LIMBA ENGLEZĂ

CURS PRACTIC

ENGLISH PRACTICAL COURSE

Asist. univ. Larisa PINTILIE

INTRODUCTION

Equally due to the general bias and specificity (as the main applied component of the
curriculum), and to the inherent interdisciplinary perspective, the course compulsorily implies
the integration of the following coordinates of design:
- various activities targeted upon actualizing, refining and/or supplementing certain areas of
knowledge within the fields of (derivational) morphology, syntax and semantics by means of
restructuring, reshaping, and resizing information in accordance to a strictly applied orientation,
and thus creating a functional interface with theoretical disciplines;
- a focus upon improving and diversifying the students’ training in translation practice, with the
entailing beneficial effects upon the enriching of specialized language vocabulary in various
domains;
- exercising the abilities involved in the complex analysis of content and in text commentary,
activating the deductive, intuitive and communicative skills, testing coherence and logical
processes in ideation and argumentation, stimulating the creative potential. In close relationship
with the last issue, the structure of the course will also include several topics (and guidelines) for
essays and/or debates.

OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

The characteristic of the course being the pre-eminently applied dimension, its central
goal resides in enhancing linguistic performance at lexical-semantic, grammatical (phonetic,
morphological, syntactic), and stylistic levels. In order to improve actualizing abilities, both the
systematic acquisition of new information, and the sustained activation, development and
integration of already acquired knowledge are going to be envisaged. By means of the diverse
thematic content and the selected texts, a certain benefit in terms of students’ general cultural
background is also targeted.
GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE UNITS AND MODULES

The macro-structural organization of the course consists of six broadly encompassing

units (see Contents of the course). These units are all internally articulated in conformity to an
iterative sequence of didactic modules (the text, vocabulary, grammar, essay / debate modules),
the methodological characteristic of which resides in their more often than not presupposing an
integrative level in what concerns the basic skills (reading, listening, speaking, writing).
Therefore, a unit will (in general) contain:
a) a text of 1½-2 pages – constituting the nucleus of the unit, and representing the object of a
complex analysis (lexical and grammatical aspects, relevant stylistic features, content
commentary –, which text will be preceded by introductory requirements featuring a
thematically orienting role, and followed by a set of assignments meant to facilitate and guide the
analysis;
b) vocabulary study and practice;
c) the grammar section (brief theoretical presentation / revision and exercises);
d) topics for essays / debates
CONTENTS OF THE COURSE

LIFE AND TECHNOLOGY

Pilot text: Computers Will Know Us Better than We Know Ourselves, National Post
Grammar Module: The Article (The Definite Article; The Indefinite Article; The Zero Article)

MAN AS ARTIST

Pilot text: The Listener, by John Berry

Grammar Module: The Noun (Classification of Nouns; Number of Nouns; Case of Nouns. The
Genitive; Gender of Nouns)

MAN IN THE MIDST OF NATURE

Pilot text: Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine, by D. H. Lawrence

Grammar Module: The Adjective (Comparison of Adjectives; Classification of Adjectives;
Position of Adjectives; Adjective order)

THE SUPERNATURAL. ANSWERS FROM BEYOND REALITY. (I)

Pilot text: The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

Grammar Module: The Pronoun (I) (The personal pronoun; The possessive pronoun and the
possessive adjective; The interrogative pronoun and the interrogative adjective; The
demonstrative pronoun and the demonstrative adjective)

THE SUPERNATURAL. ANSWERS FROM BEYOND REALITY. (II)

Pilot text: The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis

Grammar Module: The Pronoun (II) (The reflexive pronoun; The reciprocal pronoun; The
indefinite pronoun and the indefinite adjective)

SCIENCE. ANSWERS FROM REALITY. (I)

Pilot text: The Five Frontiers of Space by Edward C. Stone

Grammar Module: The Numeral (The Cardinal Numeral; The Ordinal Numeral; The
Fractional Numeral; The Multiplicative Numeral)
SCIENCE. ANSWERS FROM REALITY. (II)

Pilot text: Earliest Fire Sheds Light on Hominids by Nadja Neumann

Grammar Module: The Verb (I)
Tenses of the Indicative Mode (Present Simple; Present Continuous; Present Perfect Simple;
Present Perfect Continuous)

LAW, CULTURE AND CONVENTIONS. ANSWERS FROM THE OTHERS.

(I)

Pilot text: How a Law-less ‘Data Haven’ Is Using Law to Protect Itself
by Gary Slapper
Grammar Module: The Verb (II)
Tenses of the Indicative Mode (Past Simple; Past Continuous; Past Perfect Simple; Past
Perfect Continuous)

LAW, CULTURE AND CONVENTIONS. ANSWERS FROM THE OTHERS. (II)

Pilot text: Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley

Grammar Module: The Verb (III)
Tenses of the Indicative Mode (Future Simple; Future Continuous; Future Perfect Simple;
Future in the Past; Other means of expressing the future)

LAW, CULTURE AND CONVENTIONS. ANSWERS FROM THE OTHERS. (III)

Pilot text: Of the Effects of Custom by David Hume

Grammar Module: Sequence of Tenses

THE ESSAY - Guidelines in academic writing

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

REFERENCES
Life and Technology

Computers Will Know Us Better than We Know Ourselves, National Post

The day is not far off when your computer will be a better judge of your mood and
desires than your spouse, according to some of the top minds in the computer industry.
"Computers will know us better than we know ourselves and will make the best decisions for
us", said Ted Selker, an IBM Fellow. "It's already starting to happen."
He envisions a personal computer that knows when you're happy or sad. Or a clothing
rack in a department store that understands your tastes and preferences better than you do. Or a
car phone that knows not to distract you when you're weaving through traffic. Or even a steak
knife that sniffs out bad meat before you eat it. Selker recently organized a gathering of the
industry's elite at IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California, for the seventh annual
New Paradigms for Using Computers Workshop. The event attracted such visionaries as Gordon
Bell of Microsoft and Will Wright, creator of the popular SimCity software game. Rosalind
Picard, a presenter at the conference and a professor at the Massachussets Institute of
Technology Media Lab, said we are fast approaching the age of "affective computing".
Essentially, this means people will begin to interact with computers the same way they do with
other humans.
"When someone gives you advice at a bad time or when you're really busy, you may try
to ignore them or glare at them to go away", said Picard. "Usually, they'll get the gist and back
off." Computers do not have the emotional intelligence to pick up on these signals. These days
computers that try to show signs of "intelligence" often end up by being annoying. For example,
a user of Microsoft Word may occasionally be bombarded with random messages that pop up on
the screen with instructions on how to work with the software. There is nothing to prevent the
messages appearing at a time when the user does not want to be disturbed. That's why a host of
technologists, including Picard, are striving to teach computers to recognize human feelings and
react in the appropriate manner. So how should a computer act? According to Picard, it should
act like a dog.
 "When you come home from work, your dog is so happy to see you," she said. "But if
you're in a bad mood, your dog will somehow sense that and assume an empathetic position.
Machines, too, must give the illusion of empathy and sympathy."
At the workshop, IBM displayed for the first time its Emotion Mouse, which can measure
heart rate and body temperature and ultimately sense whether the user is happy, sad, angry,
fearful or perplexed. Though still a prototype, the Emotion Mouse may be ready to hit the market
within two years, say the scientists of IBM. As for a practical application, IBM believes the
product could be ideal for people who work in call centres. "The goal of a call centre manager is
to take his people off the job before they go berserk," said Chris Dryer of IBM. "Emotion Mouse
can sense when call centre reps are getting frustrated and can let them know they should take a
break."
IBM is also in the early stages of piloting another intelligent system called Simple User
Interest Tracker (Suitor) that pays attention to a computer user's behaviour and actions. Through
a miniature camera embedded in a monitor, Suitor carefully follows the user's gaze to determine
his or her interests and information needs. The tracking system is called "Blue Eyes."
If you are reading an online magazine, for example, Suitor can monitor your eye gaze to
determine where on the screen you are looking and then do an external web search on its own to
find additional information about that topic.
Though still in its infancy, computer intelligence is not science fiction, Selker said.
"The price of sensors and cameras has gone way down," he said. "I can get these things for a
couple bucks."
But do we really want our computers to think and feel and act like us? In the words of
one conference participant: "The world is artificial enough. I fear we'll be drifting off even
farther into a world of fake emotions and feelings."

San Francisco Chronicle

National Post, July 31/1999
APPLICATIONS

 Reading Comprehension
1. Which is the main idea of the article?
2. Make up a list of "for" and "against" arguments as far as the "emotion
mouse" is concerned.
3. What is "Blue Eyes"? And how do you think it will change man's life?
4. Do you agree or disagree with the final statement? Argument your answer.

 Look up the following words in a dictionary.

• to envision rack berserk
• to weave gist artificial
• to sniff empathy fake
• to glare infancy additional
• to strive spouse ultimately

 Vocabulary Practice
1. Paraphrase the following sentences.
a) My dressmaker made me an off the rack suit.
b) After the car accident she is on the rack.
c) I have been racking my brains trying to remember his name.
d) This country is going to rack and ruin. We need a change of Government.
Give other collocations with "rank".

2. Give synonyms of the italicised phrasal verb in the following sentences.

a) I wouldn't sniff at a chance of a job.
b) He sniffed up the cocaine in no time.
 c) The police sniffed out the kidnapper.

 Grammar Module
The Article (Articolul)
Articolul este determinantul cel mai frecvent al substantivului şi în limba
engleză modernă el poate fi reprezentat fie prin forme explicite, exprimate
(articolul hotărât şi articolul nehotărât), fie printr-o formă „zero", implicit
sau neexprimată (articolul zero). Atât articolul hotărât (the) cât şi cel nehotărât
(a, an) sunt forme neflexibile (nu au desinenţe) şi proclitice (aşezate înaintea
substantivului).

The Definite Article (Articolul hotărât)

Articolul hotărât din limba engleză este the, echivalentul articolului hotărât
enclitic din limba
română -ul (omul, pomul, castelul), -a (tabla, masa, podoaba), -ua (sacaua, daraua),
-le (peretele, scaietele), sau, la plural, -ii (pomii, scaieţii, merii), -le (femeile, florile)
etc.
The se pronunţă [tză:] înaintea sunetelor (nu a literelor) consonantice (the house
-casa, the mountain- muntele, the straw hat -pălăria de paie) sau
semiconsonantice (the union -unirea; uniunea, the wall -peretele; zidul, the
university -universitatea) şi [tzi] înaintea sunetelor vocalice (the orchid
-orhideea, the eye -ochiul, the important question -chestiunea importantă, the
honour -onoarea, the hour -ora, ceasul). Atunci când este puternic subliniat, the
se citeşte [tzi:] (I said 'the', not 'that').

1. The form of the definite article: The English definite article is the:
the man the clock
the egg the heir
2. Uses of the definite article:
a) with nouns already mentioned or known to the speaker:
I saw a girl at the window. The girl was very pretty.
 Have you fed the dog?
b) with nouns followed by a prepositional phrase, a relative clause, or an
apposition:

The letter from London arrived yesterday. This is the man who gave me the
book. Mr. John, the postman, is a Welshman.
c) with adjectives in the superlative degree;
This is the oldest building in town.
d) with nouns considered unique:
The sun rises in the east.
e) with singular nouns used in their general sense:
The horse is a useful animal.
She can play the piano.
f) with nouns converted from adjectives, denoting a class, nationality, or an
abstraction:

We should help the poor.

The French love wine.
The good is often forgotten.
g) with proper nouns in the plural, denoting a family:
The Browns are nice people.
h) with proper nouns denoting countries, if they are in the plural, or if they
represent a union:

the Netherlands, the United States, the United Kingdom

i) with proper nouns denoting groups of islands, chains of mountains, deserts,

oceans, seas, rivers, channels, canals, straits:
the Bahamas, the Alps, the Sahara, the Pacific Ocean, the Black Sea, The
Thames, the English Channel, the Suaz Canal, the Straits of Dover
j) with proper nouns denoting hotels, shops, institutions:
the Hilton, the British Museum, the Midland Bank
k) with proper nouns denoting ships, trains, planes:
the Queen Mary, the Orient Express, the Comet
l) with proper nouns denoting newspapers and magazines:
 The Time, The Observer
m) in phrases:
to tell the time – a spune ora; by the way - apropo, in treacat fie spus; to play the
fool – a face pe prostul; on the whole – in general; on the one hand – pe de-
o parte; to tell the truth - 1) a spune adevărul 2) de fapt, la drept
vorbind; in the country - la ţară; in the mountains - la munte; at the
seaside - la mare; for the time being - pentru moment, deocamdată;
to pass the time - a-şi (pe)trece vremea; in the morning – dimineaţa;
in the afternoon - după-amiaza; in the evening- seara

The Indefinite Article (Articolul nehotărât)

Articolul nehotărât din limba engleză este a, an, echivalentul articolului nehotărât din
limba română un şi o (un om, o nava). A se pronunţă [ă:] (forma slabă) sau [ei] (forma tare), iar
an - [ă:n] (forma slabă) sau [aen] (forma tare).
A se foloseşte înăintea cuvintelor care încep cu un sunet consonantic sau semiconsonantic
(a map - o hartă, a good man - un om bun, a window - o fereastră, a university - o universitate),
iar an, înaintea celor care încep cu un sunet vocalic (an apple - un măr, an important issue - o
problemă/chestiune importantă, an hour - o oră, an honest fellow - un om cinstit). Forma tare a
articolului nehotărât implică sublinierea, de exemplu: I said an [aen] eye - Am spus un ochi.
A şi an - ca şi un şi o din limba română - sunt articole proclitice. Ele precedă
substantivul: an apple.

1. The forms of the indefinite article

The English indefinite article is a, before a word beginning with a consonant or semi-
vowel, and an, before a word beginning with a vowel:
a man an egg
a wall a bad egg
2. Uses of the indefinite article
a) with nouns representing a single item of a class:
Give me a pen, please!
b) instead of the numeral ‘one’:
I’ve bought a table and four chairs.
 c) with singular nouns used in a general sense:
A baby requires special care.
d) with nouns denoting a profession, religion, class:
She is a student. He is a Christian. They called him a fool.
e) in certain expressions of measurement:
I have English lessons three times a week.
Apples are 40p. a pound.

f) with proper nouns denoting an unknown person, a member of a family, or a

person with certain characteristics:
He is a Don Juan.
He is a Kennedy.
g) in phrases:
to be in a hurry – a se grabi, to have a headache – a avea o durere de cap, o
migrena,, all of a sudden – brusc, deodata, to take an interest in –a avea un
interes, for a time - (pentru) un timp, lend me a hand - dă-mi o mână de ajutor,
once upon a time - odată ca niciodată, to set an example - a da un exemplu, to
pay a call on - a face o vizită (cuiva), without a penny - fără un ban, just a
moment! - o clipă!, to have a mind to… - a avea chef să…, to take a fancy to - a
îndrăgi (ceva), once in a blue moon - din an în Paşte, to keep an eye on - a nu
slăbi (ceva) din ochi, a few - câţiva, câteva, a little - ceva, nişte, many a (poetic) -
mulţi, multe, to catch a cold - a răci, with a view to (+ -ing) - cu/în scopul de a...,
to have an/the impression that - a avea impresia că, as a rule - de regulă, în
general, (to work several hours) at a stretch - (a munci mai multe ore) în şir, fără
întrerupere, as a matter of fact - de fapt, adevărul este (că), at a bargain- de
ocazie; chilipir.

The Zero Article (Articolul zero)

Atât în limba engleză cât şi în limba română, numeroase substantive apar în propoziţie
neînsoţite de nici un articol, de exemplul:
(-) Peter is a student.
(-) Petre e (-) student.
 (-) Breakfast is served at 7.30.
Micul dejun se serveşte la 7,30.
(-) Theory without (-) practice is useless.
Teoria fără (-) practică e inutilă/ nefolositoare.
The book is on the chair.
Cartea e pe (-) scaun.
„Lipsa" sau „absenţa" articolului este însă numai aparentă; mai exact „lipseşte" un articol
exprimat (the, a, an, sau, în limba română, -ul, -a, un, etc.) pentru că o anumită funcţie a
articolului este întotdeauna prezentă în substantivul respectiv.

1. Uses of zero article

a) with uncountable nouns or plural nouns used in a general sense:
Oil is lighter then water.
Books are his best friend.
b) with proper nouns denoting persons:
Mary, Richard, Professor Jones
c) with proper nouns denoting continents, countries, regions, towns:
Europe, England, Lancashire, London
d) with proper nouns denoting mountains, lakes, capes:
Mount Everest, Lake Superior, Cape Cod
e) with proper nouns denoting buildings, streets, bridges:
Covent Garden, Oxford Street, Waterloo Bridge
f) with proper nouns denoting months, festivals, days of the week:
July is my favorite month.
He is going there at Easter.
We are leaving on Monday.
g) with proper nouns denoting magazines and periodicals:
Newsweek, Punch
h) with nouns like school, church, hospital, prison, when we imply the use made of
the building:
He goes to school (to learn).
i) with nouns denoting meals and seasons:
I have dinner at seven.
Spring is coming.
j) with nouns denoting languages:
She speaks English.
k) with nouns denoting a profession or an office held at one time by one person
only:
They appointed him manager.
l) in phrases:
from time to time - din când în când, by means of - cu ajutorul, at random - la
întâmplare, by sea - pe mare, by land - pe uscat, by air - cu avionul, on sale - de
vânzare, în comerţ, last night – aseară, next day - a doua zi, next week -
săptămâna viitoare, at dawn - în zori, at sunset – la apus, at night – noaptea, in
case - în cazul când, in case of - în caz de, to live from hand to - a trăi de azi pe
mâine, in front of - în faţa, înaintea, dinaintea, day by day – zi dupa zi, to be in
trouble – a avea probleme, by mistake – din greseala, in silence – in liniste.
EXERCISES

1. Fill in the blanks with the required articles.

1) Do you like ……… tea with milk?
a) zero
b) the
c) a
2) ………. Love is more important than ………work.
a) the …the
b) zero … zero
c) a … a
3) I’ve forgotten my watch. What is ……… time?
a) a
b) the
c) zero
4) When you are having fun ……… time goes very quickly.
a) zero
b) the
c) a
5) ……… fruit and ……… vegetables are good for our health.
a) a …a
b) the … the
c) zero … zero

2. Supply the required articles.

1) He speaks with …….. great authority on the subject. He is consulting with …… authority on
urban development.
2) ……… water used in this beer comes from a special spring. In order to survive, we must have
……… water.
3) ……… genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. ……… genius of Edison is
universally recognized.
4) ……… silver in this ring is of inferior quality. ……… silver is used for money and jewelry.
5) Everyone was impressed by ………sincerity with which he spoke. We all admire ………
sincerity.

3. Translate the following phrases.

in the end, in the open air, on the one hand… on the other hand, to take the trouble, to take a
walk, to have a good time, to take a seat, in time, to make friends, to shake hands, to take part,
to take place.
Man as Artist
The Listener, by John Berry
Once there was a puny little Czech concert violinist named Rudolf, who lived in Sweden.
Some of his friends thought he was not the best of musicians because he was restless; others
thought he was restless because he was not the best of musicians. At any rate, he hit upon a way
of making a living, with no competitors. Whether by choice or necessity, he used to sail about
Scandinavia in his small boat, all alone, giving concerts in little seaport towns. If he found
accompanists, well and good; if not, he played works for unaccompanied violin; and it happened
once or twice that he wanted a piano so badly that he imagined one, and then he played whole
sonatas for violin and piano, with no piano in sight.
One year Rudolf sailed all the way out to Iceland and began working his way around that
rocky coast from one town to another. It was a hard, stubborn land; but people in those difficult
places do not forget the law of hospitality to the stranger--for their God may decree that they too
shall become strangers on the face of the earth. The audiences were small, and even if Rudolf
had been really first-rate, they would not have been very demonstrative. From ancient times their
energy had gone, first of all, into earnest toil. Sometimes they were collected by the local
schoolteacher, who reminded them of their duty to the names of Beethoven and Bach and Mozart
and one or two others whose music perhaps was not much heard in those parts. Too often people
sat stolidly watching the noisy little fiddler, and went home feeling gravely edified. But they
paid.
As Rudolf was sailing from one town to the next along a sparsely settled shore, the
northeast turned black and menacing. A storm was bearing down upon Iceland. Rudolf was
rounding a bleak, dangerous cape, and his map told him that the nearest harbor was half a day's
journey away. He was starting to worry when he saw less than a mile off shore, a lighthouse on a
tiny rock island. At the base of the lighthouse was a deep narrow cove, protected by cliffs. With
some difficulty, in the rising seas, he put in there and moored to an iron ring that hung from the
cliff. A flight of stairs, hewn out of the rock, led up to the lighthouse. On top of the cliff, outlined
against the scudding clouds, stood a man.
"You are welcome!" the voice boomed over the sound of the waves that were already
beginning to break over the island. Darkness fell quickly. The lighthouse keeper led his guest up
the spiral stairs to the livin room on the third floor, then busied himself in preparation for the
storm. Above all, he had to attend to the great lamp in the tower, that dominated the whole
region. It was a continuous light, intensified by reflectors, and eclipsed by shutters at regular
intervals. The duration of light was equal to that of darkness.
The lighthouse keeper was a huge old man with a grizzled beard that came down over his
chest. Slow, deliberate, bearlike, he moved without wasted motion about the limited world of
which he was the master. He spoke little, as if words had not much importance compared to the
other forces that comprised his life. Yet he was equable, as those elements were not. After the
supper of black bread and boiled potatoes, herring, cheese and hot tea, which they took in the
kitchen above the living room, the two men sat and contemplated each other's presence. Above
them was the maintenance room, and above that the great lamp spoke majestic, silent messages
of light to the ships at sea. The storm hammered like a battering ram on the walls of the
lighthouse. Rudolf offered tobacco, feeling suddenly immature as he did so. The old man smiled
a little as he declined it by a slight movement of the head; it was as if he knew well the uses of
tobacco and the need for offering it, and affirmed it all, yet - here he, too, was halfway apologetic
- was self-contained and without need of anything that was not already within his power or to
which he did not relinquish his power. And he sat there, gentle and reflective, his great workman
hands resting on outspread thighs. It seemed to Rudolf that the lighthouse keeper was entirely
aware of all the sounds of the storm and of its violent impact upon the lighthouse, but he knew
them so well that he did not have to think about them; they were like the involuntary movements
of his own heart and blood. In the same way, beneath the simple courtesy that made him speak
and listen to his guest in specific ways, he was already calmly and mysteriously a part of him, as
surely as the mainland was connected with the little island, and all the islands with one another,
so commodiously, under the ocean.
Gradually Rudolf drew forth the sparse data of the old man's life: He had been born in
this very lighthouse eighty-three years before, when his father was the lighthouse keeper. His
mother - the only woman he had ever known - had taught him to read the Bible, and he read it
daily. He had no other books. As a musician, Rudolf had not had time to read much either - but
then, he had lived in cities. He reached down and took his beloved violin out of its case.
"What do you make with that, sir?" the old man asked.
For a second Rudolf thought his host might be joking; but the serenity of the other's expression
reassured him. There was not even curiosity about the instrument, but rather a whole interest in
him, the person, that included his "work." In most circumstances Rudolf would have found it
hard to believe that there could exist someone who did not know what a violin was; yet now he
had no inclination to laugh. He felt small and inadequate. "I make - music with it," he stammered
in a low voice.
"Music," the old man said ponderously. "I have heard of it. But I have never seen music."
"One does not see music. One hears it."
"Ah, yes," the lighthouse keeper consented, as it were with humility. This too was in the
nature of things wherein all works were wonders, and all things were known eternally and were
poignant in their transiency. His wide gray eyes rested upon the little fiddler and conferred upon
him all the importance of which any individual is capable. Then something in the storm and the
lighthouse and the old man exalted Rudolf, filled him with compassion, and love and a
spaciousness infinitely beyond himself. He wanted to strike a work of fire and stars into being
for the old man. And, with the storm as his accompanist, he stood and began to play--the
Kreutzer Sonata of Beethoven.
The moments passed, moments that were days in the creation of that world of fire and
stars; abysses and heights of passionate struggle, the idea of order, and the resolution of these in
the greatness of the human spire. Never before had Rudolf played with such mastery--or with
such an accompanist. Waves and wind beat the tower with giant hands. Steadily above them the
beacon blazed in its sure cycles of darkness and light. The last note ceased and Rudolf dropped
his head on his chest, breathing hard. The ocean seethed over the island with a roar as of many
voices.
The old man had sat unmoving through the work, his broad gnarled hands resting on his
thighs, his head bowed, listening massively. For some time he continued to sit in silence. Then
he looked up, lifted those hands calmly, judiciously, and nodded his head.
"Yes," he said. "That is true."
APPLICATIONS

 Reading Comprehension
1. Why did Rudolf sail about Scandinavia?
2. What does the violin mean for Rudolf?
3. Consider the following attributes of "the listener": lighthouse keeper,
equable, a huge old man with a grizzled beard.
4. What can he be perceived as?
5. Which is the significance of "music"?

 Look up the following words and phrases in a dictionary.

• to hit upon a way fiddle stubborn
• to bear down cape sparse(-ly)
• to moor shutter poignant
• to hew battering ram gnarled
• to scud beacon judicious(-ly)
• to relinquish resolution massively
• to stammer courtesy steadily

 Vocabulary Practice
1. Provide synonyms for the following words.
puny, restless, bleak, equable, gnarled
  Grammar Module
The Noun (Substantivul)
O clasă de cuvinte deosebit de importantă în vocabularul unei limbi, inclusiv în vocabularul
limbii engleze, este cea a cuvintelor care definesc „ceva", orice „obiect" ce poate fi perceput de
simţuri, reprezentat în minte, imaginat sau gândit: fiinţe (man- om, people- popor, Victor, writer-
scriitor, lamb- miel), precum şi tot ce ţine de lumea organică (plant- plantă, tree- pom, rose-
trandafir), tot ce ţine de lumea anorganică (rock- stâncă, coal- cărbune, water- apă; lucruri
(table- masă, road- drum, train- tren, ink-pot- călimară), noţiuni abstracte (idea- idee, faculty-
facultate), însuşire (kindness- bunătate) etc. In orice dicţionar, numărul unor asemenea cuvinte
depăşeşte cu mult pe acela al cuvintelor aparţinând altor clase, lucru firesc dacă ne gândim la
varietatea infinită de obiecte şi noţiuni de care omul a luat şi ia cunoştinţă în cursul istoriei sale.
Despre ele vorbim, pe seama lor facem diverse aprecieri, le punem în diferite relaţii, le luăm ca
puncte de referinţă, în dicţionare ele sunt menţionate ca substantive (în dicţionarele engleze, n.
-noun) şi tot astfel în gramatici. Ca parte de vorbire însă, deci ca element gramatical,
substantivul nu poate fi caracterizat şi definit numai pe baza înţelesului (a „valorii sale
semantice"). Gramatica trebuie să ţină seama şi de forma acestei părţi de vorbire, de felul cum se
asociază cu alte cuvinte-părţi de vorbire, precum şi de funcţiile gramaticale pe care le poate
îndeplini în propoziţie (sau, în general, într-un context).

