Vocab game - Extreme adjective quiz

This is a bit of an experiment to try out a new program. If you were simply looking for a list of of gradable and ungradable adjectives, you can find one here.

The quiz has forty pairs of gradable and extreme adjectives, divided into four sets of ten pairs each. You can do them in the order given or they can be randomised.

When to use do after who in questions (and when not to).

Recently I read on a language website about how a student was confused about when to use do after who in questions, as someone had told him we can't use do/does/did after who. I don't know who that 'someone' was, but they had obviously got a bit confused themselves. Yes, there are times when we don't use do/does/did after who (and some other question words), but it is really the exception rather than the rule.

Read about using auxiliary do/does/did in questions, and do a couple of exercises.

Quantifiers - talking about a lot and a little - many, much, little, few etc

many, much, most, a lot (of)

(a) little, (a) few, less, least, fewer, fewest

These words can be used both as determiners and as pronouns. Some of them can also be used as adverbs. When used as determiners, they are sometimes called degree determiners.

Practise using these words with lots of exercises.

Random lesson - Non-assertive words plus a purposeful and

On his blog, Literal Minded, linguist Neal Whitman recently discussed something he had said earlier that day, which was:

Oh crap! I forgot to go the store and buy any club soda.

Not everyone who commented on his blog accepted this as being a natural sentence, and I have a bit of doubt about it myself. But as this sentence throws up a couple of interesting language points, I thought I'd make a lesson from it.

Learn a bit about non-assertive words plus purposeful and with five exercises.

Exploring determiners

I recently came across this explanation of determiners while looking at a business English course book - Intelligent Business Advanced:

There are three types of determiner: central determiners, predeterminers and postdeterminers, according to their position relative to each other and to the noun or noun phrase they describe.

I was a bit surprised at this, as I don't think I've ever come across these terms in TEFL materials before. And having written a post comparing determiners and pronouns, I was a bit worried that perhaps I'd missed something. So I decided to investigate.

A few, few, fewer, a little, little, less

This exercise is really just to test test out a generator program I've just published. It is taken from a a longer post on quantifiers talking about a lot and a little, which you can find here.

A few, few, fewer, a little, little, less

a little   ·  few   ·  a few   ·  less   ·  little   ·  few of   ·  fewer  

Click and Drop click on a word or phrase in the box above and then on the appropriate gap.

1.	She's got friends and spends most of her time alone at home.
2.	I've got money, why don't we go to the pub.
3.	Do you have any crime novels? - Yes, I've got .
4.	We sent out Christmas cards this year than last.
5.	It weighs than two kilos.
6.	A us are going to the cinema later on. Do you want to come?
7.	How much money have you got on you? - Only , I'm afraid.
8.	There's time before the film starts, so hurry up.
9.	There are really good shows at the festival this year, so it's well worth going to.
10.	It's than five kilometres to go.
11.	Is there any olive oil left? - I think there's in that bottle.
12.	Farmers produced rice this year than last year.

This exercise (4) has been made using a free generator and script at Random Idea English

Open a print-friendly copy in a new tab.

From an exercise at http://www.random-idea-english.blogspot.com

Causative get exercise

This exercise is really just to test test out a generator program I've just published. It is taken from an earlier post on get - Getting versatile.

prepare   ·  painted   ·  manicured   ·  fitted   ·  teach   ·  check   ·  install   ·  looked   ·  installed   ·  look   ·  built   ·  look after  

Click and Drop click on a word or phrase in the box above and then on the appropriate gap.

1.	Could you get somebody to my account, please?
2.	We're getting a new washing machine .
3.	She got her nails yesterday.
4.	She got somebody to her dog while she was on holiday.
5.	They're getting a conservatory onto their house.
6.	He's getting winter tyres to his car.
7.	They're getting a builder to solar panels on their roof.
8.	I'll get the chef to something special for the occasion.
9.	We got an electrician to come and at the wiring.
10.	She's getting a friend to her to drive. Bad idea!
11.	He got his garden at by a landscape architect.
12.	We're getting our car in psychedelic colours. - Cool!

This exercise (1) has been made using a free generator and script at Random Idea English

Weird and wonderful determiners

This exercise is really just to test test out a generator program I've just published. But it can also act as a taster for an upcoming post on determiners.

umpteenth   ·  said   ·  certain   ·  any old   ·  us   ·  we   ·  them   ·  yonder   ·  sod all   ·  you   ·  nth   ·  umpteen  

Click and Drop click on a word or phrase in the box above and then on the appropriate gap.

1.	It doesn't matter which; one will do.
2.	There's milk left in the fridge. I'll have to go and buy some.
3.	I was just talking quietly to this policeman when policeman arrested me for loitering!
4.	I've asked him times, but he always forgets.
5.	Hey, mate! Have you got one of thingummies for opening beer? bottles (dialect / non-standard - used instead of 'those')
6.	For the time, will you please do as you're told!
7.	She's a perfectionist and always does everything to the degree.
8.	That's how teachers feel about these things.
9.	People sometimes find British a bit reserved.
10.	At the foot of mountain there runs a clear stream. (old fashioned / dialect / poetic) - means 'over there'
11.	I hope students have all done your homework.
12.	There's a Je ne sais quoi about him.

This exercise (3) has been made using a free generator and script at Random Idea English

Tools - Gapfill Code Generator Version 2

Currently in testing mode

For teacher bloggers etc

With this generator you can make interactive gapfill exercises for your blog or web page. If you want to make an exercise without the interactivity, you can use just the HTML (without the buttons) and the CSS. You could also use this for generating worksheets, but you'd be better going to my Multi-function gapfill generator

1. Use the program to automatically generate a gapfill exercise
2. The program will also generate the HTML and Javascript code you need for this particular exercise and it's answers
3. Copy the rest of the Javascript and CSS code into your blog post or web page

Note - this is slightly different from the previous version, so please read the instructions

Zero Conditional - there's more to it than water boiling at 100°C

This is intended to be one of several posts where I take a look at conditionals from a rather different angle. Zero Conditional rarely gets more than a couple of lines in course books; I'm going to look at in rather more detail, and hopefully encourage you to think about its function, not simply its form.