2. Does Paco need to improve his English?
Reading activity
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| By Perctheory. C. Commons |
Paco has already made a decision. He will visit the town of Koidu, which is 250 kms away from Freetown. Thanks to his sister, Sonia, and how quickly he has learnt and practiced his English in the United Kingdom and the United States, he needn't study English any longer. He can speak it fluently and understand everything when talking to other people. Nobody will now dare to say that he can't speak the language of Shakespeare. Of course, he isn't bilingual, that is, when speaking in English, everybody knows it is not his mother tongue. However, he does not have any problem at all when communicating. At first, he thought he would need to look for an interpreter in Africa, but it wasn't necessary. He is completely sure that in the diamond mines in Koidu, he will be able to speak to people in order to get further information not only about the present situation of mining in Sierra Leone but also about the history of mining in the country. He is convinced that nobody would dare to say the opposite. Dare you do it?
Read the passage and recognize if the verbs need and dare are used as modal verbs or not.
Important
These two verbs (need and dare) are very special. As you
can see in the passage above, both of them can function as modal verbs
and as normal verbs. Remember that when they are modal verbs they must be followed by infinitive without to and they don't take the third person singular -s in the present simple tense. On the contrary, when they are non-modal verbs, they both take the third person singular -s in the
present simple and are followed by to infinitive when needed. Click on the pictures below to study them in detail and see lots of examples.
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Further knowledge
After knowing the form and use of these two special verbs, click here to get a map of the main characteristics of all modal verbs and click here to do an interesting exercise related to the ones studied in this section.
Pregunta de Selección Múltiple
a. Paco doesn't dare say he is an excellent student.
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b. Paco dare not say he is an excellent student.
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c. Paco doesn't dare to say he is an excellent student.
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d. Paco dares not to say he is an excellent student.
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2.
a. Does he need to look for an interpreter to communicate in Africa?
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b. Needs he to look for an interpreter to communicate in Africa?
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c. He doesn't need look for a place to visit any longer.
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d. He doesn't need to look for a place to visit any longer.
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| By Paul Keleher. C. Commons |
a. Paco's parents needn't have any of the presents he will buy.
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b. Paco's parents don't need to have any of the presents he will buy.
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c. Sonia doesn't dare to tell Paco his English was terrible.
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d. How dare you leave when I'm talking to you?
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Writing activity
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| By Olivander. C. Commons |
As you know writing a formal and an informal letter is completely different. The same happens in Spanish. When you write a letter to apply for a job, you don't use, for example, the same vocabulary as that used to write to a friend of yours. So, in informal letters, both the vocabulary used and the way to refer to the addressee are much more informal than those used in formal ones. To say but one example, it is common that you use phrasal verbs in informal letters, but not in formal ones.
Click here to have a look at the type of language you normally use in formal and informal letters, paying special attention to the one used in the latter.
Imagine you have just arrived in a new city because your company wants you to work there. Write a letter to your friends telling them about this city and what you have done since you arrived (use no less than 80 words). Then send it to your tutor.
Let's study other two vowel sounds in English. They are easy and even funny! Come on! Go on to next section!