Describing pictures for exams

By -

Exams such as Cambridge PET require candidates to describe a picture in the Speaking Paper. Here's some advice on how to practise for this.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prepositional verbs and verbs without prepositions

By -
Image
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...
Read more

Don’t know if you’re coming or going?

By -
Image
‘I don’t know if I’m coming or going !’ Go means ‘move from one place to another.’ We go to work , we go to bed , and we go on holiday . Come means, basically, ‘move towards the speaker.’ Besides, both go and come – and other verbs of movement – often combine with words like in , out , up , or down , to refer to different directions. When you enter a room, you may be coming in o going in , depending on the speaker’s point of view. In other words, depending on where the speaker is. He’s going into the head teacher’s office. The choice between go in and come in, come up and come down, will depend on the context, and the speaker’s position is key. Come may also mean ‘move with the speaker or in the direction of the listener ’.   That’s why we say ‘Coming!’ when somebody is waiting for us, to let them know that we’re on our way – when the doorbell rings, for instance.
Read more

Go home, walk home

By -
Image
Go is the most common verb of movement in English. Most of us spend the whole day going places – we go to school, we go to the cinema, and we go to other countries, for example. We can go home on foot , go to the shops by car , or go to work by bike . Instead of go , however, we often use other verbs that describe how the movement happens. So, I may walk home, drive to the shops, or cycle to work. Some of these verbs of movement can take an object – if I walk the children to school , I accompany them on foot. Similarly, I can walk my dog (when I take it out for a walk) or drive somebody to the airport (if I give them a lift to the airport in my car).
Read more