TO B2 OR NOT TO BE

WORDS AND SENTENCES STRESSED      Normally when we say "I feel stressed" it means "I feel anxious". Stress is a kind of worried feeling about life or work. But there is another kind of stress that actually helps us understand. This other kind of stress is an accent that we make on certain syllables and words when speaking English.      In some languages, for example Japanese, people say each syllable with equal force. But in English, and some other languages, we put a big force (stress) on some syllables and no force on other syllables or words. This can make it difficult for speakers of other languages to understand English that is spoken quickly. Of course, for native speakers it is not difficult - in fact, stress actually helps native speakers understand each other. So it is very important.      We shall talk here about WORD STRESS (stress on a syllable inside a word) and SENTENCE STRESS (stress on words inside a se...

PAST PARTICIPLES As you should already know, the Past Participle (P.Pt.) is one of the four  invariable  forms of each and every English verb, apart from the Infinitive, the Gerund and the Past Simple form. They are used to form the perfect tenses and they can also function as adjectives in given contexts. The most common way to form the Past Participle is by adding  –ed  to the verb, which is the way in which regular verbs form their Past Simple and Past Participle forms. Take, for instance, the verb  move .             MOVE              Infinitive form: MOVE             Past Simple and Past Participle forms: MOVED In context             If we have a child, we will have to  move  to a bigger house. (Infi...

SILENT LETTERS Silent letters are letters that are not pronounced in a word. There are  many silent letters  in English including the letter 'e' at the end of a word, the letter 'b' following 'm' and many, many more. SILENT B B is not pronounced when following M at the end of a word. climb - I climbed the tree in the park. crumb - There's a crumb of bread on your lapel. dumb - That's a really dumb question. comb - Do you carry a comb with you? SILENT C C is not pronounced in the ending "scle." muscle - He's building up muscle with that exercise.  SILENT D D is not pronounced in the following common words: handkerchief - Adding a handkerchief to your suit provides a touch of class. Wednesday - I'm not working this Wednesday. SILENT E E is not pronounced at the end of words and usually makes the vowel long. hope - I hope to see you soon. drive - I'll drive the car to Seattle tomorrow. gave -...