№ 1. Biography of the Student. Verbs “to be”, “to have”. Indefinite Tenses. Types of sentences. I am a student. The construction there is, there are. The transcription.
Personal profile sample
Personal details
Name: Roger Percival Fleming
Age: 33
Current Address:
Suburbia NSW 2999
Phone No: (02) 769012567
Wife (if married): Veronica May (Gables)
Children: Peter (9)
Simon (7)
Hannah (5)
Personal background:
Born in Dubbo, I grew up in
Upon completing High School in 1989, I enrolled in a Science degree at the
Conversion and Christian Experience
Having grown up in a Christian family, I had the Bible explained to me from childhood and my profession of faith in 1985 was a result of a gradual appreciation that all that God had said was true. I came to understand that God had forgiven my sins because of the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ and decided to commit my whole life to his service.
I have always been associated with churches, since my earliest days. With my family I attended the Dubbo Presbyterian Church until I went to university. In
Educational Qualifications
1990-1992: Bachelor of Science (Honours),
1993: Graduate Diploma of Education, University of Technology,
1994-1999: Certificate in Theology, Presbyterian Theological Centre,
2001-2003: Bachelor of Theology (Honours), Presbyterian Theological Centre,
2001-Present: Diploma of Theological Studies, Presbyterian Theological Centre,
Work Experience
1993-1999: Science Teacher,
Experience of Ministry and Leadership
1986-1989: Dubbo Presbyterian Church
Sunday School teaching; youth group ministry; music ministry (flute).
1990-1992: St Barnabas Anglican Church
Youth Fellowship Assistant Leader, then Leader
Children’s talks.
1993-2001: Tregear Presbyterian Church
Home Bible Study Leader
Worship Leader
Children’s Talks
Preaching
Elder, 1995-2001.
Student Minister (
2002-2003: Hurstville Presbyterian Church
Student minister; home group ministry; children’s talks; preaching and leading worship services.
2003-now: Kogarah Presbyterian Church
Supply Preacher (locum): Preaching, leading worship services, home and hospital visitation, funerals.
Philosophy and Approach to Ministry
Explain philosophy of ministry here. Be clear about what you expect a church to be and do.
Preferred Location/s for Ministry
State, here, the places or regions where you would ideally like to minister and why.
Special Needs
State, here, any special needs that you might have for yourself, your wife or children – even parents, if relevant.
Wife’s Background and Expectations
The student’s wife might like to include, here, a statement of her own background and her hopes for ministry, family and the future.
Higher medical educational establishment
Medical school education (training) is free and the course of training lasts 6 years. The first 2 years provide a broad programme of general education in basic subjects such as Anatomy, Physiology, Histology and medical Latin. Instruction takes place in lecture and seminars, with most time spent in the latter. Examinations are both oral and written. Students do not see patients at this time, but many students believe that they should see patients earlier.
Course work includes manу no medical subjects, such as history of the 20th century, philosophy and ethics, political economy, atheism and religion – “paramedical” subjects such as chemistry, physics and mathematics. So the main aim of the first stage of the medical trainings to provide a broad and solid foundation for professional knowledge.
The third through fifth years are called the Senior Course. During the third year students study pathology, pharmacology general surgery and surgical anatomy. In the latter, students learn to perform three basic operations – appendectomy, tracheotomy, and correction for ectcopic pregnancy – on cadavers .In the 4 year – long course of propedentical of eliciting them diagnosis, and theoretical aspects of pathology. The course also includes subjects such as physician’s ethics and deontology. The latter is concerned with how and when to communicate critical information to patients. Clinical practice is begun during the Senior Course Croups of 10 or fewer students accompany a professor examining patients. Students gather anamnesis, perform physical examination, observe instrumental diagnostic procedures and treatment, and analyze laboratory data under their professors’ supervision. Students are evaluated by their ability to write a case history, to logically construct a diagnosis and by oral examination.
In the fourth and fifth years students receive more specialized training in genetics and otolaryngology. Since the main goal of all instruction is to train general practitioners, the lectures are problem oriented and use a clinical syndrome approach.
Summers are spent training in practical settings.
The sixth year future doctors are no longer called students, but “subordinates”, who work and study in different departments under professors’ supervision, have night duties twice a month, and attend grand rounds and lectures. The practice of medicine is based on the “three whales” (therapy internal medicine, surgery and midwifery genecology); most students do their subordinature, and eventually practice, in one of these areas. Students with specialized interests can pursue them by participating in specialty organizations. For example, future neurologists can join a student scientific society organized by the department of nervous diseases. At meetings, students analyze difficult neurological cases with respect to diagnosis and treatment.
Under the leadership of professors, I students can take part in surgery and night duties, carry on scientificу and experimental work, end present reports on their research at f conferences, the best of which are published in the local or national scientific press.
After graduation, most students enter internship at local hospitals in primary care areas such as general surgery and internal medicine. Internship lasts only year and qualifies the physician to practice. Students with the grades may attempt to enter a specialty by applying for a 3-year residency at a teaching institution. Those who enter residencies often became leaders in their fields.
The current state of our University is outstanding. We are setting records in just about everything positive.
Let me share with you a couple of stories. The first, relayed to me by our provost, Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, concerns an aspiring undergraduate dreaming of becoming a doctor. This young man applied to several leading medical schools, and then the waiting began. One, the
This story says a lot about who we are as a University and what we value. We’re not a diploma mill. We graduate truly distinguished and distinctive men and women.
My second story comes from Steven Rosson, former Student Government president. A friend of Steven’s arrived early for class and couldn’t find a parking space, despite cruising the lots repeatedly. A police officer noticed and asked the student what he was doing, and the student explained. The officer found an open parking space and flagged down the student, who was able to park and make it to class in time.
This is only one example of something I notice again and again: Our staff members go above and beyond to help out our students. Our staff members care, and they show it. I am extremely proud of our UT Dallas family. My heartfelt gratitude goes to all our employees for a job well done.
Let me now turn to the academic year under way and address five areas that warrant particular focus:
· Management of growth.
· Improvement of student retention and graduation.
· Improvement of affordability and productivity.
· Improvement of diversity.
· Demonstration of excellence and national leadership.
We are growing rapidly, and that creates stress—crowded classrooms, packed parking lots and more work for everyone. To successfully manage this, we will begin moderating growth in enrollment, continue increasing the number of faculty members, expand our facilities and infrastructure, and strengthen staff size and support. We need to ensure that we’re organized properly to be able to continue to scale up. We are moving forward with the next phase of PeopleSoft operations. And we need to keep in mind our eventual goal of becoming a vibrant destination by offering cultural enrichment and entertainment near our campus.
Enrollment has risen steadily over the past decade, as shown in this chart. This fall, UT Dallas enrolled 18,864 on-campus students. Wheon-resident and on-line students are added to the count, we topped 19,000 students, which is up 10.1 percent over last year. UT Dallas experienced the largest enrollment increase of any four-year public university in
Our challenge is to moderate growth. We cannot hire faculty or expand space at this pace. We need to strive for 4 percent to 5 percent enrollment growth per year, which is still an aggressive pace of expansion. Our provost, working with deans and our recruiting staff, will carefully consider and implement adjustments to sustain manageable expansion. At the same time, we need to maintain momentum, and keep the interest of the rapidly rising number of high-quality applicants to UT Dallas.
The size of our tenured and tenure-track faculty continues to grow, from 446 last fall to 459 now. This increase of 3 percent is a little less than hoped for. The provost continues to support aggressive, targeted recruiting. Both the provost and I believe that quality trumps everything else. It is our highest priority in faculty recruitment.
Last year, we saw many new projects started and completed, and more are planned this year. This slide shows six: a new 400-bed residence hall, renovation in the Student Union, renovation in the Research and Operations Center, initiation of construction on a new Arts and Technology Building; completion of the Visitor Center and Bookstore; and construction of new soccer fields. Our Board of Regents recently approved a $25 million expansion to our
Projects on the drawing board include a request to our Board of Regents for possible action later this week to approve a 600-bed residence hall, a second dining facility, more recreational space, and two parking garages. Speaking of parking, we are pursuing the possibility of constructing additional surface parking to address immediate needs.
The number of staff is increasing as the University grows. Our challenge is to assure that as additional people are hired they bring the right skill sets, and that we provide them with the supporting tools that they need.
We must keep in mind several additional aspects to growth management. One issue that concerns me is whether all units within our University are prepared to facilitate continued growth. I am going to ask every dean and leader of every administrative unit to consider carefully whether their units are organized appropriately to scale up to support an even larger university.
The PeopleSoft implementation has presented many challenges. No one involved would say that it has gone as well as we had hoped. If we had it to do all over again, we would do some things differently. I apologize to you, our valued faculty and staff members, who have struggled to accomplish your work, only to be frustrated by a system that has not always met our needs. At the same time, I want to recognize the hard work of the people addressing this challenge. They are persevering to bring us a system that works, and I appreciate their unwavering diligence. I know in time it will work well.
The issue before us is to move to the next phase of operations and management in a way that gets us to our goal as quickly and effectively as possible, in a sustainable manner. I am currently reviewing those next steps.
A continuing issue of concern is the lack of an exciting off-campus environment with shops, entertainment, and cultural alternatives for students and staff. I have asked Dr. Calvin Jamison, our head of business affairs, to accelerate efforts to find private partners who might develop land to create a
The second area of major focus is student retention and graduation. No issue this year has received more attention at the level of the UT System or among our Regents than this one. This metric—which only those of us inside the University used to worry about—has even attracted the attention of the popular press.
This issue intersects with goals we are already pursuing. We were already focused on improving retention, shortening time to degree, and improving graduation rates. But there is more we can do.
