English grammar workouts and activities

Below are some activities and workouts that I'd used in my English grammar classes. These are designed to be fun as well is instructive.

1. Fun with suffixes
2. Bushisms I
3. Bushisms II
4. Headlines

Activity: the suffix –ery

 Some of the words below were formed by adding a suffix –ery, which added a meaning of “place where something is done”. Connect those with their definitions. Some of the words are end in the letters [ery] but not because of the suffix –ery. For example, they may be formed from words ending in [er], which might be a suffix itself, by adding a suffix –y.

Some of the words were made up for this exercise, but they would be valid uses of the suffix –ery.

(Invented words: g, k, l, o)

 Bonus Question: If the following words really did involve the suffix –ery, what might they mean? What do they really mean?

• slithery

• rhymery

• quackery

• peppery

• pillery

• mockery

• machinery

• surgery

Activity: Bushisms

Below are actual statements uttered by George W. Bush. Try to figure out what he was trying to say and express it in a clear and articulate way.

• Ø      "The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."

• Ø      "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure."

• Ø      "One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'."

• Ø      "I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."

• Ø      "The future will be better tomorrow."

• Ø      "We're going to have the best educated American people in the world."

• Ø      "I stand by all the misstatements that I've made."

• Ø      "We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

• Ø      "Public speaking is very easy."

• Ø      "A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls."

• Ø      "We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

• Ø      "For NASA, space is still a high priority."

• Ø      "Quite frankly, teachers are the only profession that teach our children."

• Ø      "It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

• Ø      "It's time for the human race to enter the solar system."

• Ø      "You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."

• Ø      "The point now is how do we work together to achieve important goals. And one such goal is a democracy in Germany."

• Ø      "And I want those who are questioning it to step up and explain why all of a sudden a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard than a Great British company."

• Ø      "You took an oath to defend our flag and our freedom, and you kept that oath underseas and under fire."

• Ø      "If you found somebody that had information about an attack on America, you'd want to know as best as we can to find out what the facts are."

• Ø      "I think we are welcomed. But it was not a peaceful welcome."

• Ø      "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law."

• Ø      "Let me be very clear about this. Steroids ought to be banned from baseball."

• Ø      "If it were to rain a lot, there is concern from the Army Corps of Engineers that the levees might break. And so, therefore, we're cautious about encouraging people to return at this moment of history."

• Ø      "I can't wait to join you in the joy of welcoming neighbors back into neighborhoods, and small businesses up and running, and cutting those ribbons that somebody is creating new jobs."

• Ø      "I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a 'piece of work'?"—To Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of Luxembourg

• Ø      "We expect the states to show us whether or not we're achieving simple objectives—like literacy, literacy in math, the ability to read and write."

Activity: More Bushisms

Again, your goal is to try to figure out what the American president was trying to say, and to put it into words in a clear and coherent manner.

• "I've reminded the prime minister—the American people, Mr. Prime Minister, over the past months that it was not always a given that the United States and America would have a close relationship."—Washington, D.C., June 29, 2006
• "I tell people, let's don't fear the future, let's shape it."—Omaha, Neb., June 7, 2006
  "I think—tide turning—see, as I remember—I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of—it's easy to see a tide turn—did I say those words?"—Washington, D.C., June 14, 2006
• "I was not pleased that Hamas has refused to announce its desire to destroy Israel."—Washington, D.C., May 4, 2006
• "If people want to get to know me better, they've got to know my parents and the values my parents instilled in me, and the fact that I was raised in West Texas, in the middle of the desert, a long way away from anywhere, hardly. There's a certain set of values you learn in that experience."—Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
• "You never know what your history is going to be like until long after you're gone."—Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
• "Finally, the desk, where we'll have our picture taken in front of—is nine other Presidents used it. This was given to us by Queen Victoria in the 1870s, I think it was. President Roosevelt put the door in so people would not know he was in a wheelchair. John Kennedy put his head out the door."—Showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
• "That's George Washington, the first president, of course. The interesting thing about him is that I read three—three or four books about him last year. Isn't that interesting?"—Showing German newspaper reporter Kai Diekmann the Oval Office, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2006
• "I can look you in the eye and tell you I feel I've tried to solve the problem diplomatically to the max, and would have committed troops both in Afghanistan and Iraq knowing what I know today."—Irvine, Calif., April 24, 2006
• "I aim to be a competitive nation."—San Jose, Calif., April 21, 2006
• "I strongly believe what we're doing is the right thing. If I didn't believe it—I'm going to repeat what I said before—I'd pull the troops out, nor if I believed we could win, I would pull the troops out."—Charlotte, N.C., April 6, 2006
  
  "If the Iranians were to have a nuclear weapon they could proliferate."—Washington D.C., March 21, 2006
• "No question that the enemy has tried to spread sectarian violence. They use violence as a tool to do that."—Washington, D.C., March 22, 2006
   
• "And so I'm for medical liability at the federal level."—Discussing his support of medical liability reform, Washington, D.C., March 10, 2006
• "I think it's really important for this great state of baseball to reach out to people of all walks of life to make sure that the sport is inclusive. The best way to do it is to convince little kids how to—the beauty of playing baseball."—Washington, D.C., Feb. 13, 2006
  
   

  Activity: Headlines

  Headlines differ from sentences by leaving out some of the predictable words. A good headline says something that is not obvious, and that will make the reader interested in the topic. There is something wrong with each of the following real headlines. Besides redundancy or obviousness,  a common mistake is creating a headline that has more than one meaning.

• Ø      If strike isn't settled quickly it may last a while

• Ø      Eye Drops off Shelf

• Ø      War dims hope for peace

• Ø      Smokers are productive, but death cuts efficiency

• Ø      Cold wave linked to temperatures

• Ø      Child's death ruins couple's holiday

• Ø      Blind woman gets new kidney from dad she hasn't seen in years

• Ø      Man is fatally slain

• Ø      Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say

• Ø      Death causes loneliness, feeling of isolation

• Ø      Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case

• Ø      British Left Waffles on Falkland Islands

• Ø      Miners Refuse to Work after Death

• Ø      Juvenile Court to Try Shooting Defendant

• Ø      Stolen Painting Found by Tree

• Ø      Two Soviet Ships Collide, One Dies

• Ø      Kids Make Nutritious Snacks

• Ø      Steals Clock, Faces Time (This is an example of a great headline!)

• Ø      Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors

• Ø      Mayor Says D.C. Is Safe Except For Murders