Meaning - Summary

To be

I am 21 years old.
age
You are 20.
You are Spanish.
nationality
He is German.
She is a shop assistant.
job
We are students.
Berlin and Munich are in Germany.
place
They are in the garden.

Meaning - Summary
Example

a/an: main uses

An example of something "We have a dog"

What kind of thing it is "Mister Snaffles is a Dachshund"
What job a person has "My mum is a teaching assistant"
What we use something for "Roxy the Rottweiler is an excellent guard dog"
To describe people / things "She has a white spot on her head"

Important
We do not use 'a/an' with possessives (NOT "a my cat").
We do not use 'a/an' with plural nouns ... we use 'some' or no article.
Example
the: main uses
"Just close the door"
"The postman doesn't go there"
To mean 'you know which one(s)'
"She loves swimming in the sea"
"Someone is on the telephone"
Important
With plural and uncountable nouns, we do not use 'the' in generalisations:

(NOT "I prefer the cats") ... "I prefer cats".

(NOT "I like the techno music") ... "I like techno music".
(NOT "I study the English literature") ... "I study English literature".
Reminder
this / that / these / those
CLOSE FAR
Singular this that
Plural these those
Example
Floyd: Are these your cats? (These cats here in this room)
Katie: This one is mine. (The cat close to us)
Katie: That one is my brother's. (The cat not close to us ... the cat on the other side
of the room)
Katie: Where are my shoes?
Floyd: Are they these ones? (Floyd holds some shoes in his hands)
Katie: No, those ones. (Katie points her finger at some shoes on the floor)

Meaning - Summary
Regular action / event
I don't have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
She studies in the evening.
He does his homework at the weekend.

Opinions
Politics are very interesting!
He plays the guitar well.
They aren't boring!
Facts
He has a cat.
We don't live in Glasgow.
Milan doesn't have a river.

Forms - Summary
Positive - Regular verbs
I live play think
You live play think
 He / She / It lives plays thinks
We live play think
They live play think
Positive - Common irregular verbs
I have do go
You have do go
He / She / It has does goes
We have do go
They have do go
Important
Spelling
(verb)consonant+y He / She / It (verb)consonant+ies

E.g. try He / She / It tries

study He / She / It studies
Negative
I do not have don't have
You do not have don't have
He / She / It does not have doesn't have
We do not have don't have
They do not have don't have
Questions
Do I go ...?
Do you go ...?
Does he / she / it go ...?
Do we go ...?
Do they go ...?
Important
In negative sentences and questions, ONLY the auxiliary verb (e.g. do/does)
changes.
The main verb (e.g. have, go, live) NEVER changes.
Pronunciation
The ending of a verb conjugated in the present simple and third person singular
(it/she/he) can be pronounced in different ways:
Pronunciation of the ending (written -s or -es) Which verbs? Examples
Verbs ending in -tch, -ch, -sh, -ss, - watches, winches, finishes, kiss
/iz/
x, -ge mixes, bridges
Verbs in which the last letter, or
sleeps, eats, drinks, helps, taps, co
/s/ pair of letters, is unvoiced e.g.
baths, coughs, cuffs
verbs ending in -p, -t, -k, -th, -gh, -f
 Verbs in which the last syllable is
hems, downs, dabs, finds, logs, l
/z/ voiced e.g. -m, -n, -b, -d, -g, -v, -w,
draws, calls, sings, clothes
-l, -ng, -th
These pronunciation rules also apply to the pronunciation of plural nouns and possessives.

Form - Summary
Reminder
We only use a/an with singular nouns.
We can use the with singular, plural and uncountable nouns.
We use this and that with singular nouns.
We use these and those with plural nouns.
Example
She eats a banana and an orange every morning for breakfast.
Put the pen down. Put the pens down. Where's the money?
The Queen of England says: "The money the British use is different.
In this country, we use the pound."
"I don't like these toys" says the little boy, "I want one of those toys". He points at
some different toys.

Meaning - Summary
Possessives tell us about something that ‘belongs to’ a person, a thing, an organisation, a country or an animal.
We can use pronouns: I have a bad back "My back hurts". (My back belongs to me)
We can use 's: Danny has a bad back. "Danny's back hurts". (Danny's back belongs to Danny)
"The doctors' opinion." (The opinion belongs to more than o
If you see an apostrophe (') after an 's', the noun is plural.
doctor)
'My' and 'mine' mean the same thing but we use them in
(See next section for examples)
different types of sentences.
Important
In questions, 'whose is it?' means the same as 'who does it belong to?'

Form - Summary
Possessives (my and mine etc.)
Who does/do x belong to? Whose is/are x?
The keys belong to me. They are my keys. They are mine.
The map belongs to you. It is your map. It is yours.
The water belongs to him. It is his water. It is his.
The pizzas belong to her. They are her pizzas. They are hers.
The office belongs to us. It is our office. It is ours.
The house belongs to them. It is their house. It is theirs.
Also:
"England is a country. Its name means 'Land of the Angles'.
Its capital city is London."
We use its when we talk about non-human subjects (e.g. countries, organisations
etc.)
Reminder
After a preposition (e.g. 'to'), we use the object pronoun (me, you, him ...)
Important
If the noun is present (e.g. 'pizza'), we use the possessive words 'my', 'your', 'his' ...
E.g. "Hey! That's my pizza!"
Important
If the noun is NOT present, we use the possessive words 'mine', 'yours', 'his' ...
E.g. "Whose is the Margherita?"
"It's mine!"

Meaning - Summary
Example
We use adjectives to describe the things we see, hear, feel, taste or smell.
"Whoa! That is a big bedroom!"
"Argh! The water is cold."
Example
Adverbs of degree give more information about adjectives.
"Whoa! That is not a very big bedroom!" (It's pretty small.)
"Argh! The water is so cold!" (It's extra cold.)
Example
Very, really and so mean the same as extra.
Quite and pretty can also mean extra (but it is less strong than 'very').
Important
Too is not the same as extra. Too means that what we see, hear, feel, etc. is
excessive, unpleasant or bad.
E.g. Most British people like hot weather. But most British people think that 30°C
is too hot. They don't like it.
Not enough is the negative equivalent of too.
E.g. Thirty degrees Celsius is not hot enough for a sauna.

Form - Summary
Example
We can use these words with [adjective + noun]
Very
"He's a very naughty boy."
Really
"He's a really cool dog."
Pretty
"That's a pretty long book."
Quite
"Mmm ... it's quite a nice wine."
*Notice the position of the 'a' in this example.
We also use all of these words with an [adjective], e.g. "He's very naughty".
Important
Adjectives always go before nouns.
Example
We can only use these words with an [adjective].
So
"It's so far!"
Too
"It's too hot!"
Not ... enough
"It's not good enough!"
We cannot use these words with [adjective + noun].