NEW WORDS IN ENGLISH

Word	Meaning
Acrobranching	An adventure sport involving acrobatics in trees using zip lines and climbing harnesses.
Affluenza	A blend of 'affluence' and 'influenza'. A social disease resulting from extreme materialism and excessive consumerism: earning more money and consuming more, which can lead to overwork, debt, stress, anxiety, etc.
Agritourism	A form of tourism in which tourists stay on farms or in agricultural villages, and often participate in farm activities.
Alcopop	Fruit drinks fortified with alcohol, designed and marketed to appeal to young people.
Amazeballs	Used to say that you find something extremely good, very enjoyable, impressive, etc.
Analysis paralysis	The total inability to reach a decision due to over-analysis of a situation.
Anklington	Blend of the words 'ankle' and 'wellington'. A short wellington boot.
Anonymouse  Anonymice	People who wish to remain anonymous when they give information, essentially because they are afraid of scandal or retribution.
App	Abbreviation of 'application', software that performs a specific task.
Applepick	Steal someone's iPhone.
Audiophile	Person who loves and collects high-quality audio equipment.
Avatar	A graphical image representing a person for example on the Internet.

Multiple-choice exercise

1.The children have _____ new teacher called Mr. Green

A AN THE No Article

2.Alex is in Boston studying for _____ MBA

A AN THE No Article

3.It would help us if you gave _____ honest opinion

A AN THE No Article

4.Jennifer tasted _____ birthday cake her mother had made

A AN THE No Article

5.Dad turned on _____ radio to listen to _____ news

A/A A/THE THE/THE No Article

Choose A, AN or THE to complete each sentence

1.The teacher read _____ interesting article from the newspaper.
A AN THE No article

2.Julie talked for _____ hour about her school projec
A AN THE No article

3.Danny wanted _____ new bicycle for Christmas
A AN THE No article

4.All pupils must obey _____ rules
A AN THE No article

5.The Mississippi river is in _____ United States of America
No article AN THE A

WISH - IF

WISH :

• To express a regret about the present, we use wish + the past simple :
  • I don't play the piano.  I wish I played the piano.
  • Pedro doesn't speak English.  Pedro wishes he spoke English.

• When 'wish' if followed by the verb 'to be',  'were'  is used instead of 'was':
  • I don't have a lot of money.  I wish I were (not was) rich. 
  • I'm not very tall. I wish I were taller.

• To express a regret about the past, we use wish + the past perfect :
  • Julie lost her umbrella yesterday.  Julie wishes she hadn't lost her umbrella.
  • Alex didn't revise his grammar.  Alex wishes he had revised his grammar.

• To express a desire to change something, we use wish + would :
  • The children are making a lot of noise. I wish they would stop making noise.
  • The weather is awful.  I wish the weather would improve.

NOTE :  ‘I wish’ can be replaced with ‘if only’ which carries more emphasis.
◊  “If only you had told me in time!’ = “I wish you had told me in time.” 

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IF :

• After if, we often use were instead of was, especially in a formal style where it is considered more correct.
  
  • If I were rich, I would travel all over the world.
  • If  he were a better manager, the company would be more successful.
• We use the structure "if I were you " + would to give advice
  
  • If I were you I would take English lessons.

WHO - WHOSE - WHOM - THAT - WHICH - WHERE

There is often confusion about the use of who, whose, whom, that, which or where. 

• We use who when referring to people or when we want to know the person.
  • The person who answered the phone was very helpful.
  • Who ate all the chocolates?
• We use which to refer to a thing or an idea, and to ask about choices.
  • My car, which is 20 years old, isn't worth much.
  • Which size would you like, small, medium or large?
• We use that for both a person and a thing/idea.
  • I'm talking about the person that I saw yesterday. 
  • This is the style that I want to use.
• Whose refers to ownership.
  • Whose dictionary is this?
  • There's the girl whose car was stolen.
• Whom: 
  When who is the object of a verb, whom, with a preposition, can be used instead,
  but it is formal and rather old-fashioned. In modern speech, we use who, or we leave out
  the pronoun.
  • You are referring to a person who no longer works here.
  • The person to whom you are referring no longer works here.
  • The person (who) you are you referring to no longer works here.
  
  Whom is always used when it is preceded by quantifiers such as all of, both of, few of,
  many of, several of, etc. For example:
  • He addressed the spectators, most of whom remained seated.
• Where (relative adverb) refers to places and locations.
  • Where is the station please?
  • That's where I spent my childhood. 

Examples of use :

I know a woman. She speaks 6 languages.	I know a woman who speaks 6 languages.
I know a woman.  Her husband speaks 6 languages.	I know a woman whose husband speaks 6 languages.
I spoke to a person yesterday.	The person to whom I spoke yesterday.(formal) The person (who) I spoke to yesterday. (informal)
I live in a house.  It is 200 years old.	I live in a house which/that is 200 years old.
That's the hotel. We stayed there last year.	That's the hotel where we stayed last year. That's the hotel that we stayed in  last year.

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When can we leave out relative pronouns  (who, whom,  which, that)?

In conversational English relative pronouns can be omitted when they are the object of a relative clause. In a formal context it is usually wiser to leave the relative pronoun.

