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PRESENT SIMPLE
I/ you/we /they work
He / she / it works

I/ you/we /they don’t

work on Sundays. (?)
He / she / it doesn’t

Do I/ you/we /they
work
Does He / she / it
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
I ‘m
you/we /they ‘re
He / she / it ‘s

I ‘m not
You/we /they aren’t / ‘re not working this afternoon. (?)
He / she / it isn’t / ‘s not

Am I/
Are you/we /they
Is He / she / it
 The present simple is used to
describe:
a permanent state or situation:
I live in the town where I was
born.
• a fact or something which is always true.

The earth goes around the sun.

• an activity which happens regularly
or occasionally.
He gets up at six o’clock every
day.
 The present continuous is used to
describe:
a temporary situation:
I’m living with my uncle while they
are painting our house.
• an activity happening at the
present moment.
I’m sorry you can’t talk to her at the
moment. She’s having a shower.

• an activity in progress but not

exactly at the present moment.
I’m studying three foreign languages,
so I’m quite busy today.
 a situation which is changing or
developing
Lots of people are coming to live
here, so the town is growing quickly.
• things the speaker finds strange or
annoying, with always. (This is a way of
complaining):
You’re always using the telephone. Our
phone bill wil be enormous!
• something which happens frequently,
with always:
My girlfriend is always cooking me
special meals !
Verbs which describe states,
not actions, are not usually
used in the continuous. These
verbs describe:
Thoughts: believe, know, remember, forget,
think(=believe), guess (=believe), suppose,
understand,etc.

Feelings: like, hate, want, need, prefer, etc.

Senses: smell, taste, hear, see, etc.

 Possessions: have, belong, own, contain, include, etc.

Existence: exit, remain, consist, seem, mean, matter, etc.

The verb be
 Some state verbs can be
used in the continuous when
they describe actions:

I’m thinking about what you said. (I’m

considering it)

She’s feeling unhappy (How she’s

at the moment.)

The shop assistant is weighing the fruit for

us. (He’s measuring the number of kilos.)

Other verbs: see, taste, smell and be.

https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=m27Cck_LGHc
Some nouns can be both countable (C) and
uncountable (U), but with a difference in
meaning:

They say it’s healthy to drink

tea. (U) ( tea in general)
Would you like a tea? (C) ( a cup of
tea)
Living in a large house is a lot of
work.(U)
That picture is a work of
art.(C)
 Uncountable nouns:
Countable nouns: Do not use a or an.
Use a or an in the singular, e.g. a Cannot be made plural, e.g. work,
job, an animal. music.
Can be made plural, e.g. cars, books. Use verbs in the singular, e.g. the
Use some and any in the plural, e.g. news is good, music helps me relax.
some friends, any answers. Use some and any in the singular,
e.g. some food, any advice.

Some common uncountable nouns in English

accommodation advice countryside damage electricity equipment

experience food furniture homework housework information
knowledge luggage make-up money music news
noise paper pollution rain research scenery
shampoo smoke software space sugar sunshine
time transport work
 For small quantities of
countable nouns, we use a few
For small quantities of
uncountable nouns we use a
little
For large quantities of
countable nouns, we use many
For large quantities of
uncountable in negative
sentences and questions, we use
much
We can use a lot of or lots of
for large quantities of
countable and uncountable nouns:
If there is no noun after the
quantifier, we use a lot without
of:
We can use other words to refer
to a quantity of an uncountable
noun:
a few students
a little information
Many houses were damaged by the
storm.
Are there many rooms in the
hotel?
I don’t have many CDs.
There isn’t much information.
Do you have much homework?
We had a lot of fun.
I have lots of friends.
Does she have lots of money?
I like him a lot.
a bit of food
an amount of money
a drop of water
 AT
We use at for a point,
e.g.at the bus stop, and
in expressions like at
the top, at the back, at
the station, at the
seaside, at school and
at a party.
 ON

We use on for
surfaces, e.g.on the
table, on the wall,
and lines, e.g. on the
coast, on the border.
 IN

We use in when someone

is in a space, e.g.in
a building, in a
field, in the water,
in South America.
 Speaking PART 1

https://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=MjIYSM27z_U
 Email structure
Greetings: we greet the other person (i.e. say «hi» or
«hello»).
Opening paragraph: we react to the other person’s news and
ask them how they are feeling and whatever else you feel
is appropriate.
Main paragraph 1: in this paragraph we deal with the first
important point, which we can identify in the
instructions.
Main paragraph 2: if there is a different point to deal
with, this paragraph will do so.
(We might have more main paragraphs, depending on the
task.)
Closing paragraph: in this paragraph we «start» to say
goodbye by wishing the other person well and asking them
to reply to your email.
Goodbye: we use a short expression to say goodbye.
Signature: we sign the email with our name.
 Expressions to use in your email
Greetings
You can use different expressions, which are really
typical. We have 3 basic ways to greet in this kind
of writing, which is usually for a friend or family
member:

Hi John,
Hello John,
Dear John,
Notice how «hi» is less formal than «hello» or
«dear». Also, don’t forget to write a comma
(,) right after greeting your friend or relative.
After greeting the addressee (i.e. the person who
will read the email), you must start the
opening paragraph in a new line.
 Opening paragraph
The opening paragraph is the place to react to your friend’s or relative’s
email. Here we have some useful expressions:
It’s nice / great / good to hear from you.
It’s nice / great / good to read your email.
I’m glad to hear your news.
I’m excited about… (your news.)
It’s great to hear that…
I’m sorry to hear that…
I’m really sorry to read your news.
Thanks a lot for writing!
It was good to receive your email.
Thank you very much for your email.

Also, it’s a good idea to ask your friend or relative how they are feeling,
which you can do like this:
Hope you are doing well.
How’s it going?
How are you (doing)?
How are things (going)?

You can also add some information that you think is relevant or necessary,
but don’t expand this paragraph very much, because the important
information must go in the main paragraphs.
 Main paragraphs
For the main paragraphs, there aren’t any fixed expressions which you
must use, as it depends mostly on what you have to write about. However,
you should try to make use of connectors and appropriate punctuation.
Some useful connectors and the punctuation are:

… and … : to connect two similar things or ideas.

…, but … : to connect two contrasting ideas.

. However, … : to connect contrasting ideas.

Moreover, … : to add more information about something.

… because … : to justify an opinion or idea.

. Because of that , … : to justify an opinion, fact or idea.

. As for…/ Regarding … : to switch to a new topic. For instance, you

can use this connector to start the second main paragraph.

Time linkers: then, after that, yesterday, this morning, last

summer, etc.

With many connectors, we typically use a comma (,) after it when we start
a sentence (e.g.: However , Last night, Moreover, etc.).
 Closing paragraph
A closing paragraph is used to start saying goodbye to the
addressee and to ask for a response to your email. So we can
use the following expressions:

Well, it’s time to say goodbye.

Anyway, I have to go now.
Well, it’s time to go.
I really hope to hear from you soon.
I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
I hope you write back soon.
Make sure you write back soon.

Also, if you still have to write more words, you can add a
question for a subsequent email. This question should be
related to the topic of your piece of writing.
 Saying goodbye
There are many ways in English to close an informal
email. The most frequently used ones are the
following:
Best wishes,
Best,
Sincerely,
Take care,
All my love,
Love,
Lots of love,
See you soon,
Regards,

Notice how there is a comma (,) after each of the

phrases. Also, after writing any of these sentences,
make sure you write your name on a different line.
And write your name without a full stop!