piaece's blog by piaece | English, baby! Blogs

HMMM

piaece — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 21:44:54 GMT

HMMM

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Wish you were here

piaece — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 20:53:23 GMT

Wish you were here

So, so you think you can tell heaven from hell, blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil,
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts? Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for cool breeze? Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead-role in a cage?
How I wish, How I wish you were here.
We’re just to lost souls, swimming in a fish bowl, year after year
Running over the same old ground. What have we found? The same old fears
Wish you were here

Seven pieces advice of MEVLANA

piaece — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 19:13:21 GMT

Seven pieces advice of MEVLANA

Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, the great Anatolian philosopher, poet. He was born on 30 September 1207. He died on 17 December 1273 in Turkey.

Seven pieces advice of MEVLANA:
In generosity and others be like a river
In compassion and grace be like sun
In concealing others'faults be like night
In anger and fury be like dead
In modesty and humility be like earth
In tolerance be like a sea
Either seem as you are or be as you seem

BEAUTIFUL ISTANBUL

piaece — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:37:56 GMT

BEAUTIFUL ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL

Ortakoy Mosque next to the Bosphorous river

GALATA
"Istanbul in Winter"
KIZKULESI

"bosphorus, Istanbul"

"Evening Lights on Bosphorus"

FROG

piaece — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:36:17 GMT

FROG

Every frog is not a prince !

:S

piaece — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 18:15:44 GMT

:S

Could

piaece — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 19:12:25 GMT

Could

Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:

talk about past possibility or ability
make requests

Structure of Could

subject + could + main verbThe main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").

	subject	auxiliary verb	main verb
+	My grandmother	could	swim.
-	She	could not	walk.
-	She	couldn't	walk.
?	Could	your grandmother	swim?

Notice that:

Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.
The main verb is always the bare infinitive.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive. We cannot say:

Use of Could

could: Past Possibility or Ability

We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do:

I could swim when I was 5 years old.
My grandmother could speak seven languages.
When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the door.)
Could you understand what he was saying?

We use could (positive) and couldn't (negative) for general ability in the past. But when we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to (positive) and couldn't (negative). Look at these examples:

	Past
	General	Specific Occasion
+	My grandmother could speak Spanish.	A man fell into the river yesterday. The police were able to save him.
-	My grandmother couldn't speak Spanish.	A man fell into the river yesterday. The police couldn't save him.

could: Requests

We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in this way is fairly polite (formal):

Could you tell me where the bank is, please?
Could you send me a catalogue, please?

Be able to

piaece — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 19:07:24 GMT

Be able to

Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply the verb be plus an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look at be able to here because we sometimes use it instead of can and could.We use be able to:

to talk about ability

Structure of Be able to

The structure of be able to is:subject + be + able + infinitive

	subject	be main verb	able adjective	infinitive
+	I	am	able	to drive.
-	She	is not	able	to drive.
-	She	isn't	able	to drive.
?	Are	you	able	to drive?

Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:

I was able to drive...
I will be able to drive...
I have been able to drive...

Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:

I would like to be able to speak Chinese.

Use of Be able to

Be able to is not a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience, because it is often used like "can" and "could", which are modal auxiliary verbs.

be able to: ability

We use be able to to express ability. "Able" is an adjective meaning: having the power, skill or means to do something. If we say "I am able to swim", it is like saying "I can swim". We sometimes use "be able to" instead of "can" or "could" for ability. "Be able to" is possible in all tenses—but "can" is possible only in the present and "could" is possible only in the past for ability. In addition, "can" and "could" have no infinitive form. So we use "be able to" when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look at these examples:

I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)
You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)

hope

piaece — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:06:06 GMT

hope

April showers bring May flowers