Comparison - Contrast - 41

                                                                          

        Comparison and Contrast

                                                                     

Comparison and contrast forms an integral part of any free or formal talks. In our daily routine we compare or contrast the character of people, their attitude, their abilities etc.  Comparison and contrast doesn’t confine to people alone we can compare weather or population or anything ( Of different regions.). We have also discussed equating things/people. With regard to comparison there are three levels/degrees  namely positive, comparative and superlative.

In a sentence of positive degree  we just say good or bad about someone/something.

In a sentence of comparative  degree there is a comparison (Good or bad) between two things/people.

In a sentence if superlative degree there is a comparison (good or bad) between more than two things.

Smith is a Good student – positive degree

Jim is better then Smith – Comparative degree

Joe is the best student ( in the whole group or in comparison to Smith and Jim.) - Superlative degree

NOTE: In this session we have confined our discussion to comparison between the two things/people.

              Generally the comparison between two things/people is made either by using so…. as, as….. as, or comparative degree word (larger, smaller, bigger etc) + ‘Than’, combination. The emotional outcome is same in all the three cases. ( If a word has more than one syllable like ‘ beautiful’, most is added to make it a comparative word.)

e.g. 1. America is not so large as Russia. (= Russia is larger than America.)

          The new Russia is not so large as the old USSR. (= Old USSR was larger than new Russia.)

e.g. 2. Your family is not quite so large as hers. (quite as optinal word)

           Your family isn’t as large as hers.

           Your family is not larger than hers.

     

More sentences (Comparison)

The New government is not so good as the old one.

Her second novel is not so interesting as her first noel.

John is not so committed as his brother.

She is not so attractive as she appears in the media.

My brother is better today than he was ten years back.

Many people talk more about their rights than about their duty.

Jane likes him more that Clara.

Joe doesn’t play so hard as Jim.

I like her more than anything else.

Higher Level

Nothing else I want more, than your happiness and peace.

Nobody ever did more (Service) to this country than Mr.  Oliver.

It is more important that the rulers must be more cautious than the public.

More sentences ( Equalization)

She is as fair as me (‘me’ is used instead  ‘I’ in informal style.)

Is she as fair as Shane?

Isn’t Mitt Romney as efficient as Obama?

Your family is as large as mine.

Russia is as powerful as America.

Parallel/anti parallel Comparison ( The more…… the….)

The sooner you begin,  the sooner you will finish.

The more learned a man is, the more humble he usually is. (usually is optional)

The more he read, the less he understood. (‘read’ as a past tense verb)                                                                                                                                                                  

   

Sarcastic Comments - 40

                                                        

          Sarcastic comments?

                          

Sarcastic = biting, sharp scathing, wounding cutting , mocking, sneering, caustic, derisive, demeaning etc.

Human way of thinking is diverse, so are the reactions and responses.  We shall see the formal way of making  sarcastic comments in our routine.  Diplomatic/tactical way of making sarcastic comments is quite different.

                                                                                            

Sarcastic comments(on some remarks) are common in talks, these comments are made by repeating the remarks and making SUBJECT - VERB  inversion. ( Here Verb refers to helping/auxiliary verb)

PRIOR INFORMATION

Subject?

The person or thing that we speak about in a sentence is called subject. A subject can be a noun pronoun, common noun, collective noun, adjectives etc. In the sentences below we have used   pronouns as subjects. Subject normally comes at the beginning of a sentence. It is more convenient to make sentences if the subject is in the form of a pronoun.  When you make a sentence always convert subject to it’s pronoun form mentally ( If the subject is not in the pronoun form). They are only nine pronouns (Personal) of all the subjects in the world, namely I, we, you, he, she, it, they

Helping/auxiliary verb?

Am, is, are,was, were, shall/will, do, does, have/has etc. are called helping/auxiliary verbs they are used to make negatives or questions.

NOTE: Comments may be friendly or  unfriendly/sarcastic.

 e.g. ‘ I won’t listen’ ‘ Oh you won’t ‘ Won’t you? ('Oh you won't '= remark, 'wont you' =  subject-verb inversion.)

                                                                       SECTION –A 
                       (affirmative sentence< remark > - Comment) 

More Sentences

( We haven’t inserted quotes in the following sentences)

I spoke to Caroline yesterday. You did, did you? (Friendly)

She is  fond of green tea. You is , is she?

He has completed the assignment. He  has, has he?

I will send you to the prison. You will, Will you? ( Listeners comment) - sarcastic

I will send you to prison (Who said?).  I will , Will I? (Speakers comment) – surprised

I shall have to take action against you. You will, Will you? ( shall can be used only with I and we.)

He hates the boss like an enemy. He does, does he?

She is very rude to her opponents. She is, is she?

I am going to call her now. You are, Are you?

I think she is quite careless. You do, do you?

NOTE: Do, and does are the helping verbs, they are used to make questions and negatives.

                                                                    SECTION – B 
                        (Negative sentence <remark> – Comment) 

You mustn’t behave (With her like that). I mustn’t, mustn’t I? (Mustn't = must not)

I didn’t do that. You didn’t , Didn’t you. (Didn't  = did not)

She won’t accept the offer. She won’t ,Won’t she.

The advancing army won’t retreat. It won’t, Won’t it?

The didn’t relocate the missile . They didn’t, didn’t they?

They are going to strike tomorrow. They are, are they?

                                                           SECTION – C 
                              (Question Tags in imperative sentence)

 Imperative sentence = command/order/request sentence

You hear me, don’t you?

Stop that nonsense, will you?

You weren’t absent yesterday, were you?                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

Agree - disagree? - 39

                                     How to agree/disagree in Talks ?

Human way of thinking is diverse, so are the reactions and responses.  We shall see the formal way of agreement and disagreement in our routine.  Diplomatic/tactical way of agreeing or disagreeing with others is quite different from formal language structure.

 

                                                                       SECTION  - I

A. When the statement/sentence is simple or affirmative the agreement words start with oh yes, Yes, of course, so, etc.  coupled with gestures (Head/ eye movement/ thumps up etc.)

This election is going to be a close race.  Of course.

The next president will a have tough task. Oh Yes/yes.

She can manage the office. – Of course she can/ Yes she can/ You are right/ No doubt about it.

He looks tired. Yes he does. (The auxiliary verb for he/she/it is does. The auxiliary verb is used to make questions and negatives when the verb is an action verb like  go, write, see etc.)

The boss has agreed. Yes he has.

SECTION  IIB. When the statement /sentence is simple or affirmative the disagreement words start with no and end with not (but is used with questions or  guess Sentence.)

She is an English.  No she isn’t.

You are careless about the job.  Oh no, I’m not.

I think She speaks French.  But she doesn’t.

Your Children are a nuisance.  Oh no/I swear/I bet, there aren’t.

Why did you let him go? But I didn’t.

A. When the statement/sentence  is negative the agreement words start with no and end with not.

She isn’t well. No, she isn’t.  

The players haven’t arrived yet. No, they haven’t.

We can’t   help them now. No, we can’t.

It’s doesn’t work properly. No, It doesn’t.

She didn’t attend the meeting yesterday. No, she didn’t.

NOTE: The rules are not followed strictly  in informal situations.

B. When the statement/sentence  is negative the disagreement words start with Yes/Oh yes or but Oh but.

She can’t do it. Yes she can.   

You don’t the procedure. But I do.

He didn’t close the door. Oh yes he did./ I am sure he did.

Why didn’t you call me yesterday.  But I did.

She likes you better that  John.  But  she doesn’t  (The auxiliary verb for he/she/it is does. The auxiliary verb is used to make questions and negatives when the verb is an action verb like  go, write, see etc.)                                                                                                             

Additions- 38

                   Additions in talks

Question tags, short responses,  additions  etc. put  life into conversation,  without these things the conversation would become mechanical, boring and monotonous. Let’s discuss additions in talks in this session.  Look at the following conversation.

  

                                                      SECTION – A (Affirmative)

With the auxiliary verb  can

Jim: I can speak  Spanish.

Joe:  So can  I.

With the action verb submit

Shane:  She  submitted the document last week.

Clara:    So did I.

NOTE: The response in the conversation depends on the type of verb (Auxiliary verbs like  ’can’  or other action verbs like  ‘submit’ etc.)

Verb (Present )

He works in a bank.                 So Do I/so does she/so do they etc.

They Write fast.                       So does she/so do I/so do they etc.

Verb (Present Continuous/progressive)

She is going to the bank now.             So am I/so are we/so is she.

They are watching the situation.       So are we/so is he/so  am I etc.

Verb (Present Perfect)

We have enjoyed the movie .               So has she/so have they etc.

She has visited Paris.                            So has he/ so have we etc.

Verb (Past)

He worked in a bank.                               So did I/so did she/ so did they etc.

Verb (Past continuous/Progressive)

She was watching the match                 So was I/so were we etc.

They were dining…..                                 So were we/ So was she etc.

With the auxiliary will

She will come tomorrow.                       So will I./so will we etc.

With the auxiliary  should

They should accept the proposal.        So should we/so should I etc.

With  going to

 They are going to start soon.               So am I /so are we etc.

