british council english grammar

Pronouns.pdfDeterminers.pdfPossessives.pdfAdjectives.pdfAdverbials.pdfNouns.pdfVerbs.pdfClause, phrase and sentence.pdf

Subject Object

I me

you you

he him

she her

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Home > English Grammar > Pronouns

Pronouns

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Pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.

There are many different kinds of pronouns.

personal pronouns

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Pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.

We have both subject and object pronouns:

Topic

Pronouns - personal pronouns (I, me, you etc)

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it it

we us

you you

they them

We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not sure if we are talking about a man or a womanwe use they/them.

This is Jack. Hes my brother. I dont think you have met him.This is Angela. Shes my sister. Have you met her before?Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.You could go to a doctor. They might help you.

Subject pronouns

We use subject pronouns as subject of the verb:

I like your dress.You are late.He is my friendIt is rainingShe is on holidayWe live in England.They come from London.

Warning

Remember: English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.Im waiting for my wife. Is late. > She is late. Page 2 of 279

If there is no other subject we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject.

Object pronouns

We use object pronouns:

as the object of the verb:

Can you help me please?

I can see you.

She doesnt like him.

I saw her in town today.

We saw them in town yesterday, but they didnt see us.

after prepositions:

She is waiting for me.

Ill get it for you.

Give it to him.

Why are you looking at her?

Dont take it from us.

Ill speak to them. Page 3 of 279

it and there

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English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.Page 4 of 279

Im waiting for my wife. Is late. > She is late.Look at the time! Is half past two.> Its half past two.

except for the imperative (see more)

Go away.Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use there or it.

there

We use there as a dummy subject with part of the verb be followed by a noun phrase. (see Clauses, sentences and phrases):

to introduce a new topic:

There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.There has been an accident. I hope no one is hurt.

with numbers or quantities:

There was a lot of rain last night.There must have been more than five hundred in the audience.

to say where something is:

There used to be a playground at the end of the street.There are fairies at the bottom of the garden.I wonder if there will be anyone at home.

with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and the to-infinitive:

There is nothing to do in the village.There was plenty to read in the apartmentThere was nothing to watch on television.There is a lot of work to do

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If we want to show the subject of the to-infinitive we use for:

There is nothing for the children to do in the village.There was plenty for us to read in the apartmentThere was nothing for them to watch on television.There is a lot of work for you to do.

with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and an -ing verb:

There is someone waiting to see you.There were a lot of people shouting and waving.

We use a singular verb if the noun phrase is singular:

There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.There was a lot of rain last night.There is someone waiting to see you.

We use a plural verb if the noun phrase is plural:

There are more than twenty people waiting to see you.There were some biscuits in the cupboard.There were a lot of people shouting and waving.

It

We use it to talk about:

times and dates:

Its nearly one oclock.Its my birthday.

weather:Page 6 of 279

Its raining.Its a lovely day.

It was getting cold.

to give an opinion about a place:

Its very cold in here.

It will be nice when we get home.Its very comfortable in my new apartment.

to give an opinion followed by to-infinitive:

Its nice to meet you.It will be great to go on holiday.It was interesting to meet your brother at last.

to give an opinion followed by an -ing verb:

Its great living in Spain.Its awful driving in this heavy traffic.It can be hard work looking after young children.

Using "it" to talk about people

We use it to talk about ourselves:

on the telephone:

Hello. Its George.

when people cannot see us:

[Mary knocks on door] Its me. Its Mary.

We use it to talk about other people: Page 7 of 279

when we point them out for the first time:

Look. Its Sir Paul McCartney.

Whos that? I think its Johns brother.

when we cannot see them and we ask them for their name:

[telephone rings, we pick it up] Hello. Who is it?[someone knocks on door. We say:] Who is it?

Task 1

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you and they

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We use you to talk about people in general including the speaker and the hearer:

You can buy this book anywhere > This book is on sale everywhere.You cant park here > Parking is not allowed here.

They dont let you smoke in here > No smoking here

We use they or them to talk about people in general:

They serve good food here.

Ask them for a cheaper ticket.Page 9 of 279

especially about the government and the authorities:

They dont let you smoke in here.They are going to increase taxes.

They are building a new motorway.

They say its going to rain tomorrow.

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possessive pronouns (see possessives:- pronouns)

See possessives: pronouns

this, that, these and those

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Why do we use this and these?

We use this (singular) and these (plural) as pronouns:

- to talk about people or things near us:

This is a nice cup of tea.

Whose shoes are these?

- to introduce people:

This is Janet.These are my friends, John and Michael.

Topic

pronouns: this, that, these and those

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WARNING:We dont say These are John and Michael.

We say This is John and this is Michael.

- to introduce ourselves to begin a conversation on the phone:

Hello, this is David, Can I speak to Sally?

Why do we use that and those?

We use that (singular) and those (plural):

- to talk about things that are not near us:

Whats that?This is our house, and thats Rebeccas house over there.Those are very expensive shoes.

- We also use that to refer back to something someone said or did:

- Shall we go to the cinema?- Yes, thats a good idea.- Ive got a new job.- Thats great.- Im very tired.- Why is that?

this, these, that, those with nouns

We also use this, these, that and those with nouns to show proximity

We use this and these for people or things near us:

We have lived in this house for twenty years.Have you read all of these books?

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and that and those for people or things that are not near us:

Who lives in that house?

Who are those people? Page 13 of 279

one and ones

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We use one (singular) and ones (plural) to avoid unnecessary repetition.

See those two girls? Helen is the tall one and Jane is the short one.

Which is your car, the red one or the blue one?

My trousers are torn. I need some new ones.

See those two girls. Helen is the one on the left.

Lets look at the photographs. The ones you took in Paris.

We often use them after Which ... in questions:

You can borrow a book. Which one do you want?

There are lots of books here. Which ones are yours?Page 14 of 279

questions

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Which question word to use?

We use who to ask questions about people:

Who is that? Page 15 of 279

Who lives here?Who did you see?

We use whose to ask about possession:

Whose coat is this? [or] Whose is this coat?Whose book is that? [or] Whose is that book?

Whose bags are those? [or] Whose are those bags?

We use what to ask questions about things:

What is that?What do you want?

We use which to ask someone to choose something:

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?Ive got two books. Which do you want?

We can also use what and which with nouns:

What subjects did you study at school?

What newspaper do you read?Which newspaper do you read the Times or the Guardian?Which book do you want?

Which one is yours?

Questions with prepositions:

Questions ending in prepositions are very common in English. After Who, Which or What we often have a preposition at the end

of the sentence:

Who does this book belong to?

What are you looking for?Which university did you go to?

What country do you come from?Page 16 of 279

Activities

Page 17 of 279

reflexive pronouns

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The reflexive pronouns are:

Singular: myself - yourself - himself - herself - itself

Plural: ourselves - yourselves - themselves

When we use a reflexive pronoun

We use a reflexive pronoun:

as a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.

We can use a reflexive pronoun as direct object with most transitive verbs, but these are the most common:

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amuse blame cut dry enjoy help

hurt introduce kill prepare satisfy teach

Some verbs change their meaning slightly when they have a reflexive pronoun as direct object:

Would you like to help yourself to another drink?= Would you like to take another drink.I wish the children would behave themselves. = I wish the children would behave well.He found himself lying by the side of the road.= He was surprised when he realised that he was at the side of the road.I saw myself as a famous actor.= I imagined that I was a famous actor.She applied herself to the job of mending the lights.= She worked very hard to mend the lights.He busied himself in the kitchen. = He worked busily in the kitchen.I had to content myself with a few Euros.= I had to be satisfied with a few Euros.

