The present perfect continuous tense

Positive

1. The present perfect continuous tense is used for action that started in the past and continued or is continuing now or has just ended.It admits of active voice only.The verb ending in "ing" is used after "has been,have been."
   

   Examples

   1.I have been struggling to rise (have been struggling and still struggle or have been struggling up to now.)
   2.Kanwal has been researching in the university since 2009.
   3.I have been helping my neighbors.Now I shall be helping my friends.
   4.We have been reading an English newspaper for two years.(...still read it or do not read it.)
2. "For" is used for duration and "since" for a point of time in the past.The present perfect tense is also used for for action started in the past that is still continuing or that has just ended.
   

   Examples

   5.My friends have been working in the factory for a long time.
   6.They have been lived in Germany for three years.
   (or)They have lived in Germany for three years.
   7.He has been studying French since February 13,2008.
3. Progressive or continuous forms of verbs are used to express an action that continuous for a period of time.So we do not use verbs in continuous form that cannot express action continuing for a period of time.For example,we cannot say "I have been seizing (making use of) a lot of chances in this city:""The war has been ceasing (stopping) in Kashmir."Other such verbs,phrases or idioms can be "get born," "pass away," "retire," "die," "respect," "die in harness (continue to work until one's death."
   

   Such verbs pertaining (related) to the senses:"smell," "notice," "appreciate;" pertaining to the feelings:"like," "dislike," "hate;" pertaining to thought: "excuse," "understand," "suppose" and pertaining to ownership or possession:"own," "possess," "dispossess."

Negative

1. In negative sentences,we use "not" between "has," "have," and "been."In questions,we use "has" before the subject."When," "where," "do," "why," etc. are used before "has," "have."
   

   Examples

   8.I have not been meeting those students.
   9.You have not been writing on this subject for two months.
   10.She has not been painting since nightfall.
   11.Have some officers of this organization not been planning for a year to go abroad for advanced studies?
   12.Why has she not been acting on our advice?
2. Present perfect is often used for verbs giving a negative meaning and for action that has not continued earlier.
   

   Examples

   13.They have not met me since the day before yesterday.
   14.Has she not written an essay for several days?
   15.We have not seen any TV play for the last seven months.
   16.Has Japan not provided extraordinary (unusual) economic aid to several Asian countries since 2006?
   17.The common people have not seen true rulers for long.
   18.We have not studied in any college for years.
   19.My friends have not gone to a hill station for two years.
   20.Why has she not written to us since the end of the last year?

The medium of instruction and exams

Our different provinces have experimented with mediums of instruction and examination,sometimes at will and often according to the directives of the federal and provincial ministries.There has been confusion regarding what language to use,especially at the school level.The result is that the students are neither proficient in English nor in Urdu or the regional or provincial languages as they study in the classroom,at home or when the take their various examinations.No,in the wider national scenario,we have to see what suits the students best in their academic and professional preparation to face the challenges of life.

The present facts of the national and international situation all justify the adoption of English as a second national language and its endorsement in the constitution of the country.Then the nation should be about learning the English language in deadly earnest in all corners of the country.Teachers should be educated and trained for this purpose and senior students,who are good at the language,should be deputed to teach it in schools and colleges.There should be a kind of mass movement to teach and popularize English all over.It is certain that the common people would learn English with passion and would like to have it taught to their children for their unlimited future progress and prosperity.

As the above national program is in progress,we should strive to introduce English as the medium of instruction in all our school,college and university classes in almost all the subjects.Then examinations should be given in English.Urdu should continue to be taught as compulsory additional subject.If all this is done,there will be no danger to the advancement of Urdu and its studies as most people already understand and speak it.

If we act on the above program,all science studies will be easy and comprehensible.The knowledge of the arts on the apart of the students and teachers will be upgraded.We shall be able to compete with other nations,especially India,Bangladesh,outstandingly.There is no way out to us at this time except what we have shown if you want to reach the pinnacles of success and worldly glory.Our understanding of religion,morality and social responsibilities will at once be more realistic,comprehensive and fruitful if only we do all this right now without being misled into wrong directions and false destinations for the sands are running out(there is not much time left).

