Sabtu, 27 Februari 2010

surprises and disbeliefs


To express surprise!
- What a surprise!


- (Well), that’s very surprising!


- Really?


- What


- Are you serious? You must be joking!


- You’re kidding!


- Fancy that!


- I must say … surprises me


- I find that hard to believe


Example of expressing surprise
A : I can’t believe it!


B : That’s true


When you got a surprising fact, you can say:
- Do you know what


- Believe it or not


- You may not believe it, but


- Can you believe this?


You can respond to the surprising fact using these expression :
- Really?


- Are you joking?


- Oh?


- Where? Show me

invitation (written)


Invitation is a way to invite someone or more to go to a place or to do something.
There are two types of invitation :
a.        Formal Invitation
b.        Informal Invitation
(If you want to know more about types and some expressions of invitation, go to Invitation)

How to Write An Invitation :
1.          Before you write an invitation, decide on the tone, voice and level of formality, based on the event itself. This will dictate whether you hand-write the cards or have them printed, and whether you choose A preprinted or personalized invitation.
2.          Choose the type of invite you want, and order or buy a few more than you think you'll need. This will permit you to add some guests to your list at the last minute, if necessary. For small parties, you may want to hand-write the invitations on stationery or blank cards. For large gatherings, consider ordering printed invitations.
3.          Determine the wording of your invite based on the level of formality. For example, a formal invitation might say, 'Dr. and Mrs. Stanley request the pleasure of your company,' whereas a more casual note might say, 'Please join us.'
4.          Include the names of the host and/or hostess, as well as the place (with street address), time, date and purpose of the occasion, even if it's a simple get-together.
5.          Make sure to add RSVP information at the bottom of the invite if you need to know who will be attending; for example, 'RSVP' followed by your telephone number.
6.          Include a respond-by date on a formal invitation so you can get an accurate head count in time to adjust the amount of food, number of place settings and room size. For a wedding, charity function or other formal event, consider including a response card and a stamped, self-addressed envelope inside the envelope containing your invite.
7.          Mail invitations three weeks before most events, four weeks before a formal affair and three months before a wedding, to allow for airline reservations. For events held during the December holidays, send invitations around Thanksgiving.

What does R.S.V.P. mean?
R.S.V.P. stands for a French phrase, "répondez, s'il vous plaît," which means "please reply.“ The person sending the invitation would like you to tell him or her whether you accept or decline the invitation. That is, will you be coming to the event or not?

Kamis, 25 Februari 2010

narrative text



Narrative text is a kind of text to retell the story that past tense. The purpose of the text is to entertain or to amuse the readers or listeners about the story.

The generic structure of Narrative text :

1. Orientation :

It set the scene and introduce the participants (it answers the question : who, when, what, and where).

2. Complication :

Tells the problems of the story and how the main characters solve them.

3. Resolution :

The crisis is revolved, for better or worse.

4. Re-orientation :

The ending of the story.

5. Evaluation :

The stepping back to evaluate the story or the moral message of the story

Linguistic features :

1. Use active verbs.

2. Use past tense.

3. Use conjunction.

4. The first person (I or We) or the third person (He, She, or They).

5. Use specific nouns.

6. Use adjective and adverbs

Kind of Narrative text :

1. Legend : Sangkuriang, Malin Kundang, etc.

2. Fable : Mousedeer and crocodile.

3. Fairy tale : Cinderella, Snow white, Pinocchio, etc.

4. Science fiction

Example of Narrative text :

Sleeping Beauty

Long ago there lived a King and Queen who said every day, "If only we had a child!" But for a long time they had none.

One day, as the Queen was bathing in a spring and dreaming of a child, a frog crept out of the water and said to her, "Your wish shall be fulfilled. Before a year has passed you shall bring a daughter into the world."

And since frogs are such magical creatures, it was no surprise that before a year had passed the Queen had a baby girl. The child was so beautiful and sweet that the King could not contain himself for joy. He prepared a great feast and invited all his friends, family and neighbours. He invited the fairies, too, in order that they might be kind and good to the child. There were thirteen of them in his kingdom, but as the King only had twelve golden plates for them to eat from, one of the fairies had to be left out. None of the guests was saddened by this as the thirteenth fairy was known to be cruel and spiteful.

An amazing feast was held and when it came to an end, each of the fairies presented the child with a magic gift. One fairy gave her virtue, another beauty, a third riches and so on -- with everything in the world that anyone could wish for.

