Conditionals

A conditional is said to be an action which depends on something. Conditionals are used to talk about real or unreal situations; they are sometimes called ‘If-clauses’. Real conditionals describe real-life situations. Unreal conditionals describe unreal and imaginary situations. W0hat are conditionals and If clauses in English grammar? They describe the result of something that might happen (in the present or future) or might have happened or didn't (in the past). They are made using different verb tenses. For example: If a certain condition is true, then a particular result happens.

There are four kinds of conditionals:

• Zero conditional
• First conditional
• Second conditional
• Third conditional

The Zero Conditional:

 The Zero conditional is used for things that are always true as long as the condition is met. The Zero Conditional is used for actions that are always true and when the conditions are satisfied. The structure of these conditionals is straight forward. For example: (If + present simple, present simple)

·         If you heat water to 100%, it boils.

·         If I drink coffee, I get headache.

In these examples, the result will always occur if the condition is met, so the time is not important.

The First Conditional:

A First conditional sentence is for future actions dependent on the result of another future action or event, where there is a reasonable possibility of the conditions for the action being satisfied. It can also be said as the real possibility in the future. For example: (If + present simple, + will)

·         If it rains tomorrow, we will go to the cinema.

·         If she gets good grades, she will go to university.

Here we are talking about the future, but we use a present tense for the condition and ‘will’ for the result. In this case, the person is sure about going to university. Therefore (if + present simple, + will).

The Second Conditional:

The Second conditional can be used to talk about imaginary present situations, where we are imagining something different from what is really the case. Like always. Jokes apart, we can also use it to talk about things in the future that are unlikely to happen, as the condition is unlikely to be met. We use the past tense in the condition part and would for the result.  (If + past simple, would + infinitive)

·         If I had a lot of money, I would travel around the world.

·         If I were you, I'd tell her.

The Third conditional: It is used when we are talking about the past and imagining something different from what actually happened, that means for imaginary past actions, where the conditions for the action WERE NOT satisfied. For example: If + past perfect + would have + past participle

·         If I had known, I would have helped. I didn't know and didn't help.

·         If I had gone to bed early, I would have caught the train.

Fortunately for those of us who speak English, the theory is fairly easy to apply, since the conditional tense can usually be understood. As long as you remember the possibilities, you won't go wrong often by thinking of the conditional tenses. Give it a try for better understanding and knowledge on this subject. Remember there are no conditions applied for being wrong, mistakes are welcome. However, once realized, we should not repeat them.

We hope this blog has helped you understand Conditional tenses. To learn them better, enroll to the English language course at ELTIS!

Phonetics

Phonetics is derived from the Greek work phone which means sound or voice. Phonetics is a fundamental branch of Linguistics which has three different aspects in it:

·         Articulatory phonetics – describes how vowel sounds are articulated in organs of speech.

·         Acoustic phonetics- describes when speech sounds travel through the speaker to the learner; it does in the form of vibration in the air.

·         Auditory phonetics- describes how speech sounds are perceived to the learner.

In a spoken language, sound is produced by passing air over tightened vocal cords through a particularly shaped chamber.

Consonants are defined as speech sounds that are not vowels; a letter of the alphabet that represents a speech sound produced by a partial or complete obstruction of the air stream by a constrction of the speech organs (as taken by the dictionary) while vowels define the shape of the chamber while sound is being created. The actual sound produced such as simple vowel or consonant sound is called ‘phone’. If you can pronounce the sound on its own without moving your tongue, and it doesn’t have a clear start or end, then it’s most likely to be a vowel sound. I have been thinking a lot for the last few weeks about how English might be made phonetic. The first step is identifying vowels that we use in our spoken language, and forget everything we now know about spelling, wherever possible. I believe that it would make sense to use vowels, since they are so widely known and seem to be fairly consistent in most languages: a, e, i, o, u.

In English, or any other language, there are words with sounds different from the way they are actually spelled. This can be a good example of acoustic phonetics. For example, ‘C’ is always either pronounced as /k/ or /s/, except when it’s part of /ch/. So let’s make ‘c’ into /ch/. ‘Q’ is actually /k/ followed by a diphthong (where the tongue doesn't move and only one vowel sound is heard). A lot of vowels in English are actually diphthongs. For example, the word “tour” in American English and British English is pronounced differently. By simply saying that /r/ is /r/ as in tour“, it makes it easier for different language speakers to pronounce each vowel sound differently from one another, and yet have a consistent spelling that all can use. Vowel sounds may be pronounced differently in different countries (and indeed, there is a lot of variation with respect to the letter on this side of the pond) individual American and British speakers pronounce the letters consistently. And thus, we can all use the same letter for it, even if we sound a little different.

If you are interested in this topic, we highly recommend you to join Speakfast course or the Diploma in Practical English and Life Skills in which we conduct a separate course in Voice and Accent Neutralization.

Business Phone Etiquette

Courtesy is as important in speaking over the phone as in talking to people face-to-face. It is essential in career and for building good relations that we develop effective phone skills and are able to, for example, call to confirm an appointment or ask for an interview slot or speak with family/friends. Since we live in an age of information overload, it is difficult to predict how the person at the other end will react. Many of us have been through such kind of experiences. For example, when a caller is placed on hold, a minute seems like forever, this is a very common problem. Time is at a premium and people are stressed out. Given all this, no one wants to attend to that unexpected call during a busy day. But with little planning and preparation you can make a good impression through phone and achieve the objective of every phone call. Here are some specimens of feedback which can help you handle your calls in a better way:

Firstly, your tone of voice should be clear and sober. Try not to shout but speak distinctly. The person at the other end of the phone cannot see your facial expressions or gestures and the impression s/he receives depends on what he/she hears.

Second, always answer the call by saying “Hello”. “Hello” is the most proper way to answer a call.

These are the two main things which come to notice by the caller and would initiate his/her subject matter accordingly, not taking up the conversation in a hard way. Now going ahead with, here are a few steps which, when learnt, can do wonders to your communication.

·         Put off making important calls when you are too distracted or tired to give it your all. You have exactly one opportunity to make a great first impression and you will not make it, if you are not prepared.

·         Always ask whether it is a good time to talk when you are making a call. If not, ask when you can reach them again.

·         Try not to keep the other person on hold for a long time. If possible avoid it altogether. If you are making a call, you should have all the information readily available and do not keep someone on hold. If you can't help him/her right away, you can say that you will get back to her.

·         Open the call with a standard professional greeting depending on the time of the day. Mention your first name, organization, and the purpose of the call clearly and be as direct as possible. Don't beat around the bush; it can be very irritating.

·         It's a good idea to rehearse saying the person's name several times BEFORE making a phone call. This will help to avoid any pronunciation problems and also personalize the call.

·         Leave brief and clear messages on answering systems, providing your name, reason for the call and contact information. Do not forget to leave your phone number, even if the person has it, so s/he doesn't have to look it up.

·         Allow another person to take plenty of time to speak, and use prompt words such as "I see" and "really" (in a sincere tone, of course). This shows them that you are truly interested in what they are saying.

·         If the person you have called needs to get back to you with information, give him/her a variety of options such as e-mail, fax and voice-mail. The objective is to make it easy for them to get back to you.

·         Note: always put the telephone down during the conversation, gently.  DO NOT SLAM THE RECEIVER DOWN. The person at the other end may still have the phone close to his ear, and then a sudden sharp bang can be hurtful as well as rude.

Learning good telephone etiquette is extremely important and those who master it get a better chance of succeeding. Thus, go out there and sizzles up your phone calls and get more hands on it by enrolling at ELTIS.