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Listen to it twice, paying special attention to the vocabulary, and try to answer the following questions
(Listening & reading test). Then, read the text and check your answers.
Suggestion: try to answer the questions before reading, to improve your listening
skills.
− What time?
− 3 am.
Vocabulary
Fred has to do a writing assignment for He interviews: él entrevista
school: Fred tiene que hacer una redacción To get some inspiration for the story:
para el colegio conseguir inspiración para su historia
He has to write a short detective story: tiene I drive to work: voy en coche al trabajo
que escribir una historia de detectives She doesn’t know: ella no lo sabe
He thinks: él piensa She thinks I’m sleeping: ella piensa que estoy
The plot: la trama durmiendo
Can take place in his neighbourhood: puede Phillip certainly could be one of my
tener lugar en su barrio characters: Phillip podría seguramente ser
42 Before starting to write: antes de empezar a uno de mis personajes
escribir
I usually listen to music every morning We always take the train on Mondays
When we speak about habitual actions we use the Present Simple tense.
Look over these two texts quickly and think if these sentences are true or false:
A. The girl goes to the gym on Fridays afternoon C. The boy gets up at 10 a.m. on weekends
B. The girl goes to bed at midnight D. The boy loves his job
A. The girl lives in London. She is a sports commentator and presents the news in the evening. She
finishes work very late and doesn’t leave before 2 a.m. She always goes to the gym before work on
Mondays.
B. The boy and his friend take the train very early in the mornings because they start to work at 6
a.m. They don’t listen to music because the train is very crowded and they are sleepy. They work
every day and don’t like their job because it’s not exciting.
Let’s now study how to make sentences with the Present Simple.
Affirmative sentences
Structure: Example:
Subject + verb + object I study English
Yo estudio inglés
subject verb object
Pay attention:
When making affirmative sentences in the Present Simple tense you have to put
the verb in the bare infinitive without “to”, except in the case of the third person
singular (he, she and it). In this case you have to add an “-s” to the main verb. For
example: 43
Correct: He works – Él trabaja
Incorrect: He work
®® If the verb ends in ch, ss, sh, x or the letter o, you have to add –es in the third person.
Examples:
®® If the verb ends in a consonant + “y”, we remove the “y” and add -ies in the third person singular.
Pay attention to the use of the adverbs of frequency: every day, once a week, twice a week, etc. and think of its
possible translation in Spanish.
Structure:
Examples:
Pay attention:
®® To ask direct questions we always uses “do” or “does” in English.
®® For the third person singular (he, she, it) we have to use “does” to ask a
44 question. Never use “do” in this case.
®® Do/ does cannot be translated into Spanish, don’t try to make sense of them.
®® The main verb in questions always goes in the bare infinitive without “to”.
Structure:
Positive: Yes, + subject + do/ does Negative: No, + subject + don’t/ doesn’t
Examples:
Structure:
Pay attention to the contractions.
Subject + do/ does + not + main verb + object
In colloquial English we usually
speak with contractions:
Examples: Do not: don’t.
Does not: doesn’t.
I do not work here. Yo no trabajo Remember: To make
subject do not main verb object aquí negative sentences and ask
questions we always use the
He doesn’t study German Él no estudia alemán auxiliary verb “do” or “does”
(for the third person).
You don’t speak Japanese Tú no hablas japonés
®® Invitations:
Don’t you want to come? - ¿No quieres venir?
®® To show surprise for something that has not happened, or is not happening:
Don’t you know it? - ¿No lo sabes?
Structure:
Examples:
As we have said before, the Present Simple is used for permanent situations or states, facts or general truths or
for actions that take place repeatedly.
On the other hand, we use the Present Continuous for actions happening at or around the time of speaking;
the action is not complete.
Compare:
There are some verbs that are not normally used in the Present Continuous:
Example:
“Do you know that girl?” “Yes, but I don’t remember her name”
46 ¿Conoces a esa chica?, “Sí, pero no recuerdo su nombre”
2. Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verb between brackets. They could be negative or affirmative.
A. Caroline speaks four languages - Russian, Chinese, German and Spanish but she doesn’t speak French.
3. Write the questions for the answers given using the following verbs:
¿Cuánto? ¿Cuánta? How much is it? /How much does the tie cost?
