Irregular Verbs in English

This is a list of the most common irregular verbs in English. They are listed in order of frequency.

Rank Base Form Past Tense Form Past Participle

1 say said said
2 make made made
3 go went gone
4 take took taken
5 come came come
6 see saw seen
7 know knew known
8 get got got/gotten (US)
9 give gave given
10 find found found
11 think thought thought
12 tell told told
13 become became become
14 show showed shown
15 leave left left
16 feel felt felt
17 put put put
18 bring brought brought
19 begin began begun
20 keep kept kept
21 hold held held
22 write wrote written
23 stand stood stood
24 hear heard heard
25 let let let
26 mean meant meant
27 set set set
 28 meet met met
29 run ran run
30 pay paid paid
31 sit sat sat
32 speak spoke spoken
33 lie lay lain
34 lead led led
35 read read read
36 grow grew grown
37 lose lost lost
38 fall fell fallen
39 send sent sent
40 build built built
41 understand understood understood
42 draw drew drawn
43 break broke broken
44 spend spent spent
45 cut cut cut
46 rise rose risen
47 drive drove driven
48 buy bought bought
49 wear wore worn
50 choose chose chosen

To Be
To Be
Positive Negative Question
I am I am not Am I?
You are You aren't Are you?
He is He isn't Is he?
She is She isn't Is she?
It is It isn't Is it?
We are We aren't Are we?
You are You aren't Are you?
They are They aren't Are they?

Examples.
My father is a farmer.
Venice and Tuscany are beautiful places.
What a surprise! We are the first people in the store.

Questions

To make questions using the verb 'to be', you do not use auxiliary verbs such as 'to do' or 'to have' that other
verbs and tenses use. You only need to invert the subject and verb, as shown in the table above.

Examples.

Are you from Mexico or Peru?

How old are your two brothers?
Is it a young dog?
Are we ready yet?

Negatives

To make negative sentences using the verb 'to be', you only need to add 'not' after the verb.

Madrid isn't in Italy.

We aren't married, we are engaged!
I am not very happy today.

It's common also to use contractions. When using contractions we use an apostrophe to replace vowels.

Examples.

We aren't.
He isn't.
They aren't.
I'm not.

Adjectives
Adjectives in English are always singular and before the noun.

A big garden.
Three blue houses.
I want a large yellow lemon.

There are complex rules that determine adjective order. The most important things to remember are:

 Opinion
 Size
 Age
 Color
 Material
 Nationality
Examples.

A large yellow bus.

A magnificent red Italian purse.
A terrible Chinese movie.
An old green wooden table.

Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Subject Pronouns Object Pronouns Possessive Adjectives
I Me My
You You Your
He Him His
She Her Her
It It Its
We Us Our
You You Your
They Them Their

Subject Pronouns

Are used before a verb:

I live in Vietnam.
We go to the movie theater every Friday.
They don't speak Khmer.

Object Pronouns

We use after a verb, they are used as a verb's object.

I like her.
We speak to him every day.
She told us in the evening.

Possessive Adjectives

We use them to show possession before nouns.

My name is April.
His car is Green.
Our house is in Martin Street.

Question Words
We use different question words in English to ask different types of questions, questions about people, times,
places, etc.

The words can also be used alone to make informal questions:

Q: I love this movie.
A: Why?

Q: I have to see my grandmother.

A: When?

Here are the most common question words in English:

Question Word Meaning

Why Asking about a reason
When Asking about a time
Which Asking about a choice
How Asking about manner
Whose Asking about an owner
What Asking about a thing
Where Asking about a place
Who Asking about a person

Examples:

Why do you work so much?

When do you go on vacation? June?
Which pizza do you want?
How do you change a car tire?
Whose cat is this?
What is your phone number?
Where is the party tonight?
Who is your favorite actor?

"Have" Expressions
Have, just like To Be and To Do, is a very powerful and flexible verb in English.

It's used in many tenses in English, such as the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect.

There are also many expressions and phrases that use "to have".

Have a chat - speak with somebody.

Have a rest – relax or take a nap.
Have a fight - argue with someone.

And we also use "have + noun" to make other expressions.

Have a drink of water if you are feeling thirsty.

I had a swim after breakfast.

The Present Simple

We use the present simple to talk about things in general, things which are true and habits. It's not important if
the action is happening at the time of speaking.
Examples:

She works at the bank.

I love eating fruit.
The shop next to the bank sells great burgers.
Brazil exports a lot of wood to other countries.

Positive
I You
+ Verb
We They

but

He
+ Verb + s or es
She It

Examples.

We go to the theatre every Friday.

They speak Spanish very well.
I love to cook on the weekends.

but:

She speaks Italian.

He smokes cigarettes.
The bank opens at 8 o'clock.

Present Simple Negative

Negative

Don't
Subject + + Infinitive Verb
Doesn't

Examples:

We don't live in that house.

They don't want to stay in that hotel.
I don't think it's a good idea.

but:

Sarah doesn't write to me very often.

The President doesn't want to cut taxes.
It often doesn't rain here for months.

Present Simple Questions

Questions

Do
Question Word + + Subject + Infinitive Verb
Does

Examples:

Where do they live?

What time do your brothers arrive?
Do we leave now or at six o'clock?

but:

Does your sister work in the city?

How often does your father have a vacation?
Why does the microwave make that strange noise?

Short Answers

You can use a short form to give answers to questions, using only the auxiliary in the correct form.

Examples:

Q: Does Marion live in a big apartment?

A: Yes, she does. NOT Yes, she lives.

Q: Do your parents like going on winter vacations?

A: No, they don't.

There Is - There Are

We use there is or there are to say something exists.

We use there is in front of single or uncountable nouns and we use there are in front of plural countable nouns.

Positive Negative Question

There is There isn't Is there?
There are There aren't Are there?

Examples:

There is a large airport in Dallas.

There isn't any milk in the fridge.
Is there a public phone near here?

There are four sofas in the living room.

There aren't any apples on the table.
Are there any people in the store?

We do not use "it" to talk about something for the first time.
We say:

There is a large bank in Jones Avenue.

NOT It is a large bank in Jones Avenue.

But we can use "it" when we talk about something again:

There is a large bank in Jones Avenue. It closes at 4pm.

Possessive 'S
We sometimes use the 's to show who owns something.

Examples:

John's car is new.

My father’s house is in the country.
Poland's flag is red and white.

If more than one person owns something, we can use s' to show this.

The parents' responsibility is to their children.

There is a girls' school at the end of the street.

If a person's name ends with "s", we can also put the apostrophe after the final letter.

jess' mother was from Ireland.

The Jones' house was sold yesterday.

Be careful to put the 's at the end of the name of the person who owns the item, not the item that is owned!

Howard's house is very large.

NOT House's Howard is very large.

Can
We use "can" to say someone has the ability to do something.

She can dance very well and always goes to nightclubs.

He can speak Chinese.

Can
Positive Negative* Question
I can I can't Can I?
You can You can't Can you?
He can He can't Can he?
She can She can't Can she?
It can It can't Can it?
We can We can't Can we?
 You can You can't Can you?
They can They can't Can they?

*In all cases, can't can be replaced by cannot.

Examples:

My mother can play the ukulele.

Can your siblings play any musical instruments?
We can't see or hear anything in this room.

We must use can with an infinitive verb directly after it, without "to".

We can go to the cinema after the restaurant.

NOT We can to go to the cinema after the restaurant.

Some And Any

We use some and any to talk about quantities of things or something without specifying how much.

I have four pens and six notebooks. We know how many of each.
BUT I have some pens and some notebooks. We don't know how many.

Usually we use some and any like this:

Positive Negative Question

some any any

Examples:

We have some wine for the party.

We don't have any wine for the party.

Do we have any wine for the party?

We also use some in questions that either offer or request something.

Would you like some wine with your dinner?

Can I have some more potatoes, please?

Capital Letters
The rules about using capital letters are different in English compared to other languages.

We use capital letters for:

Countries and Cities.

Bucharest is in Romania.
Months of the year and public holidays.
Christmas is always in December.

Nationalities.
He has a Swedish car.

Languages.
She speaks Spanish very well.

Rivers, Bridges, Theatres, Lakes, Mountains, etc.

The Himalayas are north of India.
Charles Bridge goes over the Vltava River in Prague.

All names of people.

Charles Rider and William Wilson both live in Toronto.

We don't use capital letters for:

Seasons of the year.

My birthday is in the winter.

Animals
The lion chased the baby gazelle.

Compass Directions.
Boston is north of New York City.

Simple Verb Patterns

Verbs combine in different ways in English. When two verbs come together there are three possibilities:

Pattern 1.

1st Verb + 2nd Verb in ____ing form.

Verbs that take this pattern include enjoy and finish.

When I finish cooking.

I enjoy spending my weekends at home.

Pattern 2.

1st Verb + 2nd Verb in to ____ form.

Verbs that take this pattern include want, hope and decide.

I want to go to Spain for a year when I finish university.

I hope to find a job there as an English teacher.
He decided to come to the cinema eventually.

Pattern 3.
1st Verb + 2nd Verb without "to".

Modal Verbs like can, will and should take this form plus other verbs such as let.

I will come to the party at nine o'clock.

He should study if he wants to pass the exam.
Our teacher doesn't let us talk in class.

Some verbs can take both pattern 1 and pattern 2. These include like, love, hate and begin.

I like to go swimming on the weekends.

I like going swimming on the weekends.

Past Simple "To Be"

To Be - Past
Positive Negative Question
I was I wasn't Was I?
You were You weren't Were you?
He was He wasn't Was he?
She was She wasn't Was she?
It was It wasn't Was it?
We were You weren't Were we?
You were We weren't Were you?
They were They weren't Were they?

Examples:

I was at my friend's house yesterday evening.

Bill Clinton was the President of the U.S. for eight years.
We were very happy to receive your letter last week.

You weren't at home last week.

Jane wasn't at work yesterday because of the flu.
They weren't on vacation in February.

Where were you at nine o'clock last night?

Was Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister for a long time?
How often were we in that restaurant last month?

Note. To make the negative, add "not" after the verb. To make the question, invert the verb and the subject.

Past Simple Structure

Positive

Regular Verbs

Subject + Verb + ED or D
Irregular Verbs

Subject + Irregular Verb

Examples:

She worked all last year for a company called Juno.

I lived in Madrid for a year in the 1980s.

but

She went to work by bike last week.

I wrote him a very long letter.

If the verb finishes with "e", just add a "d", otherwise add "ed".

Negative

Subject + Didn't + Infinitive Verb

Examples:

I didn't want to go to Australia on vacation last year. I wanted to see China.

JFK didn't die in Texas, he died in Florida.
They didn't go out last night.

Note. The negative form is the same for all verbs, regular or irregular.

Questions

Question Word + Did + Subject + Infinitive Verb

Examples:

What time did you go to bed yesterday.

How many cups of coffee did he drink during the meeting?
Why did they leave the room?

Past Simple Use

We use the past simple to describe an action which started and finished in the past. Whether the event was in the
near past or distant past is not important in English. In some languages it is important.

JFK died in 1963.

The Egyptians invented paper.
I saw a great film last week.
I had eggs for breakfast this morning.

Remember to use the past simple to describe a series of finished events in the past. If you describe two actions
that happen together, you may need to use the past continuous:
Yesterday, I got up at 6, had a shower, went down into the kitchen, sat down and had breakfast.

There are many time expressions which are often used in conjunction with the past simple.

yesterday, last week/month/year, the day before yesterday

a long time ago, when she was young, two months/years/days ago
in 1983, before the war, in the 13th Century

Present Continuous Structure

The present continuous is easy to form. We use the verb "to be" plus the verb in the -ing form.

For example:

He is swimming in the river.

They are talking about their holiday.

Here is the verb talk conjugated in the present continuous.

Present Continuous
Positive Negative Question
I am talking I'm not talking Am I talking?
You are talking You're not talking Are you talking?
He is talking He isn't talking Is he talking?
She is talking She isn't talking Is she talking?
It is talking It isn't talking Is it talking?
We are talking We aren't talking Are we talking?
You are talking You aren't talking Are you talking?
They are talking They aren't talking Are they talking?

Note. There are sometimes certain spelling changes when verbs are put into the continuous form:

Consonants after a single vowel are always doubled.

get - getting
swim - swimming

Final "e" is dropped.

love - loving
type - typing

Exceptions to these two rules.

A word of more than one syllable with the first syllable stressed does not double the consonant.

visit - visited NOT doubled as first syllable is stressed.

prefer - preferred IS doubled as second syllable is stressed.

be - being final "e" is NOT dropped.

Present Continuous Use
The Present Continuous is used to describe an action that is going on at this moment, at the time of speaking.

You are using your computer to study.

You are sitting on a chair at the moment.

It is also used to describe an action that is going on during this period of time but not necessarily at this exact
moment.

I am reading a good book about self improvement.

She is taking a course on paper flower making at the local arts center.

We can also use the Present Continuous to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been
planned or prepared.

We can use this tense also to describe a temporary event or situation.

He usually goes to work by bus but, this week, he is using the train because there is a strike on the buses.
I am staying at my sister's for a month until she has her baby.

Many verbs aren't used in the continuous form

I don't understand what you mean.

NOT I am not understanding....

Verbs like this include: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, believe, consider, doubt, forget, imagine, know, mean,

Comparatives and Superlatives

We use comparative and superlative adjectives when we want to compare and contrast things. Superlatives
always have ‘the’ before the adjective.

