The United States of America, Easy Difficulty
Which word in “The United States of America” is the adjective? There is only one.
The first person to answer correctly in a comment gets a point!
Tag Archives: English
This site is mostly in the English language, but these posts are specifically about language. Many are English lessons.
English Lesson 4
Quadcopters and Sia, Advanced Difficulty
This is a fun video. Even better, you can turn on subtitles and see what he is saying. Even better, you can print the transcript and read along what he is saying!
TED Talks are a great source of English language.
This is a popular song with good lyrics! There is one error in the video. She says “Come on. Come on.” She does not say, “Come one. Come One.” “Come one” doesn’t make sense.
English Lesson 3
Greensleeves, Advanced Difficulty
Listen to the traditional English folk song, Greensleeves. It is one of my favorites. The lyrics are here.
What does “Greensleeves” mean? The answer is in the Wikipedia article here, under the heading “Lyrical Interpretation.”
English Lesson 2 Answer
- If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.
Beyoncé is not a boy, but if she were, she would turn off her phone so that she could pay attention to her girlfriend. It goes under, “If I were you, I would join the tennis club.” I´m not you, but if I were…
- If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.
It is the “zero conditional.” It goes under, “If I have enough time, then I play tennis as much as I can,” because it is true in the present:
You thought I would wait for you…
It is currently true. He thought Beyoncé would wait for him.
…you thought wrong.
is also currently true. He thought wrong. The verbs are past tense, but the statements are true in the present. Beyoncé also could have said: “Because you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.”
- If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.
Is the second conditional. It goes under, “If I had enough time, then I would play tennis every day.”
English Lesson 2
Conditionals, Medium Difficulty
Place the following lyrics from the song on the conditionals classification sheet (click here for the workbook):
- If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.
- If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.
Barenaked Ladies – If I Had a Million Dollars
Place the following lyrics from the song on the conditionals sheet:
- If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.
English Lesson 1 Answer
Easy Answer
“The United States of America”
“The” is an article. In this case it means that there is only one country called “United States of America.”
“United” is an adjective describing “States” meaning that the states are together.
“States” is a noun. A state could be a thing, or a place, or an idea. It is only capitalized when used as part of the name of a specific place.
“Of” is a proposition. The prepositional phrase “of America” means the states are in America.
“America” is a noun. It is a place. It is always capitalized because it is the name of a specific place. “America” includes both continents, North and South America, but people from the USA are “Americans.” America!
Medium Answer
“I’ve been to Hollywood”
and
“I’ve been to Redwood”
are both present perfect. See this lesson.
Step #1: identify the verb.
“I’ve” = “I have,” therefore
In “I have been to…”
“have been” is the verb.
Step #2: match it to present perfect in your workbook, write the sentence, and underline “have been.”
Step 3: continue to enjoy the music!
“I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.”
Step #1: identify the verb.
“Crossed” is the verb. The sentence is in the simple past verb tense.
Step #2: write the sentence and underline the verb.
Step #3: continue to learn by example!
More
Translate the song with Google Translate. Do it! Then listen to the song a few times until you can feel the meaning. Learn 30 words all at one time! Don’t worry too much about the exact meaning. Music uses poetic license!
English Lesson 1
Easy
Identify the part of speech of each of the following five words:
The United States of America
Medium
Neil Young – Heart of Gold (one of my favorite songs)
What is the verb tense of each of these 3 lines of the song? Write each sentence under a heading in the workbook.
- I’ve been to Hollywood.
- I’ve been to Redwood.
- I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.
More
Translate the song using these instructions, then listen to the song until you can understand the meaning without translating.
Translate Music Lyrics, Step by Step Instructions
It´s easy:
- Go to YouTube and type ¨any song name¨ + ¨lyrics.¨ You can listen to the song and watch the words, like karaoke.
- Search the same words in Google for the song lyrics.
- Highlight the lyrics from the Google search and copy (Ctrl+c) and paste (Ctrl+v) into Google Translate.
- The translation is usually very good! Remember ¨poetic license¨ in music and poetry.
English Music!
Search any song on YouTube and write “lyrics” in the search. It’s a great way to learn.
Download and print the workbook:
Great, catchy English songs:
Neil Young – Heart of Gold (one of my favorite songs)
What is the verb tense of each of each of these lines of the song? Write the sentences in the workbook under the correct verb tense example.
- I’ve been to Hollywood.
- I’ve been to Redwood.
- I crossed the ocean for a heart of gold.
Conditional Songs
Write the following sentences in the workbook under the correct conditional example:
- If I were a boy, I would turn off my phone.
- If you thought I would wait for you, you thought wrong.
Cyndi Lauper – Time after Time
Write the following sentences in the workbook under the correct conditional example:
- If you’re lost you can look and you will find me, time after time.
Joan Osborne – What if God Was One of Us?
In the lyrics…
What if God was one of us?
…does she ever answer the question?
Barenaked Ladies – If I Had a Million Dollars
Write the following sentences in the workbook under the correct conditional example:
- If I had a million dollars, I would buy you a house.
Other great English songs:
The Cure – Friday I’m in Love
Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud (translate for your girlfriend)
English Lessons: Most Difficult for Portuguese Speakers
Pronouncing the “-ed” ending.
This lesson is derived from www.grammar.cl
Prepositions: “in” “on” “at”
Quick lesson on these important prepositions: “in” “on” “at”
To use “the” or not to use “the”? The definite article in English
Lesson about using the definite article (“the”) from www.edufind.com
Nation / the adjective / a person: The United States / American / An American
I recommend this lesson from www.edufind.com
Choosing between present perfect and past simple verb tense.
I recommend this lesson from www.perfect-english-grammar.com