Rosh Hashanah Cards – A Sweet Year

May you be inscribed for a sweet year.

There is a long standing tradition, that prior to and during the Jewish new year period, Jews send one another Rosh Hashana cards.

The general theme of the card is to wish our friends, family and neighbors a healthy and happy new year.


Though it’s not certain exactly when or where this custom started, it’s origin is most likely related to the significance of the day.
Rosh Hashana celebrates the renewal of creation. It is a time for reflection and personal accounting.
It is a time when our fate for the coming year will be decided by the heavenly court above.
Confident in our belief that the coming year will be a good one, we wish all those we meet and know a year filled with blessing.

Throughout the years different themes have been featured on Jewish New Year cards. The greeting offered and
picture depicted may vary depending on when and where the Rosh Hashanna card was published.

Most popular amongst all Rosh Hashanah messages is the blessing for a sweet year.
Typically portrayed is a picture of an apple and honey, which is traditionally eaten at this holiday season.
It is our way of asking the Creator of the Universe that the coming year be a sweet one.

Rain, season :)

I made a chart of words for rain, or weather that involves rain. This space is small, so write this out as 1 line on your paper:
[-----drizzle, sprinkle (=a little=)shower-----rainstorm (=some rain=) rainfall------tropical rain storm, downpour (=a lot=) sleet, cyclone, deluge, storm-----]




We now know 3 ways to use "season" :
1) To describe the times of the year: There are 2 seasons in Indonesia.
2) To describe the duration of an activity: Cricket season is long in India.
3) As a verb, to describe how to improve your food: Many of you season your rice and meat with spices and herbs such as garlic, cumin, tumeric, salt and pepper.

Punctuation

Let's start with basics, then I'll add more.

1. Put punctuation at the end of each sentence.
period
He had breakfast late.

question
Did he like the breakfast?

exclamation (Don't use too much.)
It's hot in here!


Let's talk about commas now.

1. Use a comma in a date.
Examples:
September 7, 2011
December 12, 2011

2. Use a comma in a personal title
Examples:
Jon Hernandez, M.D. (medical doctor)
Linda Chen, Ph.D. (doctor of philosophy)
‎
3. Use a comma to separate a city and state/country
Examples:
Phoenix, Arizona
Albany, New York
Paris, France


4. Use a comma to join two independent clauses.

Now, what's an independent clause?
An independent clause has a subject and a verb, and can be a sentence by itself.

Let's look at two independent clauses.

English can be difficult, but it can help you get a better job.

Sentence: English can be difficult.
Sentence: It can help you get a better job.

Both sentences are good by themselves.
They're also good together. When we put them together, we separate them with a comma.

English can be difficult, but it can help you get a better job.


‎5. Use a comma after an introductory phrase, prepositional phrase, or dependent clause.

Now, if an independent clause can be by itself, what's a dependent clause?


Yo Crizz and Shosho got it. A dependent clause can't be by itself. It's not a complete thought.

Example:
Because it was so hot, we decided not to play tennis.

Which is the dependent clause and which is the independent clause?


"Because it was so hot" -- dependent clause. It's not a complete thought. It can't be a sentence by itself.

"We decided not to play tennis." -- independent clause. It's a complete thought. It can be a sentence by itself.

The punctuation rule says to put a comma between the dependent and independent clause.

Because it was so hot, we decided not to play tennis.


5. Use a comma after an introductory phrase, prepositional phrase, or dependent clause.
Examples:
After lunch, we'll go to the meeting.
Basically, we need to lower costs.
For example, we should bring our lunches to work.
To succeed, it's important to work hard.
Because he likes pizza, he picked up a pizza on the way home.


6. Use a comma to separate words in a series.
Examples:
We like fresh tomatoes, cabbage, and carrots.
He went to the movies, the park, and the library.

Now, here's a good question. Do we need the commas after "cabbage" and "park"?


Both are correct. We often use style manuals that tell us how to punctuate. Some want the comma, and some don't.


‎7. Use a comma between adjectives that are equal.
Example:
We'd like a cheap, strong suitcase.
He's an intelligent, happy child.


8. Use a comma with "however, therefore, nonetheless, also, otherwise, finally, instead, thus, of course, above all, for example, in other words, as a result, on the other hand, in conclusion, in addition."