Look:

a) China is a big country.

b) Canada is bigger than Mexico.
c) Russia is the biggest country in the world.

Sentence a) uses the base adjective, sentence b) uses the comparative and sentence c) uses the superlative.

Here is how we form these adjectives:

Comparatives

For Short Adjectives Adjectives Ending "__y" For Long Adjectives

Add '-er' Drop the ‘y’ and add '-ier' More/Less ____
Bigger Heavier More beautiful
 Longer Prettier Less interesting
Faster Easier More intelligent

Superlative Adjectives

For Short Adjectives Adjectives Ending "__y" For Long Adjectives

Add 'The -est' Drop the ‘y’ and add '-iest' The Most/Least ____
The biggest The heaviest The most beautiful
The longest The prettiest The least interesting
The fastest The easiest The most intelligent

Examples:

Madrid is bigger than Barcelona, but London is the biggest city in Europe.
Her interview was easier than mine. She is luckier than me!

There are some irregulars:

Good - Better - The Best

Bad - Worse - The Worst
Far - Further - The Furthest

Tina Turner is not the best singer in the world.

But I am worse than her!

We use "as ____ as" to describe things which are equal:

Rome is as hot as Madrid in August.

I am not paid as much as John as he is more experienced.
She ran as far as possible and then stopped.

We can use other expressions before these adjectives to give emphasis.

She is much taller than her husband.

We spent a bit more than expected.
Julia Roberts is fifty times prettier than my sister.
Los Angeles is quite a lot more polluted than San Francisco
etc., etc.

Adverbs
We use some adverbs in English to describe how a verb is performed.

He hit the ball wonderfully.

She speaks German horribly.
They ran quickly.

You can see that we add "-ly" to the end of the adjective root of a word.

The adverb of the adjective bad is badly but the adverb of the adjective good is well.
They played very badly and lost the match.
Her opponent played well and deserved the victory.

Some adjectives and adverbs are spelt the same way: fast, late, hard.

We use other adverbs in English to describe adjectives and other adverbs:

I was terribly sorry to hear about your father's death.

Your mother was incredibly lucky to win the lottery.
They spoke unbelievably well for foreigners.

Adverbs of Frequency

We use adverbs of frequency to describe How Often we do something.

How often does it rain in the Sahara? Rarely.

How often does it rain in Ireland? Often.

100%
Always
^
Almost always
|
Very often
|
Often
|
Frequently
|
Usually
50%
Normally
^
Sometimes
|
Rarely
|
Seldom
|
Almost never
|
Never
0%

Position

Frequency adverbs normally go after the verb "to be" but before other verbs.

Examples:

I am always happy on a Saturday night.

They are often late for class.

She sometimes smokes cigars.

We almost always go to France in May.

Some frequency adverbs such as sometimes, usually and normally can also go at the beginning and end of a
sentence.

Sometimes, Henry takes her to a restaurant at the weekend.

I go to bed at midnight usually.

We sometimes use numbers when we answer How Often.

Q: How often do you play tennis?
A: Three times a week.

day
Once
week
Twice
hour
Three times a
month
Four times an
year
Five times
term
etc. etc.
etc. etc.

Or we can use an expression such as:

Once every six months.

Take this medicine once every four hours.

'Going To' and Present Continuous for Future

The future is one area of English grammar that seems to cause so many problems for students learning English.

One way of expressing the future is to use " be going to" plus the infinitive of the verb:

She is going to visit her uncle in Monaco next summer.

Another, with a near identical meaning, is the present continuous which we covered earlier:

She is buying a house near Paris before the end of the year.

You can see from these two examples that we are expressing a plan, something we already we know we are
going to do. Something we thought about earlier.

I'm going into town tomorrow. I already have my ticket.

They are going to do a computer course together. They signed up today.
I'm seeing Darren tomorrow. We are meeting at ten in the morning.

We also use going to to talk about something we think will happen in the future because of evidence we see
now.

There is going to be a terrible storm. Look at the black sky!

He is going to fail all his exams. He isn't studying at all.

When we talk about something we intended to do in the past, but then changed our minds, we use was going to.

I was going to ring you, but then I saw I didn't have your number
We were going to play baseball in the park, but then it started to rain.

Prepositions Of Time
Before different time expressions, English uses different prepositions.
On Sunday, I get up at nine o'clock.
In 1999, he came to see me in October.

Here is a summary of prepositions to use with different time expressions:

In At On No Preposition
Yesterday
October Christmas Monday
Last week
1997 the weekend the 21st November
Today
the morning night my birthday
Tomorrow
summer 7 o'clock Christmas Day
Next month

Examples:

Last week, I went to work at nine o'clock every morning.

In summer, especially in July, the beaches here are very busy.
On Thursday, in the morning, I want you to finish that letter.

Whose
We use whose to ask "who owns this?"

Example:

Q: Whose house is this?

A: It's John's house.

In the answer, it is common to use a possessive pronoun.

Q: Whose is this pen?

A: It's mine.

Here is a list of these possessive pronouns:

Possessive Pronouns
I Mine
You Yours
He His
She Hers
It Its
We Ours
You Yours
They Theirs

Whose can also be used alone as a question:

A: I went to work by car.

B: Whose?
A: Mine, of course!
Could
Could is the past tense of Can. The negative is could not or couldn't.

I
You
He/She/It
+ Could / Couldn't + INFINITIVE VERB
We
You
They

Examples:

I could speak French very well when I was young.

My father could drive when he was eighteen, but my mother couldn't.
Could you dance when you were ten or did you learn later?
I couldn't open the window last night, it was frozen closed!

Could is also a modal verb and can be used to make polite requests.

Examples:

Could you tell me the time, please?

Could I borrow the newspaper for just a minute?

Present Simple For Future

The Present Simple can be used to talk about scheduled future events, often related to timetables. We used
the present simple as the event is considered "fixed" and unlikely to change time/place.

Examples:

My train leaves at 7pm tomorrow and I arrive in Toronto at 9pm.

The conference begins on Monday and finishes on Thursday afternoon.
Bob Palmer retires next year, we have to think about his replacement.

Note: Only use the Present Simple to talk about the future for this type of "timetabled" events.

Contractions
A contraction in English is when two words are joined together and shortened using an apostrophe. The most
common use is for subjects are verbs, especially 'to be' and 'to have'.

Examples:

I'm a builder.
We're not sisters.
They're very unhappy.
We've got three dogs.
Contractions are also used to make negatives in English, using auxiliary verbs such as "do", "be" and "have".

Examples:

I don't like Mondays!

We aren't very happy today.
My uncle Jack doesn't work anymore.
They haven't been to the museum.

Note: Contractions are not used in short answers.

Q: Are you from Italy?
A: Yes, I am. NOT Yes, I'm.

Be careful how you make the contraction. Usually, the apostrophe takes the place of the vowel.

No, we aren't. NOT No, we are'nt.

Plurals
Generally, most nouns in English are regular and you simply add -s to the word.

car → cars
laptop → laptops
bottle → bottles
wall → walls

If the word ends in a s-type sound (s/sh/z/ch, etc), you add -es to the word.

catch → catches
kiss → kisses
buzz → buzzes
watch → watches

Most words ending in -y remove the 'y' and add -ies in the plural.

cherry → cherries
lady → ladies
curry → curries

Most words ending in -o add -es in the plural.

potatos → potatoes
hero → heroes

There are also many irregular plurals which you will need to learn and remember:

child → children
woman → women
wife → wives
sheep → sheep
foot → feet
tooth → teeth
person → people

Spelling
Spelling can seem to be very complicated to those studying English. But there are some basic rules you can
follow to make things a little easier:

1. Y as a long "i": The letter Y makes a long sound of I when it comes at the end of a short word that doesn't
have any other vowel.

Examples: by, fly, cry, try, my, hi.

2. Y as a long "e": When 'y' or 'ey' ends a word in an un-stressed syllable, the y has the long sound of e.

Examples: key, money, honey, many, funny.

3. I before E: The spelling is 'i' before 'e' when the sound is long 'e' except after the letter 'c'.

Examples: relieve, relief, reprieve. Notice the change when there is a c preceding the ie: deceive, receipt,
receive, ceiling, conceive.

4. E before I: Write e before i when the sound is a long 'a'.

Examples: reign, weight, freight.

5. Oi or Oy: Use "oi" in the middle of a word and use "oy" at the end of a word.

Examples: soil, boil, foil, ahoy, boy, toy.

6. Ou or Ow: Use "ou" in the middle of a word and use "ow" at the end of words other than those that end in n
or d.

Examples: house, mouse, mount, borrow, throw, cow.

7. The "ch" sound: At the start of a word, use "ch." At the end of a word, use "tch." When the "ch" sound is
followed by "ure" or "ion", use t.

Examples: champion, choose, pitch, watch, catch, picture, rapture.

8. Double Consonants: When b, d, g, m, n, or p appear after a short vowel in a word with 2 syllables, you should
double the consonant: b, d, g, m, n, or p.

Examples: manner, rabbit, dagger, banner, drummer.

9. Short-Vowel Rule: When one-syllable words have a vowel in the middle of the word, the vowel normally has
a short sound:

Examples: hat, mom, dog, cat, dad, got. If the letter after the vowel is f, l, or s, this letter is often doubled.
Examples: staff, ball, pass.
10. Two-Vowels Together: When two vowels are next to each other, the first vowel is usually long (the sound is
the same as the sound of the letter) and the second vowel is silent.

Examples: mean, seam, plain, jeans, rain, goat, road, lie, pie.

Prepositions
Prepositions are very difficult for learners of English. Often, learners try to translate from their language, but
this is not possible. You need to learn and remember which prepositions are used in different situations.

Perhaps in your language, you say "in" Monday. In English, we say "on Monday". Here are some other
common time prepositions:

Examples:

They got married in 1988.

They would like to go to Paris in the summer.
I can't sleep at night. It's too hot.
I will see you in three hours. Bye!
He worked as a pilot for fourteen years.

Other very important prepositions are prepositions of place - to describe where something is. Sometimes the
differences in these prepositions are very small. Think of the difference between these sentences:

He put the box near the table.

He put the box next to the table.
He put the box in front of the table.
He put the box on the table.
He put the box under the table.
He put the box in the table. (Is this one possible? In the desk, perhaps....)

The other important thing when learning prepositions is to learn which ones go with new verbs when you learn
them. For example, let's take the verb "to rise" (to go up). Do prices "rise in 10%", "rise at 10%", "rise by 10%"
or "rise on 10%"? As you learn each new verb, ask your teacher "which preposition is this used with?" The
answer? We say, for example, "prices have risen by 10%". Here are some other verb+preposition examples:

That cat belongs to me.

We asked for some water.
What are you thinking about, John?
I'm very worried about Teresa. It's so late!

You also need to learn adjectives in the same way:

That car is identical to that one, isn't it?

Are you really afraid of the dark?
My parents were very impressed by my exam results.
Sharon is angry with Clara for telling everyone her secret.

And finally, even many nouns also come with prepositions.

What is the alternative to this plan?
Police said there is no connection between the two cases.
This medicine can have a negative effect on you.
Do you have a strong opinion about this, Carol?

Articles
In English, there is the definite article "the" and the indefinite articles "a" and "an".

The difference between "a" and "an" is simple. We put "an" in front of words with vowels.

Examples:

He lives in an old house.

She always wears an orange hat.

Careful - we use "an" also in front of words that begin with a silent "h" such as an hour and in front of
abbreviations that start with a vowel sound such as an M.P. (which starts with an /em/ sound).

We use "a" in front of words that are spelt with a vowel but start with a consonant sound. This is seen often
with words that are spelt with a "u" but begin with a "y" sound such as a university or a united family.

How to use articles.

We use the indefinite article when we talk about something for the first time.

I walked down Smith Street where I saw a man repairing a bicycle.

We use the definite article when we talk about something on further occasions - not for the first time.

The man was old and the bicycle was in terrible condition.

We use no article when we are talking about things in general and not one specific example.

Cows eat grass and produce milk.

Love is the best!
Teachers are not paid enough money.

Compare these pairs of sentences:

Children in America must go to school until they are 16.

but
The children are playing in the garden, Howard.

Shops stay open late in Britain on Thursday evenings.

but
The shops in this street are all so expensive.

Other rules of article use.

We don't use articles with the time, days of the week or months of the year.
He comes to this house in August.
At six o'clock, we have to leave.
On Monday, I start my new job.

We don't use articles for names of streets, languages, meals, airports, mountains, stations, cities and countries.

London is the capital of England.

Grand Station can be found in Walter Street.
Christchurch Airport is near Mount Wilson.
French is spoken in Luxembourg.
Breakfast is at eight and lunch at one in the afternoon.

We use the definite article for names of rivers, seas, hotels and newspapers.

The Thames is England's most famous river.

We stayed at The Morrison when we visited Chicago.
The Pacific Ocean is bigger than the Mediterranean Sea.
The Straits Times is Singapore's English language newspaper.

We use the indefinite article for names of jobs.

My father is an engineer.
I want to be a doctor.

We use the indefinite article in certain expressions.

She smokes ten cigarettes a day.

I have a lot of friends in this school.
I just want a little milk, thank you.

We use the definite article in superlative sentences.

Mexico City is the biggest city in the world.

Important! In many languages, the article is used before plural nouns even when talking about things in
general. This is not true in English.

Example:

I like potatoes and tomatoes.

NOT I like the potatoes and the tomatoes.

