sure you will see your country in the list!
So let’s get the learning and using of English going!
| ACTIVITY FOR EVERYONE:Let’s start by getting to know a bit about each other.
1) GO to the forum: http://www.askjohnenglish.com/learn/course/view.php?id=5 2) WRITE or RECORD something about yourself:
3) READ what other people have written and reply to them. You will meet some great people! I have already met so many friendly and helpful people on my site! Of course I will read everything you write and respond to you! |
The Ask John English site is growing quickly!
Come on over and join the conversation!
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