Although most of our incoming students are highly qualified, we need to think further about refining admission criteria to optimize the likelihood of graduation. Crucial aspects to maximizing student success include advising, early intervention for struggling students and engagement of faculty members and our schools in giving high priority to student success. We must recognize and reward outstanding teaching and faculty excellence, and ensure that technology is used to help achieve our goals.
Our freshman class keeps getting larger while maintaining high academic standards. I am especially pleased that this year we increased the average SAT score, which was already very strong, and number of National Merit Scholars, even as the overall size of the freshman class grew by a remarkable 30 percent.
This figure depicts our retention and graduation rates for the past several years, and our minimum goals through 2017. The best public research universities in
The four- and six-year graduation rates reflect the performance of students who enter UT Dallas as freshmen. Our four-year graduation rate rose this year to 45 percent. While this is one of the highest graduation rates in
UT Dallas has a long and successful history of accepting and graduating community college transfer students. Our 4-, 5-, and 6-year graduation rates in this group hover in the range of 60 to 70 percent. Though the rates are good, the trend is flat. Graduation rates must improve.
The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Texas Legislature are considering possible strategies for funding public universities on the basis of outcomes, such as the number of degrees awarded.
Nearly everyone recognizes
We are increasing degrees awarded to at-risk students. I expect an upturn in degrees awarded in critical fields over the next several years as a result of growth in our biological sciences, computer science, and engineering programs.
Annual production of undergraduate degrees has been increasing over the past several years. Students who transfer to UT Dallas earn the majority of undergraduate degrees awarded, although growth in degrees produced is primarily because of increased enrollment of new freshmen.
Revised state funding models are likely to reward those who produce graduates, not those who just enroll students. If we recruit well, retain well, advise well, provide an outstanding campus experience, inspire our students, and continue to provide an exceptionally rigorous and high-quality education, our performance will be excellent and the funding will follow.
Our production of doctoral degrees continues to rise steadily. A production rate of at least 200 PhDs per year is the minimum to qualify for the state’s National Research University Fund, which will provide additional dollars to UT Dallas when we qualify.
Graduate student enrollment increased by 11.5 percent this year. Most of that growth was in Engineering and Computer Science as well as Management, with significant growth in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS) as well. It is no accident that the growth is larger in schools with strong national reputations – our highly ranked Naveen Jindal School of Management and its MBA program, our strongly ranked Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, and BBS with powerhouse programs in audiology and speech language pathology and rapidly ascending programs in BrainHealth, Vital Longevity, and other areas.
I am confident that our Arts and Technology program, with major investments in new people and the new ATEC building, will continue to experience growth and ascendency iational reputation. We are enjoying strong international visibility in several program areas within Natural Sciences and Mathematics, such as nanotechnology. Our programs in Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences are already very well populated with healthy graduate enrollments. The master’s students earning degrees in Interdisciplinary Studies are among our most well-rounded students working on some of society’s most important issues. And, of course, this school is home to our extremely important teacher development program.
The two issues that concern me about our graduate programs are, first, expanding the faculty size and facilities in line with the growth rate of our graduate student body, and second, improving the graduation rate for PhD students. This latter issue is very important. I have tasked the provost with recommending steps that will lead to further improvement.
I have my own views about these matters, which I shared with my fellow members of the UT System Task Force on University Excellence and Productivity. I won’t recount my input to that process, but I will share several strongly held views:
At UT Dallas, we are not afraid to innovate or to try new approaches.
We acknowledge that we must be an even better and more productive institution.
Research is inseparable from the educational mission of the University.
The real academic work of the University is done at the faculty, department and school level. The role of higher administration is to encourage, monitor, support, and report on the results of faculty- and department-level efforts.
Several years ago we implemented an innovative and perhaps somewhat risky tuition policy that guarantees all new students four years of fixed tuition and fees. Further, we implemented the Comet Connection program for community college students. The program allows students to sign up at UT Dallas, lock in a guaranteed tuition rate, attend a community college, and transfer to UT Dallas and pay the tuition rate that was locked in when they signed up. To my knowledge, we are the only university in the nation with such a program. Our tuition strategy has worked well for us and I plan to recommend that we continue it.
The tricky part of achieving improved productivity is maintaining quality. We could easily reduce cost and increase degree production – all we would have to do is keep admitting more students, not hire any new faculty, and churn out degrees. We won’t do this because quality is everything to us. The key to improving productivity is to do a better job of retaining students, helping them to succeed, and graduating them. Student success is the key to improving productivity.
There are many tools that we can employ to improve student success. For example, more peer instruction in our critical undergraduate gateway courses, reduced class size in crucial courses such as first-year mathematics, use of software tools to aid advisors, early and improved intervention for students at risk, offering even more out-of-class opportunities for socialization and interaction, blended on-line learning, and others.
I believe that real improvement comes from the bottom up, at the department and school level, not from the top down. The UT System has established a framework for improving excellence and productivity, and will likely implement reporting tools such as a dashboard. Strengthened review of people, programs, and units can be helpful not only at the local level, but to the central administration, as well.
One of the trends at our University, and probably every public university in
In 1991, most of our operating funds came from the state, whereas today they mostly come from tuition and fees. In fiscal year 1991, for every dollar that a student or his or her family paid in tuition, the state of
The most wildly optimistic projection that I can offer is that state funding will not be reduced further. Instead, I predict that the trends of the past two decades will continue and that the fraction of our core operating budget covered by the state will be even less in the future.
What does this mean for us? Mainly, it means that students and parents, as they pay more, are going to expect more – from personal attention, to quality facilities, to readily available classes. I don’t blame them for expecting more as they pay more. That’s humaature, and I’m confident that we’re up to the challenge of providing an even better UT Dallas experience.
One of the criticisms that I have heard about public higher education in
The green line on this chart shows the per-student state appropriation from fiscal year 2000 through the current year, FY 2012. As you can see, annual state funding per student has declined, from $7,359 in 2000 to $5,851 this year. The blue line shows how our tuition and required academic fees have changed over this same period. Tuition and fees more than doubled, from $5,365 to $12,577 per student per year. This is the number that students and parents see and feel right in the pocketbook. To them, tuition has skyrocketed.
Now, let me add those two lines together, which produces the yellow line on the chart. The sum of tuition and fees, as well as state funding, provides the total pot of dollars that we have available to operate the core functions of the University. This is the number that I notice the most – the dollars that I have to run the University. Please note that I’m not including externally funded research, student services such as recreational sports, or auxiliary functions such as residence halls and dining services. This is just the core funding to hire professors, pay teaching assistants, employ academic and support staff, keep the electricity and air conditioning on, and administer the institution.
From 2000 to 2012, the core operating budget of the University increased from $12,724 to $18,429 per student per year, which is a 45 percent increase. Over 12 years, this works out to an average annual increase of 3.1 percent.
Let me emphasize that number. Over the past 12 years, the total cost of running the core operations of the University has increased an average of 3.1 percent per year. This is hardly run-away cost increase.
The last line on the graph, the orange one, takes the annual operating cost of $12,724 per student per year in 2000 and inflates it each year by the
In some of the past dozen years, our total per-student annual operating cost trended below the CPI adjusted cost line, and in the past couple of years, it’s trended just above the CPI-adjusted operating cost.
That means that over the past 12 years, our total expenses to operate the University have increased more-or-less in accord with the general inflation rate of the nation, as measured by CPI. The operating cost increases have not been exorbitant. Indeed, they have pretty much tracked with the CPI inflation rate.
While I am very proud of the fact that we have contained costs at UT Dallas, we cannot escape the reality that reductions in state funding and inflation have caused very large increases in tuition. This is one reason we have a four-year fixed tuition – we can’t make tuition cheap and maintain quality, but we can make tuition predictable. We also offer our community college connection as an alternative to enhance affordability. Our challenge, in a nutshell, is to do all that we can to control costs and maintain quality, and to make our institution accessible to qualified Texans.
Private support is more important than ever, which is why we have emphasized it so much. We’ve had two record years of private fund raising in a row. Most importantly, the trend is up in a sustainable way. One of the keys to ensuring student access to UT Dallas is providing more dollars for student scholarships and fellowships.
We must recruit an increasingly diverse, high-quality student body and faculty if we are to meet the state’s critical challenges. Our task breaks down into five categories: the freshman class, transfer students, PhD students, faculty, and our leadership. On that last note, as we recruit department leaders, deans, directors, and senior administrators, we must seek a diverse group of leaders to inform our decision making with a broad range of backgrounds and perspectives, and to serve as role models for others.
Every year in this address, I update you on how we’re doing on improving diversity. This slide shows the change in the diversity of the freshman class from last year. Remember that we had a huge increase in the size of this class: up 30 percent. My main concerns are the slight decrease iew African-American freshmen and the very modest growth in Hispanic freshmen.
Diversity among our undergraduate transfer students is stronger than in our freshman class and is improving. Transfer students are important to us for many reasons, including strengthening the diversity of our student body.
There are the greatest concerns regarding diversity among our tenured and tenure-track faculty. To our faculty, provost, and deans, I say, we must do better. I will be rethinking how to encourage faculty recruiting oriented toward strengthening diversity. In the meantime, I’ll say the following to faculty and deans: find highly qualified faculty candidates who will enhance our diversity and meet important needs of the University, and bring them to the attention of the provost and me. You can count on my budgetary and salary support, and personal assistance in convincing well-qualified candidates to join UT Dallas.
The fifth and final area that commands particular attention in the coming year is demonstrating excellence and national leadership.
We have crafted a well-thought-out and vetted strategic plan, supported by a strong business plan, to evolve into a major, nationally competitive, Tier One research university. At the rate we’re progressing, that’s going to happen sooner than projected.
To accomplish these goals, we must continue to emphasize and support our major research centers and clusters. Because so many of the most important discoveries and advancements are at the boundaries between traditional disciplines, we must continue to foster interdisciplinary efforts in both education and research. Ideas that embrace this spirit are especially well-received in my office. Big ideas are highly encouraged, so when you develop one, bring it forward and let’s brainstorm together.