We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things people usually do for themselves, such as wash, shave,dress:

He washed [himself] in cold water.He always shaved [himself] before going out in the evening.Michael dressed [himself] and got ready for the party.

We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis:

He dressed himself in spite of his injuries.

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Shes old enough to wash herself.

as indirect object when the indirect object is the same as the subject of the verb:

Would you like to pour yourself a drink.Weve brought ourselves something to eat.

as the object of a preposition when the object refers to the subject of the clause:

They had to cook for themselves.He was feeling very sorry for himself.

Warning

But we use personal pronouns, not reflexives, after prepositions of place...

He had a suitcase beside him.

and after with when it means "accompanied by":

She had a few friends with her.

We use a reflexive pronoun...

with the preposition by when we want to show that someone did something alone and/or without any help:

He lived by himself in an enormous house.She walked home by herself.

The children got dressed by themselves.I prepared the whole meal by myself.

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to emphasise the person or thing we are referring to:

Kendal itself is quite a small town.

especially if we are talking about someone very famous:

Sir Paul McCartney himself sang the final song.

We often put the reflexive pronoun at the end of the clause when we are using it for emphasis:

I baked the bread myself.

She mended the car herself

Activities

Page 21 of 279

reciprocal pronouns: each other and one another

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We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more people do the same thing. Traditionally, each

other refers to two people and one another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is disappearing in modernEnglish.

Peter and Mary helped one another.

= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.We sent each other Christmas cards.

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= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.They didnt look at one another.

= He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him.

We also use the possessive forms each others and one anothers:

They helped to look after each others children.We often stayed in one anothers houses.

NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

Page 23 of 279

indefinite pronouns

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The indefinite pronouns are:

somebody someone something

anybody anyone anything

nobody no one nothing

everybody everyone everything

We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or what they are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronouns ending in -thing for things:

Everybody enjoyed the concert.I opened the door but there was no one at home.

It was a very clear day. We could see everything.Page 24 of 279

We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun:

Everybody loves Sally.Everything was ready for the party.

When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun we normally use a plural pronoun:

Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped.I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time.

We can add -'s to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive.

They were staying in somebodys house.Is this anybodys coat?

We use indefinite pronouns with no- as the subject in negative clauses (not pronouns with any.)

Anybody didnt come >> Nobody came.

We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no one or nothing:

Nobody came.Nothing happened.

We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things in addition to the ones we already mentioned.

All the family came, but no one else.

If Michael cant come well ask somebody else.So that's eggs, peas and chips. Do you want anything else?

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relative pronouns

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The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possessive

who who(m) whose

which which whose

that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.Or we can use that for people or things.

We use relative pronouns:

after a noun, to make it clear which person or thing we are talking about:

the house that Jack builtthe woman who discovered radiuman eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

to tell us more about a person or thing:

My mother, who was born overseas, has always been a great traveller.Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.We had fish and chips, which is my favourite meal.

But we do not use that as a subject in this kind of relative clause.

We use whose as the possessive form of who:

This is George, whose brother went to school with me.

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We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition:

This is George, whom you met at our house last year.This is Georges brother, with whom I went to school.

But nowadays we normally use who:

This is George, who you met at our house last year.

This is Georges brother, who I went to school with.

When whom or which have a preposition the preposition can come at the beginning of the clause...

I had an uncle in Germany, from who[m] I inherited a bit of money.We bought a chainsaw, with which we cut up all the wood.

or at the end of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany who[m] I inherited a bit of money from.

We bought a chainsaw, which we cut all the wood up with.

We can use that at the beginning of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany that I inherited a bit of money from.We bought a chainsaw that we cut all the wood up with.

Page 28 of 279

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Home > English Grammar > Determiners and quantifiers

Determiners and quantifiers

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General and specific determiners

Determiners are words which come at the beginning of the noun phrase.

They tell us whether the noun phrase is specific or general.

Determiners are either specific or general

Specific determiners:

The specific determiners are:

the definite article: thepossessives: my, your, his, her, its; our, their, whosedemonstratives: this, that, these, thoseinterrogatives: which

We use a specific determiner when we believe the listener/reader knows exactly what we arereferring to:

Can you pass me the salt please?Look at those lovely flowers.Thank you very much for your letter.Whose coat is this?

General determiners:

The general determiners are:

a; an; any; another; other; what

When we are talking about things in general and the listener/reader does not know exactly whatwe are referring to, we can use a uncount noun or a plural noun with no determiner:

Milk is very good for you. (= uncount noun)Health and education are very important. (= 2 uncount nouns)Girls normally do better in school than boys. (= plural nouns with no determiner)

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or you can use a singular noun with the indefinite article a or an:

A woman was lifted to safety by a helicopter.

A man climbing nearby saw the accident.

We use the general determiner any with a singular noun or an uncount noun when we are talkingabout all of those people or things:

Its very easy. Any child can do it. (= All children can do it)

With a full licence you are allowed to drive any car.

I like beef, lamb, pork - any meat.

We use the general determiner another to talk about an additional person or thing:

Would you like another glass of wine?

The plural form of another is other:

I spoke to John, Helen and a few other friends.

Quantifiers

We use quantifiers when we want to give someone information about the number of something:how much or how many. Page 31 of 279

interrogative determiners: which and what

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We use "which" as a determiner to ask a question about a specific group of people or things:

Which restaurant did you go to?Which countries in South America have you visited?

Page 32 of 279

When we are asking a general question we use "what" as a determiner:

What films do you like?What university did you go to?

indefinite article: a and an

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1. We use the indefinite article, a/an, with count nouns when the hearer/reader does not

know exactly which one we are referring to:

Police are searching for a 14 year-old girl.

2. We also use it to show the person or thing is one of a group:

She is a pupil at London Road School.

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missingsince Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metrestall with short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and darkblue jeans and blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police on0800349781.

3. We do not use an indefinite article with plural nouns and uncount nouns:

She was wearing blue shoes. (= plural noun)She has short blonde hair. (= uncount noun)

Police have been searching for a 14 year-old girl who has been missingsince Friday.

Jenny Brown, a pupil at London Road School, is described as 1.6 metrestall with short blonde hair.

She was last seen wearing a blue jacket, a blue and white blouse and darkblue jeans and blue shoes.

Anyone who has information should contact the local police onPage 33 of 279

0800349781.

4. We use a/an to say what someone is or what job they do:

My brother is a doctor.

George is a student.

5. We use a/an with a singular noun to say something about all things of that kind:

A man needs friends. (= All men need friends)A dog likes to eat meat. (= All dogs like to eat meat)

Page 34 of 279

definite article: the

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The definite article the is the most frequent word in English.

We use the definite article in front of a noun when we believe the hearer/reader knows exactly

what we are referring to.

Page 35 of 279

because there is only one:

The Pope is visiting Russia.

The moon is very bright tonight.

The Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.

This is why we use the definite article with a superlative adjective:

He is the tallest boy in the class.

It is the oldest building in the town.

because there is only one in that place or in those surroundings:

We live in a small village next to the church. = (the church in ourvillage)

Dad, can I borrow the car? =(the car that belongs toour family)

When we stayed at my grandmothers housewe went to the beach every day.

