QUALIFICAÇÃO DO CERTIFICADO VOCACIONAL DE NÍVEL 4

Module Code: MO HG024001

Module Title: Using the English language with social, personal and professional purposes.

Learning Result 1: Participating in social interactions

Topic: Let’s talk
1. Dialogue
Example:
A B
Hello John! Hello Ashanti
How are you doing? Fine, thank you.
Where are you going? To the library, will you come with me?
I am sorry; I am going to submit my Okay, no problem. Can you come my home
assignment. this evening?
Anything special? Yes, today is my birth day.
Oh really, Happy birthday to you! Thank you. Don’t forget to come.
Okay, bye! See you

Exercise 1: Form a pair in the class and make a dialogue with your friend with the help of clues
given under:
Place : Home
People : You and your friend
Your Friend : Greets
You : Return greeting
Your Friend : Apologies for being late
You : Accept apology, ask for reason
Your Friend : Reason given
You : Suggest to join a party
Your Friend : Agrees
You : Offer cookies
Your Friend : Thanking
You : Responds

Exercise 2: A traveller wants to reserve a ticket from Maputo to Beira and he is at the bus
station.
Place : Bus station
People : Traveller and the clerk
Role Play : As a traveller you ask for the fare, time of departure, time of arrival,
the place of boarding etc

Language:
Could you tell me............................................................ ?
What time........................................................................ ?
Where does it.................................................................. ?
Will it ........................................................................ ?etc

Exercise 3: Discuss in your groups and come out with your opinions on the following statement
“The present day youths are completely distracted from studies due to the internet”
 Learning Result 2: Using grammar and appropriate vocabulary

Topic: Singular and Plural Nouns (Spelling of plural nouns)

There are various ways of spelling plurals in English.

a) Most words change to plurals simply by adding –s. e.g. book → books , chair → chairs, etc.

b) Words that end with –s, -z, -x, ch, -sh, are changed to plural by adding –es.
e.g. bus → buses, buzz → buzzes, box → boxes, watch → watches, dish → dishes

c) Words that end in consonant –y change the y to i and add es (ies).

e.g. body → bodies , lady → ladies, etc.

d) When a word ends with –f or –fe, we lose the –f or –fe and change it to –ves.
e.g. leaf → leaves, knife → knives, life → lives, etc.

e) Words that end with –o change to plural by adding –es the same as in b) above. However,
words that have come to English from other languages are changed to plural simply by
adding –s, the same as in a) above. e.g. piano → piano.

f) There are some irregular nouns in English. These do not change to plural the same way as a),
b), c), d) and e). The table below shows some of the most common.

Singular Plural Singular Plural

Tooth Teeth Child Children
Man Men Ox Oxen
Woman Women Goose Geese
Foot Feet Louse Lice
Mouse Mice Person People

g) Some words do not normally have plurals. Names of some animals such as sheep and fish are
some examples.

h) Some words are always plural. Some examples are words for something that has two parts
(trousers, scissors, glasses).

Pronunciation of plurals
-s is pronounced “s” after the sounds P, F and K. e.g. ships, laughs, books.

After other sounds it is pronounced “z”. e.g. clubs, reads, opens, tries, etc.

When –s comes after -ce, -ge, -se, or –ze, an extra sound is added “-ez”. e.g. notices, cabbages,
cases, grazes.
Topic: The Present simple
Uses
1. We often use the present simple to talk about facts (real things), permanent situations or to talk
about things that happen regularly, repeatedly or all the time (habits, routines).
e.g. Water boils at 100o Celsius.
I play tennis every Wednesday.
Alice works for an insurance company.

2. We also use the present simple for promises, to ask or give directions and to talk about the
future events which are timetabled. These events can the starting of lesson; departure of trains
or airplanes, etc.
e.g. I promise never to smoke again.
‘How do I get to the station?’ ‘You go straight on to the traffic lights, and then you turn
left…’
The lesson starts at 8 o’clock.
The train arrives at 7 AM.

