Simple Present Tense.

After this lesson, you will able to talk about thing you do regulary.

Cook

I cook / You cook/ We cook/ They cook/ He cooks.

Run

I run/You run/ We run / They run/ She runs.

Study

I study English / You study English/ We study English /They study English / He studies English.

How to Form the Simple Present Tense

Most verbs in English only change in the 3rd person singular: he/she/it.

I work.

You work.

He / she / it works.

We work.

You work.

They work.

For certain verbs, we add an 'es' to the verb: 'I go', 'I watch', and 'I fix' become: 'he goes, she
watches, it fixes', not 'gos', 'watchs', 'fixs'.

For verbs that end with the letter 'y', we remove the 'y' and add an 'ies': 'I study English'
becomes 'He studies English'.
Reasons to Use Simple Present Tense

We use the simple present tense to talk about:

1. Things that are always true:

The Sun rises in the east. (= the Sun always rises in the east)

Water boils at 100 degrees.

The Earth goes around the Sun.

2. Things that are generally true:

I work. (= I normally work.)

You smoke. (= In general, you smoke.)

He drinks tea with milk. (= Most of the time, he drinks tea with milk)

Sentence Practice

Things that are always true:

The Sun rises every day.

Leaves fall in the autumn.

Americans watch football.

Things that are generally true:

He goes to Japan.

They visit their grandmother.

I watch the news.

Sentence Building

Describe your life using the simple present. You may use activities not in the list.

Example: Drink coffee/tea → "I drink coffee."

1. Go to work
2. Eat breakfast
3. Cook
4. Reports
5. Study English
6. See my friends
7. Play guitar, etc.

Questions in Simple Present Tense

After this lesson, you will be able to ask people if they do anything regularly.

Sentence Practice

Do you see the stars?

Do they speak Chinese?

Does he swim?

Does she listen to jazz?

Does he live in Japan?

Grammar Focus

Yes-no questions

You may remember how to form yes-no questions with the verb 'be': switch the verb and the
subject. "You are Japanese." becomes "Are you Japanese?"

To form yes-no questions with verbs other than 'be', put the helping verb 'do' at the
beginning of the sentence.

I know you. → Do I know you?

You live here. → Do you live here?

We eat dinner late. → Do we eat dinner late?

They speak Italian. → Do they speak Italian?

To respond 'yes' to these questions, say "Yes, I / you / we / they do."

For the third person singular (he, she, it), the helping verb 'do' becomes 'does' to agree with
the subject. Put 'does' at the beginning of the sentence and use the main verb in its basic
(without -s) form:

He knows French. → Does he know French?

She eats meat. → Does she eat meat?

It often rains here. → Does it often rain here?

Tip: Remember that the helping verb 'do' changes to 'does' in the third person. The main verb
stays in its basic form. So don't add an 's' to the main verb! "Does he knows French?" is
WRONG.

Sentence Building

Make questions out of these sentences.

Example: He often swims. → "Does he often swim?"

You know Peter.

You live in the Philippines.

He plays with toys.

She speaks Chinese.

They look at their dictionaries.

You run for exercise.

Negative Simple Present Sentences

After this lesson, you will be able to say things you do not do.

Sentence Practice

Cook

I do not cook / You do not cook / We do not cook / They do not cook / She does not cook.

Study

I don't study English/ You don't study English/ We don't study English/ They don't study English
/ He doesn't study English.

Grammar Focus

Use 'do not' before a verb to make a negative sentence in Simple Present. The contracted
form is 'don't':

I do not (don't) eat meat.

You do not (don't) exercise often.

We do not (don't) speak Italian.

They do not (don't) work.

For the third person singular (he, she, it) use 'does not' (contracted form 'doesn't') before the
verb, and don't add the 's' to the verb:

He does not (doesn't) teach Italian.

She does not (doesn't) like dogs.

It does not (doesn't) rain here often.

Note: That to form a negative sentence, we do not make the verb negative. "I eat not meat" is
WRONG. We add a helping verb 'do' and make 'do' negative: "I do not eat meat."
Remember that the verb 'be' does not need a helping verb. We can make it negative:

I am not Russian

You are not Russian.

He/she/it is not Russian.

We are not Russian.

They are not Russian.

Sentence Practice

Talk about things that are generally true:

You don’t have black hair.

She does not like sports.

She doesn’t clean her room.

They don’t know English.

Talk about things that are always true:

The Sun does not go around the Earth.

The Sun does not rise in the west.

Sentence Building

Turn the following sentences into negative sentences.

Example: They clean their desks. → "They do not clean their desks."

I like movies.

We know English.

You speak Japanese.

He knows George.
She tries hard.

He reads books.

She does her homework.

Demonstrative Pronouns (This, That, These, Those)

After this lesson, you will be able to refer to things that are close to and far from you.

Grammar Focus

'This/That is' + one thing

Use 'This is' when you talk about one thing that is close to you. Use 'That is' when you talk
about one thing that is far from you.

For instance, if you see an airplane in the sky, you do not say 'This is an airplane'; you say 'That
is an airplane.'

'These/Those are' + many things

Use 'These are' when you talk about more than one thing that is close to you. Use 'Those are'
when you talk about more than one thing that is far from you.

Tip: "What is this/that?" and "What are these/those?" are useful phrases to use when you
want to know the name of something in English. Use them with English-speaking friends and
quickly learn new vocabulary.

Sentence Building

Point at real objects that you can see around you and make sentences using 'this, that, these,
those'. Here are the names of some things that you can start with:

Example: A cat → This is a cat.

Adjectives

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to use adjectives to make positive/negative sentences
and questions.

Sentence Practice

You are happy / You are a happy person.

The girl is nice / She is a nice girl.

This house is big / This is a big house.

That textbook is new / I read a new textbook.

Grammar Focus

Adjectives are words that describe nouns. They tell us about their size, shape, age, color, origin
or material.

Adjective + Noun

In most cases adjectives come in front of nouns:

It's a big table.

They have a beautiful house.

He's a good man.

Linking Verb + Adjective (no noun)

Linking verbs are non-action verbs such as 'be', 'become', and 'seem' that link (connect) the
subject with words that describe it (adjectives).

Adjectives that follow linking verbs do not need nouns.

The table is big.

He is tall.

She seems happy.

Forming Questions and Negative Sentences With the Verb 'Be'

After this lesson, you will be able to ask what something is and say what something is not.

Grammar Focus

Verb 'be': Forming questions

To form a yes-no question, first think of the sentence in the positive form, then switch the
positions of the subject and verb.

Positive sentence: You are OK.

Yes-no question: Are you OK?

Verb 'be': negatives

In order to form a negative sentence, add the word 'not' after the verb 'be':

Affirmative sentence: I am OK.

Negative sentence: I am not OK.

The word 'not' is often contracted to 'n't': You're not OK = You aren't OK. He's not OK = He isn't
OK. We're not OK = We aren't OK. They're not OK = They aren't OK.

Note: "I am not OK." and "I'm not OK." are never contracted to "I amn't OK."

Sentence Building

Introduce yourself and describe the subjects of the pictures.

Say who you are and who you are not. [Age → "I am 35. I am not 40."]

Name

Job

Nationality

City
Describe the subjects of the pictures by saying what they are and what they are not. [Color →
"It is red. It is not blue."]

Name

Color

Size

Connective Word (And)

Sometimes, we want to form longer sentences than "I am John." and "I play tennis." In this
lesson, you will learn to form longer sentences, such as "I am John, and I play tennis."

Grammar Focus

I am a cook and a teacher.

'And' connects words that have the same grammatical function:

I am a doctor and a singer. (SVC: 'and' connects two nouns)

I cook and clean. (SV: 'and' connects two verbs)

I am happy and satisfied. (SVC: 'and' connects two adjectives)

When there are three or more nouns/verbs, use 'and' before the last noun/verb:

I like dogs, cats, and fish. (SVO: noun + noun + noun)

I dance, sing, act, and play piano.

Put a comma ',' between the words: 'dogs, cats, and fish'.
I am a cook, and I like tennis.

'And' also connects full sentences. Put a comma between before 'and':

I am John. (SVC)

She is Susan. (SVC)

→ I am John, and she is Susan. (SVC - and - SVC)

Susan is a doctor.

She cooks.

→ Susan is a doctor, and she cooks.

Rephrasing Sentences

The following sentences are incorrect. Rephrase the sentences to include 'and' and commas if
appropriate.

Example: I like apples oranges bananas. → "I like apples, oranges, and bananas." (When
reading this answer to your teacher, you can read out the commas: "apples comma oranges
comma and bananas".)

There is coffee tea.

This is a dog that is a cat.

Luke is a baker a painter.

I play soccer I coach students.

The cat's fur is long thin orange.

I am an engineer he is my boss she is the president.

Sentence Building

Use 'and' to buy things at a shop.

Example: Bananas, apples → "I'd like bananas and apples, please."

This shirt, that shirt

These shoes, those shoes

A rose, two daisies

Blue, red cups

English, Spanish books

Pens, glue, erasers

Pizza, soda, sandwiches

Prepositions of Place I (In/At/On/Near)

After this lesson, you will be able to say generally where something is.

We are at Liberty Island.

The Statue of Liberty is on Liberty Island.

Liberty Island is in New York.

Liberty Island is near Manhattan.

Grammar Focus

This lesson introduces prepositional phrases: phrases that start with a preposition and end
with a place.

At home ('at' = preposition. 'home' = place)

In the kitchen ('in' = preposition. 'the kitchen' = place)

Prepositional phrases are a kind of Subject Complement in the SVC sentence pattern:

I am at home. ('I' = subject, 'am' = verb, 'at home' = complement)

He is in the kitchen. ('He' = subject, 'is' = verb, 'in the kitchen' = complement)
In [area/space]

Use the preposition 'in' to talk about people/things/animals that are inside an area or space:

The chefs are in their kitchen / The marketing team is in the meeting room.

Also use 'in' for cities and countries:

Janice is in New York.

Paul is in China.

At [specific location]

Use the preposition 'at' to talk about locations:

The children are at school/ The woman is at a hospital.

We also use at to talk about specific times: at noon, at 3 p.m., at sunrise, etc.

To understand the difference between "at" and "in," compare:

The students are at school. They are in a classroom.

The chefs are at the restaurant. They are in the kitchen.

On [surface]

Use the preposition 'on' to talk about people/things/animals that are supported by a surface:

The couple is on the bed/ the children are on the floor.

Near

Use the preposition 'near' to talk about people/things/animals that are close to something:

A man is near the swimming pool.

Sentence Building

Describe the location of your house, your school or company by using prepositions of place.

Example: My house is in Beijing, China. It is at the end of Wenhua Road, near a McDonald's. It
is on 52nd Street.

In / at / near / on

Prepositions of Place II (Under/Over, In Front Of/Behind, Between)

After this lesson, you will be able to say more specifically where something is.

The child is behind the door / The door is in front of the child.

The bench is under the tree branches / The tree branches are over the bench.

The girl is between her parents.

Grammar Focus

Under

Use the preposition 'under' to talk about people/things/animals that are below something:

The bench is under the tree / The cat is under the book / The dog is under the table.

Over

Use the preposition 'over' to talk about people/things/animals that are above something, or
covering something:

The boy is ober the hurdle/ the tree branches are over the bench / the laptop is over the boy's
head.

In front of

Use the preposition 'in front of' to talk about people/things/animals that are further ahead
than someone/something else:

The door is in front of the girl / The phone is in front of the people.
Behind

Use the preposition behind to talk about people/things/animals that are at the back of
something/someone:

The girl is behind the tree / The girl is behind the door.

Between

Use the preposition 'between' to talk about things that are in the middle of two other things.

The girl is between her parents / The bridge is between the buildings / The dog is between the
couple.

Note: 'Over' means there is some space between the two things. 'On' means that the two
things touch. You can say "There is a plane over us" but you cannot say "There is a plane on
you."

Expletive Construction

After this lesson, you will be able to say what is in a place.

There is a dog in the car / There is an egg in the fridge

There are dogs in the car / There are egss in the fridge

Grammar Focus

Something that exists is there. So we use 'There is' to say that one thing (singular) exists, and
'There are' to say that two or more things (plural) exist.

There is + one thing

Use 'There is' when you want to talk about one thing (singular). The contracted form is
'There's.' : There's an egg in the fridge
There are + two or more things

Use 'There are' when you want to talk about two or more things (plural): There are eggs in the
fridge

You can leave out the name of the place ('in the fridge') when it is clear from the context:
"There's an egg!" / "There are eggs!

Why does 'There is' become 'There are'?

You may wonder why 'There is' becomes 'There are'. The reason is that the subject of the
sentence is 'egg ' or 'eggs ' and not 'There'.

SVC (Subject Complement)

In a previous lesson, we studied the first two parts of a basic SVC sentence: the subject and the
verb. In this lesson, we will cover the last part. This will allow you to provide more kinds of
information about a subject.

Grammar Focus

Subject Complement

The subject complement is the last part of the sentence "I am a cook". Subject complements
provide information about the subject.

These are the kinds of subject complements we can put after the verb 'be':

1. Nouns

We are students.

They are doctors.

You are children.

It is a dog.
2. Adjectives

They are happy.

He is sick.

We are American.

It is red.

3. Prepositional phrases (phrases that include prepositions such as at/in/on)

She is at home.

The concert is in the park.

The apple is on the table.

Sentence Practice

Nouns

Bob is a tennis player.

It is a box.

I am a cook.

Adjectives

The cake is delicious.

Bill Gates is rich.

The dogs are black.

Prepositional Phrases

They are in the meeting room.

The party is at four o'clock.

Lunch is after the meeting.

Articles I (A, The)

After this lesson, you will be able to specify if you are referring to one particular thing or
anything.

Grammar Focus

Articles

'A', 'an' and 'the' are called 'articles'. They go before nouns and tell us about those nouns: 'a
shirt' refers to any shirt; 'the shirt' refers to one specific shirt.

Indefinite Articles: A, An

'Indefinite' means that something is not defined or specified.

The indefinite articles 'a' and 'an' refer to non-specific things. 'A' becomes 'an' when the word
that follows starts with a vowel.

I am a doctor. (= 'an doctor' is incorrect)

I am an actor. (= 'a actor' is incorrect)

We use 'a' or 'an' to refer to one non-specific person/place/thing:

Please choose a card. (= choose one card. Any card is fine)

Definite Article: The

The word 'definite' comes from the word 'define' (to clearly say what something is).

The definite article, 'the', makes the noun that comes after it more specific. We use 'the' to
refer to:

1. Things that have already been mentioned:

"I see a dog. The dog is cute." (= The dog in the first sentence is cute.)
2. Things that don't need to be specified:

"Can you close the door?" (= There is only one door in the room: 'the' door.)

"the world / the sun / the sky / the universe" (= There is only one world, one sun, one sky, one
universe.)

Tip: When there is an adjective, 'a(n)' and 'the' go before the adjective. For example,
"Starbucks is a famous coffee shop" or "I want the blue shirt."

Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about the things that you own.

Grammar Focus

Noun + 's

The most basic way to show possession is to add an -'s to a noun: noun + 's.

Sally and Sally's dog.

Fido and Fido's house.

If someone's name ends in an 's', you can either add a -'s' or leave out the extra 's':

"Charles' dog" or "Charles's dog" (Both are correct)

Typical plural nouns end in 's' (boys, girls, dogs, etc.). To say that something belongs to more
than one person or thing, simply add an apostrophe:

The dogs that belong to the boys = the boys' dogs

If you want to focus on the thing instead of the owner, you can say the object first:

This is Fido's house. → This house is Fido's.

This house is Fido's. (= the focus is on the house, not Fido)

This dog is Sally's. (= the focus is on the dog, not Sally)

Possessive adjectives

Possessive adjectives are adjectives that tell us whom something belongs to.

Instead of repeating the owners' names, we can use possessive adjectives, such as 'his' and
'her':

Sally and Sally's dog. → Sally and her dog.

Charles and Charles' dog. → Charles and his dog.

I → my

You → your

He → his

She → her

It → its

We → our

They → their

Possessive pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns (names of people, places, and things). Possessive pronouns replace
the names of owners.

This dog is Sally's. → This dog is hers.

This dog is Charles's. → This dog is his.

We replaced "Sally's" and "Charles's" with 'hers' and 'his'. Unlike possessive adjectives,
possessive pronouns are not followed by a noun.

My → mine

Your → yours

His → his

Her → hers

Our → ours

Their → theirs

Tip: Most possessive pronouns are simply the possessive adjectives with an 's' added.

Note: When there are more than two owners (e.g. James and Emily), just add an -'s to the end
of the second owner's name.

Adverbs

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to use adverbs to specify where, when, and how
something is done... and much more.

I run fast / I run very fast.

I read the newspaper every day / I read the newspaper almost every day.

He does his work well / He does his work extremely well.

They go abroad / They go abroad twice a year.

Grammar Focus

Adverbs

We have studied adverbs of time previously in the lesson on simple present tense. Examples:
"They travel often." "We rarely exercise." "I never go there."
Adjectives only modify (describe) nouns. However, adverbs modify almost everything other
than nouns: such as verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, and whole sentences.

1. Adverbs usually modify verbs.

They tell us when, where, how, how often, how long, etc. something is done:

Press the button.

Press the button now. (= tells us when to push the button)

Press the button here. (= where)

Press the button quickly. (= how)

Press the button every hour. (= how often)

Press the button for one minute. (= how long)

As you can see, most adverbs come after the verb.

2. Adverbs can also modify adjectives, other adverbs, and whole sentences.

The button is very large.

Don't press the button too soon. ('too' modifies 'soon', and 'soon' modifies 'press')

Unfortunately, she pressed the button too soon. ('unfortunately' modifies the sentence, 'she
pressed the button too soon')

Many adverbs end in the suffix -ly: quickly, slowly, fortunately, unfortunately, loudly, quietly,
usually, rarely, etc.

Note that not every word that ends in -ly is an adverb; for instance, 'friendly' and 'smelly' are
adjectives.
Sentence Practice

Adverbs of Manner (how)

He talks loudly.

Please drive slowly.

He did well on his test.

Adverbs of Time (when, how often, how long)

I sometimes go to the supermarket.

Does he usually have dinner with you?

We wake up early in the morning.

Adverbs of Place (where)

She works overseas.

They go home after work.

Flowers grow everywhere.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using these verbs and adverbs.

Example: Drink milk, every morning → "I drink milk every morning."

Walk, fast

Go home, late

Buy, sometimes

Go, never
Sing, very well

Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns

After this lesson, you will be able to count nouns in a more grammatically correct way.

Sentence Practice

Countable Nouns

How many dogs do you have?

How many trees are in the forest?

How many coins are in your pocket?

Uncountable Nouns

How much water does this bottle hold?

How much soup do you want?

Grammar Focus

There are countable nouns and uncountable nouns in English.

Countable Nouns

Countable nouns are nouns that you can count using numbers. They have a singular form and
a plural form, and we use a determiner (a/an) before them.

A dog → dogs

A tree → trees

A coin → coins

A man → men
Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns include fluids (water, air), materials (wood, metal), general categories
(furniture, information), and concepts (philosophy, love). These nouns are usually not
individual objects.

Use “How much?” to ask the amount of those nouns:

How much water do you need?

How much wood is needed to build this house?

Use “How many?” to ask the number of those nouns:

How many dogs do you have? - I have two dogs.

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns include fluids (water, air), materials (wood, metal), general categories
(furniture, information), and concepts (philosophy, love). These nouns are usually not
individual objects.

Use “How much?” to ask the amount of those nouns:

How much water do you need?

How much wood is needed to build this house?

To reply to these questions, you need to use units:

How much water do you want? - Two glasses of water, please

How much wood is needed to build this house? - 5,000 square meters of wood.

Notice that David did not say "Two waters, please." and Henry did not say "5,000 woods." They
used units such as 'glasses' and 'square meters.'
Use singular verbs with uncountable nouns, but use plural verbs with units of uncountable
nouns:

Uncountable noun: How much water is in the closet?

Uncountable noun with unit: There are 10 bottles of water.

Exceptions: Unfortunately, not all objects fit into the rules we've described. For instance, to
count paper, you cannot say "1 paper, 2 papers"; you have to say "1 piece of paper, 2 pieces of
paper." So keep these rules in mind, but don't be surprised if you encounter nouns that do not
follow them!

Language Practice

Decide if the words in bold are countable or uncountable nouns.

How many children are in the class?

How much tea do you want to drink?

I always put butter on my toast.

Do you have any advice for me?

How is your health?

Does your school have computers?

Sentence Building

Create questions using "How much...?", "How many...?" and the following words. The first one
is done for you.

Example: Soup, bowls of soup → "How much soup is there?" "How many bowls of soup are
there?"

Pillows, furniture

Bags of garbage

Garbage

Slices of pizza

Pizza
Present Continuous

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to talk about things that happen regularly and things
that are happening at the moment.

Sentence Practice

I cook dinner every day.

I am cooking dinner right now.

We talk on the phone sometimes.

We are talking on the phone now.

He writes to his mother every month.

He is writing a letter now.

Grammar Focus

Why use the Present Continuous Tense

In English, we use the simple present tense to talk about things that are always or generally
true: He cooks every day.

To say that something is happening right now, we use the present continuous tense:

I walk to school every day. → I am walking to school right now.

He sleeps 10 hours a day. → He is sleeping now. Be quiet!

We also use the present continuous to talk about something that has not happened yet, but
will happen soon:

The boys are playing soccer today. (= the boys will play soccer today)

Class is starting in five minutes! (= class will start in five minutes)

How to form the Present Continuous Tense

Put the helping verb 'be' before the verb in -ing form: 'be' + verb-ing.

When adding -ing to a verb, there are some general spelling rules:

1. If a verb ends in an -e which is not pronounced (as in 'make'), you should drop the -e, and
add -ing:

Make + ing: I am making dinner. (Not 'makeing')

However, if a verb ends in -ee, -oe, or -ye, just add -ing:

See + ing: Are you seeing what I see?

Dye + ing: Are you dyeing your hair?

2. If a verb has more than one syllable and ends with one vowel + one consonant (as in
'begin'), and has the stress at the end of the word, then double the final consonant:

Begin + ing: Hurry up, the class is beginning! (not 'begining')

3. If a verb has one syllable, ends with one vowel + one consonant (as in 'sit'), then double
the final consonant:

Sit + ing: He's sitting on the floor. (not 'siting')

Put + ing: They're putting the clothes in the laundry machine.

Sentence Practice

Something that is happening now

I am listening to music right now.

You are washing the dishes.

He is watching TV now.

He is drinking green tea.

Something that will happen soon

I'm leaving in ten minutes.

They're arriving at 2 o'clock.

Another teacher is visiting our class today. Please behave.

Sentence Building

Your mother calls you while you are busy. Tell her why you are busy by changing the following
sentences into the present continuous tense.

Example: I clean my room now. → "I am cleaning my room now."

I do the dishes now.

I walk to the bus stop now.

I go to a party.

I exercise.

I sleep.

I work now.

Forming Negative and Interrogative Sentences in Present Continuous Tense

In the last lesson, we learned to say that something is happening now. By the end of this
lesson, you will be able to ask if something is happening now and talk about things that are not
happening now.

Sentence Practice

He is cooking now.

He is not cooking now.

Is he cooking now?

You are dancing.

You are not dancing.

Are you dancing?

Grammar Focus

Negative Present Continuous

Remember that the present continuous is 'be' + main verb-ing. 'Be' is a 'helping verb' here,
because it does not have any meaning in the sentence, but it 'helps' us form a grammatical
structure.

To form negative sentences in this tense, put 'not' in between the helping verb and the main
verb: helping verb 'be' + not + main verb -ing.

I am not singing.

He's not sleeping.

We're not studying.

Forming negative sentences in the present continuous is the same process as forming them in
the simple present: I cook becomes I do not cook. We negate the helping verb instead of
directly negating the main verb: "I cook" does not become "I cook not".

Present Continuous Questions

To form yes-no questions in this tense, switch the subject and the helping verb:

You are sleeping. → Are you sleeping?

It is raining. → Is it raining?

They are coming. → Are they coming?

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the negative present continuous form of the verb.

Tim and Sally (do not play) together.

I (do not wait) for the mailman to come.

They (do not go) to Japan this year.

My uncle (does not come) to our house today.

She (does not drink) beer these days.

We (do not take) the taxi home. Let's walk home instead.

The baby (does not cry) now.

Sentence Building

Make these sentences into questions and change their verbs into present continuous tense.
The first one is done for you.

The people jump. → Are the people jumping?

The man sits near the pool

The dog waits for his owner

The woman smells her clothes

An airplane flies in the sky

The girl kisses her mother

The cats sleep.

Sentence Building

Answer the following questions using the negative form of the verb.

Example: Are the people sitting? → No, they are not sitting.

Is the man standing near the pool?

Is the dog barking?

Is the woman washing her clothes?

Is the airplane landing?

Is the girl jumping?

Are the cats fighting?

Past Tense of the Verb 'Be'

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to start forming positive/negative sentences and
questions in the past tense.

Sentence Practice

First and Second person

Were you a teacher?

I was a student.

I was not a teacher.

Were you teachers?

We were students.

We were not teachers.

Third person

Was he a doctor?

He was not a doctor.

He was a dentist.

Was it a bird?

It was not a bird.

It was a bee.

Grammar Focus

'Be' in the past tense

The verb 'be' in present tense has three forms: 'am', 'are', and 'is'.

The verb 'be' in past tense only has two forms: 'was' and 'were'.

Am/is → was

Are → were
Tip: An easy way to remember the past tense is that 'are'/'were' and 'is'/was' end with the
same sounds: 're' and 's'.

Negation

Use “was not (wasn’t)” or “were not (weren’t)” when you want to form a negative sentence in
the past tense.

Question

Use “Was” or “Were” at the beginning of the sentence when you want to form a question in
the past tense.

Sentence Practice

Be + Adjectives

I was alone.

Were you alone?

She was smart.

Was he smart?

Be + Prepositional Phrases

Were they at work?

They were not at work.

Were they at school?

They were at home.

Be + Nouns

We were kids.

He was my friend.

It wasn’t his notebook.

He wasn’t an engineer before.

Sentence Building

Make negative sentences in the past tense using the words provided. Then make questions
using the same words. Use the adverbs if you want a challenge.

Example: We, here (five years ago) → We weren't here five years ago. → Were we here five
years ago?

She, with Peter (always)

They, your friends (before)

He, in Korea (last year)

I, at the theater (last night)

This road, a river (twenty years ago)

Simple Past Tense With Verbs Other Than 'Be'

With the simple past tense, you will be able to talk about actions that you completed in the
past.

Sentence Practice

Regular Verbs

I cook every day.

I cooked yesterday.

They walk 5 kilometers every week.

They walked 5 kilometers last week.

You dance very well.

You danced last night.

Irregular Verbs

He writes a letter to his mother every Friday.

He wrote a letter to his mother on Friday.

They sleep in their bedroom.

They slept well.

She reads before sleeping.

She read a book yesterday.

He teaches English now.

He taught English last year.

I see a cat.

I saw a cat.

Grammar Focus

How do we form the simple past tense?

To change most verbs into the simple past tense, add -ed to them: verb + -ed.

I work. → I worked.

She plays soccer. → She played soccer.

We talk. → We talked.

Irregular verbs do not follow the "verb + '-ed'" rule. Here are some of the most common
irregular verbs:

I go. → I went.

He comes. → He came.

You give presents. → You gave presents.

They have a dog. → They had a dog.

Tip: Many irregular verbs change to an 'a' sound in their past tense form: run → ran; drink →
drank; swim → swam.
Why use the simple past tense?

A completed action in the past: "I saw Susan two weeks ago."

A repeated action in the past: "My grandma often baked cookies for us."

Things that were true in the past: "I played soccer when I was a child."

We almost always use an adverb of time after the simple past tense:

I worked yesterday.

She played soccer last week.

We talked five minutes ago.

He came to Japan in 1969.

Sentence Practice

Specific Point in Time

We had a wonderful time last night.

They had a meeting yesterday.

I got a smartphone last year.

Non-Specific Point in Time

Once upon a time, a princess lived in this village.

I saw Susan the other day.

It rained at some point today.

Frequency

She watched movies sometimes.

He went to Japan occasionally.

They invited us over for dinner every week.

Period of Time

I listened to rock music as a teenager.

It rained the entire afternoon.

We danced all night long.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the verb in past tense form.

We often (play) together when we were kids.

I (wait) for him for two hours.

They (go) to Japan last year.

My uncle (come) to our house often when I was a child.

The baby (cry) the whole night.

She (drink) beer for the first time last night.

We (take) a taxi home yesterday.

Sentence Building

Change the sentences below to past tense.

Example: I learn French. → "I learned French."

I have a party with my friends.

He likes rain.

We take some pictures.

She looks nice.

You speak Korean.

I use an umbrella.
Forming Questions and Negative Sentences in Simple Past Tense

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to ask questions and form negative statements about
the past.

Sentence Practice

Negative sentences

I did not walk to school.

He did not write an email.

You did not dance last night.

They didn’t sleep well.

She didn’t cook lunch.

Questions (interrogative sentences)

Did you walk to school?

Did he write an email?

Did you dance last night?

Did they sleep well?

Did she cook lunch?

Grammar Focus

Past tense negatives

To negate a verb in present tense, we put 'do(es) not' before the verb: I cook. → I do not cook.

To negate a verb in past tense, we put the past tense of 'do not' before the verb: did not +
verb.

I did not (didn't) go to work yesterday.

It did not (didn't) rain last month.

We did not (didn't) buy anything last week.

Past tense questions

To form yes-no questions in present tense, we put 'do' before the sentence: You cook. → Do
you cook?

To form yes-no questions in past tense, put the past tense of 'do' before the present tense
sentence: did + present tense sentence? Raise your intonation at the end of the sentence.

Did you see me?

Did we forget something?

For he/she/it, keep the main verb in its basic (without -s) form:

Did he goes to work yesterday?

Did he go to work yesterday?

Dialogue Practice

Did you enjoy the concert? - No, I didn't.

Did they sleep well last night? - No, they didn't.

Did he see the doctor today? - No, he didn't.

Did she like the movie? - No, she didn't.

Did she read a book yesterday? - No, she didn't.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the negative past tense form of the verb.

We (play) together when we were kids.

I (wait) for him.

They (go) to Japan last year.

My uncle (come) to our house often.

The baby (cry) last night.

She (drink) beer today.

We (take) a taxi home yesterday.

Sentence Building

Change the following sentences into past tense questions ("Did...?"). The first one is done for
you.

The people are jumping. → Did the people jump?

The man sits near the pool

The dog waits for his owner

The woman is smelling her clothes

An airplane is flying in the sky

The girl is kissing her mother

The cats are sleeping

Interrogative Word 'What'

By the end of the lesson, you will be able to start asking open-ended questions.

Sentence Practice

What + verb 'be'

What is that? - It's a bird... it's a plane... it's Superman!

What was that? - It was a bird... it was a plane... it was Superman!

What + helping verb 'do' + main verb

What do you cook?- I cook Chinese food.

What did you eat yesterday? - I ate Chinese food yesterday.

What phrases

What is the date?- Today is August 22nd.

What song did he sing?- He sang 'Happy Birthday'.

What as subject

What is in this box? - A snake

What happened last month? - I got married.

Grammar Focus

Why do we use 'what'?

Remember, there are two types of questions: yes-no and open-ended. A yes-no question can
have only yes or no as the answer: "Are you cooking? - Yes, I am". An open-ended question can
have many answers: "What are you cooking? - An egg".

'What' is one of the interrogative words we use to form an open-ended question. Other
interrogative words include: 'who', 'why', 'where', 'when', and 'how'.

How do we use 'what'?

To ask for the name or identity of something, use What + verb 'be'+ subject:

What is your name?

What is the time?

What was that?

To ask for the name of an action, use What + helping verb 'be'/'do' + subject + main verb:

What do you do? (= as your job)

What are you doing?

What did you do?

You can also use a modal verb instead of a helping verb:

What can we do?

You can use 'what' in what phrases by putting it before other words: what time, what place,
what color, etc.

What time is it? - It's 5 o'clock.

What day of the week is it? - It's Friday.

What color was his shirt? - It was yellow.

What as a subject pronoun

When 'what' is the subject of a sentence, it works like any other subject pronoun (he, she, it,
they).

It fell off the wall.

→ What fell off the wall? ('What' replaces subject pronoun 'it')

Dialogue Practice

Present tense

What is his favorite movie? - He likes “Harry Potter".

What is the name of this animal? - It is a red panda.

What do you want for your birthday? - I want a Seiko watch.

What subject does she like? - She likes History.

What languages do you speak? - I only speak English.

Past Tense

What did you give her for her birthday? - I gave her a hug because I didn’t have any money.

What color was his car?- It was red.

What did you learn in my lesson? - I learned a lot of things.

What was the purpose of your visit? - Sightseeing.

What was in this box? - Some books.

Sentence Building

A friend is visiting you. Ask them how they want to spend the day.

Example: Do today → "What do you want to do today?"

Eat for breakfast

Eat for lunch

Movies to watch

Places to go

Things to do

Food to cook

Question Words (When and Where)

With wh- words, you will be able to ask many open-ended questions.

Sentence Practice

When/Where + 'be'

When is her birthday? - Her birthday is August 22nd.

When was the party) It was August 20th.

Where are you? - I'm at home.

When/Where + 'do' + main verb

Where do you cook? - I cook in my kitchen.

When do you cook? - I cook every evening.

Grammar Focus

When we want to know a time or a date, we use the question word 'when':

When is your birthday?

When does school start?

When does he go to work?

When we want to know the place, we use the question word 'where':

Where do you live?

Where is her office?

Where do they come from?

Dialogue Practice

Present Tense

Where is the hospital?- It is near that intersection.

Where can I register? - You can do it here

Where are you in England? - I’m in London.

Where do you study English? - I study English in an online school.

When is he coming?- This coming Wednesday.

Past Tense

Where did you buy it? - It’s a secret.

When did they go to the zoo? - They went there last month.

When did she go to Hong Kong? - She went there in August

When did he write the letter?- I don’t know.

Where did you live in India? - I lived in Mumbai.

Where did you buy your computer?- I bought it from that store over there.
Language Practice

The following sentences are answers to questions. What questions do they answer? There can
be more than one correct answer.

The swimming pool is over there.

When is the swimming pool open?

Where is the swimming pool?

What is the swimming pool?

We met in high school.

Where did you meet?

When did you meet?

What did you meet?

I work at a supermarket.

Where do I work?

Where do you work?

When do you work?

They are students.

What do they do?

Where do they go?

What are they?

I usually go to bed at 10pm.

When do you go to bed?

When do I go to bed?

What time do you go to bed?

He comes from New Zealand.

Where does he come from?

Where is he from?

Where comes he from?

It's July 22nd.

When does school start?

When is your birthday?

What is today's date?

Sentence Building

There is a new person in your class. Ask them about themselves using what, where, when.

Example: 'their birthday' → "When is your birthday?"

Their name

The place they come from

Their favorite color

Their hobbies

Their favorite place to be

Question Word (Who)

With the question word 'who', you will be able to ask for somebody's identity.

Grammar Focus

'Who' for People

Previously, we learned to use 'what' to ask questions about things.

What smells?

The rotten egg smells. ('Rotten egg' = the thing)

To ask questions about people, we use 'who'.

Who smells?

Jim smells. He just exercised. ('Jim' = the person)

Who cooks?

To ask for the person who does an action, use this structure: Who + [action verb]?.

Who cooks?

Who teaches?

Who owns this cat?

Who is the cook?

To ask for the identity of a person, use this structure: Who + ['be'] + [subject]?

Who is the cook?

Who is the teacher?

Who is the owner of this cat?

Dialogue Practice

Present Tense

Who is your favorite teacher?- Ms. Brown is the best.

Who is your best friend? - Jim is my best friend.

Who is calling you all day long? - Tom from the dance class.

Who is her roommate? - She is living with her parents. She doesn’t have a roommate.
Who is in the kitchen? - Maybe Christie.

Who lives in that old house? - Nobody lives there.

Past Tense

Who was your Math teacher in high school?

Who wrote that letter? - He wrote it.

Who opened the door? - I’m not sure, but maybe Tom did.

Who helped her with her homework? - Her mom helped her.

Question Word (Why)

With 'why', you will be able to ask the reason or cause for something.

Grammar Focus

How do we ask a question with 'why'?

Put 'Why' at the beginning of a yes-no question when you want to ask about the reason
something happens/happened.

Do you cook?

→ Why do you cook?

How do we answer a question with 'why'?

1. Use 'because' + noun clause:

I cook because I like cooking.