The letters or the alphabet & the word

There are ,as you know,twenty-six letters in the English alphabet:a,b,c, to z are small letters and A,B,C to Z are capital letters.

Kinds of letters

The vowels are "a,e,i,o,u" and the consonants are all the other letters.The vowels can be sounded without the help of other letters."h","w",and "y" are semi-vowels as they produce vowel sounds partly,for example,"hour," in which h is silent.w and y are taken as vowels when they do not begin with a syllable.In "way" (pronounced wae),"y" gives a vowel sound,but "w" is a consonant.The consonants can be meaningfully sounded in combination with other letters.

The word

It is a group of letters or combination of sounds with some meaning.

• war-three letters +3 sounds

The word is the smallest unit of language that people can understand when they hear or read it.In English it is composed of one or more letters from a to z.

• a,one,play,building,Taj,government

Words make up a phrase,clause or sentence.

Word structure

1.The syllable
It is a word or part of a word that contains a single vowel sound.It can be uttered with a single stretch or voice such as can,sing,jump,(single-syllabled)."Cannot"(two-syllabled -can+not).
one-syllabled or mono-syllabled words:

• do,trick,step,gun,much,kick,stone,play,etc.

These have one-unit sounds.
Two-syllabled,three-syllabled words and words having more syllables than three may be noted from these examples:

• playing(play-ing,two-syllabled,Kashmir(Kash-mir,two-syllabled);
  condition(con-di-tion,three-syllabled);hopelessness(hope-less-ness,three-syllabled);engineering(en-gi-neer-ing,four-syllabled);dispassionate(dis-pa-ssion-ate,four-syllabled);particularly(par-ti-cu-lar-ly,five-syllabled);nationalization(na-tion-al-i-za-tion,six-syllabled).

For stressed and unstressed syllables of words,look up a standard dictionary.
2.The affix
It means here a letter or group of letters added to the beginning or end of a word to change its meaning or the way it is used.It is a prefix or a suffix.
3.The prefix
It means a letter or group of letters added to the front of a word to change its meaning.

• The prefix in "inexact" is "in.".In "re-employ,"the prefix is "re."In "pre-planned,"the prefix is "pre."
  In "incorrect,"the prefix is"in"."In"unchanged,"the prefix is "un.""In"disagree," the prefix is "dis."

4.The suffix
It means a letter or group of letters added to the end of a word to make another word.

• "less"in careless,"ly" in slowly,"al" in additional,"free" in trouble-free."y" in dirty are suffixes.

In words we have to be careful about the way they are spelt,with or without prefixes and suffixes.
5.AccentIt is stress laid on a single syllable,as in "terror" the first syllable "ter" is stressed.
6.Emphasis
It is stress applied to a syllable,word or passage by the use of jestures(motions of body parts),italics or other signs,as in "it will horrify all of us"(all the sentence is emphasized),in "Whom can we trust?"('whom"is emphasized),in "wonder", the first syllable,"won" is emphasized or stressed.
7.Inflection(also inflexion)
It is change in the form of a word by adding affixes or by changing the form of a base,for example,sky-skies;marble-marbles;man-men;try-tries;drama-dramatic.There is a sound change in the pronunciation of the new words.Inflection makes clear the grammatical principles in terms of number,person,tense and mood.
8.Conjugate
It means giving the different forms of a verb as it changes according to number,person,tense,etc.

• I play,he plays,you play,etc.

Student unrest

Student unrest is to be seen in many countries of the world today.In almost all the democratic countries,students show at times their unrest through strikes,processions and demands of different kinds.

We know well there is general social unrest.Most people are unhappy and dissatisfied with their condition.The parents and families of the majority of students are quite dissatisfied because of the dangers of war,rising prices of things of daily use,increase in crime, and so on.When others in society are dissatisfied before them,students too become so.

