Noun Phrase

A noun phrase is either a pronoun or any group of words that can be replaced by a pronoun. For example, 'they', 'cars', and 'the cars' are noun phrases, but 'car' is just a noun, as you can see in these sentences (in which the noun phrases are all in bold)

Q: Do you like cars?
A: Yes, I like them.
Q: Do you like the cars over there?
A: Yes, they are nice.
Q: Do you like the car I bought last week?
A: Yes, I like it. (Note: 'It' refers to 'the car', not 'car')

• "The very tall education consultant with the roving eye"
  
  The structure of this noun phrase contains three sections:

• Pre-modification
  • The =determiner
  • very =adverb (intensifying)
  • tall = adjective
  • education = pre-modifying noun

• Head noun
  • consultant

• Post-modification
  • with the roving eye = preposition phrase

Reference: https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/noun-phrase

Sentence and Word Stress in English

The basic rules of sentence stress are:

1.   content words are stressed

2.   structure words are unstressed

3.   the time between stressed words is always the same

The following tables can help you decide which words are content words and which words are structure words:

Content words - stressed

Words carrying the meaning	Example
main verbs	SELL, GIVE, EMPLOY
nouns	CAR, MUSIC, MARY
adjectives	RED, BIG, INTERESTING
adverbs	QUICKLY, LOUDLY, NEVER
negative auxiliaries	DON'T, AREN'T, CAN'T

Structure words - unstressed

Words for correct grammar	Example
pronouns	he, we, they
prepositions	on, at, into
articles	a, an, the
conjunctions	and, but, because
auxiliary verbs	do, be, have, can, must

Rules of Word Stress in English

There are two very simple rules about word stress:

1.   One word has only one stress. (One word cannot have two stresses. If you hear two stresses, you hear two words. Two stresses cannot be one word. It is true that there can be a "secondary" stress in some words. But a secondary stress is much smaller than the main [primary] stress, and is only used in long words.)

2.   We can only stress vowels, not consonants.

---

Here are some more, rather complicated, rules that can help you understand where to put the stress. But do not rely on them too much, because there are many exceptions. It is better to try to "feel" the music of the language and to add the stress naturally.

1 Stress on first syllable

rule	example
Most 2-syllable nouns	PRESent, EXport, CHIna, TAble
Most 2-syllable adjectives	PRESent, SLENder, CLEVer, HAPpy

2 Stress on last syllable

rule	example
Most 2-syllable verbs	to preSENT, to exPORT, to deCIDE, to beGIN

There are many two-syllable words in English whose meaning and class change with a change in stress. The word present, for example is a two-syllable word. If we stress the first syllable, it is a noun (gift) or an adjective (opposite of absent). But if we stress the second syllable, it becomes a verb (to offer). More examples: the words export, import, contract and object can all be nouns or verbs depending on whether the stress is on the first or second syllable.

3 Stress on penultimate syllable (penultimate = second from end)

rule	example
Words ending in -ic	GRAPHic, geoGRAPHic, geoLOGic
Words ending in -sion and -tion	teleVIsion, reveLAtion

For a few words, native English speakers don't always "agree" on where to put the stress. For example, some people say teleVIsion and others say TELevision. Another example is: CONtroversy and conTROversy.

4 Stress on ante-penultimate syllable (ante-penultimate = third from end)

rule	example
Words ending in -cy, -ty, -phy and-gy	deMOcracy, dependaBIlity, phoTOgraphy, geOLogy
Words ending in -al	CRItical, geoLOGical

5 Compound words (words with two parts)

rule	example
For compound nouns, the stress is on the first part	BLACKbird, GREENhouse
For compound adjectives, the stress is on thesecond part	bad-TEMpered, old-FASHioned
For compound verbs, the stress is on the secondpart	to underSTAND, to overFLOW

Word Stress in English

Rule #1: With most nouns and adjectives with 2 syllables, the stress is on the first syllable

Example: PRO-gress, PRE-sent, EN-gine, IN-crease, RE-cord, JEA-lous, CAU-tious, AW-kward, PLEA-sant.

Rule #2: With most verbs with 2 syllables, the stress is on the last syllable.

Example: pre-SENT, in-CREASE, ad-MIT, an-NOUNCE, be-GIN, ar – RANGE, im-PRESS, de – CIDE, of – FEND, re-CORD.

Rule #3: The words ending in –TION, - SION, - CIAN are usually stressed on the second last syllable.

Example: e – du – CA – tion, in – tu – I – tion, con – cen – TRA-tion, de – mons – TRA – tion, per – MIS – sion, ob – SES – sion, mu – SI – cian, ma – GI – cian, tech-NI-cian. Exception: TE – le – vi –sion.

Rule #4: Words ending in –IC are usually stressed on the second last syllable.

Example: e – co – NO –mic, rea – LIS –tic, stra – TE – gic, me – CHA – nic, geo – GRA – phic, dra – MA – tic, pes- si – MIS – tic, a – ca – DE- mic, po – E –tic, e – LEC –tric,

Rule #5: Words ending in –EE, - OO are usually stressed on the last syllable.

Example: em – ploy – EE, gua – rant – ee, degr – EE, shamp – OO, tatt – OO, tab – OO. Exception: com- MIT –tee, COF - fee

IELTS Vocabulary & Video

http://www.ielts-exam.net/vocabulary/

http://www.englishryan.com/

IELTS Reading suggestion

Reading passages in the past IELTS tests came from the following sources:

1. The Economist (http://www.economist.com/)
2. The Economist Technology quarterly (http://www.economist.com/science/tq/)
3. New Scientist (http://www.newscientist.com/)
4. American Scientist (http://www.americanscientist.org/)
5. The Geographical Journal (http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0016-7398)
6. Interscience (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/home)
7. Australian geographic (http://editorial.australiangeographic.com.au/)
8. The British museum (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/research_publications/online_research_publications.aspx)
9. Illustrated London News (http://www.iln.org.uk/)
10. http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/magazine
11. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Ways to reduce laziness/ overcome laziness

Firstly, think what am I trying to avoid or what I don't wanna do.
Secondly, think what do I want? or what is my aim or what I can achieve.
Thirdly, what is the next step that I can take?
Then repeat the whole process.

IELTS Speaking: Useful Phrases

1. Expressing a Preference

I prefer A to B because...
If I have a choice, I will ....(a real possibility)
If I had a choice, I would...(not a real possibility...)
I would much rather do A than B...

2.Narrating

When I was a high school student, I went to...
After I graduated from high school, I ...
During my visit to Dhaka last year, I ...
Last year during the Spring Festival, I ....

3.Comparing and Contrasting

A is much better/worse than B.
When I compare these two items, it's clear that...

4.Suggesting

Another idea to think about is...
One possibility that I can think of is....

5.Expressing Opinions

It seems to me that...
After a lot of thought, I have come to the conclusion that....
This is only my opinion but...

6.Justifying Opinions

The reason I believe this is....
The most important evidence supporting my belief is....

7.Speculating

I am not sure what might happen,but one possibility is...
It is hard to predict the future, but I suppose we might....

8.Analyzing

There are several points to consider, first of which...
We can break this question down into several parts. First...
Let us look at this step by step.To begin with...

9.Summarizing

Altogether, there were..
Considering all of these ideas, maybe the best thing would be to...

10. Conversation Repair

Maybe I am not making myself clear, I want to say that....
What I mean to say is....
Another way to put it is....