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Hi. My name is Dan (Daniel). I'm certified in teaching English as a Second Language. I only do video chats on Skype. If you are seriously willing to study what I ask you to do, you will definitely improve in your English by talking with me. I usually read a book with my language partners. My goals for you are to improve your pronunciation and your conversational skills. I am extremely picky. Is that a good or bad thing for someone teaching you English? I'm from Ohio, USA. I have the typical Midwest American accent. That is what you will sound like if you talk with me. I play saxophone and hammered dulcimer. I garden. I have been known to go searching for bigfoot and other unusual creatures with a friend of mine. :) I'm learning Spanish and German, but speakers of any language are welcome. You just need to study what I ask you to.
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  • Commented
    I was born the year John F. Kennedy was assassinated.
    0 voted
    July 28, 2020
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  • Commented
    Several of my students could pass for native speakers of English. The problem is that they eventually say something that no native speaker would ever say, and that gives it away that they are not native speakers. Maybe I should say that they could pass for native speakers for at least two or three minutes straight.
    0 voted
    June 16, 2020
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  • Commented
    Only sentences with verbs that take a direct object can be active and passive.

    I bite the dog. (direct object = the dog) This sentence is active. The subject does the verb ( i.e. I bite)

    To make this sentence passive, take the direct object and put it first in the sentence, Add a form of to be that is the same tense as the original sentence, and then add the perfect passive participle of the original verb. Finally, add the words by the followed by the original subject of the sentence.

    The dog is bitten by me.

    The sentence He and I are done is not a passive sentence and can't go into the passive. Why? Because there is no direct object. It is like the sentence I am happy. I don't even think it is correct to call this sentence an active sentence, because active and passive only relate to sentences with transitive verbs (i.e. verbs that take a direct object).
    0 voted
    June 12, 2020
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  • Commented
    This is a pretty straightforward question. Yes, this is correct usage. It is in the present perfect tense. This is the normal tense to use.

    Cf. this sentence in the past tense:
    Tom tested positive for steroids last year at the gymnastics competition.:
    It has to be in the past tense in this sentence because the action is set in the past and the action is completed. (i.e. it happened last year)

    In English, you can't use the present perfect tense with a time reference in the past that is completed. For example:

    Hey, Tom. Have you seen Mary recently? (Present perfect tense - This is asking if Tom has seen Mary anytime from several days ago right up to this very moment.)

    Yes, I have. (Also present perfect) I saw her yesterday. (This has to be in the past tense because of the word yesterday.)

    Notice that it would be incorrect to say "I have seen her yesterday."


    As a side note, in German you can say Ich habe ihn gestern gesehen. This would be totally wrong in English.





    0 voted
    June 8, 2020
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  • Commented
    We still use the subjective in many places in standard English. Certain constructions that traditionally use the subjunctive sound wrong and uneducated to me if an indicative is used instead. That having been said, there are people who never would use a subjunctive in some of the standard places where subjunctives show up.

    Standard subjunctive uses: (With what some people would say instead in parenthesis)
    I insist that he be fired. (I insist that you fire him.)
    I wish I were rich. (I wish I was rich.)
    If only this soil in my garden weren't so damn hard. (I wish this damn dirt wasn't so hard.)
    God help us!
    God bless America!
    God save the queen!
    If it weren't raining, we could have a picnic. (If it wasn't raining, we could have a picnic.)

    0 voted
    May 18, 2020
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  • Commented
    My father grew up in South Fork, Pennsylvania, which was where the dam broke that caused the Johnstown flood. (That was before his time.) If someone were to ask him how far away something is, he would say something like "It's about three miles from here as the crow flies." (i.e. in a straight line)
    0 voted
    May 14, 2020
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  • Commented
    Was recovered would be used in a passive sentence with a different meaning of the verb to recover (i.e. to get back something lost)

    Active: The divers recovered the treasure from the sunken ship.

    Passive: The treasure was recovered from the sunken ship by the divers.
    0 voted
    April 21, 2020
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  • Commented
    The boys, who are nice, are going to the zoo today.
    The relative clause in this sentence is set off by commas. That means it is simply describing the boys. The boys are going to the zoo today, and they happen to be nice. It has nothing to do with whether they get to go to the zoo or not.


    The boys who are nice are going to the zoo today.
    The relative clause in this sentence is not set off by commas. Because there are no commas, this relative clause restricts the subject the boys. Only the boys who are nice get to go to the zoo. The rest of the boys who are rotten, spoiled brats have to stay home and be miserable.

    Your sentence above without any commas would mean that several secretaries were hired recently. The secretary hired last week is very efficient, but the secretary hired the week before her is not very efficient. Your sentence as written means that they hired a secretary, and it just so happens that they hired her last week. She isn't being compared to any other secretaries.
    0 voted
    April 20, 2020
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  • Commented
    I would say that we are up the creek without a paddle. Not only do we not know the answer, we don't even know what the question is.

    Perhaps you would like to rephrase your question.
    0 voted
    April 19, 2020
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  • Commented
    There's a British author I like a lot. He went by the pen name of James Herriot. His real name was
    James Alfred Wight. He was a veterinarian, and he wrote some really good books about his experiences. All Creatures Great and Small was the first book in the series. The others are All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Things Wise and Wonderful, and The Lord God Made Them All. I am not sure of the order of the last three books, though.
    0 voted
    April 5, 2020
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