There is an economic reason for student unrest.Many students,especially in the developing countries like ours, are poor.Their parents cannot easily meet their expenses.When they cannot easily buy good clothes or book they get dissatisfied.They feel all the more dissatisfied when they find students coming of rich families enjoying all the comforts and luxuries(things of comfort and enjoyment).

Another great cause of unrest among students is their interest in active politics.Some of them work for political parties.Students favoring different political parties even openly clash and fight which causes a great >Bad social and economic conditions are very much responsible for student unrest.For example,large-scale unemployment sets them thinking that their studies and degrees may not very well help them in getting employed.Evils like terrorism,fraud,falsehood,injustice and inequality upset the minds of the students.Many of our teachers do not enjoy good positions in society, and so become dissatisfied with their profession.Some really able and efficient teachers leave the teaching profession for profession bringing more money.

There is overcrowding in most of our educational institutions.Teachers have to teach very large classes.They cannot pay attention to each student to remove his difficulties.

Harmful films,novels,magazines and pictures about crime and sex have disturbing effects on young minds.Foreign films and publication about crimes like murder and robbery promote criminal ideas and thinking.Films and TV programs about the artificial life of rich and showy people make us uneasy and restless.

Many students do not get chances to play games or enjoy themselves in their free time.This makes them dissatisfied.

They should be quick economic and scientific development.This will increase the incomes of the people.They will be able to provide their children with more educational and other facilities.

Students should learn to live a life of simplicity and hardship.They should be told about their national aims and purposes and the ways of achieving them in all circumstances.

No political party or leader should encourage students to take active part in politics.Parents ,teachers and other responsible people should advise students to remain away from politics.

The government and the people should work together to end the social evils of inequality and injustice.Social conditions should be improved.Students should be able to get employed after the completion of their studies.

There should be many more educational institutions to avoid overcrowding.Then there should be really able and efficient teachers,who are paid well for their work.

Life in a college hostel

Hostel life makes a student regular in studies and games.The time for studies and games is usually fixed,and their teachers or supervisors watch students.The atmosphere of a good hostel is such that it makes a student interested in his regular activities.He likes to move ahead and to do better than others.If he falls behind the senior students,the teachers can help him to improve himself.Thus he finds himself engaged in a happy competition.Not only in studies and sports,in other matters like student management of the hostel dining hall,library,common room,indoor games and debating and other clubs he can work and gain valuable experience.

In any case,a student learns to live independently in a hostel.He cannot get his parents' and elders' help as he can at home in practically every matter.Sometimes he has to take decisions independently,for example,whether to go on a trip organized by the college or to participate(take part) in a college function.He chooses his friends and companions himself and decides what he may do in his free time.Later in practical life,he can adjust himself to changing conditions and circumstances rather easily.

In a hostel,a student learns to co-operate.In various different matters like cleaning the rooms and corridors,getting the clothes washed or providing facilities to some guests from another college or new students in the hostel he helps others and gets help in return.Hostel life,in this sense,is corporate or group life in which the problems of one are,on many occasions,the problems of all.

The pleasures and enjoyments of hostel life are many.We can have friends to our liking.We can play different games in the college lawns or in the common room.We get the greatest enjoyment of life in the company of students like us learning,working and eating together.Without the experiences of hostel life,in our opinion,the life of a student remains incomplete in several ways.

At times studies in hostels feel homesick and wish to be with their parents and relations.It is natural for them to miss the atmosphere and comforts of the home where they were born.But then the pleasures and activities of hostel life remove much of the homesickness.

A student remembers his hostel life forever.His experiences there bring him rich rewards in practical life.

Social work for students

Students in a developing country like ours can and should work for social and national progress.

Firstly,our students,especially in the colleges and universities ,can educate the uneducated people.They can engage in a universal education program,which ,may be arranged or sponsored by the government and rich industrialists,businessmen and landlords.Classes for children and adults can be arranged in schools,colleges,suitable government buildings,specially erected structures in open places and even in certain parks,gardens and fields.The students should teach not just to earn money but more to serve their dear nation and country.They should understand clearly that unless most or all of our people get educated,we cannot join the family of advanced or developed nations.