Because I like cooking.

I cook because it is cheaper than eating out.

Because it is cheaper than eating out.

2. Use 'to' + verb:

I cook to save money.

To save money.

3. Use 'for' + noun'.

I cook for fun. (= I like cooking).

For fun.

I cook for financial reasons. (= cooking is cheaper than eating out)

For financial reasons.

Present Tense

Why are your clothes so dirty? - Because I didn’t wash my clothes yesterday.

Why are you so serious? - Because I am upset.

Why are you learning Spanish? - Because I want to travel to Spain.

Why do you like her? - Because she is nice to me.

Why do you want to move? - To see other places.

Past Tense

Why did they go to Tokyo? - For the conference.

Why did they travel to India? For business.

Why did you choose this car? - Because it has a powerful engine.

Why was he angry? - He was angry because he got fired.

Sentence Building

Turn the following sentences into why questions. These are questions children often ask.

Example: I go to school. → "Why do I go to school?"

The sky is blue.

The ocean is blue.

Rainbows appear.

We live here.

You like spicy food.

You use a computer.

He is sick.

Question Word (How)

Learning the question word 'how' will enable you to ask many kinds of questions.

Sentence Practice

How are you?

How are your parents?

How is the new teacher?

How did it happen?

How do you go to school?

How old are you?

How tall is he?

Grammar Focus

How

Put 'how' at the beginning of a question when you want to ask what way or by what means
something is done, or what state or condition something is in.

In fact, you already know three 'how' questions: "How are you?", "How old are you?", and
"How do you do?".

1. How are you?

The first kind of 'how' question follows the same pattern as 'how are you?': How + 'be' + noun?

How is the new teacher?

How is your work?

How was school today?

2. How old are you?

The second kind of 'how' question follows the same pattern as 'how old are you?': How +
adjective/adverb? We use it to ask about the degree or extent of something.

My grandfather is old.

How old?

He's 100 years old!

We can use 'how' with adjectives and adverbs:

How many? (to ask about the quantity of countable nouns)

How much? (to ask about the quantity or price of uncountable nouns)

How often? (to ask about the frequency)

How far? (to ask about the distance)

3. How do you do?

The third type of 'how' questions follows the same pattern as 'how do you do?': How + helping
verb + subject + main verb?

How do you know that he won't be coming tonight? (= What information allows you to know
this?)

How do you learn English so quickly? (= What methods do you use?)

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your teacher.

How was your exam? - I did my best.

How is your new life abroad? - Great. I’m enjoying it.

How is their business? - It is going very well.

How did you get there? - I took a bus.

How did you improve your English so fast? - My online English teacher was excellent.

How does he go to university? - He goes there by motorcycle.

How long does it take to get to Tokyo station? - It takes about an hour.

How well do you know her? - Very well.

How difficult is the TOEIC examination? - Maybe it is easy for you.

Sentence Building

You are looking for a new job. Ask your friends how their jobs are.

Example: their work → "How is your work?"

Their boss

Their colleagues

Work-life balance

They heard of the company

Negotiate their salary

Length of their commute

Cost of commute

Imperatives

By the end of this lesson you will able to use the imperatives to tell people to do things.

Sentence Practice

Do something!

Walk with me.

Write an email to your boss.

Dance on the stage!

Good night, sleep well!

Don't do something!

Don’t smoke here.

Don’t go there; it’s dangerous!

Don’t eat it; it smells strange!

Grammar Focus

When do we use imperatives?

We use imperatives when we want to tell someone to do something. This can be:

An order: Finish your food!

A request: Open the door, please!

Directions: Go straight and turn right.

Permission: Can I sit here? --Yes, please do.

How do we use imperatives?

Use the verb without a subject:

Sit down!

Go there!

Do your homework!

To negate imperatives, use do not / don't before the main verb:

Don't drink that!

Don't drive so fast!

Don't hurt me!

In writing, imperative sentences usually (but not always) end with an exclamation mark. Using
the imperative by itself can sound rude. To be more polite, use 'please', or 'could/ would', etc.

Give me an apple! → Please give me an apple.

Pass the salt! → Could you pass the salt?

Speak quietly! → Would you speak quietly?

Sentence Practice

Directions

As seen in signs, recipes, public announcements, etc.:

Add some salt to the soup.

Please do not use your cell-phone here.

Please select the correct answer.

Please write your name here.

Orders
Don’t do that!

Wash the dishes after you eat.

Don’t go too far.

Requests and Suggestions

Bye! Don’t forget me!

Hurry up! The concert is about to start!

Look at the sky! It’s a shooting star!

Sentence Building

You live with people who are very dirty. Tell them to clean up using the imperative words with
the actions below. For example: "Please throw away your trash."

Imperative Words

Please... .

Could you please... ?

Would you please... ?

Actions

Wash the dishes

Throw away your trash

Wipe the table

Vacuum the floor

Do your laundry

Clean up after yourself

Prepositions of Place III (Into, Across, Inside/Outside, Beside/Next to)

By learning these prepositions of place, you will be able to talk more specifically about where
things happen.

Sentence Practice

The turtle walked into the sea.

Sally swam across the lake.

She is inside the car.

She is standing outside the car.

Come here and sit next to me!

They placed the armchair beside the cupboard.

Grammar Focus

Into

Use the preposition 'into' to talk about movement from the outside to the inside of
something:

He jumped into the ocean.

The baby climbed into the cabinet.

Across

Use the preposition across to talk about:

1. things that go from one side to another: The man is jumping across the gap.

2. things that are on the other side of something: The building is across the street from us.

Inside

Inside is like 'in', but more specific to enclosed spaces (= a space with sides, walls, a ceiling):

There are many gifts inside the mailbox.

The dirty clothes are inside the washing machine.

We do not say that someone is inside a country/a forest/a park, because these places are
usually not physically enclosed. We say in a country/a forest/a park.

Outside

Use the preposition outside to talk about people/things/animals that are not inside
something:

Please leave your shoes outside.

There is a dog outside the shop.

Tip: You will often hear 'inside' and 'outside' used by themselves as adverbs. For example: "It's
raining. Please come inside (the house, car, etc.). Don't stand outside."

Beside, Next to

Use the preposition beside or next to to talk about someone/something that is very close to
someone/something else:

A woman is sitting next to a man. / A man is sitting next to a woman.

The cups are beside the sink.

I'll bring you something later. Where is your classroom? - My classroom is next to the
principal's office. I sit next to the window.

Could you tell me where the park is, please? - Walk across this street and that bridge and you

will see the park.

Prepositions of Direction (From, To, Into, Onto, Away)

Sentence Practice

She comes from New York.

He went to New York last year.

I just came back to London from New York.

They go to the gym every day.

Last summer, I went from Korea to Japan by plane.

He hurried into the house.

The little girl climbed onto the bed and fell asleep a few moments later.

Step away from the dog; it might be dangerous.

Grammar Focus

From

Use the preposition from to talk about the source of something or the place where it starts.

She comes from Japan.

Let's start from page 21.

I got the book from my friend.

To

Use the preposition to to show the direction of something:

She goes to Spain every year.

She went to school by bus.

Let's go to that cafe.

The man is jumping from the cliff on the left to the cliff on the right.

Into
Use the preposition into to talk about people/things/animals that are within or entering
something:

Put the leftovers into the fridge.

The dog went into the house.

The man is jumping into the ocean.

Onto

Use the preposition onto to talk about people/things/animals that are moving towards or on
top of a surface:

Put the vase onto the table.

Steve drove his car onto the sidewalk.

The cat is climbing onto the box.

Away from

Use the preposition away from to talk about distance or people/things/animals that are
moving further from something:

Move away from the fire.

Put the books away from food.

The man is running away from the dog.

Certain expressions use 'away' by itself. For example: "Go away (from me)!" and "Susan went
away (from home) for her studies."

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your teacher.

How can I get to your house from the airport? - You can take a bus from the airport to a hotel
near my house.

How far is the hotel from your house? - It's just 10 minutes away on foot.

What can we do there? - If you come in time for Independence Day, we can go onto the roof to
watch fireworks.
Don't come into my room. It's a mess! - Put your stuff into the closet and onto the
bookshelves, and it won't be such a mess!

Go away - You're annoying.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following words and phrases.

Hit golf ball, into the hole → "Tiger Woods hit the golf ball into the hole every time!"

Yesterday, into town

This dress, from New York

The desserts, away from the dog

Onto the roof, fireworks

From New York, to Hawaii

Prepositions of Time (In, At, On)

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about when things happen or when you do certain
things.

Sentence Practice

In

I was born in 2000.

Her birthday is in December.

On

Let’s meet on Friday.

I usually go to the gym on Wednesdays.

At
I usually wake up at 6 a.m.

We can see the stars at night.

Grammar Focus

In + [period of time]

Use 'in + [period of time]' to refer to an unspecified point in that period of time:

A month: Susan's birthday is in December. [= Her birthday may be December 1st, 3rd, 10th,
25th, 31st, etc.]

A year: She was born in 1969. [= Her birthday may be Jan 25th, February 13th, April 6th,
October 21st, etc.]

A season: She was born in the fall.

A part of the day: She was born in the morning.

On + [days/dates]

Unlike 'in', the preposition 'on' refers to specific days:

days of the week: She was born on Saturday.

specific dates: She was born on December 21st.

We put our finger on a specific day of the calendar: "My birthday is on the 21st."

At + [specific times]

Use the preposition 'at' to talk about a specific time.

She was born at 5 o'clock in the morning.

She was born at midnight/noon.

She was born at night.

Note that we say 'in the morning/afternoon/evening' but 'at night'.

Practice

When do you study English? - I study English on the weekend. What about you?

I study English at night.

How was your date yesterday? - Terrible. We planned to meet at 6 p.m. and he arrived at 7!

When does your father retire? - He retires in November.

Does he have retirement plans? - He plans to move back to Germany in December.

Sentence Building

Describe your daily life using prepositions of time: in, at, on.

Example: I wake up: → "I wake up at 7 a.m."

I wake up:

I eat breakfast:

I brush my teeth:

I go to work/school:

I drink coffee:

I take a nap:

I eat dinner:

I take a shower:

I go to bed:

Other Prepositions (By, About, Like, Of, With, Without)

Sentence Practice

I go to school by bus.

We came by car.

I will tell you a story about my dreams.

What do you think about Glen?

She sings like a bird.

She looks like her mother.

She is one of my classmates.

You can borrow some of my books.

I usually go to school with my brother.

Do you live with your parents?

He went without saying goodbye.

Can you come without your sister?

Grammar Focus

By

Use the preposition by to express the means or method of doing something:

They came by train.

Do you want to go by car or by bus?

She traveled by plane for the first time in her life.

Tip: We use the expression 'on foot', not 'by foot', for walking: “I go to school on foot."

About

The preposition about means on the subject of, connected with, referring to
someone/something:

This lesson is about prepositions. (= the focus of the lesson is prepositions)

Let's talk about the exam. (= discuss the exam)

Tell me about your father. (= what is your father like?)

He spoke about his research.

Like
Use the preposition like to describe similarities between two things:

She looks like her mother.

The cake tastes like heaven.

Of

Use the preposition of to express possession, or to express that something is related or

connected:

He is a friend of mine.

The color of his eyes is blue.

Some members of the swimming club took part in the school competition.

With

Use the preposition with to express that something/someone is accompanied by someone/

something else:

Come with me. I want to show you something.

She went home with her friend.

They always travel with their parents.

Without

Use the preposition without to express the lack of something:

Please enter without your dog.

I can't live without you.

He lived without any money for two weeks.

Dialogue Practice
Next week is Bring Your Child to Work Day, so you can go to work with your dad! - Cool!

Does dad go to work by car? - No, he goes by bus.

Wake up! Are you daydreaming about James Bond again? - Oh, sorry... You know, I want to be
cool like James Bond...

Stop dreaming, or I'll go to class without you!

Tell me about your trip to London! - Oh, we visited a lot of places. London was just one of
them!

Who did you go with? - I went with a group of friends from college.

Sentence Building

Answer the following questions using the prepositions: by, about, like, of, with, without.

Example: Who do you speak English with? → I speak English with my Australian friends.

How do you go to work/school?

Who do you look like?

Who do you work with?

How many cups of coffee or tea do you drink everyday?

What can't you live without? (= What do you absolutely need?)

What do you like to learn about?

Modal Verb 'Can'

'Can' is a very useful word. With 'can', you can talk about things that you know how to do,
things that you have permission to do, and things that are possible.

Sentence Practice

Ability

I cook often.

I can cook many kinds of food.

You dance everyday.

Permission
He works in the United States now.

He can work in the United States. He has a visa.

We park our car in this parking lot.

We can park our car in this parking lot. We have the parking permit.

Possibility

We cannot park in this parking lot. It is full.

Since the weather is nice, we can have a picnic today.

Grammar Focus

When do we use 'can'?

1. Use 'can' to describe ability:

I can cook. (= I know how to cook)

I cannot cook. (= I do not know how to cook; I am a bad cook; my arm is broken so I cannot
cook)

2. Use 'can' to describe opportunity or possibility:

We can cook if you want.

We cannot cook here. (= the stove is broken; there are no pots)

3. Use 'can' to request or give permission:

Can I sit here?

Yes, you can.

No, you cannot.

How do we use 'can'?

Positive sentence = subject + can + main verb

I / you / we / they can dance.

He / she / it can dance.

Can has only one form; it does not change form depending on the subject. For example, "He
cans dance" is incorrect.

Negative sentence = subject + can + NOT + main verb

We negate the modal verb 'can' and not the main verb.

You cannot sit here.

They can't come to the party.

Interrogative sentence = Can + subject + main verb?

Raise your intonation at the end of the sentence.

Can I come to the party?

Ability vs Possibility

You can swim. (= ability: You know how to swim)

You can swim in the ocean today. (= possibility: The waves are peaceful.)

He cannot sing. (= He is a bad singer)

She cannot sing at your wedding. (= She is busy that day.)

They can drive a car. (= They know how to drive.)

They can drive you to the airport. (= They have time that day.)

Permission
Can I ask a question? - Yes, you can.

Can she come with me? - No, she can't.

Can they smoke here? - Yes, they can.

Can we watch TV - No, you can't.

Sentence Building

Change these sentences into negative sentences using cannot / can't.

I study Japanese every day.

He drives trucks.

She takes professional pictures.

She speaks Russian.

He stays up late.

Modal Verbs (Must/Should (Not)

With 'must' and 'should', you will be able to talk about expectations and obligations.

Sentence Practice

Must (obligation)

You must answer all the questions.

We must obey the law.

Must (high possibility)

You worked so hard all day. You must be tired.

This is a new model. It must be expensive.

Should (obligation)

We should not waste your time.

You should not be rude like that.

Should (expectation/suggestion)

He doesn’t like his new job. He should look for a new one.

It should snow heavily tomorrow, according to the radio.

Grammar Focus

Modal verbs

Modal verbs are placed before main verbs in sentences. They give additional meaning to the
main verbs. Modal verbs we have studied include 'can' and 'will'.

1. Must

The modal verb 'must' says that something is very likely (highly possible) or to say that it is
required (obligation).

He must be upset. (= He is most likely upset.)

You must go home soon. (= Go home!)

Add 'not' after 'must' to make negative sentences.

He must not be hungry. (= He is probably full.)

You must not go home soon. (= Do not go home!)

2. Should

The modal verb 'should' describes an expectation, a suggestion (advice) or obligation. Add 'not'
after 'should' to make the negative sentences.

According to the weather forecast, it should rain tomorrow. (= it will probably rain.)

According to the weather forecast, it should not rain tomorrow. (= it probably won't rain.)

You should go home soon. (= I suggest going home)

You should not go home soon. (= I suggest not going home)

The difference between the 'should' obligation and 'must' obligation is that 'must' is stronger.
"You must go home" is closer to the imperative "Go home!". "You should go home" is closer to
a suggestion: "I suggest going home".

Questions

In modern English, questions with 'must' are not very common, so this section will focus on
questions using 'should.'

We can use 'should' to ask questions about things we are expected or obligated to do. As with
other modal verbs, move the modal verb to the beginning:

I should arrive by 10 am. → Should I arrive by 10 am?

He should see a doctor. → Should he see a doctor?

To ask an open-ended question, add a question word to the beginning:

When should I arrive?

What should he do?

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your teacher.

You look tired. You must not have slept well last night - I've been having trouble sleeping
recently. I keep thinking about my ex-boyfriend.

You should stop thinking about him!

What time should we come to your house? - Come around 6 o'clock.

Everyone must bring one dish, right? What should we bring? - Hyun-woo should bring drinks,
Arisa should bring dessert, and someone else should bring a salad.

I'm firing an employee today. How should I do that? - Emphasize that you must fire them for
the sake of your team.

Should I apologize for firing him? - No, you should not do that, because this is not your
personal decision. This is for the team.
Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the sentences below using must or should.

Don't play with fire!

I suggest going to bed earlier.

She is probably tired.

It will probably be sunny tomorrow.

Don't go to the party.

I suggest not going to the party.

Sentence Building

Tell a child the things they should/must or should not/must not do.

Example: tell the truth → "You should tell the truth!"

Tidy up your toys

Clean your room

Brush your teeth

Get up now

Make your bed

Be late

Wear a coat

Eat your breakfast

Be polite

Share your things

Eat with your mouth open

May, May Not, Might, Might Not

After this lesson, you will be able to ask politely for permission to do things, and also make
guesses.

Sentence Practice

May (permission)

You may have a seat.

May I borrow your book?

May I visit my friend? Yes, you may.

May (possibility)

Taxis may cost more in this country.

It may not rain this afternoon.

The weather may not get better.

Might (possibility)

I might attend the seminar.

He might be a policeman.

It might rain this afternoon.

The machine might not work in this condition.

He might not be in Japan anymore.

She might not come with us.

Grammar Focus

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are placed before main verbs in sentences. They give additional meaning to the
main verbs. Modal verbs we have studied include 'can', 'will', 'must', and 'should.'

The modal verbs we will cover in this lesson are 'may' and 'might'. They express possibility and
permission.
1. May

The modal verb 'may' is used for two purposes:

Express Possibility: It may rain tomorrow.

Ask For/Give Permission: May I go home now? Yes, you may go home.

Add 'not' after 'may' to make negative sentences.

It may not rain tomorrow.

You may not go home yet.

Often times, saying 'May I?' by itself is enough to ask for permission for something. You can
use this on the train to ask to sit next to someone.

If you ask "May I?", the woman will most likely move her stuff to let you sit down.

2. Might

May and might are usually interchangeable when expressing possibility.

It might rain tomorrow.

It may rain tomorrow.

Might is generally not used for asking for or giving permission. For example 'Might I go home
now?' is incorrect.

Another difference is that 'might' expresses a lower likelihood or possibility of something

happening. For instance, we can say the idiom 'Pigs might fly' to mean that something is highly
unlikely.

A: I'm going to marry Leonardo DiCaprio!

B: And pigs might fly! (= you will marry him when pigs fly... so never!)
This idiom would not make sense with 'pigs may fly,' because that means that pigs could
actually fly.

Tip: When speaking, just use 'may' for permission, and 'might' for possibility. This way, you'll
never misuse 'may' for very unlikely situations, and you'll never incorrectly use 'might' for
permission.

Dialogue Practice

May I go to the bathroom, please? - Yes, you may.

Hello, I'm here for a meeting with the CEO - May I have your name, please?

Yes, it's Hannah Brown. - You may wait here. The CEO will be with you shortly.

I might go to the drug store. - It might not be open now. It closes early on Sunday.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences so they use may or might.

Can I sit here?

You are allowed to come home late.

It's possible that I won't be able to see you tomorrow.

If they hurry, they can possibly catch the train.

If she doesn't wake up, it's possible that she will miss her flight.

Sentence Building

Use "may" to ask for permission to do the following things:

Example: sit here (e.g. on the train) → "May I sit here?"

Lean my seat back (e.g. on an airplane)

Put my bags here

Hang my coat here

Have this dance (at a party, to ask someone to dance with you)
Have a glass of water

Have to, Don't Have to

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to talk about things you are and are not required to
do.

Sentence Practice

We must go to school every day.

We have to go to school every day.

I must get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow for work.

I have to get up at 5 a.m. tomorrow for work.

I have to clean my room.

She has to be home by ten.

Grammar Focus

Have to

We use 'have/has to' to describe something we need to do (an obligation):

I have to go to school tomorrow. (= I must go to school tomorrow.)

You have to go home now. (= You must go home now.)

He has to go to work now. (= He must go to work now.)

'Have to' is short for 'have something to do'.

Don't Have to

To negate 'have to', put 'do/does not' in front of it: do/does not have to.

I don’t have to go to school tomorrow.

You don’t have to go home yet.

He doesn't have to go to work yet.

Note that 'don't have to' does not mean the same thing as 'must not'. 'Mustn't' means that you
absolutely should not do something. 'Don't have to' simply makes something optional.

You mustn't go to school tomorrow. (= Don't go to school tomorrow!)

You don't have to go to school tomorrow. (= You are sick. You can go to school if you want, but
it is OK if you don't.)

You mustn't go home yet. (= Don't go home yet!)

You don’t have to go home yet. (= You can go home if you want, but it is OK to stay here
longer.)

Dialogue Practice

We don't have to read that book, Liam - Oh. Then which book do we have to read?

We have to read this book and answer these questions.

The customer service staff are so busy. They have to answer so many phone calls! - Yeah, but
at least they can pick when they want to work.

You're right. If they choose to work the afternoon shift, they don't have to come to work until
1 pm. - On the down side, sometimes they have to work on the weekends.

We have to get a birthday cake for Jake. It's his birthday today! - Oh, but he wants to lose
weight. So we have to get some sort of low-fat cake.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences using have to or don't have to.

You must sleep more.

You do not need to sleep more.

They must be quiet.

They do not need to be quiet.

I can do my job without learning English.

We need to learn English for our job.

I am required to wear formal clothing to work.

I am allowed to not wear formal clothing to work.

Sentence Building

Create sentences with the following words/phrases using have to and don't have to.

Example: sleep 8 hours a day → "I (don't) have to sleep 8 hours a day."

Have a dog

Have a cat

Live with my family

Live in an exciting city

Live in the countryside

Live in a big house

Exercise

Read books

Watch movies

Travel

Modal Verbs (Review)

After this lesson, you will have a clearer understanding of modal verbs.

Sentence Practice

Bill can speak Japanese.

We could go to the beach on Sunday.

You may go to the concert.

I might get a puppy.

You should pay attention to the flight attendant’s instructions.

They will finish the project by tomorrow.

Would you come with me to the supermarket?

You must not drive over the speed limit.

If she arrived that late, she must have missed her flight.

I am not sure, but you might be right.

May I ask your name?

Grammar Focus

Verbs do much more than express an action, such as 'running'. There are also helping verbs,
like 'be' that 'help' express the tenses of other verbs, as in 'I am running (now)', 'I was running
(before)', etc.

A specific set of helping verbs are 'modal verbs', which tell us the 'mood' of the sentence:

Is the speaker certain of what they say (or is it just a possibility/prediction/expectation)?

Is the speaker asking/demanding someone to do something?

Is the speaker asking for or giving permission to do something?

The following are some of the most frequently used modal verbs in the English language:

Can / Could

Ability:

I can help you.

She can’t understand you.

When I was a child, I could see ghosts.

Possibility:

The story can be true.

He could be telling the truth.

Ask/Give Permission:

You can open your eyes.

Request:

Can you help me?

Could you help me?

Must

Obligation:

You must come back before 10!

Must I arrive there early?

Prediction:

He must be smart if he studies so hard.

May/ Might

Ask/Give Permission:

You may stay here.

May I ask your name?

Prediction:

He may come to the party.

He might come to the party.

Should

Personal opinion/ advice/ recommendation:

You should believe in yourself.

He shouldn’t be late for school.

Expectation:

You should (be able to) succeed.

Our team should (be able to) win this match.

When expressing an expectation, we often use 'should' with 'be able to'. We could omit 'be
able to' in the sentences above: "You should succeed" and "Our team should win". However,
without 'be able to', it is less clear if the sentences are recommendations or expectations.

Will / Would

Willingness:

I will come visit you tomorrow.

I will not (won’t) come back.

He said he would do it again.

Prediction:

I think it will snow tomorrow.

I thought that it would snow yesterday.

Polite Request:

Will you open the door for me, please?

Would you help me carry this, please?

There are a lot of tasks you need to complete. Tell your boss how likely you are to complete
them using 'will', 'should be able to', 'can', and 'could'.
Example: fix the mistakes in my presentation → "I can fix the mistakes in my presentation by
tomorrow".

Finish this report by tomorrow

Speak to the client tomorrow

Meet with our business partner

Present my findings tomorrow

Meet with another department

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct answers to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct
answer.

I win the lottery. (Possibility)

Could

Should

He win the lottery one of these days. He buys so many tickets. (Expectation)

Will

Should

I think he win the lottery (prediction).

Could

Will

He be nicer to his classmates. (Recommendation)

Should

Will

You fix my computer please? (Polite request)

Could

Would

You go now. (Permission)

Can

May

You go now. (Obligation)

Must

Should

You go now. It's late. (Recommendation)

Must

Should

Use to, Didn't use to

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about things you did repeatedly in the past.

Sentence Practice

I used to stay up late at night.

We used to play basketball after school.

Alex used to be fat.

I didn’t use to eat breakfast.

Japan didn’t use to be a rich country.

This hotel didn’t use to be famous.

Grammar Focus
Why do we use 'used to'?

We use 'used to' to talk about a habit or a situation that existed in the past.

I used to smoke. (= Now I don't smoke.)

She used to be rich. (= She is not rich now.)

There used to be a house here. (= The house is not here now.)

How do we use 'used to'?

Put 'used to' before a verb in the plain form: used to + verb. For example: 'used to + cook',
'used to + travel'.

To negate 'used to', put 'didn’t' in front of it, and remove "d" : didn't use to.

I didn’t use to smoke. (= I smoke now)

I never used to smoke. (= I smoke now)

She didn’t use to be rich. (= She is rich now)

There didn’t use to be a house here. (= Now there is a house here)

Tip: "Didn't Used to" vs "Didn't Use to"

You will see both "didn't use to" and "didn't used to" in major English-language publications.
On exams however, you may want to use "didn't use to" to be safe.

Sentence Practice

He used to drink 3 cans of beer every day.

There used to be a tall tower here.

I used to have short hair.

Driving cars used to be a hobby only for rich people.

I didn’t use to have long hair.

We didn’t use to live in town.

This office didn’t use to be noisy.

I never used to work in the evening.

My brother never used to like vegetables.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences using used to / didn't use to.

It was my habit to swim every day.

It was never my habit to swim every day.

There was a kindergarten here before.

There never was a kindergarten here.

She liked spinach as a child.

She didn't like spinach as a child.

Hong Kong was once a small fishing village.

Hong Kong was not such a large city.

Sentence Building

Talk about the things that you used to do or didn't/never used to do as a child.

Example: Go to school every day → I used to go to school every day.

Get sick/ill often

Cry a lot

Play outside often

Live in a different city

Hate eating vegetables

Get into fights with other kids

Feed ducks at the park

SVOO (Indirect Objects, To/For)

Previously, you learned to form SVO sentences, such as 'I cook dinner.' After this lesson, you
will be able to say who you cook for in the same sentence.

Sentence Practice

I cook dinner.

I cook us dinner.

I cook dinner for us.

Parents teach manners.

Parents teach their children manners.

Parents teach manners to their children.

Students ask questions.

Students ask the teacher questions.

Students ask questions to the teacher.

Grammar Focus

In a previous lesson, we learned the SVO sentence structure. The object in an SVO sentence is
actually a direct object: it is the thing that receives the action.

Students ask questions. (What do the students ask? --'Questions')

Sometimes we want to specify the person/people who receive the direct object. In this case,
we use an indirect object:

Students ask the teacher questions. (Who do the students ask questions? --'The teacher')

Both types of objects are affected by the action (V in SVO), but the direct object answers the
question 'what?' and the indirect object answers 'for whom?' and 'to whom?'.

This sentence follows the pattern Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object.

Tip: You can remember this pattern with the sentence, "I give somebody something."

Indirect Object Pronouns

In English, the indirect object pronouns are the same as the direct object pronouns.

He cooks me dinner.

I cook us dinner.

Your friend cooks you dinner.

Bob cooks him/her/it dinner.

Susan cooks them dinner.

When do we not use the SVOO pattern?

Sometimes it is more natural to use 'to' or 'for' instead of SVOO.

Avoid SVOO with more than one pronoun. Take this sentence for example: 'I give the dog a
cookie'.

I give it it. (SVOO is confusing and unnatural.)

I give a cookie to it. (This sentence is natural)

I give it to the dog. (This sentence is natural)

Avoid SVOO with less common verbs or verb phrases. Only use SVOO with common verbs
similar to 'give', such as 'lend', 'pay', 'send', 'throw', 'bring', 'cook' (food for someone), and
'sing' (a song for someone).

Susan works her family two jobs. (This sentence is very confusing)

Susan works two jobs for her family.

I turn off him the TV. (very confusing)

I turn off the TV for him.

Dialogue Practice
Who do you give Christmas presents to? - I give my grandchildren Christmas presents.

Who do you sing lullabies to? - I sing my children lullabies.

Who do you give food to? - I give stray dogs food.

Find the Mistakes

Find and correct the errors in the following sentences.

I read books my children.

Henry cookies his dogs gives.

Sarah buys shoes her sister.

I read they books.

Henry gives they cookies.

Sarah buys she shoes.

The waiter serves we lunch.

Sentence Building

Talk about what you do for other people using the SVOO sentence pattern. Below is a list of
actions and people/animals that you can use.

Example: Give (a bath) → I give my baby son a bath.

Actions

Give (a massage, a bath, food)

Lend (money, eggs, tools)

Teach (math, music, Russian)

Sing ("Happy Birthday", a song)

Send (letter, postcard, flowers)

Cook (lunch, dinner)

Buy (new clothes, shoes)

People/Animals
Family (mother, father, child, grandparents)

Friends

Co-workers

Strangers

Pets (dog, cat, fish)

Infinitive Nouns

With infinitive nouns, you will be able to talk about things you like to do and want to do.

Sentence Practice

My dream is to live in New York

My job is to clean toilets.

I want to go to university.

Everyone likes to sing in the shower.

The cat likes to be petted.

Grammar Focus

'To Infinitives'

The infinitive is the basic form of verbs. There are two types:

Bare infinitive (I will climb Mt. Everest.)

To infinitive (I want to climb Mt. Everest).

Why do we use Infinitives as Nouns?

Infinitives, like gerunds, turn verbs into nouns and noun phrases:

I want a university degree. (= noun)

I want to go to university (= infinitive noun phrase)

How do we use 'To Infinitives' as Nouns?

Noun infinitives work like gerunds. They can be subjects, objects, and subject complements:

Hiking is good for your health.

→ To hike is good for your health. ('To hike' = subject)

She likes hiking.

→ She likes to hike. ('To hike' = object)

My favorite activity is hiking

→ My favorite thing to do is to hike. ('To hike' = complement)

When we use more than one noun infinitive, we can drop the 'to' after the first infinitive:

I want to hike and to swim.

→ I want to hike and swim.

Empty It + Infinitive

As mentioned above, we can use noun infinitives as subjects:

To hike Mt. Everest is my goal.

The subject of this sentence is the noun infinitive phrase 'to hike Mt. Everest'. However in
general, it is awkward to put the infinitive at the beginning of a sentence. It is better to use an
'empty it' at the beginning of the sentence:

To hike Mt. Everest is my goal. (= awkward sentence)

→ It is my goal to hike Mt. Everest. (= natural sentence)

To understand English movies is difficult.

→ It's difficult to understand English movies.

Sentence Practice
I want to leave this country.

I want to cook tonight.

My hobby is to cook.

He likes to be complimented.

It is nice to live in such a big apartment.

It is good for our health to sleep early.

It is fun for the students to learn about music.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following gerund sentences into infinitive sentences.

Example: He loves waking up early. → "He loves to wake up early."

I like watching TV after work.

She hates cooking and cleaning.

They do not like talking about themselves.

Texting while driving is dangerous.

Drinking too much coffee is bad for your health.

Playing with my dog is relaxing.

Sentence Building

Your three-year-old niece is trying to talk about her interests and dreams. Help her form
sentences by using the infinitive.

My dream, become a famous singer → My dream is to become a famous singer.

I love, sing

I also love, dance

I really like, go to musicals

I want, sing on Broadway

But I don't like, practice

It's not fun, practice

It's more fun, watch TV

Be Going to Future

In the last two lessons, we studied the 'will' future. After this lesson, you will know another
important way to talk about the future.

Sentence Practice

I will see them today.

I am going to see them today.

We will be late!

We are going to be late!

Grammar Focus

What is the difference between 'Be Going To' and 'Will'?

1. 'Will' is used in formal speech/writing and 'be going to' is not.

Formal 'will': The President will visit Cuba and Panama next month.

Casual 'be going to': We're going to go to the park; do you want to come?

2. 'Be going to' is not used for decisions we just made.

Can you drive me to the art museum please? - Sure, I'll take you there. ('I'm going to' would be
wrong here, since he just made this decision.)

How do we use 'be going to'?

Use 'be going to' like this: [subject] + am/is/are + going to + [plain verb]:
It is going to rain.

In casual spoken English, people often use the contracted form 'gonna' /gənə/:

You're gonna leave soon, right?

Is it gonna rain later?

Why is the verb 'go' used as a tense?

You are probably most familiar with 'go' as an action verb; for instance, in the sentence "I go to
school". As time and space are similar concepts, many words used to talk about one are also
used to talk about the other. As a result, 'go' can mean 'to move forward physically' and 'to
move forward in time': "I'm going to go to school."

Dialogue Practice

It's 8:15. You’re going to be late for school! - OK, I'll hurry up.

It looks like it's gonna rain. You should take an umbrella. - OK, I'll do that.

How are you gonna (going to) spend the holidays this year? - I'm gonna visit my grandparents.
What about you?

I'm probably gonna go somewhere with my girlfriend.

It's 3:15. You're going to be late for your meeting! It's on the other side of town. - I'll just take a
taxi.

I'm not feeling well. I think I'm gonna skip class today. Can you take notes for me? - Sure, I'll
give you my notes. Feel better!

Sentence Building

Use the 'be going to' future to make sentences with the following phrases.

Example: Have drinks, before dinner → "I'm going to have drinks before dinner."

Visit my family, next week

Go to Japan, next month

Cook, tonight

Buy a new phone, next year

Relax, after work

Negative and Interrogative Sentences With Be Going To, Be ~Ing

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to ask yes-no and open-ended questions about
future events.

Sentence Practice

Is Jim going to cook dinner for us tonight?

I can see dark clouds in the sky. Is it going to rain?

She bought a new apartment in the city. Is she going to move soon?

He took a leave from work. Is he going to visit his son on Friday?

What are you going to do tomorrow?

Where are you going to meet her?

Grammar Focus

Interrogative

Formulation: (question word) + helping verb 'be' + subject + going to + main verb？

Like other kinds of yes-no questions involving the helping verb 'be', we invert the subject and
'be'. Then if we want to form an open-ended question, we add a question word to the
beginning.

You are going to do something this weekend.

> Are you going to do anything this weekend?

→ What are you going to do this weekend?

You are doing something this weekend.

> Are you doing anything this weekend?

→ What are you doing this weekend?

Note that the question word 'who' is sometimes a subject! In this case, the formulation
becomes subject 'who' + helping verb 'be' + main verb -ing.
He is going to come tonight.

Who is going to come tonight?

Negative

Be Going-to future: be not + going to

I am going to go on vacation this summer

I am not going to go on vacation this summer.

Present Continuous: helping verb 'be' + not + main verb -ing

I am going on vacation this summer.

I am not going on vacation this summer.

Sentence Practice

Are you going to cook dinner tonight?

What are you going to do tomorrow?

Who is going to clean the kitchen?

Is he going to clean the yard?

Are you going to call Jake tomorrow?

She sold her old car. Is she going to buy a new one?

When are you going to fix your car?

Are you going to study English in the Philippines next year?

Is she coming this weekend?

Are they watching TV tonight?

Dialogue Practice

What are you going to do this weekend? - We are going camping.

Are you coming with us tonight? - Yes, I already got permission from my parents.

Are you going to study at the library? - No, I’m not. I’m going to study at home.
Who is going to travel to Japan? - Joy is going to travel to Japan.

Why are you buying so much food? Are you going to have a party? - Yes, it’s my sister’s
birthday tomorrow.

Are you going to join the party on Friday? - Of course!