● Use am with the pronoun I

● Use is with singular nouns like ‘my dad’ and ‘the teacher’, and with the pronouns he, she
and it.
● Use are with plural nouns like ‘my parents’ and ‘Jenny and Mary’, and with the pronouns
we, you and they.
I am twelve.
You are my best friend
My mom is very tired today
The teacher is tall
Our dog is black
The children are asleep
My brother and I are upstairs

Conjugation of verb to be
Singular Plural
First person I am We are
Second person You are You are
He is They are
Third person She is They are
It is They are

Exercise-1:
Complete the following sentences by writing am, is or are in the blank spaces
a) The weather______________beautiful today.
b) All the children________________on the playground.
c) Boys! You___________always late for class.
d) Sally__________________my best friend.
e) Mom and Dad___________downstairs watching television.
f) Paul and Henry_________________in the computer room.
g) The Eiffel Tower _______________the tallest monument in Paris.
 Verb 3rd Person
Carry Carries
Hurry Hurries
Study Studies
● Isabel studies every night.
● The baby cries all the time.
● He denies all responsibility.
Questions in present simple

Yes/No Questions
To create a question that will be answered with a yes or no, start the question with Do or Does,
then add a subject (the person or thing that does the action) followed by the base form of the verb
and only then add the rest of the sentence.

Auxiliary verb Subject Main verb Rest of the

sentence
Do I/we/you/they Drive to the city on
Mondays
Does He/she/it Break down Often

WH Questions
Wh- questions are questions that require more information in their answers. Typical wh- words
are what, where, when, why, who, how, how many, how much.

Wh word Auxiliary verb subject Main verb Rest of the

sentence
What do I/you/we/they Want
Why does He/she/it shout at you

Why don’t you ever go on vacation?

When do you want to meet me?

Forms
Affirmative Negative Question
I work I do not work Do I work?
You work You do not work Do you work?
He/she/it works He/she/it does not work Does he/she/it work?
We work We do not work Do we work?
They work They do not work Do they work?

Spelling of the third person singular forms

1. Most verbs add –s.
e.g. work→works
sit→sits
stay→stays

2. Verbs ending in consonant + y, change the y to i and add –es.

e.g. cry→cries
hurry→hurries
reply→replies
3. Verbs ending in –s, -z, -ch, -sh or –x, add –es.
e.g. miss→misses
buzz→buzzes
watch→watches
push→pushes
fix→fixes

Topic: The past simple

Past tense of regular verbs

Use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past. The
simple past tense is usually made by adding ed to the verb.

I opened the door and looked inside.

The plane landed ten minutes ago.

1.1. If a verb ends in e, just add d to make the simple past tense.
She smiled when she saw me.
We raced each other on our bikes.

1.2. If a verb ends in y, change the y to i before adding ed.

I carried my mom’s shopping bag.

My brother cried when he fell off his bike

1.3. With some short verbs that end in a consonant, you

must double the consonant before adding ed.
I climbed over the fence and ripped my shirt.
The stranger grabbed my arm.

2. Past simple of irregular verbs

Many common verbs have unusual present and past tense forms. These
are called irregular verbs.

Remember that the simple past tense of most verbs is made by

adding ed at the end: look becomes looked. Notice that the simple
past tense of these common irregular verbs is quite different.

Base form Past tense

be was/were
begin began
break broke
bring brought
buy bought
build built
choose chose
come came
cost cost
cut cut
do did
draw drew
drive drove
eat ate
feel felt
find found
 get got
give gave
go went
have had
hear heard
hold held
keep kept
know knew
leave left
lead led
let let
lie lay
lose lost
make made
mean meant
meet met
pay paid
put put
run ran
say said
see saw
sell sold
send sent
set set
sit sat
speak spoke
spend spent
stand stood
take took
teach taught
tell told
think thought
understand understood
wear wore
win won
write wrote
mean meant

Exercise 1: Complete the sentences with the simple past tense of the verbs in parentheses
a) The boys __________ (whisper) secrets to each other.
b) Uncle Ben____________ (hurry) to catch his bus.
c) We ______________(return) our books to the library.
d) Someone______________ (tap) me on the shoulder.
e) The baby________________ (cry) when we took her toy away.
f) John ________________ (pin) the badge onto his jacket.

Exercise 2: Draw a circle around the correct past tense verb in each sentence below
a) I (losed / lost) my watch in the park.
b) I (getted / got) this book from the library.
c) The dog (catched / caught) the ball in its mout
d) Jane (writed / wrote) a letter to her best friend
Regular and Irregular verbs
Regular verbs are those that their past tense and past participle are formed by adding a - d or - ed
to the base form (Infinitive - Present form).
For example: Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle
Love Loved Loved
Cook Cooked Cooked

Most of the verbs in the English language are regular verbs. This means that they form their
different tenses according to an established pattern.

