Level 3

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSEThe simple present tense is used: To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth) To give instructions or directions:You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left. To express fixed arrangements, present or future:Your exam starts at 09.00 To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.

Be careful! The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.EXAMPLESFor habitsHe drinks tea at breakfast.She only eats fish.They watch television regularly.For repeated actions or eventsWe catch the bus every morning.It rains every afternoon in the hot season.They drive to Monaco every summer.For general truthsWater freezes at zero degrees.

1

Level 3

The Earth revolves around the Sun.Her mother is Peruvian.For instructions or directionsOpen the packet and pour the contents into hot water.You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford.For fixed arrangementsHis mother arrives tomorrow.Our holiday starts on the 26th MarchWith future constructionsShe'll see you before she leaves.We'll give it to her when she arrives.

Forming the simple present tense: to thinkAffirmative Interrogative Negative

I think Do I think? I do not thinkYou think Do you think? You do not thinkHe thinks Does he think? He does not thinkShe thinks Does she think? She does not thinkIt thinks Does it think? It does not thinkWe think Do we think? We do not think.They think Do they think? They do not think.Notes on the simple present, third person singular In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks. Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary 'DO') + the infinitive of the verb.

2

Level 3

He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla. Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:fly --> flies, cry --> cries Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:play --> plays, pray --> prays Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushesEXAMPLES He goes to school every morning. She understands English. It mixes the sand and the water. He tries very hard. She enjoys playing the piano.

SIMPLE PAST TENSEFunctions of the simple past tenseThe simple past is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. Duration is not important. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past.EXAMPLES John Cabot sailed to America in 1498. My father died last year.

He lived in Fiji in 1976. We crossed the Channel yesterday.

You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain past time expressions. Frequency: often, sometimes, always I sometimes walked home at lunchtime. I often brought my lunch to school. A definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago

3

Level 3

We saw a good film last week. Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.

She finished her work at seven o'clock I went to the theatre last night

An indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago People lived in caves a long time ago.She played the piano when she was a child.Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.Forming the simple past tensePatterns of simple past tense for regular verbsAffirmativeSubject + verb + ed  I skipped.  NegativeSubject + did not + infinitive without toThey didn't go.InterrogativeDid + subject + infinitive without toDid she arrive?Interrogative negativeDid not + subject + infinitive without toDidn't you play?TO WALKAffirmative Negative InterrogativeI walked I didn't walk Did I walk?You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?He walked He didn't walk Did he walk?We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?TO BE, TO HAVE, TO DO

4

Level 3

Subject Verb  Be Have DoI was had didYou were had didHe/She/It was had didWe were had didYou were had didThey were had didNotes on affirmative, negative, & interrogative formsAFFIRMATIVEThe affirmative of the simple past tense is simple.

I was in Japan last year She had a headache yesterday. We did our homework last night.

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVEFor the negative and interrogative simple past form of "do" as an ordinary verb, use the auxiliary "do", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night.The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "do", but sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "do".Examples

They weren't in Rio last summer. We didn't have any money. We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower. We didn't do our exercises this morning.

Were they in Iceland last January? Did you have a bicycle when you were young? Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

Rules of regular verbs in simple past 5

Level 3

Verbs ending in a...1. silent e 2. vowel + y 3. consonant + y 4. other formsclose = closed die = died phone = phoned 

play = played destroy = destroyed show = showed marry = married carry = carried study = studied

visit = visited miss = missedwatch = watched finish = finished fix = fixed buzz = buzzedThe rules of the simple past tense forms:1.Regular verbs ending in a silent e take /-d/ in the simple past and past participle:Example:close=closed2.Regular verbs ending in a vowel + y take /-ed/ in the simple past and past participle:Example:play=played3.Regular verbs ending in a consonant + y take /-ied/ in the simple past and past participle (the y becomes an i followed by /-ed/)Example:marry=marriedSpecial cases of the -ed forms:Follow these rules when there is a consonant after a vowel (stop, ban, open, offer...)

If there is a consonant after a stressed vowel at the end of the word, double the consonantstop – stopped ban - banned swap - swapped If the vowel is not stressed, we do not double it:open - opened (Here the stress is on'o', not the 'e'.)offer - offered ( Here the stress is on 'o', not the 'e'.)

