softkill bahasa inggris bisnis 2 (tugas 2)

Ø Verb Phrase 

"Verb P[hrase]s can be identified by . . . substitution procedures. Consider the sentenceLou cried, where cried constitutes the VP. Among many others, the following strings can substitute for cried in the slot Lou _____. They thus fit the frame and are VPs (the verb in each VP is italicized):

Lou fell.
Lou lost the race,
Lou won a prize for his efforts in the tourna

Ø Tenses

In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference.^[1][2] Tenses are usually manifested by the use of specific forms of verbs, particularly in their conjugation patterns.

Basic tenses found in many languages include the past, present and future. Some languages have only two distinct tenses, such as past and non-past, or future and non-future. There are also tenseless languages, like Chinese, which do not have tense at all. On the other hand, some languages make finer tense distinctions, such as remote vs. recent past, or near vs. remote future.

Tenses generally express time relative to the moment of speaking. In some contexts, however, their meaning may be relativised to a point in the past or future which is established in the discourse (the moment being spoken about). This is called relative (as opposed to absolute) tense. Some languages have different verb forms or constructions which manifest relative tense, such as pluperfect ("past-in-the-past") and "future-in-the-past".

Being able to find the right subject and verb will help you correct errors of subject-verb agreement.

Ø subject and verb agreement

Basic Rule. A singular subject (she, Bill, car) takes a singular verb (is, goes, shines), whereas a plural subject takes a plural verb.

Example: The list of items is/are on the desk.
If you know that list is the subject, then you will choose is for the verb.

Rule 1. A subject will come before a phrase beginning with of. This is a key rule for understanding subjects. The word of is the culprit in many, perhaps most, subject-verb mistakes.

Hasty writers, speakers, readers, and listeners might miss the all-too-common mistake in the following sentence:

Incorrect: A bouquet of yellow roses lend color and fragrance to the room.

Correct: A bouquet of yellow roses lends . . . (bouquet lends, not roses lend)

Rule 2. Two singular subjects connected by or, either/or, or neither/nor require a singular verb.

Examples:
My aunt or my uncle is arriving by train today.
Neither Juan nor Carmen is available.
Either Kiana or Casey is helping today with stage decorations.

Rule 3. The verb in an or, either/or, or neither/nor sentence agrees with the noun or pronoun closest to it.

Examples:
Neither the plates nor the serving bowl goes on that shelf.
Neither the serving bowl nor the plates go on that shelf.

This rule can lead to bumps in the road. For example, if I is one of two (or more) subjects, it could lead to this odd sentence:

Awkward: Neither she, my friends, nor I am going to the festival.

If possible, it's best to reword such grammatically correct but awkward sentences.

Better:
Neither she, I, nor my friends are going to the festival.
OR
She, my friends, and I are not going to the festival.

Rule 4. As a general rule, use a plural verb with two or more subjects when they are connected by and.

Example: A car and a bike are my means of transportation.

But note these exceptions:

Exceptions:
Breaking and entering is against the law.
The bed and breakfast was charming.

In those sentences, breaking and entering and bed and breakfast are compound nouns.

Rule 5. Sometimes the subject is separated from the verb by such words as along with, as well as, besides, not, etc. These words and phrases are not part of the subject. Ignore them and use a singular verb when the subject is singular.

Examples:
The politician, along with the newsmen, is expected shortly.
Excitement, as well as nervousness, is the cause of her shaking.

Rule 6. With words that indicate portions—a lot, a majority, some, all, etc.—Rule 1 given earlier is reversed, and we are guided by the noun after of. If the noun after of is singular, use a singular verb. If it is plural, use a plural verb.

Examples:
A lot of the pie has disappeared.
A lot of the pies have disappeared.
A third of the city is unemployed.
A third of the people are unemployed.
All of the pie is gone.
All of the pies are gone.
Some of the pie is missing.
Some of the pies are missing.

NOTE

In recent years, the SAT testing service has considered none to be strictly singular. However, according to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage: "Clearly none has been both singular and plural since Old English and still is. The notion that it is singular only is a myth of unknown origin that appears to have arisen in the 19th century. If in context it seems like a singular to you, use a singular verb; if it seems like a plural, use a plural verb. Both are acceptable beyond serious criticism." When none is clearly intended to mean "not one," it is followed by a singular verb.

