Written in these walls...

A few months ago a famous boy band said: Written on these walls are the stories that I can' explain. This is a relative clause. They could have ommitted that, or used which instead. The Beatles decided to elicit the relative pronoun when they said All you need is love.
Now read this excerpt from "Torn", by Natalia Imbruglia:
 Well you couldn't be that man I adored
You don't seem to know, don't seem to care
What your heart is for. 

In the first line she chose not to say ...who/that I adored. And then she used what. Why? Well, when there's no antecedent to refer to,  what must be used.

In the same song she says: There's nohing where we used to lie. Where is the relative from which must be used when we refer to a place. 

Michael Jackson asks: Do you remember the time when we fell in love? When is used when referring to time. Easy, isn't it? 
- exercise 1
- exercise 2
- exércise 3
- exercise 4
- exercise 5

See you in class!

A mythical creature!

Hi guys! You may find this picture a bit scary. It was taken deep in the forest, and the man who took it needed psychological aid because he said he would never get over so terrifying an experience!

Leprechauns are wonderful creatures, and if you don't believe it, just have a look at this old picture on the right. It was taken in the very heart of Dublin. And here you are a few exercises on relative clauses. Do them and anjoy yourselves, or else the Leprechaun will get angry and... who knows?

• Defining or non-defining?
• Forming relative clauses
• An easy one!

Now a quote on the subject:
In never cease being dumbfounded by the unbelievable things people believe.
Leo Rosten (1908 -  1997), Polish-American teacher and humorist


More in a few days!

Cockney rhyming slang

Hi guys. These people are wearing a costume associated with Cokneys. It's called the Pearly King (or Queen).

Cockney rhyming slang is not a language but a collection of phrases used by Cockneys and other Londoners. But, what is a Cokney? A true Cockney is someone born within the sound of Bow Bells. (St Mary-le-Bow Church in Cheapside, London).

Here you are some examples of Cockney slang. What do you think they mean?

• Can you Adam and Eve it?
• I got kicked in the Albert Halls!
• See you alligator
• She's got a beautiful garden with nice April showers
• Got any Persians on you mate?

Here are some more examples of Cokney, this time they are excerpts from Bible stories (lemon curd means word):

You can click here and see more for yourselves.