6

Level 3

Yes / No questions (closed questions)There are two basic types of questions: Yes / No questions and Wh – questions. Yes / No questions are also called closed questions because there are only two possible responses: Yes or No. When forming a Yes / No question, it must include one of these verbs: BE, DO, HAVE, or a modal verb. It is impossible to ask a Yes / No question without one of these verbs.

question   responseAm I your friend? Yes. / Yes, you are. / Yes, you are my friend.Is this a good restaurant? No. / No, it is not. / No, it is not a good restaurant.Are these islands Greek? Yes. / Yes, they are. / Yes, these islands are Greek.Was his idea interesting? No. / No, it wasn’t. / No, his idea was not interesting.Were they happy? Yes. / Yes, they were. / Yes, they were happy.

Note that the response can be short (Yes. / No.), or long: Yes or No followed by the subject and verb.Use the verb BE with a preposition to ask Yes / No questions about a present or past location.

7

Level 3

Use the verb DO to

ask Yes / No questions in order to obtain facts about people, places, or things.question

 

responseDo they smoke? No. / No, they don’t.Does it rain here? Yes. / Yes, it does.Did the key work? No. / No, it didn’t.Use modal verbs to ask Yes / No questions about possibilities or uncertainties.

question

 

responseCan we stay? Yes. / Yes, we can. / Yes, we can stay.Could this be true? Yes. / Yes, it could (be true).Should they stop? No. / No, they shouldn’t (stop).May I help you? Yes. / Yes you may (help me).

8

question

 

responseAm I at the correct location? No. / No, you aren’t.Are the keys under the books? No. / No, they are not.Was his house on an island? Yes. / Yes, it was.Were the demonstrations in the center of town? No. / No, they weren’t.

Level 3

Remember: When asking Yes / No questions with DO or a modal verb, the main verb remains in the base form(without to).correct

 

incorrectDo you drink coffee? Do you to drink coffee?Does she work here? Does she to work here?Can I go with you? Can I to go with you?Should we email her? Should we to email her?However, if there are two verbs that follow DO, the second verb remains in the infinitive (with to).

correct

 

incorrectDo you want to drink coffee? Do you want drink coffee?Does she like to work here? Does she like work here?Did you need to go home? Did you need go home?

Note that there are several ways to answer Yes / No questions, especially when using contractions.question responseIs he busy? No.

No, he isn’t.9

Level 3

No, he’s not.No, he is not.No, he isn’t busy.No, he’s not busy.No, he is not busy.

Point in time - an instant of time; "at that point I had to leave"

Pointquantity, measure, amount - how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify

Distance - a remote point in time; "if that happens it will be at some distance in the future"; "at a distance often years he had forgotten many of the details"

Particulardate, date - a particular but unspecified point in time; "they hoped to get together at an early Date"

Deadline - the point in time at which something must be completed

Arrival time, time of arrival - the time at which a public conveyance is scheduled to arrive at a given destination

Departure time, time of departure - the time at which a public conveyance is scheduled to depart from a given point of origin

Midterm - middle of an academic term or a political term in office

Full term, term - the end of gestation or point at which birth is imminent; "a healthy baby born at full term"

Midterm - the middle of the gestation period

Moment, instant, minute, second - a particular point in time; "the moment he arrived the party began"

Run-time - the time at which a (software or multimedia) program is run

Commencement, get-go, offset, outset, show time, starting time, beginning, start, kickoff, first –

10

Level 3

The time at which something is supposed to begin; "they got an early start"; "she knew from the get go that he was the man for her"

Middle - time between the beginning and the end of a temporal period; "the middle of the war"; "rain during themiddle of April"

End, ending - the point in time at which something ends; "the end of the year"; "the ending of warranty period"

Phase angle, phase - a particular point in the time of a cycle; measured from some arbitrary zero And expressed as an angleShow time - the point in time at which an entertainment (a movie or television show etc.) Is scheduled To begin

Then - that time; that moment; "we will arrive before then"; "we were friends from then on"

Rules for using irregular verbsAll verbs, whether regular or irregular, have five forms [often called principal parts]. These forms are the infinitive, simple present, simple past, past participle, and present participle.

The difference between a regular and an irregular verb is the formation of the simple past and past participle. Regular verbs are dependably consistent—the simple past ends in ed as does the past participle.

Check out this chart:

Infinitive Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participle

to laugh laugh(s) laughed laughed laughing

to start start(s) started started starting

to wash wash(es) washed washed washing

to wink wink(s) winked winked winking

In contrast, the simple past and past participle of irregular verbs can end in a variety of ways, with absolutely no consistent pattern.

