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Remember: Any sentence in English has a fixed WORD ORDER: S V (Subject + Verb)
or a bit more complete: S V O C (Subject + Verb + Object(s) + Complements)
Subj Ver Indirect Direct Manner Place Time
ect b Object Object (How) (Where) (When)
We gav them the test quietly in the on
e library Tuesday
Les dimos los exmenes tranquilamente en la Biblioteca el martes.
or
Subj Ver Direct t Indirect Manner Place Time
ect b Object o Object (How) (Where) (When)
We gav the test t them quietly in the on
e o library Tuesday
Les dimos los exmenes tranquilamente en la Biblioteca el martes.
The subject of a sentence or clause is the part of the sentence or clause about which something is being said. It is usually
the doer of the action. It is a noun or a pronoun. It answers the question WHO?
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows the result of the action. It answers the
question "WHAT?" or "WHOM?" after an action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb. It
usually refers to THINGS.
An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells TO WHOM or FOR WHOM the action of the verb is done and who is
receiving the direct object. There must be a direct object to have an indirect object. Indirect objects are usually found with
verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, send, get, buy, build, take, or offer. An indirect object is always a
noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase. It usually refers to PEOPLE.
WH- QUESTIONS
WHO ...? Quin? WHAT KIND ...? Qu tipo de? HOW WIDE ...? Cunto mide de
ancho?
WHAT ...? Qu? WHAT TIME ...? Qu hora? HOW HIGH ...? Qu alto? Hasta
dnde?
WHEN ...? Cundo? HOW ...? Cmo? HOW FAR ...? A qu distancia?
WHERE ...? Dnde? HOW MANY ...? Cuntos? HOW FAST ...? Qu rpido?
WHY ...? Por qu? HOW MUCH ...? Cunto? HOW BIG ...? Qu grande?
WHICH ...? HOW OFTEN ...? Con qu frecuencia? HOW SMALL ...? Qu pequeo?
Cul(es)?
WHOSE ...? De HOW LONG ...? Cunto tiempo? De qu HOW HEAVY ...? Cunto pesa?
quin? largo?
YES/NO QUESTIONS
The answer to the question is "Yes" or "No"
(Do/does/Did/Am/Are/Is/Was/Were ... ?
Auxiliary Subjec Main Short answer
verb t verb
Do you want dinner? Yes, I do.
Can you drive? No, I can't.
Has she finished her work? Yes, she has.
Did they go home? No, they didn't.
Exception! verb be simple present and simple
past
Is Anne French? Yes, she is.
Was Ram at home? No, he wasn't.
INFORMATION QUESTIONS
The answer to the question is information. They start with Wh-
(except How).
Question Auxiliary Subj Main Short answer
word verb ect verb information
Review - Grammar, page 1
Where do you live? In Paris.
When will we have lunc At 1pm.
h?
Who did she meet? She met Mark.
Why hasn't Tara done it? Because she
can't.
Exception! verb be simple present and simple past
Where is Bombay? In India.
How was she? Very well.
CHOICE QUESTIONS
The answer to the question is "in the question".
Auxiliary Subj Main O Short answer
verb ect verb r
Do you want tea O coffee? Coffee, please.
r
Will we meet John O James? John.
r
Did she go to O New She went to
London r York? London.
Exception! verb be simple present and simple past
Is your car white O black? It's black.
r
Were they $15 O $50? $15.
r
SUBJECT QUESTIONS
When who or what is the subject of the question, we use the affirmative
form of the verb.
Who gave you the money?
OBJECT QUESTIONS
When who or what is the object of the question, we use the interrogative
form of the verb.
What did Mark give you for your birthday?
SHORT ANSWERS.
We repeat the first word in the question. We dont usually answer a
Yes/No Question in full:
Was James late? - Yes, he was / No, he wasnt.
Did you read the book? Yes, I did / No, I didnt.
AUXILIARY VERBS.
To be (am/are/is) - Ser; estar
was/were - been
To have - had - had Tener; haber
To do - did - done Aux. para preguntas;
hacer
MODAL AUXILIARIES
Can Poder; saber (presente).
Could Pasado de CAN.
May Poder (presente).
Might Pasado de MAY.
Must Deber (presente).
Had to Pasado de MUST
Shall Auxiliar de futuro en 1 persona.
Should Auxiliar de condicional; debera.
Will Auxiliar de futuro.
Would Auxiliar de condicional.
Need Tener que (presente).
Dare Atreverse (presente).
