Few / a few, little / a little are quantifiers. Here is how to use them correctly...

Few / a few, little / a little

Few / a few, little / a little are quantifiers. 

Here is how to use them correctly:

Few / a few
A few is more than few.
We use a few and few + a plural countable noun.	few people, few books, few letters a few people, a few books, a few letters
A few is a positive idea.	Fortunately, our financial situation is good: we still have a few good customers.
Few is a negative idea. It means 'almost none'. We can also use very few.	I'm very sad: I have few good friends. I'm very sad: I have very few good friends. (Both these sentences mean I don't have many good friends - I would like to have more.)
A few and few have irregular comparative and superlative forms.	few - fewer - the fewest a few - more - the most

Little / a little
A little is more than little.
We use a little and little + an uncountable noun.	a little time, a little food, a little money little time, little food, little money
A little is a positive idea. It means 'some but not much'.	Compare: I can help you: I speak a little English.
Little is a negative idea. It means 'nearly none, nearly nothing'. We can also use very little.	I can't help you. I speak little English. I can't help you. I speak very little English.(Both these sentences mean My English is bad. I would like to speak English better.)
A little and little have irregular comparative and superlative forms.	little - less - the least a little - more - the most

1- In each space put one of the following:

few - a few - little - a little

1. If you have __________ time, could you come and have a look at my

computer. It's not working very well.

2. She is quite poor. Ever since she lost her job last year, she's had

__________ money.

3. I don't want any more wine, thank you. I have __________ here.

4. Jack has __________ friends and is often at home alone. I worry about him,

you know.

5. You know __________ people here, don't you? I'll leave you to chat.

6. That new employee is great. She asked me __________ questions at the

start and, since then, seems to need __________ help. A very independent

type!

7. I have __________ patience for your stupid questions Smithers. Now tell

me what you want and stop wasting my time.

8. Add __________ salt to the soup. It needs it!

9. "How many extra chairs do you need for the dinner tonight?" "__________.

We have almost all the chairs we need."

Answer Key: 1-a little, 2-little, 3-a little, 4-few, 5-a few, 6-a few/ little, 7-little, 8-a little, 9-few.

Do you know when to use both, either and neither?

Do you know when to use both, either and neither?

Both = this AND that
Either = this OR that
Neither = NOT this and NOT that.

Both is used with 'and' e.g. 

"Emma and Megan both went to the party." 

We don't usually use this with a negative sentence, but use neither instead.
e.g."Both of us don't swim regularly." WRONG.

"Neither of us swim regularly." MUCH BETTER!

Either is used with 'or' e.g.
"Do you want either chocolate or crisps?"

We often use neither with 'nor', although this is quite formal. E.g.
"Neither Caroline nor Marguerite worked for EC during the world cup." 

Be careful not to use neither with another negative e.g.
"I don’t want neither chocolate nor crisps." WRONG.
We cannot have a double negative!

Exercises:

In the following sentences do we use (B)oth, (N)either or (E)ither? Good luck!

• 1. I don't like Italian food, so I don’t really want to go to  restaurants.
• 2. I love  of my sisters equally!
• 3.  my brother nor my sister likes mushrooms.
• 4. I can't choose, so please can I have  of them?
• 5. Please will  you or Philippa buy some milk later?
• 6. Does  of you have a black dress I can borrow?
• 7.  of them wants to come with me so I suppose I will have to go by myself.
• 8. I'm so lucky! I went to  Spain and Tenerife this year!
• 9. I don't think England or South Africa will win the world cup this year. of them.
• 10. I can't decide what to have for dinner. I think  fish and chips or roast chicken.
• 
  

Key answers: 1)E, 2)B, 3)N, 4)B, 5)E, 6)E, 7)N, 8)B, 9)N, 10)E.

Taken from: http://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/both-neither-either-pre-intermediate-level

SAY and TELL

Say and Tell

Today we are going to remember the difference between say and tell.

So how do you know when to use them? It’s easy:

• You say something to someone
• You tell someone something

Say is immediately followed by a noun clause (He said that he was right) or, if it is followed by a personal object, by to (He said to his father that he was right).

Tell is followed by an object noun or pronoun (Can you tell me who is right, please?)

SAY

1. We sometimes use “to someone” after we use say, for example:

“I said to him he was welcome to my birthday party but he said to me that he was busy, so I said to him that he could come later if he wanted to”

2. We use say with direct speech, for example:

Paul said, “Hi Julia! How are you?”
Julia said, “Well, I’m having a birthday party tomorrow, would you like to come?”
Paul said, “I’m working tomorrow”
Julia said, “Oh, well you can come later if you want to”

3. More examples with say:

- Susan said she was tired.
- Anthony says you found a new job. Congratulations!
- James came to my house yesterday and said he loved me.

TELL

1. We follow tell with a personal object, for example:

“I told everyone it was time to go home”

2. We use tell for orders and advice using the structure: tell + object + infinitive, for example:

“She told him to sit down but he told her he was not going to wait”

3. There are some fixed phrases we always use tell with, not say.

• tell (someone) a story
• tell (someone) a lie
• tell (someone) the truth
• tell the future
• tell the time
• tell a joke

4. More examples with tell:

- Tania told Charlie, “Turn off the TV now, I have to study”
- David told me that he found a new flat.
- Could you tell me what time it is?