Subject	Verb	Object
Tom	drives	a red truck
→ The person who drives a red truck is called Tom. In this sentence 'who' refers to the subject so it cannot be omitted. → The truck (that) Tom drives is red. In this sentence 'that' refers to the object (the truck) so it can be omitted.

Compare :

• The woman who wanted to see me is a doctor. ('Woman' is the subject of the sentence)
• The woman (that) I wanted to see is a doctor. (Here 'woman' is the object, 'I" is the subject.)

WHO - WHOM

There is often confusion about the use of who and whom. 
Who and whom are pronouns. 
Who is a subject pronoun, in the same way as 'he/she/they'. 
Whom is an object pronoun, in the same way as 'him/her/them'. 

In the sentence "John loves Julie." :

• John is the subject of the verb 'love'
• Julie is the object of John's affection.

Simple rule : If you can substitute 'he/they', use 'who'. 
 If you can substitute 'him/them', use 'whom'.

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Subject	Verb	Object
Tom	loves	Julie
Who	loves	Julie?
Tom	loves	whom?

Subject

• Who
  
  We use 'who' when it is the subject of a verb, that is, when it refers to the person who
  takes an action.
  
  • Julie played tennis. Julie is the subject of the verb 'to play'.
  • To find out the name of the player, we ask a question using 'who'.
    Who played tennis? Julie played tennis.
  • Who can also be used as the subject of a non-identifying clause:
    • There's Mr. Jones who bought the house next door.

Object

• Whom
  We can use 'whom' as the object of a verb, but it is very formal and not often used in spoken English.
  
  • Formal English :     Whom did you see?
  • Everyday English :  Who did you see?
• In formal English, whom is used directly after a preposition:
  • With whom did you play?
  • In informal conversational English, it is more usual to ask :
    • Who did you play with?
• Whom is always used when it is preceded by quantifiers such as all of, both of, few of,many of, several of, etc. For example:
  • He addressed the spectators, most of whom remained seated.

WHETHER - IF

When to use 'whether' and 'if' in English.

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'Whether' and 'if' are used as follows : 

• To express alternatives :
  • I don't know whether/if I'll go to the party on Saturday (or not).
• To report a question :
  • Are you going to the party?
    - She asked me whether/if I was going to the party (or not).
• Only whether can be used in the following cases:
  
  
  • When followed by an infinitive :
    • I don't know whether to go to the party or not.
  • After prepositions :
    • It depends on whether I get home early or not.
  • When whether begins a clause which is the subject of a sentence.
    • Whether I go to the party or to the cinema makes no difference to me.
  • When followed directly by 'or not'
    • I'll be happy whether or not I go to the party.

Grammar Exercise

Complete the sentences below with an appropriate word. 

1.      You are welcome to come and stay with us __________ you like.

2.       I'd like to speak to __________ is in charge of sales.

3.      __________ you do, don't forget to call me as soon as you arrive.

4.      It comes in three colours;  choose __________ you prefer.

5.      What do you want to do on Saturday?  I don't mind - ___________ you like!

6.      He always makes friends quickly, ________________ he goes.

7.      _______________  borrowed the dictionary should return it as quickly as possible.

8.      The teacher says I don't participate enough, but ____________ I try to speak, someone interrupts me!

9.      There is no entrance fee; you give __________ you can afford.

10.    He says he's from Brookstown, ____________ that is.

Answers:

  1) whenever   2) whoever   3) whatever   4) whichever   5) whatever   6) wherever   7) whoever   8) whenever   9) whatever   10) wherever

WHATEVER - WHENEVER - WHEREVER - WHICHEVER - WHOEVER

Whatever, whenever, wherever, whichever, whoever :

If we add -ever to wh-words like what, which, when, where and who,
we change their meaning to :
“it doesn’t matter”, or “no matter” what, which, when, where and who …


Whatever, whenever, wherever, whichever, whoever are used as follows :

• Whatever = anything or everything; regardless of what, no matter what
  
  - Whatever you do, don't forget your grandmother's birthday.
  - Take whatever you want from the fridge of you're hungry.
  - Put that thing away whatever it is!
  - She won't listen to you whatever you say. 
• Whenever = every time; at any time; regardless of when, not matter when
  
  - You can borrow my dictionary whenever you like. 
  - Whenever we plan a picnic it rains! 
  - He interrupts me whenever I start to speak.
  - Whenever I open this cupboard something falls out!
• Wherever = everywhere; regardless of where, no matter where
  
  - Wherever you go you'll always find someone who speaks English.
  - She'll be happy wherever she decides to live.
  - We'll go on holiday wherever you want to go - you choose!
  - My grandfather accompanies my grandmother wherever she goes.
• Whichever = the person or thing which; regardless of which, no matter which
  
  - Wear whichever shoes are the most comfortable.
  - Take whichever one you want.
  - Choose whichever earrings you like - it's your birthday!
  - Take any book you like - whichever one interests you.
• Whoever = the person who; regardless of who, no matter who
  
  - Whoever comes with you is welcome.
  - Whoever opened the gate didn't close it.
  - I don't want to talk to you, - whoever you are!
  - I'm so annoyed with whoever borrowed the dictionary and didn't put it back!