How much /haʊ/
incontable ¿Cuánto cuesta? / ¿Cuánto cuesta la corbata?
Sometimes, the English interrogatives do not coincide with the Spanish interrogatives:
48 Exception: when “what” doesn’t appear at the beginning of the sentence and it’s
not a question, it has a different meaning. It means “lo que” in Spanish.
Example: It’s what I told you - Es lo que te dije
We use “what” when we can choose from many objects (objects, people) and we use “which” when we can only
choose between few objects and, usually, the options can be seen. For example:
What car is right for me? - ¿Qué tipo de coche es el adecuado para mí?
Notice: there are many types of cars, so I have a great variety from which to choose.
The translation of “which” is not always “¿cuál/cuáles?” It can be “¿qué? ”.
If I’m looking at two cars and I ask the person I am speaking to:
Which one is yours? The red one or the blue one? - ¿Cuál es tuyo? ¿El rojo o el azul?
Notice: there are only two cars in front of me; therefore I use “which”.
®® We usually put one-word adverbs (and hardly ever) before the main verb. Example:
®® When we use am, is, are, was or were (the verb “to be”), we put the adverb after the verb.
®® When we use auxiliary verbs (have/has) or modal verbs (can, could, might, etc.), we put the adverb after
the auxiliary verb or the modal verb.
50
You can seldom see her
Rara vez puedes verla
subject aux. verb adverb of F. verb + object
®® Adverbial phrases can be put at the beginning or the end of the sentence.
Grammar exercise
Vocabulary exercises
1. Match the verbs and nouns to make meaningful sentences.
Prepositions (time)
In the morning; in the afternoon; Por la mañana, por la tarde, por la tarde-
part of the day
in the evening noche
53
fixed phrases At the same time Al mismo tiempo
a special part of
On Monday morning El lunes por mañana
a day
Vocabulary exercise
Complete the following sentences with at/on/in, if necessary:
Vocabulary test
7. The meeting is the afternoon.
Complete the following sentences with at/on/in A. at
B. in
1. Christmas is the 25th December. 4. I was born a Saturday. C. on
A. at A. at
8. We are going to the Bahamas
B. in B. in
Easter.
C. on C. on
A. at
B. in
2. New Year’s Day is winter. 5. I will help you a moment. C. on
A. at A. at
B. in B. in 9. She was born 2007.
C. on C. on A. at
B. in
3. I always get up very early the 6. I said I would meet him twelve C. on
54 morning. o’clock. 10. I love the weather April.
A. at A. at A. at
B. in B. in B. in
C. on C. on C. on
Example:
Melanie is a girl from the United States. She is 35 years old. She is married but she hasn’t
got any children. She lives in Madrid and she is an English teacher. She doesn´t drive a
car but she goes to work by train. She speaks four languages: English, Spanish, French and
German. She doesn´t like sports but she likes to cook. She usually goes to the supermarket
on Saturday. She often eats vegetables. Every summer she goes to the USA and stays there
2 months. Her birthday is in July. She usually goes to the cinema on Friday.
2. Now, you need to record yourself using the expressions and grammar learnt from this unit.
Quiz
Listening quiz: interrogatives
7. When does the person go on holiday?
Listen to the interview of a British person and, then, answer A. Don’t know.
the questions. B. June.
C. January.
1. What’s the name of the person? 4. Which is true of the Eden Project? 8. What sport do they do on holiday?
A. Alex. A. It is nice. A. Skiing.
B. Alice. B. It is famous. B. Surfing.
C. Art. C. It is hot. C. Swimming.
2. Where do they come from? 5. What is inside a Yorkshire pasty? 9. What sport do they do near home?
A. Chester. A. Fish. A. Skiing.
B. Cornwall. B. Vegetables. B. Surfing.
C. Coventry. C. Meat. C. Swimming.
6. Which does the person prefer,
3. What do they do?
bicycle, car or train?
10. What is excellent? 55
A. Writer. A. The beaches.
A. Bicycle.
B. Chef. B. The water.
B. Car.
C. Gardener. C. The waves.
C. Train.