I. Classifications of Nouns
1. According to word-formation, nouns can be:
a) simple: pencil, dog, mountain, etc.
b) derived: driver, booklet, discount, etc.
c) compound: postcard, dining-room, editor-in-chief, etc.
 2. According to countability, nouns can be:
a) countable, when they can have a plural form and can be used with the
indefinite article, or with many, few, several: apples, lesson, son, etc.
Give me an apple. They eat many apples.
b) uncountable, when they can not be used in the plural or with the indefinite
article, but can be used with much, little:
There was much noise in the hall.
II. Number of nouns (Numarul substantivelor)
1. Variable nouns form the plural in the following way:
a) the inflection –s is added to the singular:
book – books
cat – cats
toy – toys
b) –es is added to the singular nouns ending in: -s, -z, -x, -ch, -sh:
bus – buses
box – boxes
watch – watches
brush - brushes
c) –es is added to nouns ending in –y preceded by a consonant (y changes into i):
fly – flies
city – cities
d) –es is added to nouns ending in –o preceded by a consonant:
hero – heroes
potato – potatoes
tomato – tomatoes, (but: photo – photos, piano – pianos, radio - radios)
e) –e(s) is added to nouns ending in –f(e) , which changes into –v:
wolf – wolves
leaf - leaves
knife - knives
 wife – wives (but: roof – roofs, cliff – cliffs, chief – chiefs, handkerchief –
handkerchiefs, dwarf – dwarfs, proof – proofs, handcuff – handcuffs, belief –
beliefs)
f) the root vowel changes:
man – men
woman – women
foot – feet
tooth – teeth
goose – geese
louse – lice
mouse – mice
g) –en is added to the singular;
child – children
ox - oxen
h) foreign plurals are preserved with some borrowed nouns (mainly Latin and
Greek)
stimulus – stimuli
larva – larvae
stratum – strata
basis – bases
criterion – criteria (but: cactus – cacti/ cactuses, formula – formulae/
formulas)
i) –s is added to the last element of a compound noun:
washing machine – washing machines
forget – me – not - forget – me – nots
to the first element:
passer-by – passers-by
son-in-law - sons-in-law
or both elements take the plural:
woman driver – women drivers
NOTE:
Some nouns have the same form in the singular and in the plural:
deer, sheep, fish, fruit, Chinese, Portuguese, Swiss, dozen, hundred, thousand, means, series,
species, etc.
A sheep is in the valley. Ten sheep are in the valley.
The plural forms fishes, fruits denote different species and varieties:
We studied the fishes of the Atlantic Ocean.

2. Invariable nouns (Substantivele invariabile)

I. Singular invariable nouns, which take a verb in the singular, are:
a) concrete uncountable nouns: bread, meat, luggage, furniture,
money, etc.
My luggage is very heavy. (Bagajele mele sunt grele.)
The money is on the table. (Banii sunt pe masa.)
b) abstract uncountable nouns: music, progress, nonsense,
information, knowledge, advice, homework, etc.
His advice is always good. (Sfaturile lui sunt intotdeauna bune.)
His knowledge of French is poor. (Cunostintele lui de franceza
sunt slabe.)
c) proper nouns: John, The United States, The Danube, etc.
The United States lies in the North America.
d) nouns ending in –s: news, measles (and other names of diseases),
optics, mathematics (and other names of sciences), cards,
ninepins (and other names of games):
This news is very good. (Aceste vesti sunt foarte bune.)
Mathematics is fun.

NOTE:
To express quantity of uncountable nouns, we can use the words: piece, item, bar, slice, pound,
etc.
a piece of news/information/furniture/advice/cake/bread (o veste/informatie/mobila/un sfat/ o
bucata de prajitura/paine)
a bar of soap/chocolate
a slice of bacon/cake
a pound of sugar/flour/rice/coffee

II. Plural invariable nouns, which take a verb in the plural are:
a) articles of dress: trousers, pyjamas, tools and instruments: scales,
scissors, etc.:
His trousers are on the chair.
Where are the scissors?
b) proper nouns: The Alps, The Highlands.
The Alps are high mountains.
c) other “pluralia tantum” : savings, surroundings, customs, contents,
wages, stairs, etc.:
The surroundings are very beautiful.
d) Substantivized adjectives: the rich, the poor, goods, etc.
The poor are suffering.
The goods were carried by train.

NOTE:
When we want to refer to one article of dress or instrument, we can use the word pair: a pair of
trousers/scissors/scales. Some “collective nouns” like: family, team, crew, jury, etc., take a verb
in the plural when reference is made to the component elements, and a verb in the singular,
when they are used generically.
His family is large.
His family are at home. (Ai lui/membrii familiei lui sunt acasa.)

III. Case of Nouns. The Genitive (Cazurile substantivelor. Genitivul)

From the point of view of form, there are two types of genitive:
1. The analytical genitive with the preposition of, used with neuter nouns or
with long noun phrases:
the cover of the book, the colour of his face
2. The synthetical genitive with ‘s added to singular nouns or irregular
plurals:
the man’s performance, the men’s result
and (‘) added to regular plurals, or to proper nouns ending in –s:
the students’ answers, Dickens’ works
It may be used with the following:
a) nouns denoting persons or other beings:
George’s letter, the doctor’s order, the cow’s milk
b) nouns denoting measurement, time, space, quantity, value:
a two months’ vacation, a life’s work, a mile’s drive
c) collective nouns: the firms investment, the government’s decision
d) nouns that can be personified (geographical names, vehicles, natural
phenomena, etc.):
England’s history, the ship’s crew, the day’s heat

IV. Gender of Nouns (Genul substantivelor)

There are four categories of gender:
a) masculine: man, brother, uncle, etc.
b) feminine: woman, sister, aunt, etc.
c) neuter: book, house, snow, etc.
d) common: cousin, friend, pacient, etc.

Gender contrasts are expressed with the help of:

a) different words: husband-wife, boy-girl, bull-cow, cock-hen, etc.
b) compounds: schoolboy-schoolgirl, he-bear – she-bear, etc.
c) suffixes: host-hostess, hero-heroine, bridegroom-bride, etc.
EXERCISES

1. Turn the italicized nouns into the plural and make all the other necessary changes in the
sentences.

1) The chicken was eaten by a fox.

2) That knife should be wiped at once.
3) Last night a house was robbed by a thief.
4) The child in that family has bad manners.
5) The farmer has a hen, a goose, and a sheep.
6) My sister-in-law is a teacher.
7) The housewife and the middle-aged woman are the principal consumers of this product.
8) My cat never catches a mouse.

2. Choose the right word from the brackets.

1) The scissors (is, are) here.
2) A (little, few) knowledge (is, are) a dangerous think.
3) (Much, many) people on the ship (is, are) getting seasick.
4) There (is, are) several means of accomplishing our purpose.
5) How (much, many) information do you have about this man.
Man in the Midst of Nature
Reflections on the Death of a Porcupine, by D. H. Lawrence

There are many bare places on the little pine trees, towards the top, where the porcupines
have gnawed the bark away and left the white flesh showing. And some trees are dying from the
top. Everyone says porcupines should be killed; the Indians, Mexicans, Americans, all say the
same. At full moon a month ago, when I went down the long clearing, in the brilliant moonlight,
through the poor dry herbage a big porcupine began to waddle away from me, towards the trees
and the darkness. It had a lumbering, beetle’s, squalid motion, unpleasant. I followed it into the
darkness of the timber, and there, squat like a great aureoled tick, or a bug, it was struggling up.
I stood near and watched, disliking the presence of the creature. It is a duty to kill the
things. But the dislike of killing him was greater than the dislike of him. So I watched him climb.
And he watched me. When he got nearly the height of a man, he hesitated and slithered down.
Evidently, he had decided either that I was harmless or else that it was risky to go up any further,
when I could knock him off so easily with a pole. So he slithered podgily down again, and
waddled away with the same bestial motion of that white-spiky spoon tail. He was as big as a
middle-sized pig; or more like a bear. I let him go. He was repugnant. He made a certain squalor
in the moonlight of the Rocky Mountains. As all savagery has a touch of squalor that makes one
a little sick at the stomach. And anyhow, it seemed almost more squalid to pick up a pine bough
and push him over and hit him and kill him. A few days later Madame came in suddenly...
"Come", said she excitedly. "There is a big porcupine drinking at the ditch. I thought at
first it was a bear!" When I got out he had gone... We got through the fence and soon caught him
up. Then he lumbered, with his white spoon-tail spiked with bristles, steering behind almost as if
he were moving backwards, and this was his head. His long hairs above the quills were quivering
with a dim grey gleam like a bush. And again I disliked him. "Should one kill him?"
She hesitated, then with a sort of disgust:"Yes."
I went back to the house and got the little twenty-two rifle. Now never in my life had I shot
at any live thing - I never wanted to. Myself, individually, it was repugnant to me even to try.
But something slowly hardens in a man’s soul. And I knew now it had hardened in mine. I found
the gun and, with rather trembling hands, got it loaded. Then I put back the trigger and followed
the porcupine. It was still lumbering through the grass. Coming near, I aimed.
The trigger stuck. I pressed the little catch with a safety pin I found in my pocket, and
released the trigger. Then we followed the porcupine. He was still lumbering through the trees. I
went sideways on, stood quite near to him, and fired, in the clear-dark of the moonlight. And as
usual, I aimed too high. He turned, went scuttling back whence he had come. I got another shell
in place and followed. That time I fired full into the mound of his back, below the glistening
halo. He seemed to stumble on his hidden nose, and struggled a few strides, ducking his head
under like a hedgehog. "He’s not dead yet! Oh, fire again!" cried Madame. I fired, but the gun
was empty. So I ran quickly for a cedar pole. The porcupine was lying still, with a subsiding
halo. He stirred faintly. So I turned him and I hit him hard over the nose; or where, in the dark,
the nose should have been. And it was done. He was dead. And, in the moonlight, I looked down
on the first creature I had ever shot.
"Does it seem mean?", I asked aloud, doubtful.
Again Madame hesitated. Then: "No!" she said resentfully.
And I felt she was right. Things like the porcupine, one must be able to shoot them if they
get in one’s way. One must be able to shoot. I, myself, must be able to shoot and to kill. For me,
this was a volte-face. I have always preferred to walk around my porcupine rather than kill it.
Now I know it’s no good walking around. One must kill...
The only nice thing about him were the feet. They were like longish, alert, black hands,
paw-hands. That is why a porcupine’s tracks in the snow look almost as if a child has gone by,
leaving naked little footprints, like a little boy. So, he is gone; or she is gone. But there is another
one, bigger and blacker looking, among the vast timber.That too is to be shot. It is part of the
business of ranching, even if it’s only a half-abandoned ranch like this one.
Wherever man establishes himself upon earth, he has to fight for his place, against the lower
orders of life. Food, the basis of existence, has to be fought for even by the most idyllic of
farmers. You plant and you protect your growing crop with a gun. Food, food, how strangely it
relates man with the animal and vegetal world. How important it is! And how fierce is the fight
that goes on around it!
The same as when one skins a rabbit, and takes out the inside; and one realizes what an
enormous part of him is just for food-apparatus; for living on other organisms. And when one
watches the horses in the big field, their noses to the ground, bite-bite-biting without lifting their
noses, cropping off the grass, the young dandelions, with a blind relentless unwearied
persistence, one’s whole life pauses. One suddenly realizes again how creatures devour, and
must devour, the lower forms of life.
APPLICATIONS

 Reading Comprehension
1. What is the author-hero's motivation for killing the porcupine?
2. How is the porcupine image gradually drawn?
3. How does the author's hesitations and decisions relate to 'common opinion'?
4. Do you consider that the narrative episode is central? Why or why not? Is it based on a story
or on a plot?

 Text Analysis
1. Concentrate on the major topic(s) of the text. Consider the following issues as possible
Hints.
- man’s need to assert his identity and status in the universe (versus other living creatures)
- the self-defence instinct and the impulse to kill whatever endangers man
- the desire to do away with ugly, repugnant things
- man’s feeling of empathy with all other live creatures
- the dependence of all human, animal and vegetal specimens on ‘food’ for survival

 Look up the following words in a dictionary.

• to reflect porcupine bare
 • to gnaw bark squalid
• to waddle flesh squat
• to lumber clearing podgy
• to slither herbage repugnant
• to pick-up beetle relentless

 Vocabulary Practice
1. Comment on the value of the word timber(s) and lumber in the following.
a) We all admired the standing timber and felt sorry for the rolled one.
b) His timbers embarrassed him a lot.
c) He was a real managerial timber.
d) He was a man of the right sort of timber.
e) There was a great amount of lumber in their attic.
f) The workers were ready to unload the lumber.
g) The horses advanced slowly because of the lumber.
h) They lumbered all the old books on the balcony.
i) The old wagon was lumbering along the bumpy road.
j) The podgy man was lumbering on his way home.

2. Fill in the blanks with the word missing from the fixed phrases/idioms containing the
items flesh, top, touch and spoon.
a)Even the slightest ... will break a soap bubble.
b) The car was driving at the ... of its speed.
c) He boasted of having come out at the ... of the school.
d) The engine of my car starts at the first ... of the switch.
e) She seems to have lost ... of late.
f) He’s feeling at the ... of his form.
g) He was a sculptor with a fine...
  Grammar Module
The Adjective (Adjectivul)
Fiinţele, obiectele, noţiunile etc. prezintă caracteristici, obiective sau subiective, pe care
vorbitorul le aminteşte fie ca însuşiri sau calităţi (good-bun, beautiful-frumos, hypocritical-
ipocrit), fie ca pe nişte „date" care le precizează în diferite sensuri - al locului, al timpului, al
cantităţii etc. (this man - omul acesta, the then situation-situaţia de atunci, much sugar-mult
zahăr, your library - biblioteca dumitale). Partea de vorbire care face asemenea caracterizări,
respectiv care modifică sau determină substantivele, este adjectivul. Din punct de vedere
morfologic, adjectivul din engleza modernă nu se acordă în gen, număr sau caz cu substantivul
pe care îl modifică sau determină:
a diligent pupil - un elev silitor, o elevă silitoare
a diligent school-girl - o elevă silitoare
diligent pupils - elevi silitori, eleve silitoare
two diligent school-girls - două eleve silitoare
Adjectivele răspund la întrebările: of what sort? - de ce fel?, in what state? - în ce stare?
which? - care?, what? (is, are etc.)...like? - cum? (a se reţine că how? - cum? e o întrebare ce se
referă la adverbe de mod, nu la adjective).
Din punct de vedere sintactic, adjectivele pot fi atribute (Attributes) sau nume predicative
(Predicatives). Spunem că un adjectiv este atributiv (attributive) atunci când este aşezat în chip
nemijlocit lângă substantivul la care se referă, în marea majoritate a cazurilor înaintea
substantivului (spre deosebire de limba română):
a gorgeous landscape - un peisaj fermecător
three English playwrights - trei dramaturgi englezi
Good words are worth much. (Prov.) - Vorba dulce mult aduce.

Excepţii:
knight errant - cavaler rătăcitor
court martial - curte marţială
the people present - cei de faţă, cei prezenţi
secretary general (dar şi general secretary) - secretar general

În stilul poetic, de asemenea, adjectivele sunt uneori aşezate după substantiv, de exemplu:
the leaves dead... - frunzele moarte (Shelley, Ode to the West Wind)
Adjectivele predicative sunt aşezate după verb-copulă şi formează un nume predicativ:
The home-task was easy. - Tema (pentru acasă) era uşoară.

 FORM AND FUNCTION OF ADJECTIVES

FORM
1. Adjectives are invariable: They do not change their form depending on the gender or number
of the noun.
A hot potato.
Some hot potatoes
2. To emphasise or strengthen the meaning of an adjective use 'very' or 'really':
A very hot potato.
Some really hot potatoes.

3. Position of adjectives:
a) Usually in front of a noun:
A beautiful girl.
b) After verbs like "to be", "to seem", "to look", "to taste":
 The girl is beautiful
You look tired
This meat tastes funny.
c) After the noun: in some fixed expressions:
The Princess Royal
The President elect
a court martial

The adjectives involved, present, concerned:

I want to see the people involved/concerned.
(= the people who have something to do with the matter)
Here is a list of the people present.
(= the people who were in the building or at the meeting)

NOTE: When these adjectives are used before the noun they have a different meaning:
An involved discussion = detailed, complex
A concerned father = worried, anxious
The present situation = current, happening now
FUNCTION
Adjectives tell us more about a noun. They can:
• Describe feelings or qualities:
He is a lonely man.
They are honest people.
• Give nationality or origin:
Pierre is French.
This clock is German.
Our house is Victorian
• Tell more about a thing's characteristics:
A wooden table.
The knife is sharp.
• Tell us about age:
 He's a young man.
My coat is very old.
• Tell us about size and measurement:
John is a tall man.
This is a very long film.
• Tell us about colour:
Paul wore a red shirt.
The sunset was crimson and gold.
• Tell us about material/what something is made of:
It was a wooden table.
She wore a cotton dress.
• Tell us about shape:
A rectangular box
A square envelope
• Express a judgment or a value:
A fantastic film
Grammar is boring.

ORDER
Where a number of adjectives are used together, the order depends on the function of the
adjective. The usual order is: Value/opinion, Size, Age/Temperature, Shape, Colour, Origin,
Material
• Value/opinion: delicious, lovely, charming
• Size: small, huge, tiny
• Age/Temperature: old, hot, young
• Shape: round, square, rectangular
• Colour: red, blonde, black
• Origin: Swedish, Victorian, Chinese
• Material: plastic, wooden, silver
Examples: a lovely old red post-box, some small round plastic tables, some charming small
silver ornaments.
  COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES
FORMING THE COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE

Number of syllables Comparative Superlative

• one syllable + -er + -est: tall - taller- tallest
• one syllable with the spelling consonant + single vowel + consonant: double the final
consonant: fat - fatter - fattest, big -bigger - biggest, sad- sadder - saddest
• two syllables, disyllabic adjectives ending in -y, -ow, -er,: pretty – prettier – the
prettiest, narrow – narrower – the narrowest

NOTE: Adjectives ending in '-y' like happy, pretty, busy, sunny, lucky etc:. replace the -y
with -ier or -iest in the comparative and superlative form: busy - busier - busiest

• three syllables or more: more + adj - the most + adj:

important - more important – the most important
expensive- more expensive- the most expensive
Examples:
A cat is fast, a tiger is faster but a cheetah is the fastest.
A car is heavy, a truck is heavier, but a train is the heaviest.
A park bench is comfortable, a restaurant chair is more comfortable, but a sofa
is the most comfortable.

IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

These adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms:
good – better – the best
bad - worse – the worst
little - less – the least
much - more - most
 far - further / farther - furthest / farthest
old – older/elder – the oldest/the eldest

THE + SUPERLATIVE
'the' is placed before the superlative:
For example: He is the richest man in the world.
COMPARATIVE + THAN
To compare the difference between two people, things or events.
Examples:
Mt. Everest is higher than Mt. Blanc.
Thailand is sunnier than Norway.
A car is more expensive than a bicycle.
Albert is more intelligent than Arthur.
AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
To compare people, places, events or things, when there is no difference, use:
as + adjective + as:
Peter is 24 years old. John is 24 years old. Peter is as old as John.
More examples:
Moscow is as cold as St. Petersburg in the winter.
Ramona is as happy as Raphael.
Einstein is as famous as Darwin.
A tiger is as dangerous as a lion.

NOT AS + ADJECTIVE + AS
Difference can also be shown by using not so/as ...as:
Mont Blanc is not as high as Mount Everest.
Norway is not as sunny as Thailand.
A bicycle is not as expensive as a car.
Arthur is not as intelligent as Albert.

COMPARISONS OF QUANTITY
I. To show difference: more, less, fewer + than
Examples:
• With countable nouns: more / fewer
Eloise has more children than Chantal.
Chantal has fewer children than Eloise.
There are fewer dogs in Cardiff than in Bristol
I have visited fewer countries than my friend has.
He has read fewer books than she has.
• With uncountable nouns: more / less
Eloise has more money than Chantal.
Chantal has less money than Eloise.
I spend less time on homework than you do.
Cats drink less water than dogs.
This new dictionary gives more information than the old one.
So, the rule is:
MORE + nouns that are countable or uncountable
FEWER + countable nouns
LESS + uncountable nouns

II. To show no difference: as much as, as many as, as few as, as little as:
as many as / as few as + countable nouns
as much as / as little as + uncountable nouns
Examples:
• With countable nouns:
They have as many children as us.
We have as many customers as them.
Tom has as few books as Jane.
There are as few houses in his village as in mine.
You know as many people as I do.
I have visited the States as many times as he has.
• With uncountable nouns:
John eats as much food as Peter.
 Jim has as little food as Sam.
You've heard as much news as I have.
He's had as much success as his brother has.
They've got as little water as we have.

EXERCISES

1. Supply the comparative or superlative form of the adjective in brackets.

1) He is (lazy) student in the class.
2) She is looking for a (big) flat than the one she has now.
3) Jane is (good) cook I know.
4) He is (much) familiar with modern painting than with modern music.
5) He is able to get (far) information at the railway station.

2. Arrange the adjective in brackets in the proper order.

1) A (black, nice, little) cat was lying on my door step.
2) You will practise on an (Steinway, expensive, white) piano.
3) When will you sell your (blue, old) car.
4) I’ll give her a (red, leather, small) bag.
5) She greatly admired those (ivory, Chinese, delicate) figurines.
The Supernatural. Answers from Beyond Reality
from The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde

The day had been warm and sunny; and, in the cool of the evening, the whole family went
out to drive. They did not return home till nine o’clock, when they had a light supper. The
conversation in no way turned upon ghosts, so there were not even those primary conditions of
receptive expectation which so often precede the presentation of psychical phenomena. […] No
mention at all was made of the supernatural, nor was Sir Simon de Canterville alluded to in any
way. At eleven o’clock the family retired, and by half-past all the lights were out. Some time
after, Mr. Otis was awakened by a curious noise in the corridor, outside his room. It sounded like
the clank of metal, and seemed to be coming nearer every moment. […] He put on his slippers,
took a small oblong phial out of his dressing-case, and opened the door. Right in front of him he
saw, in the wan moonlight, an old man of terrible aspect. His eyes were as red burning coals;
long grey hair fell over his shoulders in matted coils; his garments, which were of antique cut,
were soiled and ragged, and from his wrists and ankles hung heavy manacles and rusty gyves.
‘My dear sir,’ said Mr. Otis, ‘I really must insist on your oiling those chains, and have brought
you for that purpose a small bottle of the Tammany Rising Sun Lubricator. […] I shall leave it
here for you by the bedroom candles, and will be happy to supply you with more should you
require it.’ With these words the United States Minister laid the bottle down on a marble table,
and, closing his door, retired to rest.
For a moment the Canterville ghost stood quite motionless in natural indignation; then,
dashing the bottle violently upon the polished floor, he fled down the corridor, uttering hollow
groans, and emitting a ghastly green light. Just, however, as he reached the top of the great oak
staircase, a door was flung open, two little white-robed figures appeared, and a large pillow
whizzed past his head! There was evidently no time to be lost, so, hastily adopting the Fourth
Dimension of Space as a means of escape, he vanished through the wainscoting, and the house
became quite quiet.
On reaching a small secret chamber in the left wing, he leaned up against a moonbeam to
recover his breath, and began to try and realise his position. Never, in a brilliant and
uninterrupted career of three hundred years, had he been so grossly insulted. […] All his great
achievements came back to him again, from the butler who had shot himself in the pantry
because he had seen a green hand tapping at the window pane, to the beautiful Lady Stutfield,
who was always obliged to wear a black velvet band round her throat to hide the mark of five
fingers burnt upon her white skin, and who drowned herself at last in the carp pond at the end of
the King’s Walk. […] And after all this, some wretched modern Americans were to come and
offer him the Rising Sun Lubricator, and throw pillows at his head! It was quite unbearable.
Besides, no ghost in history had ever been treated in this manner. Accordingly, he determined to
have vengeance, and remained till daylight in an attitude of deep thought.
The next morning, when the Otis family met at breakfast, they discussed the ghost at some
length. The United States Minister was naturally a little annoyed to find that his present had not
been accepted. ‘I have no wish,’ he said, ‘to do the ghost any personal injury, and I must say that,
considering the length of time he has been in the house, I don’t think it is at all polite to throw
pillows at him’ – a very just remark, at which, I am sorry to say, the twins burst into shouts of
laughter. ‘Upon the other hand,’ he continued, ‘if he really declines to use the Rising Sun
Lubricator, we shall have to take his chains from him. It would be quite impossible to sleep, with
such a noise going on outside the bedrooms.’ For the rest of the week, however, they were
undisturbed, the only thing that excited any attention being the continual renewal of the blood-
stain on the library floor. This certainly was very strange, as the door was always locked at night
by Mr. Otis, and the windows kept closely barred. The chameleon-like colour, also, of the stain
excited a good deal of comment. Some mornings it was a dull (almost Indian) red, then it would
be vermilion, then a rich purple, and once when they came down for family prayers, according to
the simple rites of the Free American Reformed Episcopalian Church, they found it a bright
emerald-green. These kaleidoscopic changes naturally amused the party very much, and bets on
the subject were freely made every evening. The only person who did not enter into the joke was
little Virginia, who, for some unexplained reason, was always a good deal distressed at the sight
of the blood-stain, and very nearly cried the morning it was emerald-green.
The second appearance of the ghost was on Sunday night. Shortly after they had gone to
bed they were suddenly alarmed by a fearful crash in the hall. Rushing downstairs, they found
that a large suit of old armour had become detached from its stand, and had fallen on the stone
floor, while, seated in a high-backed chair, was the Canterville ghost, rubbing his knees with an
expression of acute agony on his face. The twins, having brought their pea-shooters with them, at
once discharged two pellets on him, with that accuracy of aim which can only be attained by
long and careful practice on a writing-master, while the United States Minister covered him with
his revolver, and called upon him, in accordance with Californian etiquette, to hold up his hands!
The ghost started up with a wild shriek of rage, and swept through them like a mist,
extinguishing Washington Otis’ candle as he passed, and so leaving them all in total darkness.
On reaching the top of the staircase he recovered himself, and determined to give his celebrated
peal of demoniac laughter. This he had on more than one occasion found extremely useful. It was
said to have turned Lord Raker’s wig grey in a single night, and had certainly made three of
Lady Canterville’s French governesses give warning before their month was up. He accordingly
laughed his most horrible laugh, till the old vaulted roof rang and rang again, but hardly had the
fearful echo died away when a door opened, and Mrs. Otis came out in a light blue dressing-
gown. ‘I am afraid you are far from well,’ she said, ‘and have brought you a bottle of Dr.
Dobell’s tincture. If it is indigestion, you will find it a most excellent remedy.’ The ghost glared
at her in fury. […] The sound of approaching footsteps, however, made him hesitate in his fell
purpose, so he contented himself with becoming faintly phosphorescent, and vanished with a
deep churchyard groan, just as the twins had come up to him.
On reaching his room he entirely broke down, and became a prey to the most violent
agitation. The vulgarity of the twins, and the gross materialism of Mrs. Otis, were naturally
extremely annoying, but what really distressed him most was, that he had been unable to wear
the suit of mail. He had hoped that even modern Americans would be thrilled by the sight of a
Spectre In Armour, if for no more sensible reason, at least out of respect for their national poet
Longfellow over whose graceful and attractive poetry he himself had whiled away many a weary
hour when the Cantervilles were up in town. […]
For some days after this he was extremely ill, and hardly stirred out of his room at all,
except to keep the blood-stain in proper repair. […] The terrible excitement of the last four
weeks was beginning to have its effect. His nerves were completely shattered, and he started at
the slightest noise. For five days he kept his room, and at last made up his mind to give up the
point of the blood-stain on the library floor. If the Otis family did not want it, they clearly did not
deserve it. They were evidently people on a low, material plane of existence, and quite incapable
of appreciating the symbolic value of sensuous phenomena. The question of phantasmic
apparitions, and the development of astral bodies, was of course quite a different matter, and
really not under his control. It was his solemn duty to appear in the corridor once a week, and to
gibber from the large oriel window on the first and third Wednesdays in every month, and he did
not see how he could honourably escape from his obligations. It is quite true that his life had
been very evil, but, upon the other hand, he was most conscientious in all things connected with
the supernatural.
For the next three Saturdays, accordingly, he traversed the corridor as usual between
midnight and three o’clock, taking every possible precaution against being either heard or seen.
He removed his boots, trod as lightly as possible on the old worm-eaten boards, wore a large
black velvet cloak, and was careful to use the Rising Sun Lubricator for oiling his chains. I am
bound to acknowledge that it was with a good deal of difficulty that he brought himself to adopt
this last mode of protection. However, one night, while the family were at dinner, he slipped into
Mr. Otis’s bedroom and carried off the bottle. He felt a little humiliated at first, but afterwards
was sensible enough to see that there was a great deal to be said for the invention, and, to a
certain degree, it served his purpose. Still, in spite of everything, he was not left unmolested.
Strings were continually being stretched across the corridor, over which he tripped in the dark,
and on one occasion […] he met with a severe fall, through treading on a butter-slide, which the
twins had constructed from the entrance of the Tapestry Chamber to the top of the oak staircase.
[…]
 A few days after […], as she was running past the Tapestry Chamber, the door of which
happened to be open, Virginia fancied she saw some one inside, and thinking it was her mother’s
maid, who sometimes used to bring her work there, looked in to ask her to mend her habit. To
her immense surprise, however, it was the Canterville Ghost himself! He was sitting by the
window, watching the ruined gold of the yellowing trees fly through the air, and the red leaves
dancing madly down the long avenue. His head was leaning on his hand, and his whole attitude
was one of extreme depression. Indeed, so forlorn, and so much out of repair did he look, that
little Virginia, whose first idea had been to run away and lock herself in her room, was filled
with pity, and determined to try and comfort him. […]
‘I am so sorry for you,’ she said, ‘but my brothers are going back to Eton to-morrow, and
then, if you behave yourself, no one will annoy you.’
‘It is absurd asking me to behave myself,’ he answered, looking round in astonishment at the
pretty little girl who had ventured to address him, ‘quite absurd. I must rattle my chains, and
groan through keyholes, and walk about at night, if that is what you mean. It is my only reason
for existing.’
‘It is no reason at all for existing, and you know you have been very wicked. Mrs. Umney told
us, the first day we arrived here, that you had killed your wife.’
‘Well, I quite admit it,’ said the Ghost petulantly, ‘but it was a purely family matter, and
concerned no one else.’
‘It is very wrong to kill any one,’ said Virginia, who at times had a sweet Puritan gravity, caught
from some old New England ancestor.
‘Oh, I hate the cheap severity of abstract ethics! My wife was very plain, never had my ruffs
properly starched, and knew nothing about cookery. […] However, it is no matter now, for it is
all over, and I don’t think it was very nice of her brothers to starve me to death, though I did kill
her.’
‘Starve you to death? Oh, Mr. Ghost, I mean Sir Simon, are you hungry? I have a sandwich in
my case. Would you like it?’
‘No, thank you, I never eat anything now; but it is very kind of you, all the same, and you are
much nicer than the rest of your horrid, rude, vulgar, dishonest family.’
‘Stop!’ cried Virginia stamping her foot, ‘it is you who are rude, and horrid, and vulgar,and as
for dishonesty, you know you stole the paints out of my box to try and furbish up that ridiculous
blood-stain in the library. First you took all my reds, including the vermilion, and I couldn’t do
any more sunsets then you took the emerald-green and the chrome-yellow, and finally I had
nothing left but indigo and Chinese white, and could only do moonlight scenes, which are always
depressing to look at, and not at all easy to paint. I never told on you, though I was very much
annoyed, and it was most ridiculous, the whole thing; for who ever heard of emerald-green
blood?’
‘Well, really,’ said the Ghost, rather meekly, ‘what was I to do? It is a very difficult thing to get
real blood nowadays, and, as your brother began it all with his Paragon Detergent, I certainly
saw no reason why I should not have your paints. As for colour, that is always a matter of taste:
the Cantervilles have blue blood, for instance, the very bluest in England; but I know you
Americans don’t care for things of this kind.’
‘You know nothing about it, and the best thing you can do is to emigrate and improve your mind.
My father will be only too happy to give you a free passage, and though there is a heavy duty on
spirits of every kind, there will be no difficulty about the Custom House, as the officers are all
Democrats. Once in New York, you are sure to be a great success. I know lots of people there
who would give a hundred thousand dollars to have a grandfather, and much more than that to
have a family ghost.’
‘I don’t think I should like America.’
‘I suppose because we have no ruins and no curiosities,’ said Virginia satirically.
‘No ruins! no curiosities!’ answered the Ghost; ‘you have your navy and your manners.’
‘Good evening; I will go and ask papa to get the twins an extra week’s holiday.’
‘Please don’t go, Miss Virginia,’ he cried; ‘I am so lonely and so unhappy, and I really don’t
know what to do. I want to go to sleep and I cannot.’
‘That’s quite absurd! You have merely to go to bed and blow out the candle. It is very difficult
sometimes to keep awake, especially at church, but there is no difficulty at all about sleeping.
Why, even babies know how to do that, and they are not very clever.’
‘I have not slept for three hundred years,’ he said sadly, and Virginia’s beautiful blue eyes
opened in wonder; ‘for three hundred years I have not slept, and I am so tired.’
APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments.