Our partnership with UT Southwestern Medical Center is more important than ever. So many discoveries and advances are taking place at the intersections of medicine, science, engineering, and business. Institutions that can lead in those advances will be among the foremost in the nation. That’s the space we strive to occupy jointly with UT Southwestern.
The world is a more globally competitive place than ever. I don’t want our country or our graduates competing on the basis of being the lowest wage economy. Our competitive strength needs to be based in having the most creative ideas, and possessing the executional strength to develop businesses and jobs around those ideas. Innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity are among the most prized attributes of our graduates and our faculty. Let us not forget the very special role that great research universities play in assembling the building blocks that produce human creative genius.
We’re working hard to tell our story better. I continue to view the role of president not only as CEO of the University and chief resource-gatherer, but also as head cheerleader and advocate.
But I need your help: please think strategically about good things happening on campus that may be of interest to others, and let our Office of Communications know. Better yet, let them know what’s coming before it happens, and they can help shape the happening into an even better communications opportunity.
Be ready when you are asked by the communications office to speak on behalf of our institution. Your expertise, experience, and knowledge have the potential to explain or make news in important areas, and in doing so, to demonstrate the value of our work to a broader audience than just our campus community.
Total research expenditures for the year topped $93 million, another record year. This growth in research expenditures has exceeded what I thought was possible just a few years ago. Hats off to our extraordinary faculty and research staff.
But let’s keep in mind that research takes place in all corners of the institution, including places where there is no external funding. Human creative genius can sprout and flourish anywhere, with or without external funding, and we value it all.
VIDEO
The Four Years of Medical School
What is grammar?
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Maybe you find English difficult. Once you get used to it, it’s not that bad! When you were younger, perhaps learning your multiplication tables was hard. But now you’re an expert, right? The same goes for English. With understanding and practice, you will know what to do. Soon you will be speaking and writing English with ease, because your memory has become accustomed to it. In math, you can use addition to put numbers together and create a sum. In English, you can use grammar to put words together and create a proper sentence. Take a look at the photo on the right. What sentences can you create by the event occurring in this picture? You can create a sentence in many different ways. Let’s look at one: |
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The boy is throwing the ball.
The:article
“The” is an article. It is combined with a noun to let you know the volume or specifics of a word. The three main articles in the English language are the, an and a.
Boy: subject
A noun is a person, place or thing. A “boy” is a person, therefore it is a noun. In this sentence, the boy is the subject. The subject is the performer or doer.
Is throwing: compound verb
A verb is an action. Two verbs together make up a “compound” verb. “Is throwing” is the combination of the verbs “to be” (is) and “to throw” (throwing). These verbs have been formed in their present tense, in order to show that the boy is throwing the ball as we speak. This is the action of the sentence.
ll: object
The ball is also a noun, because it is a thing. In this sentence, the ball is the object.
Basically, “the boy” is the subject, the doer or performer, while “throw” is the action, and “ball” is the object involved in the action.
Got it? Great!
The dog is catching the ball!
Why study grammar?
Just for exams? No way!
Grammar is vital to preparing for examinations. After all, you want to do a great job and earn high marks. But there is a deeper importance to excellent grammar than simply scoring high on a test. You also want to be able to communicate with people effectively – at work, at home, with friends and with strangers.
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A Tool for Self-Expression Let’s pretend someone just said, “I love you.” It is beautiful and this sentence is universal. It expresses what someone is feeling. What if someone said to you, “I loving you”? This is incorrect grammar. The person may be sincere in what they mean, but you will probably laugh because they’ve said it wrong. People are sometimes ridiculed because the words which come out of their mouth seems unclear or insincere – for example, George W. Bush! |
Great grammar will make you a better listener, speaker, reader, writer and communicator. Words are just words until you learn how to organize them.
With excellent grammar, you will learn to say what you mean. There will be less misunderstanding and better communication! Once you become more advanced in English, you can develop your own unique style of communicating, which can lead to a rewarding career as a writer or public speaker. Think about J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books, or Bill Clinton, a former
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Better Relationships and Job Prospects You will learn how to communicate more effectively in any given situation. You will form more successful and meaningful relationships with potential employers, coworkers, friends and family. In several ways, grammar can improve your life. It’s hard to believe it – but it’s true! Think about the different types of people you know – those who speak eloquently and those who can barely speak! |
Logic and Reasoning
I’ve already compared English to math in this lesson. You know that without organizing math in a meaningful way, it’s just numbers. It doesn’t mean anything to anyone. With English, it’s all just a bunch of words until you give meaning to it. Understanding and using grammar properly will help you think logically. Without logic and organization, your writing (and all your other communication skills) will be very disorganized.
The more you understand grammar, the more clearly, meaningfully, and freely you will be able to organize and communicate your own ideas – as well as comprehend the ideas of others.
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Grammar gives you style Grammar basically defines who you are. The way you write and speak is a reflection of you and your thoughts, right? You’ll learn to master the art of writing and speaking – as well as appreciate the styles of others. If you have an in-depth knowledge of grammar, you will probably be able to understand everybody from Shakespeare to Martin Luther King Jr. with greater ease. You’ll know which style of writing is appropriate for every situation. |
The Thinker, a statue by Rodin, portrays a man in deep thought.
Now go study some grammar. You can do it!
Using Articles
What is an article? Basically, an article is an adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used to refer to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article
For example, if I say, “Let’s read the book,” I mean a specific book. If I say, “Let’s read a book,” I mean any book rather than a specific book.
Here’s another way to explain it: The is used to refer to a specific or particular member of a group. For example, “I just saw the most popular movie of the year.” There are many movies, but only one particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we use the.
“A/an” is used to refer to a non-specific or non-particular member of the group. For example, “I would like to go see a movie.” Here, we’re not talking about a specific movie. We’re talking about any movie. There are many movies, and I want to see any movie. I don’t have a specific one in mind.
Let’s look at each kind of article a little more closely.
Indefinite Articles: a and an
“A” and “an” signal that the noun modified is indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For example:
· “My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas.” This refers to any dog. We don’t know which dog because we haven’t found the dog yet.
· “Somebody call a policeman!” This refers to any policeman. We don’t need a specific policeman; we need any policeman who is available.
· “When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!” Here, we’re talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this case an elephant. There are probably several elephants at the zoo, but there’s only one we’re talking about here.
Remember, using a or an depends on the sound that begins the next word. So…
· a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy; a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
· an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
· a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound: a user (sounds like ‘yoo-zer,’ i.e. begins with a consonant ‘y’ sound, so ‘a’ is used); a university; a unicycle
Remember that this rule also applies when you use acronyms:
If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice between a and an depends on the initial sound of the adjective that immediately follows the article:
· a broken egg
· an unusual problem
· a European country (sounds like ‘yer-o-pi-an,’ i.e. begins with consonant ‘y’ sound)
Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles are used to indicate membership in a group:
· I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group known as teachers.)
· Brian is an Irishman. (Brian is a member of the people known as Irish.)
· Seiko is a practicing Buddhist. (Seiko is a member of the group of people known as Buddhists.)
Definite Article: the
The definite article is used before singular and plural nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a particular member of a group. For example:
“The dog that bit me ran away.” Here, we’re talking about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.
“I was happy to see the policeman who saved my cat!” Here, we’re talking about a particular policeman. Even if we don’t know the policeman’s name, it’s still a particular policeman because it is the one who saved the cat.
“I saw the elephant at the zoo.” Here, we’re talking about a specific noun. Probably there is only one elephant at the zoo.
Count and Noncount Nouns
The can be used with noncount nouns, or the article can be omitted entirely.
· “I love to sail over the water” (some specific body of water) or “I love to sail over water” (any water).
· “He spilled the milk all over the floor” (some specific milk, perhaps the milk you bought earlier that day) or “He spilled milk all over the floor” (any milk).
“A/an” can be used only with count nouns.
· “I need a bottle of water.”
· “I need a new glass of milk.”
Most of the time, you can’t say, “She wants a water,” unless you’re implying, say, a bottle of water.
Geographical use of the
There are some specific rules for using the with geographical nouns.
Do not use the before:
· names of most countries/territories:
· names of cities, towns, or states:
· names of streets:
,
.
