English Demystified

By Chris Fitzgerald

English Demystified deals with a wide range of issues which are encountered by English language students and native speakers alike. By examining the workings of the English language which are relevant to daily use, this comprehensive guide offers readers the opportunity to enhance their understanding of English and thereby improve their ability to communicate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Sep 17, 2020

Book preview

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Clube de Autores is a Brazilian book publisher whose address can be found at www.clubedeautores.com.br

Copyright © Chris Fitzgerald 2020

Chris Fitzgerald has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in Brazil in 2020

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the Câmera Brasileira do Livro (CBL).

www.cbl.org.br

ISBN 978-65-991109-2- 4

Printed in Brazil

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ENGLISH DEMYSTIFIED

A practical guide to the English language Written by

Chris Fitzgerald

1st Edition

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For Ana Cláudia and Eric

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Contents

Introduction............................................................................. 9

1: American English and British English............................... 11

2: Pronunciation .................................................................... 1 3

Vowels .......................................................................................................... 1 3

Consonants .................................................................................................. 1 6

3: Basic concepts................................................................... 2 3

Personal pronouns...................................................................................... 2 3

The vocative................................................................................................. 2 3

Sentence structure....................................................................................... 2 4

Objects and verbs ....................................................................................... 2 4

Transitive and intransitive verbs............................................................... 2 5

Types of object............................................................................................ 2 6

Articles.......................................................................................................... 2 9

4: Word definitions ................................................................ 3 1

Nouns ........................................................................................................... 3 1

Antonyms and synonyms .......................................................................... 3 3

Homonyms, homophones and homographs.......................................... 3 4

Types of pronouns...................................................................................... 3 5

Prepositions ................................................................................................. 4 3

Adverbs ........................................................................................................ 4 7

5: Verbs.................................................................................. 50

Regular verbs ............................................................................................... 50

Irregular verbs ............................................................................................. 5 2

Auxiliary verbs............................................................................................. 5 4

The present participle (-ing)...................................................................... 5 5

Stative verbs and dynamic verbs .............................................................. 5 5

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An introduction to modal verbs............................................................... 56

Gerunds and infinitives.............................................................................. 5 7

Denomilisation............................................................................................ 5 8

Phrasal verbs................................................................................................ 5 8

6: Dependent and independent clauses ................................ 6 1

Conjunctions................................................................................................ 6 3

7: Verb tenses ........................................................................ 6 6

Present simple tense ................................................................................... 6 7

Present continuous tense........................................................................... 7 3

Past simple tense......................................................................................... 7 8

Past continuous tense................................................................................. 8 4

Future simple tense (Will).......................................................................... 90

Future simple tense (Going to)................................................................. 9 4

Future continuous tense .......................................................................... 100

Present perfect tense ................................................................................ 10 5

Past perfect tense ...................................................................................... 11 3

Future perfect tense.................................................................................. 11 8

Present perfect continuous tense ........................................................... 12 1

Past perfect continuous tense ................................................................. 12 6

Future perfect continuous tense............................................................. 1 30

8: Modal verbs ..................................................................... 13 4

9: Conditionals..................................................................... 1 45

10: Active voice and passive voice ....................................... 1 50

11: Orthography and punctuation ....................................... 1 53

Index .............................................................................. 1 70

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Introduction

I will be honest: learning a new language is never easy (it would be wonderful if that were the case) but, on the other hand, it is not impossible.

When I decided to write the Portuguese version of this book, I asked myself two questions: a) why is this book necessary? And b) why should I write this book? Well, in response to the first question, I believe the

way information is presented is important beca use information itself never makes sense without a context. When we use tourist maps, for example, we pay attention to the location and names of roads and streets and tourist attractions. The creators of the map do not include traffic lights and pedestrian crossings in order to make the information more intelligible. I have used a similar approach with this book.

And in response to the second question, this book was originally written with English language students in mind, but anyone with an interest in the language can read it. It is not just a book about English grammar, although a large part of the book makes use of grammar.

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For this reason, I have written those parts of the book which deal with grammar from the perspective of circumstances, not rules. In this book, I have tried to present the various facets of the English language as a native speaker would see them. Although many native speakers of English may not understand the rules of grammar, they still speak the language fluently. Consequently, we need to look beyond grammar and consider other aspects which have had an impact on the language such as culture, style, etymology and, where necessary, tendency.

Of course, this book is by no means intended to replace language courses. English classes which are based on conversation can offer an invaluable opportunity to practice and develop our abilities. Experience is the best teacher you can ever have, because it is only when we have experienced something that we can really understand it. That said, I hope this book serves to aid the process of learning and understanding.

Chris Fitzgerald São Paulo, Brazil

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CHAPTER 1

American and British English: what is the difference?

The way English is spoken varies from country to country. The British possess their various styles while Americans, Australians and others use the language differently, all influenced by certain ways of speaking and sometimes there are differences in vocabulary. Even within a single country it is possible to see variations in the way English is spoken. For example, what we call British Standard English (BrSE) is based on how English is spoken in the south of England, and it is the preferred form for official communication in institutions such as the BBC, but in the north of England a slightly different form of spoken English is used in certain areas .

The main difference between American English and British English is the orthography. For example, Americans write defense and theater, but in the United Kingdom these words would be written defence and theatre. However, both forms are correct. This tendency

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on the part of Americans to write words more phonetically can be attributed to the influence of Noah Webster, whose name is now synonymous with dictionaries. He is believed to have thought that it was important that the United States, which was at that time a newly independent nation, should affirm its independence from Great Britain by means of language, and the reforms his ideas inspired may have influenced the use of phonetic spelling a mong Americans. Fortunately, the majority of written English is influenced by either the American or British form, and I would advise the reader whose first language is not English to choose the form that they feel is easier to use. I should also point out that the English used in this book conforms to British Standard English (BrSE).

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CHAPTER 2

Pronunciation

The English alphabet has 26 letters. In this section, I ha ve used the symbols of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to help with the pronunciation of the letters.

Vowels

Every word in the English language contains at least one syllable, and every syllable has a vowel sound. There are two types of vowels in English: long vowels and short vowels. The sound of long vowels is identical to the names of the vowels. Just in case you were thinking of ignoring this section, you should at least read the next section to understand why it is important to distinguish between vowel sounds…

Why it is important to distinguish between vowel sounds

For people