Professional Documents
Culture Documents
On Your Childhood
Speaking about your childhood is a great opportunity to use phrasal verbs
like GROW UP. Its also a great way to use the Past Passive.
Born in
3 I was born in Berlin.
Raised by
3 I was raised by my mother and stepfather.
Grew up in
3 I grew up in a small town, just north of Zurich.
Born and raised
, I was born and raised in Seoul.
On Your Job
When speaking about your job, make sure that you know which preposition
to use when speaking about the industry, your company, and your position in
the company.
I work in (INDUSTRY)
3 I work in sales.
3 I work in advertising.
3 I work in the marketing industry.
3 I work in Human Resources.
I work for (COMPANY)
3 I work for a marketing company in Germany.
3 I work for an international law firm.
3 I work for Nestle.
I work at (COMPANY)
3 I work at the Nestle headquarters in (CITY).
3 I work at Coca Cola.
3 I work at Samsung.
I work on (JOB DUTIES)
3 I work on sales reports and payroll.
3 I work on new advertising campaigns.
3 I work on providing job training to new employees.
I work as (JOB TITLE)
3 I work as a banker.
3 I work as a lawyer.
3 I work as a banker.
Remember that the best thing to do is to combine the above sentences to
create longer, more complex sentences.
3 I work as a lawyer at a law firm in Tokyo.
3 I work on sales at an advertising firm in Paris.
, I work in the banking industry. Specifically, I am a mortgage broker for
HSBC.
On Your Personal Life
The Cambridge employee will want to know a little about you, so be
prepared to talk about your likes, dislikes, and interests. Here are some
useful phrases.
Im an avid ________________.
3 Im an avid reader. I have hundreds of books in addition to plenty of
files on my e-reader.
Im a ________________ lover.
3 Im a huge soccer lover, so I usually play with my friends on
weekends.
Im a big fan of ________________.
3 Im a big fan of music, and in my free time I often go to concerts.
Im a ________________ fan.
3 Im a fitness fan, so Im often found at the gym or outdoors doing
something exciting, like hiking.
Defining Clauses
Defining Clauses, as the name suggests, provide us with the definition of
the noun in the sentence: they specify the noun or help to distinguish it from
others.
Notice that we can also use WHO when the noun is a person. In casual
speech, we use both: for more formal writing, it is considered best to use
WHO and not THAT.
Examples
San Diegans who/that dont go to the beach are uncommon.
San Diego has many restaurants that offer beautiful views of the ocean.
San Franciscans are people who/that love culture and great food.
San Francisco has many restaurants that serve fusion food.
Vietnamese with a twist? Restaurants like the Slanted Door offer delicious Further
Examples
Looking at Defining and Non-Defining Relative Clauses side-by-side is a
great way to see the differences between these two types of Relative
Clauses.
Here are some examples. Notice how we only have the option of WHO or
THAT with Defining Clauses.
Dogs which are dangerous are not allowed. (Only dogs that are dangerous
are not allowed. The other dogs are probably allowed.)
Dogs, which are dangerous, are not allowed. (All dogs are dangerous and
are not allowed.)
Celebrities, who are rich, can buy anything. (All celebrities are rich and can
buy anything.)
Celebrities who/that are rich can buy anything. (Only some celebrities are
rich, and these celebrities can buy anything.)
San Diegans who/that love to swim go to the beach often. (The San Diego
residents who like to swim go to the beach. But not everybody loves to swim
and not everyone goes to the beach.)
San Diegans, who love to swim, go to the beach often. (All San Diegans
love to swim and go to the beach.)
Notice how Non-Defining Relative Clauses are always separated from the
rest of the sentence by commas, unlike Defining Relative Clauses, which
do not use this punctuation.
Surfer 2: Tim
Tim has been body-surfing since he was a kid. However, he hasnt been
surfing for very long: in fact, he has only been surfing since this spring.
Tim hasnt been surfing a lot lately because he has been busy. In fact, he
hasnt been surfing for two weeks. He misses it. He has been dreaming
about the ocean lately!
Passive Voice
To create the Present Passive, we add the BE verb to the sentence and use
the form:
object + simple present BE verb + past participle + by subject
The simple present verb from the Active sentence is now in its past
participle form with the Passive sentence.
3 The windows are washed by John.
We can do this again and again with different English tenses:
3 John washed the windows becomes The windows were washed by
John (Simple Past and Passive Simple Past.)
3 John has washed the windows becomes The windows have been
washed by John. (Present Perfect and Passive Present Perfect.)
With the Passive, we can also add Modals.
3 John needs to wash the windows becomes The windows need to
be washed by John.
Confusing? For many, yes! But not if you look at how to apply these Passive
sentences to real life. By doing so, you will remember their form and
function.
Passive Modals
We can use the Passive with Modalslike need(s) to, has to, and mustto
talk about the things on our list that need to be done. We use the
construction modal + be + past participle.
3 The invitations must be sent.
3 The house needs to be cleaned.
3 The RSVPs must be counted.
3 The shopping must be done.
3 The food must be prepared.
3 The table has to be set up.
3 The room has to be decorated.
Note: we use TO with needs and has but not with must.
Further Reading