A1 First level

Dutys first

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Warm-up

Welcome, dear apprentices!

I am Amanda Robinson and I am
your guide throughout this learning
material.

Welcome!

This material includes useful

information about the following topics:

Affirmative and negative sentences

in simple present

-s endings for verbs in third person

Occupations and related activities

Workplaces

Prepositions of time

Time expressions

Enjoy it!

Lets read the following conversation and answer the questions that follow.

Amanda: Hi, Stacey! Do you want to have lunch with me?

Stacey: Sure!
Amanda: What do you think about your new job as a receptionist?
Stacey: I think it is fine.
Stacey: Are you a math teacher?
Amanda: No, I am an art teacher.
Stacey: Is your husband a teacher too, right?
Amanda: No, he is a journalist. His name is John and he works in a news channel.
Stacey: Do you have children?
Amanda: Yes, I have two. Tim is 14 years old and Linda is 24 years old. My
daughter studies Business Administration at San Andrs university.

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Warm-up

Warm-up
Stacey: Does she know how to speak English?
Amanda: Yes, she speaks English and Spanish.
Stacey: Wow! And what about your son?
Amanda: He is at school. He is a good student and he exercises, too. He swims
and jogs. He also likes to play basketball and volleyball.
Stacey: And what does he want to study after he finishes school?
Amanda: He wants to be a doctor.
Stacey: What do you usually do on weekdays?
Amanda: I get up at 5:00 in the morning. I prepare breakfast for my family. We
seat and eat together.
Amanda: I also prepare my husbands clothes. Then, after my son, my husband
and my daughter leave, I take a walk from 6:00 am to 7:00 am. Sometimes, I run
for half an hour. I usually arrive at school at 8:00 am.
Stacey: What do you do when you get home?
Amanda: Before I get home, I drive to a near restaurant and buy some takeout
dinner. Then, we eat together and my husband washes the dishes.
Amanda: How about you? What do you do during the day?
Stacey: When I wake up in the morning, I like to drink coffee and watch the
morning news. In the evening, I come home from the office at 6:30 pm and go
out for dinner with my boyfriend. Sometimes, we stay and cook at home. On
weekends, we go to dance.
Amanda: Oh! By the way, I need to take my car to the mechanic. Can you give me
a ride after work?
Stacey: Sure! Let me know when you leave.
Amanda: Well, lunchtime is over. Nice to speak with you. See you later.
Stacey: Ok. See you.

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Warm-up

Lets analyze
Now, lets study some important concepts.

Affirmative and negative forms in present simple

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

Habits or routines:
She drinks coffee every morning.
General facts:
Birds sing.

To form affirmative sentences with the first and second subject pronouns
singular or plural (I, you, we, they) in present simple, take into account the
following structure:

Subject

Main verb

+ Complement

get out

at 5 pm

I
You
We
They

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Lets analyze

To form affirmative sentences with the third subject pronoun singular (she, he, it)
in present simple, add s or -es to the main verb. Take into account the following
structure:
Subject + Main verb + -s or -es ending + Complement
She

jogs

He

every morning.

washes

The dog / it

the dishes in the evening.

runs

in the yard.

The spelling of the verbs in the third person varies according to the ending of
each verb.
1.In general, add -S to most of the verbs in the third person.
Speak

Speaks

2. Add -es to verbs that end in -o, -ch, -sh, -ss, -x or z.

Go

Goes

3. For verbs that end in a consonant + y, remove the y and add -ies.
Study

(Study)

studies

4. For verbs that end in a vowel + y, add -s.

Play

plays

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Lets analyze

To form negative sentences in present simple use auxiliary verbs do or does and
add not. Short form for do + not is dont and for does + not is doesnt. Take into
account the following structure:
Subject
I
you
we
they

+ do/does + no t

main verb

complement

dont
like

He
She
It

mushrooms.

doesnt

Occupations, workplaces and related activities

Now, lets learn some vocabulary related to workplaces, occupations and their
related activities.
I am a teacher.
She is a secretary.

She is a student.

He is a journalist.

He is a waiter.
He is a chef.

He is a musician.

I teach arts at a school.

She does office work
for her supervisor in a
company.
She studies Business
Administration at a
university.
He makes reports and
interviews
famous
people for a news
channel.
He serves people in a
restaurant.
He cooks meals for
his customers in a
restaurant.
He sings rock songs
and gives concerts in
auditoriums.

