Tuesday 23 April 2013

Linking words


We use many words to indicate contrast, reasons, results, and purpose.  We use them to link different parts of a sentence and they are very common in English and Spanish.

Utilizamos muchas palabras para indicar el contraste, razones, resultados, y el propósito. Las utilizamos para unir partes diferentes de una frase y son muy cotidianas en inglés y castellano.


El contraste - contrast

although aunque  
Although she doesn't like her job, she works hard.

even though aunque, a pesar de que 
Even though she was late, she said nothing!

though aunque 
Though they were invited, they didn't come to the party.

in spite of a pesar de 
In spite of the bad weather, they went to the shop.

despite a pesar de  
Despite the rain, we went to Cádiz.

while mientras 
He is French while his wife is Spanish.

whereas mientras que 
He is quiet whereas his sister is noisy.


Razón/resultado – reason/result

because porque 
He ran to the house because he was late.

because of debido a, a causa de 
We didn't go out because of the rain.

as porque 
I prepared coffee as you don't like tea.

since porque (no después) 
I didn't buy it since I had no money.


so así que, por lo que 
I was late so I ran for the train.

as a result como resultado 
It was raining. As a result, we stayed home.

therefore por lo tanto, por eso 
It was cheap therefore I bought it.



Propósito – purpose

to para 
I went to Paris to learn French.

in order to para 
I went to Paris in order to learn French.

so as to para 
I went to Paris so as to learn French.

for ..-ing para 
I bought some cloth for making clothes.

Normalmente, for + -ing es una construcción que describe el propósito de una cosa.  En este caso, es el propósito de la tela, que es una cosa.  Si el énfasis es en la persona, utilizamos una forma diferente, como in order to.

I bought some cloth in order to make clothes.  En este caso, el propósito pertenece a la persona, no a la cosa.

Podemos utilizar "for" para hablar de un propósito de una persona cuando viene seguido de un nombre pero no de un verbo.

Ejemplo:
We went to the restaurant for lunch.    Lunch es un nombre.
Pero:  We went to the restaurant for to eat lunch - es incorrecta.   We went to the restaurant to eat lunch - esa frase es correcta.

so that para que 
We left early so that we won't arrive late.

just in case por sí acaso  
Take an umbrella just in case it rains.



Pero ¡ten cuidado!

as, while, since pueden referir al tiempo también.  Por ejemplo:

As/while I was reading the book, I saw the bird.
Mientras leía yo el libro, yo veía el pájaro.

Since I was in Jerez, I have been in Cádiz.
Desde estaba en Jerez, he estado en Cádiz.

Sunday 7 April 2013

MP3 y documentos, ejercicios de audio

This week I am making available six English audio recordings together with their transcriptions and some questions about the content.  You can download them to your computer and practise your listening skills.

Esta semana, proveo seis grabaciones en inglés con sus transcripciones y algunas preguntas de su contenido.  Podéis descargar todo a su ordenador y practicar vuestra comprensión oral.

They are more advanced than much of the work we have covered in the classes and they are spoken at normal speed.  Do you like a challenge?

Son más avanzado que mucho de lo que cubrimos en las clases y se hablan a velocidad normal.  ¿Os gustan los retos?

Education
Audio - Education
Transcription - Education
Questions - Education

Multiculturalism
Audio - Multiculturalism
Transcription - Multiculturalism
Questions - Multiculturalism

Traffic
Audio - Traffic
Transcription - Traffic
Questions - Traffic

Wales and Scotland
Audio - Wales and Scotland
Transcription - Wales and Scotland
Questions - Wales and Scotland

Religion in the UK
Audio - Religion in the UK
Transcription - Religion in the UK
Questions - Religion in the UK

Gibraltar
Audio - Gibraltar
Transcription - Gibraltar
Questions - Gibraltar