ST VALENTINE´S DAY.

FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY

ENGLISH ESSAY WRITING 

1. GENERAL ADVICE

a. READ the title of the essay carefully and make sure that you understand it. If necessary, underline key words in the title. REMEMBER: if your essay does not cover the topic(s) proposed in the title, your mark will be very low.

b. WRITE AN ESSAY PLAN. You can do this in English or in your mother tongue – but remember that you must be sure that you can express your ideas easily in English. In your essay plan you should note down specific vocabulary related to the topic. You should also write down any appropriate CONNECTORS (linkers). At first, you will find writing an essay plan difficult and time-consuming, but with practice it will save you time in the end and will also help you to organise your ideas in coherent paragraphs.

EXAMPLE OF AN ESSAY PLAN:
 
What are the advantages and disadvantages of mobile phones?
1. INTRODUCTION:
 Now everybody has a mobile.
 What happened in the past?
 There are pros and cons.
 
2. PARAGRAPH 1: Advantages
 Immediate contact with family and friends.
 Good in emergencies.
 Many news uses – technology is developing.
 
3. PARAGRAPH 2: Disadvantages
 Bad for our health; addictive.
 Not sociable?
 What happens in schools?
 
4. CONCLUSION:
 Good and bad aspects.
 My opinion.
 
KEY WORDS: technology, technological, developments, to keep in touch with someone, text messages, (on) the Internet, health, healthy, unhealthy, good//bad manners, to be banned.
POSSIBLE LINKERS: Contrast – however, nevertheless, on the one hand………..on the other hand, although, despite//Adding Information – also, in addition, moreover, furthermore//Giving your opinion – as far as I am concerned, in my view, etc.
 
c. PRESENTATION. Your essay should be presented neatly and should be easy to read. It is always a good idea to write an initial draft and then a clean version. 

The following instructions are important:
 Use blank A-4 paper. DO NOT use lined paper.
 Write your full NAME at the top right-hand corner of the page.
 Write the TITLE of the composition (exactly as it is written in the exam).
 Leave a wide MARGIN on the left.
 Leave SPACE between each line.
 Clearly indicate the beginning of each paragraph by INDENTING the first line (DO NOT use lines or dots).
 If you make a mistake, cross it out neatly with one line: mistake.

d. REVISE your text when you have finished your first draft. This is extremely important as you will always find common mistakes and words or expressions that you are unsure of.
 
COMMON MISTAKES. You should make sure you are familiar with the following points of grammar and check you have used them correctly in your essays:
 Adjectives - position/number
 Gerunds and infinitives
 Much/many/a lot of
 Word order
 Another/other/others
 Prepositions
 Use of the definite article
 Agreement of subject and verb
 Correct use of verb tenses
 Punctuation
 Spelling
 False friends

e. FINALLY, remember these GENERAL RULES:

 Avoid very long, complicated sentences (with these, it is easier to make mistakes), or sentences which are too short.
 DO NOT TRANSLATE from Spanish into English. If you do this, you will inevitably make mistakes. It is better to think how you can express your ideas in a clear, simple way in English, using vocabulary and grammatical forms that you are sure of.
 Try and incorporate grammar which you have studied in Bachillerato into your essays, for example, the passive voice, relative pronouns, indirect speech, etc.
 Make sure that you use appropriate connectors so that your text appears to be more coherent.
 The best way to write well in English is to have read a wide variety of texts in English, which will both improve your level of comprehension and help you to form opinions and have ideas about which you can write. There are many websites to help improve your reading comprehension, for example:

http://www.saberingles.com.ar/reading/index.html
http://www.betterenglish.org.ph/Reading/Reading.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/inthenews/newstome/archive_newstome.shtml

DOWNLOAD A FOR AND AGAINST ESSAY HERE.

THIRD CONDITIONAL.

Third Conditional: no possibility

EXERCISE ONE

EXERCISE TWO 

The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(

	condition	result
	Past Perfect	WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
If	I had won the lottery	I would have bought a car.

Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result are impossible now.

Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.

Look at some more examples in the tables below:

IF	condition	result
	past perfect	WOULD HAVE + past participle
If	I had seen Mary	I would have told her.
If	Tara had been free yesterday	I would have invited her.
If	they had not passed their exam	their teacher would have been sad.
If	it had rained yesterday	would you have stayed at home?
If	it had rained yesterday	what would you have done?

 

result	IF	condition
WOULD HAVE + past participle		past perfect
I would have told Mary	if	I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara	if	she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been sad	if	they had not passed their exam.
Would you have stayed at home	if	it had rained yesterday?
What would you have done	if	it had rained yesterday?

SECOND CONDITIONAL.

Second conditional

copyright: www.englishgrammarsecrets.com

The Second Conditional is used to talk about 'impossible' situations.

• If we were in London today, we would be able to go to the concert in Hyde Park.
• If I had millions dollars, I'd give a lot to charity.
• If there were no hungry people in this world, it would be a much better place.
• If everyone had clean water to drink, there would be a lot less disease.

Note that after I / he/ she /it we often use the subjunctive form 'were' and not 'was'. (Some people think that 'were' is the only 'correct' form but other people think 'was' is equally 'correct' .)

• If she were happy in her job, she wouldn't be looking for another one.
• If I lived in Japan, I'd have sushi every day.
• If they were to enter our market, we'd have big problems.

Note the form 'If I were you' which is often used to give advice.

• If I were you, I'd look for a new place to live.
• If I were you, I'd go back to school and get more qualifications.

The Second Conditional is also used to talk about 'unlikely' situations.

• If I went to China, I'd visit the Great Wall.
• If I was the President, I'd reduce taxes.
• If you were in my position, you'd understand.

Note that the choice between the first and the second conditional is often a question of the speaker's attitude rather than of facts. Compare these examples. Otto thinks these things are possible, Peter doesn't.

• Otto – If I win the lottery, I'll buy a big house.
• Peter – If I won the lottery, I'd buy a big house.
• Otto – If I get promoted, I'll throw a big party.
• Peter – If I got promoted, I'd throw a big party.
• Otto – If my team win the Cup, I'll buy champagne for everybody.
• Peter – If my team won the Cup, I'd buy champagne for everybody.

Note that the 'If clause' can contain the past simple or the past continuous.

• If I was still working in Brighton, I would commute by train.
• If she were coming, she would be here by now.
• If they were thinking of selling, I would want to buy.

Note that the main clause can contain 'would' 'could' or 'might.

• If I had the chance to do it again, I would do it differently.
• If we met up for lunch, we could go to that new restaurant.
• If I spoke to him directly, I might be able to persuade him.

Also note that sometimes the 'if clause' is implied rather than spoken.

• What would I do without you? ("if you weren't here")
• Where would I get one at this time of night? ("if I wanted one")
• He wouldn't agree. ("if I asked him")

exercise 1

exercise 2

exercise 3

exercise 4

exercise 5