False friends between Italian and English

Italian adverb English adverb correct or *other translation
attualmente actually currently, at present
equamente equally justly, fairly
eventualmente eventually if necessary, in case, possibly
fatalmente fatally *unfortunately
occasionalmente occasionally by chance, fortuitously
possibilmente possibly *if possible
presentemente presently *at present, at the moment
scarsamente scarcely scantily, poorly, meagrely
specialmente specially especially, particularly
ultimamente ultimately recently, lately, in recent times

Italian adjective English adjective correct or *other translation
bravo brave *skilful; honest; well-behaved
baldo bald bold, courageous
caldo cold warm, hot
edito edited published
esaltato exalted excited; hot-headed
invidioso invidious envious
morbido morbid soft, delicate; loose; mellow
moroso morose in arrears
rilevante relevant large, considerable; important
sensibile sensible *sensitive; susceptible
servizievole serviceable helpful, amiable, obliging
simpatico sympathetic nice, pleasant, likeable
tremendo tremendous terrible, awful, dreadful
triviale trivial vulgar, obscene, lewd
volonteroso voluntary willing, eager, keen

Higher Education Study Preparation Programme at University of Central Lancashire HESPP Writing skills, session 1

What is a sentence?

Simple sentences & parts of a sentence
1 subject, 1 verb
My father is an engineer.
2 subjects, 1 verb
My brother and his wife live in Oxford.
1 subject, 2 verbs
He lives and works in Preston.
2 subjects, 2 verbs
Her mother and father were born and grew up in India.

Subject + Verb + Complement

I study English.
I don’t understand you.
His girlfriend is smart.
It isn’t raining now.

He lives in Preston.
The children are at school.

Capital Letters

I
First word of a sentence
Acronyms
Names/titles
Places
Nationalities/languages
Days/months

The writing process

Identify your audience

Define your purpose

Collect your ideas

Select the material

Structure your ideas

Write!

HESPP Compound Sentences

Grammar: Compound Sentences

Compound Sentences

A compound sentence is a sentence that contains two complete ideas (called
clauses) that are related. These two clauses are usually connected in a compound
sentence by a conjunction. The coordinating conjunctions are "and", "but", "for", "or",
"nor", "yet", or "so".
Example:
Batman is a hero. He is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Batman is a hero, and he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
OR…
Batman is a hero, for he is successful in catching the criminals in his city.
Directions: In the following exercises, turn the sentence pairs into single compound
sentences, each with a coordinating conjunction. You can rearrange or add words in
the sentence to make it sound better, but only if it's necessary.

1. The black dog has won many prizes. He doesn't know many tricks.
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2. She saw a cat run in front of her. She fell down while roller-skating.
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3. There was a meteor shower. The crew did not know how to avoid the meteors.
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4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua. I started to save my money.
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5. Gillian did not like to read. She was not very good at it.
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6. Pam liked Wayne. Leena also liked Wayne.
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7. The little boy did not like going to school. He went anyway.
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8. You can cry like a baby. You can clean your room like an adult.
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Grammar: Compound Sentences
Name ______________________________________________ Date _____________
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9. She didn't want to play with Jill. She didn't want to play with Tim.
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10. Arleen could not play with that boy. Arleen could not play with that other boy.
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11. Let's go to the swimming pool. It's hot inside the house.
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12. I don’t want to eat. I don't want to drink.
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13. I don’t want to practice playing my violin. I don’t want to disobey my mother.
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14. I want to own my own company. I want to pay all my workers a lot of money.
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15. I need to go to the store. I'm feeling too sick to drive.
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16. Rabbits make good pets. They don’t make too much noise and they are clean.
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17. I want to go to the circus. I want to ride a pony.
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18. I didn’t do my homework. My parents punished me.
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19. I have never visited Asia. I have never visited Africa.
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20. You can make a big poster. You can make a little clay statue.
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Answers (may vary):
1. The black dog has won many prizes, but he doesn’t know many tricks.
2. She saw a cat run in front of her, so she fell down while roller-skating.
3. There was a meteor shower in space, but the crew did not know how to avoid
the meteors.
4. I wanted to buy a baby Chihuahua, so I started to save my money.
5. Gillian did not like to read, for she was not very good at it.
6. Pam liked Wayne, and Leena also liked Wayne.
7. The little boy did not like to go to school, yet he went anyway.
8. You could cry like a baby, or you can clean your room like an adult.
9. She didn’t want to play with Jill, and she didn’t want to play with Tim.

