*Before Breakfast Lessons*

😃🗣✍🏽☕🍔🍲🍞🍮☕ Tuesday, December 5, 2017 🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭 Like our page on Facebook: Before Breakfast Lessons https://www.facebook.com/beforebreakfastlesson/ *Lesson 272* ************ ❇ *Confusing words*🤔💬💭 💠 *Insure* and *Ensure* To *insure* means to buy insurance so that you will receive money if your property, car, etc. gets damaged or stolen, or if you get ill/sick or die. It also means to sell insurance to somebody for something. The other verb forms are "insure", "insured" and "insuring". In American English, *insure* is sometimes used to mean *ensure*. That is not tolerable in British English. *Ensure* is also a verb. It means "to make sure that something happens or is definite". It is also used to mean *insure* in American English. Both words are pronounced the same way as /ɪnˈʃɔː(r)/ (British) or /ɪnˈʃʊr/ (American). Example 1. He *insures* his property at Prime Insurance Company. ✅ 2. We have to *ensure* that everyone is served. ✅ ❇ *Misused words/expressions*❌ 💠 *Fill in the "blank spaces"* Without stretching this phrase too much, we could simply say it sounds tautological. *Blank* is an adjective. If something is *blank*, it is empty, with nothing written, printed or recorded on it. *Space* is a noun. In writing or printing, (a) space refers to the part of a line, page or document that is empty. By saying *blank space*, are we not saying the same thing in two different words? We could say: *"Fill in the spaces"* and the same sense will be carried. ❇ *Grammar*📚 💠 *Tense (Shine)* The word *shine* can be used as a verb and as a noun. Our focus is on its usage as a verb. In sense 1, *shine* means to produce or reflect light; to be bright. *Shone* is the past tense and past participle form. For example; The sun *shone* brightly in the morning. In sense 2, *shine* means to aim or point the light of a lamp, etc. in a particular direction. The past tense and past participle form is *shone*. For example; He *shone* the flashlight around the accident scene. In American English, *shined* can also be used for both past tense and participle forms. For example; He *shined* the light at where he was injured. In sense 3, *shine* means to polish something; to make something smooth and bright. The past tense and past participle is *shined*. For example; He *shined* the shoe very well.✅ He *shone* the shoe well. ❌ ❇ *Spell Check & Pronunciation*☑ 💠 *Suffice* *Suffice* is a verb. It means "to be enough for somebody or something". For example: One example will *suffice* to illustrate the point. *Suffice* is not used in the progressive form, as in *sufficing*. *Suffice* is commonly used in the idiom *suffice (it) to say (that)...* This idiom is used to suggest that although you could say more, what you do say will be enough to explain what you mean. It is an elegant phrase for *let us just say* or *I shall just say*. It doesn't have to be set off with commas. For example: *Suffice it to say* he doesn't pass the exams, what would be director's reason for employing him? *Suffice* is not pronounced the same way as *suffix*, so you shouldn't say /safix/. It is approximately pronounced as /sɛfais/, but more accurately as /səˈfʌɪs/. ❇ *Useful expressions/Idioms*🆔 💠 *On the back burner* If something is *on the back burner*, it is temporarily not being dealt with or considered, especially because it is not urgent or important. The opposite is *on the front burner* which means getting or needing immediate action. Example 1. The manager has put our plans of recruiting new employees *on the back burner*. ✅ 2. The fight against illegal small-scale mining has been *on the front burner* since the year began. ✅ ❇ *Vocabulary building*👍🏽🆕 💠 *Toiletries* These are articles used in washing and taking care of one's body, such as soap, shampoo, and toothpaste, etc. *Toiletries* is mainly used in its plural form. Example 1. We presented the Children's Home with some cash and *toiletries*. ✅ ❇ *Reading Corner*👨🏽‍🏫👩🏽‍🏫📚 💠 *Benefit of reading*: Reading is one of the surest ways of sharpening one's intelligence. You are able to make well-informed judgements and form well-thought-out ideas. You don't make empty statements; whenever you speak, it carries great sense. ❇ *Communication (speaking & writing) Tip*✅ 💠 *Responding to questions (continued)* Some questions demand a simple *yes* or *no* answer; others demand further explanations. This distinction shouldn't be a problem. For example: Mother: Are you hungry? Son: I ate in the morning. By inference, the son means to say he is not hungry, but couldn't he have been direct by saying *No...*? Perhaps, in spoken English, we don't see the relevance of being direct with responses, but in written tests, you don't have an option. Questions that elicit explanations should also be handled accordingly. Usually one-word responses are not sufficient as answers for such questions. For example: How do you spend your weekend? *To be continued...* .................End.................... Your language is your bargaining power, so make it skilled. Send your comments to +233241972788/beforebreakfastlessons@gmail.com✍🏽 Like our page on Facebook: *Before Breakfast Lessons* ©Eric Nuamah Korankye (Hamlet) ® *WeRise* ♻we rise by lifting others *Live Never Come Again! !* *Live Today! !*