After eleven of the fairies had presented their gifts, the thirteenth suddenly appeared. She was angry and wanted to show her spite for not having been invited to the feast. Without hesitation she called out in a loud voice,

"When she is fifteen years old, the Princess shall prick herself with a spindle and shall fall down dead!"

Then without another word, she turned and left the hall.

The guests were horrified and the Queen fell to the floor sobbing, but the twelfth fairy, whose wish was still not spoken, quietly stepped forward. Her magic could not remove the curse, but she could soften it so she said,

"Nay, your daughter shall not die, but instead shall fall into a deep sleep that will last one hundred years."

Over the years, the promises of the fairies came true -- one by one. The Princess grew to be beautiful, modest, kind and clever. Everyone who saw her could not help but love her.

The King and Queen were determined to prevent the curse placed on the Princess by the spiteful fairy and sent out a command that all the spindles in the whole kingdom should be destroyed. No one in the kingdom was allowed to tell the Princess of the curse that had been placed upon her for they did not want her to worry or be sad.

On the morning of her fifteenth birthday, the Princess awoke early -- excited to be another year older. She was up so early in the morning, that she realized everyone else still slept. The Princess roamed through the halls trying to keep herself occupied until the rest of the castle awoke. She wandered about the whole place, looking at rooms and halls as she pleased and at last she came to an old tower. She climbed the narrow, winding staircase and reached a little door. A rusty key was sticking in the lock and when she turned it, the door flew open.

In a little room sat an old woman with a spindle, busily spinning her flax. The old woman was so deaf that she had never heard the King's command that all spindles should be destroyed.

“Good morning, Granny," said the Princess, "what are you doing?"

"I am spinning," said the old woman.

"What is the thing that whirls round so merrily?" asked the Princess and she took the spindle and tried to spin too.

But she had scarcely touched the spindle when it pricked her finger. At that moment she fell upon the bed which was standing near and lay still in a deep sleep.

The King, Queen and servants had all started their morning routines and right in the midst of them fell asleep too. The horses fell asleep in the stable, the dogs in the yard, the doves on the roof and the flies on the wall. Even the fire in the hearth grew still and went to sleep. The kitchen maid, who sat with a chicken before her, ready to pluck its feathers, fell asleep. The cook was in the midst of scolding the kitchen boy for a mess he'd made but they both fell fast asleep. The wind died down and on the trees in front of the castle not a leaf stirred.

Round the castle a hedge of brier roses began to grow up. Every year it grew higher until at last nothing could be seen of the sleeping castle.

There was a legend in the land about the lovely Sleeping Beauty, as the King's daughter was called, and from time to time Princes came and tried to force their way through the hedge and into the castle. But they found it impossible for the thorns, as though they were alive, grabbed at them and would not let them through.

After many years a Prince came again to the country and heard an old man tell the tale of the castle which stood behind the brier hedge and the beautiful Princess who had slept within for a hundred years. He heard also that many Princes had tried to make it through the brier hedge but none had succeeded and many had been caught in it and died.

The the young Prince said, "I am not afraid. I must go and see this Sleeping Beauty."

The good old man did all in his power to persuade him not to go, but the Prince would not listen.

Now the hundred years were just ended. When the Prince approached the brier hedge it was covered with beautiful large roses. The shrubs made way for him of their own accord and let him pass unharmed.

In the courtyard, the Prince saw the horses and dogs lying asleep. On the roof sat the sleeping doves with their heads tucked under their wings. When he went into the house, the flies were asleep on the walls and the servants asleep in the halls. Near the throne lay the King and Queen, sleeping peacefully beside each other. In the kitchen the cook, the kitchen boy and the kitchen maid all slept with their heads resting on the table.

The Prince went on farther. All was so still that he could hear his own breathing. At last he reached the tower and opened the door into the little room where the Princess was asleep. There she lay, looking so beautiful that he could not take his eyes off her. He bent down and gave her a kiss. As he touched her, Sleeping Beauty opened her eyes and smiled up at him.

Throughout the castle, everyone and everything woke up and looked at each other with astonished eyes. Within the month, the Prince and Sleeping Beauty were married and lived happily all their lives.

gratitude, complement and congratulation



Gratitude is expression that used to said thank you to other people.