= (the beach near mygrandmothers house)

Look at the boy in the blue shirt over there. =(the boy I am pointingat)

because we have already mentioned it:

A woman who fell 10 metres from High Peak was lifted to safety by a helicopter. The

woman fell while climbing.

The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two menwalking on the peak were killed in a fall.

We also use the definite article:

to say something about all the things referred to by a noun:

The wolf is not really a dangerous animal (= Wolves are not really dangerous animals)The kangaroo is found only in Australia (= Kangaroos are found only in Australia)The heart pumps blood around the body. (= Hearts pump blood around bodies)

We use the definite article in this way to talk about musical instruments:

Joe plays the piano really well.(= George can play any piano)She is learning the guitar.(= She is learning to play any guitar)

to refer to a system or service:

How long does it take on the train.

I heard it on the radio.Page 36 of 279

You should tell the police.

With adjectives like rich, poor, elderly, unemployed to talk about groups of people:

Life can be very hard for the poor.

I think the rich should pay more taxes.

She works for a group to help the disabled.

The definite article with names:

We do not normally use the definite article with names:

William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.Paris is the capital of France.Iran is in Asia.

But we do use the definite article with:

countries whose names include words like kingdom, states or republic:

the United Kingdom; the kingdom of Nepal; the United States; the Peoples Republic ofChina.

countries which have plural nouns as their names:

the Netherlands; the Philippines

geographical features, such as mountain ranges, groups of islands, rivers, seas, oceans and

canals:

the Himalayas; the Canaries; the Atlantic; the Atlantic Ocean; the Amazon; the PanamaCanal.

newspapers:

The Times; The Washington Post

well known buildings or works of art:

the Empire State Building; the Taj Mahal; the Mona Lisa; the Sunflowers

organisations:

the United Nations; the Seamens Union

hotels, pubs and restaurants*:

the Ritz; the Ritz Hotel; the Kings Head; the Dj Vu

*Note: We do not use the definite article if the name of the hotel or restaurant is the namePage 37 of 279

of the owner, e.g.,Browns; Browns Hotel; Morels; Morels Restaurant, etc.

families:

the Obamas; the Jacksons

quantifiers

Add new commentPage 38 of 279

We use quantifiers when we want to give someone information about the number of something:how much or how many.

Sometimes we use a quantifier in the place of a determiner:

Most children start school at the age of five.We ate some bread and butter.We saw lots of birds.

We use these quantifiers with both count and uncount nouns:

all any enough less a lot of lots of

more most no none of some

and some more colloquial forms:

plenty of heaps of a load of loads of tons of etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with count nouns:

both each either (a) few fewer neither several

and some more colloquial forms:

a couple of hundreds of thousands of etc.

Some quantifiers can be used only with uncount nouns:

Page 39 of 279

a little (not) much a bit of

And, particularly with abstract nouns such as time, money, trouble, etc:, we often use:

a great deal of a good deal of

Members of groups

You can put a noun after a quantifier when you are talking about members of a group in

general

Few snakes are dangerous.

Both brothers work with their father.

I never have enough money.

but if you are talking about a specific group of people or things, use of the as well

Few of the snakes are dangerous.

All of the children live at home.

He has spent all of his money.

Note that, if we are talking about two people or things we use the quantifiers both, either and

neither:

One supermarket Two supermarkets*More than two

supermarkets

The supermarketwas closed

The supermarketwasn't open

I dont think thesupermarket wasopen.

Both the supermarketswere closed.

Neither of thesupermarkets was open.

I dont think either of thesupermarkets was open.

All the supermarketswere closed

None of thesupermarkets were open

I don't think any of thesupermarkets were open

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*Nouns with either and neither have a singular verb.

Singular quantifiers:

We use every or each with a singular noun to mean all:

There was a party in every street. =There were parties in all thestreets.

Every shop was decorated with

flowers. =

All the shops were decorated withflowers.

Each child was given a prize. = All the children were given a prize.

There was a prize in each

competition. =

There were prizes in all thecompetitions.

We often use every to talk about times like days, weeks and years:

When we were children we had holidays at our grandmothers every year.

When we stayed at my grandmothers house we went to the beach every day.

We visit our daughter every Christmas.

BUT: We do not use a determiner with every and each. We do not say:

The every shop was decorated with flowers.The each child was given a prize.

Activities

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Home > English Grammar > Possessives

Possessives

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This possessives page brings together information about

possessive nounspossessive adjectivespossessive pronounsquestionsreciprocal pronouns

possessives: nouns

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We use a noun with s with a singular noun to show possession:

We are having a party at Johns house.Michael drove his friends car.

We use s with a plural noun ending in -s:

This is my parents house. Those are ladies shoes.

But we use s with other plural nouns:

These are mens shoes.Childrens clothes are very expensive.

We can use a possessive instead of a noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that Johns car? No, its Marys [car]. > No, its Marys.

Whose coat is this? Its my wifes [coat]. > Its my wifes.

Page 43 of 279

possessives: adjectives

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Can you match these possessive adjectives to the right personal pronouns?

its, your, my, their, our, her, his

Page 44 of 279

Subject Object Possessive

I me

You you

He him

She her

It it

We us

They them

We use possessive adjectives:

to show something belongs to somebody:

Thats our house.

My car is very old.

for relations and friends:

My mother is a doctor.

How old is your sister?

for parts of the body:

Hes broken his arm.

Shes washing her hair.

I need to clean my teeth.

Page 45 of 279

possessives: pronouns

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Can you match these possessive pronouns to the right personal pronouns and possessiveadjectives?

yours, mine, theirs, ours, hers, his, itsPage 46 of 279

Subject Object Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns

I me my

You you your

He him his

She her her

It it its

We us our

They them their

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a noun phrase:

Is that Johns car? No, its [my car] > No, its mine.

Whose coat is this? Is it [your coat]? > Is it yours?

Her coat is grey, [my coat]is brown Her coat is grey, mine is brown.

We can use possessive pronouns after of.

We can say:

Susan is one of my friends.

orSusan is a friend of mine.

but not Susan is a friend of me

or

I am one of Susan's friends.

orI am a friend of Susan's.

but not I am a friend of Susan Page 47 of 279

possessives: questions

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We use whose to ask questions:

Pattern A Pattern B

Whose coat is this? or Whose is this coat?Page 48 of 279

Whose book is that? or Whose is that book?

Whose bags are those? or Whose are those bags?

possessives: reciprocal pronouns

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"each other's" and "one another's"

see Reciprocal pronouns


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Home > English Grammar > Adjectives

Adjectives

We use adjectives to describe nouns.

Most adjectives can be used in front of a noun:

They have a beautiful house.

We saw a very exciting film last night.

or after a link verb like be, look or feel:

Their house is beautiful.

That film looks interesting.

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adjectives: -ed and -ing

A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding -ing or -ed:

-ing adjectives:

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The commonest -ing adjectives are:

amusing shocking surprising frightening

interesting disappointing exciting tiring

worrying boring terrifying annoying

If you call something interesting you mean it interests you.

If you call something frightening you mean it frightens you.

I read a very interesting article in the newspaper today.

That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.

-ed adjectives:

The commonest ed adjectives are:

annoyed bored frightened worried

tired closed excited delighted

disappointed

If something annoys you, you can say you feel annoyed. If something interests you, you can say

you are interested.

The children had nothing to do. They were bored.