Rule 7. In sentences beginning with here or there, the true subject follows the verb.

Examples:
There are four hurdles to jump.
There is a high hurdle to jump.
Here are the keys.

NOTE:

The word there's, a contraction of there is, leads to bad habits in informal sentences likeThere's a lot of people here today, because it's easier to say "there's" than "there are." Take care never to use there's with a plural subject.

Rule 8. Use a singular verb with distances, periods of time, sums of money, etc., when considered as a unit.

Examples:
Three miles is too far to walk.
Five years is the maximum sentence for that offense.
Ten dollars is a high price to pay.
BUT
Ten dollars (i.e., dollar bills) were scattered on the floor.

Rule 9. Some collective nouns, such as family, couple, staff, audience, etc., may take either a singular or a plural verb, depending on their use in the sentence.

Examples:
The staff is in a meeting.
Staff is acting as a unit.
The couple disagree about disciplining their child.
The couple refers to two people who are acting as individuals.

NOTE

Anyone who uses a plural verb with a collective noun must take care to be accurate—and also consistent. It must not be done carelessly. The following is the sort of flawed sentence one sees and hears a lot these days:

The staff is deciding how they want to vote.
Careful speakers and writers would avoid assigning the singular is and the plural they to staffin the same sentence.

Consistent: The staff are deciding how they want to vote.

Rewriting such sentences is recommended whenever possible. The preceding sentence would read even better as:

The staff members are deciding how they want to vote.

Rule 10. The word were replaces was in sentences that express a wish or are contrary to fact:

Example: If Joe were here, you'd be sorry.

Shouldn't Joe be followed by was, not were, given that Joe is singular? But Joe isn't actually here, so we say were, not was. The sentence demonstrates the subjunctive mood, which is used to express things that are hypothetical, wishful, imaginary, or factually contradictory. The subjunctive mood pairs singular subjects with what we usually think of as plural verbs.

Examples:
I wish it were Friday.
She requested that he raise his hand.

In the first example, a wishful statement, not a fact, is being expressed; therefore, were, which we usually think of as a plural verb, is used with the singular subject I.

Normally, he raise would sound terrible to us. However, in the second example, where a request is being expressed, the subjunctive mood is correct.

Note: The subjunctive mood is losing ground in spoken English but should still be used in formal speech and writing.

Sumber : http://grammar.about.com/od/tz/g/verbphraseterm.htm

               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_tense

               http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar/subjectVerbAgree.asp

Warren Edward Buffett

            Warren Edward Buffett adalah seorang pengusaha Amerika Serikat yang diakui sebagai salah satu investor tersukses di dunia. Ia berhasil mengumpulkan kekayaan yang berlimpah berkat kemampuan dan kepandaiannya dalam berinvestasi melalui perusahaan konglomerasi (holding company) Berkshire Hathaway. Karena keahliannnya tersebut, ia mendapat berbagai julukan seperti "Wizard of Omaha", "Oracle of Omaha", atau "Sage of Omaha".

            Pria kelahiran 30 Agustus 1930 ini berkuliah di Wharton Business School di University of Pennsylvania selama dua tahun, yaitu dari tahun 1947 hingga 1949. Di tahun 1950, ia menempuh pendidikan di University of Nebraska–Lincoln dan berhasil lulus di bidang administrasi bisnis. Ia kemudian melanjutkan pendidikannya di Benjamin Grahamdi Columbia University setelah ia tahu bahwa Benjamin Graham dan David Dodd yang merupakan analis keuangan terkemuka kala itu mengajar di sana. Buffett lulus dari Columbia University pada tahun 1951 dengan meraih gelar Master of Science di bidang ekonomi. Setelah ia lulus, ia bekerja di perusahaan ayahnya, Buffett-Falk & Co. di Omaha dari tahun 1951 hingga 1954. Ia kemudian bekerja di Graham-Newman Corp. di New York yang merupakan perusahaan milik Benjamin Graham, mantan profesornya di Columbia Business School sebagai analis sekuritas selama dua tahun (1954–1956). Lalu, di tahun 1956–1969, Buffett bekerja sebagai mitra umum di Buffett Partnership, Ltd., Omaha. Selanjutnya ia menduduki jabatan sebagai Ketua dan CEO Berkshire Hathaway Inc. di Omaha dari tahun 1970 sampai sekarang.