Used to Soler (presente)
DEMONSTRATIVES
THIS [s] ste, -a, -o are used to talk about / point to people, animals or things which are
THESE Esos, -as near us.
[:z]
THAT [t] Ese, -a, -o; aqul, -la, are used to talk about / point to people, animals or things which are
-lo far away from us.
THOSE Esos, -as; aquellos, -as
[uz]
PREPOSITION +
-ING
Im tired of doing this.
Have a drink before
leaving.
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES/PRONOUNS
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES/PRONOUNS show that something belongs to somebody or the relationship
between two or more people.
We put possessive adjectives:
a) before nouns. Possessive pronouns are not followed by nouns.
Review - Grammar, page 4
This is my bag. This bag is mine.
b) with personal objects:
He is putting his shoes on.
c) with body parts:
Ive cut my finger.
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS are not used before
nouns. They can be:
a) SUBJECT:
Is that her car? No, hers is red.
b) OBJECT:
If you havent brought a dictionary, you can
borrow mine.
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS are used:
a) after certain verbs (kill, cut, behave, burn, enjoy, hurt, look at, teach, etc) when the subject and the object of
the verb are the same person.
He is enjoying himself tonight.
b) when the subject and object are the same person:
I looked at myself in the mirror.
c) to mean without help:
We made this ourselves.
EMPHATIC PRONOUNS
EMPHATIC PRONOUNS are used at the end of the sentence or after the noun
phrase they refer to, to emphasize the noun or the fact that one person and not
another performs the action.
He can fix the car (by) himself = l puede arreglar el coche.
RECIPROCAL PRONOUNS
They express an interchangeable or mutual action or relationship. They show that an action is two-way. There are two forms
and each has a possessive case:
each other one another
each other's one another's
Examples:
Mark and Dave greeted each other OR Mark and Dave greeted one another.
Mark and Dan were embarrassed that they had forgotten each other's names OR Mark and Dan were embarrassed that they
had forgotten one another's names.
FREQUENCY ADVERBS
Always, almost always, usually, generally, normally, frequently, often, sometimes, occasionally, hardly ever,
rarely, seldom, ever, never, etc.
Frequency Adverb + Verb:
I always study English in my bedroom (Siempre estudio ingls en mi dormitorio).
Auxiliary (To be, To have, can, could, will, etc.) + Frequency Adverb:
I am never late (Nunca llego tarde).
ADVERBIAL PHRASES
once a week, twice a fortnight, three times a month,
twelve times a year, etc.
Adverbial Phrases usually go at the end, although they can go
at the beginning.
POSSESSIVE CASE
We use the possessive case:
a) to show that something belongs to somebody
Marys bag.
b) to explain the relationship between two or more people
Toms uncle.
c) to talk about shops and houses
Hes at the bakers (=Hes at the bakers shop)
We are at Bobs (=We are at Bobs house).
It is formed in two ways:
a) with s for people and animals.
Jims flat.
b) with the preposition of for things.
The legs of the table.
Singular nouns or proper nouns take s but when the proper noun ends in s we add s or only an apostrophe ().
Emilys car.
Doriss hat or Doris hat.
Plural nouns ending in s take (apostrophe). Irregular plural nouns take s.
The girls house.
The mens boat.
When the same thing belongs to two or more people we add s only to the last noun.
Paul and Tinas house. (the house belongs to both of them)
When two or more things belong to two or more people and we want to show that each person has his/her own
thing we add s to each noun.
Marys and Sarahs roller skates. (each girl has her own roller skates)
When we want to know to whom something belongs we use the question word whose.
Whose horse is this? Its Helens.
ARTICLE.
Definite (THE) THE [] + Hablando en sentido general, THE se omite delante de:
consonant Nombres abstractos:
THE [:] + vowel Love is wonderful (El amor es maravilloso).
Nombres incontables:
I don't like meat (No me gusta la carne).
Nombres en plural:
I like sports (Me gustan los deportes).
Hablando en sentido particular nunca se omite THE:
The meat at our supermarket is cheap (La carne en nuestro supermercado
es barata).
Indefinite (A, A + consonant No tiene plural, pero en su lugar se utiliza SOME:
Review - Grammar, page 6
AN) An + vowel Some boys are playing in the garden (Unos muchachos estn jugando en el
jardn).
Se utiliza delante de nombres de profesiones:
Shes a teacher (Es profesora).
We use some, any and no with uncountable nouns (e.g. bread, sugar, etc.) and plural countable nouns (e.g. pens, cars, etc.)
Some bread (a little bread).
Some cherries (a few cherries).
