Learn English Vocabulary

Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 1 English Grammar Created: 03/01/2010 Last Updated: 05/25/2011 Last Updated by: Davis Lam Table of Contents MAKE AND LET 5 Other English verbs not followed by the infinitive + to 5 ENGLISH RELATIVE CLAUSES 6 Defining clauses 6 Non-defining relative clauses 8 TIME EXPRESSIONS IN ENGLISH 8 The present – permanent 9 The present – temporary 9 Talking about a period of time in the past 9 Talking about a single event in the past 9 Sequencing events in the past 9 Other expressions to refer to the next event in a story 10 People who are no longer "around" 11 ADJECTIVES 11 Problems 11 FREQUENCY 13 Putting these expressions into a sentence 14 ENGLISH ARTICLES 14 Grammar rule 1 15 Grammar rule 2 15 Grammar rule 3 15 More uses of articles in English 16 HOW TO MAKE COMPARISONS IN ENGLISH 17 Using qualifying expressions 18 SOME AND ANY 19 USING FEW / LITTLE IN ENGLISH 20 USING LOTS OF 21 LINKING WORDS 21 Giving examples 21 Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 2 Adding information 22 Summarising 23 Sequencing ideas 23 Giving a reason 24 Giving a result 25 Contrasting ideas 26 LIKE AND AS 27 "IF" SENTENCES 28 If + present form + present form 28 If + present form, + will, can or may 28 If + past form + would, could or might 28 If + past perfect + would/might/could have done 29 HOW TO USE PASSIVES IN ENGLISH 29 When to use the passive 30 Forming a passive sentence in English 30 PREPOSITIONS AND ADJECTIVES 31 English Grammar Tip 33 PREPOSITIONS OF TIME 33 Time 33 Place 34 Transport 35 LEARN ENGLISH PREPOSITIONS AND VERBS 35 DIRECT AND INDIRECT QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH 38 Direct questions – "wh" questions 39 Indirect questions in English 40 QUESTION TAGS 41 How to make question tags 41 Negative and positive tags 42 No auxiliary? 42 Pronunciation 42 REPORTED SPEECH 42 Tense changes 43 Reporting modal verbs 43 Reporting questions 44 Other changes 44 Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 3 USING WISH 45 Wish and present situations 45 Wish and past situations 45 Wish with modal verbs 45 HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR ENGLISH TENSES 46 Routine or permanent situations 46 Temporary or continuing situations 46 Connecting different times 47 PRESENT TENSES IN ENGLISH 47 PAST TENSES IN ENGLISH 48 Past Continuous Tense ("I was doing") 49 HOW TO USE THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSES IN ENGLISH 50 Uses of the Present Perfect 51 Using both tenses in a conversation 52 How to use the Present Perfect Continuous. 53 USING "HAD DONE" IN ENGLISH 53 USING FUTURE FORMS 55 Making predictions in English 55 Future plans and arrangements 55 Unplanned future 56 Future schedules 56 Events in progress at a time in the future 56 Events that will be completed by a time in the future 56 Final tip 57 USING THE IMPERATIVE FORM 57 HOW TO USE "USED TO" IN ENGLISH 59 HOW TO USE GERUNDS 60 After verbs 60 With 'from' and 'to' with some verbs 60 After prepositions 61 In some fixed expressions 61 Some verbs can use either the 'to do' or the 'ing' form 61 CHANGING THE MOOD OF A SENTENCE (MODALS) 62 How possible something is 63 How certain something is 63 Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 4 Offers and requests 63 Permission 64 Ability 64 Using should, must and need 64 Should 64 Must 64 Should have done 65 REFERENCES 65 Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 5 Make and let In English, the verbs "make" and "let" are followed by an object and the infinitive without "to": They can't make you work late. She made him do the exercise again. She lets the students sing in class. His parents let him paint his room black. Be careful: in the passive, "make" is followed by the infinitive with "to": They were made to do the exercise again. "Have" can also be used in this pattern: Please have your secretary call me as soon as possible. (Please ask your secretary to call me…) Other English verbs not followed by the infinitive + to Modal verbs (can, will, would, etc) are followed by the infinitive without "to": I can see him clearly. They will leave early tomorrow. If I were you, I would talk to her. (Click here for more information on modals.) See / hear / watch someone followed by the infinitive without "to": She saw the girl steal the money. (She saw all the action of stealing.) I heard him tell her about the party." (I heard all about the party.) I watched them do the exercise. (I watched them complete the exercise.) Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 6 But remember: If you follow these verbs with the gerund form (ing), you only see part of the action. She saw him talking to the teacher. (She didn't see the whole conversation.) English relative clauses There are two types of relative clauses in English: those that add extra information (non-defining relative clauses) and those that modify (or define) the subject of the sentence (defining relative clauses). Defining clauses These clauses define the noun and they identify which thing or person we are referring to. Things "The present which he bought me is beautiful." People "The man who has started an English course is from Spain." Using whom Whom is used to refer to the object of the verb. The people with whom I was sitting were very noisy. However, it is hardly ever used in spoken English. Instead, “who― is used with the preposition: The people who I was sitting with were very noisy. To whom are you speaking? = Who are you speaking to? Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 7 For whom are you buying the present? + Who are you buying the present for? Using that In spoken English, "that" is often used instead of "which", "whom"or "who". "The present that he bought me is beautiful." "The man that has started an English course is from Spain." When, where and whose When: Is there another time when (that) I can call you? Where: Can you tell me where I can buy wrapping paper? Whose: (possessive) Have you seen the TV show whose catchphrase is “Deal no deal?― Omitting that, who and which If the pronoun ("that", "who", "which") is the object of the verb, it can be omitted. "The company that she works for is based in London." ("That"is an object pronoun.) = "The company she works for is based in London." ("That"can be omitted.) But: "The company that employs her is based in London." ("That" is a subject pronoun.) The company employs her (the company is the subject). In this case, it is not possible to omit "that". You need the pronoun because it is the subject of the verb. Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 8 Non-defining relative clauses These clauses add further information. "My students, who are all adults, are learning English to get a better job." "The textbooks, which the students like, have lots of helpful examples." Commas are used to separate the relative clause from the rest of the sentence. "That" cannot be used instead of "who"or "which" in non-defining relative clauses. You can use “someâ€, “noneâ€, “all― and “manyâ€ with “of whichâ€ and “of whomâ€ to add extra information: My students, many of whom are from Europe, are learning English to get a better job. The textbooks, some of which the students like, have helpful examples. Comparing defining and non-defining relative clauses The meaning of the sentences changes if you use a non-defining clause rather than a defining clause. Compare the following: Non-defining The students, who had revised hard, passed the exam. (All the students revised and they all passed the exam. Defining The students who had revised hard passed the exam. (Only some of the students revised, and these were the ones who passed the exam.) Time expressions in English Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 9 There are many words and expressions to refer to time. You can use these to sequence events and to make stories and anecdotes more interesting. The present – permanent Use the present simple tense to refer to permanent situations in the present. I now live in a small town. Nowadays I live in a small town. These days, I don't have much of a social life. The present – temporary Use the present continuous tense to refer to temporary situations in the present. At present / At the moment I'm living in a small town. For the time being I'm living in a small town, but I hope to move soon. Talking about a period of time in the past My mother started work as a nurse in the 1960s. In those days she lived in London. Back then nurses were badly paid. At that time, nurses lived in special accommodation. Talking about a single event in the past At one time she lost her door key and had to stay in a hotel. On one occasion she nursed the son of a famous politician. Sequencing events in the past There are many ways to sequence events in the past. Here are some of the more common ones. Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 10 After (in the middle of a sentence) Afterwards / After that / After a while (at the beginning of a sentence) Then / Before (in the middle or at the beginning of a sentence) Before that / Previously / Until then (At the beginning of a sentence) By the time (in the middle of a sentence followed by a past perfect tense) By then / by that time (at the beginning of a sentence) I went shopping after I finished work. I worked all day in the office. Afterwards / After that, I went shopping. I went shopping. After a while, I got bored. I worked before I went shopping. I went shopping at 6pm. Before that / Previously / Until then I had worked all day in the office. I worked all day, then I went shopping. I was desperate to go shopping by the time I had finished work. I worked until 6pm. By then / By that time, I was glad for the opportunity to go shopping. Other expressions to refer to the next event in a story Later on Before long At that moment / Suddenly Meanwhile At the same time Simultaneously (a more formal way of saying meanwhile / at the same time) I worked and then went shopping. Later on I met some friends for pizza. I waited for a while in the restaurant. Before long, the waiter came up and asked me… At that moment / Suddenly, I heard the door slam. Meanwhile / At the same time / Simultaneously my phone started to ring. [...]