HESPP Countable and Uncountable nouns

Nouns that can be Countable and Uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of meaning.

Countable Uncountable

There are two hairs in my coffee! hair I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom. light Close the curtain. There's too much light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise. noise It's difficult to work when there is too much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (= newspaper) paper I want to draw a picture. Have you got some paper?
Our house has seven rooms. room Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party. time Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's greatest works. work I have no money. I need work!


Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example: "pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some more countable nouns:
• dog, cat, animal, man, person
• bottle, box, litre
• coin, note, dollar
• cup, plate, fork
• table, chair, suitcase, bag
Countable nouns can be singular or plural:
• My dog is playing.
• My dogs are hungry.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
• A dog is an animal.
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:
• I want an orange. (not I want orange.)
• Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)
When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:
• I like oranges.
• Bottles can break.
We can use some and any with countable nouns:
• I've got some dollars.
• Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
• I've got a few dollars.
• I haven't got many pens.


"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people:
• There is one person here.
• There are three people here.


Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count "bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
• music, art, love, happiness
• advice, information, news
• furniture, luggage
• rice, sugar, butter, water
• electricity, gas, power
• money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:
• This news is very important.
• Your luggage looks heavy.
We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say "an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:
• a piece of news
• a bottle of water
• a grain of rice
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
• I've got some money.
• Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
• I've got a little money.
• I haven't got much rice.

HESPP Expressing Opinions

Expressing Opinions

1. Expressing Opinions: These terms are used to introduce an
opinion, either for or against:

I think……
I feel……..
I believe…….
As I see it……..
In my opinion…….
As far as I'm concerned……
My point of view is that…….
In my view……..
It seems to me that……..
I figure that…….
From my point of view…….

2. Agreeing with an Opinion:

My view about this is positive.
I agree with this idea.
I agree completely with this idea.
I agree partially with this idea.
This idea is absolutely right.
This idea is partially right.
I couldn't agree more on this.
I think this idea is good.
3. Disagreeing with an Opinion:
I think this idea is impossible/impractical/bad.
I think this idea is possible, but……
I think this idea cannot be implemented.
I don't agree with this idea.
I think it is a bad idea.
I'm not sure that I agree with this idea.
The project is feasible, but…….

4. Asking somebody's opinion

What do you think about...?

How d'you feel (about...)?

What d'you reckon (about...)?

What's your opinion of...?

(What do think about) that?

What are your views on...?

Where do you stand (on...)?

What would you say to... / if we...?

Are you aware of.....?

Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Year 2. Verbs dispensa 2010

Verbs page 6

1)went
2)to get to/getting to
3)had just driven
4)to keep (remind + infinitive)
5)caught on (to catch on = to understand a situation/realise/become familiar with). E.g. At first I didn’t catch on that my friend was only joking and I was a bit offended!
6)was sitting/was sat
7)couldn’t get over (to get over = to recover from e.g. illness, shock, surprise)
8)think about
9)were brought up (to bring sb up = to educate/look after)
10)have been driving/have driven
11)coping (to be used to + verb ing or noun)
12)can’t/won’t/shouldn’t be
13)going (to be up to + verb ing = to be capable of doing something e.g. do you think he is up to managing a large team?)
14)not hiring
15)should have left
16)to make
17)already had
18)did I eventually reach
19)to do
20)running out of