· names of lakes and bays: Lake Titicaca, Lake Erie except with a group of lakes like the
· names of mountains: Mount Everest, Mount Fuji except with ranges of mountains like the Andes or the Rockies or unusual names like the
· names of continents (Asia,
· names of islands (Easter Island, Maui,
Do use the before:
· names of rivers, oceans and seas: the
· points on the globe: the Equator, the North Pole
· geographical areas: the
· deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas: the Sahara, the Persian Gulf, the Black Forest, the
Omission of Articles
Some common types of nouns that don’t take an article are:
· Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese, English, Spanish, Russian
· Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
1. ______ tigers are in danger of becoming extinct.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
2. I used to play ___ trumpet in my school orchestra.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
3. It is ________ good wine.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
4. _______ book I was telling you is by Jane Austin.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
5. Lend me _______ hundred roubles, please.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
6. “What make is your car?” – “_____Fiat”.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
7. My friends have never travelled across _________
a) a b) an c) the d) –
8. ____ milk is very good for children.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
9. _____ government resigned last month.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
10. Our bus arrives in ____ couple of minutes.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
11. Susan made money working at ________ Stock Exchange.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
12. What are your friends doing at _________ weekend?
a) a b) an c) the d) –
13. My sister’s children aren’t very good at _______ maths.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
14. Susan has _____ cat called Jack.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
15. _ Declaration of Independence was drawn up in 1776.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
16. My faithful friend lived in ___
.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
17. She worked at ______ school in
a) a b) an c) the d) –
18. _ May of 1945 will always rest in my memory.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
19. Those people with jobs have enough money, but life is not so easy for _ unemployed.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
20. I’ll drive you to _ town where I was born.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
21. _ Japanese export a lot of cars.
a) a b) an c) the d) –
22. After leaving ___ school, Nora worked as ____ cleaner at ______ hospital.
a) –, a, the b) -, a, – c) a, a, a d) -,a, an
23. One of _ nicest parks in
a) the, – , – b) the, the, the c) the, – , the
24. _ Smiths are now in _
a) – , –, a, – b) –, – , the, the c) the, –, the, the
25. I’ve never been to _ South America and I’d love to go and to climb in _
a) – , – b) – , the c) the, the
26. _
a) – , the b) – , – c) – , a
27. We flew from _ Crimea to _
a) the, – b) –, the c) – , –
28. _ Statue of Liberty is in _
a) the, – b) – , – c) the, the
29. I promise to tell _ truth, _ whole truth and nothing but_ truth
a) a, the, – b) the, the, the c) the, -, –
30. _ horn is one one of _ most difficult instruments to play.
a) the, the b) a, the c) -, the
31. He prefers _ Caucasian wines to _ Crimean wines.
a) the, the b) the, – c) -, –
32. _
a) the, the, the b) -, the, the c) -, the, a
33. If you are looking for _ good pub, I would recommend _ Swan.
a) a, the b) -, -, c) a, –
34. _ ABC cinema is opposite _ prison.
a) -, -, b) -, the c) the, the
35. _ Giovanni’s restaurant is next to _ Midland Bank in _
.
a) the, the, the b) -, -, the c) -, the, –
36. I asked my father for _ advice about finding _ job.
a) -,a b) an, a c) -, –
37. I had _ cup of coffee and some toast for _ breakfast this morning. _ coffee was delicious.
a) a, -, the b) a, a, – c) a, the, –
38. No one in _ Spanish class knew _ correct answer to_ Mrs. Jones’s question.
a) a, the, the b) the, the, – c) the, a, –
39. _ Susan Parker that I know lives on _
.
a) the, – b) -, – c) -, the
40. Scientists hope to send _ expedition to _ Mars during _ 1990s.
a) an, -, – b) -, -, – c) an, -, the
additional
_ friend of mine used to work as_ reporter in _
a) a, a _ b) a, -, the c) a, an, – d) a, a, the D
_ Nile is _ longest river in _
a) -, the, an b) the, the, an c) the, the, – d) the, a, _ C
_ Women are often better teachers than men.
a) -, – b) the, the c) a, – d) a, the A
Just as _ Wall Street in _
a) the, -, – , – , – b) -, -, the, the, the c) the, -, a, the, the d) -, -, an, -, the B
_ second world War ended in 1945.
a) – b) an c) the d) – C
He got Married but _ marriage wasn’t successful.
a) a b) an c) the d) – C
Susan likes to read in _ bed before going to sleep.
a) a b) an c) the d) – D
Peter and Mary got married at _ St. Matthew’s Church.
a) a b) an c) the d) – D
If you walk along _
a) -, – b) the, the c) -, the d) the, – A
International student
According to Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), international students are those who travel to a country different from their own for the purpose of tertiary study. Despite that, the definition of international students varies in each country in accordance to their owational education system. Below are several definitions of international students;
Australia
‘International Students’ are defined as those studying onshore only with visa subclasses 570 to 575, excluding students on Australian-funded scholarships or sponsorship or students undertaking study while in possession of other temporary visas.New Zealand citizens do not require a visa to study in Australia, so are not classed as international students.
Japan
‘International students’ are defined as foreigationals who study at any Japanese university, graduate school, junior college, college of technology, professional training college or university preparatory course on a ‘college student’ visa, as defined by the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act.
Based on the definitions above, international students are basically referring to those studying in foreign educational institutions. This includes either those doing the long term or the short term programs.
Other examples of definitions of international students can be found in World Education Services (Appendix A).
Top Source Countries
According at an estimate, every year, nearly 750,000 Chinese and 400,000 Indian students apply to higher education institutions around the world to study, indicating huge aspirations of students from these two countries to study abroadTop two source countries for international students are China and India with 441,186 and 170,255 globally mobile students respectively in 2008.The key drivers of mobility of Chinese and Indian students are quite similar. On the supply side, two key drivers are increasing prosperity, which enables the ability to afford foreign education, and rapid expansion of the system of higher education at the expense of quality. On the demand side, two key drivers are universities’ aggressive approach to recruiting students to compensate for budget cuts and access to a wider range of recruitment channels and service providers.
Requirements
Prospective international students are usually required to sit for language tests, such as TOEFL,[5] iTEP,[6] PTE Academic,[7] IELTS,[8] DELF[9] or DELE,[10] before they are admitted. Tests notwithstanding, while some international students already possess an excellent command of the local language upon arrival, some find their language ability, considered excellent domestically, inadequate for the purpose of understanding lectures, and/or of conveying oneself fluently in rapid conversations.
Destinations of International Students
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in their 2009 World Conference on Higher Education report, there were more than 2.5 million students studying outside their own country. UNESCO also predicted that the number of international students might rise approximately to 7 million by year 2020. The main destinations preferred by international students are the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia. Overall, the number of international students more than doubled between 2000 and 2007, to over 2 million.However, the sharpest percentage increases of international students have occurred in New Zealand, Korea, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, Italy and Ireland.
In recent years, some Asian and Middle East countries started to attract more international students. These regions have entered the market with declared ambitions to become regional education centers by attracting as many as several hundred thousand international students to their countries.
United States, United Kingdom and Australia
The US, UK and Australia are countries that have the highest number of international students. In terms of straight numbers, the US is the undisputed front-runner with approximately 723,277 foreign enrollment in 2010-11,followed by the UK and Australia, respectively with 330,000 and 280, 000 registered overseas students. Of which approximately 200,000 of USA, 160,000 of UK and 70,000 of Australia’s international students learned ESL (English as a Second Language) or its equivalent as a subject or course.
International student mobility in the first decade of the 21st century has been transformed by two major external events, 9/11 and the recession of 2008. The 9/11 forced US to tighten visa requirements for students and Australia and the UK cashed in on this opportunity and were successful in absorbing most of the growth in international students. The growth story for Australia and the UK would have continued, but the recession of 2008 exposed two aspects of international student enrollment in these countries—unmanageable high proportion of international students compared to home students and issues of quality raised by the use of aggressive recruitment practices. In 2009, international students represented 21.5% and 15.3% of higher education enrollment in Australia and the UK, compared to less than 4% in the US, according to the OECD.
The number of US Visas issued to Chinese students to study at US universities has increased by 30 per cent over last year, from more than 98,000 in 2009 to nearly 128,000 in October 2010, placing China as the top country of origin for international students, according to the “2010 Open Doors Report” published on the US Embassy in China website. The number of Chinese students increased, Overall, the total number of international students with a US Visa to study at colleges and universities increased by 3 per cent to a record high of nearly 691,000 in the 2009/2010 academic year. The 30 per cent increase in Chinese student enrolment was the main contributor to this year’s growth, and now Chinese students account for more than 18 percent of the total international students.
U.S. colleges and universities have long welcomed students from China, where the higher-education system cannot meet the demand. Three years ago, a record 10 million students throughout China took the national college entrance test, competing for 5.7 million university slots. Because foreign undergraduates typically fail to qualify for U.S. federal aid, colleges here can provide limited financial help. Now, thanks to China’s booming economy in recent years, more Chinese families can afford to pay. U.S. colleges also face challenges abroad. Worries about fraud on test scores and transcripts make occasional headlines. And even Chinese students who test high on an English-language proficiency test may not be able to speak or write well enough to stay up to speed in a U.S. classroom, where essay writing and discussions are common.
Germany and France
In 2006, with approximately 20% of world’s foreign students, or 515,000 out of the 2.7 million students studying outside their countries, Germany and France are best understood as secondary higher education destinations.
Japan, Canada and New Zealand
Japan, Canada and New Zealand are perceived as evolving destinations for international students. In 2006, Japan, Canada and New Zealand together shared roughly 13% of the international student market, with approximately 327,000 of the 2.7 million students who traveled abroad for the purposes of higher education.Canada has seen a large increase in the number of India students, where the number of Indian students rose 280% in 2010 compared to 2008. Organizations such as Learnhub are taking advantage of this growing trend of Indian international students by providing recruitment services that bring Indian students abroad.
Malaysia, Singapore and China
Malaysia, Singapore and China are the emerging destinations for international students. These three countries have combined share of approximately 12% of the global student market with somewhere between 250,000 and 300,000 students having decided to pursue higher education studies in these countries in 2005-6.
The flow of international students above indicates the South-North phenomenon. In this sense, students from Asia prefer to pursue their study particularly in the United States.
The recent statistics on mobility of international students can be found in;
The 2009 Global Education Digest (GED) by UNESCO
International Flows of Mobile Students at the Tertiary Level by UNESCO
Empowering People to Innovate – International Mobility by OECD.
The Challenges for International Students in English-Speaking Countries
There is a trend for more and more students to go abroad to study in the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Australia to gain a broader education[citatioeeded]. English is the only common language spoken at universities in these countries. International students not only need to acquire good communication skills and fluent English both in writing and speaking, but also absorb the Western academic writing culture in style, structure, reference, and the local policy toward academic integrity in academic writing. International students may have difficulty completing satisfactory assignments because of the difficulty with grammar and spelling, differences in culture, or a lack of confidence in English academic writing. Insightful opinions may lose the original meaning when transformed from the student’s native language to English. Even if international students acquire good scores in English proficiency exams or are able to communicate with native American students frequently in class, they often find that the wording and formatting of academic papers in English-speaking universities are different from what they are used to.