1. What is the role of the initial mentioning of the fact that ‘those primary conditions of receptive
expectation’ were not met?
2. What is the author’s attitude toward commonplaces and clichés? Consider both the universe of
British aristocracy and the life and ways of modern Americans.
3. Has the contrast and cultural clash between these two categories become a cliché in itself?
4. Are there any elements in the story that not only support this idea, but also give a hint about
Wilde’s being aware of this aspect, and including it among the targets of his irony?
5. Enlarge upon the psychological and social archetypes and clichés employed in the story.
6. Which of the archetypal characters eventually turns out to be profoundly atypical?
7. Wilde is perhaps best known for his love of paradoxes. Think of the normal antagonism – a
commonplace in itself – between traditionalism and adaptability, consider also your answer to
the previous question, and identify the paradoxical situation, if any.
8. Comment upon the rich cultural tradition related to ghosts or other forms of spiritual
persistence after death. How is this kind of immortality perceived and considered?
  Vocabulary study and practice
Look up the meaning(s) of the following words or phrases in a dictionary.
• clank, coil, manacle, gyve, wainscot, pea-shooter, pellet, peal, wig, oriel, free passage,
heavy duty
• to allude, to groan, to whiz, to glare, to gibber, to rattle, to furbish
• oblong, wan, fell, weary, sensuous, forlorn, petulant, horrid

 Grammar Module
The Pronoun (Pronumele) (I)

Există o categorie de cuvinte care nu au un înţeles de sine stătător, care nu „denumesc",

nu “caracterizează" etc., ci doar înlocuiesc ceva, făcând referiri la idei, obiecte, acţiuni, etc. (cu
unele excepţii) menţionate în cursul comunicării sau cunoscute de către interlocutor, cititor etc.
întrucât, într-un sens gramatical, ele înlocuiesc de cele mai multe ori substantive, pot fi denumite
înlocuitori ai substantivului (Noun Substitutes), ca în:
John did all the work. (John a făcut toată treaba.)
He did all the work. (El a făcut toată treaba.)
Who did all the work?(Cine a făcut toată treaba?)
Aceste cuvinte sunt pronume şi, în linii mari, răspund la aceleaşi întrebări ca
substantivele: who? - cine?; what? - ce? , etc.
Din punctul de vedere al compunerii, pronumele pot fi simple (Simple Pronouns) şi
compuse (Compound Pronouns), în care ar putea fi incluse şi locuţiunile pronominale
(Pronominal Phrase).
a) Pronume simple: you (tu; voi); which (care); many (mulţi)
b) Pronume compuse: adj. + subst.: (everybody - fiecare, toţi, toată lumea); pron. + adv.:
(whatever - orice, indiferent ce); adj. + pron.: (no one – nimeni); art. + pron.: (a few - unii,
unele); pron. + pron.: he who (acela care).

1. The personal pronoun (Pronumele personal)

The Personal Pronoun (Pronumele personal)

Nominativ Genitiv Dativ Acuzativ
I (eu) Mine (al meu) (to) me (mie) me (pe mine)
You (tu) Yours (al tau) (to) you (tie) you (pe tine)
He (el) His (al lui) (to) him (lui) him (pe el)
She (ea) Hers (al ei) (to) her (ei) her (pe ea)
It (el, ea) - pentru Its (al lui, al ei)-pentru (to) it (lui, ei) -pentru it (pe el, pe ea)-pentru
animale, obiecte,
animale, obiecte, animale, obiecte, animale, obiecte,
lucruri neinsufletite
lucruri neinsufletite lucruri neinsufletite lucruri neinsufletite)
We (noi) Ours (al nostru) (to) us (noua) us (pe noi)
You (voi) Yours = (al vostru) (to) you (voua) you (pe voi)
They (ei) Theirs = (al lor) (to) them (lor) them (pe ei)

Example:

I am a big girl.
He lives near the school.
We like chocolate very much.
Do you like football?
I watch my brother playing tennis.
You gave me a nice gift.
Give them a kiss from me!

The Personal Pronoun – is used to talk about:

• the speaker (s): I, we

• the person(s) we are speaking to: you

• or the person(s) or things we are speaking about: he, she, it

Uses of “it”: a) to talk about a thing: I lost my pencil. It was blue.

b) Impersonal “IT” (as subject in a sentence about time, weather or distance)
 It’s ten o’clock.
It is raining.
How far is Bucarest ? It is 180 Km.
c) Emphatic “IT” (to emphasize a word or a phrase)
It was Tom who came late last night.
d) Introductory “IT”:
It is nice that you came.

2. The possessive pronoun and the possessive adjective

(Pronumele posesive adjectivul posesiv)

Example: Mother’s car is new. Mine is old.

This is mine.

mine - al meu, a mea, ai mei, ale mele

yours - al tau, a ta, ai tai, ale tale
his - al sau (a lui), a sa (a lui), ai sai (ai lui), ale sale (ale lui)
hers - al sau (a ei), a sa (a ei), ai sai (ai ei), ale sale (ale ei)
its own - al sau, a sa, ai sai, ale sale (neutru)
ours - al nostru, a noastra, ai nostri, ale noastre
yours - al vostru, a voastra, ai vostri, ale voastre
their - al lor, a lor, ai lor, ale lor

Example:
My brother is tall, but yours is taller.
His car is old, but hers is older.
I lost my pencil, can you lend me yours?
 • The possessive pronoun replaces both the object that is possessed and the person who
possesses it.
• The possessive adjective replaces the person who possesses something and determines the
noun that expresses the object which is possessed:
This is her car.
The possessive adjective: my, your, his, her, it (singular)
our, your, their (plural)
The adjective “OWN” can be used after the possessive adjective to underline the idea of possession:
It was his own idea to go there.

3. The interrogative pronoun and the interrogative adjective

(Pronumele interogativ si adjectivul interogativ)
who? - cine?
whom? who? - pe cine?
whose? - al (a, ai, ale) cui?
what? -care?, pe care,ce?
which? - (pe) care dintre?

Example:
Whom did you see last Sunday?
Whose shoes are those?
What are you doing?
Which do you like more?
• The interrogative pronoun occurs in an interrogative sentence and replaces the noun in
the answer:
“Who is coming?”
“John”.
• The interrogative adjective determines a noun and helps to build a sentence”

Which books did you read?

 • “WHO” and “WHOM” can only be pronouns. The pronoun “WHO” is used only for
persons:

Who is your teacher?

• The interrogative pronouns and adjectives can have both a singular and a plural meaning:

Who are they?

Whose pen is this?

What film did you see?

Which books did you buy?

4. The demonstrative pronoun and the demonstrative adjective

(Pronumele demonstrative si adjecivul demonstrativ)
 • “near” reference (de apropiere): this (singular) - acesta, aceasta, asta, asta
these (plural) - acestea, acestia, astia, astea
• “distant reference (de departare): that (singular) - acela, aceea, ala, aia
those (plural) - acelea, aceia, aia, alea

Example:
This is my brother.
Those are his parents.
• The demonstrative pronouns usually express spatial and temporal relationship between
the objects they stand for and the speaker:
That is our house.
• The demonstrative adjective determines a noun and expresses the place of the noun in
time or space:
This man helped me.

The Supernatural. Answers from Beyond Reality

from The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Supplementary text

‘Follow me!’ She said to the Monk in a low and solemn voice. ‘All is ready!’ His limbs
trembled, while He obeyed her. She led him through various narrow passages; and on every side
as they past along, the beams of the Lamp displayed none but the most revolting objects; Skulls,
Bones, Graves, and Images whose eyes seemed to glare on them with horror and surprize. At
length they reached a spacious Cavern, whose lofty roof the eye sought in vain to discover. A
profound obscurity hovered through the void. Damp vapours struck cold to the Friar’s heart; and
He listened sadly to the blast while it howled along the lonely Vaults. Here Matilda stopped. She
turned to Ambrosio. His cheeks and lips were pale with apprehension. By a glance of mingled
scorn and anger She reproved his pusillanimity, but She spoke not. She placed the Lamp upon
the ground, near the Basket. She motioned that Ambrosio should be silent, and began the
mysterious rites. She drew a circle round him, another round herself, and then taking a small
Phial from the Basket, poured a few drops upon the ground before her. She bent over the place,
muttered some indistinct sentences, and immediately a pale sulphurous flame arose from the
ground. It increased by degrees, and at length spread its waves over the whole surface, the circles
alone excepted in which stood Matilda and the Monk. It then ascended the huge Columns of
unhewn stone, glided along the roof, and formed the Cavern into an immense chamber totally
covered with blue trembling fire. It emitted no heat. On the contrary, the extreme chillness of the
place seemed to augment with every moment. Matilda continued her incantations. At intervals
She took various articles from the Basket, the nature and name of most of which were unknown
to the Friar. But among the few which He distinguished, He particularly observed three human
fingers, and an Agnus Dei which She broke in pieces. She threw them all into the flames which
burned before her, and they were instantly consumed.
The Monk beheld her with anxious curiosity. Suddenly She uttered a loud and piercing
shriek. She appeared to be seized with an access of delirium; She tore her hair, beat her bosom,
used the most frantic gestures, and drawing the poignard from her girdle plunged it into her left
arm. The blood gushed out plentifully, and as She stood on the brink of the circle, She took care
that it should fall on the outside. The flames retired from the spot on which the blood was
pouring. A volume of dark clouds rose slowly from the ensanguined earth, and ascended
gradually, till it reached the vault of the Cavern. At the same time a clap of thunder was heard:
The echo pealed fearfully along the subterraneous passages, and the ground shook beneath the
feet of the Enchantress. It was now that Ambrosio repented of his rashness. The solemn
singularity of the charm had prepared him for something strange and horrible. He waited with
fear for the Spirit’s appearance, whose coming was announced by thunder and earthquakes. He
looked wildly round him, expecting that some dreadful Apparition would meet his eyes, the sight
of which would drive him mad. A cold shivering seized his body, and He sank upon one knee,
unable to support himself. ‘He comes!’ exclaimed Matilda in a joyful accent.
Ambrosio started, and expected the Daemon with terror. What was his surprize, when the
Thunder ceasing to roll, a full strain of melodious Music sounded in the air. At the same time the
cloud dispersed, and He beheld a Figure more beautiful than Fancy’s pencil ever drew. It was a
Youth seemingly scarce eighteen, the perfection of whose form and face was unrivalled. He was
perfectly naked: A bright Star sparkled upon his forehead; two crimson wings extended
themselves from his shoulders; and his silken locks were confined by a band of many-coloured
fires, which played round his head, formed themselves into a variety of figures, and shone with a
brilliance far surpassing that of precious Stones. Circlets of Diamonds were fastened round his
arms and ankles, and in his right hand He bore a silver branch, imitating Myrtle. His form shone
with dazzling glory: He was surrounded by clouds of rose-coloured light, and at the moment that
He appeared, a refreshing air breathed perfumes through the Cavern. Enchanted at a vision so
contrary to his expectations, Ambrosio gazed upon the Spirit with delight and wonder. Yet
however beautiful the Figure, He could not but remark a wildness in the Daemon’s eyes, and a
mysterious melancholy impressed upon his features, betraying the Fallen Angel, and inspiring
the Spectators with secret awe.
The Music ceased. Matilda addressed herself to the Spirit: She spoke in a language
unintelligible to the Monk, and was answered in the same. She seemed to insist upon something
which the Daemon was unwilling to grant. He frequently darted upon Ambrosio angry glances,
and at such times the Friar’s heart sank within him. Matilda appeared to grow incensed. She
spoke in a loud and commanding tone, and her gestures declared that She was threatening him
with her vengeance. Her menaces had the desired effect: The Spirit sank upon his knee, and with
a submissive air presented to her the branch of Myrtle. No sooner had She received it, than the
Music was again heard. A thick cloud spread itself over the Apparition.
 The blue flames disappeared, and total obscurity reigned through the Cave. The Abbot
moved not from his place. His faculties were all bound up in pleasure, anxiety, and surprize. At
length the darkness dispersing, He perceived Matilda standing near him in her religious habit,
with the Myrtle in her hand. No traces of the incantation, and the Vaults were only illuminated
by the faint rays of the sepulchral Lamp. ‘I have succeeded,’ said Matilda, ‘though with more
difficulty than I expected. Lucifer, whom I summoned to my assistance, was at first unwilling to
obey my commands. To enforce his compliance I was constrained to have recourse to my
strongest charms. They have produced the desired effect, but I have engaged never more to
invoke his agency in your favour. Beware then, how you employ an opportunity which never
will return. My magic arts will now be of no use to you. In future you can only hope for
supernatural aid by invoking the Daemons yourself, and accepting the conditions of their service.
This you will never do: You want strength of mind to force them to obedience, and unless you
pay their established price, they will not be your voluntary Servants.
APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments.

1. Enumerate and enlarge upon the most widely spread descriptions of daemons in folklore,
religious literature and fiction.
2. Discuss the reasons for the Faustian pact motif appearing as a cultural invariant.
3. Translate the fourth paragraph of the text into Romanian.
  Grammar Module:
The Pronoun (Pronumele) (II)

5. The reflexive pronoun (Pronumele reflexive şi de întărire)

myself - mă, însumi, însămi
yourself - te, însuţi, însăţi
himself - se, însuşi
herself - se, înseşi
itself - se, însuşi, însăşi (neutru)
ourselves - ne, înşine, însene
yourselves - vă, înşivă, însevă
themselves - se, înşişi, înseşi

Example:
I found myself very smart.
We did ourselves all the exercises.
• We use a reflexive pronoun to talk about the same person or thing that we mentioned in
the subject of the sentence:
I’m teaching myself Italian.
• Idiomatic phrases:
to enjoy oneself = to have a good time
to help oneself to something = to take something
to behave oneself = not to be silly or naughty

6. The emphatic pronoun (Pronumele emfatic)

• The emphatic pronouns have the same form as the reflexive pronouns, but they have an
end position in the sentence or come after the noun phrase they refer to:
we ……. ourselves / we ourselves
We, the students, we ourselves helped him. = we and no one else.

7. The reciprocal pronouns (Pronumele reciproce)

 • The reciprocal pronouns express reciprocal relationships between persons or things. They
are: - each other (unul altuia, unul pe celălalt)
- one another (unii altora, unii pe alţii)
They don’t speak to each other any more.
(Ei nu-şi mai vorbesc unul altuia.) – sunt doi
They don’t speak to one another.
(Ei nu-şi mai vorbesc unii cu alţii.) – sunt mai mulţi

8. The indefinite pronoun and the indefinite adjective

(Pronumele nehotărât şi adjectivul nehotărât)

some + body, one, thing

any + body, one, thing
no + body, one, thing
Example:
I want something from you.
She didn't find anything in the fridge.
There was no one in the room.

Any – (adjectiv sau pronume), înseamna “vreun”, “nişte” , într-o frază negativă, interogativă sau
interogativ negativă:
I don’t have any. (Nu am.)
Have you got any money? (Aveţi vreun (nişte) ban(i)?)
- într-o frază afirmativă înseamnă “orice”, “oricare”, “oricine”
They are determined to win at any cost. (Sunt dispuşi să câştige, oricare ar fi preţul.)
Any of you could do it. (Oricare (oricine) dintre voi poate s-o facă.)
- Any se foloseşte când aşteptăm răspunsul “nu”, some când aşteptăm răspunsul “da”
Do you want any sugar? (Doriţi nişte zahăr?)
No, thank you. (Nu, mulţumesc.)

Do you want some sugar? (Doriţi nişte zahăr?)

 Yes, I do. (Da.)
- Any ca adverb având sensul “deloc” se foloseşte în faţa unui compartiv.
Do you feel any better? (Nu vă simţiţi deloc mai bine?)
- într-un stil mai familiar, este utilizat în expresii de genul:
It doesn’t help me any. (Nu mă ajută cu nimic (deloc).

9. The relative pronoun (Pronumele relative)

who - care
whom/who - pe care
whose - al (a, ai, ale) cărui, căreia, cărora
what - ce, ceea ce
which - care, pe care (pt. lucruri, obiecte ...)
that - care

Example:
My brother, who is a doctor, lives in Bucharest.
Tom, whose car was stolen, bought another one last week.
I found a cat that was lost.
I didn't like what I saw.

EXERCISES
1. Complete the following sentences with the reflexive pronoun.
1) I enjoyed …………. at the party
2) My father didn't buy the book for …………… .
3) The dog cut …………. while running in the street.
4) Help …………. with some fruit, John and Mary.
5) We saw …………. in the snow.

2. Complete the following sentences with the possessive pronoun.

1) This is my cat. It is …………. .
2) That is his lamp. It is …………… .
3) These are our maps. They are ………… .
4) Those are their shoes. They are ………….. .
5) This is her shirt. It is …………….. .

3. Choose the right pronoun.

1) I saw Mr. Thompson …………. is John's father. (that, who, which)
2) …………….. did you meet last week, John or Steve? (which, who, whose)
3) Puffy, …………… is a big cat, is very lazy. (which, who, whose)
4) …………… are you doing? (whom, what, that)
5) ………….. is going with you at the theatre? (who, that, whom)

4. Complete with some or any.

1) We haven’t got ……………. left.
2) They still have ………………., but not much.
3) I can see you like it. Will you have ………….. more?
4) This policy is not to be altered under …………………. circumstamces.
5) We need ……………… help we can get.
a. any c. anyone
b. some d. everyone
Science. Answers from Reality
The Five Frontiers of Space by Edward C. Stone

NASA was formed at the dawn of the Space Age as part of the U.S. investment to create a
space-faring capability. Today the United States is indeed a space-faring nation, and it is hard to
imagine a future in which it does not remain so. Even if there was no longer a NASA, we would
continue to develop and deploy more advanced global positioning, communications, weather,
reconnaissance, and systems in space.
Given that the United States is and will be a space-faring nation, what is the role of NASA
in space today? Although the Space Age began 46 years ago, it is still the newest realm of human
activity. There remains much to learn. A primary role for NASA is to expand the frontiers of this
new realm in order to foster increasing activity and broader involvement.
Expanding the frontiers of space also serves the national interest by providing opportunities
for international partnerships.
There are five frontiers to this new realm of human activity:
1. The physical frontier – going where robotic systems or humans have not been.
2. The knowledge frontier – discovering and understanding natural phenomena.
3. The engineering / technology frontier – developing the innovative engineering and technology
required to expand the other frontiers.
4. The human frontier – addressing the physiological, psychological, and other aspects of
effective human activity in space.
5. The applications frontier – developing and demonstrating new uses of space.
These frontiers are immense, so choices must be made. Among the criteria for such choices
is the extent to which a program or project significantly expands one or more of these frontiers,
thereby contributing to the achievement of a long-term goal.
The actual rate of learning or pushing the frontiers is another important measure of the
value of individual programs. This is an important criterion for choosing a program. It is also
important in deciding to discontinue an activity when the important questions have been
answered and the rate of learning has become only incremental or is no longer commensurate
with the cost and risk.
In general, space science has long-range goals and roadmaps that are periodically revisited
in the light of new knowledge, new capabilities, expected rate of learning, and estimated cost and
risk. It also has processes for identifying the best ideas for addressing those goals. Therefore the
following focuses on human space-flight.
The human exploration of Mars would clearly expand the physical frontier for human
space-flight and could serve as a long-range goal in determining the value of specific
investments in the human space-flight program. With proper planning and preparation, the
human exploration of Mars would also expand the science frontier. This should be an
international goal with a general time frame but not a commitment to a specific date. Sending
humans to Mars would require significantly expanding the engineering / technology and the
human frontiers while continuing the scientific exploration of Mars with precursor robotic
missions. In the near term this suggests that the human frontier should be a high priority for the
International Space Station. The capabilities and use of the International Space Station should be
optimized to achieve timely and significant progress in understanding the most important factors
affecting human effectiveness and safety during long exposures in space. There will also be
opportunities for the International Space Station to contribute to the science and applications
frontiers.
One of the challenges for human space-flight is choosing programs that will significantly
increase the rate of learning associated with expanding the frontiers critical to human spaceflight
so that it is commensurate with the investment and the risk. An effective way to increase the rate
of learning is to proceed with a series of smaller steps rather than with the occasional, much
larger step represented by a single system designed to address many different and often
competing objectives. Each step should focus on an aspect of the engineering and technology or
human frontier that is crucial to making a human mission to Mars feasible, affordable, and safe.
The exact steps will evolve as we learn, but the overall direction will be guided by the long-term
goal of the human exploration of Mars. Expanding the frontiers means learning by going new
places and trying new things. Doing what has not been done before will entail risk, but that will
be acceptable if we are learning what is critical to expanding the frontiers, rather than only
incrementally improving what we already know and do. That does not mean, however, that
institutionally driven risks are acceptable.
Addressing challenging engineering / technology issues on reasonable time scales (e.g. 5
years) will motivate students and attract the talented workforce needed to tackle hard problems.
This is important because there are now many more challenging opportunities in engineering and
science than there were at the beginning of the Space Age. As a result, there is much more
competition for the brightest and best, and the human space-flight program must offer a higher
rate of learning to attract a new generation of technical staff.
Experience with the space science program also suggests that if the human space-flight
program was structured to produce more learning, additional funding would follow because the
value to the long-range goal of human presence on Mars would be apparent and the progress
visible. The challenge for the human space-flight program in the next two decades is to take the
steps on the frontiers of space that will make human exploration of Mars not just a dream but
inevitable.
(in: Issues and Opportunities Regarding the U.S. Space Program –
A Summary Report of The Workshop on National Space Policy – March, 2004)

APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments

1. Can you integrate the contextual valence and meanings of the term ‘frontier’, as employed in
this text, within an ampler cultural circumscribing of the concept? Do you consider it a matter of
linguistic coincidence that it occurs here? What do you know about ‘the spirit of the Frontier’,
and its role in shaping the becoming of America?
2. What do you know about ‘the race for the Moon’ in the sixties?
3. What do you know about the present-day exploration of Mars?

 Vocabulary study and practice

1. Look up the meaning of any unknown word or phrase in a dictionary.
2. Afterwards, try and find their synonyms and/or opposites among the words and phrases
that you had already known.

 Grammar Module
The numeral (Numeralul)
 Numeralul este, de obicei, definit ca „partea de vorbire care denumeşte numărul sau
ordinea numerică"; dar din punct de vedere gramatical el nu poate fi socotit parte de vorbire,
deoarece, de fapt, îndeplineşte funcţiile uneia din următoarele părţi de vorbire:
a) substantiv: Ten divided by two is five. (Zece împărţit la doi face cinci.)
b) adjectiv: The third witness did not want to speak. (Cel de-al treilea martor nu voia să
vorbească.)
c) pronume: The third did not want to speak. (Cel de-al treilea nu voia să vorbească.)