Kind of gratitude expression are :

v Thank you very much.

v Thanks.

v I’m grateful to…….

v I want to thank.

v I want to express my gratitude to……..

v I keep forgetting to thank you for…….


Respond of expressing :

v You are welcome.

v Don’t mention it.

v Not at all

v It was nothing at all.

v No problem

v Glad to be of help.

v (it was) my pleasure.

v I’m glad I could help.

v I’m glad I could do it.

v I’m glad I could be of help.


Compliment is expression that used to give praising to other people. Some people use compliment to better up someday or to flatter in order to increase good will.


Expressing :

* What a nice dress.
* You look great.
* You look very nice.
* I really must express my admiration for you………
* Good grades.
* Excellent.
* Nice work.


Time to express compliment :

* On his/her general appearance.
* If you notice something new about the person’s appearance.
* When you visit someone’s hous for the first time.
* When other people do their best.

Congratulation is expression that used to said congratulate to someone when get a success.

Expressing :

* Let me congratulate you.
* Congratulations on you successful business.
* My congratulations on your success.
* Congratulations on your promotion.
* Good!
* Tha’s great!
* Isn’t that wonderful!
* How fortunate.
* Splendid!
* Pretty good!


Responding :

· Thank you.

· Thanks, I needed that.

· That’s very kind of you.

· It’s very kind of you to say that.

· Do you really think so?

· You’ve made my day!

· The same to you.

· I’m glad you like it.

· Thank you. It’s nice of you to say so.

news item


A news item text is a factual text which information reader of daily newspaper about events of the day which are regarder as newsworth or important.

The structure of the text consist of three parts :
1. Newsworthy event
Recounts the events in summary form.
2. Background events
Elaborate what happened, to whom, and in what circum stances.
3. Source
Comments by participants in, witnesses to, and authorities expert on the event.

Language features ( tata kebahasaan ) :
1. Terfokus pada orang, binatang, dan benda tertentu.
2. Informasi singkat tertuang dalam kejadian inti.
3. Menggunakan action verb, misalnya : eat, dan lain-lain.
4. Menggunakan saying verb, misalnya : say,tell.
5. Menggunakan keterangan waktu dan tempat.
6. Menggunakan kata keterangan, misalnya : badly dan lain-lain.
7. Laporan menggunakan past tense : was, dan lain-lain.
8. Disusun sesuai dengan urutan kejadian.

Tenses usually used is Simple Past.

descriptive text


The aim of descriptive text : to describe the characteristics of particular person, thing, or place.

Text Structure
- Identification : Identifies thing, person, place, phenomenon to be described
- Description : Gives the information of particular thing, person, or place being discussed or describes parts, qualities, or characteristics.

Grammatical Features :
- Who? What?
- Using simple present tense
- Epithet : adjective or adjective phrase
- Attributive (the)
- Use of attributive and identifying process

Example Of Descriptive Text :
IDENTIFICATION
My PETS
We have three family pets : a dog, a cat, and a tortoise

Descriptions
- The Dogs name is Benjamin. He is golden lambrador. He is beautiful. He has big brown eyes and a long tail. He is very friendly dog, but he is sometimes a little stupid. Dogs are expensive to keep bubt the yare fun to play with
- Our cat is named Martha. She is quite young, but she is not a kitten. She is very pretty. She has black and white for and green eyes. She’s smart, too and very clean.
- The tortoise’s name is Rocky. He has short, fat legs a long neck, and a very hard shell. HE is also very old and slow. He’s ugly and dirty, but I like him .

passive voice


Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).
Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

* the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
* the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
* the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level: lower intermediateLevel 2
Tense Subject Verb Object
Simple Present Active: Rita writes a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by Rita.
Simple Past Active: Rita wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.
Present Perfect Active: Rita has written a letter.
Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.
Future I Active: Rita will write a letter.
Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.
Hilfsverben Active: Rita can write a letter.
Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.
Examples of Passive Level: upper intermediateLevel 4
Tense Subject Verb Object
Present Progressive Active: Rita is writing a letter.
Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.
Past Progressive Active: Rita was writing a letter.
Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.
Past Perfect Active: Rita had written a letter.
Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.
Future II Active: Rita will have written a letter.
Passive: A letter will have been written by Rita.
Conditional I Active: Rita would write a letter.
Passive: A letter would be written by Rita.
Conditional II Active: Rita would have written a letter.
Passive: A letter would have been written by Rita.
Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level: intermediateLevel 3

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.