Most international students encounter difficulties in language use. Such issues make it difficult for the student to make domestic friends and gain familiarity with the local culture. Sometimes, these language barriers can subject international students to ignorance or disrespect from native speakers. Most international students are also lacking a support groups in the country they are studying. Although all the colleges in North America, that are in a student exchange programs, do have International Student Office, it sometimes does not have resources and capability to consider their students’ individual needs when it comes to adapting the new environment. The more a particular college has students coming from the same country the better the support is for getting involved to the new culture.
International students have several challenges in their academic studies at North American universities. Studies have shown that these challenges include several different factors: inadequate English proficiency; unfamiliarity with North American culture; lack of appropriate study skills or strategies; academic learning anxiety; low social self-efficacy; financial difficulties; and separation from family and friends.Do some female Chinese international students willingly choose to be invisible and silent in their American classes, or are there other reasons for this phenomenon?[citatioeeded] Despite the general perception that American culture is characterized more by diversity than by homogeneity, the American ideology of cultural homogeneity implies an American mindset that because Eurocentric cultures are superior to others, people with different cultures should conform to the dominant monocultural canon and norms.
Chinese international students face other challenges besides language proficiency. The Chinese educational structure focuses on exam-oriented education, with educational thinking and activities aimed towards meeting the entrance examination. Students stress more on exam performance, and teachers are inclined to focus on lecturing to teach students what may be on the test. In addition, “parents are also convinced that the more students listened to the lectures, the better they would score on the finals.”Though the Western educational system also features exams, standardized testing, and lectures, the Chinese exam system leads students and teachers to ignore the importance of practical activities, such as group work, because these skills will not be tested on the exams. When Chinese students first come to the U.S, the emphasis on group work in the U.S educational system causes new difficulties. These students often show passivity attitude towards group projects.[citatioeeded] This is simultaneously aggravated by varying degrees of English proficiency.
Student orientation
O-Week tour leaders at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 2004
Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an Orientation week, Welcome Week or Freshers’ Week) is a period of time at the beginning of the academic year at a university or other tertiary institution during which a variety of events are held to orient and welcome new students. The name of the period varies by country. The orientation helps new students to organize their classes, acclimate to student life, and introduce themselves to other new students.
Although usually described as a week, the length of this period varies widely from university to university and country to country, ranging from about three days to a month or even more (e.g. four or five weeks, depending on program, at Chalmers). The length of the week is often affected by each university’s tradition as well as financial and physical constraints. During this period, students participate in a wide range of social activities, including live music and other performances, sports challenges, stunts, and open-air markets.
Terminology
The week before the term starts is known as: Frosh (or frosh week) in most[citatioeeded] colleges and universities in the United States/Canada, others call it by the acronym SOAR for Student Orientation And Registration Freshers’ week in the majority of the United Kingdom and Ireland and Orientation week or O-week in countries such as Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, but also in some Canadian universities. In Sweden, it is known as nollning (from nolla, “zero”, in this case meaning zeroth-year student, i.e., before the first university year starts) or inspark (being “kicked in” to university life). Orientation week is the coming phrase[clarificatioeeded] in the United States. Some schools use the acronym WOW for Week of Welcome.
In Canada, first year students are called “Frosh” or “first years.” In the United States, first year university students are typically[citatioeeded] referred to as freshmen. In Australia and New Zealand first year students are known simply as “first years”, although in some the colleges of the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney they are also called “Freshers”. In the U.K. and Ireland first year students are known as freshers or first years. Freshies is also an emerging term in New Zealand. In Sweden, the student is a nolla (a “zero”) during the orientation period and usually upgraded to the status of an etta (student who is in her/his first college term) at a ceremony involving a fancy three-course dinner and a lots of singing.
Orientation week around the world
Australia
In Australia, some universities require students to arrive at university a week before classes start in order to gain course approval. This also allows students a chance to orient themselves to student life without the pressure of lectures – hence the term Orientation week is used to describe this week of induction into university life.
In Australian universities, such as the University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales and University of Sydney, the final night is usually celebrated with a large-scale event such as a famous band playing at an entertainment venue on campus. This is generally followed by continued partying and drinking, especially among students living in residential colleges such as Janet Clarke Hall and Ormond College.
The Adelaide University O-Week runs from Monday to Thursday in the week before lectures begin. During O-Week sporting clubs and societies set up a variety of tented areas where clubs display their activities. The Adelaide University Union coordinates a variety of events centering around beer, bands and barbecues on the lawns near the Union complex. A major event for the week is the O-Ball (live entertainment and licensed areas) which takes place in the Cloisters (Union House). The O-Ball attracts many thousands of revellers, not all of whom are Adelaide University students. In recent times Sports and Clubs have sought to distance themselves from the student union and student association controlled activities and have set themselves up on the Maths lawns.
The Australian National University has a full week (Sunday to Sunday) of events, parties and social activities open to all students of the university, organised by the Australian National University Students Association. The residential colleges often have their own “O-week” activities catered primarily for residents as well as “Toga Night” held at Burgmann College open to students from all residential colleges.
Winters College Frosh Students and Bosses playing icebreakers. York University, Toronto, Canada, 2006
Canada
In Canada, the nature and length of orientation week varies considerably between Universities. For instance, Ottawa, has two universities within its urban centre; the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, both with orientations spanning over approximately 7 days. At The University of Ottawa, Frosh Week is Called 101 week. At Carleton University there exist multiple orientations, SPROSH (Sprott Frosh), ENG Frosh, Radical Frosh, and lastly the largest, CUSA/RRRA/SEO Frosh. In the province of Quebec, because of the CEGEP system, “froshies” are of legal drinking age. Therefore, Frosh activities in Quebec may contain the option to drink alcohol. Moreover, the proximity of the two Ottawa universities also allows them to take advantage of the drinking age ieighbouring Gatineau, Quebec. The University of British Columbia cancels the first day of class for all students, and hosts an orientation day for all new students, called Imagine Day. As of 2007, the faculty of science also holds an annual, day-long Science Frosh event for approximately 300 first-year students and the commerce faculty holds a 3 day-long frosh weekend before classes begin. The University of Toronto has a number of different “Frosh Weeks” organized concurrently by different student groups within the university; including the societies of the different colleges, professional faculties (including perhaps the most well known organized by the University of Toronto Engineering Society, Skule (engineering society), in which ‘F!ROSH’ and ‘F!ROSH Leedurs’ dye their bodies purple) and the University of Toronto Students’ Union. McMaster University also organizes many events during what they term as “Welcome Week”. The week strongly encourages solidarity, first with members of one’s own residence or for off-campus students, and later the members of a student’s faculty. University of Guelph holds many orientation activities for its incoming students. The main event is the pep rally in which students from each residence perform a dance on the football field. The Guelph Engineering Society also hosts a series of special events for Engineering Frosh including frosh olympics, beach day, and a scavenger hunt. Western University hosts the largest orientation program in Canada, involving 1200 student volunteers and an entire week of activities. St Thomas University, in Fredericton, New Brunswick, hosts a week-long event including activities for each individual residence and activities for all new students. As a rule, Frosh week at Queen’s University is so secretive and confidential that no one knows what happens during the week long adventure except Queen’s Students
Finland
In Finnish universities, the student organizations for each department independently organize orientation activities for the new students in their respective departments. New students are often assigned in groups to an upperclassman tutor and participate in many activities with their tutoring group. New students may be referred to as piltti (child), fuksi (freshman), fetus or other names according to their major subject. Activities for new students may include “orienteering”, pub crawls, sporting events, swimming in fountains or other forms of “baptism”, sitsit parties and saunas. It is also considered important for the new students to participate in the regular activities of the student department organizations.
Indonesia
Hazing is a main aspect in Freshmens’ (or OSPEK for University Orientation and MOS for Middle School or High School). A typical orientation may consist of verbal harassment as well as initiation leading to humiliation. A typical OSPEK week lasts for three to five days and at times inclusive of a trip to a remote area. OSPEK in Indonesia has event organizers that consists of seniors, instead of an educational board run event. What makes orientation in Indonesia distinctive to other countries would arguably be the freshmens’ requirement to wear unusual accessories (i.e. Freshmens were asked to wear hats made of bird’s nest, necktie made of folded paper, and bring sack instead of rucksack). Harsh physical punishments were not uncommon during the Suharto era, and mass media continues to report inhumane activities during those orientation that led to a few cases of death. Nowadays orientation is more tolerable as physical abuse is forbidden but it is still criticized by many psychologists and people as ‘too much’ because of excessive verbal harassment like shout to the juniors and wear unusual accessories is still practised in Middle school or High school orientation. And it is also still criticized by many parents for being economically inconvenient. The reason cited by psychologists is that OSPEK is often used as a tool of revenge done by the board of organizers for what the seniors did to them during their freshman year.And because of this there are so many people who think if ospek or mos is unnecessary.The ‘cruelty’ of ospek and mos varies between universities and schools in Indonesia.
New Zealand
As in Australia, in New Zealand students have a week to orient themselves to university life before the start of formal classes. This orientation week is a time for many social events, and is often a reason for alcohol fests. Flat warmings are often held within the time limit to couple the alcohol oriented event with the general party week.
In New Zealand’s main university towns such as Dunedin and Palmerston North (where students make up around one fifth of the population) orientation week leads a wide range of events. Many top overseas and local bands tour the country at this time, and the orientation tour is one of the highlights of the year’s music calendar. The University of Otago in the Scottish-settled city of Dunedin traditionally holds a parody of the Highland Games called the Lowland Games, including such esoteric events as porridge wrestling.
Student pranks were once common during orientation week, but have fallen out of favour in recent years.[citatioeeded] Until recent years, many halls of residence also inducted new residents with “Initiation” (a form of hazing, though considerably milder than the rituals found among American college fraternities).
