Tips for remembering vocabulary

[Rusty]

sing, sang/sung, sung
present tense, past tense, past participle used with the perfect tenses
(tiempo presente, tiempo pretérito simple, participio pasado (or pasivo) usado para formar los tiempos compuestos)

He sings.
He sang.
He has sung.

@conejodescarado: Sung is not an adverb. In the sentence you listed it as such, sung is a past participle used with the 'to be' verb to form the passive voice.
It is sung. (The agent, the person who sang the song, wasn't mentioned.)
The song was sung. (Again, no agent was mentioned.)
The song was sung well. (Adverb added, but still no mention of the agent.)
The song was sung well by the vocalist. (Agent mentioned.)
The vocalist sang the song well. (Active voice, past tense.)

[conejodescarado]

Originally Posted by Rusty

sing, sang/sung, sung
present tense, past tense, past participle used with the perfect tenses
(tiempo presente, tiempo pretérito simple, participio pasado (or pasivo) usado para formar los tiempos compuestos)

He sings.
He sang.
He has sung.

Ah yes, apologies, I've never studied English grammar I was just going off the top of my head!

@conejodescarado: Sung is not an adverb. In the sentence you listed it as such, sung is a past participle used with the 'to be' verb to form the passive voice.

I was meant to write adjective I'm gonna have to study English grammar so that I can use the correct terms when helping others I've never really seen how a course might progress teaching English to a foreign student, breaking down the grammar etc. I've often wondered.

[asiabird01]

Pogo - I absolutely agree with Ramses. Learning sentences is the way to go. I do the same thing with my flashcards!

However, if there is a vocabulary word that I keep forgetting or getting stuck on, I use a "hook". You can think of a "hook" as a little drawing you craft in your mind where you "hang" the word you’re trying to remember.

For example:

The Spanish word for “slice” is “rebanada.” I imagine the country singer, Reba McEntire singing “na” and “da” over a slice of pie.

Here's another one: “Lechuga” means “lettuce” in Spanish. To me, “ley-chew-ga” sounds like a lot like the sound one makes when sneezing. So, I imagine a person sneezing with lettuce flying out of his or her nose!

The weirder the hook, the more memorable it becomes. Eventually the hook fades away but I remember the word.

Hope that helps,
Asia