Page 52 of 279

order of adjectives

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Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:

He was a nice intelligent young man.She had a small round black wooden box.

Opinion adjectives:

Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe almost anynoun:

good bad lovely strange

beautiful nice brilliant excellent

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awful important wonderful nasty

Some adjectives give a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe particular

kinds of noun:

Food: tasty; delicious

Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable

People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly

We usually put a general opinion in front of a specific opinion:

Nice tasty soup.A nasty uncomfortable armchairA lovely intelligent animal

Usually we put an adjective that gives an opinion in front of an adjective that is descriptive:

a nice red dress; a silly old man; those horrible yellow curtains

We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:

a handsome young man; a big black car; that horrible big dog

Sometimes we have three adjectives, but this is unusual:

a nice handsome young man;a big black American car;that horrible big fierce dog

It is very unusual to have more than three adjectives.

Adjectives usually come in this order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Generalopinion

Specificopinion

Size Shape Age Colour Nationality Material

We use some adjectives only after a link verb:

afraid alive alone asleep

content glad ill ready

sorry sure unable well

Some of the commonest -ed adjectives are normally used only after a link verb:

Page 54 of 279

annoyed; finished; bored; pleased; thrilled

We say:

Our teacher was ill.My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.The policeman seemed to be very annoyed

but we do not say:

We had an ill teacher.When he heard the news he was a very glad uncleHe seemed to be a very annoyed policeman

A few adjectives are used only in front of a noun:

northsoutheastwest

northernsoutherneasternwestern

countlessoccasionallone

eventfulindooroutdoor

We say:

He lives in the eastern district.

There were countless problems with the new machinery.

but we do not say:

The district he lives in is easternThe problems with the new machinery were countless.

Try these tasks to improve your adjective ordering.

Task 1

Page 55 of 279

comparative and superlative adjectives

We use comparative adjectives to describe people and things:

This car is certainly better but its much more expensive.Page 56 of 279

Im feeling happier now.

We need a bigger garden

We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

She is two years older than me.

New York is much bigger than Boston.

He is a better player than Ronaldo.

France is a bigger country than Britain.

When we want to describe how something or someone changes we can use two

comparatives with and:

The balloon got bigger and bigger.

Everything is getting more and more expensive.

Grandfather is looking older and older.

We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends on another:

When you drive faster it is more dangerous> The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.When they climbed higher it got colder> The higher they climbed, the colder it got.

Superlative adjectives:

We use the with a superlative:

It was the happiest day of my life.

Everest is the highest mountain in the world.

Thats the best film I have seen this year.

I have three sisters, Jan is the oldest and Angela is the youngest .

Activities

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intensifiers

Intensifiers:

(Intermediate)

We use words like very, really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:

Its a very interesting story

Everyone was very excited.

Its a really interesting story.

Everyone was extremely excited

We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:

amazingly exceptionally incredibly

remarkably particularly unusually

We also use enough to say more about an adjective, but enough comes after its adjective:

If you are seventeen you are old enough to drive a car.

I cant wear those shoes. Theyre not big enough.Page 58 of 279

Intensifiers with strong adjectives:

Strong adjectives are words like:

enormous, huge = very big

tiny = very small

brilliant = very clever

awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad

certain = very sure

excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good

delicious = very tasty

We do not normally use very with these adjectives. We do not say something is "very

enormous" or someone is "very brilliant".

With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:

absolutely completely totally utterly

really exceptionally particularly quite

The film was absolutely awful.

He was an exceptionally brilliant child.

The food smelled really disgusting.

Page 59 of 279

Warning!

Intensifiers with particular adjectives:

(Advanced)

Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives depending on the meaning of the adjective:

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Im afraid your wife is dangerously ill.

He was driving dangerously fast.

The car was seriously damaged.

Fortunately none of the passengers was seriously hurt.

Some intensifiers go with particular adjectives. For example we use the intensifier highly

with the adjectives successful, intelligent, likely and unlikely:

He was highly intelligent.

Shes a highly successful businesswoman

but we do not say:

We had a highly tasty meal.

That is a highly good idea.

We use the intensifier bitterly with the adjectives disappointed, unhappy and cold:

I was bitterly unhappy at school.We were bitterly disappointed to lose the match.

It can get bitterly cold in winter.

You need to use your dictionary to find what sort of nouns these intensifiers go with.

Page 61 of 279

Intensifiers with comparatives and superlatives:

(Intermediate)

We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with comparative adjectives:

much far a lot quite a lot

a great deal a good deal a good bit a fair bit Page 62 of 279

He is much older than me.

New York is a lot bigger than Boston.

We use much and far as intensifiers with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:

France is a much bigger country than Britain.

He is a far better player than Ronaldo.

We use these words as intensifiers with superlatives:

easily by far much

The blue whale is easily the biggest animal in the world.

This car was by far the most expensive.

Page 63 of 279

Adjectives as intensifiers:

(Advanced)

We use some adjectives as intensifiers with nouns:

absolute total complete

utter perfect real

Page 64 of 279

We say:

Hes a complete idiot.

They were talking utter nonsense.

but we do not say:

The idiot was complete.

The nonsense they were talking was utter.

Page 65 of 279

mitigators

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Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less strongwe use these words:

fairly - rather - quite

Page 66 of 279

By the end of the day we were rather tired.

The film wasnt great but it was quite exciting.

and in informal English: pretty

We had a pretty good time at the party.

We call these words mitigators.

Warning

quite

When we use quite with a strong adjective it means the same as

absolutely:

The food was quite awful. = The food was absolutely awful.

As a child he was quite brilliant. = As a child he was absolutely

brilliant.

Mitigators with comparatives:

We use these words and phrases as mitigators:

a bit - just a bit - a little - a little bit - just a little bit - rather - slightly

Shes a bit younger than I am.

It takes two hours on the train but it is a little bit longer by road

This one is rather bigger.

We use slightly and rather as mitigators with comparative adjectives in front of a noun:

This is a slightly more expensive model than that.This is rather bigger one than that.

Adjectives as intensifiers:

We use some adjectives as intensifiers:

absolutetotal - completeutter - perfectreal

We say:Page 67 of 279

Hes a complete idiot.They were talking utter nonsense.

but we do not say:

The idiot was complete.The nonsense they were talking was utter.

Task 1

Page 68 of 279

Task 2

noun modifiers

We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something else:

the village church; the car door; the kitchen window; the chair leg; Page 69 of 279

my coat pocket; London residents

Warning

We do not use a possessive form for these things. We do not talk about:

The cars door; the kitchens window; the chairs leg

We can use noun modifiers to show what something is made of:

a gold watch; a leather purse; a metal box

We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in -er and -ing:

an office worker; a jewellery maker; a potato peeler; a shopping list; a swimming lesson; awalking holiday.

We use measurements, age or value as noun modifiers:

a thirty kilogram suitcase; a two minute rest; a five thousand euro platinum watch; a

fifty kilometre journey;

We often put two nouns together and readers/listeners have work out what they mean. So:

an ice bucket = a bucket to keep ice inan ice cube = a cube made of icean ice breaker = a ship which breaks icethe ice age = the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice.

Sometimes we find more than two nouns together:

London office workers; grammar practice exercises

Position of noun modifiers

Noun modifiers come after adjectives:

The old newspaper sellerA tiring fifty kilometre journey

Task 1

Page 70 of 279


Home > English Grammar > Adverbials

Adverbials

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Why do we use adverbials?