Irregular verbs on the other hand do not follow any specific rule that dictate how the simple past
and the past participle verbs are formed. Some irregular verbs all take the same form.
For example: Put Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle
Put Put Put
Other irregular verbs take different forms, but have similar sounds.
For example: Blow Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle
Blow Blew Blown

Another type has simple past and past participle forms that are identical, yet differ from the
present tense. For example: Sleep Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle
Sleep Sleep Sleep
Then, there are those that do not fall into any of the previous three categories, such as Go.
Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle
Go Went Gone

How to distinguish regular and irregular verbs

(The difference between)
Regular and irregular verbs have specific simple past and past participle spellings.
 The difference lies in how the word is put into the past tense.
 The simple past tense of irregular verbs always have just one part.
 The past participle tense of irregular verbs have multiple parts and usually require an
auxiliary verb, such as had, has or have. With regular verbs, the past tense simply adds
an ‘ed’ to the end of the word, with both simple past and past participle taking the same
form.

Important: Memorize the exhaustive list of irregular verbs or else study as you go!
Know that the ten (10) most common used verbs in the English language are
actually irregular.

Pronunciation of ed of regular verbs

There are three (3) variations in the pronunciation of the ‘ed’ of regular verbs: /t/ /d/ /id/
When regular verbs are pronounced, one should always bear in mind that the letter ‘e’ in ‘ed’ is
always a silent letter. So, we combine the last sound of the verb in the infinitive with the ‘d’
and this can result in voiced and unvoiced sounds. For some verbs, such as: ask, etc it results in
a voiceless sound like /t/. In some verbs it is a voiced sound of /d/, as in allowed, answered, etc
and in others it is pronounced like /id/ as in accepted.

The group lists that follow are the three (3) groupings of regular past-tense verbs based on their
pronunciation of the ‘ed’ ending.
Group A: Voiceless sound (Last sound of the verb in the infinitive).
If the infinitive of the verb has a voiceless sound at the end of it, such as p, k, s, ch, sh, f, x or h,
you pronounce the ‘ed’ ending as a ‘T’.
* Note the pronunciation in parentheses. It’s the sound that determines the group that a word
belongs to, not always the written letter). For example: Ask, asked = ask(T)

“Ed” pronounced as “T”

Asked Kissed
Baked Knocked
Brushed Laughed (lǣf) + t
Cooked Looked
Craked Locked
Crashed Missed
Danced (da:ns) + t Mixed
Dressed Packed
Dropped Passed
Escaped Picked
Finished Pressed
Fixed Pronounced
Guessed Pushed
Helped Relaxed
Hiked Shopped
Hoped Slipped
Joked Smoked
Stopped Talked
Walked Typed
Washed Watched
Jumped Worked

Group B: Voiced sound (Last sound of the verb in the infinitive)

If the last sound in the verb is a voiced one, such as in l, v, m, n, r, b, v, g, w, y, z, and vowel
sounds, or diphthongs, then pronounce the ‘-ed’ ending as ‘D’.

“Ed” pronounced as “D”

Advised (ad’vaiz) + d Enjoyed
Agreed Entered
Allowed Explained
Answered Explored
Appeared Filled
Arrived Followed
Believed Happened
Belonged Imagined
Burned Interviewed
Called Jailed
Carried Killed
Changed Listened
Cleaned Lived
Closed Loved
Covered Measured
Cried Moved
Damaged Opened
Described Planned
Died Played
 Earned Performed
Encouraged Pulled
Rained Tried
Realised Turned
Remembred Used
Repaired Welcomed
Saved Whispered
Shared Worried
Shaved Stayed
Showed Snowed
Signed Studied
Slammed Travelled

Group C: T or D (Last sound of the verb in Infinitive)

If the last sound in the infinitive verb is a t or d, pronounce the ‘- ed’ ending as “ID”.
For example: Need, Needed = need(id)

“Ed” pronounced as “ID”

Accepted Invited
Afforded arrested Invented
Attended Landed
Collected Needed
Contacted Painted
Counted Planted
Decided Presented
Defended Pretended
Demanded Printed
Divided Protected
Ended Provided
Expanded Rented
Expected Repeated
Exported Reported
Flooded Respected
Graduated Rested
Hated Scolded
Included Shouted
Invented Skated
Started Wanted
Treated Wasted
Visited Waited
 3: Using language that is culturally appropriate.

Formal and Informal Language

What is the difference between formal and informal language?

Formal and informal languages serve different purposes. The tone, the choice of words and the
way the words are put together vary between the two styles. Formal language is less personal
than informal language. It is used when writing for professional or academic purposes like
university assignments.

Formal language does not use colloquialisms, contractions or first person pronouns such as ‘I’ or
‘We’. Informal language is more casual and spontaneous. It is used when communicating with
friends or family either in writing or in conversation. It is used when writing personal emails,
text messages and in some business correspondence. The tone of informal language is more
personal than formal language.