Sentence Building

You are talking to a friend. You want to know her plans for the next holiday. Using the 'be
going to' and the present progressive, ask her if she will do the following things.

Example: What she will do → "What are you going to do (for the holiday)?"

If she will see her family

If she will go to a concert

If she will travel

If she will go hiking

Where she will go

Who she will go with

Simple Future Tense With 'Will'

By learning the word 'will', you will be able to talk about things that are going to happen, or
things that you are going to do.

Sentence Practice

Future Events

Sarah is 24 years old.

She will be 25 next Sunday.

Hopes and Thoughts

You visited me last year.

I hope you will visit me again.

Your sister doesn't like this cellphone.

I think your sister will like that cellphone.

Decisions in the Moment

I think I’ll have pizza for dinner.

I'll pay with my credit card, please.

Offers and Promises

I will call a taxi for you.

I’ll (I will) buy you a new phone.

I’ll call you as soon as possible.

I will be back in a moment!

Grammar Focus

Why do we use 'will'?

We use 'will' to...

1. Talk about a future event

Tomorrow, it will be sunny.

Sarah will be 25 next Sunday.

2. Talk about an action that we think will happen in the future:

I think you will like our present.

3. Talk about things we just decided to do now:

You just arrived at the station? I'll come pick you up!

It's getting late. I'll get going now. (= I'll leave)

4. Ask somebody to do something:

Will you please turn down the music? (= lower the volume)

(This is a gentler imperative than 'Please turn down the music!')

5. Make offers and promises:

Here, I'll take your coat. (= I'll hang up the coat)

You can't come to class today? No problem, I'll send you my notes.

How do we use 'will'?

'Will' is a modal verb like 'can'; it does not change in the third person singular (he, she, it).

I will cook.

You will cook.

He/she/it will cook.

We will cook.

They will cook.

To negate 'will', put 'not' after 'will': will not / won't:

I will not be in the office tomorrow.

They won't stay here.

Dialogue Practice

Tom won't be at your party tomorrow - Why not?

I don't know. But he will be at your birthday party next month.

Do you think it will rain today? - Yes, I think so.

OK, I'll bring an umbrella then.

I want to put on a Harry Potter movie for the kids. Do you think they'll like it? - Yes, I think
they'll love it!

You're always late - I'm sorry, I'll come on time tomorrow!

I hope you will. And turn in your report! - OK, I'll give it to you right now.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences in the simple future tense.

Patrick (be) the next President.

The President (serve) for four years.

Jane (be) the Vice President.

In four years, there (be) a new President and Vice President.

In four years, Patrick and Jane (be not) in office.

They (be) retired.

In 100 years, we (be) dead.

In 100 years, we (be not) alive.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the simple future tense to talk about what you will do tomorrow. The
following words are just reference.

Example: Wake up → I will wake up at 7 a.m. tomorrow.

Drink coffee

Take the train to work

Eat lunch

Come back home

Make dinner

Watch the news

Relax

Go to bed

Interrogative Form of 'Will'

Sentence Practice

It will be sunny.

Will it be sunny?

Do you usually arrive on time?

Will you arrive on time today?

What time does she arrive usually?

What time will she arrive?

Grammar Focus

How do we form questions with 'will'?

In the last lesson, we learned that we can use 'will' questions to make requests: "Will you turn
down the music please?"

Switch 'will' and the subject in the positive sentence:

It will rain.

→ Will it rain?

You will arrive on time.

→ Will you arrive on time?

He will play tennis.

→ Will he play tennis?

To make open-ended questions, put question words before 'will':

What will you do on the weekend?

Where will you stay in New York?

Sentence Practice
Will you lend me $200?

Will you open the door for me please?

How many people will go on the trip?

When will you send me the file?

Where will you put your luggage?

What will you do to pass the test?

How much will it cost?

Will she accept me?

Will you come early?

What time will she be here?

Dialogue Practice

Will you go abroad? - Yes! And I'm so excited!

When will you meet your parents? - I have no idea. I will talk to them about it.

When will you call Greg? - I will call him tomorrow.

Will you open the window, please? - Sure.

What time will you send the email? - I will send it before 7 o'clock.

Rephrasing Sentences

Change the following sentences into simple future tense.

Is the weather nice tomorrow?

Is it Christmas next week?

Who do you dance with at the party?

What do you do when you are an adult?

When do you go to the park?

How do you get to your grandparent's house?

Sentence Building
Using 'will', ask your instructor if they will do the following things this weekend.

Example: Go for a walk → "Will you go for a walk this weekend?"

Swim

Work

Watch a movie

Sleep in (= sleep late)

Play video games

Walk around the neighborhood

Go on a date

Cook

Present Tense in Reference to the Future

In this lesson, you will learn two more common ways to talk about the future.

Sentence Practice

She will come soon.

She is coming soon.

They will meet their teacher after school.

They are meeting their teacher after school.

Grammar Focus

Present Progressive for Future Events

Remember: We usually use the present progressive to talk about things we are doing now: "I
am cooking now".

The title "Present Tenses with reference to the Future" may be confusing. The concept is quite
simple though: we often use the present tense to talk about planned future events.

For example: Bill is throwing a party on Friday. (= Bill plans to throw a party on Friday)
You could also say "Bill will throw a party on Friday," but using the present progressive tense
implies that the party is a planned event.

Present Simple for Future Events

Remember: We usually use the simple present to talk about things we normally do: "I cook
every day".

In addition, we often use the simple present tense to talk about future events that are
scheduled or "set in stone" in a calendar:

Bill has an exam on Friday. (= The day of the exam is fixed.)

Bill has his final physics class on Thursday. (= The day of the class is fixed.)

Unlike "Bill is throwing a party", these sentences in the simple present show that the future
events ('exam' and 'physics class') are set by someone else. He has no control over when these
events occur. As a result, the present simple is often used to talk about transportation
timetables:

The flight for Berlin leaves at 4 p.m.

My train arrives in Tokyo at midnight.

Note: Because they refer to planned future events, the present tenses are not used for
predictions.

Real-World Application

Stores that are not yet open often post a sign like this:

'Coming soon' is short for "The store is coming soon." Notice that the present progressive 'is
coming' is used instead of 'will come', because the event is planned.

Dialogue Practice
Are you coming to the party tomorrow night? - Sorry, I can't. Some friends from Japan are
visiting me tomorrow.

I see. When are they arriving? - Their plane arrives at 3 p.m., and I'm picking them up. But I
hope your party goes well!

I'm going to Paris next month. - Oh, what a coincidence. I'm going there next month as well!

What day is your flight? - My flight is on the 12th.

Fill in the Blanks

I think the bank (close) at 7.

Closes

Is closing

The delivery man (come) tomorrow morning.

Is coming

Comes

The teacher (take) us on a field trip next week.

Is taking

Takes

In some countries, the school year (start) in spring.

Is starting

Starts

He (move) to Portugal next month.

Is moving

Moves

Sentence Building
Use the present continuous tense ('be' + verb-ing) to make sentences about the future.

Example: Meet colleagues, for dinner → "I'm meeting colleagues for dinner."

See my family, next week

Fly to Japan, next month

Cook steak, tonight

Get a new phone, next year

Go to the gym, after work

Conjunctions (If, Because, When)

After this lesson, you will be able to combine sentences.

Sentence Practice

Because

I cook because I love to cook.

He cannot come because he is sick.

Because the police caught him driving while drunk, he lost his license.

When

I cook when I have guests over.

I will go out when the weather improves.

When we are done, let’s get some ice cream.

If

I'll cook us dinner if I have some ingredients.

If it rains, I’ll stay here.

We can go on a picnic if you want.

Grammar Focus
'Because', 'when', and 'if' are all conjunctions - they connect two sentences or clauses.

Because

'Because' tells us the cause of an event.

I'm not going to school today, because I'm sick. (= I am not feeling well, so I will not go today)

When

'When' tells us the time at which something takes place.

I don't go to school when I'm sick. (= The times I am sick, I don't go to school)

I didn't go to school when I was sick with the flu.

If

'If' tells us what is necessary for some event to occur.

If I am sick, I will not go to school tomorrow.

If I feel better, I will go.

Sentence Practice

If you pass your exams, I will buy you a new cellphone.

If you find out first, please let me know.

This party will be fantastic if he can attend.

The cakes taste great, because Joy followed the directions carefully.

My father really needs to see his doctor, because his back is bothering him a lot.

I decided to move to Tokyo because there are more opportunities for employment in the city.

The president left early, because he had another meeting.

We were in the middle of the meeting when he left.

When the typhoon hit the city, we were in our house.

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct answers to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct
answer.

You will be able to pass the exam you work hard.

Because

If

Arjun passed the exam, he studied very hard.

Because

If

He found out he passed, he cried for joy.

When

If

You are legally allowed to drive you are over 18 years old.

When

If

You can start driving you have turned 18 years old.

Because

When

She learned to drive she needed to for her job.

Because

If

I bought a gift for my dad it was his birthday.

Because

When

My dad looked really happy he opened his present.

When

If

I'll buy a gift for you it's your birthday.

When

If

Sentence Building

Make sentences using because, when, if and the following words.

Example: Go outside, weather is nice → "The children went outside, because the weather was
nice." / "The children go outside when the weather is nice." / "The children will go outside if
the weather is nice."

Drink tea, I am sick

Wear glasses, I can't see

Read a book, I have time

Watch the news, I'm interested in current events

Go to university, I pass the entrance exam

Go to university, I want to study economics

Conjunctions (Before, After, While)

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to say when something happened in relation to some
other event.

Sentence Practice

Before

Before I took a shower, I cooked dinner.

Brush your teeth before you go to bed.

We traveled to Japan before we traveled to Canada.

After

After we came home, I cooked pasta for dinner.

After I drank coffee, my headache stopped.

While

I listened to music while I cooked dinner.

While I was talking on the phone, the dogs were barking.

Someone called while you were out.

Grammar Focus

Conjunctions connect two sentences or clauses.

'Before', 'after', and 'while' are also conjunctions.

Before

'Before' indicates that something happens earlier than something else.

I want to go to the store before it starts raining.

Before I took a shower, I cooked dinner.

After
'After' is the opposite of 'before'. 'After' indicates that an event takes place later than another
event.

I'll go to the store after it stops raining.

While

'While' tells us that two actions happen at the same time.

I don't want to go to the store while (= at the same time as) it is raining.

Sentence Practice

Before we bake the cake, we warm the oven.

Before I sleep, I drink some milk.

You can go play after you have done your homework.

After he sold his old car, he bought a new one.

Stay in the car while I talk to the policeman. I will be right back.

While I was waiting, I read a newspaper.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with before, after, or while to complete the sentences. There can be more
than one correct answer.

I sell my old phone, I'll buy a new one.

You called me I was driving. I couldn't pick up.

Don't watch TV you've finished your homework.

You can watch TV you've finished your homework.

Do you watch TV you cook dinner?

Sentence Building
Talk about your daily life using 'before', 'after', and 'while'. Feel free to use (or not use) the
activities provided below.

Example: Study English grammar → "I study English grammar before I go to bed."

Wash dishes

Do laundry

Walk the dog

Listen to podcasts

Study English grammar

Watch English-language TV

Commute

Make dinner

Call friends

Imperative + And/Or/Otherwise

By the end of this lesson you will be able to tell someone what will happen to them if they
listen to you and if they don't.

Sentence Practice

Imperative + 'and'

Go straight, and you will see the station.

Hurry up, and you will be in time for the movie.

Imperative + 'or'/'otherwise'

Study hard, otherwise you will fail the test.

Raise your voice, otherwise they won’t hear you.

Grammar Focus
We use imperatives to tell someone to do something or to give instructions, commands,
warnings, directions, requests, and suggestions.

Close the door!

Sit down!

Run!

Use imperative form + 'and' to say what will happen if the command is followed.

Go straight, and you will see the station.

Hurry up, and you will be in time for the movie.

Use imperative form + 'or'/'otherwise' to say what will happen if the command is not
followed.

Study hard, or you won’t pass your next exam.

Read the question carefully, otherwise you won’t get the right answer.

Listen carefully, otherwise you won’t understand what I am saying.

Sentence Practice

Open your book, and you will find the answer.

Pay all your bills, and you won’t have to worry so much.

Finish all your homework, and you can go.

Do not worry so much, and you will be happier.

Do not steal, and you won’t get arrested.

Run as fast as you can, otherwise you won’t win the game.

Hurry up! Otherwise you won’t be on time for the meeting.

Pass all your subjects this year, otherwise you can’t continue your scholarship next year.
Be friendly, otherwise you won’t have friends at school.

Word Order (SVC, SV/O/O, Compound Sentences)

This lesson will give you a bird's eye view of basic English sentences. The last section
introduces how to combine these basic sentences.

Sentence Practice

I speak.

I speak English.

I can’t speak English.

Do you speak English?

Why do you speak English?

I speak English, because I have studied it.

I speak to her in English.

Grammar Focus

Simple Sentences

1. Subject - Linking Verb - Complement (SVC)

The 'C' here refers to a subject complement: the part of the sentence that provides details
about the subject. The complement can be a noun, adjective, or prepositional phrase:

[Noun]: I am a lawyer.

[Adjective]: You are beautiful.

[Prep. phrase]: My parents are in the US.

2. Subject - Verb (SV)

The sun rises.

He is playing.

They woke up.

3. Subject - Verb - Object (SVO)

I bought a present.

He is playing basketball.

Simple Sentences - Negation / Questions

4. Subject - Verb [negated] - Object/Complement

Helping verbs include 'be', 'do', 'will', 'can', etc. They help the main verb by adding to its
meaning.

To negate a sentence, negate its verb.

In English, we do this by putting 'not' between the helping verb and the main verb. If there is
no helping verb, add the helping verb 'do/does/did' and negate that: helping verb + negation +
main verb.

I am a lawyer. → I am not a lawyer. (SV[neg]C)

He is playing basketball. → He is not playing basketball. (SV[neg]O)

I bought a present. → I did not buy a present. (SV[neg]O)

5. Interrogative Sentences (Questions)

Linking Verb - Subject - Complement (VSC): Are you tired?

Helping verb (do/does) – S – V – O: Do you play tennis?

Question Word – Helping verb (do/does) – S – V –O: When do you play tennis?

6. Subject - Verb - Object (Indirect) - Object (Direct) (SVOO)

I gave her a present.

This word order is used with certain words, such as 'tell', 'give', etc. which have both a direct
object and an indirect object.

'Present' is the direct object whereas 'her' is the indirect object. We are not doing anything
directly to 'her', but she receives the direct object 'the present'. This difference is easier to see
when we rearrange the sentence into SVO form:

I gave a present to her. (The indirect object is used with 'to')

Compound Sentences

7. Sentence - conjunction - Sentence

To join two or more sentences, put a conjunction in between the sentences.

I came home.

I felt unwell.

→ I came home because I felt unwell. (= sentence 1 - conj. - sentence 2)

Sentence Practice

I play video games. (SVO)

We don’t want anything. (SV[neg]O)

Do you understand the question? (Do-SVO)

I came home because it was raining outside. (SV-conj.-SV)

She gave him a present. (SVOO)

She gave him some cookies today. (SVOO)

Language Practice
Identify the basic word order of the sentences.

Example: I told her the news at work yesterday. → SVOO (I told her the news)

I didn’t tell her the news at work yesterday.

I can’t go with you because I have to work tomorrow.

They were watching the movie last night.

He bought his son a bike last week.

He bought a bike for his son last week.

Sentence Building

Place the words in the correct order to form sentences.

Example: English, she, speaks. → She speaks English. (SVO)

He, me, showed, his new car.

Coming to, not, I, am, your birthday party.

Is, who, she?

You, know, her, do?

Are, you, where?

You, are, going, where?

Find the Mistakes

Say if the following sentences are correct. If they are not, correct them.

Example: They lunch are eating. → They are eating lunch. (SVO)

He drinks every Sunday beer.

Robert will watch a football game tonight.

Who is to your birthday party coming?

Where purse my is?

They don't understand the rules.

Articles II (Using 'The' With Proper Nouns)

After this lesson, you will know when to use and not use 'the' with proper nouns.

Sentence Practice

Let's go to the Bahamas for Christmas.

She wants to visit the UK, the US, and Australia.

My favorite book is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

Grammar Focus

Note: The rules for using 'the' with proper nouns vary by region and the history of the proper
noun. This lesson covers the more generally-accepted rules.

Since proper nouns already refer to something specific, most do not need to be used with the
specifying article 'the'. For example:

Jasmine is reading a book. (= not 'The Jasmine')

New Delhi is a city in India. (= not 'the New Delhi' or 'the India')

Starbucks is a famous coffee shop.

I made my mother breakfast for Mother's Day.

The kids like Harry Potter. (= books/movies in the Harry Potter series)

They want to climb Mt. Everest.

Let's go to Roosevelt Island this weekend.

When do we use 'the' with proper nouns?

Use 'the' with:

1. Proper nouns that include 'of':

The University of Massachusetts ('Harvard University' would not use 'the'.)

The United States (of America), the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)

2. Proper Nouns that are rivers, oceans, and structures:

Rivers: the Amazon, the Mississippi (River)

Oceans and seas: the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea

Structures: the Empire State Building, the Eiffel Tower

3. Plural proper nouns:

Groups of people: the Smiths (= the Smith family), the Beatles (= group of singers)

Mountain ranges: the Andes, the Himalayas

Groups of islands: the Philippines (Islands), the Galapagos Islands, the British Isles, the
Bahamas (Islands)

Groups of lakes: the Great Lakes

Other: the Netherlands (historically meant 'the Low Lands')

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogues aloud with your teacher.

What history classes do you take? - I'm taking a class on the United Kingdom, a class on the
Philippines, and a class on the United States.

What biology classes are you taking? - I'm taking an interesting class on animals in the Pacific
Ocean.

The Joneses are going to Birmingham next week - Which Birmingham? The one in the UK or
the one in the US?

Birmingham, Alabama in America. They want to visit New York as well and see the Empire
State Building and the Hudson River.

Language Practice
The following sentences have proper nouns. None have 'the' in front. Select the choice(s) that
display where 'the' is necessary.

Hint: Some sentences do not need 'the' at all.

(1) Mexico is south of (2) United States.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

(1) Canada and (2) Mexico are located in (3) North America.

(1) the

(2) the

(3) the

The sentence is correct as is.

In the book, (1) Huckleberry Finn, the main character travels up (2) Mississippi River.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

Next month, I will visit (1) Cebu in (2) Philippines.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

(1) Browns (= Brown family) like going to (2) McDonald's.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

(1) Empire State Building is taller than (2) Eiffel Tower.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

Philip will apply to (1) University of Cambridge and (2) University of Oxford.

(1) the

(2) the

The sentence is correct as is.

Philip will apply to (1) Cambridge and (2) Oxford.

(1) the

(2) the

Expressing Contrast With One/Some, Other/Another

After this lesson, you will be able to refer to different people and things in a specific group or a
broad category.

Sentence Practice

One... the other...

I met two British people last night: one was from London and the other was from Birmingham.

I lost my two books at school: one is my Math textbook and the other is my English dictionary.

We have two TVs: One is in the living room and the other (one) is in my room.

One... another
If you lost the old one, please buy another.

If you don’t like this gray one, please try another.

One... the others

Of the five pairs of jeans, one is very expensive but the others are cheap.

One of the candidates was late but the others were there on time.

Some... others...

Some people like coffee, and others tea.

Some boys like to play basketball, while others like tennis.

Some of my students passed the exam, others failed.

Some... the others...

Some students like the art classes, and the others dance lessons.

Grammar Focus

Remember: 'The' refers to specific things and 'a' refers to non-specific things.

When we use 'the', as in 'the other/others', we refer to the remaining members of a specific
group. When we don't use 'the', we refer to members of a broad category.

One... the Other...

When we talk about two items in a set, we refer to the first item as 'one' and the second as
'the other (one)'.

There are two cups:

One cup is orange, and the other is green.

One... Another
Sometimes we want to talk about items that are not in a specific set, but belong to some broad
category. In this case, we refer to the first item as 'one' and any additional item as 'another' (=
short for 'an other'). For instance, to order a beer at a bar, you can say:

One beer, please.

Then when you finish that beer, you can ask for one more:

Another beer, please. (= one more beer)

One... the others...

When we talk about many things in the same set, we refer to the first item as 'one' and the
remaining items as 'the others'.

We have five pets:

One is a cat.

The others are dogs.

Some... the others

If we want to refer to a first set of items (not just one item), we say 'some' instead of 'one':

Some students are singing and the other students are dancing.

→ Some students are singing and the others are dancing.

Some... Others...

When we talk about large groups of people/things in general and not one specific group, we
use 'some' to refer to the first group and '(and) others' to refer to the remaining group.

Some people like dogs, other people cats.

→ Some people like dogs, others cats.

Sentence Practice
I have two meetings today: one is in the morning, and the other one is in the afternoon.

I received two gifts yesterday: one was from my mom, and the other was from my sister.

If that one doesn’t fit you, please try another.

Of the ten hired applicants, one is old but the others are young.

One of the students was absent and the others were present.

Some people in my school like jazz music, and others rock.

Some students can learn languages easily, others need more time.

Some girls are cooking and the others are cleaning.

Some people liked expensive cars, and the others cheap.

Some children are playing outside, the others are watching TV inside the house.

Fill in the Blanks

Some people cook, don't.

The others

Others

Some people like spicy food, don't.

The others

Others

I have two friends in Europe. One in Spain, in Italy.

The other

Another

Some of my friends live in Italy. Live in Spain.

Another

The others

Three of my friends live in Europe. Two live in Italy, in Spain.

The other

Another

This library has 100 books. Seventy are in English, are in other languages.

Others

The others

One of my children wakes up early. Wake up late.

The others

The other

One of my children wakes up early. Wakes up late.

The others

The other

Some of my clothes are dark-colored. Are light-colored.

The others

Others

Sentence Building
Make sentences using one... the other/another/the others... and some... others/the others....

Example: Some of the people are children. The others are adults.

A tall bottle and short bottles

Tall and short flower

Two computers: laptop and desktop

Men's and women's shoes

Wood and metal kitchen tools

An adult and some children

Gerund as Subject, Object

Previously, we used a person, place, or thing as the subject of the sentence. With gerunds, you
will be able to focus on actions.

Sentence Practice

Reading is her favorite hobby.

I love reading.

Studying online is very convenient.

I like studying English.

Writing is more difficult than reading.

Grammar Focus
Gerund is a verb form that allows verbs to function as nouns.

Cigarettes are bad for your health.

Smoking cigarettes is bad for your health.

In sentence 1, the subject is a noun ('cigarettes'). In sentence 2, the subject is a gerund verb
phrase ('smoking cigarettes').

How do we form gerunds?

Gerunds take the same -ing ending as the present participle:

I am eating. → Eating too much is unhealthy.

She is singing. → She likes singing.

How do we use gerunds?

We use gerunds as:

Subjects: Hiking is good for your health.

Objects: He enjoys hiking.

Subject complements: My favorite activity is hiking.

Objects of prepositions: I asked him about hiking up Mt. Everest.

This lesson covers the first two functions.

Dialogue Practice

Texting while driving is dangerous. I'm giving you a ticket. - I'm so sorry. Please don't give me a
ticket. I hate getting tickets!

How is your job hunt? - It's frustrating. Getting a job is so hard.

Playing tennis is a great way to spend the afternoon. - Yeah, I love playing tennis.

Drinking too much coffee is bad for your health. - Yes, but I need coffee. Drinking coffee wakes
me up, and I hate waking up.
Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the gerund form of the verb provided.

Example: Everyone likes (sing) in the shower. → "singing"

(Play) with my dog is relaxing.

(Cook) good food is hard.

(Listen) to music distracts me from my work.

My hobby is (hike).

(Drown) is my worst fear.

She does not like (talk) about her past.

My main interest is (sing) opera.

Sentence Building

Your friend lives a very unhealthy lifestyle. In brackets [] are some actions he can take to lead a
healthier life, followed by the benefits. Give him some advice by turning the actions in brackets
into the gerund form.

Example: [Sleep eight hours a day] make your body stronger → Sleeping eight hours a day will
make your body stronger.

[Exercise] keep you fit

[Watch less TV] good for eyes

[Eat slowly] help you digest better

[Drink less alcohol] keep your liver healthy

[Drink more water] stay hydrated

Gerund as Subject Complement, Object of Preposition

In the last lesson, we learned about gerunds as subjects and objects. This lesson will allow us
to use gerunds in other ways.

Sentence Practice

Subject Complement

Cooking is my favorite thing to do.

My favorite thing to do is cooking.

Driving a bus is his job.

His job is driving a bus.

Exploring the city is what I love most.

What I love most is exploring the city.

Object of Preposition

Thank you for choosing my lesson.

I’m thinking about living in Kyoto.

How about trying a new module?

I look forward to seeing you soon.

I’m interested in collecting stamps.

I will call you after arriving at the office.

Grammar Focus

Gerund is a verb form that allows verbs to function as nouns.

Eating too much is unhealthy. (= this habit is unhealthy)

She likes singing. (= she likes this activity)

How do we form gerunds?

Gerunds take the same -ing ending as the present participle:

I am eating. → Eating too much is unhealthy.

She is singing. → She likes singing.

Why do we use gerunds?

We use gerunds as:

Subjects: Hiking is good for health.

Objects: He enjoys hiking.

Subject complements: My favorite activity is hiking.

Objects of prepositions: I asked him about hiking up Mt. Everest.

This lesson covers the latter two functions.

Sentence Practice

She came back home without buying anything in the mall.

What I really like is travelling to other countries.

I’m looking forward to meeting you.

Have you succeeded in finding a good job?

Thank you for helping me last night.

We talked about going to Spain for our vacation.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the gerund form of the verb in brackets.

I learn a lot from (travel).

I'm excited about (study) in England.

My least favorite thing to do is (clean) the house.

I'm thinking about (get married).

I'm interested in (know him) better.

How about (come over) for dinner tonight?

How about (introduce) me to your new girlfriend?

What I hate most is (repeat) myself.

How did your interest in (write) develop?

Sentence Building

Your neighbor always helps you. Thank her for her generosity by using the gerund and the
following words.

Ways to say thank you:

Thanks for

Thank you for

Thank you so much for

Thanks a lot for

Many thanks for

Thanks as always for

Example: Thanks for lending me your ladder.

Things your neighbor has done for you:

Lent you her ladder

Picked you up from the train station

Cooked you a meal when you were sick

Took care of your pets when you were away

Shared her gardening tools with you

Invited you over for dinner

Infinitive as Adverbs
With infinitive adverbs, you will be able to explain why you do things and why you feel or think
a certain way.

Sentence Practice

Why do you cook? - I cook to save money.

Why did you feel glad? - I was glad to hear your voice.

Grammar Focus

'To Infinitives'

The infinitive is the basic form of verbs. There are two types: 1. Bare infinitive (I will climb Mt.
Everest) and 2. To infinitive (I want to climb Mt. Everest). This lesson will focus on 'to
infinitives'.

Infinitives can function as nouns, adjective complements and adverbs.

Infinitives as Adverbs

Like normal adverbs, infinitive adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. They
typically answer the question 'why?'

We use infinitive adverbs to provide the following information:

Purpose of an action: I went to the park to exercise.

Reasons for feeling a certain way: I was surprised to see her short hair.

Basis for some judgment: He was right to buy land there.

Notice that the infinitive phrases are generally at the end of the sentence.

Dialogue Practice
I am happy to hear that the manager hired her. - Yes, the manager was wise to hire her for the
position.

We're very sorry to hear that you had an accident. I hope your leg isn't broken. - I went to the
hospital to have it examined and luckily the doctor said it will heal in a month.

Sorry to disappoint you, but I did not qualify for the tennis tournament. - Just work harder next
time to qualify.

I was surprised to see Jim yell at the cashier. - Me too! It was weird of him to be so angry.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the infinitive version of the verb in parenthesis.

Example: The teacher came (explain) the test results. → "to explain"

The fireman climbed the ladder (rescue) the injured woman.

The players were afraid (lose) the game.

It is exciting (see) such an interesting design.

I would like (learn) more about your country!

I have some tasks (finish) over the weekend.

Am I old enough (drive)?

It is difficult (write) a song.

Greg was eager (begin) his studies.

Sentence Building

You made a 'to do' list of things you need to do today. Build sentences using the infinitive and
the following words. Start your sentences with 'I need...'.

Example: 'go to the supermarket, buy vegetables' → "I need to go to the supermarket to buy
vegetables."

Study for the exam, get a good grade

Go to the gym, exercise

Talk to my boss, ask for a raise

Clean the bathroom, get rid of bad smells

Buy ingredients, make dinner

Watch a movie, relax

Go to the electronics store, get computer fixed

Call the landlord, tell them about the broken tap

Question Word + Infinitive

By the end of this lesson, you will know how to talk about unspecified places, times, things,
and methods.

Sentence Practice

He knows how to cook spaghetti.

She taught me how to drive a car.

I don’t know what to do.

She is thinking about what to buy for her sister’s birthday.

I forgot where to put the box.

She didn’t tell us where to meet her secretary.

I'm not sure when to tell them the truth.

Grammar Focus
'To Infinitive'

The infinitive is the basic form of verbs. There are two types: 1. Bare infinitive (I will climb Mt.
Everest) and 2. To infinitive (I want to climb Mt. Everest).

This lesson will focus on 'to infinitives'.

Question word + infinitive

Use 'how + to-infinitive' when you want to describe the way to perform an action.

I know how to cook spaghetti. (= the way/method to cook spaghetti)

They know how to drive a car. (= the way to drive a car)

Use 'what + to-infinitive' when you want to describe the object of the action.

I don't know what to do. (= I need some advice)

She can't decide what to buy for her sister's birthday. (= There are many choices, and she
cannot decide on one thing)

Use 'where + to-infinitive' when you want to describe the place, location or direction of the
action.

She didn’t tell us where to meet her secretary. (= She didn't specify the place)

Use 'when + to-infinitive' when you want to describe the time or the occasion at which the
action is performed.

I'm not sure when to take my vacation. (= I don't know what time is best)

Tip: The 'question word + infinitive' structure is one of the easiest ways to form questions. For
example: "Do you know how to cook spaghetti?", "Do you know how long to boil the
noodles?", "Do you know when to take the noodles out?"

Sentence Practice
He knows how to go to the hospital.

She taught us how to conduct the training tomorrow.

I don’t know how to help young people in this town.

She is thinking about when to take the final examination.

Mark is asking for some advice regarding when to start the new project.

Allen doesn’t know where to park his new car.

He has no idea where to deliver the products.

I’m thinking about what to prepare for the party.

She really doesn’t know what to do.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with when, where, what, or how to complete the sentences.

I have so many ingredients, but I don't know to make!

This city is so expensive. I don't know to live.

I want to marry my girlfriend, but I'm not sure to propose.

Help! My room is infested with ants. I don't know to do!

Help me decide to go on vacation.

Do you know to do if you are stung by a bee?

My husband and I are so busy these days. We don't know to celebrate our anniversary.

I want to speak better English, but I don't know to do that.

Sentence Building

You just moved to a new town. Talk to your neighbor about the things you don't know, using
the phrase 'I don't know...' and the 'where/when/how/what + infinitive' construction.

Example: Go grocery shopping → "I don't know where to go grocery shopping."

Walk my dog

Register to vote

Put the trash out

Buy a vacuum cleaner

Parts of town to avoid

Bus to catch

Infinitive and Gerund After Verbs

After this lesson, you will know when to use infinitives and when to use gerunds.

Sentence Practice

She wants to go to the movie theater.

I’m planning to work in Canada.

He enjoys swimming.

I miss talking with my friends.

The man started running.

The man started to run.

She stopped smoking.

She stopped to smoke.

Grammar Focus
Verb + Infinitive Only

Some verbs are followed only by the infinitive. These verbs cannot be followed by a gerund.

He agreed to climb Mt. Everest with me.

He promised to climb Mt. Everest with me.

I hope to climb Mt. Everest.

He decided to climb Mt. Everest.

I managed to climb Mt. Everest.

'Agree/promise/hope/decide/manage climbing' is incorrect. Verbs only followed by infinitives

include: want, expect, intend, decide, hesitate, wish, hope, promise, plan, offer, agree,
manage, pretend.

Verb + Gerund Only

Some verbs are followed only by the gerund. These verbs cannot be followed by the infinitive.

They discussed climbing Mt. Everest.

She suggested climbing Mt. Everest.

I enjoyed climbing Mt. Everest.

I postponed climbing Mt. Everest due to a health problem.

The following verbs are in this category: finish, enjoy, appreciate, miss, admit, mind, avoid,
escape, postpone, permit, suggest.

Verb + Infinitive/Gerund
Some verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund with the same meaning. The
following verbs are in this category: like, love, start, begin.

I like hiking.

I like to hike.

They continued to argue throughout the night.

They continued arguing throughout the night.

Some verbs can be followed by both the infinitive and gerund, but the meaning differs. For
example, “stop to do something” and “stop doing something” have different meanings. The
following verbs are in this category: stop, forget, remember, regret.

I stopped inviting him to my parties. (= I used to invite him, but no longer do)

I stopped to admire the view. (= I was hiking, but stood still to look at the view)

I regretted inviting him to the party. (= I wish I had not invited him)

I regret to inform you that our company will not be hiring you. (= I am sorry to have to tell you
this)

Dialogue Practice

I would love to be a model. - Why? They just keep walking back and forth in a room. You also
have to practice walking with a book on your head.

Yeah, but I like wearing pretty clothes.

I finished reading your college admission essay. - I really appreciate you checking my essay.

No problem. What school is your top choice? - I hope to get accepted to Harvard. Would you
mind helping me prepare for the interview? - I'm afraid I can't help with that. Just remember
to go to your interview on time and dress appropriately!

What will you do with your dog when you are on vacation? - Well, Alex promised to take care
of him. But it is annoying to have to find a pet-sitter every time I travel.

Yeah, that's why I stopped having pets.

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct answers to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct
answer.

I decided (quit) smoking.

To quit

Quitting

I hope (see) you again.

To see

Seeing

I promised (return).

To return

Returning

She managed (solve) the problem.

To solve

Solving

It started (rain).

To rain

Raining

She hates (exercise).

To exercise

Exercising

The country doesn't allow (smoke) in restaurants.

To smoke

Smoking

They avoided (walk) through the dangerous neighborhood.

To walk

Walking

We appreciate you (come).

To come

Coming

Sentence Building

You and your partner are thinking about living in New York. Use 'to live/living in New York' to
make the following sentences. [G] stands for 'gerund' and [I] stands for 'infinitive'.

Example: Decide + [I] → We decided to live in New York.

Discuss + [G]

Imagine + [G]

Consider + [G]

Prefer + [I]

Wish + [I]

Prepare + [I]

Plan + [I]

Prepositions of Time (During, For, Before/After, Until)

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about the duration of events and when these events
occur compared to other events.

Sentence Practice

During

He fell asleep during the meeting.

I was very nervous during my job interview.

Before/After

I sleep before 10 P.M.

Before the hurricane, we bought lots of food and water.

I go to work after breakfast.

After lunch, she felt sleepy.

Until

He waited for her until 11 P.M.

I don't want to buy a new computer until this one breaks.

They did not pick up the phone until it rang 10 times.

Grammar Focus

During + some event

Use 'during' before nouns to describe some point in time in an event.

She was born during a snowstorm.

He fell asleep during the meeting.

We did not talk during the movie.

For + length of time

Use 'for' to talk about how long/how much time something lasted.

The baby cried for ten minutes. (= the baby cried during the entire period of ten minutes)

Until

Use 'until' to talk about something that happens up to a certain point in time:

The baby cried until morning. (= It cried all night and stopped in the morning)

'Until' is often used with a negative verb to emphasize the length of an action:

The baby did not stop crying until morning. (= It finally stopped crying!)

Before and After

Use the preposition 'before' to talk about something that happens earlier than something else.

She was born before sunrise. (= First, she was born. Then, the sun rose)

Use the preposition 'after' to talk about something that happens later than something else.

She cried after she was born. (= First, she was born. Then, she cried)

Before/After + [Action]

Remember: The gerund form (-ing) of a verb allows it to act like a noun.

We can use 'before' and 'after' with an action. Put the verb in the gerund form:

After taking a shower, I go to work. (= After my shower, I go to work)

Before going to work, I take a shower. (= Before work, I take a shower)

Dialogue Practice
What time shall we meet tomorrow? - I have an appointment at 5 p.m., so let's meet before or
after that.

How is 3 p.m. then? - Sounds good! But I can only stay until 4 p.m. I have to leave for my next
appointment then.

Sure. Let's just meet for an hour.

