Content

Spoke English

The /u:/ sound: This is a long sound, when you sat this sound, your mouth is open and the lips are rounded. The back of the tongue is raised towards the roof of the mouth. It is a little higher than for the short /u/sound

Spelling

You can spell the /u:/ sound in different ways as

o                 oo           ou           u                 ue            ew        ui           oe

do              soon      soup       June           true       stew      fruit      shoe

who          food       group      tune            blue      chew    juice

remove   woo        through   beautiful    argue   drew    suitor

prove     proof          you        you              clue     few      nuisance

Skills focus

Writing direct speech

Direct speech is the way we write down conversations in stories. Here are five rules to follow:

  1. The words spoken are always put in inverted commas, either single ‘———‘ or double ”——-”(either is correct but be consistent)
  2. Each new speech begins with a capital letter and ends with a comma, a full stop, an exclamation mark, or a question mark.
  3. If you put the reporting words in (like He said, or she asked) before the speech, a comma goes before the inverted comma: He said,’———‘
  4. If you put the reporting words in the middle of a piece of speech, you do not need to start the second part of the speech with a capital letter, unless it begins a completely  new sentence.
  5. Start a new paragraph every time there is a new speaker.

Grammar– Question tags

question tag or tag question (also known as tail question) is a grammatical structure in which a declarative statement or an imperative is turned into a question by adding an interrogative fragment (the “tag“).

1.  A: The sea is rough, ↓ isn’t it?

     B: Yes, it is

2.  A: The sea isn’t rough, ↑ is it?

     B: No it isn’t

In each case, A asks a question: a statement (‘the sea is rough’) is followed by what we call a question tag (‘isn’t it?). B gives a normal short-form answer.

In dialogue 1, A expects the answer ‘Yes’ and would be surprised if the answer was ‘no’. Normally, one’s voice goes up then down down with the question tag.

In dialogue 2, A hopes or expects for the answer ‘No’, and would be surprised or at least upset if the answer was ‘yes’.

Normally, one’s voice goes down then up with the question tag.

The present simple tense

Mrs Agwu owes a dressmaker some money. Read this dialogue in pairs

A. Good morning, Madam. It’s fine day, isn’t it?

B. Yes, it is. I’ve come to pay my bill.

The present continuous tenses

This tense is easy: the question tag echoes the b form in the statement .

Example:

A: She’s arriving tomorrow, ↓ isn’t she?

B: Yes, she is.

The simple past tense

This time, we use the past form of the verb do (did) in the question tag:

A: You went to the shop this morning, ↓ didn’t you?

B: Yes, I did

The present perfect tense

The question tag echoes  the have  form in the statement

A: You haven’t forgotten to bring the picnic , ↑ have you?

B: No, I haven’t

Assessment

  1. What’s direct speech?
  2. What’s a question tag?
  3. Write three rules to follow when writing a direct speech.
  4. Give five examples of words that contains the sound/u:/.