Past Continuous Structure

The past continuous is easy to form. We use the past of the verb "to be" plus the verb in the ____ing form.

For example:

He was swimming in the river.

They were dancing when the police arrived.
Here is the verb write conjugated in the past continuous.

Past Continuous
Positive Negative Question
I was writing I wasn't writing Was I writing?
You were writing You weren't writing Were you writing?
He was writing He wasn't writing Was he writing?
She was writing She wasn't writing Was she writing?
It was writing It wasn't writing Was it writing?
We were writing We weren't writing Were we writing?
You were writing You weren't writing Were you writing?
They were writing They weren't writing Were they writing?

Note the spelling changes under the present continuous section.

Past Continuous Use

The past continuous has two main uses:

To describe an event that was happening in the past at the time of another event. Often the first event interrupts
the second event. In this situation, the event that started first is in the past continuous and the second event is in
the past simple:

I was watching TV when the telephone rang.

He left university while he was finishing his final year.

We can also use the past continuous to give the background to a story. The events of this story are in the past
simple.

He walked out of the bank with the gun. Police were standing surrounding the bank. A large crowd were
watching events from the "Police" barricades. A helicopter was flying overhead. He raised his gun to fire at the
police and..and..he woke up. It was 7am and time for work.

If there are two events that happen simultaneously, they can either be in the past continuous or simple.

Mary was cutting the onions while I was cooking the beef.
Mary cut the onions while I cooked the beef.

Zero Conditional
A zero conditional sentence is made up of two halves:

If + Present Simple Then Present Simple

We use this structure when we describe what always happens as a result of something.

It is often used to describe scientific rules which are, by definition, unchanging...so the results always happen
the same.
Examples:

If you take ice out of the fridge in summer, it melts.

A stone sinks if you throw it in a lake.

We can also use the zero conditional to say what we do as a rule in certain situations. Here, we are not talking
about what we do in a particular, specific situation (e.g. tonight, tomorrow) but what we always do in these
conditions.

If I get a headache, I go and lie down.

If I miss the train, my sister always gives me a lift to work.

First Conditional
A first conditional sentence is comprised of two halves.

If + Present Simple Then Will

We use the first conditional to say what we will do in a certain situation in the future.

If it rains tomorrow, I will stay at home and paint the kitchen.

They will see Harry if he comes to the dinner party.

The negative uses won't.

She won't get to know him if he doesn't come!

If we study so little, we won't pass the exam.

Don't use will with if.

If I see him, I will tell him.

NOT If I will see him, I will tell him.

Note. Compare the zero and first conditional. In the first sentence, we are talking about what you always do, it's
your rule, if you like. In the second sentence, however, it is what you will do tonight, on that one specific
occasion.

If there's nothing in my fridge, I ring for pizza.

If there's nothing in my fridge tonight, I will ring for pizza.

There are other expressions in English that are followed by the present simple in the same way as "if" is in first
conditional sentences.
unless, when, in case, provided that, until, as soon as. See below for examples.

Unless

Meaning: except if.

I'll stay in a hotel, unless Joan lets me stay in her house for a few days.

In Case
To do something because you think something else will happen:

I'll take my credit card in case we see something we want to buy.

Provided That

This means "only if".

I'll lend you this $10 provided (that) you pay it back by Wednesday.

Until

Meaning: up to the point.

I'll wait in the hotel until you arrive.

As Soon As

We use "as soon as" to talk about something happening immediately after. Compare how "when" and "as soon
as" are used:

I'll call you when my husband comes home. (I might wait ten minutes)
I'll call you as soon as my husband comes home. (I won't wait, it will be immediately)

Quantifiers
All nouns in English are divided into countable or uncountable.

Countable nouns are things like apples or cars which we can count and have plural forms.

He ate 6 apples.
She is very rich. She has four cars.

Uncountable nouns are things like water and music which we can't count and don't have plurals.

She drank a lot of water.

The film had a little music.

We cannot say:

She drank six waters. BUT She drank six glasses of water.
The film had seven musics. BUT The film had seven songs / seven pieces of music.

Here are some examples of countable and uncountable nouns in English:

Countable Uncountable
Computers Butter
People Cheese
Tables Wine
Bananas Vodka
Bicycles Rice
CDs Electricity
Clocks Sand
Pens Sugar
Bottles Pasta
Telephones Work

Some nouns can be countable and uncountable but it changes the meaning:

How much chicken? means How much of a large chicken? What size piece do you want?
How many chickens? means How many small chickens do you want?

When we know if a noun is countable or uncountable, we then use different expressions to ask questions, to say
we have a little or a lot of it. Look at this table:

Question Big Quantity Small Quantity Questions / Negatives

Countable Nouns How many? A lot of A few many
Uncountable Nouns How much? A lot of A little much

Examples:

How many children does she have?

How much whiskey did you drink last night at the party?

He has a lot of trees in his garden.

We have a lot of butter for the cake.

She only has a few apples so we need to go shopping.

They have a little work to do before they can leave the office.

Q: Do you have many pictures in your house?

A: I don't have many pictures but I have 3 statuettes.

Q: Do you have much land on your farm?

A: I don't have much land. Just 5 acres.

Present Perfect Structure

The present perfect is made using the auxiliary verb have plus the past participle of the main verb.

The past participle, for regular verbs, is the same as the past simple.

Infinitive Past Simple Past Participle

work worked worked
live lived lived
watch watched watched

So we have, for the present perfect:

I have worked
He has lived
They have watched

Here is the verb live in all forms of the present perfect.

Present Perfect
Positive Negative Question
I have lived I haven't lived Have I lived?
You have lived You haven't lived Have you lived?
He has lived He hasn't lived Has he lived?
She has lived She hasn't lived Has she lived?
It has lived It hasn't lived Has it lived?
We have lived We haven't lived Have we lived?
You have lived You haven't lived Have you lived?
They have lived They haven't lived Have they lived?

She's not lived is also possible but not as common as she hasn't lived.

Present Perfect Use

We use the present perfect for two main functions.

A. Indefinite Past.

Look at these two sentences. What is the difference?

I went to Paris in 1997.

I have been to Paris two times.

In the first sentence, we use past simple because we are talking about a specified time in the past, 1997.

In the second sentence, though, we are just saying "at some time in my life" without being specific as to
exactly when we have been to Paris - so we use the present perfect.

The present perfect used in this way means "at some time in the past".

Examples:

I have lost my watch. - but we don't say when.

She has seen that film before. - again, we don't say when.
President Bush has told his advisors to work on tax cuts. - was is yesterday, last Wednesday? We don't know -
we just know he has done it.

Now look at the same examples with more specific time expressions. Note how we have to use the past simple
in these sentences.

I lost my watch last Wednesday at the swimming pool.

She saw that film with Terry before Christmas.
President Bush had a meeting with his cabinet yesterday late in the evening and told them he was interested in
working towards tax cuts.

Using the present perfect in this way is often used to talk about one's experiences of life. Have you ever..? is a
common question.

A: Have you ever visited Russia?

B: No, I haven't. I would like to one day.

A: Have you ever been to New York?

B: Yes, I have. I went in 1993.

Note how, in the second dialogue, the person responding uses the past simple to say when he went to New
York.

B. Unfinished Past.

Look at these two sentences, what is the difference?

Bill Clinton was the President from 1992 to 2000.

George Bush has been the President since 2000.

Who is the President now? Bill Clinton was the President in the past. Now his time in the White House is
finished, over - so we use the past simple. George Bush is still the president. His time at the White House
started in the past but it continues now - so we use the present perfect.

The Present Perfect in this way, joins the past and the present and speaks about both.

The present perfect used in this way means "unfinished past".

Examples:

I have lived in this house for 18 years. I love it!

He has worked for this company since 1987 and is now department manager.

In both these examples, the action started in the past but continues still today. If the action started and finished
in the past, we must use the past simple:

I lived in that house for ten years but then I bought a new house in the country.
He worked for IBM for six years, then went to work for Microsoft.

Using the present perfect in this way is often used to talk about the duration of your current activities. A
common question is How long have you...?

Present Simple, Past Simple or Present Perfect?

Read this:

I have a beautiful gold watch. It is from France and it's very old. I bought it in 1976 when I spent the summer in
Paris as a student. I have had this wonderful timepiece for over 25 years.
I have a watch. - here we talk only about the present and so use the present simple.
I bought it in 1976. - here we talk only about the past and so use the past simple.
I have had it for over 25 years. - here we are talking about the past and the present together. You had the watch
in the past and you still have it now in the present. So here we use the present perfect.

Remember what we said before about the present perfect connecting the past and the present.

'For', 'Since' and 'Ago'.

We can use for or since with the present perfect to say how long something has happened.

I have known him since 1980.

or
I have known him for 22 years.

The meaning is the same. For is used to talk about a period of time, since to talk about when the action started.

ago is more often used with the past simple to say when something started.

He started his own business six months ago.

The first book was printed over 500 years ago.

So the difference between 'since' and 'ago'?

Since tells us the starting point of an action which is still continuing now. Ago tells us the starting point of an
action which is finished.

I have lived in this city since 1980.

I left Denver to come here over twenty years ago.

Modal Verbs
Modal verbs are irregular auxiliary verbs (they don't have regular past and present forms, for example) that
express ability, necessity, requests, advice, permission, probability and so on. They are generally used with
other verbs in the infinitive:

(See the next sections for modal verbs "will" and "must/mustn't".)

I must go to the hotel tomorrow.

They can be very selfish!
We should leave now.

There are modal verbs which have different meanings and different functions.

Should / Shouldn't

This is used to give advice or to express what you expect.

Examples:
You should go to the doctor if your headaches continue.
They should win the championship this year. They are the best team.

We use "shouldn't" to talk about something you are advising a person not to do.

Examples:

If you want to pass your exams, you shouldn't go out tonight.

You shouldn't speak to your mother like that - show some respect!

May / Might

These are similar in meaning and are used to express possibility.

Examples:

Q: Are you going to the cinema tonight?

A: I don't know. I might go or I might stay at home.

Used in questions, these two are ways of asking for something in a polite/formal way.

Might I borrow your telephone for a few moments?

May I open the window a little, please?

Can / Could

We have already seen that "can" can be used to talk about ability, with "could" used in the past:

Examples:

I can see, but I can't dance.

Could you speak French from a young age?
My mum couldn't swim until she was 24!

We can also use "can" to talk about possibility, permission and make polite requests:

Examples:

I can't come to the party tonight. (possibility)

You can't go in there! (permission)
Can you help me with this package? (request)
Could you lend me ten dollars? (polite request)

Note that all three of these modal verbs are followed directly by an infinitive verb without "to".

'Will' or 'Going To'

We have already discussed the use of "going to" to talk about the future. It is used to talk about plans already
made and also to make predictions based on evidence we see now.

We will now talk about "will" and then see how they differ in direct comparison.
Will is a modal verb and is followed directly by an infinitive verb without "to".

I will see you tomorrow.

He'll go to the meeting tomorrow.

The main functions of "will" are:

a. to predict a future event:

The party will be at my house at eight o'clock.

The exam will finish in one hour.

b. to express a spontaneous decision:

I'll answer the phone.

You don't have bread! We'll go to the supermarket.

Note the difference between will and going to in this use. We use going to if a decision has been made before
speaking, but will if the decision is made now.

John: What are you doing this weekend?

Mary: I'm going to visit Howard in Boston.
John: But Howard is in Chicago this weekend with his parents.
Mary: Oh! I didn't know that! I'll go and visit his brother Stefano then.

In this dialogue, Mary's first answer uses going to as it is a plan she made before. Her second answer uses will
as she now has to make a new plan, and her plan to visit Stefano is made now, as she speaks.

c. to express a prediction based on opinion, not on fact.

Howes will win the election.

I think she'll get married next summer.

Here, expressions of opinion and belief are common:

I hope we'll see the start of the film

I wonder what will happen if I press this red button. Aaagh!!
She will probably be very late because of the traffic.
He's sure he'll get the job. He said the interview went quite well.

d. The old form of will, "shall" is often used to make offers and suggestions.

Shall we leave now? It's late.

That bag is very heavy. Shall I help you with it?

"Have To" and "Must"

These two are very similar and both are used to talk about obligation.

Used in the positive/affirmative, these two are almost identical. They are used to say that there is an obligation,
necessity for someone to do something.
Drivers in England have to drive on the left of the road.
All students must finish the exam by eleven o'clock.
All young Israelis have to do military service.

Usually, have to is used when there is an external obligation on you, must when the obligation comes from the
speaker.

Note the difference:

It's late, I'm really tired, I must go now. Bye!

It's late. I'd love to stay but I have a meeting tomorrow morning. I have to go now. Bye!

Note the construction:

Have to
Subject + + Infinitive without "TO"
Must

NOT I must to go home before midnight.

Used in the negative, have to and must are very different.

Mustn't means there is an obligation not to do something. It's against the law, for example.

You mustn't drive over 70mph in this area.

Teachers mustn't hit their students.
If you drink more than a couple of beers, you mustn't try and drive home.

Don't have to, on the other hand, means there is no obligation for you to do something. In other words, it isn't
necessary.

Rich people don't have to work.

You don't have to do part B of the test. That is for the other class.
In Britain, old people don't have to pay on the buses. It's free!

Must doesn't have a past form so you should use had to.

We missed the last bus last night so we had to catch a taxi.

'Like' as Verb and Preposition

The word like seems to have many uses in English, some as a verb and some as a preposition:

Verb

I like beer.
I would like a beer.

