grammar-A

As of: As of 和 as from都解 "直至"或 "由...開始", 但公文味較重.  eg, as of july 1, 1997, we had 23 branches in Hong Kong Island.

Americanism is the American English.  eg. teenager, paperback, boom, slump


as vs when: 1st-as is used for longer action. Eg. As/when I was reading, he shouted. C.f. When (X as) he shouted, I was reading. 2nd: as is used to mean "two actions happening at the same time". e.g. As times goes on, they find life hard.

approval: followed by to-inf. e.g. We received their approval to play basketball.

authenticate: to prove sth is real or symbolise.

addtion: newly added thing. e.g. baby.

alike: 1st: in a similar way. e.g. The twins dress alike. 2nd: used after referring to 2 groups of things to show both groups are included. e.g. Friends and family alike were devastated by the news. 

as yet: to now. e.g. an as yet unpublished document. 

antiquities: ancient things

academia: the academic circle.

non-assertive words: not, seldom, hardly, never, refuse, only, etc., which have -ve sense. e.g. I don't like him much. BUT: X I like hime much. ONLY: I like him very much.

at : near

around: round in some situations

author recommened: 1. George Orwell 2. John Hersey 3. Graham Greene 4. Angus Wilson

adverbs: can be put in any position in a sentence.

as if/though: 1st: subjuctive mood. e.g. He looks as if he were tired. 2nd: to inf. e.g. He opened his hands as if to embrace. 3rd: present tense. e.g. It looks as if it is going to rain.

appreciate: followed by thing, not people. e.g. Students should appreciate the teachers' efforts, X students should appreciate the teachers. Also, don't say I will appreciate it if you reply soon, but say I will appreciate it if you reply soon.

Accord: pronounced as ACcord, not acCORD.

abet=To encourage; aid or assist, esp. in an act of a criminal nature

accord (v.):To give; grant.

給與；贈予；授與。

例句： They accorded a welcome to us.

他們給予我們熱烈的歡迎。

aggrieved:                               Wronged; offended. 

 受冤屈的；憤憤不平的。 

 Troubled; distressed. 

 困擾的；憂慮的。 

accustomed to can be followed by gerund, noun or infinite 

Adjunct：　In linguistics, an adjunct is a syntactic term used to describe a word, phrase, or clause joined to another word or phrase, yet not syntactically required by that word or phrase. Adverbial adjuncts modify a verb or verb phrase and adnominal adjuncts modify a noun or noun phrase.

An adverbial adjunct is a sentence element that usually establishes the circumstances in which the action or state expressed by the verb take place.

The following sentence uses adjuncts of time and place:

Yesterday Lorna saw the dog in the garden. 

This definition can be extended to include adjuncts that modify nouns or other parts of speech (see noun adjunct):

The large dog in the garden is very friendly. 

Adjuncts are always extranuclear; that is, removing an adjunct leaves a grammatically well-formed sentence. However optional complements are also often removable, so not all removable elements are adjuncts. They are contrasted with complements, which are elements directly selected by another element. All adverbials are adjuncts.

allay : To quiet or calm; assuage; pacify. 

 鎮靜；平靜；和緩。 

 例句： The mother allayed her son's wrath. 

  母親平息了他兒子的憤怒。 

adjective: complement+ adverbial e.g. 

And: 古德明說可以用And開頭. 

agreement: 把一些東西當做一件事: There is bread and butter for the breakfast. or 當做一個數額: eg . There is only five hundred dollars in my account. or將單數名詞分別考慮: we have 4 applicants. There is Peter , mary and Paul.

adverbial: prone to errors. 

afternoon: we say "in the afternoon on 16 November" or "on the afternoon of 16 November"

ad nauseam係拉丁文. 解令人作嘔的地步=to the point of nausea

aim: 不要說 the concert is aimed at raising people's awareness. 要說 the concert aims at raising people's awareness. 係主動.

animal: 單數和雙數串法一樣. eg. deer, sheep, cod, salmon,若指不同種類,咁就可以加-s, or -es

about/around: 大約也可以加-ish. eg. about three, around three, threeish(三點鐘左右)

and 可用來作conditional sentences. eg. If you work hard, you will succeed. 可作 Work hard, and you will succeed.也可用現在式, eg. Chang that word, and you spoil the article. 而個condition也可用noun phrase, eg. One step further, and you are dead. / Another defeat, and you are out.

adjective 次序: 1. number, 2 size, 3. nature, 4. age, 5. shape, 6. color, 7. material 8. nationality 9. function 

awhile is adverb. many noun becomes adverbs when they are added a-. eg. afoot=on foot.  no prepositions before the adverb

assist ...in +ing 或 to+infinitive 都OK. assist大致上跟help 用法一樣.

I've always told you...我一早話