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Lets analyze

Prepositions of time
Use in, at and on to talk about the time. Here, there are some examples.
At

On

In

At
Use at to talk about precise time:
At 4 o clock
At noon / night /midday / midnight
At lunchtime
At bedtime
At the moment
At present

On
Use on to talk about days and dates:
On Monday
On weekdays / the weekends
On Tuesday morning
On April the 7th
On December the 23rd, 2012
On Christmas day
On my birthday

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Lets analyze

In
Use in for longer periods:
In March
In the summer
In 1985
In the 80s
In the next century
In the past/future

Time expressions
Now, lets learn how to ask for the time and the most common ways of telling the
time.
Asking for the time
There are several ways to ask for the time. You can use these options to ask
different questions:
Excuse me, what time is it?
Sorry, whats the time?
Pardon, do you have the time, please?

Saying the time (first option)

You say the hours first and then the minutes. You can pronounce the 0 as oh for
minutes 1 to 9.
Examples:
2:35 pm Its two thirty-five
9:06 am Its nine oh six

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Lets analyze

Saying the time (second option)

You say the minutes first and then the hours. Take into the following advice:
For minutes 1 through 30 use the expressions past, a quarter past, a quarter
after, half past or after, and the preceding hour.
For minutes 31 through 59 use the expressions to or a quarter to, and the
forthcoming hour.
Use oclock for the exact hour.
For times around 12:00 pm or 12:00 am use the expressions midday, noon or
midnight instead of number 12.
To make clear whether you mean a time before or after 12 oclock you can use
the expressions in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening and am or pm.
The following watch will help you understand:
Examples
7:15 am Its fifteen minutes past / after seven, Its a quarter past / after seven or
Its seven fifteen (am / in the morning).
1:45 pm Its fifteen minutes to two, Its a quarter to two or Its one forty-five (pm
/ in the afternoon).
7:30 pm Its thirty minutes past / after seven, Its half past seven or Its seven thirty
(pm / in the evening).
12:00 am Its midnight or Its twelve (am) o clock.
12:00 pm Its midday / noon or Its twelve (pm) o clock.

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Lets talk

Lets talk
As you know, when we form affirmative sentences with the third person, we usually
add s or -es at the end of verbs, as in plays, watches, or comes. The pronunciation
of these endings varies depending on the final sound of the verb.

/S/
When the verb ends in sounds such as -p, -t, -k, -f or -th; pronounce the final -s or
-es sound as /S/.
Examples:
Final -p: hope / hopes

In context: She hopes she can get a better salary.

Final -t: get / gets

In context: Gabriel gets out at 5:00 pm.

Final -k: walk / walks

In context: Stacey walks in the morning everyday.

Final -f: laugh / laughs

In context: He laughs a lot when he reads comic books.

Final -th: bathe / bathes

In context: The child bathes her dog every week.

/Z/
When the verb ends in vowel sounds or sounds such as -b, -d, -g, -v, -m, -n, -ng, or
-r; pronounce the final -s or -es sound as /z/.
Examples:
Final -b: comb / combs

In context: Clare combs her hair every morning.

Final -d: read / reads

In context: Daniel reads the newspaper everyday.

Final -g: jog / jogs

In context: She jogs in the park in the afternoon.

Final -v: drive / drives

In context: The girl swims on Saturdays.

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Lets talk

Final -m: swim / swims

In context: The girl swims on Saturdays.

Final- n: run / runs

In context: John runs in the park on the weekends.

Final -ng: sing / sings

In context: Bill sings rock songs in his free time.

Final -l: call / calls

In context: Bryan works in a call center.

He calls customers all day.

Final -r: answer / answers In context: Cynthia is a receptionist. In her job,

S
She answers emails and phone calls all
gggggggggggggggggggggggggggggday.
Final vowel sound -i: play / plays

In context: Tim plays basketball every day.

/IZ/
When the verb ends in sounds such as -sh, -ch, -ge or -x; pronounce the final -s or
-es sound as /IZ/.
Examples:
Final -s: dance / dances
o

In context: She dances with her workmates

on Friday evenings.

Final -sh: wash / washes

In context: Gabriel washes the dishes in the evening.

Final -ch: watch / watches

r

In context: Michael watches the news in the mo

morning.

Final -x: fax / faxes

In context: He faxes documents all time in the office.

Final -ge: change / changes In context: Maria changes checks in a bank. She is a
c
cashier.
Final -z: frizz / frizzes
s

In context: Loren worries a lot about her look.

She frizzes her hair everyday.

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References
Fbregas, P. Ejercicio de Ingles.com. Retrieved on May 21st, 2013, from,
http://www.ejerciciodeingles.com/curso-ingles-basico/

Credits
Pedagogical Direction
Paul Cifuentes
Carlos Javier Amaya
Direction of Art
Csar Pez
ICT Leadership
Yeison Ospina
Quality management
Juan Carlos Rojas
Script Composition
Giovanni Martin
Content Support
Erica May Bent
William Lever Gasca
Multimedia Development
Edmundo Watts
Jose Mario Alzate
Felipe Becerra
Voices
Equipo Regional San Andrs

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