In the first sentence, we are talking about what someone likes in general, always. In the second, the person is
asking for a beer now. In English we use would like to ask for something and not would want as in many
languages.
She would like to go to Australia next year.
NOT She would want to go to Australia next year.

Preposition

Like used as a preposition means "similar to" or "the same as".

His house is huge. It's like a palace.

Sandra is a teacher, like me.
I hate television quiz shows like this.

If we want to know general information about a person or place, we can use like in the question:

Q: What is your father like?

A: He is tall and muscular and a very generous person.

Q: What is London like?

A: Well, it's a chaotic, cosmopolitan city. But in summer, it's full of tourists.

We can use look like if we only want physical information:

Q: What does your sister look like?

A: She is blonde with lovely green eyes. She is quite short.

Note the difference between look and look like in these sentences:

My father looks happy all the time.

Your sister looks like a model.
He looks French if you ask me!
Jane looks like Meryl Streep.

So we use:

look + Adjective / Age

look like + Person / Noun

Introduction To Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal verbs are verbs that are comprised of a main verb plus a particle, or preposition. Some phrasal verbs
have two particles after the main verb!

She gets up at six o'clock every morning.

Turn on the television, that programme is starting now.
My grandmother lives with us and we look after her.
I will never live up to my mother's expectations of me.

Phrasal verbs must be learnt individually like normal verbs. Often there is a clue, a help, in the main verb as to
its meaning:

She sat down on the sofa.

I am looking for my glasses. Where are they?
But often there isn't any help in the main verb:

I didn't want to speak to her, so I hung up.

We had to put our cat down last year. It was terrible.

Once you learn the meaning of a phrasal verb, you then must learn how it can be used. Most importantly, you
must learn if it is formal or informal English and if it can be separated or not.

Most phrasal verbs can be separated - that is, the main verb and the particle can have another word, usually the
object, in between them.

I got John up at seven o'clock as he had to leave early.

She said she didn't have a hotel room so I put her up.
They picked their parents up from the airport.

Usually, if we use a pronoun such as it, her, him, etc, this must go between the main verb and the particle.

But you need to learn those that can't be separated:

They got on the bus. NOT They got the bus on.

You should treat phrasal verbs like any normal vocabulary. That is to say, you must learn each one individually
- its meaning and its use.

'Have' and 'Have Got'

have got is used in some English-speaking countries (not very much in the United States) to mean have,
possess.

John has got a big house near the harbour.

We haven't got any children.
Have you got a cigarette, please?

Remember to use has in the third person:

Can
Positive Negative* Question
I've got I haven't got Have I got?
You've got You haven't got Have you got?
He's got He hasn't got Has he got?
She's got She hasn't got Has she got?
It's got It hasn't got Has it got?
We've got We haven't got Have we got?
You've got You haven't got Have you got?
They've got They haven't got Have they got?

Note the contractions used.

Examples:
This hotel has got two large restaurants.
I've got a terrible headache!

This television hasn't got an off switch!

We haven't got time to look in shop windows. Come on!!

Has your car got electric windows?

Have your parents got photos of their wedding?

Note. You cannot use have got to replace have in expressions which do not signify possession.

I have a shower at seven every morning.

NOT I have got a shower at seven every morning.

Question Tags
Question tags are used in English as a simple way of asking questions in conversation.

Question tags go at the end of a sentence and we use positive ones to finish a negative sentence and, conversely,
we use negative ones to finish off positive sentences.

That was a great meal, wasn't it?

Tony is married, isn't he?

She isn't very pretty, is she?

They don't smoke much, do they?

To form the question tag, you must use the same auxiliary verb that is used to make the question form of the
relevant tense.

Examples:

The continuous tenses use "be":

You were fishing yesterday, weren't you?

I'm doing this correctly, aren't I?

The simple tenses use "do":

You went to the cinema yesterday, didn't you?

She loves her wine, doesn't she?

The perfect tenses use "have":

He's never been out of the country, has he?

I've been accepted, haven't I?

And the modals stay the same:

They shouldn't make that strange noise, should they?
You can't come out tonight, can you?
We'll see you tomorrow, won't we?

The meaning of question tags can change slightly depending on whether your voice rises or falls at the end of a
sentence. If your voice falls, you are only checking information, confirming what you already believe. But if
your voice rises on a question tag, this makes it more of a real question.

Compound Nouns
Compound nouns are where two (or more) nouns are put together to mean one thing.

a kitchen table
a shopping centre
a video player

When this happens, the first noun is acting like an adjective to give us more information on the second noun.
The first noun, like an adjective, tells us what type of table it is. What type of centre, what type of player?

We know that it is a kitchen table, for example, and not a dining room table. A shopping centre and not an
industrial centre. It is a video player and not a CD or cassette player.

If you know this, it will help you remember and even create nouns of your own.

What is the difference between these two?

A phone card and a card phone.

Remember what we read before about the first noun acting like an adjective. The first thing is a card. The first
word, phone, tells us what type of card it is. The second thing is a phone. The first word, card, tells us what type
of phone it is - those that accept only cards and not money.

What about these two?

Film music and music film

This one is more difficult. If we use the same logic though we can understand that the first, "film music", is the
type of music we hear in a film. Maybe orchestral. The second, "music film", is a film about music.

The second word tells us what the object is.

The first word acts as an adjective and describes what type of object it is.

'So' and 'Such'

So and such are used to emphasise nouns and adjectives.

It was so hot yesterday that I went swimming down at the beach.

That was such a good film, Tracy. Who was the main actor?

We use:
So + Adjective or Adverb

He was so quick, he won the race easily.

My mother spoke French so well!

but

Such + Noun or Adjective and Noun

He drove such a fast car that he won easily.

Such films always make me cry.

So / Because

So and Because are used to talk about reasons and causes for connected events.

Consider this little story:

Tom gets up. He sees the weather forecast. "It's going to rain," they say. He decides to take his umbrella. Later
on, it rains, but Tom is smiling under his umbrella!

They said it was going to rain, so Tom took his umbrella.

Tom took his umbrella because he saw the weather forecast.
Tom didn't get wet because he had his umbrella, so he was happy!

-ing And -ed Adjectives

There are two types of adjectives in English.

"Active Adjectives" are those that end in -ing. Consider a television show which is boring. This TV show
causes a feeling in us, who watch is.

"Passive Adjectives" are those that end in -ed. The TV show makes us feel bored. The TV show causes the
feeling - we are the ones who have the feeling.

A laughing man - a man who is laughing.

An interesting book - a book that causes interest.
An amusing movie - a movie that is funny, causes amusement.

but...

A frightened cat - a cat who has fear of something else, frightened by something.
A surprised expression - on the face of a person who is surprised by something/someone.
A damaged car - the car has damage caused by something else: another car maybe, a criminal.

Enough
Enough can act as an adjective or adverb and also be used as a pronoun. Its position in the sentence is usually
very important.
With adjectives and adverbs, it usually comes after the adjective:

Examples:

My horse isn't strong enough to pull that big tree.

That house is big enough for all of us. Let's buy it!
We didn't speak quickly enough in the oral exam and we both failed.

With nouns, "enough" comes before the noun:

Examples:

Do we have enough apples for this apple pie recipe?

There aren't enough people here to start the meeting. We'll wait.

Look how "enough" can be used without nouns too, like a pronoun:

Example:

Jim: We need some mushrooms for the pizza.

Jane: Yes, we don't have enough.

Note: Be careful to pronounce this important word correctly. You should put the stress on the second syllable:
e'nough.

Present Perfect Continuous Structure

To make the present perfect continuous, we use the present perfect of the verb "to be" and then we use the
main verb in the 'ing' form.

She has been working here for almost a year now.

We have been waiting here since over an hour ago!

Here is the verb read in all forms of the present perfect continuous.

Present Perfect Continuous

Positive Negative Question
I have been reading I haven't been reading Have I been reading?
You have been reading You haven't been reading Have you been reading?
He has been reading He hasn't been reading Has he been reading?
She has been reading She hasn't been reading Has she been reading?
It has been reading It hasn't been reading Has it been reading?
We have been reading We haven't been reading Have we been reading?
You have been reading You haven't been reading Have you been reading?
They have been reading They haven't been reading Have they been reading?

Examples:

I have been washing the car. Look at it - isn't it spotless!

They have been wanting to get married for over five years.
You haven't been watching that terrible soap opera again have you!
She hasn't been studying hard enough and will fail the exams.

Have you been sitting here waiting for long?

Why have you been reading my letters?

Present Perfect Continuous Use

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about an action that started in the past and is either still continuing
or recently finished.

I have been reading that new book of mine all morning.

We are more interested in the activity and cannot be sure from this sentence if the person has finished reading
or not.

We often use this tense to say how long something has been happening.

I have been learning English for about five years.

John has been working for this company since last October.

Present Perfect Simple or Continuous?

Compare these sentences:

I've been repairing the TV for hours.

I've repaired the TV! Are you happy?

In the first, the activity is being spoken about and we are not sure if the TV is fixed yet or not. In the second,
there is no doubt that it has been repaired.

I've been writing letters for two hours.

I've written four letters.

The present perfect continuous is often used to talk about how long. The present perfect simple to talk about
how many.

You can't say I've been writing four letters.

I've lived in this town all my life.

I've been living with my girlfriend for a month.

The difference here is that the simple form is used to show permanence whereas the continuous form is used for
a shorter period of time. There is a similar difference between the present continuous and the present simple.

Second Conditional
A second conditional sentence is comprised of two halves.

If + Past Simple Then Would + Infinitive

We use the second conditional to say what we might possibly do in an unlikely situation.

We have seen in Pre-Intermediate level how the zero conditional and the first conditional are used to talk about
possibility and result. The second conditional is another structure used to talk about present or future possibility
but it sees the possibility as very unlikely, remote, improbable.

Look at these examples:

If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house in France.

I would take the job if I were you!

The first situation is not very possible. The second is impossible. Both sentences are describing present/future
situations. The second conditional is not used to talk about the past. For that, see the Third Conditional!

Often, we use were for every person in the second conditional. It's OK to use was for he, she and it but it is
considered "better" to use were:

If she were married, she would understand my situation.

He could play basketball if he were taller.

First or Second Conditional?

We have already discussed how both these conditionals refer to present or future time. So what is the
difference? Look at these sentences:

Milton Jones, Politician: "If I become President, I will cut taxes."

John Smith, taxi-driver: "If I became President, I would cut taxes."

Milton uses the First Conditional as he sees the possibility of becoming President as real. He is, after all, a
politician. John is a taxi driver and has no chance of actually becoming President. So for him, it is a dream, an
imagined situation. And this is where we use the Second Conditional.

Look at these final examples of "unreal" possibility where the second conditional is necessary.

If I met Michael Jackson at a party, I would speak to his monkey.

I would be so much fitter if I stopped smoking.
If you caught the early bus every week, you would have more time at home.

Passive Overview
Structure

We form the passive using the relevant tense of the verb to be, plus the past participle of the main verb.

So for the verb clean, we would have:

Passive Summary of Tenses

Present Simple The room is cleaned every day
Present Continuous It is being cleaned now
Past Simple It was cleaned yesterday
Past Continuous It was being cleaned at six yesterday
Future Simple It will be cleaned tomorrow
Going To Future It is going to be cleaned tomorrow
Present Perfect It has been cleaned twice
Past Perfect Simple It had been cleaned before
Can It can be cleaned easily
Should It should be cleaned daily

To form the question, we put the auxiliary verb first:

Is it being cleaned today?

Had it been cleaned before?
Should it be cleaned daily?

Use

Look at this sentence:

They will deliver the letter tomorrow.

"the letter" is the object of the sentence. "they" is the subject. We can make "the letter" the subject:

The letter will be delivered tomorrow.

And if we want, we can include the subject of the first sentence:

The letter will be delivered by them tomorrow.

So we use the passive to say what happens to the subject of a sentence.

The bridge was painted in 1999.

Military jets are usually flown by men.
The flight to Boston will be delayed because of striking ground crew.

And we use an active sentence to say what a subject does:

John Exmoor painted that bridge in 1999.

Air Force pilots, usually men, fly military jets.
Striking ground crew will delay the departure of the Boston flight.

Sometimes, active sentences sound unnatural because who does the action is not important or not known. The
action itself is important.

Tickets can be purchased from the booth at the entrance.

Spanish is spoken in much of South America.
Edward Moore was killed at his farm late last night.

The same sentences rewritten using the active would not be wrong, but the subject of these sentences would
sound strange:
You can purchase tickets from the booth at the entrance.
People speak Spanish in much of South America.
Someone killed Edward Moore at his farm late last night.

Passive Present
Remember that the verb "to be" has to be used in all passive sentences and must be plural if the subject is
plural:

This phone is made of plastic.

but
These chairs are made of wood.

After the verb "to be", you must use the past participle in all tenses.

Vintage wine is sold on the second floor.

not
Vintage wine is sell on the second floor.

The passive is used in the present often to describe processes:

The half-finished machine is then sent to Room 4 for painting.

The wine is then taken and put into bottles.

Passive Past
Remember with the passive that the past participle is always the same.

It is the verb "to be" that changes:

I was driven around in the taxi at high speed.

We were treated terribly at the hotel last year.
I had to be taken to hospital immediately.

Note how the passive in English is more flexible than in other languages. Look at these two sentences:

The letter was sent by Express Post and arrived at 9am.