Some means a little or a few. We use some in positive statements.
Ive got some money. (=Ive got a little money).
We use any in questions and not any in negations.
Have you got any money? No, I havent got any money.
We can use no instead of not any in negations.
I havent got any money. / I have go no money.
Note: We use some in questions when we are making an offer or when we are asking for something.
Would you like some coffee? (offer)
Can I have some coffee, please? (request)
Somebody/someone (a person), something (a thing) and somewhere (in/to/at a place) are used in positive statements.
There is somebody at the door.
Anybody/anyone, anything and anywhere are used in questions and negations.
Is there anything on the table?
Nobody/no one, nothing and nowhere can be used in negations instead of not anybody/not anything/not anywhere.
There isnt anything on the table = There is nothing on the table.
I cant see anybody in the garden = I can see nobody in the garden.
Years
We read them in pairs:
1935 = Nineteen thirty-five.
2010 = Twenty ten or two thousand and ten.
Telephone numbers
We read them figure by figure or in pairs. 0 is read as oh. We say double when the same figure is repeated.
ADJECTIVES ADVERBS
Adjectives describe nouns; they say what kind a Adverbs describe verbs; they explain how (adverbs of
noun is. manner), where (adverbs of place), when (adverbs of
ADJECTIVES GO BEFORE NOUNS. time) or how often (adverbs of frequency) someone does
They can also be used alone after the verb TO BE. something or something happens.
They have the same for in the singular and plural. ADVERBS GO AFTER VERBS.
They have a big house. (a house big) He walks slowly. (Adverb of manner).
He is poor. John is here. (Adverb of place).
They are poor. (poors) He wakes up early. (Adverb of time).
Sometimes the adverb goes BEFORE the verb, e.g. the
adverbs of frequency (often, always, etc.)
She often visits her parents.
ORDER OF ADJECTIVES
OPINION adjectives (bad, good, etc.) go before FACT adjectives (old, red,
etc.)
She bought a beautiful red dress.
When there are two or more FACT adjectives, they go in the following order:
size age shape colour origin material noun
This is a large old rectangular brown french wooden bed
ORDER OF ADVERBS.
Adverbs of frequency (often, usually, etc.) go after auxiliary verbs but
before main verbs.
She is never late. He never comes late.
When there are more than two adverbs, they go in the following order:
Manner Place Time
She sat lazily by the pool all day.
When there is a verb of movement, then the order is:
Place Manner Time
He walks home quickly every afternoon.
AS AS / NOT AS AS.
When we want to say that two people or things are the same, we use as as.
Helen is as tall as Kate.
In negations we use not as as.
Mary is not as clever as Julie.
FORMATION OF ADVERBS.
a) We usually form an adverb by adding ly to the adjective. slow > slowly.
b) Adjectives ending in le drop the e and take y. simple > simply.
c) Adjectives ending in consonant + y drop the y and take -ily. angry > angrily.
d) Adjectives ending in l take ly. careful > carefully.
TOO / ENOUGH
TOO + ADJECTIVE / ADVERB means more than is wanted. The implication is
always negative.
Hes too young to travel alone. (He cant travel alone)
He drove too slowly to win the race. (He didnt drive fast enough to
win the race)
ADJECTIVE / ADVERB + ENOUGH means as much as is wanted.
Shes old enough to drive a car. (She can drive a car)
He left early enough to catch the train. (He left early so he was
able to catch the train)
ENOUGH + NOUN
Hes got enough money to buy a car.
PHRASAL VERBS
A Phrasal Verb is a verb plus a preposition or adverb which creates a meaning different from the original verb. When you see
a phrasal verb for the first time you should study the context of use, and check the meaning in a dictionary. They are
particularly common in informal writing and speech.
I ran into my teacher at the movies last night. run + into = meet
He ran away when he was 15. run + away = leave home
Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. An intransitive verb cannot be followed by an object.
He suddenly showed up. "show up" cannot take an object
Some phrasal verbs are transitive. A transitive verb can be followed by an object.
I made up the story. "story" is the object of "make up"
Some transitive phrasal verbs are separable. The object is placed between the verb and the preposition.
I talked my mother into letting me borrow the car. talk into = persuade
She looked the phone number up. look up = find out by looking in something such as a reference book or a list
Some transitive phrasal verbs are inseparable. The object is placed after the preposition.
I ran into an old friend yesterday. run + into = meet
They are looking into the problem. look into = find out about it and examine the facts relating to it
Some transitive phrasal verbs can take an object in both places.
