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Prepositions since and for.

Presentation / Objective

Welcome to this lesson!

Observe the images below:

Whether or not we like it, change is a constant. Every day a lot of people have to leave their hometowns for work or study. Sometimes when they return, their places are not the same anymore, and a lot of things in their cities or towns have been changed since they left.

Consider for example all the different activities that happened in your town for a determined period of time but they no longer occur, for instance:

  • Ice cream was sold in your street since I was very young.
  • Children were allowed to play outside for longer periods of time.

Throughout this unit you will be able to distinguish more accurately the difference in usage between For and Since in the context of passive voice.

Take a look at the objective of this topic which you will have to fulfill to complete it successfully.

Objetive

At the end of this topic you will:

Use expressions with for and since in the context of activities done in a city in a period of time through the use of passive voice.

Now that you know what you will do and what you will be able to do at the end of this lesson, it is moment for you to begin your hard work.

Content

 

Hey there! how is it going?

Let me introduce myself very shortly, My name is Trish, and I’m 21 years old and I’m a university student. Throughout this lesson I will tell you different bits of my story about how I left my town 7 years ago to study. I will tell you about the different activities that the people and I did in my hometown, and how some of those things have changed through time. We will make some stops in the story so you can tell me about yourself, alright?  It is very important though, that we analyze some grammar aspects that will help in the construction of your final task. So, let’s get it done!

 

 

So, I’ll tell you about my city. I was born in the city of San Francisco, in Northern California. There are so many interesting facts and cultural aspects that make my city just wonderful, let me show you a few of them.

 

 

Before watching the video, let’s find out how much you know about San Francisco. Decide if the following statements are true or false by choosing the appropriate option. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

  1. San Francisco is home of the Golden Gate bridge.
  2. San Francisco is mostly a rural town.
  3. San Francisco is known by its multicultural population.
  4. The most famous transportation are the streetcars.
  5. San Francisco is mostly an old city.

Watching the video: Now, watch the video “San Francisco: The city by the bay”

 

 

San Francisco is a beautiful city, isn’t it? I hope you enjoyed the video and some of the interesting facts. Did you learn a lot? Read the following statements about San Francisco and match them to the picture that best represents the statement.

Chania

Streetcars were used by SanFranciscans for a long period of time.

 

Chania

Since 1848 the city has been visited by people from all over the world.

 

Chania

A lot of walls are transformed everyday into real pieces of art.

 

Chania

Since its foundation, San Francisco has been considered a place of a flourishing counterculture.

 

I’m sure you did all just perfect! Now, let’s get a little bit more down to the issue, ok? Let’s analyze our Grammar Structure.

Did you notice how sometimes we choose passive voice over active? Take a look at the following examples taken from the video.

 

Passive voice is not something new for you, but just maybe you want to have a look at the following animated chart:

 

 

 

Perhaps the fundamental element to consider when forming a passive sentence is whether we want to emphasize who does or did something. Consider the following example:

When Al Capone was held in Alcatraz, he gave concerts with the prision band.

In such a sentence, we want to emphasize the fact that an infamous person such Al Capone gave concerts, which is why we use was held. Who held him? It’s rather obvious, being in prison he was held by the Federal Government; right? So we don’t need to mention it.

Some other times, we have to mention the subject because it makes much more sense, for instance:

The Beatles gave their last full concert at Candlestick Park, SF. on August 29, 1966.

With such an amazing and famous band it makes much more sense to mention them as the subject, rather than:

A last full concert at Candlestick Park SF was given by The Beatles on August 29, 1966.

Got it? The point is to clarify what we want to emphasize in our speech.

 

The following are interesting facts about my city; some of the sentences emphasize who does the action (active) some others emphasize what is being done (passive). Read the sentences and decide if the passive and active voice are correct in each sentence. Choose the most appropriate option for the following statements. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

 

So what do you think of my city? Are you enjoying it? There is so much more to know about The City. Do you want to know what the most interesting landmarks to visit are? We will also have a look at the way we use the prepositions for and since. So here we go!

Chania

Nouhailler, P. (2013) PIER 39 San Francisco. [photo] Taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrick_nouhailler/9024214707/sizes/l

 

Chania

Tripathi, K. (2011) Golden gate Bridge. [photo] Taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kptripathi/6427735627/sizes/l

 

Chania

David Yu (2014) Alcatraz Island-San Francisco. [photo] Taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidyuweb/14878410806/sizes/l

 

Chania

Parker, S. (2005) Cable Car Museum. [photo] Taken from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sparker/48307781/sizes/l

 

 

San Francisco is definitely one of the most diverse places in California, right? Did you notice that most of our landmarks have a lot of history?

Let’s take a look at these four examples:

a) The Cable Car Museum has been opened since 1979

As you can see the preposition SINCE is used to show the moment where something started:

b) Pier 39 has been visited since it opened in 1977

However, this is not the only way we have to express time:

c) The Golden Gate bridge has been opened for 79 years

In C and D we can observe that we mention the amount of time, rather than the starting point:

d) Alcatraz was a Federal Penitentiary for 29 years.