Although officially designated as a week, in several New Zealand universities and polytechnics orientation week stretches to over ten days.
Sweden
Most Swedish universities have some kind of nollning (“zeroing”). This is most extensive at the technical faculties and at the student nation communities of Uppsala and Lund. Since student union membership is mandatory in Sweden (until July 2010), the nollning is usually centrally organized from the student union with support from the universities.
At the old universities, these traditions have often turned civilized after a dark history of hazing. Today, many student unions have strict rules against inappropriate drunkenness, sexual harassment and other problems which might have occurred in the old days.
At the technical faculties, the people who organize the nollning play roles in a theatrical manner and often wear sunglasses and some form of weird clothes. Most senior students who are mentors during the nollning wear their student overalls or the b-frack (a worn tailcoat). This kind of well-organized nollning has developed at KTH and Chalmers and spread to the rest of the country. Nollning is often thought to be most advanced and organized at the Uppsala Institute of Technology at Uppsala University and Linköping Institute of Technology at Linköping University. Incidentally, Linköping is also the university that has the most widely spread use of student-overalls.
Nollning is also arranged at many of the Gymnasiums.
In 2007 a 16-year-old girl nearly died during her nollning. When she was found she had a blood alcohol level of 3.64 permille.The Stockholm Municipal Commissioner for Schools Lotta Edholm wants to be able to move the responsible to other schools. Common crimes during nollning is alcohol peddling, illegal threats, sexual harassment and assault and battery.Minister for Schools Jan Björklund demand action from police, teachers and parents.
Thailand
In Thailand, the activity is commonly called rapnong (รับน้อง), translated as “welcoming of freshman.” It takes place in the first week or month of the academic year at universities, and also present in some high schools. The activity purpose is to adapt new students to university culture. Activities include games entertainment and recreation, these let the newcomers get to know other members of the university and reduce tension in the changing environment. Sometimes it includes alcohol. The main object of the rapnong is to let juniors carry on the universities’ tradition and identity and to bind together the new generation into one. Long-term activity often includes seniors taking freshman or older years to meals and meetings, usually the most senior pays for it all. Hazing is a concerning problem from this activity.
United Kingdom and Ireland
As well as providing a chance to learn about the university, Freshers’ week allows students to become familiar with the representatives of their Student Union and to get to know the city or town which is home to the university, often through some form of pub crawl.
Live music is also common, as are a number of organized social gatherings especially designed to allow freshers to make new friends and to get to know their course colleagues. Because of the intensity of activities, there are often many new friendships made, especially in group accommodation, some not lasting past Freshers’ Week and others lasting for the whole University career and longer.
Typically a Freshers’ Fair for student clubs and societies is included as part of the activities to introduce new students to facilities on offer, typically outside their course of study, such as societies, clubs, sport, etc. The various societies and clubs available within the University have stalls and aim to entice freshers to join. Most campuses take the opportunity to promote safe sex to their students and sometimes offer leaflets on the subject and free condoms, as well as promoting the Drinksafe campaign. The aim is to lower the rate of sexually transmitted disease and to reduce the level of intoxication commonly witnessed in Freshers’ Week.
United States
Freshmen is the traditional term for first-year students arriving at school, but the slang term ‘frosh'[7] is also used. Lasting between a few days and a week, the orientation is their informal introduction and inauguration to the institution. The first-year students are led by fellow students from upper years over the course of the week through various events ranging from campus tours, games, competitions, and field trips. Despite the fact that most first-year students are below the legal drinking age, heavy drinking and binge drinking may occur outside the orientation curriculum.
In many colleges, incoming freshmen are made to perform activities such as singing of songs, engaging in group physical activities, and playing games. These activities are often done to help freshmen make friends at their new establishment, and also to bond with each other and the upperclassmen.
Some programs require their organizers to sign waivers stating they will not be under the influence of any substances over the course of the week as they are responsible for the well-being of the students. Most programs have one final party on the final night to finish off the week of celebrating, in which the organizers join in.
Although it has been officially banned at many schools, hazing is not uncommon during the week. This can be anywhere from the organizers treating the first-year students in a playfully discouraging manner to forcing them to endure rigorous trials.
The attitude of the events also depends on the school. Many colleges encourage parents to come to the first day to help new students move into their dormitory, fill out paper work, and get situated.[8] Some schools view their week as an initiation or rite of passage while others view it as a time to build school spirit and pride. In towns with more than one university, there may be a school rivalry that is reflected in the events throughout the week.
At most schools, incoming freshmen arrive at the school for a couple of days during the summer and are put into orientation groups led by an upperclassman trained for the position. Their Orientation Leader will take them around campus, do activities with them, have discussions with them, help them register for the next semester’s classes and make them feel comfortable about coming to school in the fall.
United States Transfer Student Orientation
After first-year students have completed some time at their university, they may find that they did not make the right choice, miss being close to home, or simply want to attend a different institution. When this occurs, they may transfer to another university, usually after their first year. Many universities will hold another student orientation similar to freshman orientation for these transfer students. Freshman orientation lasts a few days or a week, on the other hand, transfer student orientation will typically last between one and three days. Transfer orientation’s purpose is to acquaint transfer students with their new university. This usually includes campus tours, introducing transfer students to their adviser or perhaps a few of their teachers, and filling out paperwork for proper enrollment. At some colleges, transfer orientation is mandatory for all transfer students.[9] Unlike freshmen, transfer students are already familiar with the independence of college life. Therefore their orientation focuses mostly on becoming familiar with the layout and policies of their new institution, providing information about essential campus resources, and getting acquainted with other transfer students so they may make friends at their new university.Transfer students may engage in games, conversations with University faculty, and discussions with current students to make acquaintances and learn more about the university.
Denmark
At Roskilde University in Denmark, orientation week (In Danish rusvejledning) normally lasts from 1 week and a half to two whole weeks. During the period, approximately 14 teams consisting of 10-16 tutors each takes care of an individual house in which the new students have been allocated. There’s normally 1 house of Natural Sciences, 4 of Social Studies and Economics, 4 houses of Arts and Language and 2 of technology and design. Each of the first 3 houses described has an International version as well, where the courses are taught in English instead of Danish.
Each tutor group spends roughly 14 days (and 3–5 days of preeducation in the spring semester) living on campus before the arrival of the new students (also called ruslings). These periods usually involve heavy amounts of drinking, partying and sexual activity among the tutors themselves. However most festive activities including alcohol only occurs until after 4 pm, due to the alcohol policies of the university. Because of this policy, most of the daily activity is spent on planning and preparing activities for the new students.
When the students arrive all tutor groups welcomes the ruslings with the infamous Marbjergmark show. Usually a display of wacky sketches such as naked people playing chess, smashing rotten eggs at bystanders or themselves or guys chasing midgets with a butcher’s knife (to name a few examples).
During the two-week period the tutor group teach and introduce the new students to life at campus. Both the social and educational aspects. As it is with the preparation period, festive activities take place after 4 PM, and educational activities are held during the day.
The two-week period ends in a four-day period in which the house will leave campus to varied destinations. During these days mostly social activities are held, including the more secret hazing rituals of the university.
The tutors uphold a strict set of rules to maintain a safe and pleasant tutorship to prevent harmful and humiliating hazing rituals. Examples are the presence of minimum two sober tutors at each party (In Danish Ædruvagter). Also it is strongly discouraged to engage in sexual relations to new students. Also it is generally not seen as appropriate to force people to drink alcohol through various games and activities. Furthermore the university dictates that each tutor must be taught basic first aid, as well as a couple of courses in conflict management and basic education psychology.
Student migration
Student migration is the movement of students who study outside their country of birth or citizenship for a period of 12 months or more. During the period of globalisation, the internationalisation of higher education increased dramatically and it has become a market driven activity. With the rapid rise of international education more and more students are seeking higher education in foreign countries and many international students now consider overseas study a stepping-stone to permanent residency within a country. The contributions that foreign students make to host nation economies, both culturally and financially has encouraged major players to implement further initiatives to facilitate the arrival and integration of overseas students, including substantial amendments to immigration and visa policies and procedures.
History
During the colonial period, the majority of student flow came from colonies to the world capitals. Imperial governments provided pathways for selected nationals to pursue higher education. The concept of studying abroad was based on the assumption that graduates would return to their homeland to serve colonial administration once they had developed skills and absorbed the values of the colonial rulers.
The Cold War era had a significant impact on foreign aid and the funding of overseas students. The policy of distributing scientific knowledge and sharing industrial progress with the developing world required the help of higher education institutions. Support for USAID linked the foreign policy mission with support to higher education. Cold war rivals funded study abroad programmes and were in competition to attract students from the developing world.
One of the most famous international exchange programmes which facilitates and encourages international student migration is the Fulbright Program. Established in 1946, The Fulbright Program provides grants for students, scholars, teachers and professionals to undertake various studies and research. The Fulbright Program was initially funded by using proceeds from the sales of surplus war property and was founded on the principal of promoting “international good will through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture and science”.
The Colombo Plan was another program that encouraged the movement of students between countries. The Colombo Plan was established in 1951 with the intention of strengthening economic and social development of the Asia Pacific region. The Colombo Plan has been responsible for sponsoring over 40 thousand Asian students to study or train in Australian higher education institutions. Funding for students is provided by member countries, which includes a mixture of 26 Commonwealth and non Commonwealth countries.
Since the colonial and Cold War eras, the profile of international students has made a significant shift. The way in which students travel has changed over time and the majority of students seeking education abroad are now self-funded.
Financing and cost
The international student market has become an important source of revenue for local economies and many institutions rely heavily on the income brought by cross-border students.Receiving countries stand to benefit a lot from qualified skilled migrants who make considerable contributions to their new countries.