We use adverbs to give more information about the verb.

We use adverbials of manner to say how something happens or how something is done:

The children were playing happily.

He was driving as fast as possible.

We use adverbials of place to say where something happens:

I saw him there.

We met in London.

We use adverbials of time to say when or how often something happens:

They start work at six thirty.

They usually go to work by bus.

We use adverbials of probability to show how certain we are about something.

Perhaps the weather will be fine.He is certainly coming to the party.

Try these tasks to practice your use of adverbials.

Task 1

Page 71 of 279

how we make adverbials

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An adverbial can be an adverb:

He spoke angrily.

They live here.

We will be back soon. Page 72 of 279

or an adverb with an intensifier:

He spoke really angrily.

They live just here.

We will go quite soon.

We will go as soon as possible.

or a phrase with a preposition:

He spoke in an angry voice.

They live in London.

We will go in a few minutes.

Page 73 of 279

where they go in a sentence

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Where do adverbials go in a sentence?

We normally put adverbials after the verb:

Page 74 of 279

He spoke angrily.

They live just here.

We will go in a few minutes.

or after the object or complement:

He opened the door quietly.

She left the money on the table.

We saw our friends last night.

You are looking tired tonight.

But adverbials of frequency (how often) usually come in front of the main verb:

We usually spent our holidays with our grandparents.I have never seen William at work.

But if we want to emphasise an adverbial we can put it at the beginning of a clause:

Last night we saw our friends.In a few minutes we will go.Very quietly he opened the door.

If we want to emphasise an adverb of manner we can put it in front of the main verb:

He quietly opened the door.She had carefully put the glass on the shelf.

Try these tasks to practice your use of placement of adverbials.

Task 1

Page 75 of 279

adverbs of manner

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Adverbs of manner are usually formed from adjectives by adding ly:

bad > badly; quiet > quietly; recent > recently; sudden > suddenly

but there are sometimes changes in spelling:Page 76 of 279

easy > easily; gentle > gently

If an adjective ends in ly we use the phrase in a . way to express manner:

Silly > He behaved in a silly way.

Friendly > She spoke in a friendly way.

A few adverbs of manner have the same form as the adjective:

They all worked hard.

She usually arrives late.

I hate driving fast.

Note: hardly and lately have different meanings:

He could hardly walk = It was difficult for him to walk.

I havent seen John lately = I havent seen John recently.

We often use phrases with like as adverbials of manner:

She slept like a baby.

He ran like a rabbit.

Adverbs of manner and link verbs

We very often use adverbials with like after link verbs:

Her hands felt like ice.

It smells like fresh bread.

But we do not use other adverbials of manner after link verbs. We use adjectives instead:

They looked happily happy.That bread smells deliciously delicious.

Try these exercises to practice your use of adverbials of manner.

Try these tasks to practice your use of placement of adverbials.

Task 1

Page 77 of 279

adverbials of place

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We use adverbials of place to describe:

Location Page 78 of 279

We use prepositions to talk about where someone or something is.

Examples:

He was standing by the table.Youll find it in the cupboard.Sign your name here at the bottom of the page.

Direction

We use adverbials to to talk about the direction where someone or something is moving.

Examples:

Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the street.The car door is very small so its difficult to get into.

Distance

We use adverbials to show how far things are:

Examples:

Birmingham is 250 kilometres from London.We were in London. Birmingham was 250 kilometres away. Page 79 of 279

adverbials of location

Location

We use prepositions to talk about where someone or something is:

above among at behind below beneath

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beside between by in in between inside

near next to on opposite outside over

round through under underneath

He was standing by the table.She lives in a village near Glasgow.Youll find it in the cupboard.

We use phrases with of as prepositions:

at the back of at the top of at the bottom of at the end of

on top of at the front of in front of in the middle of

There were some flowers in the middle of the table. Sign your name here at the bottom of the page.I cant see. Youre standing in front of me.

We can use right as an intensifier with some of these prepositions:

He was standing right next to the table.There were some flowers right in the middle of the table.Theres a wood right behind our house.

Activities

Page 81 of 279

adverbials of direction

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Direction

We also use prepositional phrases to talk about direction:

across along back back to down into

onto out of past through to towards

She ran out of the house.

Walk past the bank and keep going to the end of the street.

We also use adverbs and adverb phrases for place and direction:

abroad away anywhere downstairs downwards

everywhere here indoors inside nowhere

outdoors outside somewhere there upstairs

I would love to see Paris. Ive never been there.

The bedroom is upstairs.

It was so cold that we stayed indoors.

We often have a preposition at the end of a clause:

This is the room we have our meals in.

The car door is very small so its difficult to get into.

I lifted the carpet and looked underneath.

Page 82 of 279

adverbials of distance

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Distance

We use adverbials to show how far things are:

Page 83 of 279

Birmingham is 250 kilometres from London.Birmingham is 250 kilometres away from London.

It is 250 kilometres from Birmingham to London.

Sometimes we use a preposition at the end of a clause:

We were in London. Birmingham was 250 kilometres away.Birmingham was 250 kilometres off.

Page 84 of 279

adverbials of time

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Adverbials of time

We use adverbials of time to say:

when something happened:

I saw Mary yesterday.

She was born in 1978.

I will see you later.

There was a storm during the night.

for how long :

We waited all day.

They have lived here since 2004.

We will be on holiday from July 1st until August 3rd.

how often (frequency):

They usually watched television in the evening.

We sometimes went to work by car.

We often use a noun phrase as a time adverbial:

yesterdaylastweek/month/year

one day/week/month last Saturday

tomorrownextweek/month/year

the day aftertomorrow

next Friday

todaythisweek/month/year

the day beforeyesterday

the otherday/week/month

Page 85 of 279

time and dates

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We use phrases with prepositions as time adverbials:

We use at with:

clock times: at seven oclock - at nine thirty - at fifteen hundred hoursPage 86 of 279

mealtimes: at breakfast - at lunchtime - at teatime

and in these phrases:

at night - at the weekend - at Christmas - at Easter

We use in with:

seasons of the year: in spring/summer/autumn/winter - in the spring

/summer/autumn/winteryears and centuries: in 2009 -in 1998 - in the twentieth century

months: in January/February/March etc.parts of the day: in the morning - in the afternoon - in the evening.

We use on with:

days: on Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday etc - on Christmas day - on my birthday.dates: on the thirty first of July - on June 15th

Note: We say at night when we are talking about all of the night:

When there is no moon it is very dark at night.

He sleeps during the day and works at night.

but we say in the night when we are talking about a short time during the night:

He woke up twice in the night.

I heard a funny noise in the night.

We use the adverb ago with the past simple to say how long before the time of speaking

something happened:

I saw Jim about three weeks ago.

We arrived a few minutes ago.

We can put time phrases together:

We will meet next week at six oclock on Monday.

I heard a funny noise at about eleven oclock last night.

It happened last week at seven oclock on Monday night.

Page 87 of 279

how long

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We use for to say how long:

We have been waiting for twenty minutes.

They lived in Manchester for fifteen years.

Page 88 of 279

We use since with the present perfect or the past perfect to say when something started:

I have worked here since December.

They had been watching since seven oclock in the morning.

We use from to/until to say when something starts and finishes:

They stayed with us from Monday to Friday.

We will be on holiday from the sixteenth until the twentieth.

