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Showing posts with label grammar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grammar. Show all posts
Monday, 7 April 2014
Saturday, 8 March 2014
Simple Present – Present Progressive
Form
Simple Present | Present Progressive |
---|---|
infinitive
(3rd person singular: infinitive + 's')
I speak
you speak he / she / it speaks we speak they speak |
form of 'be' and verb + ing
I am speaking
you are speaking he / she / it is speaking we are speaking they are speaking |
Exceptions | |
Exceptions when adding 's' :
| Exceptions when adding 'ing' :
|
See also explanations on Simple Present and Present Progressive
Use
In general or right now?
Do you want to express that something happens in general or that something is happening right now?
Simple Present | Present Progressive |
---|---|
in general (regularly, often, never)
Colin plays football every Tuesday.
present actions happening one after another
First Colin plays football, then he watches TV.
|
right now
Look! Colin is playing football now.
also for several actions happening at the same time
Colin is playing football and Anne is watching.
|
Signal words | |
|
|
Note: The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present:
be, have, hear, know, like, love, see, smell, think, want |
Timetable / Schedule or arrangement?
Do you want to express that something is arranged for the near future? Or do you refer to a time set by a timetable or schedule?
Simple Present | Present Progressive |
---|---|
action set by a timetable or schedule
The film starts at 8 pm.
| arrangement for the near future
I am going to the cinema tonight.
|
Daily routine or just for a limited period of time?
Do you want to talk about a daily routine? Or do you want to emphasis that something is only going on for a limited (rather short) period of time?
Simple Present | Present Progressive |
---|---|
daily routine
Bob works in a restaurant.
| only for a limited period of time (does not have to happen directly at the moment of speaking)
Jenny is working in a restaurant this week.
|
Certain Verbs
The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present (not in the progressive form).
- state: be, cost, fit, mean, suitExample: We are on holiday.
- possession: belong, haveExample: Sam has a cat.
- senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touchExample: He feels the cold.
- feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wishExample: Jane loves pizza.
- brain work: believe, know, think, understandExample: I believe you.
- Introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, sayExample: “I am watching TV,“ he says.
Click here to do some exercises.
Source: http://www.ego4u.com/
Monday, 20 January 2014
Saturday, 6 July 2013
A, an, the or no article?
Have a look at UNIT 11 C: articles and do the exercises on your CD-Rom (i-Tutor)
A, an or the? Click here.
A, an, the or no article? Click here.
Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3, Exercise 4
Watch this video:
A, an or the? Click here.
A, an, the or no article? Click here.
Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3, Exercise 4
Watch this video:
Be going to for plans and predictions
Have a look at UNIT 10 B-C: be going to plans and predictions and do the exercises on your CD-Rom (i-Tutor)
Going to: grammar lesson 1. Click here.
Verb tenses: future with 'going to'. Click here.
Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3, Exercise 4
Watch this video.
Going to: grammar lesson 1. Click here.
Verb tenses: future with 'going to'. Click here.
Exercise 1, Exercise 2, Exercise 3, Exercise 4
Quantifiers
Have a look at UNIT 9B: quantifiers and do the exercises on your CD-Rom (i-Tutor).
Quantifiers: grammar lesson 1. Click here.
Quantifiers: grammar lesson 2. Click here.
Quantifiers: grammar lesson 1. Click here.
Quantifiers: grammar lesson 2. Click here.
Countable and uncountable nouns
As I promised, here you are some grammar contents that we couldn't work in class and also you can do some exercises to practise.
Have a look at UNIT 9A: countable and uncountable nouns and do the exercises on your CD-Rom (i-Tutor).
Watch this video
Countable and uncountable nouns grammar. Click here.
Exercise 1
Have a look at UNIT 9A: countable and uncountable nouns and do the exercises on your CD-Rom (i-Tutor).
Watch this video
Countable and uncountable nouns grammar. Click here.
Exercise 1
Past simple (textbook review)
Hi everybody,
As you know, we didn't finish the textbook so I recommend you to do the exercises of UNIT 8 (pages 60-65) to review the past. Use the CD-Rom (i-Tutor).
As you know, we didn't finish the textbook so I recommend you to do the exercises of UNIT 8 (pages 60-65) to review the past. Use the CD-Rom (i-Tutor).
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Past Simple: general review

As we finished the introduction of both regulars and some irregulars, you are now ready to do some exercises combining both. First of all, have a look at this interactive book:
Remember:
* We use past simple to describe past actions, for example, what did they do yesterday? Complete this exercise
*Past simple is necessary when describing someone’s life; do you like football? Here you are Ronaldo’s and Messi’s biography to complete with past simple.
Past Simple: negative sentences + questions

Use the Simple Past to express an action that started and finished at a specific time in the past.

