Learn English For Kids: Basic English

Showing posts with label Basic English. Show all posts

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Prefixes and Suffixes:

When we add suffixes or prefixes to the root words, new words are formed

Example: Quench +able = quenchable Un+ quenchable = unquenchable
Direct + or = director in + direct = indirect

Activity:
Form new words using the appropriate prefixes or suffixes:

Negative sentences:
Look at these sentences:

1. There was barely enough energy to find food and water.
2. Nowhere else will you find a place as comfortable as this?
3. These are negative sentences as words like ‘hardly, scarcely, rarely, and seldom’; give the sentence a negative meaning.

Activity:
Rewrite the sentences given below, using the words given in brackets:

1. We do not have sufficient food for all of us here. (barely)
2. Nathan never listens to me. (hardly)
3. Buses do not stop here often. (seldom)
4. He does not come late to school. (scarcely)
5. Rajan writes to his mother only once in three months. (rarely)

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Grammar Syllabification

Read the following words aloud:

Properly - pro-per- ly
Entertainment - en-ter-tain- ment
Astronomy - as-tro-no-my
Observable - ob-ser-va-ble
Permanent - per-ma-nent

The words when pronounced are split into syllables or units of sound.
e.g. 1. a–bout 2. In- side 3. Peo- ple 4. Mu-sic
5. gui-ta-rist 6. Pri-so-ners 7. Sur-vi-val 8. In-ter-nal

Attempt a syllabification of the following words:
Barely, fanatic, philharmonic, extravaganza, articulate

Saturday, March 14, 2015

What is Abbreviations and Acronyms:

An abbreviation (from Latin brevis, meaning short) is a shortened form of a word or phrase.

Usually, but not always it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase. For example, the word abbreviation can itself be represented by the abbreviation abbr, Abbrv. Or abbrev. Abbreviations should not be confused with Contractions or Acronyms (including initialisms), with which they share some semantic and phonetic functions, though all three are commonly connoted by the term “abbreviation.”

• An abbreviation is a shortening by any method (e.g. Prof; St; B.Tech; B.A. Mon ;)
• A contraction is a reduction of size by the drawing together of the parts . A contraction of a word is made by omitting certain letters or syllables and/ or bringing together the first and last letters or elements. (e.g: Dr. bk; can’t; they’re)
• An acronym is a word formed with te first letters of the words in the phrase. (e.g; UNESCO; AIDS; SIM (card) ; radar)
• An abbreviation may be made either by omitting certain portions from the interior or by cutting of a part; a contraction is an abbreviation, but an abbreviation is not necessarily a contraction.

More examples:
Abbreviations:

PA – Personal Assistant
PS – Personal Secretary/ post Script
BPO - Business process outsourcing
KPO - knowledge Process outsourcing
B. Tech. – Bachelor of technology
SBI - state bank of India
RRB - Railway Recruitment Board

Acronyms:

TAFE – Tractor and Farm Equipment
TANSI - Tamil Nadu Small Scale Industries
RAM - Random Access Memory
ROM - Read Only Memory
VISCOM - Visual Communication
AIR – All India Radio

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Know your idioms:

1. A penny for your thoughts? What are you thing about?
2. A chance in a million Either no chance at all or a very slim chance
3. Two sides of the same coin Two contrasting characters in the same category
4. A million dollar question A question with a much awaited and valuable answer
5. As good as gold Very well behaved
6. To cash in on To take advantage
7. Thirty pieces of silver The money paid to Judas Iscariot for betraying Jesus. Christ (this phrase is used as a symbol of betrayal)

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Learn English by poem - I had a Little Pony

I had a little pony,

His name was Dapple-grey,

I lent him to a lady,

To ride a mile away.

She whipped him, she lashed him,

She drove him through the mire.

I wouldn’t lend my pony now,

For all the lady’s hire.

New words

donkey, wallop, lady, whipped, lent, lashed, mire, hire

Reading is fun

1. Another word for wallop is ______________. Would the child hit the donkey?

2. What would the child give the donkey?

3. What is a pony?

4. What did the lady do to the pony?

(a) She took care of the pony.

(b) She whipped and lashed him.

(c) She sold the pony.

5. What did the child decide to do?

(a) To lend the pony again to the lady.

(b) To never lend the pony to the lady again.

(c) To give the pony to the lady.

Let’s talk

1. Have you seen people beating animals? What do you think of such people?

2. Do you ever tease animals? Do you think that you should be kind to them?

3. Tell your friends about some unusual pets that you have seen.