Page 89 of 279

how often

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The commonest adverbials of frequency are:

always never normally occasionally often

rarely seldom sometimes usually Page 90 of 279

We usually put adverbials of frequency in front of the main verb:

We often spend Christmas with friends.

I have never enjoyed myself so much.

but they usually come after the verb be:

He was always tired in the evening.

We are never late for work.

We use the adverbial a lot to mean often or frequently. It comes at the end of the clause:

We go to the cinema a lot.

but before another time adverbial:

We go to the cinema a lot at the weekend.

We use much with a negative to mean not often:

We dont go out much. (= We dont go out often)

We use how often or ever to ask questions about frequency. How often comes at the

beginning of the clause:

How often do you go to the cinema?

How often have you been here?

ever comes before the main verb:

Do you ever go to the cinema at the weekend?Have you ever been there?

Longer frequency phrases, like every year or three times a day usually come at the end of theclause:

I have an English lesson twice a week.She goes to see her mother every day.

Page 91 of 279

already, still, yet and no longer

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We use still to show that something continues up to a time in the past present or future. It

goes in front of the main verb:

The children still enjoyed playing games.They are still living next door. Page 92 of 279

We will still be on holiday.

or after the present simple or the past simple of be:

Her grandfather is still alive.

They were still unhappy.

We use already to show that something has happened sooner than it was expected to happen.

Like still, it comes before the main verb:

The car is OK. Ive already fixed it.

It was early but they were already sleeping.

or after the present simple or past simple of the verb be:

It was early but we were already tired.We are already late.

We use yet in a negative or interrogative clause, usually with perfective aspect (especially inBritish English), to show that something has not happened by a particular time. yet comes atthe end of the sentence:

It was late, but they hadnt arrived yet.Have you fixed the car yet?She wont have sent the email yet.

Page 93 of 279

adverbials of probability

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Adverbials of probability

We use adverbials of probability to show how certain we are about something. The mostfrequent adverbials of probability are:

Page 94 of 279

certainly - definitely - maybe - possibly

clearly - obviously - perhaps - probably

maybe and perhaps usually come at the beginning of the clause:

Perhaps the weather will be fine.

Maybe it wont rain.

Other adverbs of possibility usually come in front of the main verb:

He is certainly coming to the party.

Will they definitely be there?

We will possibly come to England next year.

but in after am, is, are, was, were:

They are definitely at home.

She was obviously very surprised.

Page 95 of 279

comparative adverbs

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We can use comparative adverbs to show change or to make comparisons:

I forget things more often nowadays.She began to speak more quickly.They are working harder now. Page 96 of 279

We often use than with comparative adverbs

I forget things more often than I used to.

Girls usually work harder than boys.

Intensifiers:

We use these words and phrases as intensifiers with these patterns:

much - far - a lot - quite a lot - a great deal - a good deal - a good bit - a fair bit

I forget things much more often nowadays.

Mitigators:

We use these words and phrases as mitigators:

a bit - just a bit - a little - a little bit - just a little bit - slightly

She began to speak a bit more quickly

Page 97 of 279

superlative adverbs

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We can use superlative adverbs to make comparisons:

His ankles hurt badly, but his knees hurt worst.It rains most often at the beginning of the year.

Page 98 of 279

Intensifiers:

When we intensify a superlative adverb we often use the in front of the adverb, and we use thesewords and phrases as intensifiers:

easily - much - far - by far


British Council

Page 99 of 279

The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educationalopportunities.

A registered charity: 209131 (England and Wales) SC037733 (Scotland).

Disabled people

Browsealoud

Source URL: http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/english-grammar/adverbials

Page 100 of 279


Home > English Grammar > Nouns

Nouns

This Nouns sections brings together information about

Nouns - count nouns Nouns - uncount nouns Nouns - count/uncount nouns - common problems Nouns - Proper nouns

count nouns

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Count nouns have two forms: singular and plural.

Singular count nouns refer to one person or thing:

a book; a teacher; a wish; an idea

Plural count nouns refer to more than one person or thing:

books; teachers; wishes; ideas

Singular count nouns

Singular count nouns cannot be used alone. They must have a determiner:

the book; that English teacher; a wish; my latest idea

Plural forms

We usually add s to make a plural noun:

book > books; school > schools; friend > friends

We add -es to nouns ending in ss; -ch; -s; -sh; -x

class > classes; watch > watches; gas > gases; wish > wishes; box > boxes

When a noun ends in a consonant and -y we make the plural in -ies...

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lady > ladies; country > countries; party > parties

but if a noun ends in a vowel and -y we simply add -s:

boy > boys; day > days; play > plays

Some common nouns have irregular plurals:

Man > men; woman > women; child > children; foot > feet;person > people

Plural count nouns do not have a determiner when they refer to people or things as a group:

Computers are very expensive.

Do you sell old books?Page 102 of 279

uncount nouns

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Some nouns in English are uncount nouns.

We do not use uncount nouns in the plural and we do not use them with the indefinite article,a/an.

Page 103 of 279

We ate a lot of foods > We ate a lot of food

We bought some new furnitures > We bought some new furniture

Thats a useful information > Thats useful information

We can use some quantifiers with uncount nouns:

He gave me some useful advice.

They gave us a lot of information.

Uncount nouns often refer to:

Substances: food; water; wine; salt; bread; ironHuman feelings or qualities: anger; cruelty; happiness; honesty; pride;Activities: help; sleep; travel; workAbstract ideas: beauty; death; fun; life

Common uncount nouns

There are some common nouns in English, like accommodation, which are uncount nouns eventhough they have plurals in other languages:

advice baggage equipment furniture homework information

knowledge luggage machinery money news traffic

Let me give you some advice.How much luggage have you got?

If we want to make these things countable, we use expressions like:

a piece of... pieces of... a bit of... bits of... an item of... items of...

Let me give you a piece of advice.Thats a useful piece of equipment.We bought a few bits of furniture for the new apartment.She had six separate items of luggage.

but we do not use accommodation, money and traffic in this way.

Page 104 of 279

common problems with count/uncountnouns

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1: Uncount nouns used as count nouns

Page 105 of 279

Although substances are usually uncount nouns...

Would you like some cheese?

Coffee keeps me awake at night.

Wine makes me sleep.

... they can be also used as count nouns:

Id like a coffee please. = Id like a [cup of] coffee.

May I have a white wine. = May I have a [glass of] white wine.

They sell a lot of coffees. = They sell a lot of [different kinds of] coffee.

I prefer white wines to red. = I prefer [different kinds of] white wine to red.

They had over twenty cheeses on sale. = They had over twenty [types of] cheese on sale.

This is an excellent soft cheese. = This [kind of] soft cheese is excellent.

2: Some nouns have both a count and an uncount form:

We should always have hope.

George had hopes of promotion.

Travel is a great teacher.

Where did you go on your travels?

3: Nouns with two meanings

Some nouns have two meanings, one count and the other non count:

His life was in danger.

There is a serious danger of fire.

Linguistics is the study of language.

Is English a difficult language?

Its made of paper.

The Times is an excellent paper.

Other words like this are:

business death industry marriage power property

tax time victory use work

4: Uncount nouns that end in -sPage 106 of 279

Some uncount nouns end in -s so they look like plurals even though they are singular nouns.

These nouns generally refer to:

Subjects of study: mathematics, physics, economics, etc.

Activities: gymnastics, athletics, etc.