Signal words
yesterday, last week, a month ago, in 2002, … see previous post on it
I told you we have regular and irregular verbs in the past but negative sentences and questions are similar in both groups. Have a look at the explanation:
Negative sentences:
Use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of do). Remember all subjects take the same form of the verb.
regular verbs | irregular verbs |
---|---|
I did not play football. | I did not go to the supermarket. |
NOTE: Short forms in negative sentences in the Simple Past are used quite often.
regular verbs | irregular verbs |
---|---|
I didn’t play football. | I didn’t go to the supermarket. |
Questions: (Wh?) + did + subject + verb ? [ Remember formula (Qu) A+ S+I]Use the auxiliary did (Simple Past of do). Remember all subjects take the same form of the verb. .
regular verbs | irregular verbs |
---|---|
Did you play football? | Did I go to the supermarket? |
Now, find below some exercises to practise:
negative sentences: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
questions: | 0 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 5 |
Past Time Expressions

Time Expressions Often Used in the Past
last- used when speaking about the previous week, month or year
Example: They went on holiday last month.
yesterday- used when speaking about the previous day
Example: I was with my best friend yesterday.
ago- used when speaking about X days, weeks, months, years before. NOTE: ‘ago’ follows the number of days, weeks, etc.
Example: We went to Cleveland three weeks ago.
for- used with a period of time.
Example: We lived in Paris for three years.
when- used with a past time clause
Example: I played tennis when I was a teenager
And, of course, the prepositions of time we studied in January:
Example: She was in Merbourne in 1976.
I was at school on Monday.
We were at home at 7pm.
The past simple: irregular verbs
Every language has irregular verbs and English is no exception ! Unfortunately there is no magic formula, you simply have to learn them by heart!
Here is a list. Try to learn the most useful ones first and then learn the others little by little.
Some more activities:
Finally a fantastic song by the Beatles
Source: EOI Elx
Past Simple: -ed pronunciation
In the Simple Past, we add -ed to regular verbs. But the question is: How do we pronounce the -ed?
* note that it is the sound that is important, not the letter or spelling. For example, “fax” ends in the letter “x” but the sound /s/; “like” ends in the letter “e” but the sound /k/.
If the verb ends in one of these sounds: | example : | -ed: | -ed pronunciation: | Do you add an extra syllable? | |
1. | /t/ | want | wanted | / id/ | yes, the -e changes to [ɪ] |
/d/ | end | ended | |||
2. | /p/ | stop | stopped | / t/ | no, the -e is silent. |
/f/ | laugh | laughed | |||
/s/ | fax | faxed | |||
/ʃ/ | wash | washed | |||
/ʧ/ | watch | watched | |||
/k/ | like | liked | |||
3. | all other sounds | play | played | / d/ | |
follow | followed | ||||
rain | rained |
NEVER pronounce /ed/!!! Whenever you see a word ending in –ed, visualize the “e” as crossed out, if you want to increase your chances of pronouncing it correctly!

Is it clear enough? What’s the final sound of the following verbs? Choose the right one here.
Do you need more practice? Choose the correct “ed” ending sound in these multiple choice exercises. Exercise 1 – Exercise 2 - Exercise 3 – Exercise 4 – Exercise 5- Exercise 6. Don’t worry if you don’t know the meaning of some verbs, focus on their pronunciation.
Final Exam – Practice what you have learned by choosing the correct pronunciation for multiple words written in a paragraph.
Now you are ready to practise some listening. Try this site or this one and, finally, this onecombines present and past pronunciations.
Source: EOI Elx
Past Simple: -ed spelling
We have two different groups to form the Simple Past:
You have to know all forms of the irregular verbs very well. For the Simple Past you need the form of the verb which can be found in the 2nd column of the table of the irregular verbs. Example: go – went.
90% of verbs are regular verbs so let’s start with regulars first.
Simply add -ed with regular verbs. Example: wait – waited
SPELLING EXCEPTIONS
Sometimes there are exceptions in spelling when adding -ed:
1) verbs with final stressed consonant +vowel+consonant–> double the consonant. Example: stop – stopped
If the final syllable of the word is not stressed, we do not double it. Example: listen- listened (Here we stress the first syllable, not the second.)
If the final consonant in the group consonant+vowel+consonant is x or w, we do not double the consonant. Examples: fix-fixed, show-showed
In British English we ALWAYS double one -l at the end of the word. Example: travel – travelled
2) verbs with -e at the end of the word –> add only -d. Example: love – loved
3) verbs ending in consonant+y –> change ‘y’ to ‘i’ +ed. Example: cry – cried
Careful! verbs ending in vowel +’y' –> add -ed as usual. Example: play – played
The simple past: regular verbs

When you form the regular past tense in English you need to pay attention to two things: pronunciation and spelling.
PRONUNCIATION
To form the simple past you simply add -ed to the end of the infinitive and you have the simple past.
-ed can be pronounced in three different ways: /t/, /d/ and /id/.
“T” is a voiceless consonant what we called “sorda” in Spanish that means you will feel no vibration in your throat, just a short explosion of air as you pronounce. These are some voiceless consonants : p, t, k, s, sh, ch, th (as in thing)
“D” is a voiced consonant what we called “sonora” in Spanish that means you feel a vibration in your throat when you pronounce it. These are some voiced consonants : b, d, th (as in then), v, l, r, z, j (as in Jane)
Vowels are always voiced.
If a verb ends in t or d then the -ed will be pronounced as a whole new syllable /id/
So the sound of the past : -ed will assimilate the sound of the preceding sound and so if it is a voiced sound the pronunciation of -ed will be voiced /d/ and if voiceless it will go to /t/.
To sum up, you have three options with the pronunciation of the regular past tense -ed: /t/, /d/ or /id/
Here you have a video to practise
and some interactive exercises:
SPELLING
With most regular verbs, the simple past is created simply by adding -ed. However, with some verbs, you need to add -d or change the ending. Here are the rules:
Verb ending in… | How to make the simple past | Examples |
---|---|---|
e | Add -D | live ![]() date ![]() |
Consonant +y | Change y to i, then add -ED | try ![]() cry ![]() |
One vowel + one consonant (but NOT w or y) | Double the consonant, then add -ED | tap ![]() commit ![]() |
anything else including w | Add -ED | boil ![]() fill ![]() hand ![]() show ![]() |
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