1. The Cardinal Numeral (Numeralul cardinal)

0 zero;
1 one;
2 two= [tu:];
3 three;
4 four= [fo:r];
5 five= [faiv];
6 six= [siks];
7 seven;
8 eight= [eit];
9 nine= [nain];
10 ten= [ten];
11 eleven= [i'levn];
12 twelve= [twelv];
13 thirteen;
14 fourteen= [fo:'ti:n];
15 fifteen= [fif'ti:n];
16 sixteen= [siks'ti:n];
17 seventeen;
18 eighteen= [ei'ti:n];
19 nineteen= [nain'ti:n];
20 twenty= [twenti];
30 thirty;
40 forty= [fo:ti];
50 fifty= ['fifti];
60 sixty= ['si:ksti];
70 seventy= ['sevnti];
80 eighty= ['eiti];
90 ninety= ['nainti];
100 a (one) hundred;
1000 a (one) thousand;

101 - one hundred and one;

163 - one hundred and sixty-three;
1004 - one thousand and four;
2057 - two thousand and fifty-seven;
4258 - four thousand two hundred and fifty-eight;

NOTE:
- se foloseste cratima intre numeralul zecilor si cel al unitatilor
e.g. 21 twenty-one; 99 ninety-nine
- se pune virgula dupa fiecare grup care indica miile
e.g. 1,222,351
- mentionarea conjunctiei and este obligatorie inaintea grupului zecilor si unitatea finala
e.g. 2,532 - two thousand five hundred and thirty-two

NOTE: Hundred, thousand, dozen (duzina) sunt invariabile: e.g. two thousand dollars.
Utilizate ca substantive ele primesc “-s” la plural: e.g. hundreds of men (sute de barbate);
thousands of soldiers (sute de soldati).

The cardinal numeral is used to express a number, a date, time of the clock, etc.

• When we refer to years, we read: e.g. 1985 - nineteen eighty five.

• Shorter numerals are generally expressed in letters:

Twelve of the crew managed to escape.

• Longer numerals, in figures:

This Greek thinker lived 2,500 years ago.

2. The Ordinal Numeral

1st first = primul

2nd second = al doilea
3rd third = al treilea
4th fourth .................
5th fifth
6th sixth
7th seventh
8th eighth
9th ninth
10th tenth
11th eleventh
12th twelvth
13th thirteenth
14th fourteenth
15th fifteenth
16th sixteenth
17th seventeenth
18th eighteenth
19th nineteenth
20th twentieth
21st twenty-first
22nd twenty-second
23rd twenty-third
....... .......
30th thirtieth
40th fortieth
....... .......
100th hundredth
1,000 thousandth
1,000,000 millionth

The flat is on the sixth floor.

The hero dies in the fourth act.

Pentru a forma un numeral ordinal (numeralele ordinale pun obiectele in ordine),

adaugati terminatia “-th” la numeralul cardinal.
seven= seventh= al 7-lea;
thirteen= thirteenth= al 13-lea;
hundred= hundredth= al 100-lea;
 thousand= thousandth= al 1000-lea

• Atunci cand un numeral cardinal se termina in -y, acesta se schimba in -ie inainte de a se
adauga “-th”.

twenty= twentieth= al 20-lea;

sixty= sixtieth= al 60-lea;

Exceptii:
1st= first= primul;
2nd= second= al 2-lea;
3rd= third= al 3-lea;
5= fifth= al 5-lea;
9= ninth= al 9-lea;
12= twelfth= al 12-lea;
De la 21-lea pana la al 99-lea cifra unitatilor este ordinala:
22nd= twenty-second
33rd= thirty-third
58th= fifty-eighth
66th= sixty-sixth etc;

3. The Fractional Numeral (Numeralul fractionar)

• ½ = a (one) half
• 3/5 = three fifths
• ¼ = a (one) fourth
• 7 5/6 = seven and five sixths
• 2/3 = two thirds
Fractiile zecimale (decimal fractions):
• 35.89 = thirty-five point eight nine
• 0.09 = (nought) point nought three
4. The Multiplicative Numeral (Numeralul multiplicativ)
• 1x = single, once (o data)
• 2x = double/twofold, twice (de doua ori)
• 3x = triple (treble)/threefold, three times (de trei ori)
• 4x = fourfold, four times (de patru ori)
• 10x = tenfold, ten times
• 100x = a hundredfold, a hundred times

I’ve been here only once or twice.

We can give a fourfold classification of these materials.
EXERCISES

1. Write in letters the following numerals.

123; 1,450; 58; 33; 1,024; 985; 24; 48; 22,760.

2. Write the following fractions.

1/3; 7/8; 6 9/12.
6.08; 0.7; 0.0001, 10.58.

3. Write the following dates.

21 June 1994 (the twenty-first of June, nineteen ninty-four)
2 April 1903 (the second of April, nineteen O[ou] three)
5 August 1800 (the fifth of August, eighteen hundred)

3 December 1860 –
30 May 1701 –
23 July 1900 -

4. Read the following phone numbers.

118605 (double one eight six O[ou] five)
255799 (two five five seven double nine)
197300; 380177; 670029.

5. Read the following times of the clock.

3: 25 (It is twenty-five [minutes] past three / three twenty-five)
6:45 (It is a quarter to seven / six forty-five)
10:45; 11:25; 12:40; 13:30; 14:05.

6. Translate into English.

1) Ziua mea de nastere este pe data de 22 mai.
2) Am ajuns in Bucuresti pe data de 14 iunie.
3) John este al patrulea elev din clasa.
4) 4 Iulie este ziua nationala a Americii.
5) Primul autobuz din parcare este al nostru.
6) Sunt 14 elevi in aceasta clasa.
Science. Answers from Reality
Earliest Fire Sheds Light on Hominids by Nadja Neumann

Supplementary text

You could travel back 790,000 years and still find someone to light your fire: archaeologists
have collected evidence that early humans mastered fire much earlier than previously thought.
There is already good evidence for hearths that are 250,000 years old, and it was widely believed
that the first controlled handling of fire occurred 400,000 to 500,000 years ago. But an analysis
of burned remains carried out by Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, and
her team now proves that fire was tamed at least 300,000 years earlier than that. The researchers
have spent the past 15 years unearthing and sorting sediments at a site called Gesher Benot
Ya’aqov in Israel. The site is of particular interest to archaeologists because it was an old
crossroads between Asia and Eurasia. It is also waterlogged, which means that any ancient
remains are extremely well conserved. The team sorted flint and wood from the 790,000-year-
old site into burned and unburned material. They found that burned material made up less than
2% of the total and was concentrated at specific locations in the site, suggesting the fires that
created it were started and controlled by early humans.
Goren-Inbar sees the study as a breakthrough in terms of understanding the evolution of
hominids: the fact that they were using fire so early tells scientists a great deal about their
abilities and behaviour at the time.
As well as providing protection against wild animals, fire would have enabled hominids to
cook their food, stay warm during the winter and possibly improve their weapons. Chris Stringer
from the Natural History Museum in London, UK, suggests that the use of fire would have
enriched the hominids’ social lives too. People may have gathered around camp-fires, staying
awake longer and interacting more than before. He also points out that this first use of fire
correlates with the time that hominids are thought to have entered colder areas such as Europe
and Northern China, suggesting that fire helped hominids to explore environments that were
previously too hostile. Goren-Inbar’s analysis suggests that, as well as using fire, inhabitants of
the site in Israel were collecting plant food, hunting and processing meat.
The team plans further analysis of the site’s material to determine which species of hominid
was responsible for the fires. Homo erectus, Homo ergaster and Homo sapiens were all around at
the time, and all were able to walk upright, had large brains and were already using tools made of
stone.

in: Nature News Service / April, 30, 2004 / Macmillan Magazines Ltd © 2004
APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments.

1. What do you think of the continuous “back-shift” re-dating that contemporary anthropological
discoveries bring about?
2. Comment upon the cultural symbolism of fire.
  Grammar Module

The Verb (I)

Tenses of the Indicative Mode

O clasă de cuvinte a cărei importanţă în vocabularul unei limbi se poate compara numai
cu aceea a substantivelor este clasa de cuvinte care spune ceva despre un obiect (fiinţă, lucru
etc.), care exprimă acţiunea acestuia (to go - a merge; to make - a face), starea (to lie - a zăcea;
to sit - a şedea), transformarea (to consolidate - a se consolida; to weaken - a slăbi), atitudinea
(to like - a-i plăcea; to want - a vrea, a dori) etc. Această clasă de cuvinte este denumită verb,
atât în dicţionare (vb, v) cât şi în gramatici.
Ca parte de vorbire însă, ca element gramatical deci, verbul nu poate fi definit numai pe
baza înţelesului.
Gramatica trebuie să ţină seama şi de forma verbului, de felul cum se asociază cu alte
părţi de vorbire, precum şi de funcţiile gramaticale pe care le poate îndeplini în propoziţie (sau,
în general, într-un context). Verbul este o parte de vorbire care denumeşte acţiuni, stări, apariţia
sau modificarea unei caracteristici, transformări, atitudini etc., având forme gramaticale
caracteristice determinate de aspect, diateză, mod, timp, persoană şi număr şi îndeplinind funcţia
sintactică de predicat sau parte a predicatului.

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE (PREZENTUL SIMPLU)

The Simple Present Tense uses the verb’s base form (write, work), or, for third-person singular
subjects, the base form plus an -s ending (he writes, she works).

Affirmative / Negative
I work / I do not (don’t) work
You work / You do not (don’t) work
He/she/it works / He/she/it does not (doesn’t) work
We work / We do not (don’t) work
 You work / You do not (don’t) work
They work / They do not (don’t) work
Interrogative
Do I work? Do we work?
Do you work? Do you work?
Does he/she/it work? Do they work?

The Simple Present Tense indicates that an action is present, now, relative to the speaker or
writer.
• Generally, it is used to describe actions that are factual or habitual - things that occur in
the present but that are not necessarily happening right now:
It rains a lot in Portland. - is a kind of timeless statement. Compare that to the present
progressive:
It is raining in Portland. - which means that something is, in fact, going on right now.
I use my bike to get around town. - is in the present, but I’m not actually on my bike right now.
• The present tense is used to describe events that are scheduled (by nature or by people):
High tide is at 3:15 p.m.
The Super Bowl starts at 6:15 p.m.
• The present tense can be used to suggest the past with what is sometimes called
the fictional (or historic) present:
We were watching the back door when, all of a sudden, in walks Mary.
• With verbs of communicating, the present tense can also suggest a past action:
Mary tells me that she took her brother to the dentist.
• Most oddly, the present tense can convey a sense of the future, especially with verbs such
as arrive, come, and leave that suggest a kind of plan or schedule:
The train from Boston arrives this afternoon at two o’clock.
Present tense habitual activities are frequently signaled by time expressions
such as the following: all the time, always, every class, every day, every month, every semester,
often, rarely, sometimes, usually, every holiday, every hour, every week, every year, most of
the
time, never, etc.
EXERCISES

1. Write these verbs + -s or -es.

1) (read) she ...reads...
2) (think) he ……………………..
3) (fly) it ……………………….
4) (dance) he …………………….
5) (have) she ………………………
6) (finish) it ......................................

2. Complete the sentences. Use these verbs:

boil, close, cost, like, meet, open, speak, teach, wash
1) Margaret speaks four languages.
2) In Britain the banks usually ...................................... at 9.30 in the morning.
3) The City Museum ...................................... at 5 o’clock in the evening.
4) Tina is a teacher. She ...................................... mathematics to young children.
5) My job is very interesting. I...................................... a lot of people.
6) Peter...................................... his hair twice a week.
7) Food is expensive. It...................................... a lot of money.
8) Shoes are expensive. They ...................................... a lot of money.
9) Water...................................... at 100 degrees Celsius.
10) Julia and I are good friends. I.......................... her and she .......................me.

3. Write sentences from these words. Put the verb in the right form (arrive or arrives, etc.).
1) (always / early / Sue / arrive) Sue always arrives early.
2) (basketball / I / play / often) I ............................................................................
3) (work / Margaret / hard / usually) ......................................................................
4) (Jenny / always / nice clothes / wear) .................................................................
5) (dinner / we / have / always / at 7.30) ................................................................
6) (television / Tim / watch / never) .......................................................................
7) (like / chocolate / children / usually) .................................................................
8) (Julia / parties / enjoy / always) .........................................................................

4. Write sentences about yourself. Use always/never/often/sometimes/usually.

1) (watch television) I never watch television./ I usually watch television in the
evening.
2) (read in bed) I .................................................................................................
3) (get up before 7 o’clock) .................................................................................
4 ) (go to work/school by bus) ............................................................................
5) (drink coffee) .................................................................................................

5. Write the negative.

1) I play the piano very well. I don’t play the piano very well.
2) Jane plays the piano very well. Jane ...............................................................
3) They know my phone number. ........................................................................
4) We work very hard. ...........................................................................................
5) He has a bath every day. ..................................................................................
6) You do the same thing every day. .....................................................................

6. Write about yourself. Use: I never... or I often ... or I don’t... very often.
1) (watch TV) I don’t watch TV very often.
2) (go to the theatre) ...............................................................................................
3) (ride a bicycle) ..................................................................................................
4) (eat in restaurants) ..............................................................................................
5) (travel by train) .................................................................................................

7. Complete the sentences. All of them are negative. Use don’t/doesn’t + one of these verbs:
cost, go, know, read, see, use, wear
1) I buy a newspaper every day but sometimes I don’t read it.
2) Paul has a car but he .............................................................. it very often.
3) They like films but they ......................................... to the cinema very often.
4) Amanda is married but she .............................................................. a ring.
5) I................................................. much about politics. I’m not interested in it.
6) It’s not an expensive hotel. It............................................... much to stay there.
7) Brian lives near us but we ...................................................... him very often.

8. Put the verb into the correct form, positive or negative.

1) Margaret speaks four languages - English, French, German and Spanish.
(speak)
2) I .don’t like my job. It’s very boring. (like)
3) ‘Where’s Martin?’ ‘I’m sorry. I............................................................’ (know)
4) Sue is a very quiet person. She ............................................ very much. (talk)
5) Jim.................................................. a lot of tea. It’s his favourite drink. (drink)
6) It’s not true! I.............................................................. it! (believe)
7) That’s a very beautiful picture. I......................................... it very much. (like)
8) Mark is a vegetarian. He .............................................................. meat. (eat)

9. Write questions with Do...? and Does...?

1) I like chocolate. And you? Do you like chocolate?
2) I play tennis. And you? ............... you .................................
3) Tom plays tennis. And Ann? ........... Ann ...................................
4) You live near here. And your friends? .......................................................
5) You speak English. And your brother? .......................................................
6) I do exercises every morning. And you? ......................................................
7) Sue often goes away. And Paul? .......................................................
8) I want to be famous. And you? ........................................................
9) You work hard. And Linda? ........................................................
10. Write questions. Use the words in brackets (...) + do/does. Put the words in the right
order.
1) (where /live/ your parents?) Where do your parents live?
2) (you / early / always / get up?) Do you always get up early?
3) (how often / TV / you / watch?) .......................................................................
4) (you / want / what / for dinner?) ......................................................................
5) (like / you / football?) ......................................................................................
6) (your brother / like / football?) .........................................................................
7) (what / you /do/ in the evenings?) .....................................................................
8) (your sister / work / where?) ...........................................................................
9) (to the cinema / often / you / go?) ....................................................................
10) (what / mean / this word?) ............................................................................
11) (often / snow / it / here?) ................................................................................
12) (go / usually / to bed / what time / you?) .......................................................
13) (how much / to phone New York / it / cost?) ..................................................
14) (you / for breakfast / have / usually / what?) ...................................................

11. Write short answers (Yes, he does. / No, I don’t, etc.).

1) Do you watch TV a lot? No, I don’t. or Yes, I do.
2) Do you live in a big city? ...............................................................................
3) Do you often ride a bicycle? ............................................................................
4) Does it rain a lot where you live? .....................................................................
5) Do you play the piano? ......................................................................................

12. Read the following (a) in the negative (b) in the interrogative.
1) You know the answer.
2) He has breakfast at 8.00.
3) He loves her.
4) Some schoolgirls wear uniforms.
5) He trusts you.
6) He tries hard.
7) The park closes at dusk.
8) He misses his mother.
9) The children like sweets.
10) He finishes work at 6.00.
13. a) Give the third person forms of the verbs in these sentences.
b) Show whether you would pronounce the third person form as /s/, /z/ or /iz/.
1) I often drop things. She ....................................
2) We drink a lot of tea. She....................................
3) I often forget things. She.................................
4) We often lose things. He.................................
5) They manage all right. She.................................
6) I often pass your house. He......................................
7) I rush around a lot. She ..................................
8) I always saw the wood. She .......................................
9) I wear old clothes at home. He ………………………….
10) I love sweets. She ......................................
11) I often see them. He ........................................
12) They pay £30 a week rent. He…………………….
13) I cry at sad films. She ....................................

14. Give the correct form of the simple present of each verb.
1) Water …….............. at 100°C. (boil)
2) Hot air ............................(rise)
3) My uncle ........................... in a factory. (work)
4) John and Sue ....................... glasses. (wear)
5) The children .............a lot of sweets. (eat)
6) He only at weekends. (work)
7) I always ………….out on Saturdays. (go)
8) She ……………... to London once a week. (drive)
9) She never ......................up very early. (get)
10) I occasionally ...........................meat. (eat)
11) The coach .................................at 6 this evening. (leave)
12) The concert ............................at 7 next Friday. (start)
13) I ................................ Barcelona won again. (see)
14) It’s not right, you ..................(know) – I ......................(agree)
15) Can he manage? – I ......................... so. (hope)
16) It .........................in the paper it’ll be hot. (say)

15. Complete the sentences using one of the following:

cause(s,) close(s), drink(s), live(s), open(s), speak(s), take(s) place
1) Ann speaks German very well.
2) I never ................................ coffee.
3) The swimming pool........................ at 9 o’clock and .......................... at 18.30 every day.
4) Bad driving ........................... many accidents.
5) My parents ................................ in a very small flat.
6) The Olympic Games ................................ every four years.
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE (PREZENTUL CONTINUU)

The Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense indicates continuing action, something going on
now. This tense is formed with the helping ‘to be’ verb, in the present tense, plus the present
participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
I am buying all my family’s Christmas gifts early this year.
She is working through the holiday break.

Affirmative
I am working / We are working
You are working / You are working
He/she/it is working / They are working

Negative
I am not working
You are not (aren’t) working
He/she/it is not (isn’t) working
We are not (aren’t) working
You are not (aren’t) working
They are not (aren’t) working

Interrogative
Am I working? / Are we working?
Are you working? / Are you working?
Is he/she/it working? / Are they working?
The present continuous can suggest that an action is going to happen in the future, especially
with verbs that convey the idea of a plan or of movement from one place or condition to another:
The team is arriving in two hours.
He’s moving to Portland this summer.
• Because the present progressive can suggest either the present or the future, it is usually
modified by adverbs of time. State verbs describe a continuing state, so do not usually
have a continuous form. Typical examples are: believe, belong, consist, contain, doubt,
fit, have, know, like, love, matter, mean, own, prefer, understand, seem, suppose, suspect,
want, wish.
• Some verbs have a stative meaning and a different active meaning. Typical examples are:
be, depend, feel, have, measure, see, taste, think, weigh.
Compare these uses:
Jack is noisy. Jill is being noisy.
Mark has a Porsche. We are having an interesting conversation.
I think I like you! David is thinking about getting a new job.
This fish tastes awful! I am just tasting the soup.
I feel that you are wrong. I am feeling terrible.
This bag weighs a ton. We are weighing the baby.
It depends what you mean. I am depending on you.

• Other uses of present continuous tense

a. Temporary or repeated actions
This use emphasises a temporary or repeated habitual action.
My car has broken down, so I am walking to work these days.
Are you enjoying your stay here?
b. Complaints about bad habits
You are always complaining about my cooking!
Other possible adverbs are: constantly, continually, forever
c. With verbs describing change and development
Things are getting worse.
More and more people are giving up smoking.
EXERCISES

1. Use these verbs to complete the sentences:

eat, have, lie, play, sit, wait
1) She’s eating an apple.
2) He ....................................... for a bus.
3) They ........................................ football.
4) He .................................... on the floor.
5) They .................................... breakfast.
6) She ..................................... on the table.

2. Complete the sentences. Use one of these verbs:

build, cook, go, have, stand, stay, swim, work
1) Please be quiet. I’m working.
2) ‘Where’s John?’ ‘He’s in the kitchen. He ........................................................’
3) ‘You ........................................................ on my foot.’ ‘Oh, I’m sorry.’
4) Look! Somebody ...................................................... in the river.
5) We’re here on holiday. We ............................................... at the Central Hotel.
6) ‘Where’s Ann?’ ‘She .............................................................. a shower.’
7) They........................................ a new theatre in the city centre at the moment.
8) I ........................................................ now. Goodbye.

3. What’s happening at the moment? Write true sentences.

1) (I / wash / my hair) I’m not washing my hair.
2) (it / snow) It’s snowing, or It isn’t snowing.
3) (I / sit / on a chair) .........................................................................................
4) (I/eat) .............................................................................................................
5) (it/rain) .............................................................................................................
6) (I / learn / English) ..........................................................................................
7) (I / listen / to music) .......................................................................................
8) (the sun / shine) ..............................................................................................
9) (I / wear / shoes) .............................................................................................
10) (I / read / a newspaper) ................................................................................

4. Write questions from these words. Use is or are and put the words in order.
1) (working / Paul / today?) Is Paul working today?
2) (what / doing / the children?) What are the children doing?
3) (you / listening / to me?) .................................................................................
4) (where / going / your friends?) ........................................................................
5) (your parents / television / watching?) ..............................................................
6) (what / cooking / Ann?) ....................................................................................
7) (why / you / looking / at me?) ...........................................................................
8) (coming / the bus?) ...........................................................................................

5. Write short answers (Yes, I am. / No, he isn’t, etc.)

1) Are you watching TV? No, I’m not.
2) Are you wearing a watch? .........................................
3) Are you eating something? .......................................
4) Is it raining? ......................................
5) Are you sitting on the floor? ......................................
6) Are you feeling well? ............................................

6. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

1) She (not work), she (swim) in the river.
2) He (teach) his boy to ride.
3) Why Ann (not wear) her new dress?
4) The airplane (fly) at 2,000 meters.
5) What Tom (do) now? He (clean) his shoes.
6) This fire (go) out. Somebody (bring) more coal?
7) It (rain)?-Yes, it (rain) very hard. You can’t go out yet.
8) Why you (mend) that old shirt?
9) You (not tell) the truth.
How do you know that I (not tell) the truth?
10) Who (move) the furniture about upstairs?
It’s Tom. He (paint) the front bedroom.
11) Mrs Jones (sweep) the steps outside her house.
12) What you (read) now? I (read) Crime and Punishment.
13) It is a lovely day. The sun (shine) and the birds (sing).
14) Someone (knock) at the door. Shall I answer it?
I (come) in a minute. I just (wash) my hands.
15) She always (ring) up and (ask) questions.
16) Why you (make) a cake? Someone (come) to tea?
17) Where is Tom? — He (lie) under the car.
18) Can I borrow your pen or you (use) it at the moment?
19) You (do) anything this evening?
No, I’m not.
Well, I (go) to the cinema. Would you like to come with me?
20) We (have) breakfast at 8.00 tomorrow as Tom (catch) an early train.

7. Complete the sentences with one of the following verbs in the correct form:
come, get, happen, look, make, start, stay, try, work
1) ‘You ’re working hard today.’ ‘Yes, I have a lot to do.’
2) I................................................... for Christine. Do you know where she is?
3) It................................................... dark. Shall I turn on the light?
4) They haven’t got anywhere to live at the moment. They .................................. with
friends until they find somewhere.
5) ‘Are you ready, Ann?’ ‘Yes, I....................................................’
6) Have you got an umbrella? It................................................... to rain.
7) You ................................ a lot of noise. Could you be quieter? I........................ to
concentrate.

8. Read this conversation between Brian and Sarah. Put the verbs into the correct form:
Sarah: Brian! How nice to see you! What (l)................................................... (you/do)
these days?
Brian: I (2)................................................... (train) to be a supermarket manager.
Sarah: Really? What’s it like? (3)................................................... (you/enjoy) it?
Brian: It’s all right. What about you?
Sarah: Well, actually I (4)................................................... (not/work) at the moment.
I (5) ............................................ (try) to find a job but it’s not easy.
But I’m very busy. I (6)................................................... (decorate) my flat.
Brian: (7)................................................... (you/do) it alone?
Sarah: No, some friends of mine (8)................................................... (help) me.

9. Complete the sentences using one of these verbs:

get, change, rise, fall, increase
(You don’t have to use all the verbs and you can use a verb more than once.)
1) The population of the world is rising very fast.
2) Ken is still ill but he ................................................... better slowly.
3) The world .................................................... Things never stay the same.
4) The cost of living .................................................... Every year things are more expensive.
5) The economic situation is already very bad and it.................................... worse.
THE PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE TENSE (PREZENTUL PERFECT SIMPLU)

The Simple Present Perfect Tense is formed with a present tense form of ‘to have’ plus the
past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular form).

Affirmative
I have worked / We have worked
You have worked / You have worked
He/she/it has worked / They have worked

Negative
I/you have not (haven’t) worked
He/she/it has not (hasn’t) worked
We/You/They have not worked

Interrogative
Have I worked?
Has he/she/it worked?
Have we/you/they worked?

• This tense indicates either that an action was completed (finished or ‘perfected’) at some
point in the past or that the action extends to the present:
I have walked two miles already. (but I’m still walking).
I have run the Boston Marathon. (but that was some time ago).
The critics have praised the film ‘Saving Private Ryan’ since it came out. (and they continue to
do so).
 • FOR / SINCE
For and since are used with perfect tenses to indicate length of time.
Since can also be used with the Past Simple. Since refers to a date in the past and is used to talk
about things happening between then and now.
For refers to the period of time that has passed between a point of time in the past and now.

I’ve known Mary since March.

I’ve known Mary for three months. (It is now June.)

Since can also be used in the middle of sentences which begin with a time period:
It’s a long time since I’ve seen you. (I haven’t seen you for a long time).
Since + Past simple:
It’s two years since I left the army. (I left the army two years ago - finished action in
the past.)

• With adverbs beginning in the past and going up to present, we would use the present
perfect:
I have studied up to now/lately/already.
• We tend to use the Present Perfect when reporting or announcing an event of the recent
past:
The company’s current CEO has lied repeatedly to her employees.
EXERCISES

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect tense, and fill the spaces by repeating
the auxiliary.
You (wash) the plates?
Yes, I ...
Have you washed the plates?
Yes, I have.

You (see) him lately?

No, I...
Have you seen him lately?
No, I haven’t.

1) Where you (be)? – I (be) to the dentist.

2) You (have) breakfast? – Yes, I...
3) The post (come)? – Yes, it...
4) You (see) my watch anywhere? – No, I’m afraid I ...
5) Someone (wind) the clock? – Yes, Tom ...
6) I (not finish) my letter yet.
7) He just (go) out.
8) Someone (take) my bicycle.
9) The phone (stop) ringing.
10) You (hear) from her lately? – No, I ...
11) I just (wash) that floor.
12) The cat (steal) the fish.
13) You (explain) the exercise? – Yes, I...
14) There aren’t any buses because the drivers (go) on strike.
15) You (have) enough to eat? – Yes, I (have) plenty, thank you.
16) Charles (pass) his exam? – Yes, he ...
17) How many bottles the milkman (leave)? – He (leave) six.
18) I (live) here for ten years.
19) How long you (know) Mr Pitt? – I (know) him for ten years.
20) Would you like some coffee? – I just (make) some.