I looked the number up in the phone book. look up = find out by looking in something such as a reference book
or a list
Review - Grammar, page 12
I looked up the number in the phone book. look up = find out by looking in something such as a reference book
or a list
WARNING! Although many phrasal verbs can take an object in both places, you must put the object between the verb and the
preposition if the object is a pronoun.
I looked the number up in the phone book.
I looked up the number in the phone book.
I looked it up in the phone book. correct
I looked up it in the phone book. Incorrect
CONDITIONAL SENTENCES
TYPE OF CONDITION EXAMPLE
MAIN CLAUSE
SENTENCES AL CLAUSE
Future simple (will) If you marry me, you will be happy.
Real or possible Present Present simple If you marry me, you are very sensible.
sentences simple Imperative (Infinitive without To) If you marry me, get ready for adventure!
Modal (can, may, etc.) in present If you marry me, you can be happy.
Hypothetical or Conditional simple (would speak) If you lived in Tenerife, you would love it.
improbable Past simple Modal in past simple (would, could, might, If you lived in Tenerife, you could visit me.
sentences etc.)
Impossible Past Conditional perfect (would have spoken) If I had seen the mistake, I would have
sentences perfect Modal with infinitive perfect (could have corrected it.
spoken,etc.) If I had seen the mistake, I could have
corrected it.
whether can be used instead of if when we want to express two different options:
Whether you come with me or not, ill have a great time.
was/were when be is the verb used in the conditional clause, we use the form were for all persons of the verb,
although we can use was for the first and third person singular in spoken language:
If i were a rich man, i would buy an airplane.
unless if the condition is negative, we use the conjunction unless instead of if not:
If i dont have breakfast, im hungry all day.
Unless i have breakfast, im hungry all day.
even if is used instead of if to give emphasis to the condition:
Please come to my party, even if its only for a little while.
as long as, these expressions mean only if a given condition is fulfilled:
providing/provided You can borrow it as long as you look after it.
(that) I have a place at university provided i pass my exams.
wish/ if only to refer to present situations > wish/if only + subject + past simple:
I wish he were there.
to refer to past situations > wish/if only + subject + past perfect:
If only he had been here.
to refer to future situations > wish/if only + subject + would/could + infinitive:
I wish he could be here tomorrow.
these sentences express wishes:
I wish he were there. / if only he were there.
when we use the form would / wouldnt, we express criticism about someones behaviour:
If only he would shut up!
PASSIVE VOICE
It is formed with the verb TO BE and the past participle of the main verb. The object (direct or/and indirect) of the verb in the
active sentence becomes the subject of the verb in the passive sentence:
They gave Ms Roberts all the information she needed.
Ms Roberts was given all the information she needed.
To specify who or what did the action we include the preposition by before the agent:
The new library was opened by the mayor.
This book was published by Macmillan.
The passive voice is used more frequently in English than in Spanish, where the tendency is to use the active voice or the
impersonal structure with se:
The children were picked up at four.
Smoking isnt allowed.
To change an active sentence into a passive one, the trick is to write the same tense of the verb TO BE + Past
participle of the main verb.
We use it when the action is more important then the person or persons who did it or when we do not know who did the
action or when it is obvious who did it.
She was prescribed antibiotics. (It is obvious that the doctor prescribed them)
HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE is used to express things that other people do for us:
I got my hair cut at the salon near school.
They had their house painted last year.
We use IT IS + PARTICIPLE + THAT + CLAUSE when the subject is unknown or generic:
It is said that travelling broadens ones mind.
We use SUBJECT + BE + PARTICIPLE + TO + INFINITIVE when there is a specific subject:
Four leaf clovers are believed to bring good luck.
sends
ACTIVE John the money
Verb
SENTENCE Subject Direct Object
(active)
REPORTED SPEECH
STATEMENTS
reporting verb + (that)
They admitted that they had
seen her.
reporting verb + object (+that)
She told him you were in
Madrid.
reporting verb + (not) to + infinitive
We promised not to make a
noise.
reporting verb + object + (not) to + infinitive
They reminded us to send her a
card.
ORDERS, REQUESTS
reporting verb + object + (not) to + infinitive
He told him not to do it again.
reporting verb + (that) + subject + base
form of the verb
I demanded that they
apologize.
QUESTIONS
reporting verb + if/whether + subject + verb
Sue asked if we wanted a drink.
reporting verb + wh- + subject + verb
She wondered what the
problem was.
SUGGESTIONS
reporting verb + -ing
They suggested meeting up.
reporting verb (+that) + subject + base form
of the verb
I suggested that she speak to
him.