Unit 1 The Correct Word
By Wu Wenjuan
Unit Objective
At the end of the unit you will be able to
 1. recognize multiple meanings a word may have, ie. Denotative and
connotative meanings, affective and collective meanings;
 2. identify false friends in English and learn to choose the correct word for
an idea;
 3. learn to avoid making errors in subject-verb agreement; and
 4. Write a simple note
1. Denotation and Connotation
 The denotation of a word refers to its literal meaning, the meaning found in
the dictionary, and to many foreign language learners, it seems to be the
only meaning a word has; and
 We call the suggested meaning of a word its connotation.
2. Attitude
 Some words though similar in their denotative meanings, are diverse in
affective meanings which show the attitude of the writer — whether he/she
thinks favorably or unfavorably of something.
For example:
1. What a slim girl she is!
2. How thin the girl is !
3. The girl is so skinny!
3. Collocations
 Certain word tend to occur together regularly, so we call the fixed combination
of words collocation. Collocation is a very important language feature and we
must make note of that when we learn a language. There are several types of
collocation—verb plus noun, adjective plus noun, verb plus adverb, preposition
plus noun, verb plus preposition, to name just a few.
 do somebody a favor
 do somebody good
 make a gesture
 do evil
 do harm
 make an effort
3. Collocations
do:
 1. to act or take action
She told me not to ask any questions, just to do as she did.
 2. to arrange something
You’ve done those flowers beautifully.
 3. to be acceptable
This kind of behavior just won’t do.
 4. to provide or sell something, or to cause someone to have something.
There’s a special offer on and they’re doing three for the price of two.
3. Collocations
 5. to cheat someone
Fifty bucks for that old bike! You’ve been done.
 6. to clean or tidy, or make something look attractive
I want to do (=clean) the living room this afternoon.
 7. connected with
She’s refused to have anything to do with him since he was arrested for drinking
and driving.
 8. to cook or prepare food
I’ll do you some scrambled eggs.
 9. to deal with
Lucia is going to do the publicity for the school play.
3. Collocations
 10. to be happening
This town is so boring in the evening—there’s never anything doing.
 11. to make, produce or create something
Can you do me 20 photocopies of this report for me?
 12. to develop or continue with the stated amount of success; to manage
How is Mary doing in her new job?
 13. to perform, take part in or achieve something.
do well/ badly by somebody 招待某人周全/不周
do sth about sth 对……采取行动
It’s a global problem —what can individuals do about it?
3. Collocations
 14. to perform a play or to play the part of a character
She’s done all the important Shakespearean roles apart from Lady Mecbeth.
 15. to spend time in prison
He did three years for his part in the robbery.
 16. to punish someone
If you mess me again, I’ll do you good and proper.
 17. to solve, or find the answer to something
I’ve never been able to do crosswords.
 18. to enter a building illegally and steal from it.
Our house was done while we were away.
3. Collocations
 19. to study a subject
Diane did anthropology at university.
 20. to take an illegal drug
How long have been doing heroin?
 21. to travel a particular distance or to travel at a particular speed
We were doing 150(km an hour ) along the motorway.
 22. to visit the interesting places in a town or country, or to look around an
interesting place.
We didn’t manage to do Nice when we were in France.
3. Collocations
make:
 1. to arrive at or reach, especially successfully
She made it to the airport just in time to catch her plane.
 2. to be or become something, usually by having the necessary characteristics;
Or if people or things make a particular pattern, they are arranged in that way.
1. It’s a story that would make a good film.
2. Those seven bright stars make the shape of a saucepan.
 3. to calculate as
I make the answer (to be) 105.6.
 4. to cause to be, to become or to appear as
It’s the good weather that makes Spain such a popular tourist destination.
3. Collocations
 5. to cause something
The bullet made a hole right through his chest.
 6. to earn or get
How do you make a living as a painter?
 7. to force someone or something to do something; Or to be forced to do something
1. The vet put something down the dog’s throat to make it vomit.
2. The prisoners are made to dig holes and fill them in again.
 8. to cause to be perfect
Those little bows round the neck really make the dress.
 9. to perform an action
You are not making any effort.
3. Collocations
 10. to produce something, often using a particular substance or material;
Or to make a film or television programme is to direct, produce it, or act in it.
1. Shall I make some coffee?
2. John Huston made some great films.
 11. to produce a total when added
12 and 12 make 24.
4. False Friends
 We call pairs of words similar in
appearance or pronunciation but
different in meaning false friends.
