108 Grammar reference

Welcomelike + –ing

The verb like can be followed by a noun or a verb in the –ing form.

What do you like doing? I like swimming.Do you like swimming? Yes, I do./No, I don’t.

Conjunctions

We use and to join two equal adjectives, phrases or sentences.

She’s kind and clever.

We use but to contrast two adjectives, phrases or sentences.

He’s bossy but kind.

We use because to give a reason for something.

I like you because you’re kind.

Describing people

We use look like to ask about people’s physical characteristics.

We use the verb be with adjectives and the verb have got with nouns.What does she look like? She is tall and has got blue eyes.What do they look like? They are good-looking and have got dark hair.

We use is/are to talk about people’s personality characteristics.

He’s sporty and clever.They’re shy.

Unit 1

Grammar reference

Adverbs of frequency

We use always, usually, often, sometimes and never to talk about the frequency in which we do something, or how regularly something happens.

I always brush my teeth.I usually make my bed.I often go to bed early.I sometimes tidy my room.I never take out the rubbish.

Note the position of adverbs of frequency in positive and negative sentences and in questions:

+I always brush my teeth.

–I don’t usually make my bed.

?Do you often go to bed early? (Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.)

Talking about possession

We can use -’s for a singular noun and -s’ for a plural noun.

my sister’s kitemy parents’ house

Unit 3be good at + -ing

We say that someone is good at doing something. After the preposition at we use the –ingform of the verb.

What are you good at? I’m good at playing computer games. I’m not good at acting.What is he/she good at? He/She’s good at climbing. He/She isn’t good at acting.

Unit 2Present simple

We use the present simple to talk about habits and routines.

He/She/It does his/her/its homework. He doesn’t do his homework. We/They brush our/their teeth. They don’t brush their hair.

Grammar reference

some/any

We use some and any to refer to an unspecified number of items. We use some in positive sentences.

We use any in negative sentences and questions.

+There are some volcanoes.

–There aren’t any deserts.

?Are there any lakes? Yes, there are. / No, there aren’t.

Plural nouns

To change nouns from singular to plural:

For most nouns, we add –s.desert > deserts

For nouns ending in –ch, –sh, –s, –x and –o, we add –es.beach > beaches ; brush > brushes ; bus > buses ; box > boxes ; volcano > volcanoes

For nouns ending in a consonant + -y, we add –ies.city > cities

For nouns ending in –f and –fe, we take off –f and –fe add –ves.scarf > scarves ; wife > wives

For some nouns, we change the word to make the plural.child > children ; person > people

there is/are

We use there is and there are to express quantity when we refer to nouns.

+There is a book.There is one book.There are four books.

–There isn’t a book.There isn’t one book.There aren’t four books.

?Is there a book? Yes, there is. / No, there isn’t.Is there one book? Yes, there is. / No, there isn’t.Are there four books? Yes, there are. / No, there aren’t.

Unit 4

this/these and that/those

We use this/these to talk about things that are close to the speaker.This tracksuit is mine.These gloves are yours.

We use that/those to talk about things that are further away from the speaker. We can contrast with this/these.This book is mine and that book is yours.These books are hers and those books are his.

Unit 5

Grammar reference

Past simple (irregular verbs)

For irregular verbs, we have to learn the past form:

make > made ; have > had ; come > came ; give > gave ; see > saw ; sing > sang ; bring > brought ; meet > met ; eat > ate ; get > got ; fall > fell ; take > took ; can > could

The past simple of be is was/were.

I was ; you were ; he/she/it was ; we were ; they were

Unit 6

Past simple be: questions

We use was/were to ask closed Yes/No questions in the past simple form of the verb be.

Was it scary? Yes, it was. / No, it wasn’t.Were they the winners? Yes, they were. / No, they weren’t.

We can use was/were to ask about past activities.

Was the film interesting? Yes, it was. / No, it wasn’t.

We can use Was there / Were there to ask about things that existed in the past.

Was there an alien it it? Yes, there was. / No, there wasn’t.Were there any children in the story? Yes, there were. / No, there weren’t.

Unit 7

too + adjective

We can use too with adjective to talk about what something is like.

It’s too expensive. They’re too long.

Past simple: time expressions

We can use different time expressions in the past simple.

She was in a film two days/months/years ago.He was in a Spanish team last week/month/year.in the morning/June/the spring/2008 on Thursday/16th Januaryat five o’clock/night

Unit 8