I was sent a letter by my wife.

In the first, it's clear that the subject of the passive sentence is the letter. In the second, it is not "I" that is sent,
but, again, the letter. English allows for this type of construction. Other examples:

They were given a new TV for Christmas. (the TV is given, not 'they')
She was promised a pay rise by the boss. (the pay rise is promised, not 'she')

Get Passive
In English, the passive can always be made using the verb "to be". In informal English, "get" is also often used
to construct passive sentences. But it's not always possible.
We use "get" in a passive sentence when we talk about something that happened or something that changed, so
it is NOT used for verbs such as 'like', 'believe' or 'say'.

It also changes the focus from "what happened" to "the person/thing something happened to". It's not usual to
see a "by" clause saying who did it. Look at the difference between:

The window was broken by those naughty children. (focus on event)

The window got broken. (focus on "window")

Note: It's not normal to use a "by" clause with the "get" passive.
The computer was stolen by a thief. OR The computer got stolen, NOT The computer got stolen by a thief.

Past Perfect Structure

We make the past perfect using had + the past participle. Here is the verb "go".

Past Perfect
Positive Negative Question
I had gone I hadn't gone Had I gone?
You had gone You hadn't gone Had you gone?
He had gone He hadn't gone Had he gone?
She had gone She hadn't gone Had she gone?
It had gone It hadn't gone Had it gone?
We had gone We hadn't gone Had we gone?
You had gone You hadn't gone Had you gone?
They had gone They hadn't gone Had they gone?

Examples:

She had written a letter to me.

The newspaper had arrived an hour before.
My parents had treated me differently from my sister.

Past Perfect Use

We use the past perfect to talk about something that happened before another event in the past. It's like a
double past.

Take this sentence in the past simple.

I arrived home at about 6 o'clock and sat down on the sofa to watch the big football game.

Poor John doesn't realise that the television doesn't work. Why doesn't the TV work? The TV exploded at 5pm -
one hour before he arrived home:

His wife explained that the TV had exploded at 5pm.

Look at these two sentences. What is the difference?

When John arrived home, his wife cooked dinner.
When John arrived home, his wife had cooked dinner.

In the first, we use past simple and past simple for a sequence of events in the past. So his wife waited for John
to arrive home, then started cooking dinner.

In the second sentence, "his wife had cooked dinner" tells us that this had happened before John arrived. It
means the dinner was waiting for John on the table when he arrived.

So we can use the past perfect to make it clear that something had happened before something else.

She failed her exams because she hadn't studied.

We could also write:

She failed her exams because she didn't study.

But using the past perfect emphasises the fact that she hadn't studied before the exam.

The past perfect is often used, therefore, to talk about the reasons for a past situation.

She was crying because Philip had written her a terrible letter.
He was late because he had missed his train.
They felt sick as they had eaten too much.

'Make', 'Let' and 'Allow'

These three words are used to talk about permission and obligation.

MAKE

If someone obliges, forces someone to do something, we use "make". The construction is:

make someone do something.

Unlike most verb, then, we don't use "to" in the infinitive.

Examples:

My teacher made me do extra homework because of the trouble I caused.

Some banks make you pay too many bank charges.

In the passive, we add "to" after make.

She was made to leave the room while the plans were discussed.

LET

If we have permission from someone to do something, we use "let". The construction is:

let someone do something.

Again, we don't use "to" in the infinitive.

Examples:

My mother lets me stay out till midnight on a Saturday.

Let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone.

1. In the passive, let is not possible. We must use allow to:

I was allowed to leave early.

ALLOW TO

If someone gives us permission or the possibility to do something, we use "allow to". The construction is:

allow someone to do something.

Examples:

Working from home allows me to spend more time with my family

My father never allows me to stay out too late.

It is used very often in the passive. In this way, the person given the permission is made the subject of the
sentence.

You're not allowed to smoke in this room.

They're not allowed to get married yet. Their parents say they are too young.

Used To
"Used to" in English fulfills the function that, in many languages, is covered by a whole tense! We use "used
to" to express something which happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen anymore. A past routine, a
past habit.

I used to drink three whiskeys a day ten years ago, but then I stopped.
She used to be a teacher, but now works as a lawyer.

Questions

The question form uses "use to":

Did you use to live in this house, Tony?

How many cigarettes did you use to smoke before you gave up?

Negatives

I didn't use to like eating salad, but I love it now.

She didn't use to study hard and so she failed all her exams every year.

Pronunciation
The past of the verb "use" is "used" which is spelt the same as "used to" but the pronunciation is very
different. The past of "use" is pronounced with a /z/ sound - while "used to" is pronounced with an /s/ sound.

Phonetically:

He used a computer. /u:zd/

He used to work here. /u:st/

Past Simple or 'Used To'?

We can also use past simple to talk about past habits or routines:

I lived in that house for ten years.

She was a librarian for a year before quitting.

Just as we can use "used to":

I used to live in that house for ten years.

She used to be a librarian.

The difference is that we can't use "used to" for something that happened once.

I went to Lithuania in 1999.

NOT I used to go to Lithuania in 1999.

Would or 'Used To'?

We can also use "would" in a similar way to "used to".

Every day as a child, she would pedal that old bike to school.
Even when he was really young, he would play that piano for hours every day.

But we don't use "would" for state verbs:

I used to have a teddy bear when I was young.

NOT I would have a teddy bear when I was young.

Gerund Or Infinitive
Here is a brief summary of when we use the infinitive and the gerund in English.

Gerund Infinitive
After certain verbs
After certain verbs
(e.g. enjoy, hate)
(e.g. want, decide)
As the subject of a sentence
After adjectives
After prepositions

GERUND
After certain verbs

She always enjoys seeing a good thriller at the cinema.

I hated going to school when I was young.

As the subject of a sentence

Watching TV every day isn't healthy for children.

Staying in bed late is one of the pleasures of Sundays.

After prepositions

You shouldn't eat too much before going to bed.

He frightened us by jumping out of the cupboard.
I was interested in seeing your stamp collection.

INFINITIVE

After certain verbs

I want to go to Mexico for a year after university.

I hope to find a job near Acapulco.
I have decided to become an English teacher.

After adjectives

He was pleased to see we had finished our work.

The police were happy to answer the journalists' questions.
It is often hard for children to make new friends.

Some verbs can be followed by the infinitive and the gerund. but with a different meaning.

She stopped smoking two years ago.

He stopped to smoke and we talked for a while.

Needn't
We use needn't in the same way as we use don't have to. It means something is not necessary.

You needn't come with us. You can stay at home if you want.
I needn't bring my umbrella, it will be a lovely day.

We use needn't have for something that wasn't necessary in the past:

I needn't have come to school today! There is a teachers' strike!!

The car wasn't dirty - you needn't have washed it!

Needn't have, as in the two sentences above, tells us something in the past that wasn't necessary in the past, but
we did it. We can use "didn't need to" to say what wasn't necessary in the past that we knew before wasn't
necessary.
It was Sunday yesterday and I wasn't working so I didn't need to get up early.

Compare these two situations:

I bought 2kg of sugar yesterday but my wife tells me now that we have a lot of sugar already so I needn't have
bought the new bag. It was my mistake because I didn't check first.

I bought 2kg of sugar yesterday. I knew we had some sugar and that I didn't need to buy more but this new bag
was on special offer at the supermarket so I bought it anyway.

Subject And Object Questions

Look at this sentence:

Mary looked at somebody.

Here, "somebody" is the object of the question. We want to know who the "somebody" is so we ask the
question:

Who did Mary look at?

Now look at this sentence:

Somebody looked at Mary.

Now, "somebody" is the subject of the sentence. If we want to know who the "somebody" is, we have to ask:

Who looked at Mary?

When we use who, what or which as the subject of a question, we don't use do, does or did.

Sandra made something. - What did Sandra make? (Object)

Someone made a cake. - Who made a cake? (Subject)

Something happened. - What happened? (Subject)

Someone killed JFK. - Who killed JFK? (Subject)
One bank opens on Sunday. - Which bank opens on Sunday? (Subject)

Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses

Here are three pieces of information.

There is a man. He lives next to the bank. He is a postman.

Now, we can join these three sentences together using a relative pronoun:

The man who lives next to the bank is a postman.

A relative clause is part of a sentence which tells us more information about a person or thing. Here are three
other sentences.
There is a restaurant. We went there last night. It was very expensive.

Which we can combine using a different relative pronoun:

The restaurant where we went last night was very expensive.

We can use different relative pronouns depending if we are talking about a person, a place or a possession.

The man whose car was stolen last night is at the police station.
The town where Copernicus was born also invented gingerbread.
The politician who won the election was a communist.
The dog that/which bit me was a Labrador.

Now look at these sentences.

You looked at a girl. She was blonde.

A girl looked at you. She was blonde.

In the first pair of sentences, the blonde girl is the object of the sentence. In the second pair of sentences, the
blonde girl is the subject. When we use relative pronouns to join sentences like this, we don't have to include
the relative pronoun that is the object:

You looked at a girl. She was blonde. (object)

We can write: The girl you looked at was blonde.

but

A girl looked at you. She was blonde. (subject)

We must write: The girl who looked at you was blonde.

We have to include the relative pronoun if it is the subject of a sentence.

The restaurant you like is near the bank. (relative pronoun omitted - object)
The restaurant which opens late is near the bank. (relative pronoun included - subject)

"Can" And "Be Able"

These two are both used to talk about ability, but in different ways.

General Ability

I can swim.
I am able to swim.

Both these sentences mean the same thing but "can" is usually used as it is shorter and more concise.

Also, in the past, we use "could" instead of "was able to" to talk about general ability.

Mozart could play the piano when he was four years old.
NOT Mozart was able to play the piano when he was four years old.
Remember, it's not wrong - it's just better to use "can" or "could" in these examples.

Specific Ability

If we want to talk about someone's ability to do something at a specific time in the past, we must use "to be
able to".

I studied a lot for this exam and I was able to finish it easily.

Here we cannot use "could". This is not a general ability - this exam was only on one day, at a specific time in
the past. We can also use other expressions such as "succeeded in" or "managed to" to talk about what someone
was able to do at a specific time in the past.

I managed to see John for five minutes when he wasn't busy.

It was a difficult shot but Tiger Woods succeeded in playing it perfectly.

However, even when we are talking about a specific occasion in the past, for negative sentences, we can use
"couldn't".

It was a hard exam and I couldn't finish it in time.

As before, using "wasn't able to" in this sentence is possible, but is considered too long.

Nouns and Quantifiers

Few / A Few - Little / A Little

With these expressions of quantity, using the indefinite article gives the sentence a basically positive meaning,
whereas using only few/little without the article gives a more negative meaning. Look at these examples:

Examples:

We have a few potatoes. Let's make a stew for dinner.

We have a little water, enough until tomorrow.
There's little reason he'd consider us for the job.
If you are bankrupt, there are few options for you. You'll have to sell the house.

Note: "A few" means "a small number, but more than zero". "Few" means less than you were expecting, less
than you need, etc.

No / None / Not

"No" means "there isn't any" and is used before nouns. Not the difference in the verb before countable and
uncountable nouns.

Examples:

There's no beer left! What a terrible party!

There are no trees in the garden.
"None" means "not any, zero" and is a pronoun that can be used to substitute both countable and uncountable
nouns.

Q: How many children do you have?

A: None.

Note: "None" can take either a singular or plural verb form after.

Examples:

None of the boys are very intelligent.

None of the paintings is expensive.

These words should not be confused with "not" which is used to make verbs negative.

I do not like you.

We have not left yet!

You can't use "not" in front of nouns to mean "not any" although you can use with verbs before the noun. See
these examples:

There are not any apples. / There aren't any apples. NOT There are not apples.

Somewhere/Anywhere/Nowhere/Everywhere

The rules for these words are the same as "some" and "any".

Positive Negative Question

somewhere anywhere anywhere

somebody anybody anybody
someone anyone anyone
something anything anything

We use the prefix "every" to talk about "all" people, places, etc.

Everyone laughed at me. (every person in the room)

Everywhere was full, so we stayed at home. (every bar or restaurant)

We use the prefix "no" to mean the same as "not any". See how these examples are similar:

I didn't see anybody.

I saw nobody.

And "no-" type words can also be used as subjects of sentences.

Nobody came to the party.

Nowhere feels like home!

Adjectives and Adverbs

Prefixes and Suffixes

These can be used to make words negative, stronger, weaker and many more things. Learn prefixes and suffixes
to improve your vocabulary. Suffixes are often used to turn nouns into adjectives:

Examples:

Helpful
Joyless
Friendly
Active
Truthful

Adverb Position

Adverbs of frequency come before the verb, but after the verb "to be" or an auxiliary verb.

I am often hungry by 8pm.

I sometimes swim at the weekends.
He doesn't always understand the questions.

Adverbs of manner usually come after the direct object. They can also come directly before the verb.

He picked up the gun slowly.

He slowly picked up the gun.

But never usually after the verb:

He picked up slowly the gun.

Adverbs of time and place usually come at the end of a clause/sentence.

I saw him in the office yesterday.

She was reading there, on the couch.

When you are reading, it's good to take note of where you see certain adverbs.

Note: Many adverbs will have at least two good positions in a sentence. It's important to learn where they can't
go.

Examples:

Yesterday, I saw Jane. OR I saw Jane yesterday. NOT I yesterday saw Jane.

Adjective or Adverb?

Some adjectives and adverbs are irregular. Look at "hard".