2. Write the present perfect simple tense of the verbs in brackets.

1) Up to now I’ve visited many countries. (visit)
2) He............................... six letters so far. (type)
3) ................................ couscous? (you ever eat)
4) They ................................ like this before. (never quarrel)
5) I.......................................... to Marco since 1989. (not write)
6) We ................................. there since we were young. (not be)
7) I saw her in May, but.............................. her since. (not see)
8) She .............................. the same car for fifteen years. (drive)
9) I................................. them for many years. (know)
10) She .................................. in that shop for ages! (be)
11) They ..................................... a new car. (buy)
12) He ...............……………...all over the world. (travel)
13) …………………..... your promise? (you forget)
14) I ………................... an elephant. (ride)
15) She ............................. in from Rome. (just fly)
16) She ……………………… a director. (recently become)
17) They……………………............ to me. (already speak)
18) I ………………............. my tea yet. (not drink)
19) She still …………………........... my letter. (not answer)
20) I ………………........ her several times. (met)
3. You are writing a letter to a friend. In the letter you give news about yourself and other
people. Use the words given to make sentences. Use the present perfect.
Dear Chris,
Lots of things have happened since I last wrote to you.
1) I / buy / a new car. I’ve bought a new car.
2) my father / start / a new job
3) I / give up / smoking
4) Charles and Sarah /go/to Brazil
5) Suzanne / have / a baby

4. Read the situations and write sentences. Choose one of the following:
arrive, break, go up, grow, improve, lose
1) Mike is looking for his key. He can’t find it. He has lost his key.
2) Margaret can’t walk and her leg is in plaster. She ..............................................
3) Maria’s English wasn’t very good. Now it is much better...................................
4) Tim didn’t have a beard last month. Now he has a beard....................................
5) This morning I was expecting a letter. Now I have it. .......................................
6) Last week the bus fare was 80 pence. Now it is 90. ...........................................

5. Complete the sentences. Use the verb in brackets + just/already/yet (as shown).
1) Would you like something to eat? No, thanks. I’ve just had lunch. (just/have)
2) Do you know where Julia is? Yes, I.......................................... her. (just/see)
3) What time is David leaving? He .............................................. (already/leave)
4) What’s in the newspaper today? I don’t know. I................................. (not/read/yet)
5) Is Ann coming to the cinema with us? No, she ........................... the film. (already/see)
6) Are your friends here yet? Yes, they ......................................... (just/arrive)
7) What does Tim think about your plan? I...................................................... (not/tell/yet)

6. Read the situations and write sentences with just, already or yet.
1) After lunch you go to see a friend at her house. She says ‘Would you like something to eat?’
You say: No, thank you. I’ve just had lunch. (have lunch)
2) Joe goes out. Five minutes later, the phone rings and the caller says ‘Can I speak to Joe?’
You say: I’m afraid .............................................................................. (go out)
3) You are eating in a restaurant. The waiter thinks you have finished and starts to take your
plate away.
You say: Wait a minute! .................................................................. (not/finish)
4) You are going to a restaurant this evening. You phone to reserve a table. Later your friend
says ‘Shall I phone to reserve a table?’
You say: No, ........................................................... it. (do)
5) You know that a friend of yours is looking for a job. Perhaps she has been successful. Ask her.
You say:...................................................................................................? (find)
6) Ann went to the bank, but a few minutes ago she returned. Somebody asks ‘Is Ann still at the
bank?’
You say: No, .................................................................................. (come back)

7. You are asking somebody questions about things he or she has done. Make
questions from the words in brackets.
1) (ever / ride / horse?) Have you ever ridden a horse?
2) (ever / be California?).........................................................................................
3) (ever / run / marathon?)......................................................................................
4) (ever / speak / famous person?)...........................................................................
5) (always / live / in this town?) .............................................................................
6) (most beautiful place / ever / visit?) What ..........................................................

8. Complete these sentences using today / this year / this term, etc.
1) I saw Tom yesterday but …I haven’t seen him today…
2) I read a newspaper yesterday but I........................................................... today.
3) Last year the company made a profit but this year ...........................................
4) Tracy worked hard at school last term but.........................................................
5) It snowed a lot last winter but ...........................................................................
6) Our football team won a lot of games last season but we ..................................
THE PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE
(PREZENTUL PERFECT CONTINUU)

This tense is formed with the modal ‘have’ or ‘has’ (for third-person singular subjects) plus
‘been’ plus the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
I have been working in the garden all morning.
George has been painting that house for as long as I can remember.

Affirmative
I have been working / We have been working
You have been working / You have been working
He/she/it has been working / They have been working

Negative
I/you have not (haven’t ) been working
He/she has not (hasn’t) been working
We/you/they have not been working

Interrogative
Have I/you been working?
Has he /she/it been working?
Have we/you/they been working?

• The Present Perfect Continuous Tense indicates a continuous action that has been
finished at some point in the past or that was initiated in the past and continues to happen.
The action is usually of limited duration and has some current relevance:
She has been running and her heart is still beating fast.
• The present perfect continuous is frequently used to describe an event of the recent past;
it is often accompanied by just in this usage:
It has just been raining.

• The present perfect continuous is also used for activities:

- which take place over an extended period of time, or which are repeated often in an extended
period of time:
I’ve been playing tennis for five years. (regularly)
I’ve been playing tennis all morning. (continuously)
- which are general rather than specific or counted:
I’ve been listening to a lot of classical music lately.
EXERCISES

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect continuous tense.
1) I (make) cakes. That is why my hands are all covered with flour.
2) Her phone (ring) for ten minutes. I wonder why she doesn’t answer it.
3) He (overwork). That is why he looks so tired.
4) There is sawdust in your hair. – I’m not surprised. I (cut) down a tree.
5) Have you seen my bag anywhere? I (look) for it for ages.
6) What you (do)? – I (work) in the laboratory.
7) He (study) Russian for two years and doesn’t even know the alphabet yet.
8) How long you (wait) for me? – I (wait) about half an hour.
9) It (rain) for two days now. There’ll be a flood soon.
10) We (argue) about this for two hours now. Perhaps we should stop!
11) I (bathe). That’s why my hair is all wet.
12) You (drive) all day. Let me drive now.
13) How long you (wear) glasses?
14) The petrol gauge (say) ‘Empty’ for quite a long time now. Don’t you think we should get
some petrol?
15) I’m sorry for keeping you waiting. I (try) to make a telephone call to Rome.
16) You (not eat) enough lately. That’s why you feel irritable.
17) He (speak) for an hour now. I expect he’ll soon be finished.
18) That helicopter (fly) round the house for the last hour; do you think it’s taking photographs?
19) The radio (play) since 7 a.m. I wish someone would turn it off.
20) I (shop) all day and I haven’t a penny left.

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the present perfect continuous tense.
1) We (live) here since 1977.
2) I’m on a diet. I (eat) nothing but bananas for the last month.
3) The children (look) forward to this holiday for months.
4) That pipe (leak) for ages. We must get it mended.
5) Tom (dig) in the garden all afternoon and I (help) him.
6) I (ask) you to mend that window for six weeks. When are you going to do it?
7) Someone (use) my bicycle. The chain’s fallen off.
8) How long you (drive)? – I (drive) for ten years.
9) The trial (go) on for a long time. I wonder what the verdict will be.
10) It (snow) for three days now. The roads will be blocked if it doesn’t stop soon.
11) Mary (cry)? – No, she (not cry), she (peel) onions.
12) The car (make) a very curious noise ever since it ran out of oil.
13) He walked very unsteadily up the stairs and his wife said, ‘You (drink)!’
14) Your fingers are very brown. You (smoke) too much.
15) You usually know when someone (eat) garlic.
16) Ever since he came to us that man (try) to make trouble.

3. Write the present perfect continuous tense of the verbs in brackets.

1) I’m tired. I have been digging all day. (dig)
2) How long ………………………..here? (you wait)
3) I ………………………………. Here since 6 o’clock. (stand)
4) How long ………………………………Chinese? (you learn)
5) She ………………………..English for five years. (study)
6) You’re out of breath. ……………………….? (you run)
7) We …………………………here for twelve years. (live)
8) Your eyes are red ……………………………. (you cry)
9) How long ……………………………..? (the children sleep)
10) What ……………………………. all afternoon? (you do)

4. Write a question for each situation.

1) John looks sun burnt.
You ask: (you/sit in the sun?) Have you been sitting in the sun?
2) You have just arrived to meet a friend who is waiting for you.
You ask: (you / wait/ long?) ……………………………………..
3) You meet a friend in the street. His face and hands are very dirty.
You ask: (what / you / do?) …………………………………………
4) A friend of yours is now living in Baker Street. You want to know ‘How long...?’
You ask: (how long / you / live / in Baker Street?) ……………………………..
5) A friend tells you about his job – he sells computers. You want to know ‘How
long...?’
You ask: (how long / you / sell / computers?) ..............................................

5. Read the situations and complete the sentences.

1) The rain started two hours ago. It’s still raining now. It has been raining for two hours.
2) We started waiting for the bus 20 minutes ago. We’re still waiting now.
We ............................................................................................ for 20 minutes.
3) I started Spanish classes in December. I’m still learning Spanish now.
I.............................................................................................. since December.
4) Ann began looking for a job six months ago. She’s still looking now.
............................................................................................ for six months.
5) Mary started working in London on 18 January. She’s still working there now.
............................................................................................... since 18 January.

6. Read the situations and write two sentences using the words in brackets.
1) Tom started reading a book two hours ago. He is still reading it and now he is on page 53.
(read / for two hours) He has been reading for two hours.
2) Linda is from Australia. She is travelling round Europe at the moment. She began her tour
three months ago.
(travel / for three months) She..............................................................................
3) Jimmy is a tennis player. He began playing tennis when he was ten years old. This year he is
national champion again - for the fourth time.
(play / tennis since he was ten).............................................................................
4) When they left college, Mary and Sue started making films together. They still make films.
(make / films since they left college)....................................................................

7. For each situation, ask a question using the words in brackets.

1) You have a friend who is learning Arabic.
You ask: (how long / learn / Arabic?) How long have you been learning Arabic?
2) You have just arrived to meet a friend. She is waiting for you.
You ask: (how long/wait?) ....................................................................................
3) A friend of yours is a teacher.
You ask: (how long / teach?) ..................................................................................
4) You meet somebody who is a writer.
You ask: (how long / write / books?) ....................................................................
5) A friend of yours is saving money to go on holiday.
You ask: (how long / save?)..................................................................................
Law, Culture and Conventions. Answers from the Others
How a Law-less ‘Data Haven’ Is Using Law to Protect Itself by Gary Slapper

When is a state not a state? When it is a playground on stilts in 30 ft of water, some might
say, looking out at Sealand, the world’s newest self-proclaimed state, off the Suffolk coast.
The Government has apparently allowed itself to be painted into a corner over an intriguing issue
of international law. A story that began in an apparently risible way in September 1967, and was
nothing much more than a minor item of local news about a small eccentric family, has
metamorphosed into an international incident. For at the very time when Parliament has just
passed the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, which allows private computer information
to be monitored where serious crime or breaches of national security are involved, a putative
state without any such laws or concerns is threatening the interests of the Government off the
port of Felixtowe.
During the Second World War Britain established an artificial island on the high seas. It was
equipped with radar and heavy armaments and was occupied by 200 servicemen. Their task was
to guard the approaches to the Thames Estuary where convoys of shipping were assembled.
After the war the island was abandoned. Then in the winter of 1966, a former major, Roy Bates,
took possession of the outpost known as Roughs Tower. On September 2, 1967, Bates and his
family hoisted their own flag and later declared the existence of the Principality of Sealand.
The island was outside the then existing three-mile territorial waters of Britain. The juridical
status of the Principality of Sealand is now the subject of heated legal and political controversy.
A group of American business entrepreneurs, led by Sean Hastings, 31, is setting up the
world’s first offshore “data haven” on the island. The computer experts come from the Anguilla-
based firm HavenCo Ltd and are keen to launch the only place in the world that can offer almost
complete anonymity and privacy to anyone who wants to conduct e-business beyond the gaze of
the authorities. Clearly, this matter is of grave concern to the police, the Inland Revenue and the
intelligence services. The son of Roy Bates, Prince Michael, 47, has been reported as saying: “It
is about freedom and liberty and making it easier for people to do business in private and to
express themselves freely.”
The commonly accepted criteria among jurists for determining whether an entity is a state
are taken from the jus gentium – the law of nations. This law is derived from the Institutes of
Justinian, the major treatise written by the command of the Roman Emperor Justinian and
published in AD 533. One thorny problem for the Government is that according to the three
major criteria of statehood, Sealand does appear to have a good claim.
The requirements are: a national territory; a people coming together as a nation; and a
sovereign state authority. It does not matter that it is only 932 sq yd in size because there is no
minimum area legally articulated for something to be a state. Vatican City is classified as a state
even though it is minuscule. Neither is there a requirement that the population rises above a
certain minimum. Nor is it an argument that the structure was created by the Government as it
was legally terra nullis – abandoned land – when it was taken over. Article 1 of the Montevideo
Convention on Rights and Duties of States, signed in 1933, itemises the same criteria as the jus
gentium, plus the capacity to enter into relations with other states.
Sealand appears also to have satisfied this criterion. If Sealand is an independent state, it
could legitimately claim its own coastal waters and regulate its own airspace. The Government is
also in difficulties over this because on two occasions it has appeared to endorse the idea that
Sealand is both beyond its jurisdiction and has the status of a state.
In 1968 the Royal Navy expressed concern over Bates’ presence on Sealand and sent in
some boats. Bates fired warning shots at them and was then prosecuted in a Crown Court. He
argued that the newly named Sealand was beyond British jurisdiction and this was accepted by
the trial judge.
Then in 1978, three years after Sealand declared itself a sovereign principality, Dutch and
German businessmen came over with a business proposition. However, while they were there,
they took the fortress and Prince Michael prisoner. He was freed in a counter-attack from the air
by King Roy and the businessmen were taken as PoWs. When Germany asked Britain to
intervene, it was told that the fortress was beyond British jurisdiction.
Students of the relationship between law and realpolitik will be watching developments here
closely. The spectacle of a new state with no laws appealing to international law to protect it
against an ancient state overflowing with laws cannot help but be intriguing.
 (The Times – August, 8, 2000)

APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments

1. If you were a statesman, would you support or at least approve such an initiative as the one in
the story? As an ordinary citizen, what do you think?
2. Comment upon whether there should be a limit that actions performed in the name of
principles like free initiative and entrepreneurship cannot exceed or not.
3. Democracy is usually defined as the freedom to think or do whatever one wishes to, provided
that one does not by this interfere or restrict the same freedom in others. Can a radical
interpretation of this come instead to affect the indirect exponents of the others, like the state and
its institutions?

 Vocabulary study and practice

1. Look up the meaning of any unknown word or phrase in a dictionary.
2. Afterwards, try and find their synonyms and/or opposites among the words and phrases
that you had already known.
  Grammar Module

The Verb (II)

Tenses of the Indicative Mode

THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE (TRECUTUL SIMPLU)

Regular verbs use the verb’s base form (scream, work) plus the -ed ending (screamed,
worked). Irregular verbs have three forms, the second one being the simple past tense (slept,
drank, drove).
Affirmative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they worked/ spoke

Negative
I/you/he/she/it/we/they did not work/ speak

Interrogative
Did I/you/he/she/it/we/they work/ speak?

The Simple Past Tense indicates that an action is in the past relative to the speaker or writer.
• when the time period has finished: We went to Chicago last Christmas.
• when the time period is definite: We visited Mom last week.
• with for, when the action is finished: I worked with the FBI for two months.
• for habitual actions: Every day I went to the park.
• for states: In those days, I didn’t like reading.
EXERCISES

1. Write the past simple of these verbs.

1) get ……………………. 2) see ………………………...
3) play ………………….. 4) pay ………………………..
5) visit ………………….. 6) buy ………………………..
7) go ……………………. 8) think ………………………
9) copy ………………..... 10) know ……………………..
11) put …………………. 12) speak ……………………..

2. Put the verbs in the following sentences into the simple past tense.
1) I go to work by bus.
2) I meet her on Tuesdays.
3) He always wears black.
4) I make cakes every week.
5) She gets up at 6.30.
6) He understands me.
7) He shuts the shop at 6.00.
8) She speaks slowly.
9) He leaves the house at 9.00.
10) I read a chapter every night.
11) You eat too much.
12) I see him every day.
13) Tom sings in the choir.
14) He cries when he is hurt.
15) Who knows the answer?
16) I think I know it.
17) The curtain rises at 8.00.
18) He takes the dog out twice a day.
19) We buy them here.
20) I dream every night.
3. Complete these sentences with the verb in the negative.
1) I saw Barbara but I didn’t see Jane.
2) They worked on Monday but they .............................................. on Tuesday.
3) We went to the post office but we ................................................ to the bank.
4) She had a pen but she ...................................................... any paper.
5) Jack did French at school but he ................................................. German.

4. Write questions with Did...?

1) I watched TV last night. And you? Did you watch TV last night?
2) I enjoyed the party. And you? ...................................................................
3) I had a good holiday. And you? .........................................................................
4) I finished work early. And you? ........................................................................
5) I slept well last night. And you? ........................................................................

5. What did you do yesterday? Write positive or negative sentences.

1) (watch TV) I watched TV. or I didn’t watch TV.
2) (get up before 7 o’clock) I ...........................................................................
3) (have a shower) .............................................................................................
4) (buy a magazine) ............................................................................................
5) (eat meat) .......................................................................................................
6) (go to bed before 10.30) .................................................................................

6. Put the verbs in the following sentences into (a) the negative (b) the interrogative.
1) She saw your brother.
2) We heard a terrible noise.
3) He slept till 10.00.
4) He looked at the picture.
5) They drank all the wine.
6) They set out early enough.
7) She thought about it.
8) The police caught the thief.
9) He hid the letter.
10) She found her watch.
11) His nose bled.
12) My mother chose this hotel.
13) She lent you enough money.
14) Keiko taught Japanese.
15) Tom hurt his foot.
16) He broke his arm.
17) His wife came at 8.00.
18) He lost his wallet.
19) His son wrote a novel.
20) They flew to New York.

7. a. Give the past forms of these regular verbs.

b. Show whether you would pronounce these past forms as /d/, /t/ or /id/.
1) We waited an hour yesterday. (wait)
2) Joan ................ her room on Friday. (clean)
3) I................ squash last night. (play)
4) She ................ my letter yesterday. (post)
5) I................ at her. (smile)
6) She ................ when she saw me. (stop)
7) I................ of you last night. (dream)
8) Who ................ the cakes? (burn)
9) He ................ a lot as a baby. (cry)
10) I ………………TV all evening. (watch)
11) We …………....... when we saw them. (laugh)
12) He …………..... the sergeant’s orders. (obey)
13) We …………....... into the house. (hurry)
14) You …………........ to me! (lie).
15) I …………….early yesterday. (finish)
16) It’s ……………...... in the bill. (include)
17) I ……………… the door before I left. (lock)
18) We …………....... first class. (travel)

8. Complete the sentences. Use one of these verbs in the past simple:
clean ,die, enjoy, finish, happen, open, rain, start, stay
1) I cleaned my teeth three times yesterday.
2) It was hot in the room, so I.............................. the window.
3) The concert................................. at 7.30 and.............................. at 10 o’clock.
4) When I was a child, I.................................... to be a doctor.
5) The accident................................. last Sunday afternoon.
6) It’s a nice day today but yesterday it......................... all day.
7) We .............................. our holiday last year. We .................................... at a very nice place.
8) Ann’s grandfather...................................... when he was 90 years old.

9. Read about Lisa’s journey to Madrid. Put the verbs in the correct form.
Tuesday Lisa (1) flew (fly) from London to Madrid. She (2)......................... (get)up at six o’clock
in the morning and (3).........................(have) a cup of coffee. At 6.30 she (4).........................
(leave) home and (5).........................(drive) to the airport. When she (6) .........................(arrive)
she (7).........................(park) the car and then (8).........................(go) to the airport cafe where she
(9) .........................(have) breakfast. Then she (10) .........................(go) through passport control
and (11)........................(wait) for her flight. The plane (12).........................(depart) on time and
(13).........................(arrive) in Madrid two hours later. Finally she (14).........................(take) a
taxi from the airport to her hotel in the centre of Madrid.

10. Write sentences about the past (yesterday / last week, etc.).
1) Jim always goes to work by car. Yesterday he went to work by car.
2) Rachel often loses her keys. She ................................................ last week.
3) Kate meets her friends every evening. She ........................................ yesterday evening.
4) I usually buy two newspapers every day. Yesterday I ....................................
5) We usually go to the cinema on Sundays. Last Sunday we ............................
6) I eat an orange every day. Yesterday I ............................................................
7) Tom always has a shower in the morning. This morning he ...........................
8) Our friends come to see us every Friday. They ...............................................

11. Write sentences about what you did yesterday.

1) I played tennis yesterday. 4) ………………………………
2) ………………………………. 5) ………………………………
3) ………………………………. 6) ………………………………

12. Put the verb in the correct form - positive, negative or question.
1) We went to the cinema but the film wasn’t very good. We didn’t enjoy it. (enjoy)
2) Tim........................................... some new clothes yesterday - two shirts, a jacket and a
pullover. (buy)
3) ‘...................................................... yesterday?’ ‘No, it was a nice day.’ (rain)
4) The party wasn’t very good, so we ................................................. long. (stay)
5) It was very warm in the room, so I.............................................................. a window. (open)
6) ‘Did you go to the bank this morning?’ ‘No, I................................. time.’ (have)
7) ‘I cut my hand this morning.’ ‘How ................................................ that?’ (do)

13. Write the past forms of the irregular verbs in italics.

1) I often see Giulio. I saw him again only yesterday.
2) As teenagers, we always ........................ each other very well. We still understand each other
now.
3) I hardly ........................ Ray’s wife. Did you know her at all?
4) We always meet on Sunday. We ........................ last Sunday as usual.
5) I often find things on the beach. I........................ this very old bottle yesterday.
6) Someone’s always leaving that window open. Who ........................ it open this time?
7) I........................ a lot of letters when I was young. I hardly ever write letters now.
8) They sell all kinds of rubbish now, but they once ........................ good handmade furniture.
9) She is very good at figures, you know. She ........................ first in maths at school.
10) I have the same car now that I........................ five years ago.
11) I don’t keep pets now, but I ........................ a dog, when I was a boy.
12) Where did you eat last night? - We ........................ at a restaurant.

14. Give complete answers to these questions using the time references in brackets.
1) How long ago did you work as a civil servant? (five years ago)
I worked as a civil servant five years ago.
2) When did you last play football? (when I was 14)
3) When did the Carters leave for their summer holiday? (last night)
4) What time did John arrive? (at 4)
5) When did you last see ‘Gone with the Wind’? (recently)
6) How long did you wait at the airport? (till they arrived)
7) When did Sally tell you about her engagement? (when she was here)

15. Put one of these verbs in each sentence:

buy, catch, cost, drink, fall, hurt, sell, spend, teach ,throw, win, write
1) Mozart wrote more than 600 pieces of music.
2) ‘How did you learn to drive?’ ‘My father ................................. me.’
3) We couldn’t afford to keep our car, so we ................................. it.
4) I was very thirsty. I................................. the water very quickly.
5) Paul and I played tennis yesterday. He’s much better than me, so he ………… easily.
6) Don ............................ down the stairs this morning and ....................... his leg.
7) Jim ................................. the ball to Sue, who ................................. it.
8) Ann …………………….a lot of money yesterday. She…………………….. a dress which
……………….. £100.

16. A friend has just come back from holiday. You ask him about it. Write your questions.
1) (where/go?) Where did you go?
2) (go/alone?) ……………………………………………
3) (food/good?) ………………………………………………
4) (how long/stay there?)…………………………………………….
5) (stay/at a hotel?) …………………………………………..
6) (how/travel?) …………………………………………..
7) (the weather/fine?) ……………………………………………..
8) (what/do in the evenings?) ……………………………………………..
9) (meet anybody interesting?) ………………………………………………

17. Complete the sentences. Put the verb into the correct form, positive or negative.
1) It was warm, so I took off my coat. (take)
2) The film wasn’t very good. I didn’t enjoy it very much. (enjoy)
3) I knew Sarah was very busy, so I............................................. her. (disturb)
4) I was very tired, so I............................................. to bed early. (go)
5) The bed was very uncomfortable. I ....................................... very well. (sleep)
6) Sue wasn’t hungry, so she ............................................. anything. (eat)
7) We went to Kate’s house but she ............................................. at home. (be)
8) It was a funny situation but nobody .............................................. (laugh)
9) The window was open and a bird ........................................ into the room. (fly)
10) The hotel wasn’t very expensive. It....................................... very much. (cost)
 IRREGULAR VERBS
Infinitivul Trecutul simplu Participiul trecut Translation
Lung Scurt *forma Am.
to awake awoke awoke / a (se) trezi
awaked
to be was / were been a fi
to beat beat beaten a bate
to become became become a deveni
to begin began begun a începe
to bend bent bent a îndoi
to bind bound bound a lega, fi obligat
to blow blew blown a sufla, bate
to break broke broken a rupe (se)
to bring brought brought a aduce
to build built built a construi
to burn burnt burnt a arde
to buy bought bought a cumpăra
to catch caught caught a prinde, captura,
to choose chose chosen a alege
to come came come a veni
to cost cost cost a costa
to cut cut cut a tăia
to do did done a face
to draw drew [dru:] drawn a desena
to drink drank drunk a bea
to drive drove driven a conduce, şofa
to eat ate eaten a mânca
to fall fell fallen a cădea
to feed fed fed a hrăni, da de me
to feed fed fed a da mâncare
to feel felt felt a simţi
to find found found a găsi
to fly flew flown a zbura
to forget forgot forgot* a uita
forgotten
to forgive forgave forgiven a ierta
to freeze froze frozen a îngheţa
to get (up) got (up) got/gotten*up a obţine
to give gave [geiv] given a da
to go went gone a merge
to grind ground ground a (se) măcina, toci
to grow grew grown a cultiva, creşte
to hang hung hung a agăţa
to have had had a avea
to hear heard heard a auzi
to hide hid hidden a ascunde (se)
to hit hit hit a lovi, r
to hold held held a ţine
to hurt hurt hurt a lovi
to keep kept kept a ţine, păstra
to know knew known a şti
to lay laid laid a întinde, pune
to learn learnt / learnt / a învăţa
learned learned
to leave left left a pleca, părăsi
to lend lent lent a da cu împrumut
to let let let a îngădui
to lie lay lain a zăcea, sta întins
to light lit lit a aprinde focul
to lose lost lost a pierde
to make made made a face, construi
to mean meant meant a însemna
to meet met met a întâlni
to pay (back) paid (back) paid (back) a plăti (înapoia)
to put (on) (out) put (on) (out) put (on) (out) a pune (îmbrăca)
(elimina)
to quit quit quit a părăsi
to read [ri:d] read [red] read [red] a citi
to ride rode ridden a călări
to ring rung / rang rung a suna
to run ran run a alerga
to saw sawed sawn a tăia cu ferăstrăul
to say said said a spune, zice
to see saw seen a vedea
to seek sought sought a căuta, cere
to sell sold sold a vinde(se)
to send sent sent a trimite
to shake shook shake a scutura, zgâlţâi
to shed shed shed a pierde, lepăda
to shine shone shone a străluci
to shoot shot shot a împuşca
 to show showed shown a arăta
to shut shut shut a închide
to sit sat sat a (se) aşeza
to sleep slept slept a dormi
to smell smelt / smelt / a mirosi
smelled smelled
to speak spoke spoken a vorbi
to speed sped / speeded sped / speeded a merge cu viteză
to spell spelt / spelled spelt / spelled a ortografia
to spend spent spent a cheltui
to spill spilt / spilled spilt / spilled a vărsa
to stand stood stood a (se) ridica
to stick stuck stuck a lipi(se), (se) întepeni
to swear swore sworn a jura
to swim swam swum a înota
to take (off) took (off) taken (off) a lua
to teach taught taught a instrui, preda, învăţa
to tell told told a spune, nara
to think thought thought a gândi
to throw threw thrown a arunca
(away/out) (away/out) (away/..) (azvârli/scoate …
afară
to understand understood understood a înţelege
to upset upset upset a (se) tulbura
to wake (up) woke (up) woke (up) a (se) trezi
woked woked /
woken
to wear wore worn a purta
to wet wet wet a uda
to win won won a învinge, izbândi
to withdraw withdrew withdrawn a retrage (se)
to write wrote written a scrie

THE PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE (TRECUTUL CONTINUU)

The Past Continuous Tense indicates continuing action, something that was happening, going
on, at some point in the past. This tense is formed with the helping ‘to be’ verb, in the past tense,
plus the present participle of the verb (with an –ing ending):
I was riding my bike all day yesterday.
Joel was being a terrible role model for his younger brother.