Examples of formal and informal language are shown below:

Contractions
Informal: The improvements canʼt be introd uced due to funding restrictions.
Formal: Improvements cannot be introduced due to funding restrictions.

Informal: I donʼt believe that the results are accurate.

Formal: The results are not believed to be accurate.

Informal: The research project wonʼt continue next year.

Formal: The research project will not continue next year.

Phrasal verbs
Informal: The balloon was blown up for the experiment.
Formal: The balloon was inflated for the experiment.

Informal: The patient got over his illness.

Formal: The patient recovered from his illness.

Informal: The results of the study were mixed up.

Formal: The results of the study were confused.

Slang/Colloquialism
Informal words and phrases that are conversational, everyday words and phrases
that are acceptable in informal writing and speech, but not acceptable in terms of
formal writing and speech.

Informal: The mob was very rowdy during the protest against cuts to university funding.
Formal: The crowd was very rowdy during the protest against the cuts to university
funding.

Informal: Lecturers still count on students to use correct grammar and punctuation in
essays.
Formal: Lecturers expect students to use correct grammar and punctuation in essays.

Informal: It was raining cats and dogs.

Formal: It was raining very heavily.
 First person pronouns
Informal: I considered various research methods for the study.
Formal: Various research methods were considered for the study.

Informal: We believe the practice is unsustainable.

Formal: It is believed the practice is unsustainable.

Informal: During the interview I asked students about their experiences.

Formal: During the interview students were asked about their experiences.

Informal writing and language

This type of writing and language does not have to adhere to the established formal
rules of grammar and speech; informal language and writing accepts, tolerates and
permits the use of things like colloquialisms, slang, figures of speech, clichés,
improper and broken syntax, incomplete sentences, sentence fragments and other
grammatical prohibitions that are not tolerated when formal writing and language
are necessary and indicated.

There are occasions when the use of informal writing is acceptable and appropriate
and there are other times when the use of informal writing is not acceptable and
appropriate for the intended audience and their needs.
For example, conversational, relaxed and informal language and writing are
acceptable and appropriate in some situations and circumstances that are informal
and relaxed.

Formal language and writing

Formal language and writing are acceptable, appropriate and mandated in
situations and circumstances such as the school setting and the business
environment where informal language and writing are unacceptable.

Purpose of Language use Language use

communication
Apologizing I would just like to apologise for forgetting your I'm really sorry, I forgot your birthday.
birthday.
Explaining The first step would be to… What you need to do is...
Expressing I think that's fantastic news! I would just like to say: I think that is excellent
enthusiasm news.
Expressing I'd really prefer to visit... I would rather visit...
preferences
Requesting I would really appreciate it if you could forward the Can you send me the train times?
information train times to me.
Thanking I just want to express my sincere thanks for all you Thanks a lot for everything you did for us.
have done.
Suggesting You really must go to a Spanish restaurant. I recommend going to a Spanish restaurant.
Future forms: Will and Going to
A very confusing concept is when to use WILL and when to use BE GOING TO when we refer
to the future. Both WILL and BE GOING TO refer to the future and there is a slight difference
between the two though in most cases they can be used interchangeably with no difference in
meaning. Even if you misuse them, a native speaker is going to understand you without any
problems

When to use GOING TO?

The structure BE GOING TO is normally used to indicate the future but with some type of
connection to the present. We use it in the following situations:

1. When we have already decided or we INTENDED to do something in the future. (Prior

Plan)
The decision has been made before the moment of speaking.
 I’m going to accept the job offer.
 They are going to their beach house.

2. When there are definite signs that something is going to happen. (Evidence)
Something is going to happen based on the evidence or experience you have.
 I think it is going to rain – I just felt a drop.
 I don’t feel well. I think I’m going to throw up. Throw up = vomit

When to use Will?

Will is used when there is no implicit or explicit connection to the present. We use Will to
talk about future events.

1. To make predictions. To talk about what we think will happen in the future.
 My team will not win the league this season.
 I think it will rain later. So, take an umbrella with you.

2. To make rapid decisions. Things you decide to do now (at the moment of speaking) in a
spontaneous way.
 I’ll buy a car for you too.
 I think I’ll try one of those. (I just decided this right now)

3. To make promises, offers, requests and threats.

 I’ll give you a discount if you pay cash.
 I promise I will behave next time.
 I’ll take you to the movies if you’d like.

4. You use WON’T when someone refuses to do something.

 I told him to take out the trash, but he won’t do.

Both Will and GOING TO can be used for future predictions.

 The weather report says it will rain tomorrow.
 The weather report says it is going to rain tomorrow.
We are predicting what will happen (since we haven’t made any plans or made any decision).