How was your date yesterday? - Terrible. We planned to meet at 6 p.m. and he didn't arrive
until 7!

You waited for an hour? - Yeah, I can't believe it. Then he checked his phone a hundred times
during the date.

Fill in the Blanks

Below is Sarah's schedule. Look at the schedule and fill in the blanks with the appropriate
preposition: 'before', 'after', 'until', or 'for'.

Sarah's Schedule

[7:00] wake up

[7:10] drink coffee

[7:30] take the bus to work

[9:00] start work

[17:00] finish work, take the bus home

[18:30] cook dinner

[19:00] eat dinner

[20:00] watch TV

[0:00] go to bed

Sarah drinks coffee waking up.

She works from 9:00 to 17:00. She works eight hours.

She cooks dinner taking the bus home.

She eats dinner watching TV.

She does not sleep midnight.

She is awake midnight.

She sleeps from midnight to 7:00. She sleeps seven hours.

Sentence Building

Answer the following questions about your daily life using prepositions of time: 'before', 'after',
'until', or 'for'.

Example: How much time do you sleep? → "I sleep for 8 hours."

What do you do before sleeping?

What time do you sleep until?

How much time do you work everyday?

How much time do you brush your teeth?

How much time do you shower?

What time are you awake until?

What do you do after work?

Adjective Clauses Using Where, When, Why

As we learned in the last lesson, adjective clauses are used to identify and provide additional
information about someone or something. In this lesson, we will learn to use them to identify
places, times, and reasons.

Sentence Practice

Where

Do you know a place where I can find cold medicine? - Yes, there is a drugstore where you can
find cold medicine.

When
Do you remember when we will meet our client? - Yes, next Thursday is the day when we will
meet them.

Why

I will ask the teacher the reason why he gave us a bad grade.- I want to know why he did that
as well.

Grammar Focus

How do we form Adjective Clauses with 'Where'?

Use 'where' after the name of a place:

This is the house where my dog lives.

This is the spot where Sally always hides.

We can also use 'where' by itself:

This is where my dog lives.

This is where Sally always hides.

How do we form Adjective Clauses with 'When'?

Use 'when' after the name of a time.

The 21st is the day when I fly to China.

We can omit the name of the time when it is clear from the context.

The 21st is when I fly to China.

Let's talk when I arrive at my hotel.

How do we form Adjective Clauses with 'Why'?

We often use 'why' after 'the reason'.

Wow! New York is so exciting! - That's the reason why I love this city.

Again, we can use 'why' by itself, because people usually know you are referring to 'the
reason':

This is why I love New York.

That's why I wanted to move here.

Dialogue Practice

Have you ever worked overtime? - Yes, last year when our website crashed, we worked
overtime to fix it.

Do you remember why it crashed?

I don't understand why Susan doesn't want to talk to me. - Do you remember (a time) when
you might have upset her?

Oh, I spilled coffee on her laptop last week. Maybe that's why she's mad at me.

Do you know when we have chemistry class? - Yes, Mondays and Wednesdays.

Don't forget to bring your lab coat on the days when we conduct experiments!

Rephrasing Sentences

Replace the words in bold with when, where or why.

This is the restaurant at which they had their first date.

Do you remember the day on which they first met?

Do you understand the reason for which he likes her?

The school in this picture is the primary school to which my son went.

Summer is the season in which my son was born.

Tell me the reason for which my son is angry with me.

Sentence Building
You are showing your friend a photo album of yourself as a child. Explain the things in the
pictures to them, using where and when.

Example: neighborhood, I grew up → This is the neighborhood where I grew up.

Playground, I made my first friends

Elementary school, I went

Park, I used to feed ducks

This (moment in picture), I fell down and scraped my knee

This (moment), my family went to the beach

This (moment), my dad finally got a job

This (moment), we got a dog

Adjective Clauses Using 'Who' and 'Which'

After this lesson, you will be able to identify a noun and provide much more information about
it than with a simple adjective.

Sentence Practice

Do you see the boy over there? - Which boy?

The boy who is wearing oversized clothing.

Look at that mailbox! - Which one?

The one which has presents inside.

Grammar Focus
How do we use adjective clauses?

Adjective clauses are mainly used to identify someone or something. For instance, if there are
many boys or mailboxes, and we want to identify specific ones, we can say:

The boy who is wearing oversized clothing is blond.

My mailbox is the one which has presents inside.

We can change these sentences so that the same adjective clauses become additional
information:

Tom, who is wearing oversized clothing, is blond.

My mailbox, which has presents inside, is white.

If we take out the adjective clauses, the sentences still make sense:

Tom is blond.

My mailbox is white.

On the other hand, we cannot take out the adjective clauses in the first set of sentences.

The boy is blond. (= What boy?)

My mailbox is the one. (= What one?)

How do we form adjective clauses?

To form adjective clauses, we start with a relative pronoun: 'who', 'whom', 'whose', or 'which'.
This lesson will focus on 'who' and 'which'.

1. Use 'who' to provide more information about someone.

Look at the man who is holding up a glass of beer!

Do you know the people who designed our new logo?

People who are under the age of 18 are not allowed to drink alcohol.

He's the murderer who has been on the news recently.

2. Use 'which' to provide more information about some thing (an animal or an object).

I have a meeting at the building which is across the road from my office.

The dress which Amy is wearing is beautiful.

I saw a painting which was painted by Picasso.

Dialogue Practice

On Halloween, which is in October, we play with pumpkins. - What's a pumpkin?

It's a type of fruit which is big and orange. - Oh! The ones which look like basketballs.

Is Daniel Craig the guy who played Harry Potter? - No, that's Daniel Radcliffe. Daniel Craig's the
actor who played James Bond!

Oh! The guy who was in Skyfall and Casino Royale, right? - Yes, that's him.

Rephrasing Sentences

The following sentences are casual and use 'that' instead of 'who' and 'which'. Turn them into
formal sentences by replacing 'that' with the correct relative adverb.

The soup that you are drinking now is Campbell's Chicken Soup.

There are children that do not get presents for Christmas.

That's the dog that scared my wife.

We don't know the person that broke into our house.

I want to talk to the boy that is sitting in the corner by himself.

Noodles that are made of buckwheat are called soba noodles.

Adjective Clauses Using 'Whom' and 'Whose'

In the last lesson, we learned to use 'who' and 'which'. After this lesson, you will be able to
form two more kinds of adjective clauses.

Sentence Practice

Do you see the boy? - Which boy?

The boy whose clothes are too big for him! - Do you see the man?

Which man? - The man whom the woman is kissing!

Grammar Focus

Whose

Use 'whose' to provide information about someone using their possessions.

Sarah is a businesswoman whose company is very famous.

The businesswoman whose book recently became a bestseller is now rich.

The family whose house was flooded lost many of their possessions.

Whom

Use 'whom' to provide information about a person that is the object of the clause.

This is the farmer whom I buy milk from.

Notice that 'whom' is 'who' with an 'm' at the end. This is similar to how the object forms of
'he' ('him') and 'they' ('them') also end in 'm'.

Bob, whom you just spoke to, is my neighbor.

The criminal whom you are talking about has been arrested.

Casual Speech
Native speakers usually do not say 'whom' in casual speech. They say 'who'/'that' or simply
omit 'whom':

Formal: He's the chef whom I respect.

Casual: He's the chef who/that I respect.

Casual: He's the chef I respect.

However, 'whose' cannot be replaced or omitted.

Dialogue Practice

Who was the woman who(m) you were talking to at the shop? - She's Jessica, the person
whose cafe I often go to.

Do you remember Mark? The man who(m) you spoke to at the conference. - Yes, I do. He's the
man whose company sells security cameras, right?

Right. He's someone who(m) we want to hire. Do you still have his contact information?

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase each set of sentences into one sentence using who(m) or whose. One example is
provided for you.

Example: Who is Bob? His brother is your doctor. → "Bob is the person whose brother is your
doctor."

Who is Sarah? You have met her before.

Who is Sarah? Her father is your neighbor.

Who is Jessica? Her sister is your high school friend.

Who is Jessica? You met her last week.

Who is Kevin? His company was bought by Google.

Who is Kevin? You had a crush on him in high school.

Sentence Building
Describe personal relations using whose and whom. One example is provided for you.

Example: father-in-law → A father-in-law is the man whose child someone marries. / My

father-in-law is the man whose daughter I married.

Mother-in-law

Wife

Husband

Son

Daughter

Neighbor

Colleague

Friend

Negative Yes-No Questions

With negative yes-no questions, you will be able to confirm if something is true.

Sentence Practice

Isn't he happy?

Aren’t you hungry?

Don’t you like bananas?

Didn’t she come?

Can't they speak English?

Grammar Focus
Why do we use negative yes-no questions?

Remember: A yes-no question is a question whose answer can only be 'yes' or 'no'. For
example, 'Is he happy?' 'Yes, he is'/'No, he's not'.

Negative yes-no questions are question forms that begin with a negative helping verb such as
aren't, isn't, can't, don't, didn't.

We usually use this type of question to check something we believe or expect to be true. For
instance if we believe that Jim is a happy person, we can say:

Isn’t he happy?

How do we answer a negative yes-no question?

When answering negative yes-no questions, the answer is exactly the same as for positive yes-
no questions. We answer “no” when the answer is negative, and “yes” when the answer is
positive.

Isn’t he happy?

→ No, he isn’t.

→ Yes, he is.

How do we form a negative yes-no question?

Turn the negative statement into a negative question.

He isn't happy. → Isn't he happy?

You aren't hungry. → Aren't you hungry?

You don't like bananas. → Don't you like bananas?

She didn't come. → Didn't she come?

They can't speak English. → Can't they speak English?

Dialogue Practice
Isn’t that your mother’s new house? - Yes, it is. Isn't it nice?

Yeah, it's really nice!

Aren’t you from Japan? - No, I'm not. I'm from China.

Aren’t you going back home for the holidays? - Yes, I am, and I can't wait!

Can you make me some food, please? - I'm tired. Can’t you cook for yourself?

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

Cooking fun?

I love cooking. You love it too?

You cook? I heard you are a great cook.

You cook in a restaurant before?

You going to make pasta? I'm looking forward to it.

You going to make pasta tonight? How come that didn't happen?

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-6)

Don't

Aren't

Can't

Weren't

Didn't

Isn't

Sentence Building
Your friend is talking about another friend who has not been very responsive recently. They
aren't responding to phone calls or messages. Ask about the other friend by changing the
following sentences into negative yes-no questions.

Example: He is very busy. → "Isn't he very busy?"

He is sick in bed.

He is travelling abroad.

He moved away.

He lives abroad.

He changed his phone number.

He got a new phone.

He has new friends now.

He doesn't care about us anymore.

Tag Questions

By learning tag questions, you will be able to ask questions in different ways and confirm
information.

Sentence Practice

You will come with us, won’t you?

The water is cold, isn’t it?

You really like her, don’t you?

They are from Japan, aren’t they?

You speak Spanish, don’t you?

You can drive, can’t you?

This question is difficult, isn’t it?

He has two dogs, doesn’t he?

They are working hard, aren’t they?

The sandwich is good, isn’t it?

Grammar Focus
Why are Tag Questions used?

A 'Tag Question' is a short question that 'tags onto' (follows) a statement. Tag questions are an
easy way to ask for confirmation.

We can come to your party tonight, can’t we?

How are Tag Questions formed?

Tag questions are formed like this: helping verb + subject pronoun. Usually if the statement is
positive, the tag will be negative, and if the statement is negative, the tag will be positive.

Positive statement, negative tag: It is hot outside, isn’t it?

Negative statement, positive tag: You don’t hate me, do you?

How do we Respond to a Tag Question?

Usually, we answer tag questions with 'yes' or 'no'.

It's hot outside, isn’t it?

Yes, it is. / No, it isn’t.

You don’t like coffee, do you?

Yes, I do. / No, I don’t.

Regardless of the positivity/negativity of the tag, respond just as you would to a positive
question:

Is it hot outside?

Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.

It's hot outside, isn't it?

Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.

Respond 'yes' when the answer is positive and respond 'no' when the answer is negative.

Sentence Practice
You can help me, can’t you?

You will come to the concert, won’t you?

It is a good game, isn’t it?

You (do) like this music, don’t you?

We must go to school, mustn’t we?

We make a really good team, don’t we?

He’s working hard every day, isn’t he?

You promised to come with us, didn’t you?

They are not talking about us, are they?

She asked me to teach her math, didn’t she?

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

You're coming to our wedding, ?

He's a singer, ?

He's not going to eat that cake all by himself, ?

She didn't buy shoes again, ?

You can help me take out the trash, ?

They will come pick you up,

He likes sandwiches, ?

The dog barks a lot, ?

Sentence Building
Use tag questions to confirm with a colleague that she will finish the following tasks.

Example: Finish this report by tomorrow → "You will finish this report by tomorrow, won't
you?"

Speak to the client tomorrow

Meet with our business partner

Present your findings tomorrow

Fix the mistakes in my presentation

Passive Voice (Affirmative and Negative)

With the passive voice, you will be able to say that an action happened without saying who did
it.

Sentence Practice

Positive

Reporters write news reports.

News reports are written by reporters.

My father fixed our computers.

Our computers were fixed by my father.

Negative

She does not invite me to parties.

I am not invited to parties by her.

The dog did not chase the cat.

The cat was not chased by the dog.

Grammar Focus
Why do we use the Passive Voice?

We use the passive voice when the subject is not important or when we do not know the
subject. For instance, scientists often use the passive voice to talk about their experiments,
since the results of an experiment are more important than the people who carried it out.

Active voice: We carried out this experiment to test a new cancer treatment.

Passive voice: This experiment was carried out to test a new cancer treatment. (= It does not
matter who carried out the experiment)

The passive voice is also used to avoid revealing the subject. For instance, if you notice your
roommate often leaves the bathroom lights on, you can say:

Active: I noticed that you often leave the bathroom lights on.

Passive: I noticed that the bathroom lights are often left on.

By using the passive voice, you avoid directly blaming your roommate.

How do we form the Passive Voice?

A sentence in the active voice focuses on the subject:

Subject + Verb + Object

The bear ate a fish.

John broke our TV.

A sentence in the passive voice focuses on the action:

Subject + Helping Verb be + Past Participle (+ 'by' Agent of Action)

The fish was eaten (by the bear).

Our TV was broken by John.

In the sentences above, the agents (in parentheses) can be omitted.

Other forms of the Passive Voice

To negate a sentence in passive voice, put 'not' after the helping verb: Subject + Helping Verb
be + 'not' + Verb (past participle)

The fish was not eaten.

The TV was not broken.

To form the passive voice in future tense, use the future tense of the helping verb 'be'.

The fish will be eaten.

The TV will not / won't be broken.

Sentence Practice

With Agent

The museum will be visited by millions of people. (= Millions of people will visit the museum.)

Once a week, the house is cleaned by the housekeeper. (= Once a week, the housekeeper
cleans the house.)

I was hit by somebody. (= Somebody hit me.)

Without Agent

Dinner is served at 6:00. (= They serve dinner at 6:00.)

The table is set. (= We set the table.)

The money wasn’t stolen. (= Nobody stole the money.)

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences in the passive voice.

Example: My secretary prints the documents. → "The documents are printed by my secretary."

My secretary doesn't print the documents.

My secretary didn't print the documents.

My secretary won't print the documents.

Our manager fired three employees.

Their boss won’t sign the contract tomorrow.

They will not show the new film.

Her husband robbed the bank.

Sentence Building

Your housemate is very messy. Tell them about their bad habits by turning the following
actions into sentences in both the passive and active voice.

Example: Leave the lights on → "You leave the lights on." + "The lights are left on."

Eat my food

Leave the TV on

Leave the tap on

Leave socks on the floor

Not wash the dishes

Interrogative Form of Passive Voice

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to ask questions without specifying who does the
action.

Sentence Practice

Present

Is someone watering the plants?

Are the plants being watered?

Do people grow melons in Japan?

Are melons grown in Japan?

Past

Did my secretary send that letter?

Was that letter sent by my secretary?

Did Jane invite you to this wedding?

Were you invited to this wedding by Jane?

Future

Will he accept our invitation?

Will our invitation be accepted?

Will the teacher cancel today's class?

Will the class be cancelled?

When will they announce the new policy?

When will the new policy be announced?

Grammar Focus

Remember: The object of an active sentence becomes the subject of a passive sentence.
Example: "The cat ate a fish" (SVO, O = 'fish') → "The fish was eaten. (SVO, S = 'fish')"

To form passive questions, switch the helping verb ('be' or 'will') and the subject: [Helping
Verb] + [Subject] + [Verb (past participle)] + 'by' + [Agent].

The fish is being eaten by a cat.

Is the fish being eaten by a cat?

The fish was eaten by a cat.

Was the fish eaten by a cat?

The fish will be eaten by a cat.

Will the fish be eaten by a cat?

You can omit the agent of the action and the preposition 'by':

Is the fish being eaten? (= is someone eating the fish?)

Was the fish eaten? (= did someone eat the fish?)

Will the fish be eaten? (= will someone eat the fish?)

Sentence Practice

Is this problem being studied by researchers?

Are the animals in the zoo fed enough food?

Is the child treated well in his new home?

Was the book published before 1900?

Were the mistakes in the book corrected?

Was the thief caught?

Will our listening comprehension skills be tested?

Will my apology be accepted?

Will workers be replaced by computers?

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the sentences so they use the passive form. Leave out the agent of the action ('by +
agent').

Is my secretary printing the documents?

Did my secretary print the documents?

Will my secretary print the documents?

Did the manager fire three employees?

Will the manager fire three employees?

Is the government investigating this company for fraud?

Sentence Building
You are in a zoo. Use the passive voice to form questions from these ideas.

You wonder if the zoo workers:

Feed them enough food → Are they fed enough food?

Clean them regularly

Take them out of the cages

Give them time to exercise

Give them medical check-ups

Keep them happy

Give them vitamins

Adjectival Usage of the Participle

This lesson will boost the amount of adjectives related to emotions in your vocabulary.

Sentence Practice

That movie was amazing!

I'm utterly amazed by that movie.

The movie was boring; I fell asleep.

I was bored by the movie; I fell asleep.

This week was long and exhausting!

After such a long week, I am too exhausted to do anything.

The neighbors complained about the annoying noise.

The neighbors were annoyed by the noise.

Most people find winter depressing.

Most people are depressed in winter.

Grammar Focus
Participles

Adjectival Participles are verbs that act like adjectives. There are two types: present participle
and past participle.

Past Participle

The past participle is used in the passive voice. It is formed by adding –ed to the base form of
the verb: verb + '-ed'.

Tom is not amused by sitcoms.

The subject of a past participle sentence is the person/thing that feels something: "Tom is not
amused".

Present Participle

The present participle is used in the active voice. It is formed by adding – ing to the base form
of the verb: verb + '-ing'.

Sitcoms are not amusing (to Tom).

The subject of a present participle sentence is the person/thing/situation that causes some
feeling: "Sitcoms are not amusing".

Sentence Practice

Present Participle

The movie was more boring than John had expected.

What a terrifying dog!

The amount of work he's had in the past few months is overwhelming.

This was a frightening experience.

She felt an overwhelming desire to laugh.

Past Participle
John was utterly bored by the movie.

I was terrified by the dog.

He has been overwhelmed with work in the past few months.

They were utterly frightened by the experience.

She was overwhelmed by a desire to laugh.

Fill in the Blanks

The following sentences use present participle (-ing) adjectives. Fill in the blanks with the
corresponding past participle (-ed) adjective.

She finds spiders frightening. → Spiders make her .

I find sports tiring. → Sports make me

The students find the class boring. → The class makes the students .

The mistake was embarrassing for the company. → The mistake made the company .

Learning English is so frustrating for me. → Learning English makes me .

The story was very depressing. → The story made us .

The children found the story fascinating → The story made the children .

English vocabulary is so confusing! → English vocabulary makes me.

My daily life is so exhausting. → My life leaves me feeling everyday.

Sentence Building

Your friend is telling you about her recent travels. Respond to her stories with the phrases
'That's/That sounds + present participle' or 'I'm + past participle' and the words below.

Example: Fascinating → That sounds fascinating! / I'm fascinated.

Exciting

Depressing

Frightening

Alarmed

Amusing
Exhausting

Embarrassing

Confusing

Overwhelming

Annoying

Adjectives and Adverbs (Comparative)

After this lesson, you will be able to compare two things and say that one has more of some
quality than the other.

Sentence Practice

Is Alex better than Anna at cooking?

Do you feel more comfortable in English or in your native language?

Try this question. It is easier.

Is mathematics easier than history?

Grammar Focus

Comparatives

'Comparative' is short for 'comparative adjective/adverb.' In English, adjectives and adverbs

take on different forms when we want to compare two things: The cup on the left is smaller.
The cup on the right is larger.

How do we form comparatives?

There are two ways to form comparatives.

1. short words + '-er': Add -er directly to one-syllable adjectives:

Tall: I'm taller than he is.

Cheap: This dress is cheaper than that one.

And adverbs:
Hard: He works harder than I do.

High: Anna jumped higher than Lisa.

Soon: She arrived sooner than I did.

Note that we also add -er to longer words like 'easy,' which end in -y.

Easy: This was easier than I thought.

Happy: She is happier now that she has a pet.

2. 'more' + long words: Use 'more' before adjectives with two or more syllables:

Tom's car is more expensive than Ana's.

This exercise is more difficult than the previous one.

This painting is more beautiful than that one.

And adverbs:

Please speak more quietly.

We're going to be late. Let's walk more quickly.

He should drive more carefully.

Words with Irregular Comparative Forms

Some adjectives and adverbs do not follow the two rules above:

Good (adj) / well (adv) → better

Bad (adj) / badly (adv) → worse

Dialogue Practice
Is Spanish harder to learn than English? - I think Spanish grammar is more complicated, but
Spanish pronunciation is easier.

Your son needs to be more attentive in class. He falls asleep. - I will make sure he sleeps more
at night, so he can be more active in class.

I think you should deliver the presentation tomorrow. You are more fluent in English than I
am.- Yes, but you understand the material better than I do.

This coat is cheaper than the first one. - Yes, but the first one is prettier and warmer.

Fill in the Blanks

This wine is (tasty) than that one.

More tasty

Tastier

Is this TV (cheap) than the one over there?

Cheaper

More cheap

Is this TV (expensive) than the one over there?

Expensiver

More expensive

Let's race to see who runs (fast).

Faster

More fast

She seems (happy) than when I last saw her.

Happyer

Happier

He became (busy) after his promotion.

Busyer

Busier

I like Alex and Anna, but Alex is (good) at cooking.

Gooder

Better

The country's situation has gotten (bad) since the revolution.

Badder

Worse

Sentence Building

You just made a new friend from Moscow. Ask them about their city using comparative
adjectives/adverbs and the following words.

Example: Populated, London → "Is it more populated than London?"

Crowded, Hong Kong

Quiet, Zurich

Large, Beijing

Beautiful, Paris

Paceful, Vienna

Clean, Tokyo

Exciting, New Delhi

Adjectives and Adverbs (Superlative)

By learning superlatives, you will be able to compare three or more things and be able to say
which one has the most of a quality.

Sentence Practice

Jackie is the most beautiful of all four sisters.

English is the most enjoyable class.

This is the easiest exam we've had this semester.

That young man over there is the richest man in our town.

Who is the most famous female singer in your country?

Is she the most talkative student in the class?

Where can I find the nearest hospital from here?

You have three sons and two daughters. Who is the youngest?

Grammar Focus

Superlatives

'Superlative' is short for 'superlative adjective/adverb.' We use superlatives when we talk

about things that have the most of a certain quality. In English, adjectives and adverbs take
on different forms when we want to compare three or more things.

The cup on the left is the smallest. The cup on the right is the largest.

How do we form superlatives?

The main difference between comparatives and superlatives is that superlatives have a 'the' in
front of them: better → the best, cheaper → the cheapest, expensive → the most expensive

There are two ways to form superlatives:

1. 'the' + short words + '-est': For one- to two-syllable adjectives and adverbs, add -est
directly to the word and put a 'the' in front of it.

Today is the luckiest day of my life! - Tom studies the hardest of all the students.

2. 'the most' + long words: For adjectives and adverbs with two or more syllables, put 'the
most' before the words:
She always wears the most expensive clothes.

Jessica gets sick the most often out of her class.

Words with Irregular Superlative Forms

There are adjectives and adverbs whose superlative is irregular, such as:

Good / well → the best

Bad / badly → the worst

Far → the furthest / farthest

Old → the oldest / eldest (eldest can only be used for people)

Dialogue Practice

Congratulations on becoming the youngest general manager in our company's history! - Thank
you! This is the best thing that has happened to me this year.

Where is the closest post office? - Do you know the largest pharmacy in town? It's next to that.

What's the most interesting movie you've seen recently? - Well, I quite liked the latest James
Bond movie. I'm his biggest fan!

Hello, I'm looking for a new phone. - Well, here are our newest phones, but they are also our
most expensive ones. - Hmm... I don't have a big budget. Can I see your cheapest phones,
please?

Fill in the Blanks

Let's go to this cafe, it's (close) one.

Out of my three friends, Susanne arrived (early).

What's (short) way to the school?

This is (beautiful) painting I have ever seen.

At the competition, Anna jumped (high).

He solved (difficult) problem all by himself.

Sentence Building

You just made a new friend from Russia. Ask them questions about their country using the
superlative and the following words.

Famous painter → Who is the most famous Russian painter?

Big city

Grand palace

Large cathedral

Long river

Important politician

Respected writer

Good singer

Well-known actor

Popular sport

Famous athlete

Like Better, Like Best, Much More, More and More

The comparative phrases in this lesson will allow you to compare your preferences and
compare different states of the same thing.

Sentence Practice

Like better

Which do you like better, English or Spanish? - I like English better.

Who do you like better, Gina or Sylvia? - I like Gina better.

Like Best

Which sport do you like best? - I like golf best.

Which of the four seasons do you like best? - I think I like spring best.

Much More

This problem is much more difficult than that problem.

Jane is much older than Jack.

More and More

More and more students are going abroad to study.

In winter, the weather gets colder and colder.

Grammar Focus

Like better

To say that you like something more than something else, say that you 'like [something] better
than [something else]'. To ask what someone likes better, say "Which do you like better?".

Which do you like better, baseball or basketball?

I like baseball better.

Like best

To say that someone/something is your favorite person/thing, say that you 'like it/them best'.
To ask someone what their favorite person/thing is, say "Which do you like best?"

Which sport do you like best?

I like baseball best.

Much

To intensify the comparison, add “much” in front of the comparative word:

You are much taller than Tom. (= You are a lot taller.)

You are much more active than Tom.

More and more

Double comparatives is the use of two comparative words separated by 'and'. They describe
gradual increases or decreases.
You are growing taller and taller.

Fewer and fewer students are going abroad to study.

Dialogue Practice

The condos in San Francisco seem to be much more expensive than those in New York. - You're
right. And they are getting more and more expensive.

The patient’s voice is becoming weaker and weaker. - And his family is becoming more and
more worried.

What subjects do students like better? Math or English? - They like English better, of course!

What subject do they like best? - They like gym class the best.

Which do Filipinos like better, soccer or basketball? - They like basketball better. Basketball is
much more popular.

Which of the restaurants in this area does Alex like best? Let's bring him there for his birthday.
- I think Alex likes the Italian restaurant best.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks using the phrases in this lesson and the hints in parentheses.

What sport (is your favorite)?

What sport (do you prefer), tennis or table tennis?

My grandmother is (gradually getting weaker).

My grandmother is (a lot weaker) than before.

It is snowing (a lot more) than before.

It is snowing (gradually more) these days.

Sentence Building

Role-play the following situations with your tutor.

You are meeting a friend for dinner. Decide on a restaurant by asking for your friend's
preferences.

Example: French or Italian food → Which do you like better, French or Italian food?

Healthy or fatty food

Local or international food

Expensive or cheap

Casual or fine dining

Fast food or café

You are seeing a friend whom you have not seen in five years. Tell them how they have
changed using the word "much".

Example: Healthier → You seem much healthier than before!

Happier

Sadder

More stressed

More satisfied with life

Enough + Verb, Too + Verb

After this lesson, you will be able to use 'enough' and 'too' to explain why you can do certain
things and not others.

Sentence Practice

Adjective + 'enough'

Your son is old enough to drive.

I am not rich enough to buy an expensive car.

The police are not fast enough to catch the thief.

'Too' + adjective

That picture is too heavy to hang on the wall.

It was too hot to go out.

Is Jim too short to play basketball?

Grammar Focus

Too much/Enough

You have probably seen 'too' and 'enough' used with nouns:

I have too little money.

I have enough money.

You can also use 'too'/'enough' with to-infinitive verb phrases:

I am too poor to buy a house.

I am rich enough to buy a house.

Remember that the to-infinitive is a basic form of verbs: 'to cook', 'to go,' etc. To-infinitives can
be used to modify adjectives and verbs: I work to make money. I'm glad to see you.

Adjective/Adverb + 'Enough' + verb (to-infinitive)

To say that someone/something has an appropriate amount of a quality (skill, age, etc), say
that they are 'adj/adv + enough (to do something)'.

Do you think I am capable of this job?

Yes, you are smart enough to do it. (= You are capable of this job)

No, you are not smart enough to do it. (= You are not capable of this job)

'Too' + Adjective/Adverb + verb (to-infinitive)

To say that someone/thing has more of some quality than is needed, say that they are 'too
adj/adv (to do something)'.
You are too tall to go on this ride. (= You are so tall that you cannot go on this ride)

Dialogue Practice

Change the channel. Our daughter is not old enough to watch this program! - I agree. She is
too young to watch content like this.

Did you get tickets to the concert? - No, I waited too long to get them. They sold out.

I see. You weren't fast enough.

I know enough English to understand this movie! - I don't. And the characters are talking too
fast for me to keep up.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks by using enough or too with the adjectives/adverbs and verbs in parentheses.

Is he (old, start) driving?

Is he (brave, be) a police officer?

The water here is not (clean, drink).

The water here is (dirty, drink).

It is (cold, go) to the beach.

It is not (warm, go) to the beach.

They speak (quick, for me, understand).

They speak (slow, for me, understand).

Sentence Building

You are watching a movie with a friend. Explain why you do not understand the movie using
'enough' and 'too'.

Example: The volume is not loud. → "The volume is not loud enough." / "The volume is too
soft."

The plot is very confusing.

The characters speak very quickly.

The characters speak very softly.

There are lots of characters.

The subtitles are not good.

The character uses a lot of slang.

The story is very complicated.

Prepositions Following Adjectives I (About, With, Of, At)

So far, we have learned to use adjectives to say how we feel: for instance, "I feel happy" or "I
am sad." After this lesson, you will be able to say how you feel about other things.

Sentence Practice

Andrea is happy about the news.

John is still afraid of the dark.

My mother is angry at me for losing her necklace.

I am very fond of my two dogs.

Grammar Focus

To say how we feel about someone or something, we use adjectives with the prepositions,
'about', 'with', 'of' and 'at'.

The most general adjectives tend to be used with many different prepositions; e.g. 'happy
about/with' and 'angry at/about/with'.

Adj + 'about'

'About' tends to be used after an adjective to say how you feel about an event that happened
or will happen.

We are sorry about your dog's death. ('about' + past event: dog's death)

The presidential candidate was happy about the results of the election. ('about' + past event:
results/victory)

He is nervous about the test. ('about' + future event (upcoming test))

He is sad about his test results. ('about' + past event)

The workers are worried about being fired. ('about' + future event)

The workers are angry about being fired. ('about' + past event)

Adj + 'with'

'With' tends to be used after an adjective to say how you feel about someone or some thing or
experience you have or received.

My mother is angry with me for losing her necklace. (Person: me. How my mother feels about
me: angry.)

I am happy with my new job. (Experience: my job. How I feel about it: happy.)

Susan is satisfied with her grade. (Something received: grade. How she feels about it: satisfied)

Adj + 'at'

'At' indicates an action that is one-directional: "I threw the ball at the wall." As a result, 'at' can
also be used to show emotions towards someone or something: angry, amazed, etc.

He was angry at me for breaking the bowl.

I was amazed at the beautiful view.

The presidential candidate was surprised at the election results.

Adj + 'of'

Use 'of' with an adjective to indicate the source of some feeling.

Patricia is proud of her ability to speak English. (= her ability to speak English is the source of
her pride)

I am suspicious of what he is doing. (= his actions are the source of my suspicion)

We're envious of our rival's success. (= their success is the source of our envy)

Charlie is fond of his younger sister. (= his sister is the source of his fondness)
Dialogue Practice

I'm disappointed with the performance of our new staff. - Yeah, I'm not proud of them either.

We'll need to train them better if we want results we're happy with.

I'm worried about our match on Friday. - I'm quite nervous about it too.

We're playing against the strongest team in the region! - But if we lose, our coach will be angry
at us. We've already lost so many matches this season.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with about, with, of or at. There can be more than one correct answer.

Are you happy your life?

Is she comfortable your dangerous lifestyle?

She is annoyed your bad habits.

My sister is annoyed me for breaking her computer.

I am nervous asking her to marry me.

I am amazed your ability to work so effectively.

Is she proud your success?

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following words and phrases.

Example: Sad about, death → "We are very sad about the death of our cat."

Proud of, cooking skills

Suspicious of, actions

Fond of, him

Envious of, friend's happiness

Amazed at, wealth

Prepositions Following Adjectives II (At, On, To)

In the last lesson, we learned to use adjectives to say how we feel about something. After this
lesson, you will be able to use adjectives to express your relation to someone or something.
Sentence Practice

I am really bad at history.

My grandmother is dependent on her medication.

Starting today, the museum is open to the public.

You are better at baseball than I am.

Susan is keen to see this movie.

George is married to Sarah.

Grammar Focus

Adjectives describe a noun and are often used with a preposition: adjective + preposition.

Today we will be looking at three prepositions: at, on and to.

Adj (indicating skill) + 'at'

We use 'at' with adjectives that express how well we do something: good, excellent, bad,
brilliant, skilled, etc.

He is good at math.

She is bad at English.

I'm terrible at remembering people's names.

An adjective of skill that does not use 'at' is 'capable', which uses 'of':

He is capable of great things.

Adj + 'on'

The preposition 'on' indicates that one thing is supported by another thing. "An apple is on the
table" tells us that the table supports the apple.
Adjectives followed by 'on' usually indicate that one person or thing depends on another.

My adult son is too (financially) dependent on me; he needs to get a job. (= I support my son
too much)

This movie is based on a true story. (= the true story supports the movie)

Adj + 'to'

The preposition 'to' indicates the direction of an action. In the sentence, "I gave some cake to
her", we know that the cake went from 'I' to 'her'.

Adjectives followed by 'to' usually indicate the direction of an action or behavior:

The document is attached to the email. (= document → email)

Don’t be rude to a customer. (= rudeness → customer)

Susan is married to John. (= Susan is married → John)

Dialogue Practice

I don't like Jamie. She is always so rude to me! - She is mean to everyone.

Really? She was nice to me. - Your impression is based on the one time you met her though!

I quit my job after getting married to Stephanie. - Really? So you are financially dependent on
her now?

Well, I was never good at my job anyways.

How are you so good at English? - I used to be terrible at English. But since I started working,
I've been exposed to English speakers every day.

I wish I were better at English. I'm very dependent on dictionaries and translation tools.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with at, to or on to complete the sentences.

You don't seem keen playing tennis.

You don't seem keen start this project.

Julie has been engaged Alex for six months.

I am not good playing tennis.

This theory is based my own experiences.

The file is attached the email.

I am exposed English everyday.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using at, to or on and the following words.

Bad, making decisions → Rachel is very bad at making decisions.

Dependent, car

Rude, customers

Excellent, basketball

Keen, watch the movie

Based, real story

Opposed, her opinion

Angry, rude staff

Dependent, child

Prepositions Following Adjectives III (By, For, From, Of)

After this lesson, you will be able to express the cause of some feeling and to use adjectives
that express separation and difference.

Sentence Practice

I was shocked by the news of the crash.

We were amazed by his knowledge.

The author is famous for his novel.

Jackie is appreciated for her work.

We were safe from danger.

He is very different from his brother.

Grammar Focus

Adjectives describe a noun and are often used with a preposition: adjective + preposition.

Today we will be looking at three prepositions: by, for, and from. Here are some adjectives
that go with these prepositions:

Adj + 'by'

The preposition 'by' indicates an agent of an action (= the person or thing that does the
action). "This book was published by his company." means his company published this book.

We can also use 'by' to indicate the cause of some emotion or feeling.