... end of a sentence For example, "I go to restaurants from time to time." English Articles P a g e | 14 Learn English Vocabulary In English, knowing when to use 'a' or 'the' can be difficult Fortunately, there are rules to help you, but you need to know what type of noun you are using Grammar rule 1 When you have a single, countable English noun, you must always have an article before it We cannot say... can do about it now English speakers use this type of sentence to show how things could have been different How to use Passives in English Compare these two English sentences: Active = "The doctor gave me a prescription" Passive = "I was given a prescription" In the first sentence, the focus is on 'the doctor' In the second sentence, the focus is on 'I' P a g e | 29 Learn English Vocabulary When to... her to do that for you – she always offers to help." P a g e | 32 Learn English Vocabulary English Grammar Tip The secret of remembering the right preposition in English grammar is through practice Try to use them as much as possible and you'll soon be saying them without having to think Prepositions of time Using the right preposition in English can be a problem Here are the most common ones used to... g e | 34 Learn English Vocabulary across "Walk across the road, to the other side." round / around "It's round the corner – you can't see it from here." Transport on a train, a bus, a plane, a bicycle get on / off a train / a bus / a plane / a bike in a car get in / out of a car go by car / train / plane / bus go on foot Learn English Prepositions and Verbs This list will help you remember English verbs... understand) In spoken English, we can also say not many, or only a few to mean "few" and "only a little" or "not much" to mean "little" P a g e | 20 Learn English Vocabulary When we make comparisons, we use fewer for plural nouns and less for uncountable nouns For example, "There are fewer people here than last year" or "he drinks less coffee than I do" Using Lots of In spoken English we often use lots... do you feel? Fine." (well) "Finely chop the tomatoes." (in small pieces) Free "The english- at-home.com website is free of charge." (no money needed) "Children can play freely in this park." (no limits to their freedom) High "We'll need to raise prices high in order to survive." (high prices) P a g e | 12 Learn English Vocabulary "I think highly of him." (a high opinion) "He's highly paid." (very well... 1960's, the population explosion will cause some problems." P a g e | 27 Learn English Vocabulary We can use as in certain expressions, such as "as you know", "as you requested", "as we agreed" We also use as… as to give comparisons For example, "He's as clever as his sister." "If" sentences There are four main types of if sentences in English, often called conditional sentences These sentences are in two... "If I got a pay rise, I would buy a new car." "If you left your job, you could travel around the world." P a g e | 28 Learn English Vocabulary "If you were nicer to him, he might lend you the money." In these sentences, the first part with if shows that the event is unlikely to happen In English, we often use this type of sentence (called a second conditional) to talk about hypotheses, or imaginary future... nouns "A good student." "A nice day." "He is interesting." Adverbs describe verbs or adjectives "He eats well." "She learns quickly." "I'm really tired." Problems 1 Some adjectives and adverbs have the same form "She's a fast driver." (adj) "She drives fast." (adv) P a g e | 11 Learn English Vocabulary "TOEFL is a hard exam." (adj) "The students work hard." (adv) "She has straight hair." (adj) "He went... /are Present continuous – is / are being Present perfect – has / have been P a g e | 30 Learn English Vocabulary Simple past – was / were Past continuous – was / were being Modals will, can etc – will be, can be etc Then add the past participle of the verb For example "gave" – "given" Prepositions and adjectives In English grammar, it's sometimes hard to remember which preposition is used with which . expressions into a sentence 14 ENGLISH ARTICLES 14 Grammar rule 1 15 Grammar rule 2 15 Grammar rule 3 15 More uses of articles in English 16 HOW TO MAKE COMPARISONS IN ENGLISH 17 Using qualifying. Learn English Vocabulary. P a g e | 1 English Grammar Created: 03/01/2010 Last Updated: 05/25/2011 Last Updated by: Davis Lam Table of Contents MAKE AND LET 5 Other English verbs. have done 29 HOW TO USE PASSIVES IN ENGLISH 29 When to use the passive 30 Forming a passive sentence in English 30 PREPOSITIONS AND ADJECTIVES 31 English Grammar Tip 33 PREPOSITIONS OF TIME