http://englishstandarts.blogspot.com.es/2012/12/modal-phrases-had-better-and-would.html Semi-modal multi-word constructions 'had better' and 'would rather' are followed by the infinitive without to.
Examples:
We had better go into the house because it is raining.
I can come today but I would rather come tomorrow.
Had Better
'Had better' expresses advice and means 'would find it wiser or more suitable'. E.g.: You had better go now (=it would be good, wise or suitable for you to go now).
In negative structures, better comes before not. E.g.: You had better not go now.
Patterns. Read and memorize!
We had better take an umbrella. It may rain. (We’d (1) better…)
He’d better stop and have a rest if he feels tired.
You’d better go on the excursion.
You had better not eat so much. (You’d better…)
Hadn’t you better hurry if you want to catch the eight o’clock train? (2)
What had I better put on for the party?
Note 1: - The contracted form ‘d is very common. Note 2: - The negative form 'hadn't better' is used mainly in questions: Hadn't we better try again later?
►'Had' is sometimes dropped in very informal speech. E. g. : You better go now. I better try again later.
Would Rather
'Would rather' expresses choice and means 'would prefer to do something'. E.g.: I would rather you didn't help them (=I would prefer it if you didn't help them).
Patterns. Read and memorize!
I would rather stay at home than go to the cinema. It’s raining.
'How about a drink?' – 'I’d (1) rather have something to eat.'
I’d rather take a taxi than walk home (it’s too late).
The children would rather play in the garden than go to bed.
Would you rather write a composition or a dictation?
Would he rather read J. Galsworthy or W. Faulkner?
Note 1: - The contracted form ‘d is very common.
► 'Would rather' can be used with different subjects before and after it, to say that one person would prefer another to do something. In this case, a past tense is generally used with a present or future meaning.
E. g. : I’d rather you went home now. Don’t come tomorrow. I’d rather you came next weekend.
We use inversion in several different situations in English. Inversion just means putting the verb before the subject. We usually do it in question forms:
Normal sentence: You are tired. (The subject is 'you'. It's before the verb 'are'.)
Question form: Are you tired? (The verb 'are' is before the subject 'you'. They have changed places. This is called inversion.)
In most English verb tenses, when we want to use inversion, we just move the verb to before the subject. If there's more than one verb, because a verb tense has auxiliary verbs for example, we move the first verb.
When do we use inversion? Of course, we use inversion in questions. You can read more about this here. But we also sometimes use inversion in other cases, when we are not making a question.
1: When we use a negative adverb or adverb phrase at the beginning of the sentence.
Usually, we put the expression at the beginning of the sentence to emphasise what we're saying. It makes our sentence sound surprising or striking or unusual. It also sounds quite formal. If you don't want to give this impression, you can put the negative expression later in the sentence in the normal way:
Seldom have I seen such beautiful work. ('Seldom' is at the beginning, so we use inversion. This sentence emphasizes what beautiful work it is.)
I have seldom seen such beautiful work. ('Seldom' is in the normal place, so we don't use inversion. This is a normal sentence with no special emphasis.)
Here are some negative adverbs and adverb phrases that we often use with inversion:
Hardly
Hardly had I got into bed when the telephone rang.
Never
Never had she seen such a beautiful sight before.
Seldom
Seldom do we see such an amazing display of dance.
Rarely
Rarely will you hear such beautiful music.
Only then
Only then did I understand why the tragedy had happened.
Not only ... but
Not only does he love chocolate and sweets but he also smokes.
No sooner
No sooner had we arrived home than the police rang the doorbell.
Scarcely
Scarcely had I got off the bus when it crashed into the back of a car.
Only later
Only later did she really think about the situation.
Nowhere
Nowhere have I ever had such bad service.
Little
Little did he know!
Only in this way
Only in this way could John earn enough money to survive.
In no way
In no way do I agree with what you're saying.
On no account
On no account should you do anything without asking me first.
In the following expressions, the inversion comes in the second part of the sentence:
Not until
Not until I saw John with my own eyes did I really believe he was safe.
Not since
Not since Lucy left college had she had such a wonderful time.
Only after
Only after I'd seen her flat did I understand why she wanted to live there.
Only when
Only when we'd all arrived home did I feel calm.
Only by
Only by working extremely hard could we afford to eat.
We only use inversion when the adverb modifies the whole phrase and not when it modifies the noun: Hardly anyone passed the exam. (No inversion.)
2: We can use inversion instead of 'if' in conditionals with 'had' 'were' and 'should'. This is quite formal:
Normal conditional: If I had been there, this problem wouldn't have happened.
Conditional with inversion: Had I been there, this problem wouldn't have happened.
Normal conditional: If we had arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy!
Conditional with inversion: Had we arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy!
3: We can use inversion if we put an adverbial expression of place at the beginning on the sentence. This is also quite formal or literary:
On the table was all the money we had lost. (Normal sentence: All the money we had lost was on the table.)
Round the corner came the knights. (Normal sentence: The knights came round the corner.)
4: We can use inversion after 'so + adjective...that':
So beautiful was the girl that nobody could talk of anything else. (Normal sentence: the girl was so beautiful that nobody could talk of anything else.)
So delicious was the food that we ate every last bite. (Normal sentence: the food was so delicious that we ate every last bite.)
Aspects that you will have to take into account when planning your presentations
1. Figure out a surprising opening.
Most speakers start by rhetorical questions, own life experiences, anecdotes, haunting facts....
Don't start by the classical and boring "Hi, we are ...... and we are going to talk about........"
2. Make a clear layout. Which aspects are you going to deal with? Would you like to focus on a specific one ?
You may include an index to inform of the issues you are coping with.
For instance: EDUCATION
HEALTHCARE
ECONOMY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
ECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY
COMMUNITY AND PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
TECHNOLOGY
GLOBAL WORKING WORLD
FOUNDATION, CAREER, MANAGEMENT SKILLS
GROWING IN EQUALITY AND JUSTICE
POLITICS ( IF ANY) AND ACTIVISM
3. Focus on the aspects you feel you can defend more dinamically: giving examples, supporting your ideas, including data, figures statistics, graphics to back up your statements.
4. Be creative and imaginative: pander to your audience. Create your own style of speaking and stick to it.
5. Find a surprising conclusion finishing with an idiom or a famous quote that comes in handy.
7. Mention your sources of information or webgraphy.
6. Remember to ask the audience if they have any questions
7. ALWAYS THANK THE AUDIENCE FOR LISTENING.
ALL THESE ASPECTS WILL BE GRADED ALONG WITH PHONETICS, FLUENCY, INTONATION AND EXPRESSIVENESS.