He was amazed by the news. (= the news amazed him)

We were puzzled by his decision to drop out of college. (= we could not understand why he
dropped out)

The whole country was shocked by the terrorist attack.

Adj + 'for'

The preposition 'for' generally indicates a purpose for doing something or an endpoint.
Whereas "a train 'to' London" will go 'to' London, "a train 'for' London" is a train whose final
destination is London. When the train reaches London, it has fulfilled its purpose or reason for
being.

Use 'for' with adjectives to indicate the reason for that adjective:

Michael Jackson is famous for his music. (= the reason for his fame is his music)

The thief was punished for stealing. (= the reason for the punishment was stealing)

He was thankful for his family's help. (= he appreciated his family's help)

Adj + 'from'

The preposition 'from' can indicate separation between two things. For example, "Stay away
from the dog!" means to keep some space between yourself and the dog.

Use 'from' with adjectives to express separation between two things:

The refugees escaped to Germany to be safe from war. (= separation between the refugees
and war)

He looked different from the picture.

Sentence Practice

Everyone is amazed by his guitar skills.

He was confused by the problem.

Even my math teacher was puzzled by this problem.

I am really sorry for waking you up.

You should be thankful for such amazing parents.

Japan is famous for its healthy cuisine.

You should wash the whites separate from the colored clothes.

We will be safe from the storm in this cabin.

The kids should be safe from any danger.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with for, by, or from to complete the sentences.

His son was punished breaking a window.

Everyone was astonished the musician's performance.

You should use sunscreen when you go to the beach to be safe the sun.

I was shocked the ending of the movie!

This dance is derived salsa.

I was really eager the new movie to come out.

It looks quite different what I was expecting.

I was astonished the news.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using for, by, or from and the words below.

Responsible, task → "I am responsible for this task."

Safe, danger

Confused, game

Famous, music

Happy, marriage

Different, TV

Thankful, friends

Punished, stealing

Prepositions Following Nouns (To, With, On, For)

We have studied many prepositions that follow adjectives. After this lesson, you will know
what prepositions to use with certain nouns.
Sentence Practice

Please give me access to this website.

He says he has no connections with that family.

I really don’t like my parents’ insistence on me going to med school.

In this movie, there are many references to my favorite book.

My mother has a fondness for cats.

Grammar Focus

Today we will be looking at four prepositions that are often used with nouns: to, for, with and
on.

Noun + 'to'

The preposition 'to' generally indicates a direction or a destination: "I am going to the park"
(the park is my destination, and I am going in that direction). 'To' is also used to indicate the
receiver of an action: "I gave some coffee to her" ('her' is the receiver of the action).

'To' is often used with:

Nouns that express direction/destination: the train 'to' London, access 'to' the stadium

Nouns that receive an action: answer 'to' a question, threat 'to' someone, solution 'to' a
problem, reference 'to' a movie, addiction 'to' drugs.

Noun + 'for'

The preposition 'for' generally indicates a purpose for doing something or an endpoint.
Whereas "a train 'to' London" will go 'to' London, "a train 'for' London" is a train whose final
destination is London. When the train reaches London, it has fulfilled its destination.
'For' is often used with:

Nouns that have some goal/target: a cure for cancer, the search for the missing child, a thirst
for revenge.

Nouns that express feelings towards someone/something: admiration for her work, respect for
people who overcome difficulties.

Noun + 'with'

The preposition 'with' indicates that two or more people/things are doing something together.

'With' often follows nouns that express an action/event done together by two or more people:
'a meeting with the client', 'an argument with her husband', 'a date with her boyfriend'.

Noun + 'on'

The preposition 'on' indicates that one thing is supported by another thing. "An apple is on the
table" tells us that the table supports the apple.

'On' is often used with nouns that indicate that one person or thing depends on another:
'dependence on his parents', 'society's over-reliance on technology'.

Sentence Practice

Do you have access to the library?

I have a lot of respect for his work.

Because of her dependence on other people, she rarely makes decisions on her own.

Did I tell you that I went on a date with Jason?

Have you found a solution to your problem yet?

They started an argument with me.

His addiction to video games is affecting his school performance.

I don’t have answers to any of the questions.

She has a special connection with him.

Global warming is a threat to all living things.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with for, to, on or with to complete the sentences.

I don't know the answer your question.

One day, we will find a cure every disease in the world.

I got in an argument my wife today.

I gave in to his insistence me staying for dinner.

Please include references this book in your essay.

I was very sick yesterday. This is the reason me not coming to work.

I got into a little fight my friend today.

Everyone was relieved and happy that he found a cure this disease.

I had a meeting my supervisor this morning.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using for, to, on or with and the following words.

Access, government documents → "Why does Jim have access to government documents?"

High demand, smartphones

Advice, how I should finish this painting

Invitation, Jake's party

Request, more funding for our project

Ban, guns

Preparations, company event

Indirect Questions

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to politely ask questions.
Sentence Practice

Could you show me where the station is?

Do you know where his office is?

Do you know if they will be able to go hiking next week?

Do you know if it would be possible to move the date of the interview?

Do you have any idea where my cat is?

I would like to know how fast I can get to the station.

Do you happen to know when the train arrives?

Grammar Focus

What are direct and indirect questions?

A direct question is a question that starts with a question word: what, who, where, why, when,
how. An 'indirect question' is a direct question inside a statement.

Direct question: "What time is it?"

→ Indirect question: "Do you know what time it is?"

When speaking, indirect questions are usually more polite or formal than direct questions.

How do we form indirect questions?

1. With the verb 'be': Switch the subject and 'be' verb:

What time is it?

→ Do you know what time it is?

2. With do/does/did: Do not switch the subject and verb. Simply remove 'do/does/did'.

Remember to change the main verb accordingly: add an -s to the main verb when you remove
'does' and change the main verb to the past tense when you remove 'did'.
Where do they live?

→ Do you know where they live?

[= not "Do you know where 'do' they live?"]

Where does she live?

→ Do you know where she lives?

[= not "Do you know where 'does' she live?"]

Where did she live?

→ Do you know where she lived?

[= not "Do you know where 'did' she live?"]

3. With other helping verbs: When a direct question has a helping verb other than
'do/does/did', switch the subject and the helping verb.

Where can I find that book?

→ Do you know where I can find that book?

4. With a question word subject: When the subject of a direct question is a question
word/phrase (who, what, what time), the word order does not change.

Who runs fastest?

→ Do you know who runs fastest?

5. With yes-no questions: Use 'if' after the question markers ('do you know'). Then change
the verb appropriately (for instance, make it past tense if you took out 'did').

Did she study for the exam?

→ Do you know if she studied for the exam?

Dialogue Practice

Change 'Do' Questions into Indirect Questions

Where did she go? - Could you tell me where she went?

Yes, I can tell you where she went.

Where does she keep her books? - I would like to know where she keeps her books.

Sure, I can tell you where she keeps her books.

Change 'Can' Questions into Indirect Questions

How can I get to the hospital? - Do you know how I can get to the hospital?

Yes, this is how you can get there.

Where can I find a headset? - Do you have any idea where I could find a headset?

Sorry, I don't know where you could find a headset.

Change Yes-No Questions into Indirect Questions

Could I use your car today? - I was wondering if I could use your car today.

Sure, you can use my car today.

Could you come to work on Saturday? - Is there any chance that you could come to work on
Saturday?

Sorry, I can't come to work on Saturday. I have plans.

Find the Mistakes

Find and correct the errors in the following sentences.

Do you know where does she live?

Do you know how does it feel to go through a divorce?

Can you tell me is there a bank here?

Can you tell me where can I find a supermarket?

I'd like to know will it rain this afternoon.

I'd like to know are they interested in buying our company.

Sentence Building

You're exploring London. Politely ask people for help with indirect questions. Don't forget to
start with 'Excuse me!'. - Indirect Question Phrases

Do you know...?

Can/Could you tell me...?

Can/Could you show me...?

I'd like to know....

Do you happen to know...?

Things to Ask About

Example: What time, pubs close → "Excuse me. Do you know what time the pubs close?"

Where, the nearest station

How, get to Big Ben

When, the next train

How, ride the bus

How, buy a bus ticket

Where, eat fish and chips

Where, nice pub nearby

Where, the Globe Theatre

Strong Suggestions

After this lesson, you will learn the two most common ways to suggest things to do.

Sentence Practice

Let's go to a club.
Let’s try and fix the washing machine by ourselves.

Let's go see a movie tonight.

Let's not eat too much.

You should stop smoking.

You should try exercising more.

You should not work overtime.

We should not overwork ourselves.

Grammar Focus

There are many ways to make suggestions in English. One of the most common and basic ways
is to use 'let's' or 'should.'

'Let’s' + verb

Let's is the most direct way to suggest doing something with someone. (In fact, "Let's + verb" is
sometimes considered an imperative!)

Let’s have a picnic! - Yeah, let’s not stay inside today. It's so nice outside.

Should

'Should' is a modal verb like 'can' or 'will.' It does not change spelling to agree with the verb
that follows.

Subject + 'should' + verb is also a way to make a strong recommendation. "We should go to the
park" means that going to the park is a good idea.

We should go outside today. It's so nice. - Yeah, we shouldn't stay indoors on such a nice day.

Should vs Let's

Since 's in "let's" stands for 'us', "let's" can only be used to suggest doing something with
another person. So to suggest that someone exercise more, you cannot say "Let's you exercise
more." You need to say "You should exercise more."

Dialogue Practice
Deciding what to do - What should we do today?

Let's play video games! - Sure! We should play a new video game this time.

And after that, let's go out for dinner! - Sounds good. Let's go to the Korean restaurant.

Deciding where to go - Let's go on a road trip.

Where? - Let's drive to New York!

Yes! I've always wanted to do that. - We should go to Philadelphia as well.

Let's have Philly cheese steaks there. - Sounds like a plan. Let's get going!

Fill in the Blanks

Choose the correct answers to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct
answer.

You be quiet. This is a library!

Should

Let's

It's getting late. We go home now.

Should

Let's

We're going to swim in the river. You come with us.

Should

Let's

It's getting late. Go home.

We should

Let's

I'll get out my map. Get lost.

Let's not

We should

If you want a job, apply to this company.

Let's

You should

Talk loudly! The baby is sleeping.

We shouldn't

Let's not

Go to this restaurant. Lots of people who ate there got food poisoning.

We shouldn't

Let's not

Sentence Building

Suggest things to do with your friends using should (not) and let's (not) with the activities
below.

Go to a park → "Let's go to a park! (It's beautiful outside.)" / "Let's not go to a park! (The
weather is terrible.)"

Try a new restaurant

Watch some movies

Go to the cafe nearby

Get drinks at a bar

Go to a concert

Play a board game

Gentler Suggestions
After this lesson, you will be able to make polite suggestions.

Sentence Practice

Why don't we go for a walk?

How about we go for a walk?

We could go for a walk.

Can we take a walk after lunch?

I think we should take a walk.

I thought we could take a walk.

Grammar Focus

In the last lesson, we learned to say 'let's' and 'should' to make strong suggestions. The
sentence patterns in this lesson are much less direct.

'Why don’t we/you do this?'

When you say "Why don't we do this?", you are implying that "this" might be a good idea.

Why don't you buy a new dress? (= Wouldn't it be a good idea to buy a new dress?)

Why don't we get some coffee? (= Coffee might wake us up.)

'How about this / doing this / we do this?'

When you say "How about doing this?", you are asking for the listener's opinion: "How do you
feel about doing this?" We use 'how about' like this: 'How about' + noun / gerund / clause?

Remember that gerunds (verbs in -ing form like 'going/walking/playing') function like nouns. In
the sentences, "I like soccer" and "I like playing soccer", both "soccer" and "playing soccer" are
basically nouns.
For instance, if you are shopping for a dress, this is how the store clerk may recommend one:

How about this dress? (= How do you feel about this dress? Do you like/dislike it?)

How about trying on this dress? (= How do you feel about trying on this dress? Try on this
dress and see if you like it.)

'Can/Could we do this?' 'We/you could do this.'

When we say "Can we do this?", we are asking if 'this' is possible. When we say "Could we do
this?", we are asking if 'this' would be possible. Using 'could' is therefore more polite than
'can.'

Can you lend me your car tomorrow? (= Is that possible?)

Could you drive me to the hospital please? (= Would that be possible?)

You could tell your parents about your decision. (= I don't know if it is a good idea, but it is a
possibility)

'I think we should do this' / 'I thought we could do this.'

Finally, to make your suggestions even more polite, you can say 'I think' or 'I thought.' 'I
thought' is even more polite than 'I think', because you are just expressing a thought, rather
than saying you want to do something.

I think we should take a walk after lunch. (= I would like to do this)

I thought we could take a walk after lunch. (= It would be nice to do this, but only if you want
to)

Dialogue Practice

What should we do today? - How about a picnic?

I don't want to have a picnic. - OK, then how about playing board games?

Sure. Why don't we play Monopoly? - What can we do to sell more products?

We can give some discounts to existing customers. - I agree. We could also find more
customers.
That would be much more difficult. I think we should focus on our existing customers.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct answer.

Go to the beach?

How about

How about we

Why don't we

Going to the beach?

How about

Why don't we

Buying a new phone?

How about

Why don't you

Watch a movie tonight.

We could

I thought we could

Why don't we

Watch a movie tonight?

We could

I think we should

Why don't we
We go to Thailand?

Can

Why don't

How about

Apply for this job. They need someone like you!

I think you should

You could

Apply for this job. I think they would want someone like you.

I think you should

You could

Sentence Building

Suggest things to do with your friends using 'why don't', 'how about', 'can/could', and 'I think
we should/I thought we could'.

Example: Go to the park → "Why don't we go to the park?"

Try a new restaurant

Go to the cafe nearby

Go to a concert

Buy a new phone

Go to the beach

Questions

This lesson will review all the types of questions you have learned so far, so you have a clearer
idea of when to use each type.

Sentence Practice

Move Verb 'be' to Beginning

Your job is easy.

Is your job easy?

He is finished eating.

Is he finished eating?

Adding 'Do' to Statements without helping verb

You know what time it is.

Do you know what time it is?

Does he understand the question?

He understands the question.

You wrote this poem.

Did you write this poem?

Move Helping/Modal Verb to Beginning

It will keep raining.

Will it keep raining?

It will be a long flight.

Will it be a long flight?

May I come early?

Might I come early?

Grammar Focus

There are several ways to form questions in English.

Move Helping Verb to Beginning

We can move the helping verb to the beginning of the sentence to form a basic question.

He is playing video games.

Is he playing video games?

Move Modal Verbs to Beginning

We can also move the modal verb to the beginning of the sentence to form a question.

She will travel to Europe.

Will she travel to Europe?

Without Helping Verbs

If the sentence does not have a helping verb, we add the helping 'do' in the appropriate form
('did' for the past tense, and 'does' for the third person singular) at the beginning of the
sentence.

He drives a car.

Does he drive a car?

He drove a car.

Did he drive a car?

Question Words

Question words are words such as 'what, why, where, when, who, which, how' that are used
to make open-ended questions.
To form a question with a question word, put a helping verb after it: question word + helping
verb.

Who did you go with?

Which car will you drive today?

Note that the helping verb is unnecessary when the question word is the subject of the
sentence.

Who came here? (= 'Who' is the subject → no helping verb)

Which car is yours? (= 'Which car' is the subject → no helping verb)

Sentence Practice

Will he arrive today?

Is it better this way?

What do you mean by that?

Which of them will come to the party?

How did you fix the TV?

When did she start working?

How can I solve this problem?

Was he looking for me?

Why are they leaving so soon?

Has she forgotten the password?

Fill in the Blanks

I'm sailing across the ocean. → Sailing through the ocean?

I'll put a flower in your hair. → Put a flower in my hair?

I feel lucky. → Feel lucky?

I hear you. → Hear me?

I can hear you. → Hear me?

I waited for you. → Wait for me?

I'm in love with my best friend. → In love with?

She came to see me. → Came to see you?

I'm taking this road. → Are you taking?

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-9)

Which road, What road

Will you

Do you

Are you

Do you

Who are you

Can you

Did you

Who

Sentence Building

Ask a friend about their English studying (past, habits, and plans) using questions with 'can
you...?', 'do you...?', 'will you...?' 'have you...?'

Review your vocabulary tomorrow

Read English news every day

Sing English songs

Recite poems in English

Study in the Philippines

Understand English movies

Write emails in English

Listen to the Beatles

Read novels in English.

Present Perfect Simple

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about your past experiences.

Sentence Practice

Mankind has traveled to the moon.

We have never traveled outside our galaxy.

I have seen this person before.

I have never seen that person.

Have you seen that person before?

Have you been to the office lately?

Have you been to that museum before?

Grammar Focus

What is the Present Perfect Tense?

In grammar, the word 'perfect' means 'completed'.

This tense is called present perfect, because it is made of:

The present tense of the helping verb 'have'

The perfect (completed) form of the main verb

Note that the helping verb is in the present tense, but the main verb is in its completed form!
Therefore, this tense is not a present tense.

How to form the Present Perfect

The present perfect tense = have/has + main verb (past participle). There is often an adverb
between have/has and the main verb.
See: They have seen this movie before.

Visit: He has visited China before.

Fly: Tommy has already flown on an airplane.

The verb 'be' becomes 'have/has been':

I have been there before.

She has been there before.

Why use the Present Perfect

In practice, the present perfect tense functions as a past tense, with the following differences:

1. Present Perfect can be used for things that we still do and situations that still exist:

We lived in France for 10 years. (= we don't live there anymore)

We have lived in France for 10 years. (= and we still live there)

He competed in the Olympics three times. (= he has retired from the Olympics)

He has competed in the Olympics three times. (= and he still competes!)

2. Present Perfect focuses more on the result than on the action/state itself:
They lived in London before moving to Melbourne. (= focus is on the state of living in London)

They have lived in London before, so they know it well. (= focus is on the results of living in
London, i.e. their experience and knowledge of it)

Since Present Perfect can be used for things we still do and focuses on the result of those
things, we don't use it for specific points in time:

I have worked abroad before.

I worked abroad last year. (=correct)

I have worked abroad last year. (=incorrect)

Sentence Practice

She lived in the US for 5 years.

She has lived in the US for 5 years.

I went to that cinema last month.

I have been to that cinema before.

He studied English in order to work abroad.

He speaks English well, because he has studied it.

I did not drive a sports car. I drove a normal car.

I have not driven a sports car before. I hope to (do that) one day.

Dialogue Practice

Does Patricia live in the U.S.? - Yes, she does. She has lived there for 5 years now.

Have you been to this movie theater before? - Yes, I have. It has nice big seats.

Has he studied English? - Yes, he has. He speaks it very well!

Have you driven a sports car before? - No, I have not. But I hope to one day!

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

I to that song 100 times since I bought it.

Listened

Have listened

I to that song 100 times yesterday.

Listened

Have listened

I a robber yesterday at the bank.

Saw

Have seen

I that man before. He robbed our bank!

Saw

Have seen

You! Last time I saw you, you were just a baby.

Grew up

Have grown up

Robert and became a doctor.

Grew up

Have grown up

By plane to get here?

Did he travel
Has he travelled

By plane before?

Did he travel

Has he travelled

Sentence Building

A colleague asks you the following questions. Reply using sentences that include I have or I
have not.

Example: Have you ever worried about your work-life balance? → "I have not worried about
my work-life balance."

Have you ever faced discrimination at work?

Have you thought about quitting?

Have you worked in other departments before?

Have you worked in this field before?

Have you worked in other fields?

Have you worked at another company?

Present Perfect Continuous

With the Present Perfect Continuous tense, you will be able to say that you have done
something and are still doing it now.

Sentence Practice

I have been waiting here for five hours.

He has been feeling tired in the last few days.

They have been working for eleven hours.

You have been doing the same thing for five years.

She has been studying English for eight years.

I have been cooking a lot lately.

Grammar Focus

How to form the Present Perfect Continuous

Remember that the 'continuous' form of a verb is its -ing form with the verb 'be': I run → I am
running.

The Present Perfect Continuous is the continuous form of the Present Perfect Simple. We use
this tense to show that an action started in the past and is still continuing now (this is called
continuity).

We form the 'present perfect continuous' tense with:

The present perfect of the verb 'be': have/has been + the continuous form of the main verb:
present participle

In other words: 'have/has been' + verb -ing

I have been studying English for 5 years.

To negate this tense, add 'not' between 'have/has' and 'been'.

I have not been studying English for 5 years.

To ask a question in this tense, invert the subject and 'have/has':

How long have you been studying English?

Why use the Present Perfect Continuous

Both the Present Perfect Continuous and the Present Perfect Simple express continuity.
However, continuity is only one of three possible meanings of a Present Perfect Simple verb,
while it is the only meaning of a Present Perfect Continuous verb.

Present Perfect Simple

I have worked as a pilot for 10 years.

Immediate Past: I have worked as a pilot for 10 years until now.

Experience: I have experienced working as a pilot for 10 years sometime before.

Continuity: I have continued working as a pilot for 10 years until now.

→ Since there are at least 3 different ways to interpret this expression, it is not clear whether
the action is continuing now, unless the context tells you.

Present Perfect Continuous:

I have been working as a pilot for 10 years.

→ Since there is only 1 meaning (I have continued working as a pilot for 10 years until now), it
is clear that the action is continuing now.

Dialogue Practice

What have you all been doing recently? - I've been playing football a lot.

I've been watching a new TV series.

I've been learning to drive. - I've actually been learning to drive for a year now, but am too
scared to take the test.

How long have you been working at this company? Hmm. I've been working here for five years
now.

How has the company changed in that time? - The company has drastically improved its
reputation and our revenue has gone up as a result.

What is everyone's hobbies? And how long have you been doing them? - I like to play piano.
I've been playing piano for two years now.

I like origami. I've been doing it since I was three.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the present perfect continuous form of the verb in parentheses.

Example: I (not exercise) much this past month. → "have not been exercising"

The pianist (practice) a lot recently for his upcoming concert.

We have a deadline next week, so we (work) a lot recently.

It (rain) the whole week.

The patient (sleep) for two days now.

This computer (not work) for more than two years.

I (not read) the news recently.

I (not watch) movies these days.

Sentence Building

Your roommate has many bad habits. Talk about them using the present perfect continuous.

Example: Leave the lights on → "You've been leaving the lights on."

Eat my food

Leave the TV on the whole night

Leave the tap on (= forget to close the faucet)

Leave socks on the floor

Break our furniture

Leave the door open

Let bugs in our room

Get on my nerves recently

Reported Speech I (Reported Speech With Present Tense Reporting Verb)

After this lesson, you will be able to tell others what your friends often say or just said.

Sentence Practice

Jim says, "My dog is sick."

Arjun's friends say, "He always comes to parties."

Mary says, "Renuka hates spiders."

Peter says, "I have just arrived at the airport."

Jim says that his dog is sick.

Arjun's friends say that he always comes to parties.

Mary says that you hate spiders.

Peter says that he has just arrived at the airport.

Jim tells me that his dog is sick.

Arjun's friends tell me that he always comes to parties.

Mary tells me that you hate spiders.

Peter tells me that he has just arrived at the airport.

Grammar Focus

There are two ways to tell somebody what someone else said.

Direct vs. Indirect Reported Speech

1. 'Direct Reported Speech' is when you quote the person's exact words using quotation
marks (“ “):

He says, “I love you.”

2. 'Indirect Reported Speech' is when you say it in your own words:

He says that he loves you.

In the sentences above, we changed 'I' to 'he'. When you change a sentence from direct to
indirect reported speech, sometimes you will need to change the pronoun.

Tell me

We kept the reporting verb 'say' in the above sentences. However, when the reporting verb in
direct reported speech is 'say to', we change it to 'tell'.

He says to me, ”I love you.”

→ He tells me that he loves me.

Tip: In conversation, we often omit 'that' from indirect reported speech. For example, we
usually say "He tells me he loves me" and not "He tells me that he loves me."
Sentence Practice

She says, "I miss you".

She says she misses me.

She tells me, “I miss you”.

She tells me she misses me.

They say, "We go jogging every day".

They say they go jogging every day.

They tell me, "We go jogging every day".

They tell me they go jogging every day.

Mom said, "You need to go to bed".

Mom said that you need to go to bed.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following Direct Speech sentences into Reported Speech sentences.

She says, "My husband comes home late from work."

They tell me, "You travel often."

He says, "My boss is demanding."

Experts say, "Milk is good for our bones."

Mark told Stacy, "You should take singing lessons."

She tells her husband, "I'm going on a business trip tomorrow."

Sentence Building
You are meeting a relative for the first time. Your family members have told you a lot about
this relative; their exact words are quoted below. Tell this relative what you have heard about
him using reported speech.

Example: He has two children. → "They tell me that you have two children."

He goes to China often.

He smokes a lot.

He is a chef.

He drinks coffee ten times a day.

He knows a lot about the world.

He speaks five languages.

Homophones I (Which/Witch, Here/Hear, By/Buy, Whether/Weather)

After this lesson, you will be able to tell the difference between four pairs of words that sound
the same but have different meanings. This knowledge will allow you to avoid misspelling
common words.

Sentence Practice

Which of his books do you like most?

She dressed as a witch for Halloween.

She isn’t coming here today.

I can hear him singing.

I left my hat by the bookcase.

Will you buy the new phone?

Whether you like it or not, you will have to do as your parents say.

The weather forecast says it will be rainy this weekend.

Grammar Focus
'Homophone' (words with the same sound) is made up of the Greek words 'homo' (the same)
and 'phone' (sound) - the same phone in 'telephone'.

Homophones are words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and meaning.

Which vs Witch

Which is a determiner or a pronoun used in questions to refer to specific item(s).

Which sweater is your favorite?

A witch is a woman who is believed to have magical powers.

In the story, the hero defeated the evil witch.

An easy way to tell 'which' and 'witch' apart is that 'which' is one of the 'wh- question words'
(who, what, where, when, why).

Here vs Hear

Here is an adverb that shows location: Come here!

Hear is a verb that means "to perceive sound using one's ears": Can you hear the music?

By vs Buy

By is a preposition used when we need to show location: There is cake by the wine case.

Buy is a verb that means "to get something by paying money": Will you buy me a new laptop?

Whether vs Weather

Whether is a conjunction used in indirect questions to introduce an alternative: They don’t

know whether she passed the exam or not.

Weather is a noun that means “the state of the atmosphere at a certain time and place” (i.e. is
it rainy? sunny? windy?): The weather is nice today; let's go for a walk.

Sentence Practice
We can come here any time we want.

During the night you can hear the wolves howling.

There is a car parked by the bridge.

I could never afford to buy a new house.

The weather has been horrible these past few days!

I really don’t know whether to go to that party or just stay at home.

Which flavor of ice cream would you like?

Mary wants to be a witch for Halloween.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

Sally dressed up as a for Halloween.

Which

Witch

Answer is right?

Which

Witch

We may have to cancel the picnic due to the.

Weather

Whether

The picnic might be cancelled depending on or not it rains.

Weather

Whether

Meet me the bridge at 5 o'clock.

Buy

By

Please me a ring.

Buy

By

I like to study.

Hear

Here

When I put in my earplugs, I cannot my alarm clock.

Hear

Here

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following words and phrases.

Example: Whether/weather, nice → 1) Do you know whether or not she is nice? 2) The
weather is nice today.

Here, quiet

Hear, quiet

Buy, house

By, house

Which, hat

Witch, hat

Homophones II (To/Too, It's/Its, There/Their/They're, Your/You're)

After this lesson, you will be able to tell the difference between four sets of homophones.
These are some of the most commonly used words, so this knowledge will help your English
writing a lot.

Sentence Practice

It’s raining outside.

The dog is eating its food.

You’re a very smart guy!

You left your keys on the table.

Did you go to school today?

I want to go to school, too.

There is a pond in front of my house.

They're not very smart people.

They don't remember their address.

Grammar Focus

Homophones are words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and meaning.

Confusing homophones account for many grammar mistakes, so take a close look at the
examples below.

It's vs Its

It’s is the contracted form of 'it is': It’s (= it is) warm inside.

Its is the possessive form of 'it': I really like your cat; its fur is really soft.

You're vs Your

You’re is the contracted form of ’you are’: You’re (= you are) his sister?

Your is the possessive form of 'you': Your parents are so kind!

Too vs To

To is usually a preposition that indicates a direction: Have you been to the office today?
Too is a synonym for 'also' or 'as well', but it is also usually used to express that something is in
excess: I failed the exam, too/ There is too much ketchup on my hamburger!

They're vs There vs Their

They're is the contracted form of 'they are': They're (= They are ) not very smart.

There is an adverb that shows location: We are going there for dinner.

Their is a possessive pronoun: I think that is their car.

Sentence Practice

I love my job; it’s the most interesting job in the world!

Have you ever seen a tiger stalking its prey?

You’re the closest friend I have.

Can I borrow your car today?

Go to the living room and bring me my purse.

He wants to become a sailor, too.

Have you seen my new car? It's over there.

They’re on vacation, I’m afraid.

Have you seen their new puppy?

Fill in the Blanks

Very interesting to watch him work.

Its

It's

I don't understand this puppy. It never plays with any of toys.

Its

It's

Father called. He wanted to know when you would get home.

Your

You're

The youngest employee in the company, aren't you?

Your

You're

I'm going the market to buy some groceries.

To

Too

I want to go to the market, !

To

Too

I don't think taking everything into consideration.

Their

They're

There

Everyone has different interests. To each own!

Their

They're

There

Don't come here. Go!

Their

They're

There

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following words and phrases.

Example: To/too, school → "I'm going to school." "Jim is too young for school."

Your, work

You're, working

It's, dog

Its, tail

They're, working

There, work

Their, work

Either/Or, Neither/Nor

After this lesson, you will be able to form many sentences that provide two possible options or
outcomes.

Sentence Practice

Either... Or...

We can drink either beer or wine.

Bring either your passport or your driver's license.

Neither... Nor...

Worms have neither arms nor legs.

He can speak neither Japanese nor Chinese.

Grammar Focus
Either A or B

Use 'Either A or B' to say that there are exactly two options or outcomes: A or B. 'Either'
emphasizes the fact that there are exactly two options.

We can drink either beer or wine. (= We have only these two options: beer and wine.)

Neither A nor B

'Neither A nor B' is the negative form of 'Either A or B'.

I can speak neither Chinese nor Spanish. (= I cannot speak Chinese. And I cannot speak
Spanish)

I can neither speak Chinese nor Spanish.

(N) either A (n)or B

When you use either 'either' or 'neither', A and B must be of the same grammatical type:

Nouns/noun phrases: "We can drink either beer or wine."

Verbs/verb phrases: "Either come with me or go home!"

Prepositional phrases: "Come either with your parents or by yourself!"

Clauses: "Either you study or you fail the test."

However, sometimes you will see sentences whose options/outcomes do not seem to be the
same grammatical type:

We can either drink beer or wine.

'Drink beer' and 'wine' may seem like different grammatical types: a verbal phrase and a noun.
However, 'wine' is actually short for 'drink wine.' In speaking, people often leave out the
second instance of the verb:

We can either drink beer or (drink) wine.

Verb Agreement
If both A and B are singular, the verb must also be singular.

Neither he nor she knows how to solve the problem. (= "Neither he nor she know" would be
wrong. The sentence is not "Neither they know" but "Neither he knows, nor she knows")

If either A or B is plural, the verb must also be plural.

Neither the managers nor the employees know what to do. (= Here 'knows' (with an 's') would
be incorrect, because the sentence is actually "Neither the managers know, nor the employees
know")

Sentence Practice

Noun, Noun Phrases

Neither the teacher nor the principal knew the student was sick.

He either has a doctorate or a master’s degree.

He is neither a doctor nor a lawyer.

Neither his father nor his mother knew about his social anxiety.

Verbs, Verb Phrases

My grandfather can neither read nor write.

In tennis you can either win or lose.

Clauses

Either you eat the last slice of pizza, or I will!

Either I tell her the truth, or you fix this before she finds out.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

You can take. Both will take you to London.

Either this road or that road

Neither this road nor that road

Know how to cook. We should learn!

Either you or I

Neither you nor I

Like vegetables. We like meat.

Either you or I

Neither you nor I

I will to let you know the results of the competition.

Either call you or email you

Neither call you nor text you

We can meet . It's your choice.

Either this week or next week

Neither this week nor next week

Were in the clinic when I went this morning. I don't know why.

Neither the doctors nor the nurses

Either the doctors or the nurses

Sentence Building
You're planning to meet a friend. However, your friend is very busy and picky. Use either... or...
to give her options for the meet-up and neither... nor... to form her response.

Example: oday, tomorrow → You: "I can do either today or tomorrow." / Your friend: "I can do
neither today nor tomorrow."

Lunch, dinner

Japanese food, Thai food

Cafe, bar

Restaurant, picnic

Go for a walk, have a picnic

Mexican food, Spanish food

Go clubbing, just get drinks

Too/Either, So/Neither Do I

After this lesson, you will know another way to talk about similarities between things.

Sentence Practice

Too/Either, So/Neither

I like eating chocolate and I like ice cream too.

I don’t like eating chocolate, and I don’t like ice cream either.

I often go to the movies, and so does my cousin.

I don't go to the movies very often, and neither does my cousin.

Too

I often go to the movies. - I do too!

Philip speaks Spanish. - Mike does too.

Either
I don’t often go to the movies. - I don't either.

So

I like coffee without sugar. - So do I.

My father has been working at this company for years. - So has mine.

I’m going to a party tonight. - So am I.

Neither

I don’t like coffee with sugar. - Neither do I.

I haven't watched this movie in years. - Neither have I.

I’m not going to a party tonight. - Neither am I.

Grammar Focus

Too

Use 'too' in positive sentences to agree with something/someone, or to say that you perform
the same action. We usually put 'too' at the end of a sentence.

I cook. - I cook too.

→ Nina cooks, and Matt (cooks) too.

Either

Use 'either' in negative sentences to disagree with something/someone, or to say that you also
do not perform a certain action. We also put 'either' at the end of the sentence.

I don't cook. - I don't cook either.

→ Jessica doesn't cook. James doesn't cook either.

So
Use 'so' in a positive sense to show that you feel the same as the other person, or that you
perform the same action. Place 'so' before a helping verb.

I cook. - So do I!

→ Nicole cooks, and so does Nina.

Neither

Use 'neither' in a negative sense to show that you feel the same as the other person, or to say
that you also do not perform a certain action. Place 'neither' before a helping verb.

I don't cook. - Neither do I.

→ Alejandro doesn't cook, and neither does Zach.

Dialogue Practice

I slept well the past few days. - So did I.

My mother wasn’t worried when I went to college. - Neither was mine.

I will take driving lessons. - So will they.

She didn't take my calls. - She didn't take mine either.

Tyra is aiming to win first place. - Mary is too.

John isn’t planning anything for his birthday. - His friends aren’t either.

Grace can’t sleep. - Butch can’t sleep either.

She is happy with her life. - He is happy with his life too.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with too or either to complete the sentences.

Her husband is a doctor, and her brother is a doctor .

Her husband is not a doctor, and her brother is not a doctor .

She didn't report to work today. She didn't take any calls .
He slept well last night. His wife slept well .

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the bold sentences using so or neither.

Example: She is happy with her life. He is happy too. → "So is he."

Her husband is a doctor. Her brother is a doctor too.

She didn't report to work today. She didn't take any calls either.

He slept well last night. His wife did too.

Tyra is aiming for first place, and Mary is too.

John isn't planning anything for his birthday, and his friends aren't either.

Grace can't sleep. Butch can't sleep either.

Sentence Building

Agree with the following statements by using too, either, so, and neither.

Example: "I love cats." → "So do I!"

"I don't like dogs."

"I prefer Italian food over Spanish food."

"I prefer reading books to watching movies."

"I work out everyday."

"I don't really exercise."

"I'm a tidy person."

"I'm not a very tidy person."

"I can go for days without sleep."

"I can't live without good food."

Questions
This lesson will review all the types of questions you have learned so far, so you have a clearer
idea of when to use each type.

Sentence Practice

Move Verb 'be' to Beginning

Your job is easy.

Is your job easy?

He is finished eating.

Is he finished eating?

Adding 'Do' to Statements without helping verb

You know what time it is.

Do you know what time it is?

Does he understand the question?

He understands the question.

You wrote this poem.

Did you write this poem?

Move Helping/Modal Verb to Beginning

It will keep raining.

Will it keep raining?

It will be a long flight.

Will it be a long flight?

May I come early?

Might I come early?

Grammar Focus

There are several ways to form questions in English.

Move Helping Verb to Beginning

We can move the helping verb to the beginning of the sentence to form a basic question.

He is playing video games.

Is he playing video games?

