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Compound Words: One Single Word? Two Words? Hyphenated?

To hyphenate, or not to hyphenate: that is the question.

Sentence structures:

Simple Sentence

What is Parallel Structure?

Parallel structure uses the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have the same level of importance as well as to create clear and concise sentences to help the reader quickly process information.  If one element is an adjective, then all elements should be adjectives; if one element is a verb, then all elements should be verbs, and so forth.

“As … as I” vs. “as … as me”

“Than I” vs. “than me”

“As well as I” vs. “as well as me”

A correlative conjunction always shows up in pairs, linking sentence elements of the same kind.  Remember parallelism with correlative conjunctions.  Use matching grammatical forms on the words which follow the correlative conjunctions to ensure parallelism.

相關連接詞是由兩個或多個字組成的連接詞。相關連接詞兩邊的文法關係必須對稱 - 所連接的部份是同等關係。

Tag Question - Negative Statements with words such as hardly, seldom, nobody, etc.

Statements with words that carry negative meaning are considered negative statements and are followed by positive tags.  A tag question is a statement turned into a question, when asking for confirmation or disconfirmation of that statement.

Tag question “shall we” vs. “okay” in the “Let’s” statement

There is a subtle difference between “shall we” and “okay” as a tag question in a “Let’s” statement. 

With the tag “shall we” in the “Let’s” statement, we seem to be making more of a declaration in the sentence; while with the tag “okay” in the “Let’s” statement, we seem to be asking for agreement in the sentence. 

A tag question is a statement turned into a question, when asking for confirmation or disconfirmation of that statement. They can be an indicator of politeness, emphasis, or irony. They may suggest confidence or lack of confidence; they may be confrontational or tentative.  For more details, please see http://elisaenglish.pixnet.net/blog/post/639570

Here are some exercises.  Move the mouse next the answers to reveal the answers.  The trick is to find out the focus of the sentence.  What is the asker trying to confirm or validate?  Is it a sarcastic statement or a confrontational statement?  Is it a suggestion, an invitation or an order?

Past Continuous / Past Progressive vs. Past Perfect Continuous / Past Perfect Progressive (過去進行式 vs. 過去完成進行式)

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Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Continuous / Present Perfect Progressive (現在完成式 vs. 現在完成進行式)

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Past Perfect (過去完成式)

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Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous / Past Perfect Progressive (過去完成式 vs. 過去完成進行式)

1.  Past Perfect Continuous states actions or events that are still in progress up to a point in time in the past, while Past Perfect states actions or events that are completed.  The emphasis is on the result when using the past perfect tense; while, the emphasis is on the activity when using the past perfect continuous.

Past Perfect Continuous / Past Perfect Progressive (過去完成進行式)

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Present Perfect Continuous / Present Perfect Progressive (現在完成進行式)

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Past Simple vs. Past Continuous / Past Progressive (過去式 vs. 過去進行式)

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Past Continuous / Past Progressive (過去進行式)

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Present Perfect vs. Past Simple (現在完成式 vs. 過去式)

The main distinction between present perfect and past simple is that one (past simple) states something that happened at a specific point of time in the past and ended in the distant past such as at last December, and the other (present perfect) states something that happened at an unspecific point of time in the past which continues to the present and has not finished yet (specifying duration from the past until now) or may have finished in the recent past with an impact to the present. 

The Simple Past Tense (簡單過去式)

1.  Events and actions happened in the past.  A specific point in time in the past (a year ago). 

Present Simple vs. Present Continuous / Present Progressive (現在式 vs. 現在進行式)

The main distinction between present simple and present continuous is that one (present simple) states a more permanent situation such as facts or repetitive actions, and the other (present continuous) states a more temporary condition such as things happening at this very moment.  When talking about states or feelings, use simple present tense unless you are stressing the feeling at this very moment as we speak. 

“Would rather” or “had rather” indicates preference, similar to “wish”, used in unreal situation.

1.  To indicate an unreal present: