How to use 'despite', 'although', 'though' & 'even though'?

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Is It Okay To End A Sentence With Prepositions?

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100 Most beautiful words in the English language

Ailurophile A cat-lover.

Assemblage A gathering.

Becoming Attractive.

Beleaguer To exhaust with attacks.

Brood To think alone.

Bucolic In a lovely rural setting.

Bungalow A small, cozy cottage.

Chatoyant Like a cat’s eye.

Comely Attractive.

Conflate To blend together.

Cynosure A focal point of admiration.

Dalliance A brief love affair.

Demesne Dominion, territory.

Demure Shy and reserved.

Denouement The resolution of a mystery.

Desuetude Disuse.

Desultory Slow, sluggish.

Diaphanous Filmy.

Dissemble Deceive.

Dulcet Sweet, sugary.

Ebullience Bubbling enthusiasm.

Effervescent Bubbly.

Efflorescence Flowering, blooming.

Elision Dropping a sound or syllable in a word.

Elixir A good potion.

Eloquence Beauty and persuasion in speech.

Embrocation Rubbing on a lotion.

Emollient A softener.

Ephemeral Short-lived.

Epiphany A sudden revelation.

Erstwhile At one time, for a time.

Ethereal Gaseous, invisible but detectable.

Evanescent Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time.

Evocative Suggestive.

Fetching Pretty.

Felicity Pleasantness.

Forbearance Withholding response to provocation.

Fugacious Fleeting.

Furtive Shifty, sneaky.

Gambol To skip or leap about joyfully.

Glamour Beauty.

Gossamer The finest piece of thread, a spider’s silk.

Halcyon Happy, sunny, care-free.

Harbinger Messenger with news of the future.

Imbrication Overlapping and forming a regular pattern.

Imbroglio An altercation or complicated situation.

Imbue To infuse, instill.

Incipient Beginning, in an early stage.

Ineffable Unutterable, inexpressible.

Ingénue A naïve young woman.

Inglenook A cozy nook by the hearth.

Insouciance Blithe nonchalance.

Inure To become jaded.

Labyrinthine Twisting and turning.

Lagniappe A special kind of gift.

Lagoon A small gulf or inlet.

Languor Listlessness, inactivity.

Lassitude Weariness, listlessness.

Leisure Free time.

Lilt To move musically or lively.

Lissome Slender and graceful.

Lithe Slender and flexible.

Love Deep affection.

Mellifluous Sweet sounding.

Moiety One of two equal parts.

Mondegreen A slip of the ear.

Murmurous Murmuring.

Nemesis An unconquerable archenemy.

Offing The sea between the horizon and the offshore.

Onomatopoeia A word that sounds like its meaning.

Opulent Lush, luxuriant.

Palimpsest A manuscript written over earlier ones.

Panacea A solution for all problems

Panoply A complete set.

Pastiche An art work combining materials from various sources.

Penumbra A half-shadow.

Petrichor The smell of earth after rain.

Plethora A large quantity.

Propinquity Proximity; Nearness

Pyrrhic Successful with heavy losses.

Quintessential Most essential.

Ratatouille A spicy French stew.

Ravel To knit or unknit.

Redolent Fragrant.

Riparian By the bank of a stream.

Ripple A very small wave.

Scintilla A spark or very small thing.

Sempiternal Eternal.

Seraglio Rich, luxurious oriental palace or harem.

Serendipity Finding something nice while looking for something else.

Summery Light, delicate or warm and sunny.

Sumptuous Lush, luxurious.

Surreptitious Secretive, sneaky.

Susquehanna A river in Pennsylvania.

Susurrous Whispering, hissing.

Talisman A good luck charm.

Tintinnabulation Tinkling.

Umbrella Protection from sun or rain.

Untoward Unseemly, inappropriate.

Vestigial In trace amounts.

Wafture Waving.

Wherewithal The means.

Woebegone Sorrowful, downcast.

source : deshoda.com

English Pronunciation

Let's practice our tongues by saying this poem out loud. 

If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world. After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Foeffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!

English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité

You're still beautiful

    What an interesting and touching video! I almost shed a tear when I watched this in the class. 

    The purpose of the video is to raise support and awareness for American Society of Deaf Children. Basically this story is about the love that transcends one's disability. 

Day 1 : 

This guy saw this girl sitting next to him which he thought she was kind of cute. So, the flirting started with him saying to girl how nice the weather was that day but she didn't respond at all. He tried again by asking whether he can borrow the pen and day 1 ended just like that.

Day 2 :

He was waiting for the girl to come. She did arrive although it was quite late. The guy started to work his magic again by asking what song did she listen to and the girl replied that it was a special song. They were using Post-It notes to converse with each other. The guy wanted to hear the song but the girl said no because she was embarrassed. Their conversation continued with lots of post-it notes on the bench. Finally, he said could he have her number but the girl doesn't have a number. She said she'll be there again tomorrow if he wished to see her again. 

Day 3 :

The day started with continuous exchanged of post-it notes with each other. Then, the girl asked whether he wanted to listen to the song and so, he did. He said he couldn't hear a thing and the girl responded by saying she was deaf. The guy replied, "You're still beautiful." *Awww~*

    I think the video is inspiring and has a meaningful message. From what I see in this video, the girl used the earphone just to pretend that she was listening to a song or to avoid conversation with people since she can't hear what others might say to her. Maybe she feared that people might lose interest in her if they find out that she was indeed deaf. Somehow, she met a nice looking guy who was interested in her despite her disability. Love knows no boundaries. Not all people are bad or judgemental. Some may have good heart and accept for what you are. If you think that deaf people are useless or uncool that you're just being ignorant. Don't just judge by mere appearances of the person before you get to know him/her but instead spend time to get to know him/her. They deserves to be treated equally as those who can hear and speak. 

Savour the coffee

    This video was shown in the class and we were asked to write about our views on the metaphorical saying 'Life is like a cup of coffee'. 

    The story goes like this, a group alumni, well-established in their careers went to visit their professor at the university. At first, the conversations were pretty general but soon it was turned to complaints mainly about stress in work and life. The professor offered them coffee and went to the kitchen and made some. He went out with a large pot coffee and an assortment of cups. The cups were different in terms of type and appearance. When everyone had already a cup of coffee in their hands, the professor said that most of the nice looking expensive cups were the first to be taken up instead those plain looking cups. 

    Why did the guests chose the nice looking expensive cups and not the plain ones? 

    Those who chose the nice looking expensive cups indicates that they wanted only the best for themselves which then lead to stress of not having the best things in life. They strived for better things in life but yet tend to overlook unto the simplest things in life. Cups here represent all the stuff you wanted in life e.g. jobs, money, social statuses and etc whereas, Coffee represent life. Cups are just merely a convenience or a tool that holds and contains our Coffee, life. 

    Some say that having everything like the most highest paying jobs, big houses and lots of money could make one's heart content. It is not entirely true. Well, it is true that we need a job, a house and a place in society to be able to grow as well as to survive. The wrong part is when we are being too consumed and succumbed to the temptation of getting more cups than we should have. Greedy or selfish is an ongoing personal struggle. One can't help from being greedy and selfish but at the same time one could control those devilish desires. It's not wrong to want the best things in life but having too much of it can be a poison. One can live freely, happily and peacefully without or having less of that best things in life. Like people used to say 'Less is More'. 

Take your own sweet time to savour each and every sip of that coffee and stop pressuring yourself to get more cups. Make your life worthwhile by first, appreciating simple and small stuff. Be grateful. Make someone smile today. Do crazy stuff. Spread some love.

Vocabulary

Epiphany  [\i-ˈpi-fə-nē\]           

Definition :         1.  an appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being

                         2.  a (1) : a usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of                

                         something (2) : an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and     
                         striking (3) : an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure

                         b : a revealing scene or moment

Infinitesimal  [\(ˌ)in-ˌfi-nə-ˈte-sə-məl, -zə-məl\]

Definition  :        1.  N. (mathematics) a variable that has zero as its limit

                        2.  Adj. infinitely or immeasurably small; "two minute whiplike threads of protoplasm"; "reduced   

                        to a microscopic scale"

Synonyms  :      microscopic, minute, tiny, wee, atomic, insignificant, negligible, minuscule, teeny, teeny-weeny,                           

                        unnoticeable, teensy-weensy, inappreciable

Antonyms  :     great, large, huge, vast, enormous, infinite

Hedonistic  [\ˈhē-də-ˌni-zəm\]

Definition  :        1. Pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, especially to the pleasures of the senses.

                        2. Philosophy The ethical doctrine holding that only what is pleasant or has pleasant 

                        consequences is intrinsically good.

                        3. Psychology The doctrine holding that behavior is motivated by the desire for pleasure and the                                      

                        avoidance of pain.