Here are some examples:Infinitive Simple Present Simple Past Past Participle Present Participleto drive drive(s) drove driven drivingto feel feel(s) felt felt feelingto put put(s) put put puttingto swim swim(s) swam swum swimming

11

Level 3

Writers make two frequent errors with irregular verbs. They either add an incorrect ed to the end of an irregular verb or accidentally interchange the simple past and past participle.

Read this sentence:

Olivia feeled like exercising yesterday, so she putted on her bathing suit and drived to the YMCA, where she swum so far that only an extra large pepperoni pizza would satisfy her hunger.

What are the problems with this sentence? First, feeled should be felt. Next, putted needs to be put. The correct past tense of drive is drove. And we must change swum to swam.

Difference between the simple past tense and the past participle.

Simple Past Tense

A simple past tense verb always has just one part. You need no auxiliary verb to form this tense.

Look at these examples:

Because dinnertime was near, my dog Oreo bit the spine of Moby-Dick and pulled the novel off my lap.

Since Denise had ignored bills for so long, she wrote out checks for an hour straight. Despite the noise, jolts, and jerks, Alex slept so soundly on the city bus that he missed his

stop.

Past Participle

Many multipart verbs, however, require the past participle after one or more auxiliary verbs.

Read these sentences:

Raymond had bitten into the muffin before Charisse mentioned that it was her infamous chocolate-broccoli variety.

had = auxiliary verb; bitten = past participle

Once Woody has written his essay for Mr. Stover, he plans to reward himself with a packet of Twinkies.

has = auxiliary verb; written = past participle

Cynthia might have slept better if she hadn't watched The Nightmare on Elm Street marathon on HBO.

might, have = auxiliary verbs; slept = past participle

12

Level 3

Vocabulary of places

13

Level 3

14

Level 3

15

Level 3

16

Level 3

Yes/No Questions in the Past SimpleTo create a question that will be answered with a yes or no, start the question with Did, then add a subject (the person or thing that does the action) followed by the base form of the verb and only then add the rest of the sentence.

Auxiliary Verb

Subject verb in base form rest of sentence

Did

I / you / we / they walk to the shop yesterday

he / she / it sleep late last Saturday

1. Did you ask Tina to go out with you?

2. Did the employees stay late again last night?

3. Did Rob finish his assignment yesterday?

17

Level 3

Wh-Questions in the Past SimpleWh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words are what, where, when, why, who, how, how many, how much.

To create a wh-question, start with the wh-word, then add did (or didn’t for a negative question), then the subject (a person or thing that does the action), followed by the base form of the verb and only then add the rest of the sentence.

Wh-word

auxiliary verb Subject verb in base form rest of sentence

What Did

I / you / we / theyhe / she / it

sell the house

Why didn’t rescue me

1. When did you buy that sweater?

2. Why did the computer break down?

3. How long did the train journey take?

4. Why didn’t you tell me about the accident?

Relative pronoun

A relative pronoun is one which is used to refer to nouns mentioned previously, whether they are people, places, things, animals, or ideas. Relative pronouns can be used to join two sentences.

There are only a few relative pronouns in the English language. The most common are which, that, whose, whoever, whomever, who, and whom. In some situations, the words what, when, and where can also function as relative pronouns. Because there are only a few of them, there are also just a few rules for using relative pronouns. Keep them in mind as you write.

18

Level 3

Relative clauses are typically introduced by relative pronouns, and that the relative pronoun can function as a possessive pronoun, an object, or a subject.

When relative pronouns introduce restrictive relative clauses, no comma is used to separate the restrictive clause from the main clause.

In American English, the relative pronoun whom is used rarely. You may notice this in conversations, but it is best to use the term when writing to ensure that your work is grammatically correct.

Examples

The following sentences contain examples of relative pronouns. The relative pronoun in each example is italicized.

1. The cyclist who won the race trained hard.

2. The pants that I bought yesterday are already stained.

3. The four team leaders, whomever the committee selects, will be at tomorrow’s meeting.

4. Spaghetti, which we eat at least twice a week, is one of my family’s favorite meals.

5. Where did you buy the dress what you wore last week?

6. The book, when it was finally returned, was torn and stained.

7. The store on the corner, where we usually buy all of our art supplies, burned to the

ground.

19