            Selain dikenal sebagai investor kakap, Buffett juga dikenal sebagai seorang filantropis. Di tahun 2006 ia menyumbangkan hampir 85% kekayaannya kepada beberapa yayasan amal yang salah satunya adalah Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation yang dimiliki oleh Bill Gates. Di tahun-tahun selanjutnya, ia juga kerap terlibat dalam berbagai kegiatan amal. Pada tahun 2011, Buffett menerima Presidential Medal of Freedom, penghargaan tertinggi bagi rakyat sipil di Amerika Serikat, yang diserahkan langsung oleh Presiden Barrack Obama atas aksi filantropi yang dilakukannya sepanjang tahun.

            Berkat kesuksesannya di bidang investasi, majalah Forbes menempatkan Warren Buffett di urutan pertama dalam daftar Orang Terkaya di Dunia tahun 2008 dengan total kekayaan sebesar US$ 62 milyar. Saat itu ia mampu menggeser posisi Bill Gates, pendiri Microsoft, yang selama 13 tahun berturut-turut selalu berada di posisi puncak. Di tahun 2012, Buffett juga kembali masuk dalam daftar tersebut, hanya saja kali ini ia berada di peringkat ketiga dengan kekayaan sebesar US$ 44 milyar. Jumlah asetnya turun sebanyak US$ 6 milyar akibat turunnya nilai saham Berkshire sebesar 7%. 

sumber : http://profil.merdeka.com/mancanegara/w/warren-buffett/

tugas softskill bhs inggris bisnis 2

1.              What Is a Verb?

What is a verb? Songs, poems and language teachers throughout history have attempted to explain verbs to us. A verb is an action word, Luv Is a Verb, Everything’s a Verb, where does it end? The concept of verbs is sort of a tricky one to grasp, and then once you do, verbs only get more confusing.

Defining a Verb

A brilliant professor once said that “a verb is a word that does verb-y things.” He said the same thing about nouns (they do noun-y things) and other parts of speech as well, and while it’s not a very concrete or satisfying definition, it’s probably the best one out there.

You see, the way English works is that every word sits in a specific place and plays a specific role in a sentence. And even though a word might not really even be a real word, if it’s playing the role of the verb, then it’s a verb. Look at these examples:

·         As I phlomoggled my yard, I accidentally shallimped two birds.

·         Jack pazotors as often as he can.

·         They couldn’t believe she had never chorstined before.

·         This time next week, we’ll be forrisking through the jungle!

If you speak English fairly well, you can identify the verbs in those sentences even though they aren’t real words. You can do this because they are doing verb-y things. They have -ing, -ed and -s endings depending on when they happen and who is doing them. They also follow the subjects of the sentences and appear next to adverbs. And even though we don’t know what they mean, they somehow convey action. They behave like verbs.

2.         What Is a Modifer ?

A modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure.A modifier is so called because it is said to modify (change the meaning of) another element in the structure, on which it is dependent. Typically the modifier can be removed without affecting the grammar of the sentence. For example, in the English sentence This is a red ball, the adjective red is a modifier, modifying the noun ball. Removal of the modifier would leave This is a ball, which is grammatically correct and equivalent in structure to the original sentence.

Other terms used with a similar meaning are qualifier (the word qualify may be used in the same way as modify in this context), attribute, and adjunct. These concepts are often distinguished from complements and arguments, which may also be considered dependent on another element, but are considered an indispensable part of the structure. For example, in His face became red, the word red might be called a complement or argument of became, rather than a modifier or adjunct, since it cannot be omitted from the sentence.

3.              Make a Setence

A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate and a subject.Sentences contain clauses.Simple sentences have one clause.Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses.

Sentences can contain subjects and objects.The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb.For example:

The boy climbed a tree.

If you want to say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), you can add an adjective.For example:

The young boy climbed a tall tree.

If you want to say more about how he climbed the tree you can use an adverb.

For example:

The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.

The sentence becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more information.

sumber : http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/verbs/what-is-a-verb.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammatical_modifier
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/sentencetext.html