In most host countries higher education used to be tuition fee-free. Up until the 1980s many countries did not have any provision for levying fees from domestic and international students. The UK was the first to introduce fees for overseas students and other countries, such as Australia began to follow suit.
The international market for students now accounts for billions of dollars and subsequently competition between institutions is fierce. Studying abroad is expensive and in most cases is funded by the individual.
In OECD countries there are 3 different patterns to the levying of fees:
1. In some countries fees for international students are higher than domestic students. This occurs in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the USA.
2. Some countries make no distinction between international and domestic student fees. Tuition fees remain the same for foreign and domestic students in France, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Japan.
3. Countries such as Denmark, Finland and Norway have not begun levying tuition fees from foreign students.
4. Sweden started levying fees for Non-European Students for higher education from 2011.
Destination countries
Between 1963 and 2006 the number of students studying in a foreign country increased 9 times. In 2006 there were 2.7 million students studying abroad and there are predictions that the demand for cross-border education will increase to 7.2 million by 2025.
OECD countries receive approximately 85% of the world’s foreign students with the majority concentrated in just 6 countries. In 2007, the United States accounted for 21.4% of foreign enrolments, the United Kingdom 12.6%, France 8.8%, Australia 7.6%, Germany 7.4%, and Japan 4.5%.
The main region receiving foreign students is Europe, which has approx. 840,000 international students. However the majority of this figure comes from students moving from one European country to another.
East Asia and the Pacific top the list for sending students and accounts for 29% of all international higher education students. (Students from China account for 15% of this total.) North America and Western Europe account for 18%, then Central and East Europe 11%, South and West Asia 9%, Arab States 7% and Sub Saharan Africa 5.8%.
Contributing factors to growth in student migration
There are many factors contributing to the growing numbers of student migration. Many developing countries have an under supply of university places to satisfy demand and as a result students have no other choice but to study abroad. In addition to this it is a common expectation that studying overseas can enhance professional business opportunities. Generally, students seeking cross-border education migrate to countries with more developed education institutions than their own. For example, students in Arab countries migrate to Egypt and Jordan to pursue their studies, and many students from Bangladesh and Nepal travel to India. The flow of students from developing countries to developed countries is often due to the belief that the quality and standards of education offered in OECD countries is superior to what is offered in the country of origin.
Higher education has become a major global export commodity with developing countries capitalising on domestic shortages by recruiting foreign students. Subsequently, changes to visa and immigration policies have provided incentives for students to travel abroad and potentially offer a gateway to permanent residency within a host nation. Migration opportunities are one of the major contributions to the growth of student migration. A 2006 survey, undertaken by Australia’s Monash University, produced statistics which showed 75% of Indian students who completed university education in Australia applied for and were granted residency. The author of the research, Michiel Bass suggests that the most influential reason Indian students studied in Australia was not because of academic reputation, but the opportunity to gain permanent residency.
An important factor contributing to student migration is the desire to study in a language other than the student’s first language. For example, a growth in the number of students travelling to study in the UK from Central and Eastern Europe has been partially attributed to the wish “to study in a higher education environment where communication is in English”.
Other factors for the rise in student migration include lowering travel expenses and greater communication technology which has made studying abroad more accessible.
United States
The US attracts a large number of foreigners to its workforce each year, however international graduates of US institutions do not automatically have the right to remain in the country for work purposes upon completion of their course. In fact, as part of the student application process, applicants must state that they are not planning to emigrate to the US.
Visa and immigration policies in the US are (arguably) significantly less accommodating towards international students and graduates compared to other host countries. The greatest changes to visa regulations occurred after the attacks of September 11, 2001, when the US immediately implemented tougher visa and immigration requirements. Under the Enhanced Border Security and Visas Entry Reform Act (2002) the US introduced a new overseas student tax in order to fund an advanced computer tracking system for visa applications, but also made it more difficult for applicants to transfer between visa categories.
However, recently the US Department of State has established a new internship scheme which has been specifically designed for foreign students. Since July 2007, certain international students are eligible to participate in a year long internship per degree level for practical training as long as they can describe how the experience can enhance their education.
United Kingdom
In 2006, as part of a larger scheme to attract highly skilled labour, the UK government made amendments to the Science and Engineering Graduate Scheme (SEGS) which enabled all international students who have completed a post-graduate degree course (Master’s of PhD starting after 1 May 2006) to remain in the UK and seek employment for up to 12 months regardless of discipline.The Government has also made a special provision for internationally-coveted Masters of Business Administration (MBA) students, allowing graduates of 50 highly ranked business schools to apply for a three year extension to their one year working visa once their studies have been completed. As part of the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP), such students have been eligible to apply for permanent residence since 12 April 2005. The Government further extended opportunities for non EU/EEA students in 2007, which allows all students who have completed degree programmes in the UK the opportunity to stay in the UK for employment purposes. The International Graduates Scheme has been in operation since 1 May 2007.
However, in March 2011, the UK Government made an announcement on reforming student visa system, which is getting much stricter.The major changes in student immigration policies including tougher requirements for entrance, tightening work entitlements and closing the post-study work route are aimed at ensuring the UK welcomes the best overseas students with expected contribution.
Germany & France
Since January 2005, Germany has issued singular permits for both residence and employment in an effort to attract international students and skilled migrants to the country and facilitate their arrival. Overseas students are also eligible to apply for an extension on their residence permit for up to one year for the purpose of seeking employment which is relevant to their field of study upon completion of their studies.
In France, international students have the right to work part time for up to 19 hours per week whilst studying. Students must, however, have a valid residency permit and be enrolled in an institution which participates in the French social protection system. Upon completion of studies, students are able to accept offers of employment from French firms by applying for temporary employment authorization.
Australia
In addition to Australia’s points system, which encourages skilled migration, Australian regulations allow all international students completing an Australian degree to remain in the country for 18 months upon graduating. Students can earn bonus points for skilled work experience and English-language proficiency in addition to those already earned for Australian qualifications, under amendments to the General Skilled Migration Programme (GSM). Previously international students were exempt from work experience requirements when applying for general skilled migration, but new legislation introduced on September 1, 2007 requires authorities to provide ‘temporary visas’ to enable applicants such experience. These changes have been made to strengthen links between study, work experience and employment in order to ensure skilled migrants have the skills that Australian employers are looking for. The main rationale behind these schemes is the desire for Australia to benefit from the skills of foreign graduates.
Canada
International students travelling to Canada are not required to apply for a study visa unless the programmes they are enrolled in are longer than 6 months. Acquiring a study permit, does however have significant benefits to students, giving them permission to seek part-time employment on campus and since April 2006, off campus, for up to 20 hours per week whilst they are completing their studies. Under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Programmes, international graduates from Canadian higher education institutions are eligible to apply for employment of up to two years.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, international students are not required to apply for a student visa if they are studying for a course which is less than three months in duration. Under certain circumstances international students can seek part-time employment for up to 20 hours per week whilst studying (full time) in a course that at least 6 months in duration. In July 2007, amendments were made to the Skilled Migrant Category which gives students the opportunity to earn bonus points for recognized New Zealand higher education qualifications or for two years of full-time study in the country. In addition, the number of years to require points for work experience in New Zealand will be reduced and international students may be eligible to apply for a work visa for up to two year upon completion of their studies in the country.
Issues that can arise with student migration
The loss of students from sending countries can have a rather detrimental impact on the economy by depleting already scarce resources.Brain drain is the large scale loss of individuals with technical skills or knowledge.
Differences in learning cultures is an issue in student migration. This means that the students can have difficulty if the teaching, learning and assessment methods are very different to those in their previous education.For example, some European students studying in Britain have beeoted as having little experience of a number of tasks typically expected of British students while many are familiar “with only traditional forms of assessment such as examinations”.
Simple tenses
The simple present is used to describe an action, an event, or condition that is occurring in the present, at the moment of speaking or writing. The simple present is used when the precise beginning or ending of a present action, event, or condition is unknown or is unimportant to the meaning of the sentence.
Deborah waits patiently while Bridget books the tickets.
The shelf holds three books and a vase of flowers.
The crowd moves across the field in an attempt to see the rock star get into her helicopter.
The Stephens sisters are both very talented; Virginia writes and Vanessa paints.
Ross annoys Walter by turning pages too quickly.
The simple present is used to express general truths such as scientific fact, as in the following sentences:
Rectangles have four sides.
Canada Day takes place on July 1, the anniversary of the signing of the British North America Act.
The moon circles the earth once every 28 days.
Calcium is important to the formation of strong bones.
Menarche and menopause mark the beginning and the ending of a woman’s reproductive history.
The simple present is used to indicate a habitual action, event, or condition, as in the following sentences:
Leonard goes to The Jumping Horse Tavern every Thursday evening.
My grandmother sends me new mittens each spring.
In fairy tales, things happen in threes.
We never finish jigsaw puzzles because the cat always eats some of the pieces.
Jesse polishes the menorah on Wednesdays.
The simple present is also used when writing about works of art, as in the following sentences.
Lolly Willowes is the protagonist of the novel Townsend published in 1926.
One of Artemisia Gentleschi’s best known paintings represents Judith’s beheading of Holofernes.
The Lady of Shallot weaves a tapestry while watching the passers-by in her mirror.
Lear rages against the silence of Cordelia and only belatedly realizes that she, not her more vocal sisters, loves him.
The play ends with an epilogue spoken by the fool.
The simple present can also be used to refer to a future event when used in conjunction with an adverb or adverbial phrase, as in the following sentences.
The doors open in 10 minutes.
The premier arrives on Tuesday.
Classes end next week.
The publisher distributes the galley proofs next Wednesday.
The lunar eclipses begins in exactly 43 minutes.
The simple past is used to describe an action, an event, or condition that occurred in the past, sometime before the moment of speaking or writing.