 

Look at the following chart that will help you sum up this idea of duration:

FOR

Preposition that when used with the idea of time, expresses AMOUNT of time:

i.e. San Francisco has been inhabitated by Hispanics for hundreds of years

Now that we have gone through the main contents of this lesson, it is time for you to practice a bit more with the four skills of the language. So, Let’s start!

Reading

Activity 1.

The largest Chinatown outside Asia

When people migrate they bring with them not only their belongings, but also a part of their identity, their culture. We will read about an important neighborhood in San Francisco, Chinatown. A place full of flavor, commerce and culture, but what is exactly culture?

Before reading. Exploring your knowledge

Make a brainstorm activity and think all the possible words and concepts related to the idea of culture and migration.  Check the text about The story of Chinatown.

While reading.
Consider the following ideas while you read the text.

  • What makes people migrate?
  • What difficulties can an immigrant suffer?
  • What can help an immigrant to adapt to the new context?

 

Listening

Activity 2.

San Francisco’s Mission District

San Francisco is one of those very Cosmopolitan cities in the world, the multi ethnicity can be perceived everywhere you go. But even the most cosmopolitan city has its roots. You’ll watch a video of the oldest neighborhood in San Francisco. At the end of the video you will have to answer a short questionnaire on some of the aspects you see and listen in the video.

Before listening.

Before going straight to the video, let’s see how much you remember about San Francisco. Decide if the following statements are true or false by choosing the appropriate option. You can know your score at the end of the exercise.

 

 

While you listen. San Francisco’s Mission District

Watch and listen the video about one of the most historic and iconic neigborhoods in San Francisco. While you watch the video consider the followoing aspects:

  1. What makes so important Mission District to the history of San Francisco.
  2. What is the relationship between Latinamerica and Mission District.

 

Watch the video here.

 

After you watch you video. Transform the sentences

Let’s see how you do in transforming sentences.
Read the following sentences taken from information on the video and transform them into passsive voice or active voice as appropriate, if you need, you can watch the video again.

 

 

Writing

Activity 3.

Tell a story

People say that a picture is worth a thousand words, however sometimes we need to clarify what we want to say, because we could be misunderstood. Therefore, we need words to express meaning too!

In the following activity you will have the opportunity to create a story out of a set of different pictures of events in The Bay. Let’s see how creative you are!

The task
Was it easy to identify the pictures? I’m sure it was! We’ve seen some of those pictures since we began the lesson, so you must be familiarized with some of them.

Let’s begin the process of writing.

You have a total of 6 pictures to develop a story.

Drag and arrange the pictures in the sequence that best describes the story. You can download the pictures if you prefer.

Write in a Word document a story that corresponds to the sequence you chose. In your story you need to make use of these phrases provided.

•  Since 2014
•  was painted
•  for 3 hours
•  was attended by a lot of people
•  has been driven since this morning

You have to use the phrases only once.

 

Speaking

Activity 4.

Tell me about your neighborhood

So far we’ve been talking about different landmarks, interesting facts and areas that you can find in San Francisco.

But now I want to know more about you. In this speaking activity you will practice the use of the passive voice and prepositions for and since as you talk about the important places and interesting cultural facts about the place where you live. Ready? Let’s prepare the task!

Set up your presentation.

The following guidelines are designed to help you include all the important aspects to in your presentation. You don’t need to answer the questions, but you have to include all the elements as indicated.

  • When was your city/town established?
  • Do you know any historic events related to the establishment of your city/town?
  • What is your city/town famous for?
  • What famous landmarks are there? And for how long have they been there?
  • What’s the oldest place in your city/town and since when has it been there? What is it like?

 

The task.
For you presentation you will need to make a short audio that will be sent to the tutor. Your video presentation:

  • Should be no longer than 5 minutes.
  • Be sure to include photographs of your neighborhood or live recordings from the places in your city that you describe.
  • It is important that in your speech you make use of the grammar points we covered up in this lesson passive voice and use of for and since:

i.e. The Stadium has been used for different soccer matches since 1964.

Use the next page to record your answers http://vocaroo.com/.

Once you have uploaded your audio, listen to it and revise it through the next rubric.

To send your audio just reply to the first entry in the FORUM.

Don’t forget to reply to at least two of the people in your class. In order to post your contribution, click in the Add a new discusion topic here button. Write the Subject and type your comment in Message. After you finish, click on Post on Forum.

 

 

Reference

Basics references

Sevastopolous, J (2016). Grammar quizzes. California.
Consultado en línea:
http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/preps_for-since.html

BBC Learning English. (2016). Grammar challenge.
Consultado en línea:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/radio/specials/149_gramchallenge25/

Shoebottom, P. (2016) Frankfurt International School. A guide to learn English.
Consultado en línea :
http://esl.fis.edu/grammar/rules/since.htm

Education First (2016). Gramática inglesa. Madrid
Consultado en línea:
http://www.ef.com.es/recursos-aprender-ingles/gramatica-inglesa/present-perfect-con-for-since/

Eastaugh, B. & Sternal-Johnson, C. (2016). Motivated grammar.
Consultado en línea:
https://motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/2012/05/03/using-since/

Complementary references

Michael, C. (2015) History of Chinatown
http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/index.html

Pedersen, E. (2016) San Francisco.com
Consultado en línea:
http://www.sanfrancisco.com/history/