Synonyms  :      pleasure-seeking, self-indulgent, luxurious, voluptuous, sybaritic, epicurean, bacchanalian

Curmudgeonly  [\(ˌ)kər-ˈmə-jən\]

Definition  :       brusque and surly and forbidding; "crusty remarks"; "a crusty old man"; "his curmudgeonly 

                        temper"; "gruff manner"; "a gruff reply"

Synonyms  :      gruff, ill-humored, ill-humoured, crusty

Imprisonment [\im-ˈpri-zən\]

Definition  :        1.  putting someone in prison or in jail as lawful punishment

                        2.  the state of being imprisoned; "he was held in captivity until he died"; "the imprisonment of                             

                        captured soldiers"; "his ignominious incarceration in the local jail"; "he practiced the 

                        immurement of his enemies in the castle dungeon"

                        3.  the act of confining someone in a prison (or as if in a prison)

Synonyms  :      confinement, custody, detention, captivity, incarceration, internment, duress

Antonyms  :      discharge, free, liberate, release

UFS 211 Chapter 1 (task)

First task for this semester.

Write 1 sentence for :

a)  Compound

     I prefer to go for movies, but he prefers sitting at home. 

b)  Complex

     He drives back to the house because he forgot his bag. 

c)  Compound Complex

     Although I love to sing, I never had any courage to join any competition, and I am afraid what the 

    critiques will say about my singing.

[Task 2] Happy ending for Chuck?

I know this a long overdue task. Sorry for that. 

The Cast Away movie ends where Chuck Noland was standing at the crossroads. It got me thinking how the ending would be. So, here is my perfect ending for Chuck.

Chuck starts to drive to each of the destination to deliver the packages that he had took with him. While driving, the image of the lady he met previous come across his mind. Lady was indeed pretty and he felt something, some sort of attraction towards the lady. So, he make a promise with himself that once he finish his mission, he will go back to the place again. He met all sorts of people during his journey and it is never a mistake for him to start that mission. At his final delivery, he suddenly remembers the promise he made. Once he finished, he drives back and along the way he stopped at a flower shop for a banquet. He made his way to the gates and stopped. He walks in to the front door of house and say "Hello" but no one answered. So, he ventures out around the house at saw the garage. There he sees the lady is busy fixing things. He start to say "Hello" and the lady replied while turning to see who is it. She did not recognise him at first but later she start saying "Hey, isn't you that lost your way the other day?" and he replied, "Yeah. I am the stupid dude."

The rest is history. He finally found someone whom he could not live without and yeah he had kids. :)

It is final

Tomorrow is my final paper which is English. I hope that I do well tomorrow and same goes to everyone. So many things I have been through being in this English class. All the good and the bad summed up to another great experience. I won't forget the Drama day. Everyone were awesome and I had fun. I would like to thank everyone and Miss Freida for the experience.

Vocabulary!

Grammar Myth

You cannot begin a sentence with "and", "but" or "or".

Really or Very?

Difference between "Maybe" and "May be"

How to use "Didn't you"

source : theyuniversity

Must-know Vocabulary

Is "Dived" a correct English?

source : theyuniversity

Word of the Day

source : broadenme

UK vs. US?

What the difference between UK and US spelling? Let's take a look.

Did you know???

Word of the Day

somatic ·soh-MAT-ik· adjective:

1. Of the body; bodily; physical.
2. In anatomy, zoology, pertaining to the body wall of an animal. 
3. In cell biology. pertaining to or affecting the somatic cells, as distinguished from the germ cells.

Somatic derives from the Greek somatikos, “of the body.”

Just for laugh

source : engrish

50 problems Words & Phrases

1. a while / awhile: “A while” is a noun phrase; awhile is an adverb.

2. all together / altogether: All together now — “We will refrain from using that two-word phrase to end sentences like this one altogether.”

3. amend / emend: To amend is to change; to emend is to correct.

4. amount / number: Amount refers to a mass (“The amount saved is considerable”); number refers to a quantity (“The number of dollars saved is considerable”).

5. between / among: The distinction is not whether you refer to two people or things or to three or more; it’s whether you refer to one thing and another or to a collective or undefined number — “Walk among the trees,” but “Walk between two trees.”

6. biannual / biennial: Biannual means twice a year; biennial means once every two years.

7. bring / take: If it’s coming toward you, it’s being brought. If it’s headed away from you, it’s being taken.

8. compare to / compare with: “Comparing to” implies similarity alone; “compare with” implies contrast as well.

9. compliment / complement: To compliment is to praise; to complement is to complete.

10. comprise, consist of / compose, constitute: Comprise means “include,” so test by replacement — “is included of” is nonsense, and so is “is comprised of.” The whole comprises the parts or consists of the parts, but the parts compose or constitute the whole.

11. connote / denote: To connote is to convey (“Air quotes connote skepticism or irony”); to denote is to specify (“A stop sign denotes the requirement to halt”).

12. continual / continuous: Continual events are frequently repeated, or intermittent. Continuous events are uninterrupted, or constant.

13. credible / credulous: To be credible is to be authoritative; to be credulous is to be gullible.