With could

They could do this.                                 So could you/so could we etc.

                                           SECTION – B (Negative)

With the auxiliary verb can

Jim:  I can’t speak German.

Joe:  Neither can I.

With the action verb submit        

Shane:  She didn’t  pay the fees.

Clara:   Neither did I .

                                                   ALTERNATE  MODEL      

                                         SECTIION – A (Affirmative)

With the auxiliary  verb can

 Jim: I can speak  Spanish.

Joe:  I can  too.

With the action verb  submit

Shane:  She  submitted the document last week.

Clara:    I did too.

                                               SECTION – B (Negative)

With the auxiliary can    

Jim:  I can’t speak German.

Joe:  I cant  either.

With the action verb submit

Shane:  She didn’t  pay the fees.

Clara:   I didn’t either .                                         

Question Tags (3)-37

                           

                            Question Tags in Talks – 3

                          

We use question tags, short responses, prompts etc. during talks, without these things the conversation would become mechanical, boring and monotonous.

Prior information

FIRST SECOND AND  THIRD PERSON

                                                                                                       

Person	Singular	Plural
First person	I	We
Second Person	You	You
Third person	He/She/It	They

       

First person refers to the speaker. Second person refers to the listener. Third

 person refers to the person or any thing  the first and second person speak 

about. The term 'person' includes non living things too.  

NOTE: ‘He’ and ‘she’ include all singular nouns/pronouns, ‘it’ includes all collective nouns, proper nouns, common nouns  noun Phrases etc. ‘they’ includes all plural nouns.

Subject

The person or thing that we speak about in a sentence is called subject. A subject can be a noun pronoun, common noun, collective noun, adjectives etc. In the sentences below we have used   pronouns as subjects. Subject normally comes at the beginning of a sentence. It is more convenient to make sentences if the subject is in the form of a pronoun.  When you make a sentence always convert subject to it’s pronoun form mentally ( If the subject is not in the pronoun form). They are only nine pronouns (Personal) of all the subjects in the world, namely I, we, you, he, she, it, they

                                                             

RULE TO FRAME QUESTION TAGS, (Past Tense) 

Person	Mood	Sentence	Q tags
First	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	I saw you I didn’t see you…. We saw you…. We didn’t see you….	Didn’t I? Did I ? Didn’t we? Did we?
Second	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	You saw her… You didn’t see her….. You saw her… You didn’t see her..	Didn’t you? Did you? Didn’t you? Did you?
Third	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	He/she/it saw … He/she/it doesn’t see.. They saw her …… They didn’t see….	Didn’t he/she/it? Did he/she/it? Didn’t they? Did they?

They didn’t attend the meeting, did they?

Jim didn’t go to Washington. did he?

She applied for a job, didn’t she?

We worked hard, didn’t we?

He waited for three hours, didn’t he?

RULE TO FRAME QUESTION TAGS, (Future Tense) 

Person	Mood	Sentence	Q tags
First	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	I will do that I won’t do that…. We will do that…. We won’t do that….	Won’t I? Will I? Won’t we? Will we?
Second	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	You will do that… You won’t do that… You will do that… You won’t do that	Won’t you? Will you? Won’t you? Will you?
Third	Positive (Singular) Negative (Singular) Positive (Plural) Negative (Plural)	He/she/it will do that He/she/it Won’t do that They will do that …… They won’t do that	Won’t he/she/it? Will he/she/it? Won’t they they? Will they ?

They won’t come tomorrow, will they?

The president will visit next week, Won’t he/she?

You won’t attend the class, will you?

Question tags with other tenses

Present continuous/progressive Tense

I am joining with you today, aren’t I?

We/you/they are meeting today at 10, aren’t we?

He/she/it isn’t coming today, Is he/she/it?

Present Perfect

I/we/you/they haven’t seen her, Have I/we/you/they?

I/we/you/they have seen her, Haven’t I/we/you/they?

He/she/it hasn’t arrived at, has he/she/it?

The flight hasn’t landed at yet, has it?

Past Perfect

I/we/you/they/he/she/it hadn’t started yet, had I/we/you/they/he/ she/ it?

I/we/you/they/he/she/it had seen it, hadn’t  I/we/you/they/he/she/it ?

With other auxiliaries

Could/Could have

They couldn’t meet the senator, Could they?

You could have met the boss after the meeting, Couldn’t you?

Yes I could, but I lost my courage.

Would

The  CEO would be sympathetic towards the striking workers, wouldn’t he?

No, I am afraid he wouldn’t.

Should

I think we should plan right now, Shouldn’t we?

He shouldn’t  smoke any more, should he?                                                        .