A short presentation about schwa

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Confused or confusing?

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In English we often use adjectives like bored and interested to say how we feel. A story, a situation, or another person can make us feel intrigued , embarrassed, or disappointed . We are often tired or stressed after a working week, and relaxed at the weekend. Surprised, depressed, amused, annoyed, and puzzled are other examples of –ed adjectives that express how people feel. They all come from verbs, and each of them has a relative – another adjective ending in – ing. The words in pairs like shocked/shocking and bored/boring look so similar because they come from the same verbs – shock and bore . Both confused and confusing come from confuse , although they have different meanings – which is confusing for some people. In such pairs, the –ing adjective describes what makes you feel in a certain way, while the –ed adjective describes how you feel. So, when something is interesting (it interests you), you are interested (you feel interested).
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Chips are cheap

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It may be difficult at first to hear the different vowel sounds in chip and cheap . As a result, some English learners may pronounce both words exactly in the same way. This and these – or it and eat – are often confused for the same reason. Although context usually helps the listener understand what we mean, getting these sounds right will make things a lot easier. When dealing with pronunciation, it's useful to use a specific symbol to identify each sound. The vowel in cheap , these and eat – represented by /i:/ – is a bit longer, and the lips are spread when pronouncing it – just like when you smile or when you say cheese . The sound in chip , this and it , represented by /ɪ/, is shorter and a bit closer to /e/. The longer vowel /i:/ is often spelt with a combination of two letters – as in please , meet , or key . But not always – you can find this sound in me and she , for example. Besides, /ɪ/ may also be spelt in various ways – busy , minute . So when learnin...
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Prepositional verbs and verbs without prepositions

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Verbs are often followed by complements – for example, I’m learning English , I have a cat , and I play baroque music . But depending on their meaning, they require different types of complements – some starting with a preposition, and some without it. As a result, we hear music but we listen to music ; we see things but we look at them . Prepositional verbs are followed by a preposition that depends on the verb: you agree with someone , you wait for a bus , and you laugh at a joke . However, these prepositions don’t occur when there is no object: ‘ Please wait, ’ ‘ Don’t laugh ,’ ‘ Do you agree? ’ She’s waiting for the bus. Not all verbs take prepositions: in English, you enter a building , you phone friends , and you discuss problems . On the other hand, some verbs can be used in more than one way: we may ask a question , but we ask for help ; we pay tax , we pay the rent , and we pay ten euros , but we pay for a coffee . What all this means is that, w...
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