Affirmative
I was working / We were working
You were working / You were working
He/she/it was working / They were working

Negative
I was not (wasn’t) working / We were not working
You were not (weren’t) working / You were not working
He/she/it was not working / They were not working

Interrogative
Was I working? / Were we working?
Were you working? / Were you working?
Was he/she/it working? / Were they working?

• The past continuous indicates a limited duration of time and is thus a convenient way to
indicate that something took place (in the simple past) while something else was
happening:
Carlos lost his watch while he was running.
• The past continuous can express incomplete action.
I was sleeping on the couch when Bertie smashed through the door.(as opposed to the simple
past, which suggests a completed action):
I slept on the couch last night.
• The past continuous is also used to poke fun at or criticise an action that is sporadic but
habitual in nature:
Tom was always handing in late papers.
My father was always lecturing my brother.

Other uses of past tense continuous:

a. Describing events intended to take place, but which did not happen.
I was going to phone you, but I forgot.
He was thinking of going to Italy this year, but he hasn’t decided.
b. Polite forms. These are common with wonder.
I was wondering if you wanted to come to the cinema.

EXERCISES

1. Complete the sentences using the past continuous tense.

1) It ………………………….. foggier as we drove further into the forest. (get)
2) The sun …………………………when I woke up. (shine)
3) It ………………………....... so hard that we decided to stay at home. (snow)
4) Alex ………………………….. a newspaper in the library. (read)
5) The birds ……………………………..in the early morning sunshine. (sing)

2. Complete the questions. Use was/were -ing. Use what/where/why if necessary.

1) (you/live) Where were you living in 1990? In London.
2) (you/do) ........................................... at 2 o’clock? I was asleep.
3) (it/rain) .................................... when you got up? No, it was sunny.
4) (Ann/drive) ..............................................so fast? Because she was in a hurry.
5) (Tim/wear) .................................a suit yesterday? No, a T-shirt and jeans.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the past continuous tense.

1) Detective: I’m afraid I must ask you both what you (do) yesterday at 10.20 p.m.
Mr X: I (play) chess with my wife.
Mr Y: I (listen) to a play on the radio.
2) The children were frightened because it (get) dark.
3) It was a fine day and the roads were crowded because a lot of people (rush) to the seaside.
4) The airplane in which the football team (travel) crashed soon after taking off.
5) He usually wears sandals but when I last saw him he (wear) boots.
6) The house was in great disorder because he (redecorate) it.
7) The director didn’t allow the actors to travel by air while they (work) on the film.
8) The car had nobody in it but the engine (run).
9) Two children (play) on the sand and two fishermen (lean) against an upturned boat.
10) I was alone in the house at that time because Mr. Jones (work) in the garage and Mrs. Jones
(shop).
11) He said that he was the captain of a ship which (sail) that night for Marseilles.
12) Are you going to Rome? I thought that you (go) to Milan.
13) My wife and I (talk) about you the other day.
14) When I first met him he (study) painting.
15) There was a strong smell and the sound of frying. Obviously Mrs Jones (cook) fish.
16) Tom ate nothing for lunch because he (diet). He said that he (try) to lose 10 kilos.
17) Who you (talk) to on the telephone as I came in? I (talk) to Mr Pitt.
18) As she (climb) the ladder it slipped sideways and she fell off it.
19) When I first met him he (work) in a restaurant.
20) He watched the children for a moment. Some of them (bathe) in the sea, others (look) for
shells, others (play) in the sand.

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the past continuous tense.

1) Where he (live) when you saw him last?
2) She (stand) at the bus stop. I asked her what bus she (wait) for.
3) From the sounds it was clear that Mary (practice) the piano.
4) There had been an accident and men (carry) the injured people to an ambulance.
5) Two men (fight) at a street corner and a policeman (try) to stop them.
What they (fight) about?
Nobody seemed to know.
6) Tom (sit) in a corner with a book. I told him that he (read) in very bad light.
7) I went into the garden to see what the boys (do). James (weed) and Alexander (cut) the grass.
8) They had taken off the wheel of the car and (mend) the puncture. I asked when it would be
ready.
9) When I arrived at the meeting the first speaker had just finished speaking and the audience
(clap).
10) The traffic (make) so much noise that I couldn’t hear what he (say).
11) While he (learn) to drive he had twenty-five accidents.
12) He had a bad fall while he (repair) his roof.
13) He was a little mad. He always (try) to prove that the earth was flat.
14) While we (fish) someone came to the house and left this note.
15) The exam had just begun and the candidates (write) their names at the top of their papers.
16) Just as I (wonder) what to do next, the phone rang.

5. What were you doing at the following times? Write one sentence as in the examples. The
past continuous is not always necessary (see the second example).
1) (at 8 o’clock yesterday evening) I was having dinner with some friends.
2) (at 5 o’clock last Saturday) I was on a train on my way to London.
3) (at 10.15 yesterday morning) ..............................................................................
4) (at 4.30 this morning) .........................................................................................
5) (at 7.45 yesterday evening) ................................................................................
6) (half an hour ago)...............................................................................................

6. Use your own ideas to complete these sentences. Use the past continuous.
1) Tom burnt his hand while he was cooking the dinner.
2) The doorbell rang while I ..................................................................................
3) We saw an accident while we ...........................................................................
4) Mary fell asleep while she.................................................................................
5) The television was on but nobody .....................................................................

7. Use the past continuous tense in the sentences below.

1) I was not listening, so I missed what he said. (not listen)
2) We stayed because we ................................ourselves. (enjoy)
3) ....................... tennis yesterday? (they play)
4) He ............................. all weekend. (garden)
5) ............... television all evening? (you watch)
6) It...................................... hard all day. (rain)
7) I.............................. whether you could lend me some money. (wonder)
8) ................................ when I left? (you still work)
9) I lived in France at the time you .............................. in Spain. (live)
10) When she was younger, she ................................things for other people. (always do)
11) Bill and Sue ................................... their house, before they moved. (constantly improve)
12) ............................. when I rang you? (you read)
13) Just as I .................................. to an interesting part of the story, the doorbell rang. (get)

8. Answer the questions, using the past continuous in your answers.

Model: When did she meet her brother? (walk in the park).
She met her brother when she was walking in the park.
1) When did you break your leg? (come down the stairs)
2) When did he compose the symphony? (have a holiday)
3) When did they learn French? (live in France)
4) When did you hear the news? (listen to the radio)
5) When did the man hurt himself? (ride a horse)
6) When did she find the book? (do the house)
7) When did they lose their child? (walk about town)
8) When did he pay you a visit? (have lunch)
9) When did John notice the flaw? (inspect the vase)
10) When did he ask her that? (talk about their future)

THE SIMPLE PAST PERFECT TENSE (TRECUTUL PERFECT SIMPLU)

The Simple Past Perfect Tense indicates that an action was completed (finished or ‘perfected’)
at some point in the past before something else happened. This tense is formed with the past
tense form of ‘to have’ (had) plus the past participle of the verb (which can be either regular or
irregular in form):
I had walked two miles by lunchtime.
I had run three other marathons before entering the Boston Marathon.

Affirmative
I/you/ he/she/it had worked
We/you/they had worked

Negative
I/you/ he/she/it had not (hadn’t) worked
We/you/they had not worked

Interrogative
Had I/you/ he/she/it worked?
Had we/you/they worked?

• The Simple Past Perfect Tense is not used simply to describe an event in the distant past.
There must be another past event, less far away in the past, with which it contrasts. Past
Perfect is also used in indirect speech.
If I had a spanner, I could fix this. (direct speech)
He said that if he had had a spanner, he could have fixed it. (indirect speech)
• We use the simple past perfect when we say what we wanted or hoped to do, but didn’t:
I had wanted to visit the gallery before I left Florence, but it’s closed on Sundays.
Bill had hoped to retire at 60, but they persuaded him to stay on for a few more years.

• Other verbs used like this include expect (to), mean (to), think (about + -ing).
• When we use a time expression (e.g. after, as soon as, before, by the time (that), when)
to say that one event happened after another, we use either the past simple or past perfect
for the event that happened first and the past simple for the event that happened second:
After Ivan (had) finished reading, he put out the light.
When Carol (had) brushed her teeth, she went to bed.
 • But to emphasise that the second event is the result of the first, we prefer the past simple
for both:
She became famous after she appeared on the TV programme.
When the teacher came in, all the children stood up.
• With already and just (= a very short time before) we use the past perfect, not the past
simple:
The film had already begun by the time we got to the cinema.
She had just stepped into her office when the telephone rang.

EXERCISES

1. Put in the simple past perfect tense.

1) They had locked the gates before I got there. (lock)
2) By the time we arrived, the party ………………………….. (finish)
3) I rang the shop as soon as I ………………………….. the contents of the box. (check)
4) After we ………………………… it on the phone, I wrote him a letter about it. (discuss)
5) We had a good rest when our guests ………………………. . (all leave)
6) When she rang the office this morning, Jim ………………….………… (already go out)
7) Before we took Tim to the theatre, he ……………………….. a stage play before. (never
seen)
8) I …………………….. the carpet when the dog came in and shook himself. (shake)
9) He promised to do the job in an hour, but he still …………………………….. by 10 o’clock.
(not finish)

2. Read the situations and write sentences from the words in brackets using the
simple past perfect.
1) You went to Jill’s house but she wasn’t there. (she / go / out) She had gone out.
2) You went back to your home town after many years. It wasn’t the same as before.
(it / change / a lot)
3) I invited Rachel to the party but she couldn’t come. (she / arrange / to do something else)
4) You went to the cinema last night. You arrived at the cinema late. (the film / already / begin)
5) I was very pleased to see Tim again after such a long time. (I / not / see / him for five years)
6) I offered Sue something to eat but she wasn’t hungry. (she / just / have / breakfast)

3. Read the situations and write sentences ending with before. Use the verb given in
brackets in the simple past perfect.
1) The man sitting next to me on the plane was very nervous. It was his first flight.
(fly) He had never flown before or He hadn’t flown before.
2) A woman walked into the room. She was a complete stranger to me. (see)
I.................................................................................................................. before.
3) Simon played tennis yesterday. He wasn’t very good at it because it was his first game. (play)
He ........................................................................................................................
4) Last year we went to Denmark. It was our first time there.(be)
We .......................................................................................................................

4. Join the following pairs of sentences using the past perfect tense. Use the
conjunctions in brackets:
MODEL: They went out to play. They finished their tasks (after).
They went out to play after they had finished their tasks.

1) He threw the letter away. He wrote it (as soon as).

2) He recovered. He was very ill (before).
3) She didn’t know the truth. He explained it (until).
4) I reached the bus-stop. The bus started (when).
5) He left the room. I switched on the TV set (as soon as).
6) We had breakfast. We went for a walk (after).
7) They didn’t call on us. We dressed for the trip (until).
8) He was an actor. He became a stage director (before).
(Adapted from ‘Practical Grammar in Patterns’ by T. N. Ruzmiciova)

5. Put the verb into the correct form, past perfect (I had done, etc.) or past simple (I did,
etc.).
1) ‘Was Tom at the party when you arrived?’ ‘No, he ...had gone... (go) home.’
2) I felt very tired when I got home, so I........................................... (go) straight to bed.
3) The house was very quiet when I got home. Everybody .................................... (go) to bed.
4) Sorry I’m late. The car .................................................. (break) down on my way here.
5) We were driving along the road when we ........................................ (see) a car
which ........................................ (break) down, so we ........................................ (stop) to see if we
could help.

6. Put the verbs in brackets into the simple past or the past perfect tense.
1) They not (get) a reply, so they (decide) to spend their holidays at home.
2) We (have) to go back, it (rain) for two hours and the ground was water-logged.
3) How long he (live) there when the war (break) out?
4) Only a long time after that he (find) out what (happen).
5) He (know) where I (live) but he never (be) to my flat.
6) He (listen) to her story for two hours and (think) it boring.
7) Nobody (know) he (disappear).
8) She had (stay) at the seaside for more than a week when the weather (grow) cold.
9) He (laugh) at her hair and she (be) angry with him.
10) They (wonder) what (become) of their luggage.
11) The hotel (be) much cheaper than he (think) at first.
12) We (tell) him that his house (burn down).
13) The explorers (travel) for weeks without enough food and water.
14) They asked her why she (lie) to them.
15) He (be pushed) out of the room, before he (be able) to speak.

7. Put the verbs in brackets into the simple past or the past perfect tense.
1) I (not, yet, translate) the letter when he (come back).
2) As soon as I (pay) for the bulb I (say) good-bye to Mr. Hobbs.
3) Mr Smith, who (never, fire) a revolver in his life, (slip) it gingerly into his pocket.
4) Report (go) that he (be maimed) in his youth.
5) Pieces (come off) so that the walls (look) awful.
6) There (be) a ripping sound. The sidecar (come loose) from the motorcycle.
7) It (be) very sudden. Though for many years she (have) pains on and off.
8) ‘And if I (venture) to say a word, Mrs. Welman (be ready) to bite my head off, though I (be)
with her nearly twenty years’.
9) We (hide) in the shadow until we (see) him across the river.
10) He (tell) me her name only after I (ask) him twice.
11) Half way through he (find) he (forget) the beginning of the story.
12) He (place) the saucepan back on the stove, and (grasp) the cup he (fill).
8. Complete the sentences, using the simple past or the past perfect tense of the verbs in
brackets.
1) After Richard …………………work, he ………………… home. (finish, go)
2) By the time the firemen………………….., the fire………………….. (arrive, already / go out)
3) Before she ………………….. the school, Celia ……………… goodbye to all her friends.
(leave, say)
4) After ……………………. his homework, Joe ………………… . (do, go out)
5) When Yuko …………………… home, she ……………….her friend at once. (reach, phone)
6) After she …………………….all the way home, Linda ………………….quite exhausted.
(run, feel)

THE PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS TENSE

(TRECUTUL PERFECT CONTINUU)

The Past Perfect Continuous Tense indicates a continuous action that was completed at some
point in the past. This tense is formed with the auxiliary ‘had’ plus ‘been’ plus the present
participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
I had been working in the garden all morning.
George had been painting his house for weeks, but he finally gave up.

Affirmative
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they had been working

Negative
I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they had not (hadn’t) been working

Interrogative
Had I/you/he/she/it/we/you/they been working?

• We use the past perfect continuous when we talk about the continuity or duration of a
situation or activity, and the past perfect to talk about the completion of a situation or
activity or its effects. Sometimes the difference between them is simply one of emphasis |
I’d been working hard, so I felt that I deserved a holiday. (emphasises the activity)
I’d worked hard, and the report was now finished. (emphasises the result)
• If we talk about how long something went on up to a particular past time, we prefer the
past perfect continuous. If we talk about how many times something happened in a period
up to a particular past time, we use the past perfect:
They had been travelling for about 36 hours. (rather than They had travelled...)
We had been looking at the painting for about ten minutes before we realised who the
artist was. (rather than We had looked...)
I’d heard the symphony many times before. (not I’d been hearing...)
The teacher had let them get away with their bad behaviour once too often. (not...had been
letting them...)
• However, some verbs that describe states are not often used with continuous tenses, and
we use the past perfect with these even when we are talking about how long something
went on up to a particular past time;
I had always believed that it would be easy to get a job. (not I had always been believing...)
We had owned the car for 6 months before we discovered it was stolen. (not We had been
owning…)

Compare the use of the past perfect continuous and past continuous:
When we met Simon and Pat, they had been riding. (we met after they had finished)
When we met Simon and Pat, they were riding. (we met while they were riding)

When I got home, water had been leaking through the roof. (it was no longer leaking when I
got there)
When I got home, water was leaking through the roof. ( it was leaking when I got there)

EXERCISES

1. Put in the past perfect continuous tense.

1) I was tired. I had been digging all day. (dig)
2) We ................................................................ for your call all evening. (wait)
3) How long .................................................................. there? (you wait)
4) I........................................................ there since 6 o’clock. (stand)
5) She ....................................... English for five years before she visited Canada. (study)
6) I ................................ to the firm regularly for a month before, but they still hadn’t answered.
(write)
7) They .......................................................................... me about it every day for the past week.
(ring)
8) I knew you ................................... - How did you know? - Your hair was covered with paint!
(paint)
9) You were out of breath when you came in this morning. .............................? (you run)

2. Read the situations and make sentences from the words in brackets using the past
perfect continuous tense.
1) I was very tired when I arrived home. (I / work / hard all day)
I had been working hard all day.
2) The two boys came into the house. They had a football and they were both very tired. (they/
play/ football)
3) There was nobody in the room but there was a smell of cigarettes. (somebody / smoke / in the
room)
4) Ann woke up in the middle of the night. She was frightened and didn’t know where she was.
(she / dream)
5) When I got home, Mike was sitting in front of the TV. He had just turned it off.
(he/watch/TV)

3. Read the situations and complete the sentences using the past perfect continuous tense.
1) We played tennis yesterday. Half an hour after we began playing, it started to rain.
We had been playing for half an hour when it started to rain.
2) I had arranged to meet Tom in a restaurant. I arrived and waited for him. After 20 minutes I
suddenly realized that I was in the wrong restaurant.
I............................................................................ for 20 minutes when
I.......................................................
3) Sarah got a job in a factory. Five years later the factory closed down.
At the time the factory .............................................................................
Sarah ........................................... there for five years.
4) I went to a concert last week. The orchestra began playing. After about ten minutes a man in
the audience suddenly began shouting.
The orchestra .............................................................................when............................................ .

Law, Culture and Conventions. Answers from the Others

from Crome Yellow by Aldous Huxley
Supplementary text
 For some time past Mary’s grave blue eyes had been fixed upon him. “What have you been
writing lately?” she asked. It would be nice to have a little literary conversation. “Oh, verse and
prose,” said Denis – “just verse and prose.” “Prose?” Mr. Scogan pounced alarmingly on the
word. “You’ve been writing prose?” “Yes.” “Not a novel?” “Yes.” “My poor Denis!” exclaimed
Mr. Scogan. “What about?” Denis felt rather uncomfortable. “Oh, about the usual things, you
know.” “Of course,” Mr. Scogan groaned. “I’ll describe the plot for you. Little Percy, the hero,
was never good at games, but he was always clever. He passes through the usual public school
and the usual university and comes to London, where he lives among the artists. He is bowed
down with melancholy thought; he carries the whole weight of the universe upon his shoulders.
He writes a novel of dazzling brilliance; he dabbles delicately in Amour and disappears, at the
end of the book, into the luminous Future.”
Denis blushed scarlet. Mr. Scogan had described the plan of his novel with an accuracy that
was appalling. He made an effort to laugh. “You’re entirely wrong,” he said. “My novel is not in
the least like that.” It was a heroic lie. Luckily, he reflected, only two chapters were written. He
would tear them up that very evening when he unpacked. Mr. Scogan paid no attention to his
denial, but went on: “Why will you young men continue to write about things that are so entirely
uninteresting as the mentality of adolescents and artists? Professional anthropologists might find
it interesting to turn sometimes from the beliefs of the Blackfellow to the philosophical
preoccupations of the undergraduate. But you can’t expect an ordinary adult man, like myself, to
be much moved by the story of his spiritual troubles. And after all, even in England, even in
Germany and Russia, there are more adults than adolescents. As for the artist, he is preoccupied
with problems that are so utterly unlike those of the ordinary adult man – problems of pure
aesthetics which don’t so much as present themselves to people like myself – that a description
of his mental processes is as boring to the ordinary reader as a piece of pure mathematics. A
serious book about artists regarded as artists is unreadable; and a book about artists regarded as
lovers, husbands, dipsomaniacs, heroes, and the like is really not worth writing again. Jean-
Christophe is the stock artist of literature, just as Professor Radium of “Comic Cuts” is its stock
man of science.” “I’m sorry to hear I’m as uninteresting as all that,” said Gombauld. “Not at all,
my dear Gombauld,” Mr. Scogan hastened to explain. “As a lover or a dipsomaniac, I’ve no
doubt of your being a most fascinating specimen. But as a combiner of forms, you must honestly
admit it, you’re a bore.”
“I entirely disagree with you,” exclaimed Mary. She was somehow always out of breath when
she talked. And her speech was punctuated by little gasps. “I’ve known a great many artists, and
I’ve always found their mentality very interesting. Especially in Paris. Tschuplitski, for example
– I saw a great deal of Tschuplitski in Paris this spring...” “Ah, but then you’re an exception,
Mary, you’re an exception,” said Mr. Scogan. “You are a femme superieure.” A flush of pleasure
turned Mary’s face into a harvest moon.

APPLICATIONS

 Reading comprehension and comments

1. Comment upon how conventional iterativity can come to transform the questions of existence,
and existence itself, into banality and boredom.
2. Translate the first paragraph of the text into Romanian.

 Grammar Module

The Verb (III)

Tenses of the Indicative Mode
THE FUTURE SIMPLE TENSE (VIITORUL SIMPLU)

The Simple Future Tense indicates that an action is in the future relative to the speaker or
writer. There are no inflected forms for the future in English (nothing like those -ed or -s endings
in the other tenses). Instead, the future tense employs the helping verbs will or shall with the base
form of the verb:
She will leave soon.
We shall overcome.

Affirmative
I (shall) will go / We (shall) will go
You will go / You will go
He/she/it will go / They will go

Negative
I (shall) will not go / We (shall) will not go
You will not go / You will not go
He/she/it will not go / They will not go

Interrogative
Shall I go?/ Shall we go?
Will you go? / Will you go?
Will he/she/it/ go? / Will they go?

• Will expresses a future prediction.

I think it’ll rain tomorrow.
You’ll feel better after you’ve taken this medicine.
• It is important to understand the difference between will as a modal verb, which
expresses concepts such as willingness, intention, etc., and will as an auxiliary of the
future, where, like all auxiliaries, it only shows tense and has no intrinsic meaning at all.
 Will for prediction merely signifies ‘This is a future tense’. It is also called the ‘future as
fact’, or the ‘neutral future’.
One day I’ll die.
You’ll fall off if you’re not careful.
He’ll be dead before he’s 30.
I’ll be 26 next Tuesday.
• Will expresses a future intention.
I’ll have a steak, please.
I’ll see you next week.
• In these sentences will expresses an intention or decision made at the moment of
speaking, that is not planned or premeditated. In many languages this idea is expressed in
the present tense, because the decision to act and the act itself are so close in time.
Can I ring you tonight?
Yes, I’ll give you my number. It’s 3871425.
The decision to give the number is made only one second before the actual giving of it, and will
does not really refer to the future, but signifies a present intention, I give you my number is
WRONG.
• According to the context, this use of will can express a promise, a threat, or a decision.
I’ll bring you the book tomorrow. (a promise)
If you do that again, I’ll kill you. (a threat)
We’ll go back home at 8.00. (a decision)
• Some English speakers feel that with the 1st person pronouns (I and we) shall is the
correct form, so in formal situations (such as writing business letters) I will and we will
are avoided. It is used to express both a prediction and an intention. However, in normal
spoken English there is a contraction to ‘ll, so the distinction is unimportant.

EXERCISES

1. Put in will (‘ll) or won’t.

1) Don’t drink coffee before you go to bed. You won’t sleep.
2) ‘Are you ready yet?’ ‘Not yet. I.............................. be ready in five minutes.’
3) I’m going away for a few days. I’m leaving tonight, so I.............................. be at home
tomorrow.
4) It...................................... rain, so you don’t need to take an umbrella.
5) A: I don’t feel very well this evening.

2. Where will you be? Write sentences about yourself. Use: I’ll be... or I’ll probably be ... or
I don’t know where I’ll be.
1) (at 10 o’clock tomorrow) I’ll probably be on the beach or I’ll be at work.
2) (one hour from now) ....................................................................................
3) (at midnight tonight) ....................................................................................
4) (at 3 o’clock tomorrow afternoon) ..................................................................
5) (two years from now) ....................................................................................

3. Complete the sentences. Use I think I’ll... or I don’t think I’ll... + one of these verbs:
buy, go, have, play
1) It’s cold today. I don’t think I’ll go out.
2) I’m hungry. I ........................................... something to eat.
3) I feel tired. ........................................... tennis.
4) This camera is too expensive. ............................................................ it.

4. Complete the sentences with I’ll + a suitable verb.

1) I’m too tired to walk home. I think I’ll get a taxi.
2) ‘It’s a bit cold in this room.’ ‘Is it? ................................................... on the heating then.’
3) ‘We haven’t got any milk.’ ‘Oh, haven’t we? ................................................... and get some.’
4) ‘Do you want me to do the washing-up?’ ‘No, it’s all right. ....................... it.’
5) ‘I don’t know how to use this computer.’ ‘OK,................................................... you.’
6) ‘Would you like tea or coffee?’ ‘................................................ coffee, please.’
7) ‘Goodbye! Have a nice holiday.’ ‘Thanks. ................................................... you a postcard’.
8) Thank you for lending me your camera. ................................................... it back to you on
Monday, OK?
9) ‘Are you coming with us?’ ‘No, I think ................................................... here.’

5. Read the situations and write sentences with I think I’ll... or I don’t think I’ll... .
1) It’s a bit cold. You decide to close the window. You say: I think I’ll close the window.
2) You are feeling tired and it’s quite late. You decide to go to bed. You say:
I think...................................................................................................................
3) A friend of yours offers you a lift in his car but you decide to walk. You say:
Thank you but.......................................................................................................
4) You arranged to play tennis today. Now you decide that you don’t want to play.
You say:
I don’t think ..........................................................................................................
5) You were going to go swimming. Now you decide that you don’t want to go.

6. What do you say in these situations? Write sentences with shall I...? or shall we...?
1) You and a friend want to do something this evening but you don’t know what. You ask your
friend. What shall we do this evening?
2) You try on a jacket in a shop. You are not sure whether to buy it or not. You ask a friend for
advice............................ it?
3) It’s Ann’s birthday next week. You want to give her a present but you don’t know what. You
ask a friend for advice.
What ................................................................................................................
4) You and a friend are going on holiday together but you haven’t decided where. You ask
him/her.
5) You and a friend are going out. You haven’t decided whether to go by car or to walk. You ask
him/her........................ or ..............................................................

7. Complete the sentences with will (‘ll) + one of these verbs:

be, come, get, like, look, meet, pass
1) Don’t worry about your exam. I’m sure you’ll pass.
2) Why don’t you try on this jacket? It............................................. nice on you.
3) You must meet George sometime. I think you .......................................... him.
4) It’s raining. Don’t go out. You ................................................... wet.
5) They’ve invited me to their house. They ......................................... offended if I
don’t go.
6) Goodbye. I expect we ................................................... again before long.
7) I’ve invited Sue to the party but I don’t think she .............................................
8) I wonder where I................................................... 20 years from now.

8. Put in will (‘ll) or won’t.

1) Can you wait for me? I won’t be very long.
2) There’s no need to take an umbrella with you. It................................ rain.
3) If you don’t eat anything now, you ................................ be hungry later.
4) I’m sorry about what happened yesterday. It................................ happen again.
5) I’ve got some incredible news! You ................................ never believe what’s happened.
6) Don’t ask Margaret for advice. She ................................ know what to do.