Secondly,students can take part in social welfare activities for general social progress.A wing of the Social Welfare Department may advise the different categories for our students about the work they can perform in their respective fields.For example,the advanced university students can be asked to visit the inner city areas and villages to advise the people about the need for family planning or birth control.They can be asked to explain to the common people in the frank talks or through speeches at crowded public places the benefits of honest living.The people should be made to feel that in business.Politics and in private and public dealings honesty brings real success.Junior students of colleges and high schools can engage in physical welfare work like road repairs and general cleanliness of the parks and grounds.

Thirdly,the senior students can assist the law-enforcing agencies in their work.For example,they can make reports to price-control agencies about the high prices charged by shopkeepers.They can bring cases of corruption in government offices to the notice of the anti-corruption department.They can help the police in their action against anti-state elements like drug-addicts,criminals and smugglers.

Further,male students can join boy scouts' squads and female students join girl guides' squads to provide different facilities to the people in an organized manner.

It is the need of the hour for the government,social organizations and students to work in close co-operation for the advancement of the country.

The present continuous & perfect tense

The present continuous tense

1. It shows action that is continuing in the present from the past or was to continue from it.
   
   • He is running.
   For example
   
   1.The colleges are reopening in a week.
   (or)The colleges reopen in a week.
   2.Can you tell when our guests are arriving?
   
2. In active voice positive sentences,the first form of the verb takes "ing," and before it "is," "am," "are" are used.
   
   For example
   
   3.I am resting at the moment.
   4.Are the players doing their best?
   
3. In negative sentences,"not" is used between "is," "are," "am," and the main verb.In questions, "is," "are," "am" are placed before the subject.Other question words like "why," "when," "where," "how," etc. are used before "am," "are," "is."
   
   For example
   5.Is she not knitting the sweater?
   6.Are the tourists not going to climb up the mountain.
   7.Are we not (aren't we) practicing the new game well
   8.What gifts are you selecting?(any gifts out of many)
   9.Which of the letters are yours?
   
4. In passive voice sentences, "being" is used after "is," "are," "am," and the third verb form after them.
   
   For example
   
   10.They are being shown the old fort of the city.
   11.Is he (or she) being told about his (or her) true aims?
   
5. In passive voice sentences, "not" is used between "is," "am," "are," and "being."In questions, "is," "am," "are," are used before the subject.Other question words, "where," "when," "how," "why, etc" are used before "is," "am," "are."
   For example
   12.The candidates are not being asked to leave the hall.
   13.Why are we not being examined in this subject?
   14.Why are the politicians not being called to the Assembly?
6. Some verbs,not indicative of action,cannot be used in the continuous form (in any tense).
   
   • see(understand),feel,smell,believe,hope,appear,look,seem,hate,forget,know,like,honor,wish,possess,remain,require,belong to,consist of
     Exception.When any of these verbs indicates physical or mental action,it can be used in the continuous form.

   Correct	This place smells of mint. I have been smelling these flowers.(action)
   Incorrect	This house is consisting of six rooms. (No action)
   Correct	She seems to be very happy today.
   Incorrect	She is seeming to be busy.

The present perfect tense

1. It shows action that has been completely recently or is continuing.
   For example
   1.We have watched the movie.
   2I have played for two hours.(That is, I am still playing or am not playing)
   3.They said to us, "The trouble is over."
2. In negative sentences, "not" is used after "has," "have," and before the main verb.
   For example
   4.I have not tortured anyone in this department.
3. In questions, "has," "have" are used before the subject.The question words, "why," "where, "where," "how," etc. are used before "has," "have."
   For example
   5.Have I cleared the dues?
   6.Have they not (haven't they) qualified for these posts?
   7.Why has she denied your statement?
4. In passive voice, "has been" or "have been" are used after the object.In negative sentences, "not" is used between "has," "have," and "been."In questions, "why," "where," "how," etc. are used before "has," "have."
   For example
   8.We have been told the secret.
   (or)The secret has been told to us.
   9.You have not been asked to attend the class.
   10.Where has he learnt this skill?