The merry month of May

English as a Second Language What do you want to talk about?
1

Hi,

It’s funny how you associate certain things with particular months. You know what I mean - December makes you think of Christmas, September usually means the leaves are falling off the trees and then there’s May. It’s only three letters long but there’s a lot going on in that month:

english-test.net/newsletter/ … s-104.html

Alan

2

Hi Alan,
Many thanks for the essay. It was really interesting.
I want to write a quotation about the May Queen:
"And a new day will dawn for those who stand long and the forest will echo with laughter…
and if there’s a bustle in your hedgerow don’t be alarmed now because it’s just a spring clean for the May Queen! "

Thanks a lot!
Best wishes,

Cesar Lopèz Petrovich.

3

Hi Alan,

It was lovely reading about the month of May. I enjoy reading about seasons and it’s interesting to note how the weather conditions are different in different parts of the world. May in India is absolutely different. It’s one of the hottest months of the year with the mercury soaring to 45 degrees. Hot wind blows during the day. The streets are deserted and few venture out in the scorching heat. Late afternoons and early evenings often witness storms which bring down the temperature considerably - though the respite doesn’t last long. I like the lazy afternoons of this summer month. It’s fun to sit under the cool shade of a tree with a book and a bottle of water and listen to the gossips of the birds.
Yes, I just love it.

Cheers!
Sona

4

Hi Alan,

The story cheered me up and was interesting.

There are certain phrases , expressions and words that need your explaination.

Please explain the following questions.

  1. Paragraph 1

Is burgeoning the same meaning with blossoming and blooming?

  1. Paragraph 5 (line 1)

There is about this month something akin to an awakening.

What does this sentence mean?

3.Paragraph 5 (line 9)

Pity the poor May fly who only has one day to live— just imagine how he enjoys
(it)
himself.
(itself)

Can the pronoun (it & itself ) be used for the sentence above?

Thank you .

Regards,
Lee

5

Hi Lee,

Delighted that it cheered you up. To answer your questions: (1) Yes, ‘burgeoning’ has those meanings. (2)

. This means that there is something in this month which is like/ has the sense of coming back to life/waking up after a sleep during the winter. (3) Yes, you can use ‘it/itself’ here. I just wanted to make this description more personal by saying ‘he/himself’ so that the reader would feel more sympathetic.

Alan

6

hi. its important to know whats meaning for the word like (may) some times depending on its position in the conversation . there may be kind of possibility&the fifth month of the year . also first day of may is iternational day for workers . other words sometimes has same meaning . thats all see you next time

7

Hi Alan,

In India, ‘may’ is regarded as the first month to start enjoying your holidays after a long schedule of examination and lot of studies .I particularly enjoy this month a lot and play a lot of basketball even in the hot afternoons.

Akshay.

8

Hi Alan,
It is a good easy because it enjoy me a lot and notice me “How beautiful scene is in ‘may’ in your country!”.
Nann

9

A good essay, no doubt. But the month of May is very hot here in Pakistan.
Aneeqa

10

Hello Alan,
yes indeed May is wonderful and, accidentally, is the month of my birth.
It permit maybe the most large words using in its definition…is a queen of seasons, a real beginning of spring time, a season of lovers and a perfect time for joyful.
How many definition could actually comprise this moment of the year? Uncountable I think
Best regards,
Mihaela

11

Hi Alan,
I get alot of knowlege from you.
I have two Qs.Pls explain me.

(1) In paragraph four,the last sentence:If he read…
Why do you use together sigular subject and sigular verb?
(2)In paragraph five,the third sentence:The peaple’s flag is deepest red…
I think is the deepest red because the deepest is third degree(superative degree).

12

Thank you very much . It is a very good essay .

13

This is a very interesting essay.
Sona writes: It’s one of the hottest months of the year with the mercury soaring to 45 degrees. Hot wind blows during the day.
But it’s just opposite in my country. It’s cold and windy in May. In May people wear different kind of clothes. Yoa can see girls wearing light coat, and at the same time some people wearing heavy winter clothes on. So if you go to Mongolia in May please take your warm clothes with you.

14

Hi Alan Sir
Thank you for your essay The Merry Month of May. You have nicely described
the importance of May Month. It is really hot season for India, Eventhough,
there are some places in India like Ooty, Kodaikonal, Bangalore, we can enjoy
the climate, we can enjoy the flower show in Ooty and other places.
In this month only all school children enjoy their holidays by visiting these
places.May month is for enjoyable month.

Thank you

S.Shanthi

15

Hi Alan.

The essay is fantastic. Is interesting when you talking about the cheese rolling, I had never heard about that. May it’s a beautiful month.

16

HI Alan! It was very interesting. I liked it so much! And what i understood from this essay is that May is a blessed month.

Best regards,
Athina

17

Hi Torsten.
I would like a question about grammar. The exercises by incomplete sentences can help me to understand grammar in written texts?

18

Hi Merlen,
I am shanthisethuraman from India, we both are attending the test in the forum
and thought of asking you and your interest in learning english, to-day I
happend to see your question in the forum of course it is not addressed to
me. I woulld like to tell my opinion about grammer, The exercises by
incomplete sentences cannot help you to understand grammer in written text.
When you complete the sentence only you can understand the grammer
in written text. The exercises cannot be understood by incomplete sentences.

I hope you will understand my point, if there is any mistake please ignore my opinion.

Thank you and we will meet you in the test net.

S.Shanthi

19

Hi Torsten,
In Three-letter word story, there is 1 strange sentence structure I do not understand and never see it before. It is “Let’s nor forget the religious significance either.”
Pls help me clarify it. Tks a lot.

20

Let’s not forget the religious significance either.
(When we are thinking about this) we should not forget the religious significance.

When we consider…(a)… let’s not forget…(b)… either.
When we consider …(a)… we should not forget about …(b)…