14. deserts / desserts: If you eat only cake, pie, ice cream, and the like, you eat just desserts. If you have it coming to you, you get your just deserts as well. (However, the connotation is negative, so hit the gym.)

15. different from / different than: The former phrase is preferred in formal writing; but “differently than” is always correct usage.

16. discreet / discrete: Discreet means “subtle”; discrete means “separate.” (“He discreetly reminded them of their discrete meanings.”)

17. each other / one another: “One another” is preferred in formal writing when more than two of something are being discussed.

18. economic / economical: Economic refers to the science of economics;economical suggests frugality.

19. elemental/elementary: What’s elemental is essential or integral to nature; what’s elementary is basic.

20. ensure / insure / assure: To ensure is to guarantee, to insure is to indemnify, and to assure is to comfort or convince.

21. epidemic / endemic / pandemic: An epidemic is the outbreak of disease in a limited place and time; an endemic disease is a recurring one peculiar to a place or population; a pandemic is pervasive over a wide geographical area.

22. forgo / forego: To forgo is to go without; to forego is to go before (and is generally used only in the forms foregoing and foregone, which are themselves rare).

23. gibe / jibe / jive: To gibe (soft g, as in gym) is to taunt or insult (thoughjibe is an alternate spelling), to jibe with is to coincide or fit, to jive is to deceive.

24. historic / historical: Something historic is remarkable for its impact on history; something historical is simply an event in history.

25. home in / hone in: To home in is to close in; to hone in is to confuse one word for another. (“Hone in” has no meaning.)

26. jealousy / envy: Jealousy is resentment; envy is covetousness.

27. lay / lie: Lay is transitive, associated with a direct object — “Lay that pencil down.” “Yesterday, I laid that pencil down.” “That pencil has been laid down.” Lie is intransitive, not so associated — “Lie down.” “Last night, I lay down.” “It was my plan to have lain down already.

28. leach / leech: To leach is to dissolve by percolation; to leech is to remove blood with a leech or to exhaust; as a noun, it means a parasitic worm or the human figurative equivalent, or the edge of a sail (also spelled leach).

29. libel / slander: Libel is written defamation; slander is the spoken equivalent.

30. may / might: May refers to factual or possible; might is appropriate for the hypothetical or counterfactual.

31. nauseous / nauseated: To be nauseous is to cause sickness. To be nauseated is to feel sick.

32. notable / noticeable / noteworthy: Something notable is worthy of note. Something noticeable is capable of being noticed. Noteworthy is a synonym of notable, though the former implies the unusual and the latter the commendable.

33. partly / partially: Partly means “in part”; partially means “incomplete” or, rarely, is an antonym for unfairly.

34. peak / pique: To peak is to reach the pinnacle; to pique is to arouse interest or to bother.

35. people / persons: People has assumed primacy; persons is reserved mostly as a synonym for bodies (“those belongings carried on their persons”).

36. persuade / convince: To persuade someone is to motivate them to do something; to convince someone is to lead them to understand or believe.

37. predominantly / predominately: Both forms are correct, but predominantly predominates.

38. purposely / purposefully: What’s done purposely is done on purpose; what’s done purposefully is done with a purpose.

39. regrettably / regretfully: Regrettably is a synonym for unfortunately;regretfully means just that — full of regret.

40. repetitive / repetitious: Both terms have acquired a negative connotation, but the former retains a more neutral meaning.

41. sensual / sensuous: Sensual has an erotic connotation; sensuous refers more neutrally to what is pleasurable to the senses.

42. since / because: Informally, these terms are interchangeable, but in formal writing, since should be used only to refer to time.

43. stationary / stationery: To be stationary is to stand still; stationery refers to letter-writing materials.

44. that / which: That is used restrictively (“The pencil that is sharp” — among more than one pencil, the one with that characteristic); which is employed nonrestrictively (“The pencil, which is sharp” — one pencil alone, possessing that characteristic). The distinction is rarely observed other than in American English.

45. tortuous / torturous: A tortuous experience is a winding one; a torturous one is painful.

46. transcript / transcription: A transcript is a thing; a transcription is the process of creating it.

47. verbal / oral: Verbal refers to both written and spoken communication, but oral is useful for distinguishing the latter from the former.

48. while / although / whereas: Informally, while is a synonym for the other two terms, but in formal writing it should be reserved for temporal connotations.

49. wreak / wreck: These terms do not share etymological origin; you wreck a party, but you do so by wreaking havoc.

50. whether / if: Both words are correct in expressing a choice, but the former is more appropriate in formal writing (“I can’t decide whether to go”), whereas the latter is better reserved for reference to possibility or probability (“I’ll go if you do”).

sources : dailywritingtips