Examples:
Jon likes to work hard, HOWEVER, he also likes to relax.
ABOVE ALL, the company wants to save money.
IN OTHER WORDS, you're leaving the company.


Last rule --

9. Quotes -- Put commas and periods inside the quotations. Use quotes for direct speech; not indirect speech.

So, what's direct speech? What's indirect speech?


Direct speech (These are the exact words Jon said as he was saying them.) Jon said, "We can't leave until we finish."

Indirect speech (This is a summary of the words John said -- someone's interpretation of his words.)
Jon said that we couldn't leave until we finished.


We use quotes with direct speech -- the exact words someone says as they're saying them. We don't use quotes with indirect speech.

Periods and commas go inside of the quotes.

Example:
Tanya said, "Don't leave until I get there."


We have a choice here.

1. Carlos Hernandez, PhD
2. Carlos Hernandez, Ph.D.

Both are correct. I usually see the first one.


Basically (introductory phrase), we like healthy foods like spinach, tomatoes, and broccoli (words in a series).

We don't need a comma after "tomatoes." Both ways are correct.

Verb Constructions

Some people asked "what's shakin'?" It is an informal way of saying "what's going on?" or "What's new/up?" You can also say "What's happenin'/cookin'?" You drop the 'g' at the end because that's how most young people speak (they tend not to pronounce 'g' at the end of 'ing'.


Let's look at some verb constructions with two complements, that can be used with or without a preposition. For example:
"He gave the dog a bone" Vs "He gave a bone to the dog."
How does that sound?


First of all, many verbs accept two different complements after them (such as "He gave [the dog] [a bone]", where 'the dog' is a complement, and 'a bone' is a second complement). However, these complements are different. One is the recipient (the one who receives), one is the object (the actual thing that is given). Can you tell me, in the example I gave you, which one is:
the recipient: __________
the object: __________


 In "He gave the dog a bone", 'the dog' is the recipient, the one who receives. 'A bone' is the object that is given.
You have two choices to express two complements with verbs such as 'give', and both are correct:
1) Verb + recipient + object (he gave the dog a bone)
2) Verb + object + TO + recipient (he gave a bone to the dog)


Some verbs that work like 'give' and accept two complements are:
- award, bring, feed, give, grant, hand, leave, lend, offer, owe, pass, pay, promise, read, sell, send, show, teach, tell, throw, etc.

Complete the following with two complements of your choice:
1) "She offered ___________ ______________"
2) "She offered ___________ to ______________"


Now, there is a second category of verbs, such as 'order', which take a different preposition than 'to'. For instance:
1) "He ordered me a coffee" (structure 1, no preposition)
2) "He ordered a coffee ___ me". What is the preposition missing?
And the correct answer was..... FOR :) "He ordered a coffee for me."
Verbs such as 'offer' can also have two complements: a beneficiary (the one who benefits from something) and the object (the thing that they get).

Some verbs similar to 'offer' and used with the preposition 'for' are:
- buy, choose, cook, do, find, get, keep, make, paint, play, reserve, save, write, etc.


Let's practice! Complete the following with two complements of your choice:
1) I bought ___________ _____________
2) I bought ___________ for ____________


I think you now see the difference between the two types of verbs that take 'to' (give) and 'for' (order).

preposition "up"

 'up' can be used with different verbs:
- to get up
- to eat up
- to stay up
- to grow up
- to make up
- throw up


‎1) To get up:
It means 'to stand after lying down or being on your knees'. Typically, it is used as a synonym/correlate of 'wake up':
=> "When did you get up this morning?"

In informal spoken English, it can also mean 'to stand in order to party/have fun':
=> "Get up, stand up, come on put your hands up..." (lyrics from "Jump around", by House of Pain"


‎2) 'To eat up' means two things (at least): to eat something very fast, voraciously, in order not to let it go to waste:
=> "Eat up your vegetables, young man!"

In informal spoken English, it can also mean 'to believe something blindly - and to be a bit gullible':
=> "She told her boss that she was sick, and he totally ate it up" (he believed her story).


3) 'To stay up' means 'to remain awake when you're supposed to sleep, or when it's late':
=> "We stayed up till 3am playing video games last night, now I have the worst headache."