Move Modal Verbs to Beginning

We can also move the modal verb to the beginning of the sentence to form a question.

She will travel to Europe.

Will she travel to Europe?

Without Helping Verbs

If the sentence does not have a helping verb, we add the helping 'do' in the appropriate form
('did' for the past tense, and 'does' for the third person singular) at the beginning of the
sentence.

He drives a car.

Does he drive a car?

He drove a car.

Did he drive a car?

Question Words

Question words are words such as 'what, why, where, when, who, which, how' that are used
to make open-ended questions.

To form a question with a question word, put a helping verb after it: question word + helping
verb.

Who did you go with?

Which car will you drive today?

Note that the helping verb is unnecessary when the question word is the subject of the
sentence.

Who came here? (= 'Who' is the subject → no helping verb)

Which car is yours? (= 'Which car' is the subject → no helping verb)

Sentence Practice

Will he arrive today?

Is it better this way?

What do you mean by that?

Which of them will come to the party?

How did you fix the TV?

When did she start working?

How can I solve this problem?

Was he looking for me?

Why are they leaving so soon?

Has she forgotten the password?

Fill in the Blanks

I'm sailing across the ocean. → sailing through the ocean?

I'll put a flower in your hair. → put a flower in my hair?

I feel lucky. → feel lucky?

I hear you. → hear me?

I can hear you. → hear me?

I waited for you. → wait for me?

I'm in love with my best friend. → in love with?

She came to see me. → came to see you?

I'm taking this road. → are you taking?

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-9)

Which road, What road

Will you

Do you

Are you

Do you

Who are you

Can you

Did you

Who

Sentence Building

Ask a friend about their English studying (past, habits, and plans) using questions with 'can
you...?', 'do you...?', 'will you...?' 'have you...?'

Review your vocabulary tomorrow

Read English news every day

Sing English songs

Recite poems in English

Study in the Philippines

Understand English movies

Write emails in English

Listen to the Beatles

Read novels in English.

Present Perfect Simple

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about your past experiences.

Sentence Practice

Mankind has traveled to the moon.

We have never traveled outside our galaxy.

I have seen this person before.

I have never seen that person.

Have you seen that person before?

Have you been to the office lately?

Have you been to that museum before?

Grammar Focus

What is the Present Perfect Tense?

In grammar, the word 'perfect' means 'completed'.

This tense is called present perfect, because it is made of:

The present tense of the helping verb 'have'

The perfect (completed) form of the main verb

Note that the helping verb is in the present tense, but the main verb is in its completed form!
Therefore, this tense is not a present tense.
How to form the Present Perfect

The present perfect tense = have/has + main verb (past participle). There is often an adverb
between have/has and the main verb.

See: They have seen this movie before.

Visit: He has visited China before.

Fly: Tommy has already flown on an airplane.

The verb 'be' becomes 'have/has been':

I have been there before.

She has been there before.

Why use the Present Perfect

In practice, the present perfect tense functions as a past tense, with the following differences:

1. Present Perfect can be used for things that we still do and situations that still exist:

We lived in France for 10 years. (= we don't live there anymore)

We have lived in France for 10 years. (= and we still live there)

He competed in the Olympics three times. (= he has retired from the Olympics)

He has competed in the Olympics three times. (= and he still competes!)

2. Present Perfect focuses more on the result than on the action/state itself:

They lived in London before moving to Melbourne. (= focus is on the state of living in London)

They have lived in London before, so they know it well. (= focus is on the results of living in
London, i.e. their experience and knowledge of it)

Since Present Perfect can be used for things we still do and focuses on the result of those
things, we don't use it for specific points in time:

I have worked abroad before.

I worked abroad last year. (=correct)

I have worked abroad last year. (=incorrect)

Sentence Practice

She lived in the US for 5 years.

She has lived in the US for 5 years.

I went to that cinema last month.

I have been to that cinema before.

He studied English in order to work abroad.

He speaks English well, because he has studied it.

I did not drive a sports car. I drove a normal car.

I have not driven a sports car before. I hope to (do that) one day.

Dialogue Practice

Does Patricia live in the U.S.? - Yes, she does. She has lived there for 5 years now.

Have you been to this movie theater before? - Yes, I have. It has nice big seats.

Has he studied English? - Yes, he has. He speaks it very well!

Have you driven a sports car before? - No, I have not. But I hope to one day!

Fill in the Blanks

I to that song 100 times since I bought it.

Listened

Have listened

I to that song 100 times yesterday.

Listened

Have listened
I a robber yesterday at the bank.

Saw

Have seen

I that man before. He robbed our bank!

Saw

Have seen

You ! Last time I saw you, you were just a baby.

Grew up

Have grown up

Robert and became a doctor.

Grew up

Have grown up

By plane to get here?

Did he travel

Has he travelled

By plane before?

Did he travel

Has he travelled
Sentence Building

A colleague asks you the following questions. Reply using sentences that include I have or I
have not.

Example: Have you ever worried about your work-life balance? → "I have not worried about
my work-life balance."

Have you ever faced discrimination at work?

Have you thought about quitting?

Have you worked in other departments before?

Have you worked in this field before?

Have you worked in other fields?

Have you worked at another company?

Hardly, Rarely, Never

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to negate sentences with more subtlety and nuance.

Sentence Practice

Hardly

Our dog can hardly bark. He's still small. I hardly know you. She hardly remembers her
grandparents; they passed away when she was young.

Hardly Ever / Rarely

I hardly ever drink alcohol.

I rarely drink alcohol.

My father hardly ever listens to classical music.

My father rarely listens to classical music.

My boss hardly ever works on Saturdays.

My boss rarely works on Saturdays.

Never

Jenny never smokes cigarettes. She only smokes pipes. I will never see him again. I have never
been abroad. I don't even have a passport!

Grammar Focus

We have learned to negate verbs by adding 'not' or 'do not'. We can also negate verbs using
adverbs of time such as 'hardly', 'rarely' or 'never'. These adverbs tell us that the action
expressed by the verb doesn't happen very often or happens to a very minimal extent.

For example, other ways to say "Tom does not come late" are:

Tom never comes late. (= Tom always comes on time.)

Tom hardly ever / rarely comes late. (= Tom almost always comes on time)

When we use these adverbs with a helping verb like 'be', they come after the helping verb:

Tom is never late. (Not 'Tom never is late')

Hardly

Hardly means 'barely', 'minimally', or 'almost not'. It is often used with 'can':

His voice is so soft, you can hardly hear him. (= It is almost impossible to hear him)

You can hardly see him in the crowd.

'Hardly ever' means "almost never":

She is hardly ever in the country. (= She is almost never in the country. She is almost always
abroad )

Rarely

'Rarely' means "hardly ever" or "almost never".

She is rarely in the country.

Since his accident, he rarely goes outside.

Sentence Practice

Vegetarians never eat meat.

The company rarely gives bonuses to the employees.

My father hardly ever watches TV.

I am rarely at the church on Sundays.

It never rains in California.

I have never met him before.

Jessica has never cooked dinner for her husband.

I am never late for work. This is what my supervisors like about me.

I've been living here for 5 years, but I hardly know my neighbors.

She rarely goes to the gym nowadays.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences. There can be more than one correct answer.

Our Math teacher smiles. He is not very friendly.

Never

Hardly ever

Rarely

I understand them. They talk so fast!

Rarely

Hardly ever

You eat. You're getting thinner and thinner.

Never

Hardly
Have some more food. You ate a bite.

Never

Hardly

He can walk. Of course he can't climb stairs!

Hardly

Never

Sentence Building

Your colleague is very irresponsible. Describe them using the adverbs 'never', '(can) hardly',
'rarely' and the following words.

Example: Walk her dog → "She never walks her dog."

Come to work on time

Dress appropriately for work

Water his/her plants

Exercise

Check email

Spend time with family

Hang out with friends

Eat healthy

Use a computer

Speak English
All, Both, Each

This lesson will teach you to refer to individual items in a set and to entire sets.

Sentence Practice

Both

My parents both passed away.

Both the movie and the play were good.

Both of my sisters are rich.

All

All the birds flew away.

Did you eat all of the cakes?

Not all the seats were taken.

Each

Each of the members has one vote.

Each student has a book.

Each of the children received a special gift.

Grammar Focus

Both

To refer to two things together, use 'both (noun/adjective) and (noun/adjective)'. Both is
always plural.

The book and the movie were good.

→ Both the book and the movie were good.

Did you like the book or the movie? - Both were good.
To refer to two people/things within the same group, use 'both (of) + (the/my/etc.) + plural
noun'.

My two sisters are rich.

→ Both of my sisters are rich.

→ Both my sisters are rich.

We also use both with other verbs.

My parents both work in the same company.

And with modal verbs (can, should, would).

My parents can both speak English fluently.

All

'All' means 'including every one/part of a group'. We can use 'all' for:

Countable nouns: an entire group of people/things

Uncountable nouns: the entirety of something

For (1) countable nouns, 'all' is plural. For (2) uncountable nouns, 'all' is singular.

All the girls in the class are intelligent. (= 'Girl' is a countable noun, so in this sentence, 'All' is a
plural.)

All the water in the pool is gone. (= 'Water' is an uncountable noun, so in this sentence, 'All' is
a singular.)
Each

We use 'each' when we want to focus on the individual members of a group. When you go to a
store to buy apples, you may see signs that say '$1 each'.

Each student has a book. (= all the students in the group have a book)

Each of the students has a book.

“Each” can also be used as a pronoun as in the second sentence above. In this case, it is
followed by a singular verb.

One room has a TV.

Each of the rooms has a TV.

Sentence Practice

I have four daughters. They all have a car.

All 50 students took the test.

Not all of my cousins were at the wedding.

They should both try harder.

There are 10 worksheets. Please take one of each.

Both Greg and Joseph are attending the wedding this weekend.

Do you both want to attend the dance lesson?

Each test contains 50 questions.

Each of us has a car.

Give each child a piece of chocolate cake.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with all, all of, both or each to complete the sentences.

My parents can speak English fluently.

My four grandparents are from India.

My relatives live in rural India.

I have five cousins on side of the family.

I have five cousins on sides of the family.

My aunts and uncles have children.

Their water comes from the village well.

I have at least one relative in Indian state.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using the following words and all or both.

iPhones, Androids: smartphones → "iPhones and Androids are both smartphones."

Humans: born equal

Juice, smoothies: made of fruit

History, economics: interesting subjects

Paintings in this gallery: by one Indonesian painter

Friends: live in Spain

My two best friends: in Italy

Jelly, cake: dessert

Chocolate, cookies: snacks

British English, American English: English

Everything, Anything, Each, Every

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to refer to individual members of broad categories of
people/things and to categories as a whole.
Sentence Practice

Everything

Is everything okay?

Don’t worry, everything will be fine.

Everything is expensive nowadays.

Anything

I don’t know anything about it.

Do you know anything about India?

I will do anything for you.

Each

Each new day is different.

Each of my uncles gave me a gift for my birthday.

Each car should be handled with care.

Every

The bus leaves every hour.

Every boy in the class went to the party.

Everyone (= Every person) has a different interpretation of this painting.

Grammar Focus

Everything

'Everything' refers to all the persons, places or things involved in an action. It is followed by a
singular verb.

It looks different.

Everything looks different.

Anything

In an affirmative (positive) sentence, 'anything' means 'all things'.

I will do anything for you. (= I will do all things for you)

In a question, 'anything' means 'something' or 'any thing (even something small or

insignificant)':

Is there anything (= even something small) that I can do to help?

In a negative sentence however, 'anything' means 'nothing at all': not + anything = nothing.

I don’t know anything about it. (= I know nothing about it)

Each

We use 'each' to refer to individual things in a set or group: "Each apple costs $1". Since 'each'
refers to individual things, it is followed by a singular verb.

Each + singular noun: Each uncle gave me a present for my birthday.

Each of + plural noun: Each of my uncles gave me presents for my birthday.

Every

We use 'every' to refer to a group of similar people or things: "Every library I have been to is
quiet". Since it refers to one group, it is followed by a singular verb.

Every boy in the class went to the party. (= all the boys went)

The bus leaves every hour. (= hourly)

Unlike 'each', 'every' does not refer to two things in a set:

There are five fingers on each hand. (= on each of your hands)

There are five fingers on every hand. (= on everyone's hands)

Sentence Practice

The refrigerator is empty. Alex ate everything.

We were not hungry, so we did not eat anything.

The film was in English, so I could not understand anything they said.

Everything happens for a reason.

As long as you are not doing anything wrong, there is nothing to worry about.

I play with my dog every Saturday morning.

Every difficult situation teaches us something.

Each success has some failure along the way.

Each of the girls was given a gift.

I bought each of them an ice cream.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word: everything, anything, each or every. There can be
more than one correct answer.

At first, I had a hard time adjusting to the food in India. Was so spicy!

Dish was spicy.

I wondered, "Is there here that is not spicy?"

I didn't have to eat.

I still don't know about this country.

Day, I learn something new about this country.

Year, the people celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights.

Sentence Building

Answer the following questions using everything and anything.

Example: Is there anything you didn't understand? → "I understood everything."

Is there anything you need?

Is there anything you don't know?

Is there anything you can't do?

Is anything wrong?

Is there anything you don't like?

Is there anything you still have to do?

Is there anything you don't eat?

Is there anything you are allergic to?

Whoever, Whatever, Whichever, Wherever, Whenever, However

After this lesson, you will be able to say that you don't care about who someone is,
what/where/when something is, and how something is done.

Sentence Practice

No matter how you do it, it is fine by me.

However you do it, it is fine by me.

You can order no matter what.

You can order whatever you like.

Choose whichever you feel like eating.

We can go anywhere you want. It doesn't matter where.

We can go wherever you want.

I can come to your house, no matter when you call me.

I can come to your house whenever you are ready.

It doesn't matter who asks for it first, give it to that person.

Give it to whoever asks for it first.

Grammar Focus

Adding –ever to question words changes their meaning to "it doesn’t matter
how/what/which/when/where/who".

Who + '-ever' = whoever (it doesn't matter who)

What + '-ever' = whatever (it doesn't matter what)

Where + '-ever' = wherever (it doesn't matter where)

When + '-ever' = whenever (it doesn't matter when)

Which + '-ever' = whichever (it doesn't matter which one)

How + '-ever' = however (it doesn't matter how/in what way)

'However/whatever/whichever/whenever/wherever/whoever' are called compound relative

pronouns. They can be used as subjects, objects and adverbs, or as conjunctions to join a
clause (= partial sentence) to the rest of the sentence.

However = in any way

How should I do your hair?

You can do it however you want. (= adverb modifying 'do')

Whatever = any thing (unlimited choices)

What should I do today?

Do whatever you feel like. (= object of action 'do')

Whichever = any one from a limited set

Which book should I choose?

Choose whichever you prefer. (= object of action 'choose')

Whenever = any time

When should I come to your place?

Come whenever you are ready. (= adverb that modifies 'come')

Wherever = any place

Where should I live?

You can live wherever you like. (= adverb that modifies 'live')

Whoever = any person

Who should I invite to my birthday party?

You can invite whoever you want. (= object of action 'invite')

Tip: 'Whoever' can also be used as a subject, when the identity of the subject is not important
or unknown. For instance, if you say, "Whoever left their dog at the park is very
irresponsible!", you are saying that the person who left their dog is very irresponsible.

Dialogue Practice

Sunday is my birthday, so I can do whatever I want. - And will your parents buy you whatever
you want?

Yes! And I can invite whoever I want to my birthday party.

Can I decorate the tree however I want to? - Hmm. That depends.

Can I put the big star anywhere? - No, you can't put the big star wherever you want. You
should put it on the top of the tree.

And does it matter what branches I put the bulbs on? - No, you can put the bulbs on whichever
branches you want.

Where should we open the next branch of our coffee shop? - We have a big budget, so we can
open it wherever we want.
Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate word: whoever, whatever, wherever, whenever,
whichever or however.

Tell comes to go away.

I go, I bring my dog.

I travel, I bring my dog.

Much he exercises, he is still overweight.

Here are two books. One you choose, you are sure to like it.

I ate last night really upset my stomach. I'm still throwing up.

Long it takes, I will climb Mt. Everest!

Here is a red pen and a black pen. Take one you need.

Sentence Building

You are going to spend a day with a friend. They keep asking you about your preferences. Tell
them that you're fine with anything using compound relative pronouns.

Example: Eat out or make dinner together? → "I'm fine with whichever."

Do you want to eat Italian, Chinese, or Spanish?

Are there any foods you don't like?

Are there any movies you want to see?

Is there anything you want to do?

Is there any day that you want to meet up?

Is there anywhere you want to go?

Is there a way you want to spend this day?

Do you want to have a picnic or eat at a restaurant?

Do you want to go hiking, swimming, or jogging?

Omission of “That”

This lesson will help you speak more casual English.

Sentence Practice

He said (that) he couldn’t come today.

I am happy (that) you decided to talk to us.

Please speak louder so (that) we can hear you.

This is the house (that) we were talking about.

She knows (that) this is a delicate situation.

I am glad (that) you could come.

Grammar Focus

The word 'that' can be left out...

In indirect speech: He told me (that) he would invest in the stock market.

After adjectives: I am happy (that) you passed the exam.

In two-word conjunctions ('so that', 'now that', 'provided that', etc): We will get there in time,
provided (that) we leave now.

When it is a relative pronoun replacing an object: He is the man (that) we were talking about.

Tip: 'That' cannot be omitted when it acts as the subject of a relative clause. For example, in
the sentence "Sneakers are a kind of shoes that are used when exercising," 'that' cannot be
omitted.

Dialogue Practice

Here is my present! - Thanks!

Do you like it? - I love it! This is the best gift (that) I've ever received!

I'm happy (that) you like it!

Be quiet, so (that) you don't wake up your dad. He's still sleeping. - But he promised (that) he
would wake up early on Sunday to take me to the park!
Someone stole Matt's phone. A police officer shows Matt a photo of a suspect. - Is he the man
who robbed you?

Yes, I think (that) that's him. He looks just like the thief! - OK, now (that) we've identified the
suspect, we will need to arrest him.

Fill in the Blanks

Determine whether the sentences are grammatically correct with or without the word "that"
in the blanks. Some of the sentences are correct with and without "that".

I am sad your dog died.

This is a movie was very popular in 1999.

We thought you really liked the movie.

I disagree with his belief there is a God.

He said he could not come to your party.

He could not come to the party we planned for your birthday.

They climbed the mountain is the tallest in the world.

That is the mountain we were thinking about climbing.

The lion hid behind a tree so the deer could not see it.

Sentence Building

You have moved into a new neighborhood or house. Say things about or to your
neighbors/housemates using 'that' omission and the following.

Example: Happy, everyone is friendly → I'm happy (that) everyone is friendly.

Happy, live with friendly people

Suggest, have a picnic

Hope, my other friends can move here too

Know, my friends will like it too

Conditionals Part 1

After this lesson, you will be able to tell others about the results of certain events.

Sentence Practice

If you stay too long at the beach, you get sunburned.

If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils.

If it is snowing, it is cold outside.

If I start smoking, I will become addicted.

If I read the newspaper, I will be informed.

Grammar Focus

There are four types of conditionals: 0 Conditional, 1st Conditional, 2nd Conditional, and 3rd
Conditional. In Part 1, we will take a look at the 0 Conditional and the 1st Conditional, which
both use present tense verbs.

0 Conditional

We use the 0 Conditional to talk about general truths - situations that are real and will
definitely happen. The form of the 0 Conditional is: If + present tense verb, + present tense
verb.

Real condition → definite result

If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils.

1st Conditional

The 1st Conditional is less certain than the 0 Conditional, so it talks about things that will
probably happen. The form of the 1st Conditional is: If + present tense verb, + 'will' verb.

Possible condition → probable result

If you wear a sweater, you will be hot.

Conditionals as Imperatives

The sentences above follow the structure 'condition → result'. However, we can also use
conditionals to give commands, requests, and advice.

If you don't understand something, ask the teacher.

If you hate someone, don't talk to them.

Dialogue Practice

If you buy one bottle of detergent, you will get a second one for free - If that's the case, I'll go
get another one!

If you want a visa to study in the U.S., you need to show us an acceptance letter from a school.
- Here is the acceptance letter.

Um... This acceptance letter does not say how long you will be studying. - I should be studying
there for four years.

I'm sorry, but if you want a student visa, your school will need to provide this information. -
Oh, I see...

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blank with the appropriate form of the verb: the present tense or future tense.

Example: If you learn English, you (have) more job opportunities. → "will have"

In general, if a typhoon comes, it (rain).

If a typhoon comes next week, it (rain).

If you turn the fan on now, the room (get) cooler.

Usually, if you turn the fan on, the room (get) cooler.

If they come to the party, there (be) too many people.

If you study hard, you (pass) the test.

If the air pressure is low, the weather (not be) nice.

If the air pressure is high, the weather (be) nice.

Sentence Building

Talk about what happens to you when you do (or don't do) the following using the 1st
Conditional.

Example: If I listen to music while I work... → "I will get distracted" / "I will work better."

If I eat too much for lunch...

If I wake up late...

If I don't eat breakfast...

If I don't shave...

If I drink water before going to bed...

If I make more money...

If I drink alcohol...

Conditionals Part 2

In Part 1, we learned about the 0 and 1st Conditionals. In this part, we will learn to use the 2nd
Conditional and the 3rd Conditional to talk about things that are much less likely to happen.

Sentence Practice

2nd Conditional

If I were rich, I would buy a huge house.

If I had a big house, I would hire maids to clean my rooms.

3rd Conditional

If I had watched TV, I would have known what happened.

If I had known, I would have done something about it.

Grammar Focus

Remember: Conditional forms are used to wonder about something that can happen, or to
express that some action can only take place if something else is done first.

2nd Conditional:

We use the 2nd Conditional to talk about an event that is not likely to happen. The form of the
2nd Conditional is: If + past tense verb, + would + verb.

Event that is not likely to happen → probable result

If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.

3rd Conditional:

The 3rd conditional is used to imagine the possible results of an event that did not actually
happen. The form of the 3rd Conditional is: If + past perfect +, (would have + past participle).

Event that did not happen → possible past result

If I had studied hard, I would have gotten a good grade.

Tip: You can also put the 'if' clause at the end of the sentence. For example: "I would have
gotten a good grade if I had studied hard." or "I would travel around the world if I won the
lottery."

Dialogue Practice

What would you do if you had a million dollars? - If I had a million dollars, I would give half of it
to charity. What about you? - If I had a million dollars, I would travel around the world.

I got offers from Microsoft and Apple. Microsoft is giving me a more senior position. - If I were
you, I would take Microsoft's offer.

I wish we hadn't watched such a scary movie last night! - Yeah, I wouldn't have had a
nightmare if we hadn't watched that movie!

What?! The scale says I am now 70 kilograms! I was just 65 last year. - You would not have
gained weight if you had exercised more.
Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the appropriate form of the (verb): past tense or perfect past tense.

Example: If I (can) fly, I would fly all around the world. → "could"

If she (win) the singing competition, she would be famous.

If you (meet) Jake, you would have remembered him.

If you (remind) me, I would have remembered to come!

If I (know) he was coming to the party, I would not have come.

If you (not eat) so much junk food, you would not have gained so much weight.

Sentence Building

Answer these questions using the 2nd Conditional: 'If + past tense verb + would + verb'.

Example: If you had a lot of money, what would you do? → "If I had a lot of money, I would
buy a house for my family."

If you had a son, what would you name him?

If you had a daughter, what would you name her?

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose?

If you could have any job, what would it be?

If you could have any superpower, what would you choose?

If you had a lot of money, what would you do?

Suppose, Pretend, Imagine

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about situations that are not true in real life, but that
you think of as true.

Sentence Practice

My daughters like to pretend to be princesses.

Suppose you had lots of money; what would you do with it?

Imagine how life would be without the internet.

Grammar Focus

Pretend

'Pretend' means to behave as though something is true, while knowing it is not. The form is:
pretend + [infinitive verb] or [simple sentence].

A simple sentence can be SV, SVC, or SVO. (S = Subject, V = Verb, O = Object, C = Complement).

My daughters like to pretend to be princesses. (= 'pretend' + infinitive verb 'to be')

I saw a bear, so I pretended to be asleep.

They like to pretend they are princesses. (= 'pretend' + SVC)

Suppose

If you 'pretend' something is true, you know it is false, but act as if it were real. If you 'suppose'
something is true, you think of it as true for the purpose of a conversation.

If you want to talk about something that is happening now, use suppose + [simple sentence in
present tense]. Otherwise, use the past tense.

Suppose we miss our flight today. How would we get home? ('miss' is in present tense)

Suppose you owned an island. What would you do with it? ('owned' is in past tense)

Imagine

To 'imagine' means to picture something in your mind. Use 'imagine' like this: imagine +
[object] + [gerund verb] or imagine if + [object] + [past tense verb].

Imagine if you lived in ancient Greece!

Imagine if we lived in ancient Greece!

Imagine living in ancient Greece! (the object can be omitted if it's 'you' or 'us')
Dialogue Practice

I saw Philip the other day, but pretended not to see him. I'm not brave enough to talk to him. -
You need to make a move! Just imagine what could happen!

Easier said than done! - Suppose you asked him out to a movie. What's the worst thing that
could happen? - He could reject me.

Let's practice! Pretend I'm Philip. Ask me out to a movie. - No. I think he'll just reject me. Let's
just pretend I don't like Philip and talk about something else.

Find the Mistakes

Correct the mistakes in the following sentences.

Example: Suppose you own an island. → "Suppose you owned an island."

Susan pretends being fine when she is not.

Tim pretended not understanding French.

Imagine him to be the president.

Imagine be in outer space.

Sentence Building

Make sentences using suppose, pretend, or imagine and the following words.

Example: Not like bananas → "Suppose you did not like bananas. Would you still eat them?"

Travel to Mars

Be on Mars

Hate your job

Get your dream job

Have a child

Not have any worries

Won a competition
Conjunctions/Prepositions of Contrast (In Spite Of / Despite / Although / Even Though)

After this lesson, you will be able to combine two sentences that contrast.

Sentence Practice

Even though he was a good worker, he was never promoted.

Although she studied French in high school, she can’t speak it anymore.

In spite of the rain, we played football.

Despite having a stomach ache, he came to the party.

Grammar Focus

Independent/Dependent Clauses

A complex sentence is a sentence that has an independent clause and a dependent clause. The
independent clause is a complete sentence. The dependent clause is not a complete sentence;
it 'depends' on the main clause and starts with a conjunction:

[Independent clause]

I ate lunch.

[Dependent clause]

While I watched TV (= not a complete sentence; 'while' is the conjunction)

[Complex sentences]

→ While I watched TV, I ate lunch.

→ I ate lunch while I watched TV.

As you can see in the two complex sentences above, the independent clause can come before
or after the dependent clause.
How to use 'Although/Even though'

Form the dependent clause like this: 'although/even though' + Subject + Verb.

Although we left late, we arrived at the airport on time.

Even though we left late, we arrived at the airport on time.

'Even though' feels stronger than 'although.'

How to use 'In spite of/Despite'

We can convey the same information using a prepositional phrase: 'in spite of/despite' +
noun/pronoun/gerund.

In spite of our delayed departure, we arrived on time. (noun)

Despite leaving late, we arrived on time. (gerund)

Sentence Practice

Dependent Clause

Even though she loved him, she never said it.

Although I have enough money, I will not travel this year.

Although he is a doctor, he does not earn a lot of money.

We are not very close, even though he is my brother.

Prepositional Phrase

In spite of the storm, the Internet connection was stable.

In spite of his failures, he was confident.

Despite her bad grades, she caught up quickly.

There were still people on the streets, in spite of the rain.

In spite of her parents' wishes, she dropped out of university.

In spite of being sick, he came to work today. (gerund)

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks to complete the sentences.

He didn't want to, he had to study for the test.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

He didn't like his job, he did not quit.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

The fact that the clock is broken, it is still valuable.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

I'm going to the market, the rain.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

He waited for her, she did not come.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

He ran very quickly being terribly overweight.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite
It is the weekend, I still have to work.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

He is super smart, he never really shows it.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

He never said it, I am sure he was mad at me.

Although/Even though

In spite of/despite

Sentence Building

Make sentences using although/even though/despite/in spite of. The [words in brackets] are
for the dependent clauses and the other words are for the independent clauses.

Example: [run ten kilometers] out of shape → "Even though I run ten kilometers everyday, I am
out of shape."

[Short] good at basketball

[Height] good at basketball

[Laptop broke] didn't buy a new one

[Broken laptop] finished his work

[Having left on time] arrived late

[Left on time] were late

[Bad weather] enjoyed my vacation

[The weather was terrible] went outside

Past Perfect Simple

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about events that happened at specific times in the
past.

Sentence Practice

I had studied Italian before I moved to Rome.

He didn’t read that book because he hadn’t bought it.

They had already been at the office when I got there.

You had known this information before the teacher told you.

She had washed her car before it rained.

I had spoken to her before the job interview.

Grammar Focus

How to form the Past Perfect

We form the 'past perfect' tense with:

The past tense of the helping verb 'have' = had

The perfect (completed) form of the main verb = past participle

In other words, had + main verb (past participle):

I had already finished it.

Why use the Past Perfect

Past perfect tense can tell us that:

1. Something occurred before another action in the past.

Jim had already finished his lunch when Bob saw him. (= both actions [Jim finishing lunch and
Bob seeing Jim] happened in the past, but lunch came first.)

2. Something happened before a specific time in the past.

I had never been to Australia until last year.

He had been sick until yesterday.

Sentence Practice

I had moved to Japan before I turned 18.

He couldn’t buy the cake because he had forgotten his wallet at home.

We had never traveled to Germany before he invited us.

I had taken a shower before I went out.

I fixed the roof because it had been damaged by the storm.

I had not entered the room before you called me.

She hadn’t had so much fun for a long time before meeting you all.

I told her that you had promised to help us.

The children who had not had those lessons in school were taught separately.

Had she studied English before she moved to the USA?

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the past perfect simple form of the verb in parentheses.

I (live) in Hong Kong, before I moved to New Delhi.

By the time this company contacted me, I (find) a new job already.
They (live) together for five years, before they got married.

The children (eat) so much for lunch that they could not eat dinner that day.

We (want) to move to Europe, but then my mother got sick, so we decided not to.

My secretary (print) the documents in time for our meeting at 3 pm yesterday.

How long (date) before you got married?

How long (wait) before the police arrived?

Sentence Building

Make sentences using the past perfect and the following words.

Example: Lived together for five years, got married → "They had lived together for five years
before they got married."

Plane left, arrived at the airport

Snowed at night, school was cancelled

Dated for 7 years, Tom left Julie

Lived in Kuala Lumpur for 5 years, graduated from university

Drank a lot, could not drive

Bought a house, housing bubble

Did not do homework, could not answer question in class

Did not finish lunch, meeting started

Past Perfect Continuous

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about continuous actions that you have taken in the
past, before another event or situation occurred.

Sentence Practice

I had been teaching English for five years before I quit.

They had been working for fifteen years before resigning.

We had been chatting with each other for two years before we met in person.
Grammar Focus

How to form the Past Perfect Continuous

We form the 'past perfect continuous' tense with:

The past perfect of the verb 'be': had been

The continuous form of the main verb: verb in -ing form

For example: 'teach' becomes 'had been teaching', 'work' becomes 'had been working', and
'chat' becomes 'had been chatting'.

Why use the Past Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect Continuous tells us that an action started and ended in the past.

Past continuous: The children are tired now because they were playing outside all day. (the
children were playing outside until now)

Past Perfect Continuous: The children were tired yesterday because they had been playing
outside all day. (The children started and stopped playing yesterday.)

Past Perfect Continuous is often used with the duration of the action and the result of the
action.

I had been studying English for five years when I moved to Melbourne.

Jane had been swimming for a decade when she won a gold medal at the Olympics.

Our dog had been attending training classes for a month before he finally learned to sit.

The architect had been designing buildings for sixty years before he retired.

Tip: Do not use Past Perfect Continuous with stative verbs, such as 'be', 'like', 'have', 'live',
'know', and 'believe'. These verbs describe a state of the being and not an action, so they do
not need the continuous form. For example, "He had been living there since last year" is
incorrect. Say instead: "He had lived there since last year.
Sentence Practice

I had been showing her around the city until she managed to get by on her own.

I had been fixing stuff around the house until I got the money to hire a repairman.

She had been teaching art until she decided to have her own exhibition.

Hadn’t we been meeting regularly until you moved away?

You had been practicing guitar almost every day until you got a job.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the past perfect continuous form of the verb in parentheses.

Example: We (travel) the world for ten months when we ran out of money. → 'had been
traveling'

They (look) for their cat for three days until it suddenly reappeared.

We (wait) at the bus stop for half an hour when the bus finally arrived.

I (be) in the house the whole day, so I wanted to go out for dinner.

He (work) for the same company for ten years when he was laid off.

I (stand) the whole day, so my legs were tired.

It (rain) for a week before the sun finally came out again.

Sentence Building

Talk about actions that started and ended in the past, using the following words and the past
perfect continuous tense.

Example: Work, got promoted → "I had been working for five years when I got promoted."

Use that computer, bought new computer

Learn English, moved to Chicago

Write novels, became famous

Date each other, got married

Sing on the street, was discovered

Reported Speech II (Reported Speech With Past Tense Reporting Verb)

After this lesson, you will be able to report what other people said in the past.

Sentence Practice

He told me that he would come.

She said that she would be fine.

He promised that he would study.

She said that she would study more.

They swore they had never seen him before.

He told me he had seen the movie.

She said that she hadn’t seen them.

Grammar Focus

The last lesson taught you to report what other people often say or just said:

Joanne said today, "I am going to China tomorrow."

→ Joanne said today that she is going to China tomorrow.

In this example, the verb remained in the same tense. However, when we report something
that has already happened, we need to shift the verb tense backward. For example, if today is
Wednesday:

Joanne said on Monday that she was going to China on Tuesday.

Since Joanne has already gone to China, the verb tense changed from present to past: 'is going'
became 'was going'.
To report things that have already happened, we shift the present tense to the past, the past
tense to the past perfect, and the future tense to the conditional mood:

1. Present → Past

Present Simple → Past Simple

He said, “I love you."

→ He said he loved me.

Present Continuous → Past Continuous

He said, “I am buying a new car.”

→ He said that he was buying a new car.

Present Perfect → Past Perfect

She said, “I have bought some pizza.”

→ She said that she had bought some pizza.

Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous

She said, “I have been running for three hours.”

→ She said that she had been running for three hours.

2. Past → Past Perfect

Past Simple → Past Perfect

He said, “I arrived on Monday.”

→ He said that he had arrived on Monday.

Past Perfect → Past Perfect

He told me, “We had gone to the stadium.”

→ He told me that they had gone to the stadium.

Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous

He told me, “We were drinking tea.”

→ He told me that they had been drinking tea.

3. Future → Conditional

Future Simple → Present Conditional

They said, “They will come to the party.”

→ They said that they would come to the party.

Future Continuous → Conditional Continuous

He said, “I will be working on Saturday.”

→ He said that he would be working on Saturday.

Dialogue Practice

I'll order some pizza - I'll buy some drinks.

I'll bring my friends - Zach said that he would order some pizza.

Liam said that he would buy some drinks. - said he would bring his friends.

I want some more beer. - There is more (beer) in the fridge.

Yan-ting said that he wanted some more beer. - Hyun-woo said that there was more in the
fridge.

You didn't come to my birthday party! - I'm sorry. I couldn't come because I had a fever.

Nina said that Ling hadn't gone to her party. - Ling said that she couldn't go, because she had
had a fever.
Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the indirect speech version of the "words in quotations". If the direct
speech sentence has contractions (e.g. 'didn't' instead of 'did not'), use contractions in the
indirect sentence.

Example: "I can swim," said Renuka. → She said that she could swim.

Jim told me, "We're meeting at 5pm." → He said that at 5pm.

"We went to school in the morning," said Renuka and Jim. → They said that to school in the
morning.

I told her, "I love you." → I told her that .

She told me, "I don't love you." → She told me that .

They said, "Arjun always comes to parties." → They said that to parties.

They said, "Arjun always came to parties." → They said that to parties.

They said, "Arjun will come to the party." → They said that to the party.

Sentence Building

Your friend makes a lot of promises that she does not keep. Remind her of the things she said
using the reported speech.

Example: "I will invite you to my house." → You said you would invite me to your house.

"I will call you later."

"I will go with you to Manila."

"I will come to your birthday party."

"I will visit you soon."

"I will exercise with you."

"I will get you a present for your birthday."

"I will buy you lunch sometime."