The use of false friends can
sometimes add a humorous effect
to the text.
 advise vs. advice
 affect vs. effect
 complement vs. compliment
 continually vs. continuously
 angel vs. angle
 capital vs. capitol
 conscious vs. conscience
 credible vs. credulous
False Friends in Translation
 busboy
 餐馆勤杂工
 busybody
 爱管闲事儿的人
 dry goods
 纺织品（美）；谷物（英）
 mad doctor
 精神病科医生
 eleventh hour
 最后时刻
 sweet water
 淡水
 rest room
 厕所
 familiar talk
 庸俗的交谈
 black tea
 红茶
 green hand
 新手
False Friends in Translation
 pull one's leg
 开玩笑
 eat one's words
 收回前言
 an apple of love
 西红柿
 bring down the house
 博得全场喝彩
 make one's hair stand on end
 令人毛骨悚然—恐惧
 be taken in
 受骗，上当
 think a great deal of oneself
 高看或看重自己
 pull up one's socks
 鼓起勇气
 have a fit
 勃然大怒
 handwriting on the wall
 不祥之兆
False Friends in Translation
 What a shame!
 多可惜！真遗憾！
 You don't say!
 是吗！
 You can say that again!
 说得好！
 You can't be too careful in your
work.
 你工作越仔细越好。
 It has been 4 years since I smoked.
 All his friends did not turn up.
 It can't be less interesting.
 He was only too pleased to let
them go.
 我戒烟４年了。
 他的朋友没全到。
 它无聊极了。
 他很乐意让他们走。
4. Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
When the subject is compound:
1. A compound subject with and takes a plural verb in most cases, but when it
expresses a singular meaning or when each of the singular subject is
considered individually, it takes a singular verb.
2. After a compound subject with or, nor, either…or…, neither… nor…,
not…but…, the verb agrees in number of person with the nearest part of
the subject.
3. Intervening phrases or clauses not introduced by coordinating conjunctions
do not affect the number of a verb. Such phrase are normally introduced
by prepositions or prepositional phrases such as as well as, as much as ,
rather than, along with, in addition to, together with, with, plus, and
including.
4. Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
When the subject expresses quantity:
1. Nominal phrases of time, money, weight and measurement normally take a
singular verb.
2. Some words or phrases, such as all, most, half, the last, the rest, take a
singular or plural verb, depending on the meaning of the noun or pronoun that
follows.
3. Phrases like lots of, heaps of, loads of, take singular or plural verbs
depending on the form of the nouns that follows.
4. In sentences with more than one or many a modifying the subject noun, the
verb should take a singular form though it is plural in meaning.
4. Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
When the subject is a relative pronoun, a what-clause, or in the there-be
sentence:
1. After a relative pronoun (who, which, that), the verb has the same person
and number as the antecedent.
2. After a what-clause, the verb is usually singular. But if the what-clause is in
a compound structure plural in meaning, the verb is in plural form.
3. In the there-be clause, the verb is singular or plural depending on the
number of the subject. The singular there is may be used to introduce a
compound subject when the first noun or nominal phrase in singular.
4. Grammar: Subject-Verb Agreement
Others:
1. Indefinite pronouns such as anybody, anyone, each, everybody, nobody, no
one and somebody generally requires a singular verb.
2. The pronouns any and none take either singular or plural verbs.
3. The complement of the verb be does not affect its number.
4. A collective noun takes a singular verb when the class it names is thought of as
a unit, but a plural verb when the members of the class are thought of as
individuals.
5. Titles of books, magazines, movies, newspapers, plays, and the like take a
singular verb.
6. Certain nouns which are plural in form but singular in meaning generally take a
singular verb. Some of these are physics, mechanics, news, statistics, and
whereabouts.
5. Writing: Notes
1. Notes are the simplest and shortest form of written communication and
they are quick ,easy and convenient.
2. A note has three essential components:
—The addressee, i.e. the person(s) to whom the note is written;
—The message;
—The sender.
3. Notes are characterized by brevity, informality in style, and dedication to a
single topic.
5. Writing: Notes
Format of Notes
 1. The date is put at the upper right-hand corner. Besides the date or
weekday, you may, at times, need to state the hour or even the minute.
 2. You can add the word Dear before the addressee’s name and a
complimentary close.
 3. A complimentary close is put before your signature.
Paragraph
word count of
the shortest
sentence
word count of
the longest
sentence
every sentence
love
sentence
difference
1
6
8
6.6
2
2
6
19
11
13