Page 7

1)I’ll ever go
2)to understand
3)to talk
4)to munch
5)are playing/play
6)was/would be/would have been
7)to introduce
8)pointed out
9)putting Raymond off
10)went up to
11)would go out
12)put
13)kept
14)talking
15)was playing/played
16)making/to make
17)to show
18)should/ought to get
19)to leave
20)have never felt

Page 8

1)woke up
2)had come to
3)was called
4)to be haunted
5)made up
6)will let
7)set off
8)will eat
9)get to
10)could make out
11)standing out
12)to take out
13)sounded like
14)shouting
15)dressed in
16)would/could/might find
17)looking for
18)got to
19)ran into
20)saying about

Page 10

1)are still trying
2)had been/were stolen from
3)might/could be
4)are thought
5)to have been taken
6)went
7)to check
8)was
9)was woken up
10)must have come
11)had already gone
12)immediately went down
13)to find out
14)was going on
15)were gone
16)getting
17)will/would probably end up
18)to move horses around
19)noticing
20)to look in on/around for

Page 12

1)to have gone up
2)is expected
3)have been complaining about
4)to be done
5)suggested
6)should/could/might put down
7)to deal with
8)came up
9)has been
10)came in
11)be said
12)cutting off
13)fill with
14)using
15)laying
16)to carry out
17)would be
18)comes up with
19)will just carry on
20)to put up with

Page 13

1)to walk
2)was staying
3)waiting for her
4)had never met
5)seeing
6)went up to = approached
7)held
8)have been looking forward to
9)meeting
10)shook
11)came out
12)couldn’t/can’t have already read
13)picked it up
14)couldn’t put it down
15)might/could/should go
16)would be
17)being disturbed
18)no sooner had they sat down
19)coming
20)heading for = going in a direction

Page 14

1)having
2)to clean up
9)to make
10)feel
4)helping
5)to get
6)lying down
7)hadn’t asked
8)to spend
11)could see
12)coming
13)will/must have fed
14)are they
15)won’t/shouldn’t be
16)to set off
17)will/am going to call
18)to find out
19)carry on
20)are all invited


Page 15

1)using
2)had just inserted
3)was about
4)came up to
5)to do
6)had she said
7)to be out of
8)might/must
9)’d check
10)to be found
11)realised
12)had been tricked
13)have been/am
14)gave up
15)couldn’t keep up with
16)was given
17)to fill in
18)was shocked
19)had withdrawn
20)will I do

Page 16

1)was murdered
2)looked into
3)have been found
4)called on
5)may have
6)to contact
7)speaking
8)were doing/had been doing
9)to run out of
10)to have left
11)makes/will make/is going to make
12)had been
13)had been respected
14)should be given
15)is/was involved
16)hadn’t gone out
17)has been missing
18)investigating
19)are currently looking around/out
20)won’t get out of/away with

Verbs page 17

1)was left/had been left
2)to spread the money out/around
3)referred to
4)got by
5)always broke down
6)went round/over
7)had bought
8)was really looking forward
9)to seeing
10)was clearly taken
11)were
12)bumped into
13)making
14)to speak
15)found out
16)Had complained/complained
17)not having
18)could/should/might
19)do
20)will be punished

Translation: mobile phones

We don’t find it at all strange, nowadays, if we see someone talking to “nobody” whilst walking, whereas ten years ago, we would have thought that person was mad. Of course/naturally, we know that they are on the telephone, even if they are not holding anything. Now that we are used to mobile phones, we have also become much more tolerant of phones that ring at the cinema, restaurant and during a meeting. In the early 90s, there weren’t many mobiles. Now however, those who don’t have one are considered the exception. For/in the case of young people, above all/in particular, life without a mobile is absolutely inconceivable. We have certainly gained a lot in terms of/regarding the comfort and flexibility in organising our daily lives, but could we have lost something? Maybe the capacity not to worry about whoever is not with us: a child on holiday with their friends, for example.