It can also mean 'to remain in an upright position, to remain standing':
=> "He tried to knock down the pins, but two of them stayed up" (when bowling)


‎4) 'To grow up' means to get older or wiser/more mature:
=> "What do you want to do when you grow up?" (when you're older)
=> "You find this funny? Come on girl, grow up!" (be more mature)

Beware: plants/trees grow (in size). If they grow up, you mean that they expand vertically (they don't become older or wiser;)


‎5) 'To make up' means at least two things:
- To compensate for something:
=> "He missed the last test, he will have to make up for it."
=> "Last night was so much fun! We made up for lost time!" (we compensated for all the time we didn't spend together)

- It also means 'to be reconciled, to be on friendly terms again':
=> "We were at odds for a long time, but we decided to make up." ('to bury the hatchet' is also a good synonym expression).


6) And finally, 'to throw up'... I think everyone knows about that one :) It happens when your stomach is not happy with you, and it's never pleasant.

However, this is a funny expression to make the action sound better:
"To pray the porcelain god" (porcelain god= the toilet). When you pray the porcelain god, you're on your knees in front of the toilet.
=> "I don't know what I ate yesterday, but I spent all night praying the porcelain god."

Connecting Two Ideas

Structure:
subject/verb/object

Example:
In Iraq, the temperature (subject) is (verb) 45 (object).


If we have two complete ideas, we can make one sentence, but we need to connect the ideas with a clause or a conjunction.

Example:
In Iraq, the temperature is 45.
This surprised me.

OR

In Iraq, the temperature is 45, AND this surprised me. (connecting with a conjunction)
In Iraq, the temperature is 45, WHICH SURPRISED ME. (connecting with a clause)


Please correct this sentence.
1. I'm from Indonesia it will surprise you to know about Indonesian food.


There are many ways to say this:

1. I'm from Indonesia. It will surprise you to know about Indonesian food.
2. I'm from Indonesia, and it will surprise you to know about Indonesian food.
3. I'm from Indonesia, which has a lot of surprising foods.
4. I'm from Indonesia, a country with a lot of surprising foods.


1. Run-on sentences -- A complete idea is one sentence. You can connect two complete ideas by using a conjunction or a clause.
‎2. We want to be careful to put an "s" on plural nouns. Some phrases are always used with plural nouns -- a lot of, many, one of, different, etc.
3. Capitalization -- The first word of every sentence is capitalized. "I" is always capitalized, but "you" isn't (unfortunately). Our country is important, and we show this by capitalizing it. Our language is important, so we capitalize it.

Prepositions

Let's start to learn about prepositions.


"At" is used for specific times -- at 4:00 a.m., at noon

Addresses:
"On" is used for a street -- on Washington Street
"At" is used for street numbers -- at 1276 First Avenue
"In" is used for a city -- He lives in Indonesia.



‎"At" is also the preposition of location -- He's at work./She's at her parent's house.

Quick quiz -- Please fill in this HUGE sentence to review.

at, on, in

_______ midnight, we'll go to a party _______ Carlos' house. He lives _______ 1723 West Thomas Street _______ Buenos Aires.




At midnight -- Specific times take "at".

Please fill in.

His plane leaves _______ 7 p.m.
We want to have lunch _______ noon.


"At" is used for a more general location. Notice that I didn't say a general location. I said a "more general" location.
Example:
He's at work.

This is a large location -- Work can be a big place. How can I find him? I need a more specific location.

"In" is used for a more specific location.
Example:
He's at work. He's in the copy room. (Now I know more specifically where he is.)


General times take "in."

Examples:
in the afternoon
in August
in 2010

Please fill in: (at, in)

_______ July, we had lunch every day _______ 1:00 p.m.


Let's add "on" -- talking about dates

On July 25, we'll start an exercise class.

"In" -- for general time
"at" -- for specific time
"on" -- for specific dates


at, on

The dinner will be _______ July 29 _______ 7:00 p.m. _____ his uncle's house.


It should be -- The dinner will be on July 29 ("on" a specific date) at 7:00 p.m. ("at" a specific time) at his uncle's house (location).

It's possible to say "in his uncle's house", but it's not as natural. If you use "in", you're saying "inside his uncle's house" rather than just giving a location.


Let's look at two sentences. Which is correct?

My Uncle's house
My Uncle Juan's house


My Uncle's house -- This isn't correct because we have no name. It should be -- My uncle's house . . .

My Uncle Juan's house -- This is correct because we have a name.

My professor said (no name; no capital letter)
We heard that Professor Thomas wants . . . (a name, so we need a capital letter)