Say or Tell? Exercise

Complete these sentences with say or tell. 

1. “Have a nice weekend!” Oliver _________ to me.

2. The teacher _________ us to study more.

3.  It’s very late, I’m going to have to _________ goodbye.

4. Don’t trust Tim, he always ________ lies.

5. Marissa ________ me that she was moving to Delhi.

6. Forget everything I just _________.

7. You shouldn’t _________ us that about Nina, it’s too personal.

8. Can you ________ me the way to the station, please?

9. What did Bruno ________ when he saw the surprise party?

10. Let me ________ you something about Victor: he always _________ the truth.

Enjoy your time!

Very Vs. Too

Very vs. Too

 Look at the two sentences. How are they different?

A: It is very hot.
B: It is too hot.

A is a simple statement- It's HOT!
But B shows some difficulty, like maybe because it is so hot, I feel terrible. Or because it is so hot, no one is happy.


Here are some more...

C: Lisa is very tall.
D: Lisa is too tall.

C is a simple statement. Wow! Lisa is a tall girl.
But D has a negative feeling. Perhaps because Lisa is tall, she hits her head on the ceiling. Or maybe she is so tall, she can't get a date or has no friends.


So remember, using too shows that there is a problem with the situation.

Check Your Understanding

Choose very or too.  1. I think James is nice. Karen thinks James is nice, too. James is ___ nice.  very  too 2. It's cold outside. I hate it. I might become sick if I go out. It's ___ cold outside.  very  too 3. That box is so big. I can't pick it up. That box is ___ big.  very  too 4. Tony's cat is fat. It weighs 8 kg. Tony's cat is ___ fat.  very  too 5. Tony's cat is fat. It can't run. It may not live a long time. Tony's cat is ___ fat.  very  too Have a good time!

Question Tags

Use

Frequently used in spoken English when you want to agree or disagree.

---

Form

positive statement ->question tag negative - You are Tom, aren't you?
negative statement->question tag positive - He isn't Joe, is he?

---

Examples

with auxiliaries

You've got a car, haven't you?

without auxiliaries (use: don't, doesn't, didn't)

They play football on Sundays, don't they?
She plays football on Sundays, doesn't she?
They played football on Sundays, didn't they?

Questions tags are used to keep a conversation going. 

You can agree or refuse to a sentence with a question tag.

You go to school, don't you?
You agree.	You refuse.
Yes, I do.	No, I don't.

You aren't from Germany, are you?
You agree.	You refuse.
No, I'm not.	Yes, I am.

Now that you know, try the following exercises:

Question Tags

Put in the correct question tags for each sentence.

1. John smokes a lot, _____________ ?

2. My mother has lovely hair, _____________ ?

3. You do like this film we're watching, _____________ ?

4. He can't speak very good English, _____________ ?

5. Your brother isn't married, _____________ ?

Have a good week!

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Voice is the form of a verb that shows whether the subject of a sentence does the action (= the active voice)or is affected by it (= the passive voice).

Examples:

"James hit the ball."

The verb "hit" is in the active voice.In other words, the form "hit" shows that the subject (James) did the action. The sentence "James hit the ball" is an active sentence.


"The ball was hit by James."

The verb "was hit" is in the passive voice.In other words, the form "was hit" shows that the subject (The ball) was affected by the action. The sentence "The ball was hit by James" is a passive sentence.

Here are some more examples:

Active: The ball hit Janet.

Passive: Janet was hit by the ball.

Active: He wrote a letter.

Passive: The letter was written by him.

Now, can you try to identify the voice in the following sentences?

(A)= Active and (P)= Passive

( ) The mailman carried the mail.

( ) The mail was carried by the mailman.

( ) A picture was taken by Kevin.

( ) They took the kids for a walk.

( ) Kevin took apicture.

( ) They took the kids for a walk.

( ) The kids were taken for a walk.

( ) The kids were taken for a walk by their moms.

Accept vs Except

Accept vs Except

Remember that accept is a verb,but except is a preposition.

Accept is an action word. It describes what a person does:

“  Meredith decided to accept the new cell phone plan that the company offered her.  It was a gooddeal!”



( What did Meredith do? She took the plan offered by the cell phone company.)

Except

It Modifies (describes it or restricts the meaning of) the sentence.

         

“ Everyone except Oscar thought the play was excellent.”  

   


( Everyone other than Oscar thought the play was excellent. Everyone else thought it was excellent , but Oscar did not.)

We've seen that even though these words sound the same,their meaning and use are different. Now you've got it!

Exercises :

Fill in the blank with either accept or except.

1.The whole army is out of step _______________ Fred.

2.I'll _______________ no money from that cheapskate.

3.Please _______________ this pot of Mama's chicken soup.

4.It will cure anything _______________ flat feet.

5.Rip could do anything _______________ make money.

6.I had to _______________ their negative evaluation.

7.All the girls went to the game _______________ Mary.

8.Howard could not _______________ the job.

Have a good time!