It was a hard game. He played hard.

Here, "hard" is both an adjective and an adverb. "Fast" also acts like this.
Sometimes, a verb will be followed by an adjective instead of an adverb. Look at the verbs "to feel" and "to
seem".

He felt tired. NOT He felt tiredly.

That man seems strange. NOT That man seems strangely.

Note: When you meet adverbs/adjectives that act like this or verbs that take adjectives when you are expecting
an adverb, make a note of it so you remember!

Some verbs can take BOTH adjectives and adverbs after, but the meaning changes.

The grass grew quickly. (increase in size)

The man grew tired. (slowly became)

Reflexive Pronouns
What is the difference between these two sentences?

Sam and Dan looked at each other in the mirror.

Sam and Dan looked at themselves in the mirror.

In the first sentence, Sam looked at Dan and Dan looked at Sam. In the second sentence, Sam looked at his own
reflection and Dan did too.

"Themselves" is a reflexive pronoun. English doesn't use reflexive pronouns as often as many other languages.
We say:

I shaved this morning. NOT I shaved myself this morning.

We use reflexive pronouns to make it clear the subject and the object of the verb are the same.

You take yourself too seriously.

He looked at himself in the mirror and began to cry.
The cat bit itself and everyone laughed.

We can also use them for emphasis. Look how these are used:

I didn't drive, I walked there myself!

Did you clean the kitchen yourself or did someone help you?
The Queen herself signed the letter.

Third Conditional
A third conditional sentence is comprised of two halves.

If + Past Perfect Then Would have + Past Participle

We use the third conditional to say what would have happened in the past.
We have seen how the zero conditional, the first conditional and the second conditional are all used to talk
about possibility and result in the present and future. The third conditional is what we use to talk about the past.

Examples:

What would have you done if the boss had asked you to work overtime?
If my teacher had been stricter with me when I was young, I would have studied harder.
We would have gone for a picnic if the weather had been better.

Second or Third Conditional?

Compare these two sentences:

If I went to the party, I would be tired tomorrow.

If I had gone to the party, I would have been tired.

In the first sentence, we use the second conditional because the party is in the future and we are imagining what
the situation would be. In the second sentence, the party is in the past. We didn't go but we are imagining what
would have happened if we had gone to it.

Don't use would in the if part of the sentence. With if, we must use the past perfect:

If I had seen Hugo, I would have said hello.

NOT If I would have seen Hugo, ....

Mixed Conditionals
Compare these two sentences:

If I had gone to the disco on Saturday night, I would have met Sarah.
If I had gone to the disco on Saturday night, I would be tired now.

In the first sentence, we use the third conditional - a past possible action with the past result.

In the second sentence however, we use a mixed third and second conditional to describe a past possible action
(third conditional) with a present result (second conditional).

Look at these other possible situations:

If I had gone to university, my mother would have been happy.

If I had gone to university, I would be a lawyer now.

If we had gone to that new restaurant, we wouldn't have got a table as it was so busy.
If we had gone to that new restaurant, we wouldn't be hungry now.

Alternatives to "Would".

If it hadn't rained, we would have gone for a walk.

Here we are saying we definitely would have gone for a walk if it hadn't rained. No rain = walk. Now compare
with this:
If it hadn't rained, we could have gone for a walk.

This is a little different and means that the possibility to go for a walk would have existed. No rain = possible
walk.

If it hadn't rained, we might have gone for a walk.

Here the possibility is smaller still. No rain = maybe walk. We can also use "may" in this sentence.

Wishes And Regrets

Present

When we make a wish or a regret about a present situation, we use a second conditional structure:

I wish I was thinner. or I wish I were thinner.

As with the second conditional, though we are talking about a future wish, we use the past simple.

We can also use the phrase "if only" to express the same idea:

If only I had more money!

If only she had a better job, she would be happier.

As you can see in the first sentence, it's not necessary to put the second half of the sentence.

Past

When we make a regret about a past situation, we use a third conditional structure:

I wish I had studied harder at school when I was a teenager.

If only we had seen that special offer yesterday.

Reported Speech
When we report what someone has said, we make certain changes:

"I smoke five cigarettes a day," said Mike.

Mike said he smoked five cigarettes a day.

The main change in reported speech sentences is that the tenses change. Here is a summary of the tense
changes that take place:

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

Direct Speech Reported Speech
Present Simple Past Simple
Present Continuous Past Continuous
Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect Past Perfect
Past Simple Past Perfect
Past Perfect Past Perfect
Will Would
Going to Was going to
Can Could

Examples:

"I am going to France when I finish university."

He said he was going to France when he finished university.

"I will tell you where I have been on holiday."

She said she would tell me where she had been on holiday.

"I was reading this book all day yesterday."

He said he had been reading that book all the previous day.

You can see in the last sentence how "this" becomes "that" and how "yesterday" becomes "the previous
day" (or "day before"). Here are some other changes that take place:

Other Changes in Reported Speech

Direct Speech Reported Speech
Today That day
Tomorrow The next/following day
Yesterday The previous day/the day before
Ago Before
Next The following
Last The _____ before
This That
Here There
Now Then

Examples:

"I didn't go last week, I went 3 weeks ago."

He said he hadn't gone the week before, he had gone 3 weeks before.

"I don't want that report today, I want it here and now!!"
The boss said he didn't want the report that day, he wanted it there and then.

It is not necessary to change the tenses if what you are reporting is still true:

"Milan is bigger than Turin."

He said that Milan is bigger than Turin.

We stay with the present simple because Milan is still bigger than Turin.

Be careful when you use say and tell as they are used differently:

Say something (to someone).

Tell someone something.
He told me he was getting married.
He said (to me) (that) he was getting married.

Reported Questions
In reported questions, tenses and word order change.

"Where is the bank?"

He asked me where the bank was.

You can note:

1. The word order is that of an affirmative sentence.

2. The tense changes as in reported speech.
3. We don't use any question marks.

Look at these other examples:

"How many cigarettes do you smoke?"

He asked me how many cigarettes I smoked.

"How long have you worked in this office?"

She asked me how long I had worked in that office.

When we ask yes/no questions, we used if or whether:

"Do you live in a big flat?"

He asked me if I lived in a big flat.

"Do we pay extra for the breakfast?"

They asked whether they paid extra for the breakfast.

Be Used To
We use "to be used to" to say someone is accustomed to something or to doing something. After this
structure, we can use a noun or a verb in the -ing form:

I'm not used to living in Britain.

I'm not used to British coffee.

Consider Jane. She worked in a supermarket in a small village for many years and now she lives in the city and
works in a bigger supermarket. There are many things that are very different for her:

She isn't used to all the traffic.

She isn't used to living in a big city.
She is used to working in a supermarket - because she worked in one in her village.

We use "get used to" to describe the change from being not used to something to becoming used to it.
I wasn't used to working so hard, but after two months in this company, I got used to it.
When Sarah worked as a nurse, she got used to getting up early.

Don't confuse "be used to doing" with "used to do" which we saw in the Intermediate level. Remember
"used to do" means a past habit.

I used to drive a Ferrari, but now I drive a Mercedes.

I am used to driving on the left in Britain because I have been here for over a year.

British And American English

The English spoken in places like London, Manchester and Liverpool is 98% identical to that spoken in New
York, Los Angeles and Dallas. Only 2% difference!! Having said that, there is the same difference in the genes
of the chimpanzee and the human!

The biggest difference between British and American English is in vocabulary. For example:

In America In Britain
Trash Rubbish
Sidewalk Pavement
Mailman Postman
Faucet Tap
Elevator Lift
Chips Crisps
Interstate Motorway
French Fries Chips

And the list goes on and on and on!

Grammar

There are not many differences in grammar, but there are some between the two types of English.

The present perfect is used in British English to describe an action that happened at some time in the past.

Have you seen the new Spike Lee film?

Has John already left for the mountains?

Whereas in American English, it is alright to use the past simple:

Did you see the new Spike Lee film yet?

Did John already leave for the mountains?

Shall is used with I and We in positive and interrogative sentences in British English:

Shall I help you with that bag?

Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
But shall is unusual in American English:

Will I help you with that bag?

Should we go to the cinema tonight?

 British people have a bath or a shower - Americans take both.

 British people live in a street and write to somebody at the weekend. Americans live on a street and
write somebody on the weekend.
 An American sports team is playing well. A British team are playing well.

There are many examples of differences in UK and US spelling

In America In Britain
Defense Defence
Traveled Travelled
Color Colour
Spoiled Spoilt
Plow Plough

gotten is the past participle of get in American - in Britain, it's got.

This beer has gotten hot in the sun. (US)

This beer has got hot in the sun. (UK)

Future Continuous Structure

We make the future continuous tense by using the future of the verb "to be" plus the main verb in the "-ing"
form.

So, for the verb "sit":

Present Continuous
Positive Negative Question
I will be sitting I won't be sitting Will I be sitting?
You will be sitting You won't be sitting Will you be sitting?
He will be sitting He won't be sitting Will he be sitting?
She will be sitting She won't be sitting Will she be sitting?
It will be sitting It won't be sitting Will it be sitting?
We will be sitting We won't be sitting Will we be sitting?
You will be sitting You won't be sitting Will you be sitting?
They will be sitting They won't be sitting Will they be sitting?

Future Continuous Use

We use the future continuous tense to talk about what will be happening at a certain time in the future.
Compare this with the past continuous which we use to talk about what was happening at a certain time in the
past.
Examples:

When your mother arrives at 6pm tomorrow, you will still be working.
As you arrive at work on Monday morning, I will be sitting on a beach in Cuba!
Don't call us at 9pm. We'll be eating dinner at that time.

Just like the past continuous, it can also be used to give information about what will be happening in the
background. Using the tense like this is quite unusual.

Examples:

I hope when I get up tomorrow, the birds will be singing and my mum will be cooking my breakfast!

Gerund Or Infinitive
In the Intermediate level, we saw that some verbs take the infinitive and some take gerund:

I enjoy swimming in the summer.

I want to go to Egypt this winter.

Some verbs can take both the infinitive or the gerund without any change in meaning.

I love going to the cinema on a Saturday evening.

I love to go to the cinema on a Saturday evening.

But there are some verbs that change their meaning depending on whether they are followed by the infinitive or
the gerund.

Here are the most important:

Stop

With the gerund, stop means to give up something:

He stopped smoking on the doctor's advice.

With the infinitive, it means to take a break in order to do something.

While driving through France, we stopped to visit a famous vineyard.

Go on

With the gerund, go on means continue.

I asked him to listen to me but he went on listening to his music.

With the infinitive, it means to pass to the next stage, to proceed to do something else.

After studying history at university, he went on to work in a museum.

Remember

With the gerund, remember means you have a memory now of having done something before:

I drank too much last night. I don't remember going to the last pub.
I remember seeing her shocked face when I told her the news.

With the infinitive, it means you remember at the time that there is something you have to do in the future.

Remember to close the windows before you leave the house.

It was Joan's birthday yesterday and I only remembered to buy her a card in the morning.

Regret

With the gerund, you regret something that you said in the past:

I regret telling Simon that he was a moody person.

After she told him the news, she instantly regretted saying anything.

With the infinitive, you regret something that you are about to say:

I regret to inform you that we will have to let you go, Mr. Jenkins.

Try

With the gerund, try means to attempt to do something as an experiment, a solution to a problem:

If your back hurts so much, try having a bath before bed every night.
I'm not happy with my job. I tried speaking to the boss about it but nothing he said convinced me that I want to
stay.

With the infinitive, it means to attempt to do something (often unsuccessfully) that is very difficult.

I tried to speak to the boss yesterday, but his secretary wouldn't let me in.
My back hurts. I try to lift heavy things and I just can't!

'The ___ The ____' Comparatives

We use this structure to say that the more one thing changes, the more another thing changes.

The larger a bottle of whiskey you drink, the drunker you will be.
The further the hotel is from the sea, the longer it will take us to walk there every morning.

After each "the", we can use either an adjective or an adverb in the comparative form.

The more in a hurry we are, the more slowly he eats!

The angrier the teacher got, the more we laughed.

These sentences are often truncated when the rest is understood:

The earlier we arrive at the beach, the better. (...it is for us.)
The closer you sit to the TV, the worse. (...it will be for your eyes.)

And there is one expression in English which talks about the fact that a party is better when there are a lot of
people present:

The more, the merrier.

Modals Of Deduction
We can use modal verbs to express doubt and certainty in certain situations in the present and past. The modal
verbs we use in these sentences are can't, may, might, could and must.

Here are examples in the present and past using each of these modals:

Can't

We use can't in these situations to say that something is not possible:

Winston can't be at the theater tonight, I saw him in a café ten minutes ago.
You can't have gone to school today. Your teacher phoned me to see where you were!

May, Might and Could

May, Might and Could can be used to say something is possible. We are not sure if it is true or not, but it is
possible.

She might be a teacher. She did study education at university.

That pizzeria could be good. It's often quite busy.
Your wife may have seen us together. She didn't look happy this evening.
He could've failed his exams. He didn't study very much.

Must

We use must when we are convinced, totally sure about something.

They must be out. Look, all the lights are off!

She must have accepted his marriage proposal. Look how happy he is!

Despite, Although, etc.

There are many ways in English of joining two contrasting ideas together. But each one has its own particular
set of rules.

Take these two ideas:

It rained.
We played tennis.

But
It rained but we played tennis.

Although

This can come at the beginning or in the middle of one sentence.

Although it rained, we played tennis.