A flea jumped from the dog to the cat.
Phoebe gripped the hammer tightly and nailed the boards together.
The gem-stones sparkled in a velvet lined display case.
Artemisia Gentilsechi probably died in 1652.
The storyteller began every story by saying “A long time ago when the earth was green.”
The simple future is used to refer to actions that will take place after the act of speaking or writing.
They will meet us at the newest café in the market.
Will you walk the dog tonight?
At the feast, we will eat heartily.
Bobbie will call you tomorrow with details about the agenda.
The Smiths say that they will not move their chicken coop.
To be
Be is the most common verb in the English language. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is used a lot in its other forms.
Base form = be
Present form = am/is/are
Past form = was/were
Present Participle / Gerund = being
Past Participle = been
The Verb To Be
Probably the best known verb in the world: “To be or not to be…”
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Forms of To Be |
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Present |
Past |
Perfect |
Continuous |
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I |
am |
was |
have / had been |
am / was being |
|
he / she / it |
is |
was |
has / had been |
is / was being |
|
you / we / they |
are |
were |
have / had been |
are / were being |
Normally we use the verb to be to show the status or characteristics of something or someone (as a stative verb). It says what I am, what you are or what something is.
Present Simple (stative) |
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I am a teacher. |
You are a student. |
He /She is a student. |
It is a car. |
We are all teachers. |
They are students. |
Past Simple (stative) |
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I was a student. |
You were a student. |
He /She was a student. |
It was a nice day yesterday. |
We were all students once. |
They were students. |
Future Simple (stative) |
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I will be a student. |
You will be a teacher. |
He / She will be a teacher. |
It will be nice later. |
We will be teachers. |
They will be students. |
When used with the present participle of other verbs it describes actions that are or were still continuing – auxiliary verb be [+ ing form of the main verb].
Present Continuous (active) |
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I am being silly. |
You are being silly. |
He /She is being silly. |
It is being silly. |
We are being silly. |
They are being silly. |
Past Continuous (active) |
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I was being silly. |
You were being silly. |
He /She was being silly. |
It was being silly. |
We were being silly. |
They were being silly. |
The verb to be is used to create simple yes/no questions by simply inverting the order of subject and the “To be” verb.
For example:-
I am a teacher. (Statement)
Am I a teacher? (Question)
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Question |
Positive Statement |
Negative Statement (possible short forms) |
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Singular |
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Am I …? |
I am … (I’m …) |
I am not … (I’m not …) |
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Is he / she / it …? |
He / She / It is …(He’s/She’s/It’s …) |
He / She / It is not (He / She / It isn’t… // He’s / She’s / It’s not …) |
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Are you …? |
You are …(You’re…) |
You are not (You’re not …// You aren’t…) |
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Am I being …? |
I am being … |
I am not being … (I’m not being…) |
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Is he / she / it being…? |
He / She / It is being … (He’s/She’s/It’s being …) |
He / She / It is not being … (He / She / It isn’t being…// He/she/it’s not being…) |
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Are you being …? |
You are being … (You’re being …) |
You are not being … (You’re not being … // You aren’t being…) |
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Was I …? |
I was … |
I was not. .. |
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Was he / she / it …? |
He / She / It was … |
He / She / It was not … (He / She / It wasn’t) |
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Were you …? |
You were … |
You were not … (You weren’t …) |
|
Was I being …? |
I was being … |
I was not being (I wasn’t being…) |
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Was he / she / it being…? |
He / She / It was being … |
He / She / It was not being … (He / She / It wasn’t being… ) |
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Were you being …? |
You were being … |
You were not being … (You weren’t being …) |
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Will I be …? |
I will be … (I’ll be …) |
I will not be … (I’ll not be …) |
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Will he / she / it be …? |
He / She / It will be …(He’ll / She’ll / It’ll be …) |
He / She / It will not be (He / She / It won’t be … // He’ll not be / She’ll not be / It’ll not be …) |
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Will you be …? |
You will be …(You’ll be …) |
You will not be (You won’t be … // You’ll not be …) |
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Plural |
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Are we / you / they? |
We / You / They are (We’re / You’re / They’re) |
We / You /They are not (We’re / You’re / They’re not // We / You / They aren’t) |
|
Are we / you / they being …? |
We / You / They are being … (We’re / You’re / They’re) |
We / You /They are not being (We’re / You’re / They’re not being // We / You / They aren’t being) |
|
Were we / you / they …? |
We / You / They were … |
We / You / They were not … (We / You / They weren’t …) |
|
Were we / you / they being …? |
We / You / They were being … |
We / You / They were not being … (We / You / They weren’t being …) |
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Will we / you / they be …? |
We / You / They will be …(We’ll / You’ll They’ll be …) |
We / You / They will not be (We / You / They won’t be … // We’ll / You’ll They’ll not be …) |
Examples
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Am/Are |
Is |
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Question – ? |
“Am I disturbing you?” |
“Is this your coat” |
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Positive Answer – Yes |
“Yes you are.” |
“Yes it is” |
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Negative Answer – No |
“No you’re not.” |
“No it isn’t” |
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Was / Were |
Was |
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Question – ? |
“Was I disturbing you?” |
“Was that your old house?” |
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Positive Answer – Yes |
“Yes you were .” |
“Yes it was “ |
|
Negative Answer – No |
“No you weren’t.” |
“No it wasn’t.” |
!Note – The verb to be is also used when forming the passive voice.
To have
Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language.
Base form = have
Present form = have / has
Past form = had
Present Participle / Gerund = having
Past Participle = had
The Verb To Have
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Forms of To Have |
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Present |
Past |
Continuous |
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I / you / we / they |
have |
had |
having |
|
he / she / it |
has |
had |
having |
Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language. It functions in various ways.
To have as a main verb
As a main verb “to have” implies the meaning of possession.
For example: “I have a job.” “I have a car.“ “I don’t have any time.”
When it is used to indicate possession you can say “I have…” or you might see/ hear “I have got…”.
When you are talking about actions, you only use “have”.
For example:
Possession:-
I have a shower in my bathroom, I don’t have a bath. = I have got a shower in my bathroom. I haven’t got a bath.
The action:-
I have a shower every day. – I’m having a shower now.
!Note – it does not take the continuous form “I having” – for that you have to use the auxiliary verb be.
For example: “I am having a shower.” “Are you having a good time?”
The forms of the verb “to have” are have and has for the present and had for the past.
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Question |
Positive Statement (spoken) |
Negative Statement (spoken) |
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Singular |
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|
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Do I have …? |
I have |
I have not |
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Does he / she / it have…? |
He/she/it has |
He/she/it has not |
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Do you have …? |
You have |
You have not |
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Did I / he / she / it have …? |
I / He / She / It / You had |
I / He / She / It / You had not |
|
Plural |
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|
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Do we / you / they have …? |
We / You / They have |
We / You / They have not |
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Do you have …? |
You have |
You have not |
|
Do they have …? |
They have |
They have not |
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Did we / you / they have …? |
We / You / They had |
I / He / She / It / You had not |
Examples
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Have |
Have got |
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Question – ? |
“Do you have a car?” |
“Have you got a car?” |
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Positive Answer – Yes |
“Yes, I have a car.” |
“Yes I’ve got a car.” |
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Negative Answer – No |
“No, I don’t have a car.” |
“No I haven’t got a car.” |
To have as an auxiliary verb
The verb “to have” is used as an auxiliary verb to help other verbs create the perfect tense – auxiliary verb have [+ past participle].
For example, “I have read a lot of books,” or “I have never been to America,” or “I have already eaten.”
Present Perfect |
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I have been a teacher for over 11 years. |
You have been a student for … |
He / She has been a student for … |
It has been nice today. |
We have been students for …. |
They have been students for … |
Past Perfect |
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I had been a teacher for several years. |
You had been a student for several years. |
He / She had been a student for several years. |
It had been nice for several hours. |
We had been students for several years. |
They had been students for several years. |
Future Perfect |
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I will have been a teacher for several years. |
You will have been a student for several years. |
He / She will have been a student for several years. |
It will have been nice for several years. |
We will have been students for several years. |
They will have been students for several years. |
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Question |
Positive Statement |
Negative Statement (possible short forms) |
|
Singular |
|
|
|
Have you been …? |
You have been … |
You have not been … (You haven’t been … // You’ve not been …) |
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Plural |
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|
|
Have we / you / they been …? |
We / You / They have been … |
We / You / They have not been … |
For example:
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Question – ? |
“Have you washed your face today?” |
|
Positive Answer – Yes |
” Yes, I have.” |
|
Negative Answer – No |
” No, I haven’t.” |
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Question – ? |
“Have you ever had a heart attack?” |
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Positive Answer – Yes |
” Yes, I’m afraid I have.” |
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Negative Answer – No |
” No, thank goodness, I haven’t.” |
The use of have to
In addition to the two forms, there is another use for have as a modal verb; have to or have got to. This, of course, must be followed by another verb “We have to do something“.
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|
Have to |
Have got to |
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Question – ? |
“Do you have to leave early?” |
“Have you got to leave early?” |
|
Positive Answer – Yes |
“Yes I have to.” or “Yes I do” |
“Yes I’ve got to.” |
|
Negative Answer – No |
“No I don’t have to.” |
“No I haven’t got to.” |
To have something done
If something is done for you, in other words you haven’t actually done it yourself, we use the structure “to have something done”.
For example:-
“He had a tooth out.” (Only a masochist would go pull their own teeth out. We go to the dentist and he or she pulls our teeth out for us.)
“I have my hair cut once every six weeks.” (I don’t cut my own hair, my hairdresser cuts it for me.)
“My husband has the car serviced once a year.” (He wouldn’t have a clue how to service a modern car so, he takes it to the garage and they service it for us.)
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The Future with going to |
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