Reported Speech III (Questions, Imperatives, Time/Place References)

After this lesson, you will be able to report a wider variety of things you heard.

Sentence Practice

Questions

She asked me if I could help her.

I asked my parents if they could pick me up from the airport.

My parents asked me what time my flight was.

He asked me where the hospital was.

Imperatives

The doctor told me to eat more healthily.

Mom says to go do your homework.

My friend advised me to negotiate a higher salary.

Time/Place

He said that he would pay the bills the next day.

They said that they had gotten home an hour before.

He told me that he had gone to the theater the day before.

Grammar Focus

Question

To report a yes-no question, use 'if':

Susan asked, "Can I borrow your book?"

→ Susan asked if she could borrow your book.

To report an open-ended question, reverse the subject and verb in the question:
Susan asked, "Where are you?"

→ Susan asked where you were.

Don't use 'do' or 'did':

Susan asked, "What do you think?"

→ Susan asked what you thought.

Imperative

To indirectly report a command/request/advice/instruction, change the verb into the to-

infinitive form.

Mom says, "Go do your homework!"

→ Mom says to go do your homework.

Time and Place References

When we use past tense reporting verbs (said/told/asked/advised/etc), we change the terms
used for times:

She told, "Come today"

→ She told me to come that day.

The doctor said, "Come back tomorrow"

→ He said to come the next day.

Paul asked, "Did you see the doctor yesterday?"

→ He asked if I had seen the doctor the day before.

Sarah said, "I'm moving next week.

→ Sarah said that she was moving the following week.

Susan asked, "Did you hurt yourself last month?"

Susan asked if I had hurt myself the previous month.

Steve said, "I'm seeing the doctor this Tuesday."

→ Steve said that he was seeing the doctor that Tuesday.

Bill said, "The last time I saw the doctor was a year ago."

→ Bill said that the last time he saw the doctor was a year before.

We change the terms for place and direction as well:

Renuka told me, "Come here."

→ Renuka told me to go there.

Paul said, "This/That room is yours."

→ Paul said that the room was mine.

Note: We don't 'say' a question; we 'ask' a question.

Dialogue Practice

Grace, could you buy party supplies next week? - Sure, I'll do that tomorrow. Who can come
with me? - I can come with you. Lauren, please order a nice birthday cake.

Lauren asked if Grace could buy party supplies the following week. - Grace said she would do
that the next day.

Grace asked who could go with her.

Nathan said he could go with her.

Nathan told Lauren to order a nice birthday cake.

When did you start working here? - About a month ago.

I just started yesterday! - Let me know if you need any help.

The waiter asked when the bartender had started working there.

The bartender said she had started working there the month before.

The waiter said that he had just started the day before.

The bartender told the waiter to let her know if he needed any help.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrase in indirect speech.

The police officer asked me, "Where are you going?" → He asked .

Renuka asked her nephew, "What movie do you like?" → She asked him .

My mother told me, "Go to bed!" → She ordered me .

The teacher told the students, "Don't cheat!" → He advised them .

The general said to his men, "Come here!" → He ordered them .

I asked my neighbor, "Can I borrow your car next week?" → I asked her .

Susan told Joanne, "Don't talk to me until next month!" → Susan told Joanne .

My boss told me, "Finish this report by tomorrow!" → She requested me .

Sentence Building

You are talking to your grandparents. They have forgotten what you told them the last time
you met. Report what you said using indirect speech.

Example: I am going to India next year → I said that I am going to India next year." ('Next year'
has not come yet, so we keep the present continuous tense 'am going'.)

"I have a new job."

"I will work for a British company next month."

"I was sick last week."

"I will graduate from university soon."

"I don't listen to rock music."

Causative Verbs (Let / Make / Have / Get)

By the end of this lesson, you will know more ways to say that you told someone to do
something.

Sentence Practice

Let

Let him go to the concert.

I will let you drive my car when you are ready.

Make

Make him tell the truth.

My grandmother made me apologize for being rude.

Have

Have him attend today’s meeting.

Have your brother bring you the newspaper.

Get

How can I get my children to read more?

The government is trying to get people to stop driving recklessly.

Grammar Focus

Causative Verbs are used when somebody causes something to happen or causes someone to
do something. Here is how to use the causative verbs let, make, have, get:

Let/make/have + person + verb

Get + person + to + verb

Let

We use 'let' in two ways.

1. To let somebody do something is to give them permission to do it:

I let my children play outside before doing their homework. (= They have my permission)

2. To let something happen is to allow it to happen:

Don’t let the water spill from the cup. (= Don't allow the water to spill)

Make

To make someone do something is to force them to do something that they may not want to
do.

I will make him tell the truth. (= he may not want to)

Don’t make her do what she doesn’t want to do. (= Don't force her)

Have

To have someone do something means to give someone the responsibility for some action.

I will have my secretary print the documents out.

We also commonly use the passive form, to have something done:

I will have the documents printed out.

Get

'Get' means 'to arrive', as in "I got to the train station at 5". It therefore has this sense of
'arriving somewhere' or 'achieving some state'. When you 'get' someone to do something, you
put in effort or do a lot of things to make them do it.

To get someone to do something is to persuade them to do something.

I don’t know how to get everybody to listen to me.

I have to get him to try it out.

Note that unlike 'let'/'make'/'have', 'get' is followed by a to-infinitive verb:

I will make him tell me the truth.

I will let him tell me the truth.

I will have him tell me the truth.

I will get him to tell me the truth.

Sentence Practice

Will they let you keep a pet?

Let me have my own room!

They don't let their dog come into the house.

Did your parents make you tidy up your room?

I made my son get up for school.

My husband made me watch his favorite TV show with him.

She will have her secretary send you that form.

I had my plumber come over this weekend to repair the toilet.

They eventually got the company to apologize for its defective products.

We will try to get the government to give more funding to theaters.

Fill in the Blanks

We need to somehow companies to respect the environment.

Get

Let
Every year, teachers their students' parents come in to discuss the students' progress.

Have

Make

Steve Jobs did not his children use too much technology.

Get

Let

The professor his teaching assistant correct the students' essays.

Had

Gets

I finally my husband to wash the dishes. He is so lazy.

Made

Got

Don't your kids play violent video games.

Make

Let

My company me work remotely, so I don't have to go into the office.

Lets

Make

My company doesn't us come to work at a certain time. We come whenever we want.

Make

Let
How can we this company to agree to work with us?

Have

Get

I him tell me what actually happened.

Made

Will get

I him to tell me what actually happened.

Got

Made

Sentence Building

Bob broke the law. Talk about how the government will treat him using causative verbs and
the following situations.

Example: Do community service → The government will make him do community service.

Pay $1000 in fines

Go to jail

Go out of jail after six months

Serve 10 years in prison

Leave the country

Sell his house

Give up his children

Subjunctive I (Requests/Recommendations)

After this lesson, you will be able to make more urgent requests and recommendations.

Sentence Practice

Excerpt from National Anthem of the United Kingdom:

God save our gracious Queen.

Long live our noble Queen.

God save the Queen.

Grammar Focus

Did you notice that the lyrics we read do not say "God saves the Queen" but "God save the
Queen"? This is because the verb 'save' is in the subjunctive form--a verb form that we use to
make requests. This line therefore means, "We request that God save the Queen".

Why do we use the Subjunctive?

We use subjunctive verbs in recommendations and hypothetical situations. This lesson will
focus on forming recommendations and the next lesson will focus on forming hypothetical
statements.

If I were you, I would study. (hypothetical situation: 'I was you')

I suggest that he study. (suggestion: 'he studies')

To express a suggestion or demand, use a subjunctive verb with a related verb/expression:

I suggest that he study.

I recommend that he study.

I ask that he study.

It is best that he study.

It is essential that he study.

It is important that he study.

It is recommended that he study.

How do we use the Subjunctive?

The subjunctive is the plain form of the verb. This means that even if the subject is a singular
third person, the verb does not take an 's' at the end:

Sally exercises → I suggest that she exercise.

John stops smoking → I insist that he stop smoking.

Note that we only use the present subjunctive for recommendations/requests:

I suggest that he study.

I suggested that he study. (= not 'studied')

To negate a subjunctive verb, add 'not' before it:

Negative subjunctive: I suggest that he not study.

Remember: To put an active sentence, such as "I ate a banana," in the passive voice, make the
object 'banana' the subject of the sentence and add the verb 'be' to the past participle form of
the verb: 'A banana was eaten.' To put a subjunctive verb in the passive voice, use the plain
form of the passive verb: 'be' + past participle.

Passive Subjunctive: I suggest that he be fired.

Sentence Practice

Present Subjunctive

He suggested that we cut spending.

He recommended that Mike go see a doctor.

Negative Subjunctive

I asked that he not tell anyone what I said.

It is best that they not attend the meeting.

Passive Subjunctive

She demanded that I be allowed to take part.

He requested that fresh fruit be brought to his room.

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following indicative sentences into subjunctive ones using the words in
parentheses.

Example: I leave the building. (he demanded) → 'He demanded that I leave the building.'

He is awarded a prize. (They proposed)

The project is finished by Friday. (It is necessary)

I visit Cuba. (He recommended)

I submit my application via email. (She advised)

You are more careful in the future. (I asked)

We come over to play video games. (He suggested)

You arrive early for the meeting. (I suggest)

You listen to what I am saying. (It is important)

You wear your seat belt. (It is recommended)

Sentence Building

Give advice to your friend who is trying to live more healthily using the subjunctive and the
following words.

Exercise more → "I suggest that you exercise more." sleep earlier → "It is important that you
sleep earlier."

Eat less

Go to the gym

Drink more water

Eat vegetables

Sleep 8 hours a day

Don't overwork yourself

Subjunctive II (Counterfactual 'If' Statements (If, As If))

The last lesson focused on subjunctives used for requests. After this lesson, you will be able to
use subjunctives to talk about things that are not true.

Sentence Practice

If I were you, I would study more.

She looks as if she heard some bad news.

It looks as though you didn’t study.

Grammar Focus

In addition to forming recommendations and requests, the subjunctive mood is also used to
talk about hypothetical situations.

'If' statements

When you use 'if' to talk about something that is not factual, put the verb in the subjunctive
mood.

Note that the following sentences use the past subjunctive form of the verb 'be' instead of the
standard past tense ('I was, he was').

If I were you, I would tell her the truth. (Fact: I am not you)

What would happen if he were elected president? (Fact: he was not elected)

As If

Use 'as if' with linking verbs like 'look', 'feel', and 'seem', to describe some state using some
other state that is not true. The structure is: as if + [subject] + [subjunctive verb]. Some native
speakers say 'as though' instead of 'as if'.
He looks as if he were 70 years old. (= He is not 70 years old. But appears similar to a 70-year-
old.)

After I won the race, I felt as though I were dreaming. (= I am not dreaming. But my feeling is
similar to dreaming.)

We can also use 'as if/though' to describe actions using some state:

She acts as if she were the boss.

They yelled as though they were in danger.

Subjunctive in Everyday Speech

In everyday speech, it is becoming more acceptable to not use the subjunctive mood. For
instance some native speakers say "If I was you, I would tell her the truth" and "He looks as
if/like he is 70 years old." (In everyday speech, we can also replace 'as if' with 'like'.)

Dialogue Practice

Disinterest

I have something great to tell you. I feel like I won the lottery! - Andrei does not show great
interest.

Uh huh...

Hey, don't just act as if you're listening! Listen to my good news!

During a Lesson

Do you understand what I'm saying? You look as if you do. - Oh, I actually don't understand. I
just nod like I understand.

At Work

Josh always acts as if he were the boss. - Yeah. Imagine how arrogant he would be if he were
actually the boss!
Fill in the Blanks

They spoke in a low voice they were hiding from someone.

If

As if

It looks you can't remember anything.

If

As if

What would you do you quit your job?

If

As if

She moved her lips she wanted to spit something out.

If

As if

Sentence Building

You're playing charades with your friends. You have a pile of cards with the following words on
them. Tell your teammate to 'act as if' they were the following things.

Example: Headache → "Act as if you had a headache."

Carrot → "Act as if you were eating a carrot."

Drum

Airplane

Horse

Milk

Bee

Snail
Subjunctive III (I Wish, If only)

After this lesson, you will be able to talk about wishes and regrets using the subjunctive mood.

Sentence Practice

I wish I had a boyfriend.

I wish I had gone to your party.

If only I could speak English!

If only I had slept more!

Grammar Focus

I wish

'To wish' is to want something that is unlikely to happen. We use 'I wish' to talk about:

1. something we wish were different about our present situation: 'I wish' + (past tense
sentence):

I wish I had a boyfriend. (= 'have' becomes 'had' in past tense)

2. a wish or regret about the past. The form is 'I wish' + (past perfect sentence):

I wish I had finished my homework. (= 'finish' becomes 'had finished' in past perfect)

If only

'If only' means the same thing as 'I wish' but is stronger. We use 'if only' to talk about:

1. A strong wish that things could be different. The form is: 'If only' + (past tense sentence)

If only I could speak English! (= 'can' becomes 'could' in past tense)

2. A strong wish or a regret about the past. The form is: 'If only' + (past perfect sentence).

If only I had brought my wallet! (= 'bring' becomes 'had brought' in past perfect)

Dialogue Practice

Someone is playing piano. Jessica and Ling listen. - Ahh, it's so nice! If only I knew how to play
piano - Yeah, I wish I knew how to play piano too.

I wish I were Joe. He got a job last year, and doesn't have to worry about finding a job
anymore. - That must be so nice. If only I already had a job too.

I'm always running out of money. I wish I made more money. - Yeah, if only money grew on
tres - Or if only we won the lottery!

Find the Mistakes

Find the mistakes in the following sentences and rephrase them so they are correct.

I wish I am married!

I wish I am at the concert now!

I wish I went to the concert yesterday.

If only I have a better internet connection.

Sentence Building

Your friend is always complaining about his life. He either wishes his life were different or
regrets not doing something! Help him express his wishes and regrets using If only and I wish.

Example: A pilot → "I wish I were a pilot."

A millionaire

A movie director

Smarter

More good-looking

Taller

Have more free time

Did not quit my last job

Common Punctuation Errors

After this lesson, you will be able to avoid some of the most common mistakes in written
English.

Grammar Focus

Punctuation refers to the symbols we use in writing that help make our sentences clearer.
Punctuation includes the comma (,), the period (.), parentheses (), brackets [].

The Comma Splice

Whereas periods or full stops (.) indicate a long pause in speech, commas (,) indicate a slight
pause. For example:

"Hi, my name is Peter." (= brief pause after 'Hi')

"Hi. My name is Peter." (= longer pause)

Native speakers often use commas in writing to indicate a brief pause:

I ordered pizza, it'll come in 30 minutes.

However, in formal writing, we are not supposed to use commas to join two complete
sentences, such as "I ordered pizza" and "it'll come in five minutes." Using a comma like this is
called a 'comma splice'.

To fix this, you can change the comma to a semicolon (;) or a period (.) or use a conjunction
after the comma:

I ordered pizza; it'll come in five minutes.

I ordered pizza. It'll come in five minutes.

I ordered pizza, and it'll come in five minutes.

Using Commas to Separate Items

Commas are also used to separate words in a series of three or more items. You can put a
comma between the last two items or leave it out. Both options are acceptable.

I like apples, bananas, and grapes.

I like apples, bananas and grapes.

Some grammarians think there should be a comma separating the last two items in a series,
while others disagree. Sometimes, not using the last comma is confusing. For example:

I like my friends, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

This sentence can mean both 'I like my friends, I like Hillary Clinton, and I like Donald Trump.'
However, it can also mean 'I like my friends (who are) Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.' We
can clear up the sentence in the following ways:

Using the final comma: I like my friends, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump.

Rearranging the words: I like Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump and my friends.

Apostrophe for possession

When we want to indicate the plural of something, we do not use an apostrophe:

These kittens are so cute! (kittens = (plural))

These kitten’s are so cute! (incorrect: kitten's = (possessive) )

We only use apostrophes to indicate possession.

This is the kitten's ball. (= this ball belongs to the kitten)

This is the girl’s computer. (= this computer belongs to the girl)

When there is more than one owner and the word ends with an 's', we do not add an
additional 's' after the apostrophe.
This is the girls’ computer. (= this computer belongs to the girls)

"This is the girls's computer" would be incorrect.

Apostrophe for contraction

We can also use apostrophes to indicate missing letters from contractions (making some words
shorter).

I am → I’m

He is → He’s

It is → It’s

Can not → Can’t

We will → We’ll

Note that It's does not mean the possessive of 'it'. The possessive form of 'it' is its:

Its color is so pretty!

It's a kitten. (= It is a kitten)

Punctuation rules differ by region

In American English, the punctuation that ends a quote goes inside the quotation marks, not
outside.

She said, ”This is wonderful!” (= correct in American English_)

She said, “This is wonderful”!

Language Practice

Choose the correct sentence based on the rules we learned today.

Which sentence is correct?

I went to a restaurant, I forgot my wallet.

I went to a restaurant, but I forgot my wallet.

Which sentence is correct?

This book is hers.

This book is her's.

Which sentence is correct?

They dont go to school today.

They don't go to school today.

Which sentence is correct?

She said, "I had a great time today".

She said, "I had a great time today."

Which sentence is correct?

It's fur was the prettiest at the pet shop.

Its fur was the prettiest at the pet shop.

Which sentence is correct?

Don't quit your job.

Dont quit your job.

Which sentence is correct?

I wanted to get some rest, I couldn't fall asleep.

I wanted to get some rest, but I couldn't fall asleep.

Which sentence is correct?

He warned us, "Never leave the doors unlocked."

He warned us, "Never leave the doors unlocked".

Which sentence is correct?

These airplanes, cars, and stuffed animals are the boys' toys.

These airplanes, cars, and stuffed animals are the boys's toys.

Find the Mistakes

You are an editor. Find the mistake(s) in each sentence.

Example: We went out, we went to a concert. → "We went out, and we went to a concert." /
"We went out; we went to a concert." / "We went out. We went to a concert."

This is Mark's football, not your's.

Ill never know if you wont tell me!

All the boy's in the classroom have to wear blue sweaters black shoes and tie's everyday.

My house is more attractive than their's.

Cant you tell the difference between those two?

Hurry up Mark will be late!

He started crying, he felt better once again.

Exceptions of Grammar Rules in Informal Conversations

After this lesson, you will have a better understanding of informal spoken English.

Sentence Practice

I would never!

That won’t do you no good.

Will do.

Already on my way.

Finished work?

Grammar Focus

There are two main types of language: formal and informal.

Formal language is used in official papers, business environments, academic writing, official
speeches, legal documents, and other official settings.

Informal language is used in interactions with friends and family, and other informal settings.

When using informal speech, native speakers do not always follow the rules of grammar. Here
are some examples.

1. Rule: "Do not end a sentence with a preposition."

Formal: With whom should I study math?

Informal: Who should I study math with?

Note: Many people argue that ending a sentence with a preposition is wrong only if the
preposition is redundant ("Where are you at?" vs "Where are you?").

2. Rule: "A sentence must express a complete thought"

A sentence must have a subject (noun) and a verb (action). In informal speech however,
people often speak in sentence fragments - sentences that are missing something or that don't
express a complete thought.

Formal: I would never do something like that!

Informal: I would never!

3. Rule: "Form complete questions"

In informal speech, people often form simplified questions.

Formal: Did you really say that to Mark?

Informal: You really said that to Mark?

4. Rule: "Never use two negative words in the same sentence."

To express a negative thought, we normally only negate one word in the sentence.
Formal: That won't do you any good.

Informal: That won't do you no good.

Note: The first three examples are common among native speakers in most English-speaking
countries. However, the fourth example, double negation, is only broken in certain dialects of
English, such as African American Vernacular English and Southern American English.

Dialogue Practice

Dinner's ready! - Coming!

One second!

Where are you from? - The US.

Whereabouts? - Minnesota.

Oh I know Minnesota. I've been there! - You have?!?!

Are you coming to my birthday party later? - Yeah, after I eat dinner.

After you... what? - After I eat dinner.

Ok, well don't get lazy and not show up. - I wouldn't dare (to do that)!

Language Practice

Determine which of the following sentences are written in informal language and which are
written in formal language.

She didn't dance with nobody.

Formal

Informal

Switched off the light and went to bed.

Formal
Informal

Coming tomorrow?

Formal

Informal

Who were you talking to?

Formal

Informal

To whom do I owe the pleasure?

Formal

Informal

With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?

Formal

Informal

Who am I speaking to?

Formal

Informal

He wondered where she had come from.

Formal

Informal
Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences using informal English. The rules of formal English are
provided for your reference.

Example: The little girl has no one with whom to play. → "The little girl has no one to play
with."

Do you know from where she comes?

We didn't see anything.

Are you ready to go?

I wouldn't dare upset her!

I would never eat someone's food without asking!

I'm not talking to anybody until I finish this project.

The Rules

"Do not end a sentence with a preposition."

"A sentence must express a complete thought"

"Form complete questions"

"Never use two negative words in the same sentence."

Exclamatory Sentences (What/How)

After this lesson, you will be able to express amazement, annoyance, and other strong
emotions.

Sentence Practice

What

What a tall building!

What a beautiful beach!

What an awful fever he has!

How

How beautiful!
How rude of him!

How kind of him!

Grammar Focus

An exclamatory sentence is used to express a strong emotion. It starts with a “How” or a

“What” and ends with an exclamation mark (!).

How to form Exclamatory 'What!' sentences

To form an exclamatory 'what' sentence with a singular noun, use the form: 'What a(n)
[adjective] [noun]!' For an exclamatory sentence with a plural noun, simply remove the article
'a(n)'.

What a tall building!

What tall buildings!

How to form Exclamatory 'How!' sentences

Exclamatory 'how' sentences are formed in this way: 'How + adjective/adverb!'

How beautiful!

To form a 'how' exclamatory phrase with someone or something, you can say 'how [adjective]
of someone/something'.

How kind of the young man!

How rude of that man!

You can add an infinitive verb phrase to explain a reason for your exclamation:

How kind of the young man to help the old man cross the street!

How rude of the man to talk on his phone during the movie!
If you replace the person/thing you are talking about, make sure to use an object pronoun:
'How kind of him!' (not 'he').

Dialogue Practice

What a cute cat you have! - Isn't she adorable?

Look at that sunset! - Oh, how gorgeous!

How is your father doing? - He's much better now. How nice of you to ask!

Steve borrowed money from me again. - How rude of him to keep borrowing money from you!

I hope he pays me back someday. - How silly of you to lend money to someone like that!

Fill in the Blanks

A wonderful story (that is)!

What

How

Wonderful!

What

How

An adorable dog (they have)!

What

How

Adorable!

What

How
Terrible joke!

What a

How a

Terrible!

What

How

Lovely weather!

What

What a

How

Lovely!

What

What a

How

Sentence Building

A friend is telling you about their week. Respond using exclamatory sentences and the
adjectives provided in the word bank.

Example: "My car broke down on the way to work." → "How frustrating!"

"I just bought a puppy!"

"I worked 80 hours this week!"

"I finally bought the dress I've wanted to buy since last year!"

"I passed the licensing exam. I can be a nurse now!"

"My father's surgery went well."

"I found the solution to a problem at work, but no one will let me try it out."
Word Bank

Tiring

Terrible

Frustrating

Annoying

Great

Lucky

Great news

Amazing

Relief

Inversion in Conditional Sentences

After this lesson, you will be able to understand a very formal type of conditional grammar.

Note: The expressions taught in this lesson are formal and are not usually found in everyday
conversation. Familiarize yourself with them so that you understand them, but do not feel a
need to use them when speaking.

Sentence Practice

Should you see Mark, tell him to call me.

Were he to come to work on Saturday, we would be grateful.

Were I you, I would eat breakfast every morning.

Had we come earlier, we would have gotten champagne.

Grammar Focus

We have learned to form conditionals using the word 'if'. In formal contexts, it is possible to
form conditional statements by using inversions instead of 'if'.

Were you to...

In sentences with 'if [subject] were to...', remove the 'if' and move 'were' to the front:

If you were to come tonight, I would be very happy.

→ Were you to come tonight, I would be very happy.

Had you...

In sentences with 'if [subject] had...', remove the 'if' and move 'had' to the front:

If I had known he would lie to me, I wouldn’t have trusted him.

→ Had I known that he would lie to me, I wouldn’t have trusted him.

Should you...

Note that the 'should' here is not the same 'should' as in 'you should wake up'. It is a formal
way to show that a situation is possible.

In sentences with 'if [subject] should...', remove the 'if' and move 'should' to the front:

If they should go to the party, they would have a good time.

→ Should they go to the party, they would have a good time.

Sentence Practice

Were I to come with you on this trip, I would have to ask my boss for a few days off.

Were they to have stayed a while longer, I would have lost my temper.

Had he come earlier, there wouldn’t have been anyone at home.

Had he not been careful, he would have fallen into the hole in the pavement.

Should he decide to buy a new car, he would have to sell his old one.

Should you have any questions, please ask me.

Should you come across my pen, please return it to me.

Rephrasing Sentences

Invert the bold sections of these sentences.

If you should get hired, you will be very happy at this company.

If they worked harder, they would be paid more.

If they had bought a new computer, they could have played this game.

If you had taken swimming lessons, you would know how to swim.

If they should arrive earlier, tell them to wait for me outside.

If you need more information, call our office.

If she had been more cautious, she wouldn't have had to buy a new phone.

If I had known about her behavior, I would have fired her already.

If it had not been for his help, we would not have found this house.

If it were not for my father, I would not have gone to university.

Sentence Building

Your friends are a mess. Jokingly lecture them using the 'had you + past tense' form.

Example: He forgot to bring an umbrella and is now wet. → "Had you brought an umbrella!"

She didn't wear a coat and is now cold.

He didn't put on sunscreen and is now burnt.

She forgot to turn in her invoice, and was not paid at work.

He forgot to feed his goldfish and now they are dead.

She forgot about her brother's birthday and now he's mad at her.

He forgot to pay the water bill, so the company stopped his water.

She wasn't paying attention to her food, and burned it.

Inversions With Negative Adverbials

After this lesson, you will be familiar with some common English expressions that will make
your speech more dramatic.

Sentence Practice

I have never seen such a rainy day.

Never have I seen such a rainy day.

He not only lied, but he also stole from us.

Not only did he lie, but he also stole from us.

We did not find out that she had a cold until she came to work.

Not until she came to work did we find out that she had a cold.

I did not know that he was a professional chess player.

Little did I know that he was a professional chess player.

Grammar Focus

Why use Negative Adverbials?

'Negative adverbials' are used at the beginning of a sentence in order to make it more
emphatic or dramatic. Compare the following set of sentences for the given situation:

Situation: At the park, I sat down to play chess with an old man.

I did not know that he was a professional chess player.

Little did I know that he was a professional chess player!

Sentence (1) is a simple statement of fact: you were not aware of something. Sentence (2)
however is much more dramatic: the old man was so good at chess, he surpassed your
expectations.

How to use Negative Adverbials

Negative adverbial sentences take this form: negative adverbial + helping verb + subject +
verb. The most common negative adverbials are 'not only', 'not until', 'never' and 'little'.

I have never seen such a beautiful sight.

Never have I seen such a beautiful sight!

I knew little that he was a professional chess player. (note that we don't actually say 'I knew
little...' anymore)
Little did I know that he was a professional chess player.

Sentence Practice

Not only does he play the piano, but he also plays the trumpet!

Not until he wins the award will he enter the team.

Never have I met such a smart person before.

Little did I know how expensive the repair would be.

Never have we spent so much time together.

Little did I know what she meant.

Not only is he a terrible singer, but his dance moves are very bad too.

Never has there been a more wonderful student in the history of our school.

Fill in the Blanks

Does she know that we organized a surprise party for her.

Little

Not only

Have I been at such a great concert.

Never

Not until

Do I know how to drive a car, but I can also drive a motorcycle.

Little

Not only
He came to visit did I know how much I had missed him.

Not until

Little

Has she felt so ill in her life.

Not only

Never

Did they understand what it takes to be an astronaut.

Little

Never

Is she smart, but beautiful too!

Little

Not only

She showed up did the real party start.

Not until

Never

Before have I read something so beautiful!

Not until

Never

Rephrasing Sentences

Rephrase the following sentences so they include negative adverbials at the beginning of the
sentence.

Example: I have never been so disappointed. → "Never have I been so disappointed."

They were not only late, but they also forgot to bring the camera.

We have never had to run for such a long time.

He not only stole, but he also broke a window.

I have never seen such beautiful scenery.

We are not only making cakes, we are also making cookies.

I have never realized how difficult it is to understand that.

I did not know he was a professional chef.

Vocabulary Phrasal Verbs

Wipe Off | Stay Out Of | Clean Up | Take In | Look Up

Wipe off - waɪp ɔf: To remove something by using a cloth, one's hand, etc.

Use this cloth to wipe off that stain.

Stay out of - steɪ aʊt əv: To avoid going into a certain place

You should stay out of this area.

Clean up - klin ʌp: To make someone or something clean and neat

You need to clean up your room.

Take in - teɪk ɪn: To understand something; to accept that something is true

The fact that he won the lottery was hard for me to take in.

Look up - lʊk ʌp: To try to find a piece of information in a book, on the internet, etc.

I need to look that word up in a dictionary.

Dialogue Practice

Matt is cleaning up in the kitchen, when his sister Nina comes in.

Hey! Stay out of the kitchen! - Huh? Why? Are you cleaning up? Oh wow! You really are
cleaning up! And you cooked something for lunch!

I’m planning to surprise Mom and Dad. They are coming over today. I want to show them how
much I've changed. - I’m sorry, but I’m still trying to take all this in. I can’t believe you did all
this by yourself. I mean, wow! Look at this place!

Well, it took me all day, to be honest. And I had to look up some recipes on the internet. I
came across this lasagna recipe and thought I should give it a try. I hope they'll like it. - That’s
great! I'm sure they will, it smells so good!

Well, let's hope it tastes good as well. Anyway, they’re going to be here in twenty minutes. I
just have to wipe off the table and then it's all set.

Article

What a Change

Joe's parents were visiting him, and he wanted to surprise them. He made sure that his dog
Bruno stayed out of the house while he cleaned the place up. He looked up some recipes on
the internet and made a delicious meal for his parents. It took him four hours to get everything
ready! And now, all he had to do was wipe off the stains from the kitchen counter, set the
table and get dressed. He managed to finish everything right on time. When his parents
arrived, they couldn’t quite take in that he had done all that by himself.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Mr. and Mrs. Adachi are preparing for their daughter’s birthday party.

Kyoko Adachi

I can’t believe our daughter is turning eight! That's just too much to (1).

Akio Adachi
I know. They grow up so fast.

Kyoko Adachi

Do you think she'll like the party?

Akio Adachi

All her friends and classmates are invited. I’m sure she’ll love it, don’t worry.

Kyoko Adachi

Oh, I forgot to (2) the dust from the windows. I'll go do that now.

Akio Adachi

Okay, and I’ll (3) the mess in the kitchen.

Kyoko Adachi

Okay. Just, please (4) the living room for a while. It’s going to get dusty.

Akio Adachi

Got it! By the way, have you called the caterer already?

Kyoko Adachi

Oh no! I forgot! I'll go (5) their number in the phone book and call them right away.

Akio Adachi

Yes, you should do that first.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Wipe off

Take in

Clean up

Stay out of

Look up

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Can you this word in the dictionary? I don't know what it means.

We’d better the conference room until the meeting is over.

I’ll have to the lawyer's number in the phone book. I don't know it.

Look at this mess! We really need to this place!

Please! Everyone must this area! This is a crime scene.

Please, leave Jamie alone, he's just received some bad news. He needs some time to
everything that is going on.

You should that tomato sauce from your pants.

They will come home late. They still have to after the party.

Sandra took a deep breath and tried to everything the doctor had told her.

You’d better the cookie crumbs from the table before mom comes home.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Stay out of

Wipe off

Clean up

Take in

Look up
Rip Off |Wear Out |Pull Out | Turn Out | Catch On

Vocabulary - Verbo Preposicional

Rip off - rɪp ɔːf: To steal someone's ideas, designs, etc. and present them as one's own

This song was ripped off from an old hit.

Wear out - wɛr aʊt: To make someone very tired

All this studying is wearing me out.

Pull out - pʊl aʊt: To withdraw; to stop being involved in an activity, event, agreement, etc.

The investor has to pull out of the business.

Turn out - tərn aʊt: To develop or end in a particular way; to prove to be the case

The task turned out to be beyond his abilities.

Catch on - kæʧ ɑn: To become popular

This song is so good, and it’s catching on.

Dialogue Practice

Nina and Nicole talk about a fashion show that Nicole has visited.

Nina

So how did the fashion show turn out?

Nicole

Completely disappointing. There was nothing new. All the clothes were ripped off from other
designers. I saw nothing original.

Nina
Really? That's a surprise. I think I heard some critics say the collection is a breath of fresh air
and that it might catch on.

Nicole

Well, that's not what I heard. There are rumors that the designer is pulling out of fashion week
after this show.

Nina

I feel bad for the designer. I am sure all the pressure is wearing him out.

Nicole

Yeah, but he should've tried harder. If you want to succeed in that kind of business, you have
to put a lot of effort into it.

Article

Read the passage aloud with your teacher.

A Hard Day for Frank

Frank has his very own clothing store and he is a big fish in the fashion industry. All designers
want their clothes to be sold at Frank’s. Frank chooses only those designs that he thinks are
original and will catch on quickly. When he saw Andy’s summer collection, he was utterly
disappointed. It turned out that most of Andy’s designs were ripped off from other designers.
Eventually, Frank decided to pull out his collection and check out other designers. However, all
of them were equally disappointing. By the end of the day, after all the fashion shows he had
attended, Frank was completely worn out.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Zach and Nathan are working on their model building design for an upcoming competition.

Zach

Can we take a break? I am seriously (1).

Nathan

Yes, me too. Let’s take a break. How do you think our design is going to (2)?

Zach

I think it's going to be great. I really hope it (3). It will be something new and original. At least,
we are not (4) someone else's idea, like a lot of people do in this line of work.

Nathan

Speaking of that, did you hear about Andrew? He was accused of plagiarism, so his design will
be (5) of the competition.

Zach

Oh wow, that's too bad. I hope not many people will find out about that. I mean, it must have
been embarrassing getting caught like that.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Pulled out

Worn out

Catches on

Turn out

Ripping off

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Everybody started using that word now. It’s really.

I was completely after the training yesterday.

How did the presentation? Was the board of directors satisfied?

I am sorry, but we need a new slogan. I don't see this one at all.

That story is not original! It was from Cinderella.

Mr. Harris called to let us know that he is of the deal.

Children get from playing if their parents don’t make them take naps.

Did Zoe come back from her surprise party? How did it?

Plagiarism is when you someone else’s work.

At the last moment, the president decided to of the agreement.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Rip off

Wear out

Pull out

Turn out

Catch on

Call Around | Catch Up | Give In | Show Off | Work Out

Vocabulary - Verbo Preposicional

Call around - kɔl əˈraʊnd: To call many people in order to get some information

The police are calling around in order to find more information about the missing girl.

Catch up - kæʧ ʌp: To find out about what has happened while you were away or during the
time you haven't seen someone

We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we spent all day catching up at the coffee shop.

Give in - gɪv ɪn: To finally agree to what somebody wants after refusing it for some time

The board finally gave in and promised her the salary she had demanded.
Show off - ʃoʊ ɔːf: To show or talk about something one is proud of

Many bodybuilders like to show off their muscles.

Work out -wərk aʊt: To prove to be effective or successful

I was not sure about your plan, but I'm really glad it worked out.

Dialogue Practice

Read the dialogue aloud with your teacher.

Lauren was on her way to university when she ran into Hannah.

Lauren

Hey, Hannah! It’s been a while. We need to catch up. How's the job hunting?

Hannah

Well, it’s quite tiring. I’ve been calling around various companies to ask if they have any
vacancies. I’ve had three interviews so far. I’d say I’m getting there.

Lauren

Keep it up! Things will work out. Just try to find a job you really like, there's no need to rush.

Hannah

Yeah, but it's difficult. My dad has been pressuring me to get a job already. I was about to give
in to the first job offer when the other two companies called for an interview.

Lauren

It's good that you didn't! Find a job that makes you happy, or else you are not going to be good
at it.
Hannah

I know. But I’m just so tired of all our friends showing off and talking about their work all the
time. I feel left out sometimes.