We played tennis although it rained.

Though

Though is used exactly as although is used.

Though it rained, we played tennis.

We played tennis though it rained.

Even Though

Even though is used exactly as although is used.

Even though it rained, we played tennis.

We played tennis even though it rained.

However

However is used at the start of a second sentence.

It rained. However, we played tennis.

Nevertheless

Nevertheless is used exactly as however is used.

It rained. Nevertheless, we played tennis.

Despite

We can use despite with a noun following, a gerund verb or the expression "despite the fact that".

Despite the rain, we played tennis.

Despite it raining, we played tennis.
Despite the fact that it rained, we played tennis.

In spite of

In spite of is used exactly as despite is used.

In spite of the rain, we played tennis.

In spite of it raining, we played tennis.
In spite of the fact that it rained, we played tennis.
Relative Clauses & Pronouns
We saw in the first relative pronoun section that there are various relative pronouns that we can use to join
sentences.

Now we will consider two different types of relative clauses. What is the difference between these two
sentences:

My sister who lives in Rome is a teacher.

My sister, who lives in Rome, is a teacher.

There doesn't seem too much of a difference! In the second sentence, there are a pair of commas as the
information in bold is extra. It's not important to understanding which sister. This means that in the first
sentence, the person has more than one sister and only the one in Rome is a teacher. In the second sentence, the
person has only one sister and, extra information, she is a teacher.

The relative clause in the first sentence in called a defining clause as it defines, it tells us exactly which person
or thing we are talking about. The relative clause in the second sentence is called a non-defining clause as it
only gives us extra, non-crucial information.

Look at these other examples:

Defining

We tried that restaurant which you told us.

People who spit in the street make me sick.
Jobs that are interesting and pay well are hard to find.

In these sentences, without the relative pronouns, we don't know which restaurant, which people or which type
of job.

Non-defining

We tried Ristorante Italia, which you told us about.

Danish people, who are blond and tall, speak a wonderful language.
My job, which I've had for ten years, was hard to find.

In these sentences, though, we don't need the extra information given to us by the relative clause. We know it is
Ristorante Italia, Danish people and "my" job.

One easy way of seeing this difference is to see if the sentence makes sense if you take away the relative clause:

We can't say: People make me sick.

But we can say: Danish people speak a wonderful language.

The Causative
We use the causative "have" when we ask someone to do something for us. Look at these two sentences:
I cut my hair yesterday. It was a disaster!
I had my hair cut yesterday. Do you like it?

In the first, the person tried to cut his own hair - in front of the bathroom mirror we can imagine. In the second
the person asked someone else, probably a professional hairdresser, to cut his hair for him. Look at these other
examples:

I finally had my leaking roof repaired last week.

They must have their car's exhaust fixed. What a noise!

Here is the structure we use:

Have followed by Object followed by Past Participle

I'm having my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow.

She's had her nose altered I think.

We can also use get instead of have but this is more informal English.

You need to get your car fixed before the holidays.

I must get this knee of mine seen to by the doctor.

Inversion
Inversion is a way of reversing the usual or expected word order to bring emphasis to a sentence, to make it
more negative, to make it stronger, more dramatic. Compare these two sentences:

I have never seen such a large cat!

Never have I seen such a large cat!

You can see the effect of inverting the subject/verb and bringing the frequency adverb to the start of the
sentence. Here are some similar examples.

Rarely had he been spoken to in such a way.

Never had he known about the child and it was a huge shock to him.

Apart from these adverbs, there are other time expressions which are often used in this way.

Examples:

Hardly had he entered the room when she left.

No sooner had he asked for silence than one of the students laughed loudly.
Scarcely had he opened the front door when the phone rang.

The words "so" and "such" also employ inversion for dramatic effect.

Examples:

So fat was the cat that they went to see a specialist vet.
Such is the age of the tree that local police are worried it will soon fall down.
Conditional sentences can become far more formal sounding when inversion is used.

Examples:

Were I to win the lottery, I would buy a new dictionary.

Had he known about the fire, he wouldn't have mentioned it to her.

Note: Be careful not to use inversion too much. Its use has a very special meaning, either to formalise or
dramatise statements. Its overuse, particularly in conversation, is not advised.

Advanced Quantifiers
Some & Any

These words are seen at lower levels, but the rules controlling their use can be quite complicated.

We use "some" in positive sentences, but also in questions where we expect the answer to be "yes".

Compare:

Isn't there anything we can do?

Isn't there something we can do?

The first is a neutral question not giving much idea of the speaker's attitude. The second example is a question
that tells us the speaker is certain there is something we can do, letting us know he/she is frustrated or angry
about the situation.

Some can also be used:

 to talk about "not all": Some people didn't like the proposal.
 to talk about a large amount, without being specific: I may be some time. Don't wait for me.

Any can also be used:

 to give a general idea of "all": Any of you could have helped me!
 to give a meaning of "if there are": Any questions, ask me at the end of the class.

Lots, Many Of, Much Of, Plenty

These expressions are used to talk about large quantities of things.

Examples

Many of you know him from the TV show "Breakdown".

We had plenty of courses to choose from, it was a very good college.
Lots of the apples are bad. Throw them away.

Lots of and a lot of is more informal than much/many of. Many/much, used alone, sound more informal and
can be more often found in writing.

Examples
Much of what we thought we knew has now been disproven.
Many consider the theory to be outdated.

All (Of), Whole, Both

We use all (of) and whole when we are talking about the entirety of something or a group of things.

Examples

All (of) the rice has gone cold. Heat it up again.

The whole fridge is filthy! Clean it immediately.

In negative sentences, there is a difference between not all and none.

None of my friends came to the party.

Not all my friends came to the party.

The first sentence means there were zero friends there. In the second sentence, some came, perhaps half, but not
all of them.

We don't generally use "all" on its own in English to mean "everything" or "everyone" like many other
languages can.

All were waiting in the airport departure lounge.

Everyone was waiting in the airport departure lounge.

Both is used to talk about two things together.

Both of you were feeling ill yesterday, weren't you?

Both (of) the dogs look very aggressive.

We don't use both in negative sentences. We use "neither" without a negative verb.

Both are you aren't happy.

Neither of you are happy.

Each & Every

We use each and every to talk about all the countable nouns in a group.

I love every movie that Tom Cruise has made.

I wrote each composition I had to do very carefully.

Verbs that follow are singular.

Every apple costs 50 cents.

With expressions such as "nearly" and "almost", we use every.

Examples
Nearly every plane was delayed due to the snow and high winds.
Virtually everyone in the classroom was confused.

We also use every when talking about a large group with an indefinite number in it.

Every homeowner must have home insurance. (not "each")

And when we are talking about frequency, how often something happens.

I go to the dentist every three months.

We use each when it's clear we are referring to a pair of things.

I had a baby in each arm.

Each twin had long black hair.

There can be a subtle difference in how we use each and every.

Compare

I read every book with great attention.

I read each book with great attention.

The first sentence has a meaning of "all the books" whereas we are emphasising in the second sentence how
much attention every book was given.

Purpose, Reason, Result

In high level English, there are many expressions that can be used to talk about why something happened or the
consequences of an action. Good knowledge of these words and structures are important as your English
progresses.

Reasons

Because and as can be used both in the middle of sentences and at the beginning.

Examples

We left because/as it was late.

As it was so wet, the match never took place.
Because the rain never stopped, they postponed the match.

There are other words that can be used to give reasons. Many of these are more formal.

Since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you why I didn't go to your dinner party.
The crowd grew angry at the statement, for they felt their demands had been ignored.
The weather is unusual, in that it's usually much warmer at this time of the year.
My job isn't very challenging, inasmuch as I rarely have to think about what I'm doing.

There are also several expressions using "of" that you can put in front of a noun or noun phrase.
Because of the high cost, we cancelled the vacation and stayed at home instead.
Owing to unforeseen circumstances, we won't be able to offer you the job after all.
She left him due to his disloyalty.

Purpose & Results

The most common expression to talk about purpose in the Infinitive of Purpose, simply the word "to".

I crossed the road to speak to Gabriel.

More formally, this can be extended to "in order to" or "so as to" with the same meaning.

Examples

So as to get a better view, I opened the window.

We're going to Berlin in order to increase our European market.

In negative sentences, the not goes before "to".

I walked fast so as not to arrive too late.

For Doing vs. To Do

For + gerund and the infinitive of purpose are both used to talk about why you do/use something.

Compare

This is a liquid for removing oily stains.

She's using the liquid to remove an oily stain from the floor.

In the first, this is its general purpose. The second sentence talks about why she is using something.

So...That

We use so...that to talk about to connect a cause and a result.

Examples

He spoke so quietly (that) I couldn't hear a word he was saying.

So late was our boss that we thought he wasn't coming at all.

200 phrasal verbs with meanings

Phrasal verbs are an important part of learning the English language. Most phrasal verbs consist of two
words (verb + adverb or verb + preposition) but a few consists of three words. Think of them as you would
any other English vocabulary. Study them as you come across them, rather than trying to memorize many at
once.