Games: cards, darts, billiards, etc.

Diseases: mumps, measles, rabies, etc.

Economics is a very difficult subject.

Billiards is easier than pool or snooker.

5: Group nouns

Some nouns, like army, refer to groups of people, animals or things, and we can use

them either as singular nouns or as plural nouns.

army audience committee company crew enemy

family flock gang government group herd

media public regiment staff team

We can use these group nouns either as singular nouns or as plural nouns:

My family is very dear to me.

I have a large family. They are very dear to me. (= The members of my family)

The government is very unpopular.

The government are always changing their minds.

Sometimes we think of the group as a single thing:

The audience always enjoys the show.

The group consists of two men and three women.

Sometimes we think of the group as several individuals;

The audience clapped their hands.

The largest group are the boys.

The names of many organisations and teams are also group nouns, but they are usuallyplural in spoken English:

Barcelona are winning 2-0.Page 107 of 279

The United Oil Company are putting prices up by 12%.

6: Two-part nouns

A few plural nouns, like binoculars, refer to things that have two parts.

glasses jeans knickers pincers pants pliers

pyjamas scissors shorts spectacles tights trainers

trousers tweezers

These binoculars were very expensive

Those trousers are too long.

To make it clear we are talking about one of these items, we use a pair of

I need a new pair of spectacles.

Ive bought a pair of blue jeans.

If we want to talk about more than one, we use pairs of :

Weve got three pairs of scissors, but they are all blunt.

I always carry two pairs of binoculars.

Page 108 of 279

proper nouns

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Names of people, places and organisations are called proper nouns. We spell proper nouns

with a capital letter:

Mohammed Ali; Birmingham; China; Oxford University, the United Nations

Page 109 of 279

We use capital letters for festivals:

Christmas; Deepawali; Easter; Ramadan; Thanksgiving

We use a capital letter for someones title:

I was talking to Doctor Wilson recently.

Everything depends on President Obama.

When we give the names of books, films, plays and paintings we use capital letters for thenouns, adjectives and verbs in the name:

I have been reading The Old Man and the Sea.Beatrix Potter wrote The Tale of Peter RabbitYou can see the Mona Lisa in the Louvre.

Sometimes we use a persons name to refer to something they have created:

Recently a Van Gogh was sold for fifteen million dollars.

We were listening to Mozart.

Im reading an Agatha Christie.

Page 110 of 279


Home > English Grammar > Verbs

Verbs

Verbs in English have four basic parts:

Base form -ing form Past tense Past participle

work working worked worked

play playing played played

listen listening listened listened

Most verbs have past tense and past participle in ed (worked, played, listened). But many of

the most frequent verbs are irregular.

irregular verbs

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Most verbs have past tense and past participle in ed ( worked, played, listened). But many ofthe most frequent verbs are irregular:

Base form Past tense Past participle

bebeginbreakbringbuybuildchoosecomecostcut

was/werebeganbrokebroughtboughtbuiltchosecamecostcut

beenbegunbrokenbroughtboughtbuiltchosencomecostcut

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dodrawdriveeatfeelfindgetgivegohavehearholdkeepknowleaveleadletlielosemakemeanmeetpayputrunsayseesellsendsetsitspeakspendstandtake teach tellthinkunderstandwearwinwrite

diddrewdroveatefeltfoundgotgavewenthadheardheldkeptknewleftledletlaylostmademeantmetpaidputransaidsawsoldsentsetsatspokespentstoodtooktaughttoldthoughtunderstoodworewonwrote

donedrawndriveneatenfeltfoundgotgivengonehadheardheldkeptknownleftledletlainlostmademeantmetpaidputrunsaidseensoldsentsetsatspokenspentstoodtakentaughttoldthoughtunderstoodwornwonwritten

Page 112 of 279

question forms

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We make questions by:

Page 113 of 279

1: moving an auxiliary to the front of the clause:

Everybody is watching >> Is everybody watching?

They had worked hard >> Had they worked hard?

He's finished work >> Has he finished work?

Everybody had been working

hard>>

Had everybody been working

hard?

He has been singing >> Has he been singing?

English is spoken all over the

world>>

Is English spoken all over the

world?

The windows have been cleaned >> Have the windows been cleaned?

2: or by moving a modal to the front of the clause:

They will come >> Will they come?

He might come >> Might he come?

They will have arrived by now >> Will they have arrived by now?

She would have been listening >> Would she have been listening?

The work will be finished soon >> Will the work be finished soon?

They might have been invited to

the party>>

Might they have been invited to

the party?

3: The present simple and the past simple have no auxiliary. We make questions by adding

the auxillary do/does for the present simple or did for the past simple:

They live here >> Do they live here?

John lives here >> Does John live here?

Everybody laughed >> Did everybody laugh?

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verb phrases

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The verb phrase in English has the following forms:

1) a main verb:

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Verb

WeIEverybodyWe

arelikesaw.laughed.

here.itthe accident

The verb may be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (saw, laughed). A verb phrasewith only a main verb expresses simple aspect

2) an auxiliary verb ("be") and a main verb in ing form:

Auxiliary "be" Verb (-ing)

EverybodyWe

iswere

watchinglaughing

A verb phrase with "be" and ing expresses continuous aspect.

3) an auxiliary verb ("have") and a main verb with past participle:

Auxillary "have" Verb (past participle)

TheyEverybodyHe

havehashad

enjoyedworkedfinished

themselves.hard.work.

A verb with "have" and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has

expresses present perfect, and a verb with had expresses past perfect.

4) an auxiliary verb ("have" + "been") and a main verb in the ing form:

Auxiliary "have" + "been" Verb (-ing)

EverybodyHe

has beenhad been

workingsinging

hard

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He had been singing

A verb with "have" and "been" and the present participle expresses perfect continuous

aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous, and a verb with had

expresses past perfect continuous.

5) a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:

Modal Verb Main verb

TheyHe

willmight

come.come.

6) We can use modal verbs with the auxiliaries "be", "have", and "have been":

Modal Auxiliary Verb

TheyHeShe

willmightmust

behavehave been

listeningarrivedlistening

Activities

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Active and passive:

Transitive verbs have a passive form as well as an active form:

The hunter killed the lion. (active) The lion was killed by the hunter. (passive)

Someone has cleaned the windows The windows have been cleaned.

The passive forms are made up of the verb "be" with a past participle:Page 118 of 279

"be" Past participle

EnglishThe windowsLunchThe workThey

ishave beenwas beingwill bemight have been

spokencleanedservedfinishedinvited

all over the world

soonto the part

Page 119 of 279

present tense

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There are two tenses in English past and present.

The present tenses in English are used: Page 120 of 279

to talk about the present

to talk about the future

to talk about the past when we are telling a story in spoken English or when we are

summarising a book, film, play etc.

There are four present tense forms in English:

Present simple: I work

Present continuous: I am working

Present perfect: I have worked

Present perfect continuous: I have been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the present:

He works at McDonalds. He has worked there for three months now.

He is working at McDonalds. He has been working there for three months now.

London is the capital of Britain.

to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 1700 hours.

Ill phone you when I get home.

Hes meeting Peter in town this afternoon.

Ill come home as soon as I have finished work.

You will be tired out after you have been working all night.

We can use the present tenses to talk about the past...Page 121 of 279

present simple

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The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London.

But the third person (she/he/it) adds an -s: She works in London.