Article

Better Days Are Coming for Adam

Adam was catching up with his friend Dave, whom he hasn't seen in a while. He was expecting
they would spend some good quality time together, but instead, during all that time Dave kept
showing off and talking about his new job and the new car. After that, Adam decided it was
about time he found a good job in his own field of work. So, he quit his job at the restaurant
and started calling around companies to see if there were any vacancies. After a while, as he
hadn't had any luck in finding a new job, the manager of the restaurant where he used to work
started convincing him to get back to his old job. However, Adam didn't want to give in this
time. He knew that if he kept trying, things would work out eventually.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Nina and Yan-ting are talking about their friend Roy’s stolen motorcycle.

Yan-ting

Did Roy ever get his motorcycle back?

Nina

Not yet. They’re still (1) to see if anyone has seen it. Where did you hear about it?

Yan-ting

I was (2) with Josh the other day, and he told me all about it.

Nina

Oh. Well, serves Roy right. He kept (3) ever since he bought it.
Yan-ting

Don’t be like that. He really worked hard to save for it. He was just so excited when he finally
managed to buy it, so that's why he was 'showing off', as you say.

Nina

Really? That's not what I heard. I was told that Roy was asking his parents to buy him a
motorcycle. And, after a while his father (4) and bought it for him.

Yan-ting

No, no, he really did save up for it by himself. Anyway, do you think Roy’s plan to catch the
thief might (5)?

Nina

I hope so. He is getting desperate. I don’t blame him, that motorcycle was really expensive.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Work out

Catching up

Calling around

Showing off

Gave in

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Rachel, you're finally back! We have a lot of to do!

Seth is all the brand new tools he will use for the construction project.

He to find out what has been going on at work while he was away.
Denny, it's been ages! We should meet sometime next week to .

I don’t think Franny's plan will .

My father finally and bought me a new car.

Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure things will in the end.

The boy is his dancing moves to his friends.

He's been to find out where the conference will be held.

After a while, she finally and agreed to go on a date with him.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Call around

Catch up

Give in

Show off

Work out

Go for | Find out | Wear down

Vocabulary

Go for - goʊ fɔr: To try to achieve something

They ended up in debt as a result of going for quick money.

Find out - faɪnd aʊt: To discover or learn new information

My colleague just found out that he has been fired.

Wear down -wɛr daʊn: To gradually make someone physically weaker, tired or less
determined about something

At first, Charles didn't want to tell me the truth, but little by little, I wore him down.
Dialogue Practice

Sarah and Liam bump into each other in the school hallway.

Sarah

Hey, Liam! You want to go to the movies after school? Stacy, John and Stan are coming as well.

Liam

I can't, I'm grounded.

Sarah

Why? What did you do this time?

Liam

I got into a fight with my brother. When Mom found out, she grounded us.

Sarah

You two should get along better. Why did you get into a fight in the first place?

Liam

We started arguing about who's stronger. So we organized a small contest to test our strength,
we were moving some furniture around and things like that. And we kept going for more
difficult tasks.

Sarah

And you couldn't decide who won?

Liam

Kind of. It was wearing us both down, but I was winning. Then, my brother suddenly decided to
back out and said he had something else to do. And I didn't want to let him go before we
decided who won. So, we started a fight.
Sarah

You two should really stop fighting over stupid things like that.

Liam

Yeah, I know.

Article

Can't Back out Now

Liam and his brother usually get along well. The only problem is, they are too competitive with
one another. So, one day they were home alone, and they started arguing about who's
stronger, so they decided to organize a contest. They kept going for more difficult challenges
and they had both started to feel worn down. At one point, Liam's brother said that he was
backing out but Liam wouldn't let him, so they started to fight and they both earned a few
bruises. When their mother came back home and found out what happened, she was furious
and they both ended up being grounded for a month.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

James and Camille are talking about James' work.

Camille

How's work, James?

James

Well, not so good, to tell the truth. All the stress is (1). I was offered a supervisor position, but
now I'm thinking of (2) of the offer.

Camille

What? Why? I thought you were (3) the supervisor position. What happened?
James

I was, but that was before I (4) that a co-worker of mine had also applied for the position. He is
a really nice guy, and he has a family. We (5) really well.

Camille

Well, I don't think you should say no, just to let someone else get the position. I’m sure he
won't blame you if you accept it. You worked hard for it.

James

Yeah, I know, but it's not just that. I'm not even sure that I want the job. I think it might be too
stressful.

Camille

Well, that's a different thing, then. Just try to take your time and figure out what you really
want.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Going for

Wearing me down

Found out

Get along

Backing out

Exercise 5

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Terry will have to of the race due to an injury.

I know you guys don’t but you need to overcome your issues and work together on this
project.
If you want the job, you should it!

They do have their differences, but generally, they rather well.

I need to how to apply for that course.

Why are you now? We made it this far; let’s just finish it.

He was disappointed to that his proposal was refused.

He felt by his work, so he decided it was time for him to retire.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Get along

Back out

Go for

Find out

Wear down

Sort Out | Settle For | Count On | Fall Behind | Do Over

Sort out -sɔːrt aʊt: To put things in order or in their place

My closet is a mess. I really need to sort it out.

Settle for: ˈsɛtl fɔːr: To accept or agree to something that is not as good as desired or expected

I think we can settle for that price.

Count on - kaʊnt ɑn: To rely on someone or something for help or support

He counts on his secretary to keep his schedule organized.

Fall behind - fɔːl bɪˈhaɪnd: To fail to finish something on time; to make less progress than
others
She fell behind in the race.

Do over - dʊ ˈoʊvər: To do something again because the first try was not
successful/satisfactory

If you don't do it right, you'll have to do it all over again.

Dialogue Practice

Saya is in the office. She calls for everyone's attention.

Saya

Listen up, everyone! There's a new task that we need to prioritize, we have to sort out these
files. I need everyone's help on this. Please make sure all the files are alphabetized and
labeled. Since we don’t have enough people, we are going to have to settle for as many files as
we can get done. It's important we don't make any mistakes, or else we will have to do it over
again. Understood?

Walter

Yes, madam. One question: when is the deadline for this?

Saya

The deadline is Friday. So work fast, you don’t want to fall behind.

Walter

Got it. Should we start right away?

Saya

Yes, please finish up whatever you are working on, and start sorting these out. Remember,
these are our clients' personal files. All the information there is confidential. Please respect
their privacy and do not go through the files. Can I count on you to do that?

Walter
Of course, madam.

Article

A Race Against Time

Saya's boss hired some people to sort out the files that contained important client information.
They were given a deadline, so they had to be careful not to fall behind. In addition, they had
to be extra careful not to make any mistakes, otherwise they would have to do it all over again.
They only hired a few people to do the job, so Saya had to settle for the manpower that they
had. She had no choice but to count on them to finish the job on time.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Masa and Patricia are at work. They talk about a new employee.

Masa

I wanted to talk to you about our new team leader, George.

Patricia

Of course, what seems to be the problem?

Masa

Well, I know that he is new around here and it takes some time to adjust to everything, but I'm
just not sure he is the right person for the job.

Patricia

Why do you say that? Did he do something wrong?

Masa

I asked him and his team to finish (1) some files that I needed for last week, but they still
haven't done it. When I noticed that they were (2) schedule, I asked him what the problem
was. He told me that his teammates didn't understand his instructions very well, so they made
some mistakes and had to (3).

Patricia

That was definitely his mistake. He needs to be more precise when giving directions.

Masa

Yes, and if he is making mistakes with simple tasks like this, I'm not sure if we can (4) him for
bigger and more important projects.

Patricia

You are right. Well, he is still on the probation period. We can offer him some other position
after that period is over.

Masa

That's exactly what I had in mind. Perhaps he'll (5) the position of an assistant team leader.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Count on

Do it over

Falling behind

Settle for

Sorting out

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

This file cabinet is very disorganized. We need to this mess!

Make sure to finish your part of the presentation today. We are already .
The file I was working on was not saved when my computer crashed, so now I have to (it)
again.

Her boss is her to do a good job with the decorations.

They wanted to sell it for $250, but eventually they $200.

The numbers are wrong, we have to (it) again.

We the pictures for the scrapbook.

He couldn't afford a three bedroom apartment, so he the one with two bedrooms in the end.

Sasha, you’re already with your homework. You need to start doing it regularly.

I'm you to get the work done on time.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Settle for

Count on

Fall behind

Sort out

Keep Up | Stick To | Take Back | Cut Out | Go With

Keep up - kip ʌp: To continue to do something at the same level

It's difficult to keep up the pace in a marathon.

Stick to - stɪk tu: To continue to do or use one particular thing, with no intention of changing it
to something else

We're going to stick to our original schedule.

Take back - teɪk bæk: To return something back to a shop, because it is not working or it is not
suitable

If the sweater doesn't fit, you can take it back.

Cut out - kət aʊt: To remove some parts from a piece of writing, a speech, a movie, etc.

We need to cut out some scenes from the movie. Some of them are just not good enough.

Go with - goʊ wɪð: To choose something; to accept someone's plan or idea

The board decided to go with Mark's idea.

Dialogue Practice

Sarah is doing her homework.

Sarah

Mom, the calculator that you bought this morning is not working.

Mom

Really? Let me see. Hmm, you're right. I'll have to take it back. Oh, by the way, I've just finished
checking your essay. There are just a few things I think you should fix.

Sarah

I don’t understand. I thought I did a great job with that essay.

Mom

Well, you would have, if you had stuck to one topic. You are talking about too many things, so
it looks a bit chaotic.

Sarah

I thought I could write about anything that would make the main topic more convincing.

Mom

You just need to organize your thoughts, that's all. You should go with one subject only, and
add a few supporting arguments. This essay is really well-written, but you need to cut out
some parts which are not directly related to the topic. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Sarah

I understand, but I don’t know... Maybe I’m just not good at writing essays.

Mom

Don’t say that. You're very talented, but practice makes it perfect. So just keep it up!

Article

Sarah's Little Ups and Downs

Sarah was doing her homework, when she realized that the calculator her mom had bought
was not working. She told mom that she needed to take it back to the shop. Her mom used
this chance to give Sarah feedback on her essay. She said that Sarah discussed too many topics
at once. Sarah was advised to cut out the insignificant parts, go with one subject only, and stick
to it. Sarah lost her motivation for a moment, but soon realized that she needed to keep up
practicing if she wanted to improve.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Lauren is supposed to deliver a speech at an important event at the university. Nathan is

helping her prepare.

Lauren

So which dress do you think I should choose?

Nathan

I think you should (1) the blue one. And you should probably (2) the yellow one. It doesn't fit
you, it's too large.

Lauren

Yeah, I guess you're right. Blue one it is, then. Okay, now what about my speech? Have you
read it? What do you think?
Nathan

Yes, I love it. I think it's really good, but it might be a bit too long. So I marked one part that I
think you should (3). It's not that relevant and I think you should just (4) the main topic.

Lauren

Good thinking. Thank you, Nathan!

Nathan

No problem!

Lauren

Now, I just need to learn the speech. I don't think I can do that, I can't remember anything! I'll
just embarrass myself in front of everyone.

Nathan

Oh, come on, of course you won't! You've been practicing for a week and you're doing a great
job so far. Just (5) and everything will be okay. You have plenty of time left.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Keep it up

Take back

Cut out

Go with

Stick to

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

After long and careful consideration, the director decided to the lawyer's proposal.

Dwayne's phone is not working properly, so he needs to (it).

Let's just the original plan. It's too late to change it now.

We need to some parts of the commercial; otherwise, it will be too long.

You've been doing a great job, (it)!

That sweater is too small for you, you should (it).

I think we should a simple, black design for this model.

Lance is really stubborn. He always his own decisions.

My editor wanted me to some parts of the story, but I refused to do so.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Stick to

Take back

Cut out

Keep up

Go with

Take Apart | Blow Up | Go Back | Pass Up | Use Up

Take apart - teɪk əˈpɑrt: To separate something into parts

The mechanic took apart the car's engine to clean it, but then he couldn't assemble it back.

Blow up - bloʊ ʌp: To explode or to cause something to explode

The car caught fire and blew up.

Go back - goʊ bæk: To return to a certain place

I'm tired and want to go back.

Pass up - pæs ʌp: To not take advantage of an opportunity

He passed up the chance to invest and missed a great opportunity.

Use up - juz ʌp: To consume or use all of something

You cannot get any food here because everything has been used up.

Dialogue Practice

Alex and James are talking about a video that went viral.

Alex

Did you see that video of the bomb squad taking the bomb apart at the mall?

James

Yeah, I saw it! I don’t know how they do it. Can you imagine the pressure of doing something
like that, where making just one wrong step, cutting one wrong wire, would blow the entire
place up?

Alex

It's crazy, right? That was the most intense thing I've ever seen. It's so different when you
know that it's happening for real, that it's not just a movie. I'm glad I didn't pass up the chance
to see it.

James

All I know is, I am never going back to that mall again.

Alex

Seriously though, I don’t know how those guys still have the energy. I mean, if I were in their
place, after concentrating on dismantling a bomb, all my energy would be used up. But those
guys acted as if it was nothing special. And they stayed around for hours after they were done,
they checked the whole place once again and even talked to the press!
James

They are probably used to it. Though, I really don't understand how anyone can get used to
doing something like that.

Article

Just Another Day's Work

Everyone was glad that the bomb planted at the mall didn’t blow up. It had really caused a lot
of commotion. The bomb squad worked for over an hour on taking the bomb apart. After they
were done, they went back to the place to check the whole area once again and make sure
that the place was safe. After such a long day, all their energy must have been used up, but
despite that, the press didn't pass up the opportunity to ask them questions about the event.
Some people simply do not have enough time to get tired.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Zach and Matt are conducting some experiments in the chemistry lab.

Zach

I don’t think we should mix those chemicals together. Aren’t those highly combustible?

Matt

Don’t worry! This isn’t going to (1) the lab.

Zach

Hey! Don’t (2) all the ethyl alcohol! We need it for the next experiment.

Matt
Oh, I was thinking, we could leave that for tomorrow. After we're done with this, we could (3)
to the electronics lab and try to figure out what's wrong with that robot. We probably have to
(4).

Zach

Oh yes! I am definitely not (5) that opportunity! Last time, you and Dave left me here to do the
experiments by myself, while you two were having fun with the robot.

Elige las respuestas de las siguientes opciones que correspondan a los espacios en blanco 1 a 5

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Go back

Blow up

Passing up

Use up

Take it apart

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Every time his toy truck would stop working, his father would (it) and then put it back
together.

Never an opportunity to learn something new.

I forgot my keys, I'll have to to the apartment.

Once you are done with the puzzle, you may (it).

Sally decided to accept the job abroad, as it was an opportunity she did not want to .

The scuba divers need to be careful not to all of their oxygen.

It’s starting to rain, we should home.

The bomb the entire building.

Who all the hot water? How am I supposed to shower now?

Sentence Building
Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Blow up

Go back

Pass up

Take apart

Use up

Dress Up | Fit In | Pass By | Take Off

Dress up - drɛs ʌp: To put on formal clothes

My friend and I dressed up to attend the ceremony.

Fit In - fɪt ɪn: To be accepted by a group of people

I was not sure if I would fit in with my new colleagues.

Pass by - pæs baɪ: To go past something/someone on the way to somewhere else

The girls passed by in a convertible.

Take off - teɪk ɔːf: To remove clothes

He's taking off his shirt.

Dialogue Practice

Nina is getting ready for a party.

Matt

Why are you all dressed up today? Are you going somewhere?
Nina

Yeah, I’m going to Maya’s bachelorette party.

Matt

Right! I completely forgot she is getting married! I think you can take off that blazer, though,
it's really hot outside.

Nina

You think? Okay, if you say so.

Matt

So, who else is going to the party?

Nina

Some of her coworkers, I don't know any of them. I'm a bit worried I won't fit in with them.

Matt

Of course you will! Where is the party going to be held?

Nina

At Martha's bar. You know that place, you pass by it on your way to university.

Matt

Ah, right! That's a really nice place.

Article

Stan's Lucky Shirt

Stan was invited to his friend's birthday party. He was a bit worried about whether he would fit
in with all the other people there, but still, he was looking forward to it. He wanted to dress up
for the occasion, so he went shopping. As he was passing by a shop window he noticed a nice
shirt. He decided to try it on and as he was taking off his t-shirt, he accidentally tore it. He
thought that was a sign and decided to buy the shirt. He ended up having a great time at the
party, and he thought it was all because of his 'lucky shirt'.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Jeremy got a new job and is throwing a party to celebrate. Andrei and James are talking about
it.

Andrei

What do you think about Jeremy's new job? Do you think he'll like working there?

James

I'm sure he will, he is really excited about it. He is a bit anxious about meeting his new
coworkers, though. He's afraid he might not (1).

Andrei

Oh, what nonsense! Jeremy would fit in anywhere! Anyway, what are you wearing to the
party? Do you think we should (2)?

James

I guess. But I don't really have anything nice to wear. Do you want to go to that shop we (3)
yesterday on our way to the supermarket?

Andrei

Sure, I could get a new shirt as well. Shall we go right away?

James

Yeah, let's go. Let me just (4) this sweater, it's warm outside.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-4)

Fit in

Passed by

Take off

Dress up

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Mike usually his old kindergarten on his way to school.

I tried to , but I had nothing in common with those people!

It’s too hot outside; I’ll my sweatshirt.

I don't think we have to ; it's going to be just a small party.

You should that coat, it's really warm outside.

She is having a hard time at school.

Please your shoes before entering the house.

Luke just and he didn’t even say hello!

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Fit in

Dress up

Pass by

Take off
Speak Up | Cut Off | Get Over | Get Through | Hang On

Speak up - spik ʌp: To speak louder

Can you speak up a little?

Cut off - kət ɔːf: To get disconnected while talking on the phone; to interrupt someone when
they are speaking

Sorry I couldn’t hear the rest of the story – I was cut off!

Get over - gɛt ˈoʊvər: To recover from an illness or an unpleasant experience

It takes a long time to get over the death of a loved one.

Get through - gɛt θruː To complete a task, usually a difficult one

We need to get through all these files by the end of the day.

Hang on - hæŋ ɑn: To wait for a short period of time

Hang on! There is someone at the door. I will call you later.

Dialogue Practice

Kyoko is calling to make a doctor's appointment for her daughter, Ayako.

Kyoko Adachi

Hello, this is Kyoko Adachi. I called earlier to make an appointment, but I was cut off.

Secretary

I'm sorry about that, it seems that we're having some problems with our phone line. Could you
speak up a little, please? It's very noisy here today.
Kyoko Adachi

Of course. I'm calling to make an appointment for my daughter, Ayako Adachi. She just can't
seem to get over her flu.

Secretary

Oh, the poor thing! Unfortunately, we are going to struggle to get through all the
appointments today, so the earliest we can see you is tomorrow. Does one o'clock tomorrow
work for you?

Kyoko Adachi

Hang on for a moment, I'll check my schedule. Yes, I can make one o'clock work.

Secretary

Excellent, we'll see you tomorrow at one o'clock.

Kyoko Adachi

Thanks, see you then.

Secretary

You're welcome. Have a nice day!

Article

A Long Week for Ayako

When Ayako woke up on Monday with a sore throat, she hoped that she would get over it in a
day or two. But by Friday it was worse than ever. She had a lot of homework to get through,
but she just couldn't focus. She tried to tell her mother, but was cut off, “Nothing is more
important than your education.” How was she going to do her gym class feeling like this?
When Ayako arrived, the coach was talking to some of his star pupils. She cleared her throat
weakly. “Hang on,” the coach said to the other students. He turned sternly to Ayako. “Speak
up,” he barked. Ayako looked down at her feet as she spoke. “Coach, I've been sick all week,
would it be all right if I sat this one out today?” He looked her up and down. “Of course, Ayako.
Go and see the nurse.” Finally she could rest and get over this awful flu.
Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Kyoko is calling the pharmacy regarding her daughter's prescription.

Pharmacist

Hello, how can I help you?

Kyoko Adachi

Hello, Kyoko Adachi here. I called a minute ago, but I was (1).

Pharmacist

Ah, yes. What can I do for you today, Ms. Adachi?

Kyoko Adachi

I was on my way over to pick up a prescription, but unfortunately I've just had a car accident.

Pharmacist

Oh no! Are you okay?

Kyoko Adachi

I'm sorry, could you (2) please? I'm on the side of the road.

Pharmacist

I said "Are you okay?"

Kyoko Adachi

Yes, it was only a minor accident, I'll (3) it. But now I have a whole lot of insurance paperwork
to (4).

Pharmacist

How did it happen?

Kyoko Adachi

(5), I have to give the other driver my contact information. What were you asking?

Pharmacist

What caused the accident?

Kyoko Adachi

A guy ran a red light.

Pharmacist

Well I'm glad that no one was injured. Don't worry about your prescription, I'll put it aside and
you can pick it up tomorrow.

Kyoko Adachi

Thank you.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Get over

Hang on

Get through

Speak up
Cut off

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

I went to a lot of rock concerts as a teenager, so you'll have to . My hearing isn't what it used
to be.

Excuse me, I'm right in the middle of something. If you could just for a moment, I'll be right
with you.

Ayako will never her flu if she doesn't get a chance to rest.

This is going to be a long week, but if I just take it one day at a time, I'll be able to it.

When the doctor's office finally picked up the phone, Kyoko was . It was very frustrating.

It was a very large auditorium, so the professor had to , so all the students could hear him.

I have to all this homework by tomorrow! How on earth will I do it?

Susan was trying to convince her mother to let her go to the party, but was , "Don't argue with
me, Susan."

For a second! I'm on the phone.

Lisa found it difficult to the death of her beloved dog.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Cut off

Get over

Get through

Speak up

Hang on
Take After | Run Into| Go Through | Break Into | Pick Out

Take after - teɪk ˈæftər: To resemble someone from one's family

My son takes after my husband, but he has my eyes.

Run into - rən ˈɪntu: To bump into someone by chance

He ran into one of his clients at the airport.

Go through - goʊ θru: To search or to check something

I went through your file and I am impressed with your resume.

Break into - breɪk ˈɪntuː To enter a place without permission, often with the intent of stealing

He broke into the building.

Pick out - pɪk aʊt: To choose one or more things or people from a group

They picked out some flowers to buy.

Dialogue Practice

Alex and James are at work, talking about an incident that happened the previous night.

Alex

I've just run into Mona from Marketing. She tells me somebody tried to break into the building
last night? What's all that about?

James

It was nothing, really. Matthew, the security guy, saw someone trying to get in, but it turned
out it was just some drunkard looking for a place to sleep. But people like to exaggerate, you
know.
Alex

I figured it was something like that. Are you done with work for today? Let's go to the pub.

James

I can't, I still have a pile of applications to go through. I need to pick out a few candidates and
invite them for an interview.

Alex

Oh, come on, you can do that tomorrow.

James

I really can't, I have to finish this. It's important.

Alex

You really do take after your father, always so serious and committed!

Article

Sarah's Daily Routine

Sarah takes after her mother, and lives a very organized life. Every morning she wakes up, eats
a light breakfast, hits the gym, goes shopping, and then goes through her schedule for the rest
of the day. Tuesday morning was not any different. She took a shower after the gym, picked
out what clothes to wear for the day and went shopping. On her way, she ran into one of her
neighbors. "Haven't you heard? Two apartments in our building have been broken into last
night!" Only then did Sarah become aware of the police cars in front of the building and all the
commotion among her neighbors. She was too focused on her daily routine that she failed to
notice what was going on around her.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

On his way to work, Zach meets his neighbor, Jessica.

Zach

Jessica! Hello!

Jessica

Hi, Zach! This is, what, the third time we (1) each other this week.

Zach

Yeah, but this is the first time I see little Emma with you. Hi there, Em...oh, she's sleeping, why
didn't you tell me to keep quiet? She is so cute! She (2) you, she has the same eyes and the
same hair...

Jessica

It's true, she really does. By the way, Zach, did you hear what happened to Chris?

Zach

No, what?

Jessica

Someone (3) his house last night.

Zach

What? Is he okay? Did they steal anything?

Jessica

They (4) some confidential files, but I'm not sure if they found what they were looking for.
From what I understood, they were looking for something specific, something related to his
work. So, they didn't (5) his house by chance.
Zach

I should give him a call to see how he's doing.

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Pick out

Went through

Ran into

Takes after

Broke into

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

There are so many good candidates, it's difficult to just one.

I an old classmate on my way to the supermarket.

I heard someone his apartment last week.

Mike his father: he's just as ambitious and hard-working as his father was.

You need to this chapter once again and correct all the typos that you find.

She a long green dress for the event.

I don’t have time now, so I’ll your essay later.

He is a very skilled burglar; he can any car he wants.

Nick his mother more than his father.

You know who I the other day? Our old boss, Mike!
Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Run into

Go through

Break into

Pick out

Take after

Reach Out To | Wrap Up | Ask For | Grow On | Have In

Reach out to - riʧ aʊt tu: to offer help

He is trying to reach out to children from poor neighborhoods.

Wrap up - ˈræpˈəp: To finish something

Do you think you can wrap up this proposal by noon?

Ask for - æsk fɔːr: To request something from someone

I asked for a wake-up call at seven.

Grow on - groʊ ɑn: To start to like something or someone

I didn't like the plan at first, but it grew on me.

Have in - hæv ɪn: To have someone in one's house, office, etc. to do some work

I had the plumber in yesterday.

Dialogue Practice

Ling and Grace work for a nonprofit organization. They talk about an idea Grace presented not
long ago.

Ling

I've been thinking a lot recently about what you mentioned some time ago, about opening a
public kitchen and reaching out to the poor by offering them free meals. I have to admit the
idea is growing on me.

Grace

I'm so glad to hear that. I really think we can make it work. I was thinking we could use the
basement for that. Of course, we'll have to ask for all the necessary permissions.

Ling

Yes, there will be a lot of work. We will also need to have a designer in to help us organize the
space so we can put it to good use.

Grace

I think we should meet and try to wrap up all the details before we present the idea to
everyone.

Ling

I agree.

Article

How It All Began

People often ask Grace how she decided to start a nonprofit organization that would reach out
to people in need. And she always smiles when she thinks about how it all began. One day, she
had the cable guy in, he came to fix some connection problems Grace was having. As he was
wrapping up his work, Grace noticed that he kept looking at the clock. When he was done, he
asked Grace for a glass of water and she went to the kitchen to bring it. Just for the sake of
conversation, Grace asked, "Are you in a big hurry? Do you have a lot of work to do today?"
The cable guy said, "No, I'm done for today. But I need to get to the hospital by 1 pm. I'm
donating blood, you know, trying to give something back to the world." That's when Grace
realized she had never done anything to help others and the idea of committing her life to
helping those in need started to grow on her.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Masa lost his job and didn't know what to do. His friend David convinced him to start working
on his own and now he is helping him turn his garage into an office.

David

Alright, let's (1) for tonight! We'll finish it up tomorrow.

Masa

This place is really (2) me. It's going to be amazing after everything is finished. I'm (3) the
electrician in tomorrow, so I think everything will be done by Friday.

David

It's good to see you in a good mood again. Are you excited about starting work on your own?

Masa

I definitely am! I can't even sleep at night from all the excitement! I think this is the best thing
that ever happened to me. I never got to thank you for (4) me when I needed help. I don't
know what I would have done without you.

David

I'm glad I could help. That's what friends are for. But you need to learn to (5) help when you
need it, instead of trying to figure everything out on your own.
Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Reaching out to

Growing on

Having

Ask for

Wrap up

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

We have to our work here before it starts raining.

I'm sorry, but I a vegetarian meal. This is actually chicken.

Wealthy people should the poor much more than they do.

You should try sushi again. It will you.

We've (the builders) all week and it was impossible to work with all the noise.

Her charity is thousands of homeless people.

After his presentation, he went to celebrate with his colleagues.

I didn't like him at first, but he's me.

You should always the receipt when you go shopping.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Reach out to

Wrap up

Ask for

Grow on

Have in
Set Out | Take Over | Take On | Carry On | Take Out

Set out - sɛt aʊt: To start something in order to achieve a particular goal

It was clear to everyone that he set out to win the election.

Take over - teɪk ˈoʊvər: To take charge; to assume control

She took over as manager three weeks ago.

Take on - teɪk ɑn: To accept a responsibility or a certain amount of work

She's recently taken on a lot of new work.

Carry on - ˈkæri ɑn: To continue doing something

Please carry on with your work until you receive further instructions.

Take out - teɪk aʊt: To invite someone somewhere (e.g. to a restaurant or a cinema) and pay
for them

He took his wife out for a romantic dinner.

Dialogue Practice

Alex is working in his office, when his boss comes in.

Akio Adachi

Alex, could you come to my office for a minute?

Alex

Of course, sir.
Akio Adachi

Have a seat, please, I want to talk to you about something. When we set out on this project,
we knew that we'd face many difficulties. You've taken on a lot of new responsibilities and
you've handled them with a great deal of composure and professionalism.

Alex

Thank you, sir.

Akio Adachi

That's why I'd like you to take over this project. I'm confident you are the right person for the
job.

Alex

I... I don't know what to say. Thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate this opportunity.

Akio Adachi

No need to thank me, you deserve it. I'd like to take you out for lunch tomorrow so we can
discuss this in greater detail.

Alex

Of course, sir.

Akio Adachi

All right, that would be all. You can go back now and carry on with your work.

Article

A Hard Lesson to Learn

Jacob set out to start his own business and found that it was not as easy as he thought. He had
to take on a lot of new responsibilities and he invested all of his time into it. Several years
later, his business finally started to flourish, but Jacob didn't have time to enjoy his own
success; he was too occupied with his work. A few more years passed, when his business
slowly started to fade. A big corporation showed up and took over all of his clients. Jacob was
desperate, thinking about all the time he had wasted. That's when he realized that it didn't
matter whether he was rich or poor, as long as he spent his time in a meaningful way. So, he
took his wife out for dinner, for the first time in months.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Nina and Nicole are chatting at work.

Nina

Did you meet that new guy, Steve? What's he like?

Nicole

He seems alright, but he's very talkative. I chatted with him for a while, then I told him I had to
get back to my work, but he (1) talking for another 10 minutes. He seems to be fun, though.

Nina

He's probably just trying to make some friends around here. Do you want to go for a drink
after work? Maybe we could ask him to join us as well.

Nicole

Sorry, can't do it tonight. Andrei is (2) to dinner. He (3) as manager, so he wants us to

celebrate.

Nina

Oh, that's great news! He finally achieved what he (4) to do. I'm really happy for him.

Nicole

Yeah, me too. I'm just a bit worried he will (5) a lot of new responsibilities, so he might be even
busier than before.
Nina

True. But he loves his job, so it won't be a problem for him.

Nicole

You're right about that!

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Set out

Took over

Carried on

Take on

Taking me out

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

You will her duties while she is on vacation.

Sophie decided to working after she had her baby.

He always achieves what he to do.

The company agreed to the job.

My friends want to (me) for dinner on my birthday.

She can't any more work at the moment. She's swamped.

You'll end up being broke, if you spending money like that!

My husband said he'd tonight, but he's still at work.

He to win the competition.

I will the store after my father retires.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Take over

Set out

Take on

Carry on

Take out

Turn Down | Usher In | Throw Out | Blow Away | Bring Along

Turn down - tərn daʊn: To reject or refuse something

This job application was turned down.

Usher in - ˈʌʃər ɪn: To introduce important changes

The agreement will usher in a new era of peace.

Throw out - θroʊ aʊt: to get rid of something one does not need or want anymore

We threw out a lot of stuff when we moved.

Blow away - bloʊ əˈweɪ: To impress or amaze someone very much

I was blown away by this Pink Floyd album.

Bring along - brɪŋ əˈlɔŋ: To take someone or something to a place one is going to

I would like to bring my cat along with me on the plane.

Dialogue Practice

Hannah gave a speech at the university. Zach approached her afterwards.

Zach

Your speech really blew me away!

Hannah

It was pretty good, wasn't it?

Zach

It was amazing! Do you still have it? I have to read it to Josh! It's such a shame I couldn't bring
him along today.

Hannah

Sorry, I threw it out as soon as I left the stage. So, what do you think about the whole idea?
Does it make any sense to you?

Zach

Are you serious? The idea you presented would usher in a new era of education that would
benefit everyone!

Hannah

I'm glad you think so. I really think it could make a big change. But they still might turn it down.

Zach

I don't think that's likely to happen.

Article

Time for a Change

I simply couldn't turn down the offer to become the manager of my department. I was sure I
could usher in a new phase in the development of the company. To help me in this endeavor, I
brought along another very experienced manager from a rival company. At the first staff
meeting, the employees were blown away by our speeches and clapped enthusiastically. I am
positive we will manage to fulfill all their expectations. I've decided to throw out the old "rule
book" and do things my way!

Fill in the Blanks

Alicia and Saya are talking about the first time they saw Michael Jackson live in concert.

Alicia

Do you remember the Michael Jackson concert we went to when we were teenagers? Do you
remember how (1) we were by the performance?

Saya

Yes, it was absolutely incredible! Thank you for (2) to that concert and buying a ticket for me. I
simply couldn't (3) the offer.

Alicia

No problem! It was a once in a lifetime chance to see the man who (4) a new era in music.

Saya

You're right! I still have the ticket stub as a reminder of that night. I couldn't (5)!

Alicia

Me neither!

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Ushered in

Blown away

Turn down

Bringing me along
Throw it out

Fill in the Blanks

Did you my high-school books? I might still need them.

You're more than welcome to a friend to the game tomorrow.

His presidency a new era of economic stability and growth.

I just found out that my offer was .

You'll be by the ending of this movie!

We hope that the new coach will a period of success for the team.

Would it be okay to a friend to the office party?

I was completely by the view from that mountain.

This job offer is too good to .

Please the garbage when you get the chance.

Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Usher in

Turn down

Throw out

BLow away

Bring along
Sign Up | Bring Around | Knock Back | Stick By | Answer For

Sign up - saɪn ʌp: To agree to become involved in an organization, event, etc.

They signed up for a yoga class at the gym.

Bring around - brɪŋ əˈraʊnd: To make someone change their mind or view on something

It took me a long time to bring her around to my way of thinking.

Knock back - nɑk bæk: To cost a lot of money

Our holiday knocked us back around 10 grand.

Stick by - stɪk baɪ: To do as one promised or planned

He always sticks by his promises no matter what.

Answer for - ˈænsər fɔr: To be held responsible

The government should answer for their incompetence.

Dialogue Practice

Nathan and Lauren are talking about their friend Jack, who signed up for an IT course, but
never showed up.

Nathan

Did you have a chance to talk to Jack? He hasn't showed up to a single lesson since he signed
up for the course.

Lauren

He definitely gave up on it. I tried to bring him around, but he is sticking by his decision. He
said he realized that's not for him and he didn't want to waste time on the lessons.

Nathan

He is insane, this course has knocked him back several hundred dollars!
Lauren

His parents paid for it, and they still don't know that he gave up. He'll have a lot to answer for
once they find out.

Article

Acting Like a Grown-up

Ryan crashed his father's car this spring and he felt really bad about it. Luckily, no one got
injured in the accident, but Ryan knew that the car repairs had knocked his parents back
several thousand dollars. He decided to sign up for a summer job and save enough money to
cover the costs of the repairs. His parents tried to bring him around and said that he didn't
have to do that; he did need to focus on studying after all. Ryan stuck by his decision though.
He was the one who caused the problem and he would be the one to answer for it. Although
his parents objected, they were proud to see that their son had grown into such a determined
and responsible man.

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the dialogue.

Masa has to deliver some bad news to his boss: the main investors of their project decided to
withdraw at the last moment. He goes to his boss' office.

Masa

Sir, I'm afraid I have some bad news. City Group decided to pull out of the agreement. They
will not invest in the project.

Akio Adachi

What?! That's not possible! They already (1) for the project!

Masa

Yes, sir, but they still haven't signed the official agreement. We tried to (2) at the meeting
today without success. They are (3) their decision.
Akio Adachi

This is unacceptable! This will (4) thousands of dollars! I want to know what happened!
Someone will have to (5) this!

Banco de respuestas (Preguntas 1-5)

Signed up

Bring them around

Knock us back

Answer for

Sticking by

Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with the correct phrasal verbs to complete the sentences.

Have you for the school soccer team this year?

At first, he was against the idea, but I managed to (him).

His new boat (him) a couple of thousand dollars.

You will any goods that get damaged.

We all tried to talk him out of it, but he his decision to join the competition.

He hasn't made up his mind yet, but I hope I can (him).

Lisa decided to for a foreign exchange program at her university.

I've made my decision and I'll it.

That apartment (him) almost a million dollars.

When your mother comes back, you will have to your behavior!
Sentence Building

Create sentences using the following phrasal verbs.

Bring around

Knock back

Sign up

Stick by

Answer for