Week 16 - 17

A. Either Or....Neither Nor

Either means one, neither means none, and not either equals neither. Or goes with either and nor goes with neither.

Click here and open up the document and let's do the exercises in class

Choose the correct pair (either / or and neither / nor)

1. In this game, you __ win __ lose. It depends on you.                         either - or            neither - nor          
2. ___ Sue ___ Sara will help you with your homework. They are both busy at the moment.                         Either - or            Neither - nor          
3. This is my offer. You ___ take it ___ leave it.                         either - or            neither - nor          
4. When I go to the restaurant, I eat ___ fish ___ roast chicken. These are my favorite meals.                         either - or            neither - nor          
5. His father believed ___ his son ___ his friend. He thought that both were lying.                         either - or            neither - nor          
6. I need ___ your help ___ your compassion. I can perfectly handle my problems all alone.                         either - or            neither - nor          
7. ___ Charly ___ Bill will write the report. Just ask one of them.                         Either - or            Neither - nor             
8. ___ you return the money you had stolen ____ I'll call the police.                         Either - or            Neither - nor          
9. My mum can ___ read ___ write. She is illiterate.                         either - or            neither - nor          
10. You can use ___ this computer ___ the other one. Someone must fix them first.                         either - or            neither - nor          

How about some options?

Whenever providing options, use EITHER OR...

1. When discussing plans with a friend for the weekend

2. When thinking about what to have for lunch tomorrow

3. When giving a couple of options on a deadline this week to a colleague who is sending you new scripts for you to work on

Now using NEITHER NOR...

1. Expressing your dislike for what's available in the menu (use negative)

2. Expressing your dislike of the two options given to you to travel next week. (positive)
3. Expressing your disagreement on the two reasons given by a friend for not calling you last week.

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B. Adjectives

Positive and Negative Traits - a handy list of adjectives to enrich your vocabulary

List of positive Traits

adaptable
adventurous
affable: friendly, easy going and easy to talk to
affectionate
agreeable
ambitious
amiable: showing a friendly and pleasant manner
amicable: friendly
bright
broad-minded
calm
careful
charming
compassionate
conscientious
considerate
convivial: friendly, lively and enjoyable
courageous
courteous
creative
decisive
determined
diligent: hard working
discreet: careful
dynamic
easygoing
emotional
energetic
enthusiastic
exuberant: full of energy and excitement and cheerfulness
fair-minded
faithful
fearless
frank
friendly
funny
generous
gentle
good
gregarious: sociable; fond of company
hard-working
helpful
honest
humorous
imaginative
impartial
independent
intelligent
intuitive
inventive
kind
loyal
modest
nice
optimistic
passionate
patient
persistent
pioneering
polite
powerful
practical
pro-active
quick-witted
quiet
rational
reliable
resourceful
sensitive
sincere
straightforward
thoughtful
tough
understanding
versatile
warmhearted
willing
witty: funny; comical


List of negative traits

aggressive
aloof: cool and distant
arrogant
belligerent: hostile and aggressive
bitchy
bossy
callous: showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others
careless
clinging
compulsive
conservative
cowardly
cruel
cynical
deceitful
detached
dishonest
finicky
foolish
fussy
greedy
grumpy
gullible
harsh
impatient
impolite
impulsive
inconsiderate
inconsistent
indecisive
indiscreet
inflexible
intolerant
irresponsible
jealous
lazy
Machiavellian
materialistic
mean
miserly
moody
narrow-minded
nasty
naughty
nervous
obsessive
obstinate
overcritical
pessimistic
pompous
possessive
quarrelsome
quick-tempered
resentful
rude
ruthless
sarcastic
secretive
selfish
self-centred
silly
sneaky
stingy
stubborn
stupid
superficial
tactless
timid
touchy
thoughtless
truculent: eager to argue
unkind
unpredictable
unreliable
untrustworthy
vague
vain

Assignment: pick 3 or more of each traits (positives and negatives) to describe the list of people below and construct a little story to justify the description of each.

1. Your best friend
2. Hollande (president)
3. Your youngest sister
4. Your mother
5. Your favorite movie director
6. A close colleague
7. A well known athlete (your pick): Messi, Karabatic, Zidane, Nadal, Federer, Seb Loeb, etc
8. A well known french actor/actress
9. A political figure
10. The Pope
11. And you, how would you describe yourself?

C. Intensifiers:

We use words like very, so, really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:

It’s a very interesting story
Everyone was very excited.
It’s a really interesting story.
Everyone was extremely excited
I am so interested in buying that car

We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:

amazingly	exceptionally	incredibly
remarkably	particularly	unusually

We also use enough to say more about an adjective, but enough comes after its adjective:

If you are seventeen you are old enough to drive a car.
I can’t wear those shoes. They’re not big enough.

Intensifiers with strong adjectives:

Strong adjectives are words like:

enormous, huge = very big

tiny = very small

brilliant = very clever

awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad

certain = very sure

excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good

delicious = very tasty

We DO NOT normally use very with these adjectives. We do not say something is "very enormous" or someone is "very brilliant".

With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:

absolutely	completely	totally	utterly
really	exceptionally	particularly	quite

The film was absolutely awful.
He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.

Special Combination of Adj/Intensifiers
Look at the list below.  Can you guess what they mean?

Certain adjectives have their own ‘special’ intensifiers which are often used with them. Here are some common ones:

bone dry

brand new

crystal clear

dead easy

dirt cheap

sound asleep

paper thin

pitch black

razor sharp

rock hard

wide awake

wide open