9. Write questions using do you think...will...? + one of these verbs:

be, back, cost, finish, get, married, happen, like, rain
1) I’ve bought Mary a present. Do you think she’ll like it?
2) The weather doesn’t look very good. Do you ...................................................?
3) The meeting is still going on. When do you .....................................................?
4) My car needs to be repaired. How much...........................................................?
5) Sally and David are in love. Do ........................................................................?
6)‘I’m going out now.’ ‘OK. What time............................................................’?
7) The future situation is uncertain. What..............................................................?

10. Supply suitable forms of will and shall. Give alternatives where possible.
Situation: Jim is asking his friend Don for advice about a job interview.
JIM: What sorts of questions do you think they 1 will ask?
DON: The same as they asked me. They (2)........................ ask you why you want to work for
them.
JIM: That’s easy. I want to earn more money.
DON: Yes, but you can’t say that. You (3)........................ have to think of some better reasons.
JIM: I can’t think of any just now, but I expect I (4)........................ think of something at the
time. I hope I (5)........................ anyway!
DON: I’m sure you (6)......................... What time is your interview?
JIM: It’s at three in the afternoon.
DON: I know it (7)........................ help very much, but I (8)........................ be thinking of you.
Don’t worry, everything (9)........................ be OK!
JIM: When (10)........................ I know if I’ve got the job?
DON: They (11)........................ let you know in a couple of days. That’s what happened in my
case. You (12)........................ get a letter which begins, ‘We regret to inform you!’

11. Put in suitable forms of will and shall.

RETIREMENT
I’m going to retire next week and I’m looking forward to it. For the first time in my life I 1 shall.
be able to do all the things I’ve always wanted to do. I (2)........ (not) have a travel to work any
more. I (3)...................... (not) have to earn a living. My firm (4)....................... pay my pension
into my bank account and I (5)................... (not) have to worry about earning money ever again.
My wife and I (6) ................... be able to spend more time together. We (7) .................... take
care of the house together. We (8) .................... do the shopping together. I explained all these
plans to my wife. ‘Of course’, she said. ‘I’m looking forward to your retirement, too, but you
must remember that while you can retire, I can’t. I’ve written out some simple rules for us both
which (9)....................... apply from the day you retire. Here they are:
Rules of the House:
1 We (10) ....................... take turns to do the cooking and the housework.
2 We (11) ....................... (not) watch TV all day long.
3 We (12) ....................... keep regular hours.
4 We (13) ....................... find interesting hobbies to keep us occupied.
5 We (14) ....................... spend time out of the house as well as in it.
6 We (15) ....................... keep fit in mind and body.
‘They look like sensible suggestions’, I said. ‘They are’, my wife answered. ‘If we follow these
rules I’m sure we (16) ...................... enjoy a long and happy life together.’ ‘I hope we
(17)..................’, I answered.

12. Put the verbs in brackets into the future simple.

1) I (know) the result in a week.
2) You (be) in Rome tonight.
3) You (have) time to help me tomorrow?
4) It (matter) if I don’t come home till morning?
5) You (be) able to drive after another five lessons.
6) Do you think that he (recognize) me?
7) Unless he runs he (not catch) the train.
8) He (lend) it to you if you ask him.
9) I hope I (find) it.
10) If petrol pump, attendants go on strike we (not have) any petrol.
11) He (believe) whatever you tell him.
12) I (remember) this day all my life.
13) Perhaps he (arrive) in time for lunch.
14) If he works well, I (pay) him £10.
15) I wonder how many of us still (be) here next year.
16) If you think it over, you (see) that I am right.
17) If you learn another language, you (get) a better job.
18) I am sure that you (like) our new house.
19) Newspaper announcement: The President (drive) along the High Street in an open carriage.
20) He (mind) if I bring my dog?

13. Put the verbs in brackets into the future simple.

1) You (need) a visa if you are going to Spain.
2) If you open that trapdoor, you (see) some steps.
3) You (feel) better when you’ve had a meal.
4) He (be) offended if you don’t invite him.
5) She (have) £1000 a year when she is twenty-one.
6) If you put any more polish on that floor, someone (slip) on it.
7) I wonder if he (succeed).
8) Papers (not be) delivered on the Bank Holiday.
9) I hope he (remember) to buy wine.
10) If you leave your roller skates on the path, someone (fall) over them.
11) If they fall over them and hurt themselves, they (sue) you.
12) Announcement: Mrs. Pitt (present) the prizes.
13) If you want twenty cigarettes, you (have) to give me more money.
14) Notice: The management (not be) responsible for articles left on the seats.
15) If I drop this it (explode).
16) What your father (say) when he hears about this accident?
He (not say) much but he not (lend) me the car again.

THE PRESENT TENSES FOR FUTURE

(TIMPURI PREZENTE PENTRU EXPRIMAREA VIITORULUI)
 • We use the present simple when we talk about future events that are part of some official
arrangement such as a timetable or programme:
Their plane arrives at 2 o’clock in the morning.
The next meeting of the committee is on November 5th.
We get off the train in Bristol and continue by bus.
I’m away on holiday next week. Can we meet the week after?
• We often use will + infinitive in sentences like these with little difference in meaning,
although the present simple suggests that the arrangement is fixed and definite. We don’t
use the present simple when we talk about personal plans or predictions.
• Instead we use will, going to, or the present continuous.
I’m really exhausted. I’m just staying in to watch TV tonight. (not ...I just stay in...)
Although it is a problem only in Britain at the moment, I think it will affect the rest of Europe
soon. (not ...I think it affects the rest...)
• We use the present simple to refer to the future, not will, in adverbial clauses introduced
by time conjunctions such as after, before, when, and until:
After you go another 50 meters, you’ll see a path to your left.
When you see Dennis, tell him he still owes me some money.
Wait here until I call you.
• and in conditional clauses with if, unless, in case, and provided:
Let me know if he says anything interesting.
Provided the right software is available, I should be able to solve the problem.
I’ll bring a compass in case we get lost.
• We use the present continuous to talk about future activities and events that are
intended or have already been arranged:
She’s making a speech at the conference next week.
Are you seeing Tony this week? (do you have an arrangement to see him?)
• We don’t use will to talk about arrangements and intentions:
Apparently, the council are closing the old library. (= reporting an arrangement) (not ...the
council will close...)
EXERCISES

1. Write questions. All the sentences are future.

1) (you / go / out / tonight?) .Are you going out tonight?
2) (you / work / next week?) .............................................................................
3) (what / you / do / tomorrow evening?) .........................................................
4) (what time / your friends / arrive?) ................................................................
5) (when / Liz /go/on holiday?) ...........................................................................

2. Write sentences about yourself. What are you doing in the next few days?
1) I’m staying at home tonight.
2) I’m going to the theatre on Monday.
3) ......................................................................................................................
4) ......................................................................................................................
5) ........................................................................................................................
6) .......................................................................................................................

3. Put the verb in the present continuous (he is leaving, etc.) or present simple (the train
leaves, etc.).
1) ‘Are you going (you/go) out this evening?’ ‘No, I’m too tired.’
2) We’re going (we/go) to a concert this evening. It starts (it/start) at 7.30.
3) Do you know about Sally? ................................................ (she/get) married next month!
4) A: My parents....................................................... (go) on holiday next week.
B: Oh, that’s nice. Where ................................................................ (they/go)?
5) Silvia is doing an English course at the moment. The course ........................................ (finish)
on Friday.
6) There’s a football match tomorrow but............................................. (I/not/go).
7) .............................................. (I/go) out with some friends tonight. Why don’t you come
too? ....................................... (we/meet) at Johns house at 8 o’clock.
8) A: How.......................................................................... (you/get) home after the party
tomorrow? By taxi?
B: No, I can go by bus. The last bus................................. (leave) at midnight.
9) A: Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?
B: Yes, what time ................................................... (the film / begin)?
10) A: What........................................................ (you/do) on Monday afternoon?
B: ................................................................ (I/work).

4. A friend of yours is planning to go on a holiday soon. You ask her about her plans.
Use the words in brackets to make your questions.
1) (where/go ?) Where are you going? Scotland.
2) (how long/stay?) ................................................................... Ten days.
3) (when/go?) ............................................................................ Next Friday.
4) (go/alone?) ............................................................................ No, with a friend.
5) (travel/by car?) ...................................................................... No, by train.
6) (where/stay?) ......................................................................... In a hotel.

5. Have you arranged to do anything at these times? Write (true) sentences about yourself.
1) (this evening) I’m going out this evening or I’m not doing anything this evening or I don’t
know what I’m doing this evening.
2) (tomorrow morning)
I.............................................................................................................................
3) (tomorrow evening)...........................................................................................
4) (next Sunday).....................................................................................................
5) (choose another day or time) .............................................................................

6. Put the verb into the more suitable form, present continuous or present simple.
1) I’m going (go) to the theatre this evening.
2) Does the film begin (the film / begin) at 3.30 or 4.30?
3) We ................................................... (have) a party next Saturday. Would you like to come?
4) The art exhibition ................................................ (open) on 3 May and ........................ (finish)
on 15 July.
5) I.............................................. (not/go) out this evening. I .............................. (stay) at home.
6) ‘................................................ (you/do) anything tomorrow morning?’ ‘No, I’m free. Why?’
7) We ................................................... (go) to a concert tonight. It ...................... (begin) at 7.30.
8) You are on the train to London and you ask another passenger:
Excuse me. What time ................................................... (this train/get) to London?
9) You are talking to Ann:
Ann, I................................. (go) to town............................. (you/come) with me?
10) Sue ............................................. (come) to see us tomorrow. She ................. (travel) by train
and her train ........................... (arrive) at 10.15. I ...................... (meet) her at the station.
11) I ........................................ (not/use) the car this evening, so you can have it.
12) You and a friend are watching television. You say:
I’m bored with this programme. When ................................................................ (it/finish)?

7. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

1) They are going to drill for oil here. They (start) on Monday.
2) My uncle (make) a speech on Friday.
3) I (take) my sister to the ballet tomorrow.
4) She (call) for me at six.
5) He (play) at Wimbledon next summer.
6) I (meet) her at the station at ten.
7) The sales (not start) till Monday.
8) How you (get) to the party tomorrow?
I (go) by car.
Who (drive)?
9) The piano tuner (come) this afternoon.
10) You (give) him anything for his birthday?
Yes, I (give) him a dictionary.
11) The windows (be) cleaned today. Then we’ll be able to see out.
12) She (come) out of hospital next week.
13) We (have) dinner early tonight as we (go) to the theatre.
14) Where you (go) for your holidays this year?
I (go) to Holland.
15) He (not give) a lecture tonight.
16) I (have) my photograph taken tomorrow.
17) I (buy) her a burglar alarm for a wedding present.
18) The elections (be) held next week.
19) I (have) lunch with my aunt on Thursday.
20) The committee (meet) next Wednesday.

8. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

1) My grandparents (celebrate) their golden wedding next week.
2) I (lend) him my car for his holidays.
3) The strikers (return) to work next week.
4) Smith’s (open) a new branch in this street in July.
5) We’ve bought a new house and (move) in very soon.
6) I (not take) up judo next winter.
7) They (get) married next week.
8) You (do) anything tonight?
Yes, I (go) to my carpentry class.
9) The Prime Minister (fly) to America tomorrow.
10) He (start) a new job on Friday.
11) The Queen (give) a garden party next week. You (go)?
12) My brother (be) released on Tuesday. I (meet) him outside the prison.
13) I (catch) the 6.30 plane tomorrow.
Where you (leave) your car?
I (not take) the car.
14) Her mother (send) her to France next year.
15) I (go) to the dentist tomorrow. Miss Pitt (take) my class.
16) I (lend) my flat to my American cousins next year.

9. Change the following sentences using the present continuous.

1) The Professor will deliver a new lecture on Tuesday.
2) They will start on a new exploration next week.
3) The expedition will set out tomorrow.
4) My mother will take me to the theatre.
5) The children will stay at home this evening.
6) What will we have for lunch?
7) He will buy her a new doll next week.
8) We shall leave by the night train.
9) The choir will sing next.
10) She will give you a control-paper tomorrow.
(Adapted after ‘Living English Structure’ by S. Alien)

The ‘be going to’ Form

• Going to expresses a future intention, plan or decision thought about before the moment
of speaking.
We’re going to get married in June.
When I grow up, I’m going to be a doctor.
Affirmative
I am going to leave / We are going to leave
You are going to leave / You are going to leave
H e/she/it is going to leave / They are going to leave

Negative
I am not going to leave / We are not going to leave
You are not going to leave / You are not going to leave
He/she/it is not going to leave / They are not going to leave

Interrogative
Am I going to leave? Are we going to leave?
Are you going to leave? Are you going to leave?
Is he/she/it/ going to leave? Are they going to leave?

• Notice the difference between will to express decision taken on the spot and going to to
express an intention thought of previously.
We’ve run out of sugar.
I know. I’m going to buy some.
We’ve run out of sugar.
Have we? I didn’t know. I’ll buy some when I go shopping.
• The difference is not that going to is more certain, and is not about near or distant future,
but it concerns when the decision was made.
• Going to is used to express a future event for which there is some evidence now.
Look at those clouds. It’s going to rain.
I don’t feel well. I think I’m going to faint.
Watch out! Those boxes are going to fall over.
• When we talk about an intention to do something in the future, although no definite
arrangement has been made, we prefer going to rather than the present continuous. To
emphasise that we are talking about a definite arrangement, we prefer the present
continuous. Study these sentences:
Before I go to China next year, I’m going to learn some Cantonese. (rather than I’m
learning some Cantonese.)
• We use going to future instead of the present continuous for the following:
• when we make or report predictions about activities or events over which we have no control
(we can’t arrange these):
I think it’s going to rain. (not I think it’s raining soon.)
Scientists say that the satellite is going to fall. (not ...the satellite is falling...)
• when we talk about permanent future situations:
People are going to live longer in the future. (not ...are living...)
Her new house is going to have three floors. (not ...is having...)
• with the verb be:
John’s going to be a shepherd in the school play next week. (not John’s being...)
I’m going to be in Tokyo in May. (not I’m being in Tokyo...)

EXERCISES

1. Complete the sentences. Use going to + one of these verbs:

eat, do, give, lie, down, stay, walk, wash, watch, wear
1) My hands are dirty, I’m going to wash them.
2) What are you going to wear to the party tonight?
3) I don’t want to go home by bus. I.......................................................................
4) John is going to London next week. He ....................................................... with some friends.
5) I’m hungry. I............................................................................. this sandwich.
6) It’s Sharon’s birthday next week. We .......................................... her a present.
7) Sue says she’s feeling very tired. She ........................................... for an hour.
8) There’s a good film on TV this evening. .......................... you ...................... it?
9) What................................Rachel ..............................when she leaves school?

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the ‘be going to’ form.
1) You (miss) your train.
2) The pressure cooker (explode).
3) When you (pay) the bill?
4) She (dye) the old curtains blue.
5) We (make) this whisky bottle into a lamp.
6) What you (do) with this room?
I (paint) the walls in black and white stripes.
7) The umpire (blow) his whistle.
8) You (eat) all that?
9) That man with the tomato in his hand (throw) it at the speaker.
10) That door (slam).
11) The bull (attack) us.
12) It (rain). Look at those clouds.
13) The cat (have) kittens.
14) The men in the helicopter (try) to rescue the man in the water.
15) That rider (fall) off.
16) These two men (cycle) across Africa.
17) The Lord Mayor is standing up. He (make) a speech.
18) He (grow) a beard when he leaves school.
19) This airplane (crash).
20) I (stop) here for a moment to get some petrol.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the ‘be going to’ form.
1) You (ask) him to help you?
2) I’ve lent you my car once. I (not do) it again.
3) I have seen the play. Now I (read) the book.
4) Small boy: I (be) a frogman when I grow up.
5) I (not sleep) in this room. It is haunted.
6) We (buy) a metal detector and look for buried treasure.
7) You (reserve) a seat?
8) I (plant) an oak tree here.
9) The dog (bury) the bone.
10) I (have) a bath.
11) I (smuggle) this out of the country.
12) There was very little blossom this spring. Apples (be) scarce.
13) I don’t like this macaroni. I (not finish) it.
14) I (not stay) here another minute.
15) They (try) him for manslaughter when he comes out of hospital.
16) We (make) a lot of money out of this.

4. Answer the questions. You are going to do all these things but you haven’t done
them yet. Use going to and the word(s) in brackets.
1) Have you cleaned the car? (tomorrow) Not yet. I’m going to clean it tomorrow.
2) Have you phoned Sally? (later) Not yet ..........................................................
3) Have you done the shopping? (this afternoon) Not yet. ..................................
4) Have you read the paper? (after dinner) Not....................................................
5) Have you had dinner? (just) .............................................................................
5. Write a question with going to for each situation.
1) Your friend has won some money. You ask:
(what / do with it?) What are you going to do with it?
2) Your friend is going to a party tonight. You ask:
(what/wear?)..........................................................................................................
3) Your friend has just bought a new table. You ask:
(where /put it?)......................................................................................................
4) Your friend has decided to have a party. You ask:
(who / invite?).......................................................................................................

6. Read the situations and complete the dialogues. Use going to.
1) You have decided to write some letters this evening.
FRIEND: Are you going out this evening? YOU: No, I’m going to write some letters.
2) You are a smoker but you have decided to give it up soon.
FRIEND: Smoking is very bad for you. YOU: I know. ....................................
3) You have been offered a job but you have decided not to take it.
FRIEND: I hear you’ve been offered a job. YOU: That’s right, but ....................
4) You are in a restaurant. The food is awful and you’ve decided to complain.
FRIEND: This food is awful, isn’t it? YOU: Yes, it’s disgusting. .........................

7. What is going to happen in these situations? Use the words in brackets.

1) There are a lot of black clouds in the sky. (rain) It’s going to rain.
2) It is 8.30. Jack is leaving his house. He has to be at work at 8.45 but the journey takes 30
minutes. (late) He....................................................................
3) There is a hole in the bottom of the boat. A lot of water is coming in through the hole. (sink)
The boat .....................................................................................................
4) Emma is driving. There is very little petrol left in the tank. The nearest petrol station is a long
way away.(run out) She ...........................................................................................

8. Complete the sentences with was/were going to + one of these verbs:

give up, have, phone, play, travel
1) We were going to travel by train but then we decided to go by car instead.
2) We ......................................................... tennis yesterday but it rained all day.
3) I................................................ Jim, but I decided to write him a letter instead.
4) When I last saw Tim, he ................................................ his job but in the end he decided not
to.
5) We ................................................... a party last week but some of our friends couldn’t come,
so we cancelled it.

THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS TENSE

(VIITORUL CONTINUU)
The Future Continuous Tense indicates continuing action, something that will be happening,
going on, at some point in the future. This tense is formed with the auxiliary ‘will’ plus ‘be’ plus
the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
I will be running in next year’s Boston Marathon.
Our campaign plans suggest that the President will be winning the southern vote by
November.

Affirmative
I (shall) will be going
You will be going
He/she/it will be going
We (shall) will be going
You will be going
They will be going

Negative
I (shall) will not be going
You will not be going
He/she/it will not be going
We (shall) will not be going
You will not be going
They will not be going

Interrogative
Shall I be going? Shall we be going?
Will you be going? Will you be going?
Will he/she/it be going? Will they be going?

• We also use the future continuous when the future activity or event is the result of a
previous decision or arrangement:
He will be taking up his place at university in July. (the result of a previous decision)
She will be performing every day until the end of the month. (part of a schedule)
or of a routine activity:
We’ll be going to my brother’s house again for Christmas. (we always go there)
I’ll be seeing Tony on Tuesday. That’s when we usually meet.
• We can often use either the future continuous or the present continuous when we talk
about planned activities or events in the future:
We will be leaving / are leaving for Istanbul at 7.00 in the evening.
Professor Hodge will be giving / is giving the first presentation at the conference. But we
prefer the present continuous to talk about surprising or unexpected activities or events:
Have you heard the news? Dr Radford is leaving! (rather than ...will be leaving.)
• When we use the future continuous, we are often referring simply to some future event or
action that has been previously arranged. However, we use will, not the future
continuous, to talk about such things as decisions that people have made, willingness to
do things, inviting, promising, etc.
Ann will help us organize the party. (she is willing to help)
Ann will be helping us to organize the party. (a previous arrangement)

EXERCISES

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the future continuous tense.

1) This time next month I (sit) on a beach.
2) When you arrive I probably (pick) fruit.
3) When we reach England it very likely (rain).
4) In a few days time we (fly) over the Pyrenees.
5) I’ll call for her at eight.
No, don’t; she still (have) breakfast then.
6) I (wait) for you when you come out.
7) When you next see me I (wear) my new dress.
8) My son will be in the sixth form next year.
That means that old Dr Adder (teach) him mathematics.
9) I’ll give Jack your message. I can do it easily because I (see) him tomorrow. We go to work
on the same train.
10) You (do) geometry next term.
11) I’ll look out for you at the parade.
Do, but I (wear) uniform so you may find it hard to recognize me.
12) We have to do night duty here. I (do) mine next week.
13) In a hundred years’ time people (go) to Mars for their holidays.
14) He (use) the car this afternoon.
15) I (see) you again.
16) It’s a serious injury but he (walk) again in six weeks.
17) I’ll come at three o’clock.
Good, I (expect) you.
18) They are pulling down all the old houses in this street. I expect they (pull) down mine in a
few years’ time.
19) I’d like to see your new flat.
Well, come tomorrow, but it (not look) its best, for the painters still (work) on it.
20) Stand there, they (change) the guard in a minute and you’ll get a good view.

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the future continuous tense.

1) You’d better go back now; your mother (wonder) where you are.
2) In fifty years’ time we (live) entirely on pills.
3) What do you think the children (do) when we get home?
I expect they (have) their supper.
4) The garden (look) its best next month.
5) It won’t be easy to get out of the country. The police (watch) all the ports.
6) What the tide (do) at six tomorrow morning?
It (come) in.
7) I’ve just remembered that I left the bathroom taps on. I expect the water (flow) down the stairs
by now.
8) You (need) your camera tomorrow or can I borrow it?
9) We’ve just got to the top in time. The sun (rise) in a minute.
10) Air hostess: We (take off) in a few minutes. Please fasten your safety belts.
11) We’d better go out tomorrow because Mary (practise) the piano all day.
12) Don’t ring her up at 6.00; she (put) the children to bed. Ring later.
13) We are making a house-to-house collection of things for the jumble sale. We (come) to your
house next week.
14) That football club has lost some of its players. They (look out) for new men.
15) When I get home my dog (sit) at the door waiting for me.
16) Let’s go down to the harbour; the fishing boats all (come) in because of the gale.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the future continuous tense.

1) This time next year I (sit) in the chairman’s chair.
2) When you come I probably (sleep).
3) In a few days’ time we (sail) down the Rhine.
4) We (wait) for them when they arrive.
5) He (deliver) a special grammar course next year.
6) Put on your new suit, because I (wear) my best dress.
7) You’d better ring up your parents, they (wonder) where you are.
8) When we get back home the fire (burn) brightly in the fire-place.
9) I (come) round to see you next week.
10) We (see) a lot of each other at the seaside.
4. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one. Use
between two and five words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.
1) When I come to school tomorrow, I’m going to wear my glasses. BE
Next time you see me, ……………………………………….my glasses.
2) Kallitsa is only going to wait for him until 8.15. WON’T
At 8.30 Kallitsa ………………………………………. for him.
3) He’s going to go on writing books all his life. HE’LL
In ten years’ time …………………………………………… books.
4) Ben sets off at 7.30. It takes him an hour to drive to work. DRIVING
At 7.45 on Monday morning …………………………………………. to work.
5) Fatima does her shopping at about this time every week. WILL
This time next week ………………………………………..her shopping.
6) We only watch television at the weekend. BE
Next Tuesday evening we ……………………………………… television.

5. Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate future form, using will + infinitive or
the future continuous.
1) There is going to be a bus strike. Everyone (walk) to work next week.
2) You’ve just missed the last train!
Never mind, I (walk).
3) I’ll ring you tomorrow at six.
No, don’t ring at six; I (bath) the baby then. Ring later.
4) Mother: Your face is dirty.
Child: All right, I (wash) it.
5) Will you have lunch with me on the 24th?
I’d love to, but I’m afraid I (do) my exam then.
6) I (work) for Mr Pitt next week as his own secretary will be away.
7) You (have) something to drink, won’t you?
8) Why did you take his razor? He (look) for it everywhere tomorrow.
9) I hope you’ll do well in the race tomorrow. I (think) of you.
10) Notice on board ship: In the event of an emergency all passengers (assemble) on the boat
deck.

6. Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate future form, using will + infinitive or
the future continuous.
1) I don’t feel well enough to go to the station to meet him.
I (meet) him for you. But how I (recognize) him?
He’s small and fair, and he (wear) a black and white school cap.
2) I (leave) these flowers at the hospital for you. I (go) there anyway to visit my cousin.
3) You ought to try to get a ticket for the Spectators’ Gallery next week; they (debate)
international fishing rights.
4) You’ve left the light on.
Oh, so I have. I (go) and turn it off.
5) I’ve just been appointed assistant at the local library.
Then you (work) under my sister. She is head librarian there.
6) I want to post this letter but I don’t want to go out in the rain.
I (post) it for you. I (go) out anyway as I have to take the dog for a walk.
7) The prima ballerina is ill, so I expect her understudy (dance) instead.
8) Today is Guy Fawkes’ Day; this evening people (let) off fireworks and (make) bonfires in the
streets.
9) Military order: Sentries (remain) on duty till they are relieved.
10) This time next Monday I (sit) in a Paris cafe reading Le Figaro.
You (not read). You’ll be looking at all the pretty girls.
11) Wages have gone up, so I suppose prices (go up) too.
12) It is nearly autumn; soon the leaves (change) colour.
13) Mother (on phone): My son has just burnt his hand very badly. Doctor: I (come) at once.
14) Customer in restaurant: Waiter, this plate is dirty. Waiter: I’m sorry, sir, I (bring) you
another.
15) In a few years’ time we all (live) in houses heated by solar energy.
7. Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate future form, using will + infinitive or
the future continuous.
1) It’s beginning to get dark; the street lights (go on) in a few minutes.
2) We (not play) poker at the party tonight; our hostess doesn’t approve of cards.
3) Let’s wait here; the swing bridge (open) in a minute to let that ship through.
4) Guest: May I use your phone to ring for a taxi?
Hostess: Oh, there’s no need for that; my son (drive) you home.
5) Come on deck; we (enter) harbour in a few minutes.
6) Before you leave the office you (hand) the keys of the safe to Mr. Pitt. Do you understand?
Yes, sir.
7) Are you nearly ready? Our guests (arrive) any minute.
8) Loudspeaker announcement: The ship (leave) in a few minutes and all persons not travelling
are asked to go ashore.
9) Now that the parking regulations have become stricter, more people (use) public transport and
(leave) their cars at home.
10) I’ve got rats in my basement and I don’t know how to get rid of them.
I (bring) my dog round whenever you like. He (catch) them for you.
11) I’m afraid I’ve just broken your goldfish bowl.
Never mind, I (put) the goldfish in the bath.

8. Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate future form, using won’t + infinitive or the
future continuous negative.
1) I don’t like that man and I (not help) him.
2) He (not meet) her, because they will be in different places.
3) My husband (not cut) down the tree. He says that it is perfectly all right as it is.)
4) My husband (not cut) the hedge for some time, because he’s got a lot of other jobs to do first.
5) Tom (not come) to our party because he will be away on that date.
6) Peter says that he (not come) to our party. He doesn’t approve of parties.
7) She says that she (not lend) me the book, because I never give books back.
8) Mr. Pitt (not speak) at the meeting tonight, because he has unexpectedly had to go to hospital.
9) I’ll work under anyone except my brother. I (not work) under him.
10) We’ll be in the same firm, but we (not work) together, because we’ll be in different
departments.
11) I (not have) that boy in my class. He is far too noisy.
12) I (not teach) you next week, as I have to go to Paris.
13) He is so angry with his sister that he (not speak) to her.
14) I’ll give your message to my sister when I write; but I (not write) for some time, as I only
write once a month and I posted a letter to her yesterday.
15) I (not feed) your dog again. He always tries to bite me when I come near him.

THE FUTURE PERFECT SIMPLE AND THE FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

(VIITORUL PERFECT SIMPLU SI VIITORUL PERFECT CONTINUU)
The Simple Future Perfect Tense indicates that an action will have been completed (finished or
‘perfected’) at some point in the future. This tense is formed with ‘will’ plus ‘have’ plus the past
participle of the verb (which can be either regular or irregular in form):
I will have spent all my money by this time next year.
I will have run successfully in three marathons if I can finish this one.

Affirmative
I (shall) will have gone
You will have gone
He/she/it will have gone
We (shall) will have gone
You/they will have gone

Negative
I (shall) will not have gone
You will not have gone
He/she/it will not have gone
We (shall) will not have gone
You will not have gone
They will not have gone

Interrogative
Shall I have gone? / Shall we have gone?
Will you have gone? / Will you have gone?
Will he/she/it have gone? / Will they have gone?

• We use the simple future perfect to say that something will be ended, completed, or
achieved by a particular point in the future:
Let’s hope the volcanic eruption will have finished before we arrive on the island.
Although people are now angry about what he did, I’m sure that his behaviour will soon have
been forgotten. (passive form)
By the time you get home I will have cleaned the house from top to bottom.

The Future Perfect Continuous Tense indicates a continuous action that will be completed at
some point in the future. This tense is formed with the auxiliary ‘will’ plus the auxiliary ‘have’
plus ‘been’ plus the present participle of the verb (with an -ing ending):
Next Thursday, I will have been working on this project for three years.

Affirmative
I (shall) will have been going
You/he/she/it will have been going
We (shall) will have been going
You/they will have been going

Negative
I (shall) will not have been going
You will not have been going
He/she/it will not have been going
We (shall) will not have been going
You will not have been going
They will not have been going

Interrogative
Shall I have been going? / Shall we have been going?
Will you have been going? / Will you have been going?
Will he/she/it have been going? / Will they have been going?

• We can use the future perfect continuous to emphasise how long something has been
going on by a particular point in the future:
On Saturday, we will have been living in this house for a year.
Next year I will have been working in the company for 30 years.
• In sentences with the future perfect continuous we usually mention both the particular
point in the future (‘On Saturday...’, ‘Next year...’) and the period of time until this point
(‘...for a year’, ‘...for 20 years’). Notice that we don’t usually use the future perfect
continuous with verbs describing states:
Next month I will have known Derek for 20 years. (not ...will have been knowing...)

EXERCISES
1. Fill the gaps, using the Future Perfect and the correct form of the verb in brackets.
1) By 1999 they ……………………….. married for fifty years. (be)
2) Kate’s language course ………………………. by the end of the year. (finish)
3) The company ………………………..10,000 cars before December. (produce)
4) By 5 o’clock this afternoon Linda ……………………… twenty letters. (type)
5) Matthew ……………………… 2000 kilometers across the Sahara by next Thursday. (drive)
6) Next time you see me I …………………………….. my exam, I hope. (pass)
7) I’m sorry, but I …………………………… the report by tonight. (not / finish)
8) ………………..you …………………….. it by tomorrow morning? (finish)

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) In a month’s time he (finish) all this work.
2) I (read) this bibliography by the end of the term.
3) By the time the winter comes he (build) himself a log-cabin.
4) By the time we get to the stadium the game (finish).
5) In 1983 he (be) an actor for twenty years.
6) The doctor (start) out on his round by the time you leave.
7) All the beautiful things (sell) by the time you make up your mind to buy something.
8) If you stay away another week, I (not see) you for 5 whole weeks.
9) By six o’clock she (take) her lesson.
10) The expedition (reach) the North Pole by May.

3. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) In a fortnight’s time we (take) our exam.
2) I (finish) this book by tomorrow evening.
3) By this time tomorrow we (have) our injections.
4) By the end of next year I (be) here twenty-five years.
5) I’ll still be here next summer but Tom (leave).
6) I (finish) this job in twenty minutes.
7) By next winter they (build) four houses in that field.
8) When we reach Valparaiso we (sail) all round the world.
9) At the rate he is going he (spend) all his money by the time he is twenty-one.
10) By this time next year I (save) £250.

4. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) By the time we get to the party everything (be) eaten.
2) The train (leave) before we reach the station.
3) If I continue with my diet, I (lose) 10 kilos by the end of the month.
4) By the end of my university course I (attend) 1,200 lectures.
5) By the end of this week my illness (cost) me £100.
6) By the time that he leaves school his parents (spend) £25,000 on his education.
7) By the end of the term 1 (read) all twelve volumes.
8) When you come back I (finish) all the housework.
9) The police (hear) of the theft by this time.
10) We (drink) all that wine by the end of the year.
11) On the fourth of next month he (be) in prison for ten years.
12) When we reach Crewe we (do) half of the journey.
13) At this rate you (break) all the wine glasses by the end of the month.
14) If we don’t hurry, the sun (rise) before we reach the top.
15) I’m going to Hyde Park to hear the people making speeches.
16) You’ll be too late. By the time you get there they (finish) their speeches and everybody (go)
home.

5. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) By midnight he (be) unconscious for forty-eight hours.
2) By the end of the month 5,000 people (see) this exhibition.
3) By next April I (pay) £3,000 in income tax.
4) I suppose that when I come back in ten years’ time ail these old houses (be) pulled down.
5) On 21 October they (be) married for twenty-five years.
6) After this performance I (see) Hamlet twenty-two times.
7) The strike leader said, ‘By midnight 500 men (come) out on strike.’
8) At your present rate you (burn) all that coal by the end of the month.
9) The treasurer said, ‘By the end of the year all our debts (be paid) off.’
10) Tourist: We’ve only got five hours in Rome; we are leaving at six; but I’m sure that we (see)
everything of importance by then.

6. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) I hope they (repair) this road by the time we come back next summer.
2) By the end of next week my wife (do) her spring cleaning and we’ll all be able to relax again.
3) Yes, I make jam every week. I (make) about 200 kilos by the end of the summer.
4) In two months’ time he (finish) his preliminary training and will be starting work.
5) He spends all his spare time planting trees. He says that by the end of next year he (plant)
2,000.
6) I’ll be back again at the end of next month.
I hope I (pass) my driving test by then. If I have, I’ll meet your train.
7) Come back in an hour. I (do) my packing by then and we’ll be able to have a talk.
8) When he reaches Land’s End he (walk) 1,500 miles.
9) He’s only 35 but he’s started losing his hair already. He (lose) it all by the time he’s 50.
10) His father left him £400,000, but he lives so extravagantly that he (spend) it all before he’s
30.

7. Put the verbs in brackets into the future perfect tense.

1) By the end of next year I (work) for him for 45 years.
2) Everywhere you go in central London you see blocks of flats being pulled down and huge
hotels being erected. In ten years’ time all the private residents (be driven) out and there’ll be
nothing but one vast hotel after another.
3) Our committee is trying to raise money to buy a new lifeboat. By the end of the year we
(send) out 5,000 letters asking for contributions.
4) By the end of my tour I (give) exactly the same lecture 53 times.
5) A hundred people have died of starvation already. By the end of the week two hundred (die).
When are you going to send help?
6) Since he began driving, Tom has driven an average of 5,000 miles a year, and had an average
of 2x2 accidents a year. So by the time he’s 60 he (drive) 200,000 miles and had 50 accidents.
Let’s try to persuade him to go back to cycling.
7) Did you say you wanted help picking apples? I could come on 1 October. We (pick) them all
by then. But come all the same.
8) Apparently Venice is slowly sinking into the sea. Scientists are trying to save it but by the
time they’ve found the answer the city probably (sink).

8. Complete the sentence with either the simple future perfect or the future perfect
continuous for each situation.
1) Simon started to learn Spanish when he was 25. He is still learning Spanish. When he’s 40, he
will have been learning Spanish for 15 years.
2) Every day, Peter eats three bars of chocolate on the way home from school. Before he gets
home from school tonight Peter ………..……………………….
3) So many people enter the New York Marathon that the last runners start several minutes after
the ones at the front.
By the time the last runners start, the ones at the front …………………….….
4) I started writing this book 3 years ago next month.
By next month I...................................................................................................
5) The company is spending $5 million on developing the software before it goes on sale.
By the time the software goes on sale, the company ……………………………
6) I’m going to paint the front door today. I’ll finish it before you get back.
When you get back, I..............................................................................................
 Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect continuous

Present simple Present continuous Present perfect Present perfect cont.

Present

I have already I have been studying

I study every day. I am studying right studied for
now. lesson one. two hours.
Past simple Past continuous Past perfect Past perfect cont.

Past

I studied yesterday. I was studying when I had already studied I had been studying
they lesson one, before I for
arrived. began two hours before my
to study lesson two. friends arrived.
Future simple Future continuous Future perfect Future perfect cont.

Future

I will study I will be studying I will already have I will have been
tomorrow. when you arrive. studied lesson one, studying for two
before I study lesson hours by the time
two. you arrive.
Law, Culture and Conventions. Answers from the Others
Of the Effects of Custom from A TREATISE OF HUMAN NATURE
by David Hume
Supplementary text

Nothing has a greater effect both to encrease and diminish our passions, to convert pleasure
into pain, and pain into pleasure, than custom and repetition. Custom has two original effects
upon the mind, in bestowing a facility in the performance of any action or the conception of any
object; and afterwards a tendency or inclination towards it; and from these we may account for
all its other effects, however extraordinary.
When the soul applies itself to the performance of any action, or the conception of any
object, to which it is not accustomed, there is a certain unpliableness in the faculties, and a
difficulty of the spirit’s moving in their new direction. As this difficulty excites the spirits, it is
the source of wonder, surprize, and of all the emotions, which arise from novelty; and is in itself
very agreeable, like every thing, which inlivens the mind to a moderate degree. But though
surprize be agreeable in itself, yet as it puts the spirits in agitation, it not only augments our
agreeable affections, but also our painful, according to the foregoing principle, that every
emotion, which precedes or attends a passion, is easily converted into it. Hence every thing, that
is new, is most affecting, and gives us either more pleasure or pain, than what, strictly speaking,
naturally belongs to it. When it often returns upon us, the novelty wears off; the passions
subside; the hurry of the spirits is over; and we survey the objects with greater tranquillity.
By degrees the repetition produces a facility of the human mind, and an infallible source of
pleasure, where the facility goes not beyond a certain degree. And here it is remarkable that the
pleasure, which arises from a moderate facility, has not the same tendency with that which arises
from novelty, to augment the painful, as well as the agreeable affections. The pleasure of facility
does not so much consist in any ferment of the spirits, as in their orderly motion; which will
sometimes be so powerful as even to convert pain into pleasure, and give us a relish in time what
at first was most harsh and disagreeable. But again, as facility converts pain into pleasure, so it
often converts pleasure into pain, when it is too great, and renders the actions of the mind so faint
and languid, that they are no longer able to interest and support it.
And indeed, scarce any other objects become disagreeable through custom; but such as are
naturally attended with some emotion or affection, which is destroyed by the too frequent
repetition. One can consider the clouds, and heavens, and trees, and stones, however frequently
repeated, without ever feeling any aversion. But when the fair sex, or music, or good cheer, or
any thing, that naturally ought to be agreeable, becomes indifferent, it easily produces the
opposite affection. Custom not only gives a facility to perform any action, but likewise an
inclination and tendency towards it, where it is not entirely disagreeable, and can never be the
object of inclination. And this is the reason why custom encreases all active habits, but
diminishes passive, according to the observation of a late eminent philosopher. The facility takes
off from the force of the passive habits by rendering the motion of the spirits faint and languid.
But as in the active, the spirits are sufficiently supported of themselves, the tendency of the mind
gives them new force, and bends them more strongly to the action.
APPLICATIONS

1. Comment upon the antagonism between the effects of habitude upon sustained activities on
the one hand, and upon emotions on the other hand.
2. Translate the first paragraph of the text into Romanian.
SEQUENCE OF TENSES (CONCORDANTA TIMPURILOR)

Concordanţa timpurilor se aplică, desigur, nu în propoziţii, ci în fraze. Ea constă în aceea că

folosirea unui anumit timp în propoziţia principală obligă la folosirea unui timp adecvat în
propoziţia secundară. Ce înseamnă „un timp adecvat" se va vedea în continuare.

TIME RELATION OF TENSE IN THE MAIN TENSE IN THE DIRECT

DEPENDENT VERB TO CLAUSE OBJECT CLAUSE
MAIN VERB

PRESENT TENSE PRESENT TENSE

AT THE SAME TIME The child says he can’t eat this.

PAST TENSE PAST TENSE

Alice knew (that)Henry loved her.

PRESENT TENSE PRESENT PERFECT/

EARLIER SIMPLE PAST

I know (that) you have done your

lessons.

The students don’t remember what I taught them last week.

PAST TENSE PAST PERFECT

The students didn’t remember what I had taught them the
week before.

PRESENT TENSE FUTURE TENSE

LATER I hope that Miss Grant will change
the subject.

PAST TENSE FUTURE IN THE PAST

I hoped that Miss Grant would change
the subject.

Normally the word THAT may or may not be used after the main verb:
He knew (that) he was going to come later.
Excepţii de la concordanţa timpurilor:

1. când propoziţia secundară exprimă un adevăr general valabil.

The teacher told the pupils water boils at 100 oC.
Profesorul le-a spus elevilor că apa fierbe la 100 oC.
2. când propoziţia secundară este atributivă.
The book I am reading now was given to me by my brother.
Cartea pe care o citesc acum mi-a fost dată de fratele meu.
3. când propoziţia secundară este comparativă.

Last year I worked more than I have done this year.

Anul trecut am muncit mai mult decât anul acesta.

NOTE: În limba engleză contemporană, se poate observa uneori o oarecare tendinţă de a nu

se respecta concordanţa timpurilor atunci când verbul din propoziţia principală este la trecut.
Se poate întâlni, de exemplu, o formulare de tipul: „He said he loves me". Este posibil ca ceea
ce apare acum ca tendinţă, cu timpul, să ajungă regulă. Pentru moment însă, vorbitorii români
de limba engleză ar trebui să respecte regulile de concordanţă a timpurilor aşa cum sunt
prezentate mai sus.
EXERCISES

1. Put the verbs in brackets into the right tense (Past Tense Simple or Continuous).

1) It was clear they (talk) business again.

2) I believed you (be) at the seaside.
3) I understood you (be) a painter.
4) They didn’t know that I (play) football.
5) He realized he (not remember) John’s phone number.
6) I was not sure if you (speak) English.
7) Looking out of the window, she saw the sun (shine) brightly.
8) He asked me if I usually (read) that newspaper.
9) You didn’t tell me you (have to) type this report.
10) He was in a hurry because he (want) to catch the train.

2. Put the verbs in brackets into the right tense (Past Perfect Simple or Continuous).

1) She told me his name after he (leave).

2) She didn’t even say thank you after all I (do) for her.
3) After I (hear) the news, I congratulated him.
4) When I arrived, the concert already (begin).
5) When it started to rain, we (dig) in the garden for an hour.
6) He didn’t admit that he (steal) the book.
7) He just (leave) home when he came across John.
8) Yesterday I bought a new umbrella because I (lose) my old one.
9) When he finally reached London, he was tired because he (travel) for three days.
10) I didn’t think that book to be a nice birthday present for you because I (read) it and I (not
enjoy) it.

3. Change the verbs in brackets to the Future-in-the-Past.

1) They said they (remain) at the seaside for another week.
2) He hoped he (finish) reading the book in two days.
3) I thought you soon (have) a holiday.
4) I was not sure I (remain) at home that evening.
5) He believed the strike (end) very soon.
6) He promised he (drive) me home.
7) We all believed he (win) the competition.
8) As wages had gone up, we supposed prices (go up), too.
9) He was sure he (pass) the exam and he promised he (give) a party afterwards.
10) When I heard the main actor was ill, I was sue the performance (be cancelled).
THE ESSAY - Guidelines in academic writing

When writing a short or medium-sized essay, the following fundamental principles are to be
observed:
1) lexical and grammatical accuracy;
2) articulated internal organisation (in terms of structure, function and cohesion);
3) stylistic appropriateness.

1) In order to be lexically and grammatically accurate:

- check up in a dictionary the spelling and the meaning(s) of any word (collocation) which is
not quite familiar to you;
- avoid repetitions and/or stylistically inappropriate choice of words, idioms, etc – see also 3) –
by carefully making use of synonyms or equivalent expressions, an ability which also
presupposes a steady process of enriching your vocabulary (reading, lexical exercises, etc);
- verify your grammar, proofreading the written text, and, whenever necessary, consulting the
literature on the morphological or syntactic aspect in question;
- it is also advisable to avoid very long complex sentences, and to pay a special attention to such
issues as the use and sequence of tenses, irregular forms, agreement, asemantic (expletive)
subjects, anaphors, etc, these being the areas of the highest risk of errors;
- check punctuation.

2) The general organisation of a piece of academic writing (an essay, a report, various other
types of assignments) is grounded on the three basic elements of structure (the introduction, the
development, the conclusion), which are mapped onto the units of content (sentences and
paragraphs), in order to convey various descriptive, narrative, analytic, argumentative, etc
functions –see further –, the overall cohesion being secured by logical and formal connectives.
- The introduction contains the initial (brief) formulation of the topic. This statement of the
problem (and, possibly, the comments on the way it is to be treated) represent what is sometimes
called “the thesis”.
- The development is the main body of the presentation, analysis or discussion, in other words
the detailed approach to the thesis. It consists of a logically ordered set of main ideas, each of
which is variably detailed, but obligatorily accompanied by the minimally necessary illustrations
and/or arguments, comments.
NOTE: Do not deal with more than one main idea within one and the same unit of content
(paragraph).
- The conclusion is a summary of the points tackled in the development, in support of a final
reiteration of the thesis.
Each part of the writing employs particular language structures and uses, in accordance with
the specific purpose of communication (or ‘function’): describing, defining, exemplifying,
classifying, analysing, comparing, arguing, etc.
Each function is rendered as sentences and paragraphs, these material units of content being
linked or joined together by connectives (or ‘transitions’), viz. words or phrases that indicate a
logical relationship, and thus support the cohesion of the writing. Connectives generally group
within three basic types: a) ‘the AND type’; b) ‘the OR type’; c) ‘the BUT type’.
a) The discussion, argument, or comment in the development of the topic may be a
straightforward one, in which case ideas sequentially accumulate, and the logical relationship
requires ‘AND type’ connectives.
These ones may indicate:
- listing (1. enumeration: first(ly), second(ly), first and foremost, last but not least, next, lastly,
finally, to begin with, and to conclude, etc; 2. addition: reinforcement – also, further,
moreover, in addition, etc – or equation – equally, likewise, similarly, etc –);
- transition (regarding, as for, as far as … is / are concerned, etc);
- summation (therefore, thus, to conclude, etc);
- apposition (i.e., in particular, in other words, etc);
- result (accordingly, hence, consequently, etc);
- inference (in that case, otherwise, etc).
b) Sometimes alternative solutions, views are also employed, there being a need for connectives
of the ‘OR type’. (After the alternative has been considered, the main line of argument is to be
resumed.)
These connectives may signal:
- reformulation (better, rather, etc);
- replacement (alternatively, on the other hand, etc).
c) As usually required by the desideratum of an objective survey, the opposite position,
arguments, etc are to be considered or referred to. This triggers the involvement of the ‘BUT
type’ connectives. (Similarly, there has to be an ulterior return to the main thesis, for the sake
of consistency.)
This type indicates:
- contrast (conversely, on the contrary, instead, etc);
- concession (however, nevertheless, still, despite that, even if, etc).
Summing up, the general organisation of the piece of writing will be as follows:
introduction › [a] supporting information › [a] main development (also [b] alternatives, [c]
opposite arguments) › [a] conclusion.

3) Stylistic appropriateness resides in the correct choice (considering the type and topic of
assignment, the targeted audience, etc) of the cluster of multi-levelled linguistic characteristics
that corresponds to a certain stylistic register (or ‘degree of formality’). Some authors list five
such degrees (‘styles’): frozen (used in print or declamation); formal (detaching the emittent
from the receiver); consultative (background information is supplied, vocabulary is carefully
chosen); casual (shared information is presupposed, relaxed speech); intimate (indicates a close
relationship). Newmark (1988) distinguishes eight levels of formality. For illustrating them, we
supply his example:
- Officialese level: The consumption of any nutrients whatsoever is categorically prohibited in
this establishment.
- Official: The consumption of nutrients is prohibited in this establishment.
- Formal: You are requested not to consume food in this establishment.
- Neutral: Eating is not allowed here.
- Informal: Please don’t eat here.
- Colloquial: You can’t feed your face here.
- Slang: Lay off the nosh!
- Taboo: Lay off the f---- nosh.
A second scale refers to degrees of language simplicity versus complexity, and it has six
levels: simple, popular, neutral, educated, technical, opaque technical.
The third scale captures emotional tone, and it has four levels: intense, warm, cool or
factual, and cold understatement. Despite this variety of style classification and criteria, the
central recommendation remains to avoid lower stylistic registers in writing, and in academic
essays in particular. In terms of characterising features at various linguistic levels of analysis,
this roughly means: carefully chosen vocabulary (more Latin etymons, specific terminology, less
idiomatic expressions, etc), frequent unrestrictive use of Simple Present, explicit connectors, no
contracted forms or elliptical constructions, passive, existential, and impersonal constructions,
non-agentive inanimate / abstract subjects, more numerous and complex relationships of
subordination, etc.
NOTE: Elevated vocabulary does not mean excessive use of (unnecessary) rare or highly
specialised words.

According to a widely accepted general classification, the following main types of essays
are to be distinguished:
1) narrative;
2) descriptive;
3) discursive (analytic and argumentative), each type posing certain specific problems.
Thus, narrative essays require a special attention in terms of point of view, temporal
sequencing of events, and amount of comments (if any).
As far as descriptive essays are concerned, the key aspects regard spatial displaying, and
identification of perceptually (and/or emotionally) relevant / salient features / properties.
In both cases, various mental associations and logical processes (parallelisms, analogies,
comparisons, contrasts) can be also employed.
Analytic and argumentative essays equally make extensive use of the basic discursive tools,
viz. definition, exemplification, and classification.
Definitions can be more or less accurate and/or expanded, depending upon (situational)
context, amount of available information, purpose, degree of complexity / technicality of the
concept to be defined, etc. In everyday usage, functional enough (though imperfect) definitions
seem to be usually centred upon what is most salient in perceptual terms. For instance, a tree
may be more often defined in terms of its branches and leaves, although these can be optional at
different periods in the life of the tree, than in terms of trunk or root, in spite of the fact that a
tree must have them in order to be a tree.
It appears therefore that more or less rigorously vs. suitably chosen distinctive features play
in all cases and situations an important role in the logical processes associated with defining.
The principles according to which these features are organised and exploited in providing
scientific or simply “tidy” definitions can be summed up under the form of two main
requirements that any definition has to meet: the identification of the 1) genus proximus and the
specification of 2) differentia specifica. These two practically constitute the minimally necessary
parts of a definition. In semantic terms, this can be represented as the intersection between the
vertical, hierarchical relation of hyponymy, and the horizontal, contrastive relation of
incompatibility. This is to say that one has to determine the immediately superior (inclusive)
category to which the concept to be defined belongs, and the opposing feature(s) securing its
distinction from other items subordinated to the same dominating category.
e.g.: A laptop is a portable [2] computer [1].
It appears evident that defining is a process in close relationship with classifying.
Definitions are also to be supported by exemplifications, i.e. the providing of actualisations
of the concept, of its particular instantations.
e.g.: Being a portable computer, the laptop is an electronic device, which also incorporates
some mechanical parts.
e.g.: Examples of cutlery, i.e. of tools for preparing and eating food, are: the spoon, the knife, etc.
Frequent mistakes in defining consist in giving an example instead of a definition, omitting
either general class or distinctive characteristic, providing circular definitions.
e.g.: Means of transport are for instance cars, trains, etc.
A biologist studies plants and animals.
A biologist is a university graduate.
Syntax is (the science) about syntax.
Mistakes in exemplification may consist in choosing an atypical representative, while errors
in classification usually reside in making use of a higher than immediately dominant category.
e.g.: …games, as for instance skeet…
The spider is an animal.
Glossary of Terms

 Adjectives are modifiers. They describe nouns & specify size, color, number, etc., e.g.,
The small "x" in the upper corner of the window is used to exit your file.
 Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives & other adverbs, e.g., The exhausted secretary
screamed loudly as her monitor flickered slowly, then died.
 Alliteration can give a pleasing sound to a sentence, as long as it's not overdone, e.g.,
World Wide Web . . . smelly, slimy SCSI . . . resonant ringing.
 Clauses are groups of words with a subject and predicate. A main clause stands alone as
a sentence; a subordinate clause is incomplete and is used with a main clause to express
an idea. Main: I like playing Tetris, Subordinate when I have time.
 Compound nouns usually form the plural by pluralizing the fundamental part of the
word, e.g., attorneys general; spelling matches; vice presidents.
 Conjunctions join words, phrases or clauses. Coordinating conjunctions: and, but, for,
or, nor, either, neither, yet, so, so that. (Yet & so are also used as adverbs.) Subordinating
conjunctions join two clauses (main and dependent/subordinate): although, because,
since, until, while, etc.
 Metaphors suggest comparison between two different things, e.g., Bill Gates has a heart
of gold . . . His mind is a sharp razor.
 Noun The name of a person, place, thing, quality or action. Secretary, desk, computer,
Redmond, technology, frustration.
 Phrases are closely related words with no subject or predicate, and may be used as
nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, e.g., Waiting for Technical Support has kept me at
my desk all afternoon (noun). The typing could have been done earlier (verb). The person
with the bleary eyes is a computer nerd (adjective). Buy memory chips now, since the
price will go up soon (adverb).
 Predicates are one of two main components of a sentence. They are verbs and the words
used to explain the action or condition. They always agree with the Subject, e.g.,
Choosing the right ISP can be a difficult process.
 Prepositions show how nouns or pronouns relate to other words in a sentence, e.g., Little
Susie rolled the $800 CD ROM into the bathroom; her mother hid behind the shower
curtain.
 Pronouns are substitutes for nouns, e.g., Judy sat at her computer and turned it on.
 Proper nouns form their plurals by adding s to the singular or es if the word ends in s, z,
ch, sh, or zh, e.g., the Carolinas, Robinsons, Piersons, Judys, Joneses, Savages, Morrises.
 Similes show a similarity between two things, using "like." e.g Bill Prowell has a mind
like a razor . . . After six hours at the computer, her eyelids felt like lead weights.
 Subjects, one of two main components of a sentence, are nouns, pronouns, or phrases
used as nouns, e.g., Choosing the right ISP can be a difficult process.
 Verbs make things happen, show action or state of being & also indicate time of action
or being, e.g., Jeff's son waved goodbye to the computer repairman (past). I need to shut
down Windows (present). You will enjoy learning HTML (future).
 Voice. Active is preferable to passive to create action and interest. Sometimes, in certain
types of documents, passive voice is preferred, e.g., Connie typed the letter (active). The
letter was typed by Connie (passive).
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Grammar in Use, Reference and Practice for intermediate students of English,

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