I am a Unicorn's Englang Question Thread

[I am a unicorn]

Hello
At school we've started doing some formal short answer questions, however I am struggling with explaining the functions of what the function of particular words are, or more specifically modal verbs.

For example, what sort of things would you write if asked to describe the function of the modal verb 'should' in 'People should have the freedom to express their individual opinions'?

Thank you

Edit: just thought I'd make this into a question thread instead of spamming the forum with my individual questions 

[grannysmith]

Well, if we were to omit that modal verb, the modified sentence would be: 'people have the freedom to express their individual opinions'.

This states that people already have the capacity to express their opinions, whereas the modal verb 'should' would make it more of an ideal/right which is not currently being met.

[dmitridr]

Hello
At school we've started doing some formal short answer questions, however I am struggling with explaining the functions of what the function of particular words are, or more specifically modal verbs.

For example, what sort of things would you write if asked to describe the function of the modal verb 'should' in 'People should have the freedom to express their individual opinions'?

Thank you

Always remember that modal verbs indicates modality (i.e. qualities such as permission, possibility, obligation, ability etc). Without these, the sentence would have a totally different meaning. E.g. 'You must eat' is different to 'you may eat'.

[I am a unicorn]

Hi

Does anyone know what the sentence structure of the following sentence is?
'Jess loves to go to the beach and spend her days swimming'

My teacher said it was simple... but I thought it was compound because some words could have been ellipted...
i.e. 'Jess loves to go to the beach and [Jess loves to] spend her days swimming'

Thanks!

[dmitridr]

Hi

Does anyone know what the sentence structure of the following sentence is?
'Jess loves to go to the beach and spend her days swimming'

My teacher said it was simple... but I thought it was compound because some words could have been ellipted...
i.e. 'Jess loves to go to the beach and [Jess loves to] spend her days swimming'

Thanks!

Hi there That would be compound as it is two independent clauses! It can't be simple as 'spend her days swimming' in this case is not a phrase.

I hope that helps!

[I am a unicorn]

Hi there That would be compound as it is two independent clauses! It can't be simple as 'spend her days swimming' in this case is not a phrase.

I hope that helps!

Thanks for clarifying that!

[MrsNicoleB]

Your teacher was right - it is simple.  It is NOT compound - you can't just add in the pronoun you think has been left out. 
What they have used here is a double predicate - see here: http://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/486868

[I am a unicorn]

Hello

Is using media examples from 2013 in essays a bad idea? are 2013 examples too old?

Thanks

[grannysmith]

Hello

Is using media examples from 2013 in essays a bad idea? are 2013 examples too old?

Thanks

Should be fine, but of course, the more recent the better.

[dmitridr]

Should be fine, but of course, the more recent the better.

As usual, linguist quotes are fine no matter how old they are. However, with regards to media examples, I would highly recommend no older than 2013 unless they are amazing examples!

Here's a hint to find modern media examples - go to Google News and type in keywords surrounding the AOS. For example, if I type in 'Australian slang' on Google News, the second article is INCREDIBLY useful for Unit 4 AOS 1:
https://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&gl=au&tbm=nws&authuser=0&q=Australian+Slang&oq=Australian+Slang&gs_l=news-cc.3..43j0j43i53.6412.8311.0.8393.16.11.0.5.5.1.265.1420.2j6j2.10.0...0.0...1ac.1.7X_kSrygJ3I


This is HOW you find modern 2015 examples

[heids]

TONS (like 2 or 3 per day)

You call 2-3 tons?!?  Anything below ~4-5 per day is really not hitting it, if you're not even doing like 2 per day, you'd better step up your game bruh!


... just kiddin'.

I didn't do Eng Lang, but I know with English that number of essays doesn't directly correlate to scores.  If you're learning something from every essay, rather than just smashing them out without focusing on improving, that's when you'll get the advantage.  Don't compare yourself with others, it really doesn't help.  It's not the quantity of essays that matters, but the quality of your study time - which you can't compare between people.

Smarter, not harder

[Mieow]

Hi everyone
I have a sac (essay) in a few days, and was just wondering how many practice essays under timed conditions I should to in preparation?
So far I've written about 5, and I'm just freaking out because I found out that a lot of my friends are writing TONS (like 2 or 3 per day) and this is really scaring me - should I be doing the same thing?

Thank you!

I'm going to sound like a broken record but: quality > quantity.
If those 5 essays you wrote had very developed, well-thought out ideas that are all different to each other and have given you more confidence to tackle whatever topic may be thrown at you then you're in a very good place.

[Redoxify]

What is the purpose of emphatic stress in an australian radio broadcast show, between three interlocutors?

[grannysmith]

What is the purpose of emphatic stress in an australian radio broadcast show, between three interlocutors?

Many purposes - can you elaborate?

[Redoxify]

It is a three way conversation between three people, discussing p plate drivers,
what are the purposes of empahtic stress in general, so I can expand on it with the given context