Use

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We use the present tense to talk about:

something that is true in the present:

Im nineteen years old.

He lives in London.

Im a student.

something that happens again and again in the present:

I play football every weekend.

We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of frequency) with

the present tense:

I sometimes go to the cinema.

She never plays football.

something that is always true:

The adult human body contains 206 bones.

Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.

something that is fixed in the future.

The school term starts next week.

The train leaves at 1945 this evening.

We fly to Paris next week.

Questions and negatives

Look at these questions:

Do you play the piano?Where do you live?Does Jack play football?Where does he come from?Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?Where do they work?

With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the third

person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.

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We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:

But look at these questions with who:

Who lives in London?Who plays football at the weekend?Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Look at these sentences:

I like tennis, but I dont like football. (dont = do not)I dont live in London now.I dont play the piano, but I play the guitar.They dont work at the weekend.John doesnt live in Manchester. (doesnt = does not)Angela doesnt drive to work. She goes by bus.

With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does not

(doesnt) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (dont) for the others.

Complete these sentences with dont or doesnt: Page 124 of 279

present continuous

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The present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the present

participle (-ing form) of a verb:

Use

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1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

Im just leaving work. Ill be home in an hour.

Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.

for something which is happening before and after a given time:

At eight oclock we are usually having breakfast.When I get home the children are doing their homework.

for something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. Hes studying history.

Im working in London for the next two weeks.

for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.

What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays? What sort of music are they

listening to?

to show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.

The climate is changing rapidly.

Your English is improving.

for something which happens again and again:

Its always raining in London.

They are always arguing.

George is great. Hes always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

2. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the future:

for something which has been arranged or planned:

Mary is going to a new school next term.

What are you doing next week?

3. We can use the present continuous to talk about the past:

When we are telling a story:

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When we are summarising the story from a book, film or play etc.:

present perfect

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The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past participleof a verb:

Page 127 of 279

The present perfect continuous is formed with have/has been and the -ing form of the verb:

Use

We use the present perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

Theyve been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

Note: We normally use the present perfect continuous for this:

She has been living in Liverpool all her life.

Its been raining for hours.

for something we have done several times in the past and continue to do:

Ive played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.

He has written three books and he is working on another one.

Ive been watching that programme every week.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

Theyve been staying with us since last week.

I have worked here since I left school.

Ive been watching that programme every week since it started.

when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

Note: We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:

My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.

Note: and we use never for the negative form:

Have you ever met George?Yes, but Ive never met his wife.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of speaking:

I cant get in the house. Ive lost my keys.Teresa isnt at home. I think she has gone shopping.Im tired out. Ive been working all day.

We use the present perfect of be when someone has gone to a place and returned:Page 128 of 279

A: Where have you been?

B: Ive just been out to the supermarket.

A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?

B: No, but Ive been to Los Angeles.

But when someone has not returned we use have/has gone:

A: Where is Maria? I havent seen her for weeks. B: She's gone to Paris for a week. Shell be back tomorrow.

We often use the present perfect with time adverbials which refer to the recent past:

just; only just; recently;

Scientists have recently discovered a new breed of monkey.

We have just got back from our holidays.

or adverbials which include the present:

ever (in questions); so far; until now; up to now; yet (in questions and negatives)

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Where have you been up to now?

Have you finished your homework yet?

No, so far Ive only done my history.

WARNING:

We do not use the present perfect with an adverbial which refers to past time which is

finished:

I have seen that film yesterday.We have just bought a new car last week.When we were children we have been to California.

But we can use it to refer to a time which is not yet finished:

Have you seen Helen today?We have bought a new car this week.

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past tense

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There are two tenses in English past and present.

The past tense in English is used:

to talk about the pastPage 130 of 279

to talk about hypotheses things that are imagined rather than true.for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Past simple: I worked

Past continuous: I was working

Past perfect: I had worked

Past perfect continuous: I had been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the past:

He worked at McDonalds. He had worked there since July..

He was working at McDonalds. He had been working since July.

to refer to the present or future in conditions:

He could get a new job if he really tried.

If Jack was playing they would probably win.

and hypotheses:

It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.

I would always help someone who really needed help.

and wishes:

I wish it wasnt so cold.

In conditions, hypotheses and wishes, if we want to talk about the past, we always use

the past perfect:

I would have helped him if he had asked.

It was very dangerous, What if you had got lost?

I wish I hadnt spent so much money last month.

We can use the past forms to talk about the present in a few polite expressions:

Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.

I just hoped you would be able to help me.

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past simple

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Forms

With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:

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call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked

But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Her are the most common irregular verbs inEnglish, with their past tenses:

infinitiveirregular

past

bebeginbreakbringbuybuildchoosecomecostcutdodrawdriveeatfeelfindgetgivegohavehearholdkeepknowleaveleadletlielosemakemeanmeetpayputrunsaysellsendsetsitspeak

was/werebeganbrokebroughtboughtbuiltchosecamecostcutdiddrewdroveatefeltfoundgotgavewenthadheardheldkeptknewleftledletlaylostmademeantmetpaidputransaidsoldsentsetsatspoke Page 133 of 279

spendstandtaketeachtellthinkunderstandwearwinwrite

spentstoodtooktaughttoldthoughtunderstoodworewonwrote

Use

We use the past tense to talk about:

something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.

We went to Spain for our holidays.

They got home very late last night.

something that happened again and again in the past:

When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.

We swam a lot while we were on holiday.

They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.

He enjoyed being a student.

She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:

I met my wife a long time ago.

Questions and negatives

We use did to make questions with the past tense:

When did you meet your wife?

Where did you go for your holidays?

Did she play tennis when she was younger?

Did you live abroad?

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But look at these questions:

Who discovered penicillin?Who wrote Don Quixote?

For more on these questions see question forms

We use didnt (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:

They didnt go to Spain this year.

We didnt get home until very late last night.

I didnt see you yesterday. Page 135 of 279

past continuous

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The past continuous is formed from the past tense of be with the -ing form of the verb:

We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

for something which continued before and after another action:Page 136 of 279

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

Compare:

I got home. The children did their homework.andThe children did their homework when I got home.

As I was watching television the telephone rang.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

The other day I was waiting for a bus when

Last week as I was driving to work

for something that happened before and after a particular time:

It was eight oclock. I was writing a letter.

Compare:

At eight oclock I wrote some letters.

In July she was working in McDonalds.

.to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.

Everyone was shouting.

for something that was happening again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.

They were meeting secretly after school.

They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.

Her English was improving.

My hair was going grey.

The town was changing quickly.

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past perfect

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We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect:

I had finished the work.She had gone .

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The past perfect continuous is formed with had been and the -ing form of the verb:

I had been finishing the work

She had been going.

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it refers to a time in thepast, not the present.

We use the past perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.

She didnt want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

We normally use the past perfect continuous for this:

She didnt want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life.

Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

for something we had done several times up to a point in the past and continued to do

after that point:

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a teenager.

He had written three books and he was working on another one.

I had been watching the programme every week, but I missed the last episode.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

They had been staying with us since the previous week.

I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there since I left school.

I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed the last

episode.

when we are reporting our experience and including up to the (then) present:

My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.I was pleased to meet George. I hadnt met him before, even though I had met his wifeseveral times.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting:

I couldnt get into the house. I had lost my keys.

Teresa wasnt at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect to talk about the past in conditions, hypotheses and wi

british council english grammar

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