VIP Class Notes (Raph)

RaphLaura F

Today we focused on:

Today we worked on grammar (conjunctions)

Vocabulary

Itch (v): 1- to have or cause an uncomfortable feeling on the skin that makes you want to rub it with your nails. 2- ē—’.
E.g.: I can’t wear wool – it makes me itch.
E.g.: Try not to scratch those spots, no matter how much they itch, or you’ll make them bleed.
E.g.: There’s a mosquito bite on my ankle that is itching like crazy!

Differentiate (n): 1- to show or find the difference between things that are compared:
E.g.: We do not differentiate between our employees on the basis of their race, religion, or national origin.

Moisturizer / Lotion (n): 1- äæę¹æ

Grammar

AS | BECAUSE | SINCE

As,Ā becauseĀ andĀ sinceĀ are conjunctions.Ā As,Ā becauseĀ andĀ since all introduce subordinate clauses (é™„å±žę”ę¬¾). They connect the result of something with its reason.

RESULT

REASON

He decided to go to the conference in Barcelona,

asĀ he was in Spain anyway.

Are you angry with me

becauseĀ I opened the letter?

Bilardo coaches his team by telephone,

(Bilardo was the coach of the Argentinian football team)

sinceĀ half of them play in Italy, France or Spain.

Because

BecauseĀ is more common thanĀ asĀ andĀ since, both in writing and speaking. When we useĀ because, we are focusing on the reason:

E.g.: She spoke quietly because she didnā€™t want Catherine to hear.

E.g.: Weā€™ll come over on SundayĀ becauseĀ Davidā€™s got to work on Saturday.

We often put theĀ because-clause at the beginning of a sentence, especially when we want to give extra focus to the reason. We use a comma (,) after the because-clause:

E.g.: BecauseĀ breathing is something we do automatically, we rarely think about it.

We can use aĀ because-clause on its own without the main clauseĀ in speaking or informal writing:

A: Would you like to go to school there?
B: Yes.
A: Why?
B: BecauseĀ my best friend goes there. (I would like to go to school there because my best friend goes there.)

AsĀ andĀ since

We often useĀ asĀ andĀ sinceĀ when we want to focus more on the result than the reason.Ā AsĀ andĀ sinceĀ are more formal thanĀ because. We usually put a comma beforeĀ since after the main clause:

E.g.: [result]I hope theyā€™ve decided to comeĀ asĀ [reason]I wanted to hear about their India trip.

E.g.: [result]Theyā€™re rather expensive,Ā sinceĀ [reason]theyā€™re quite hard to find.

We often useĀ asĀ andĀ sinceĀ clauses at the beginning of the sentence. We use a comma after theĀ as-Ā orĀ since- clause:

E.g.: Since everything can be done from home with computers and telephones, thereā€™s no need to dress up for work any more.

E.g.: AsĀ everyone already knows each other, thereā€™s no need for introductions. Weā€™ll get straight into the business of the meeting.

We useĀ because, notĀ asĀ orĀ since, in questions where the speaker proposes a reason:

E.g.: Are you feeling unwellĀ because you ate too much?

(Not: Are you feeling unwell since you ate too much?Ā or ā€¦Ā as you ate too much?)