Phrasal
Meaning Example
Verb
 To take action because of something like The police were ACTING ON a tip from an informer
Act on
information received. and caught the gang red-handed.
Act out Perform something with actions and gestures.. They ACTED OUT the story on stage.
My computer’s ACTING UP; I think I might have a
Act up Behave badly or strangely.
virus.
You have to ADD the VAT ON to the price they
Add on Include in a calculation.
give.
Add up To make a mathematical total. We ADDED UP the bill to check it was correct.
Affect- usually used in the negative to show
Agree I feel terrible- that food didn’t AGREE WITH my
that something has had a negative effect,
with stomach.
especially is it makes you feel bad.
Aim at To target. The magazine is AIMED AT teenagers.
You should ALLOW FOR delays when planning a
Allow for Include something in a plan or calculation.
journey.
Allow of Make possible, permit. The rules don’t ALLOW OF any exceptions.
Try to get something indirectly, by hinting or He’s been ANGLING FOR an invitation, but I don’t
Angle for
suggesting. want him to come.
Answer Her mother was shocked when she started
To reply rudely to someone in authority.
back ANSWERING her BACK and refusing to help.
Argue Beat someone in a debate, discussion or The teacher tried to ARGUE the girl DOWN, but she
down argument. couldn’t.
Argue Persuade someone to drop the price of
She ARGUED him DOWN ten percent.
down something they’re selling.
If we can’t ARGUE our differences OUT, we’ll have
Argue out Argue about a problem to find a solution.
to take them to court.
Ask how someone is doing, especially
Ask about He ASKED ABOUT my father.
professionally and in terms of health.
Enquire about someone’s health, how life is Jenny rang earlier and ASKED AFTER you, so I told
Ask after
going. her you were fine.
Ask Ask a number of people for information of I have no idea, but I’ll ASK AROUND at work and
around help. see if anyone can help.
Ask in To invite somebody into your house. Jon’s at the door.’ ‘ASK him IN.’
Ask out To invite someone for a date. He wanted to ASK her OUT but was too shy.
Ask over Invite. They have ASKED us OVER for drinks on Friday.
Ask round Invite someone. We ASKED John ROUND for diner.
Auction They AUCTIONED OFF their property as they were
Sell something in an auction.
off heavily in debt.
Back The crowd BACKED AWAY when the man pulled a
Retreat or go backwards.
away knife.
Back Retract or withdraw your position or proposal
She refused to BACK DOWN and was fired.
down in an argument.
Back into Enter a parking area in reverse gear. He prefers to BACK his car INTO the garage.
Back off Retreat. The police told the protesters to BACK OFF.
He BACKED OUT two days before the holiday so
Back out Fail to keep an arrangement or promise.
we gave the ticket to his sister
Back out She BACKED OUT OF the agreement at the last
Fail to keep an agreement, arrangement.
of minute.
 You should always BACK UP important files and
Back up Make a copy of computer data. documents so that you won’t lose all your work if
something goes wrong with the hardware.
Bag out Criticise. Don’t bag out BAG OUT Australian English.
The new project has BALLED me UP- I have no idea
Ball up Confuse or make things complicated.
what to do.
Bargain Persuade someone to drop the price of I BARGAINED her DOWN to half what she
down something they’re selling. originally wanted.
Bash If you BASH your monitor ABOUT like that, it
Mistreat physically.
about won’t last long.
The burglars BASHED the door IN to enter the
Bash in Break, damage or injure by hitting.
house.
Write something quickly without much I BASHED the essay OUT the night before I had to
Bash out
preparation. hand it in.
Be after Try to find or get. The police ARE AFTER him because of the theft.
The next bus should BE ALONG in the next quarter
Be along Arrive.
of an hour or so.
Be away Be elsewhere; on holiday, etc.. She’s AWAY on business for three weeks.
Be cut out
Be suitable, have the necessary qualities. She’s not CUT OUT FOR this kind of work.
for
She was very CUT UP about coming second as she
Be cut up Be upset.
thought she deserved to win.
Be down Be depressed. He’s BEEN DOWN since his partner left him.
Be fed up Be bored, upset or sick of something. I AM FED UP of his complaints.
Be taken I WAS very TAKEN WITH the performance- it was
Like something.
with superb.
Be up Be out of bed. She’s not UP yet.
Bear She spotted him on the other side of the room and
Move towards.
down on BORE DOWN ON him.
The judge’s character may well BEAR ON the final
Bear on Influence, affect.
decision.
Statistics BEAR OUT the government’s positions on
Bear out Confirm that something is correct.
the issue.
Bear up Resist pressure. How are you BEARING UP under the strain?
Bear up
Cope with something difficult or stressful. He’s BEARING UP UNDER the pressure.
under
Please BEAR WITH me a moment while I finish this
Bear with Be patient.
email.
Beat The sun WAS really BEATING DOWN and we
Strong sunshine.
down couldn’t stay outdoors.
The marathon runner barely BEAT OUT his rival at
Beat out Narrowly win in competition.
the tape.
Beat up Attack violently. The mugger BEAT him UP and stole his wallet.
Belong Be in the correct or appropriate location with
Does this disc BELONG WITH those on the shelf?
with other items.
Bend
Lower the top half of your body. I BENT DOWN to pick it up off the floor.
down
Big up Exaggerate the importance. He BIGS himself UP all the time.
Bitch up Spoil or ruin something. I BITCHED UP the interview.
Black out Fall unconscious. He BLACKED OUT and collapsed on the floor.
The space shuttle BLASTED OFF on schedule
Blast off Leave the ground- spaceship or rocket.
yesterday.
I couldn’t drive here this morning because someone
Block in Park a car and obstruct another car.
had BLOCKED me IN.
Obstruct an exit to prevent people from The police BLOCKED OFF the road after the
Block off
leaving. murder.
Blow
Impress greatly. Her first novel BLEW me AWAY.
away
Blow
When the wind forces something to fall. A tree was BLOWN DOWN in the storm.
down
Blow in Arrive, sometimes suddenly or unexpectedly. He BLEW IN from Toronto early this morning.
We were going to meet last night, but she BLEW me
Blow off Not keep an appointment.
OFF at the last minute.
Blow up Explode. The bomb BLEW UP without any warning.
The anger BOILED UP in me when I saw what they
Boil up Feel a negative emotion strongly.
had done.
Bone up I need to BONE UP ON my French grammar for the
Study hard for a goal or reason.
on test.
WE took a taxi from the airport to the hotel and
Book in Check in at a hotel.
BOOKED IN.
I CALLED him UP as soon as I got to a phone to tell
Call up Telephone.
him the news.
Calm When I lose my temper, it takes ages for me to
Stop being angry or emotionally excited.
down CALM DOWN again.
Cancel Have an opposite effect on something that has The airport taxes CANCELLED OUT the savings we
out happened, taking things back to the beginning. had made on the flight tickets.
Finish or complete, often with some decisive She CAPPED OFF the meeting with a radical
Cap off
action. proposal.
Care for Like. I don’t CARE FOR fizzy drinks; I prefer water.
The team got CARRIED AWAY when they won the
Carried
Get so emotional that you lose control. championship and started shouting and throwing
away
things around.
Carry They hope the new management will be able to
Make something progress.
forward CARRY the project FORWARD.
Carry off Win, succeed. She CARRIED OFF the first prize in the competition.
CARRY ON quietly with your work until the
Carry on Continue.
substitute teacher arrives.
Jane spent a long time looking at houses before she
Decide
Choose, select. bought one, but eventually DECIDED UPON one
upon
near her office.
The last notes DIED AWAY and the audience burst
Die away Become quieter or inaudible (of a sound).
into applause.
When the parts of a plant above ground die,
Die back The plant DIES BACK in the winter.
but the roots remain alive.
It was on the front pages of all the papers for a few
Die down Decrease or become quieter.
days, but the interest gradually DIED DOWN.
 I’m DYING FOR the weekend- this week’s been so
Die for Want something a lot.
hard.
Most of the elm trees in the UK DIED OFF when
Die off Become extinct.
Dutch elm disease arrived.
Some scientists say that the dinosaurs DIED OUT
Die out Become extinct or disappear. when a comet hit the earth and caused a nuclear
winter.
We were starving so we really DUG IN when the
Dig in Start eating greedily.
food finally did arrive.
She DUG INTO her handbag and pulled out a bunch
Dig into Reach inside to get something.
of keys.
Praise someone in an excessive way to get She FAWNED OVER the inspectors in the hope that
Fawn over
their favour or something from them. they would give her a good grade.
The gecko FEEDS OFF mosquitoes and other
Feed off Eat a food as part of an animals diet.
insects.
Feed on Give someone a particular food. He FEEDS his cat ON dry food.
Give someone a lot of food to restore their She’s been ill for a fortnight so we’re FEEDING her
Feed up
health, make them bigger, etc. UP.
Someone FELT me UP in the club as I was trying to
Feel up Touch sexually, grope.
get to the bar.
I’m so tired. I don’t think I FEEL UP TO going out
Feel up to Feel capable of doing something.
tonight.
Nowadays, you need IT skills if you want to GET
Get ahead Progress.
AHEAD.
Get ahead I work at home in the evening to GET AHEAD OF
Move in front of.
of schedule.
Get along Leave. It’s late; we must be GETTING ALONG.
I GAVE UP taking sugar in tea and coffee to lose
Give up Stop doing something that has been a habit.
weight.
Hit on Have an idea. I suddenly HIT ON the solution
Chelsea couldn’t HOLD their opponents OFF and
Hold off Stop someone from attacking or beating you.
lost the game.
Could you HOLD ON for a minute; she’ll be free in a
Hold on Wait.
moment.
Hook up Meet someone. We HOOKED UP at the conference.
Hunt out Search until you find something. It took me ages to HUNT OUT the photos.
Jack up Increase sharply. They have JACKED UP the price of oil this month.
Jack JAMMED ON the brakes when the rabbit ran in
Jam on Apply or operate something forcefully.
front of his car.
Talk just for the point of talking rather than That shows that your interest is not in helping the
Jaw away
having anything to say. student, but in JAWING AWAY.
Make something more interesting or The show was getting stale so they JAZZED it UP
Jazz up
attractive. with some new scenes.
Keep I KEEP a dictionary AROUND when I’m doing my
Keep something near you.
around homework.
She found the course hard but she KEPT AT it and
Keep at Continue with something difficult.
completed it successfully.
Keep Medicines should always be KEPT AWAY from
Don’t allow someone near something.
away children.
 The police told the crowd to KEEP BACK from the
Keep back Maintain a safe distance.
fire.
Key to Plan things to fit or suit people or situations. Promotions are KEYED TO people’s abilities.
Key up Make someone excited or nervous. The noise got us KEYED UP.
Kick
Discuss. We KICKED the idea ABOUT at the meeting.
about
Her hayfever didn’t feel half as bad once the
Kick in When a drug starts to take effect.
antihistamines had KICKED IN.
The family KICKED the au pair OUT when they
Kick out Expel. found out that she was planning to move to work for
another household.
We KNOCKED OFF early on Friday to avoid the
Knock off Finish work for the day.
rush hour queues.
Lash We LASHED the tarpaulin DOWN to stop the wind
Secure something with ropes or cords.
down blowing it away.
Lash into Criticise someone strongly. He LASHED INTO them for messing thins up.
Lash out Suddenly become violent. He LASHED OUT and broke the man’s nose.
Lay on Organise, supply. They LAID ON a buffet lunch at the conference.
They LAID OUT thousands of pounds on their
Lay out Spend money.
wedding reception.
The doorstaff didn’t LET him IN the nightclub
Let in Allow someone to enter.
because he was wearing jeans.
The judge LET him OFF with a fine rather than a
Let off Not punish.
prison sentence since it was his first offence.
Line up Arrange events for someone. We have LINED UP a lot of meetings for them.
Link up Connect, join. The train LINKS UP the cities.
Follow a belief system to guide your
Live by He tries hard to LIVE BY the Bible.
behaviour.
Live If I fail the test and everyone else passes, I’ll never be
Stop being embarrassed about something.
down able to LIVE it DOWN.
Live with Accept something unpleasant. It’s hard to LIVE WITH the pain of a serious illness.
Log in Enter a restricted area on a computer system.I had forgotten my password and couldn’t LOG IN.
I LOGGED INTO the staff intranet to check my
Log into Enter a restricted area of a computer system.
email.
When she’d finished working on the spreadsheet, she
Log off Exit a computer system.
LOGGED OFF and left the office.
He entered his password for the college intranet and
Log on Enter a computer system.
LOGGED ON.
Danny closed the programs and LOGGED OUT
Log out Exit a computer system.
when it was time to go home.
Consult a reference work (dictionary,
I didn’t know the correct spelling so I had to LOOK
Look up phonebook, etc.) for a specific piece of
it UP in the dictionary.
information..
Magic He MAGICKED the bill AWAY and paid for us all
Make something disappear quickly.
away before I could get my wallet out.
Make
Chase. The police MADE AFTER the stolen car.
after
Make
Steal. The thieves MADE AWAY WITH the painting.
away with
 I thought you weren’t coming, so I was really pleased
Make it Arrive or get a result.
you MADE IT.
Make it Try to compensate for doing something He tried to MAKE IT UP TO her, but she wouldn’t
up to wrong. speak to him.
Make of Understand or have an opinion. What do you MAKE OF your new boss?
Make off Leave somewhere in a hurry. They MADE OFF when they heard the police siren.
Mix sources of audio, video or other computer
Mash up She MASHED UP the songs into a single track.
sources..
Melt Heat something solid, especially metal, until it They MELTED the gold statue DOWN and turned it
down becomes liquid. into gold bars.
Mess The children were MESSING ABOUT with the TV
Not be serious, not use something properly.
about remote control and broke it.
I always MIX those two sisters UP because they look
Mix up Confuse.
so like each other.
They MOVED INTO the house as soon as it was
Move into Start living in a place.
ready.
Move up Move to make space. Could you MOVE UP and let me sit down?
They are having trouble NAILING DOWN the
Nail down Succeed in getting, achieve.
contract.
Name Give someone a name to remember another I was NAMED AFTER my uncle who died in the
after person. war.
Narrow Remove less important options to make it I am not sure which university to apply to, but I have
down easier to choose. NARROWED my list DOWN to three.
Nerd out Play safe and avoid taking a risk. I’m going to NERD OUT and not go on the river trip.
I OPTED FOR an endowment mortgage and lost a lot
Opt for Choose.
of money.
If you want them to notify you of updates, you have
Opt in Choose to be part or a member of something.
to OPT IN.
Opt into Choose to be a member or part of something. I OPTED INTO the scheme.
The UK OPTED OUT of a lot of EU legislation on
Opt out Choose not to be part of something.
working hours and conditions.
Pack in Stop doing something. I’m trying to PACK IN smoking.
Pack off Send someone away. His boss PACKED him OFF to a regional office.
Pack out Fill a venue. The stadium was PACKED OUT.
Pack up Stop doing something. You should PACK UP smoking.
I’m too tired to come home; can I PAD DOWN here
Pad down Sleep somewhere for the night.
tonight?
Make a text longer by including extra content, I couldn’t think of much to write, so I PADDED the
Pad out
often content that isn’t particularly relevant. essay OUT with a few lengthy quotes.
Pal
Be friendly and spend time with someone. We PALLED AROUND at university.
around
Pal up Become friends. We PALLED UP when I started working with her.
Sadly, Georgia’s uncle PASSED AWAY yesterday
Pass away Die.
after a short illness.
I felt awful when the teacher started to PASS BACK
Pass back Return.
the exam papers.
Pass by Go past without stopping. I was just PASSING BY when I saw the accident.
 I tried to PATCH things UP after the argument, but
Patch up Fix or make things better.
they wouldn’t speak to me.
Pay back Repay money borrowed. I PAID BACK the twenty pounds I’d borrowed.
Their patience PAID OFF when he finally showed up
Pay off Produce a profitable or successful result.
and signed the contract.
Leave a group by moving in a different Some of the crowd PEELED AWAY to get out of the
Peel away
direction. crush.
Peg out Put washing outside to dry. I PEGGED the washing OUT after it stopped raining.
They are PHASING IN the reforms over the next two
Phase in Introduce gradually.
years.
They have introduced a compact edition of the
Phase out Remove gradually. newspaper and are PHASING OUT the broadsheet
edition over the next few months.
Pick at Eat unwillingly. I wasn’t very hungry so I just PICKED AT my food.
While you’re in town, can you PICK UP my trousers
Pick up Collect.
from the Dry Cleaner?
Pig out Eat a lot. The food was great, so I really PIGGED OUT.
Work just keeps on PILING UP and I really can’t
Pile up Accumulate.
manage to get it all done.
The government can’t PIN DOWN where the leak
Pin down Discover exact details about something.
came from.
Pin on Attach the blame to someone. The police tried to PIN the crime ON him.
Fix something to a wall, or other vertical
Pin up I PINNED the notice UP on the board
surface, with a pin.
Suffer physically because of grief, stress, He’s been PINING AWAY since his wife died and is
Pine away
worry, etc. a shadow of his former self.
The lecturer asked the students to PIPE DOWN and
Pipe down Be quiet (often as an imperative).
pay attention.
At first, no one answered, then finally someone
Pipe up To speak, raise your voice.
PIPED UP.
Pretend to agree or accept something in order
I disagreed with the idea but I had to PLAY ALONG
Play along to keep someone happy or to get more
because everyone else liked it.
information.
Play The children were PLAYING AROUND and being
Be silly.
around annoying.
The children PLAYED UP all evening and drove the
Play up Behave badly.
babysitter mad.
Plug in Connect machines to the electricity supply. He PLUGGED the TV IN and turned it on full blast.
Plump He PLUMPED his bag DOWN and kicked his shoes
Put something in a place without taking care.
down off.
Plump for Choose. I PLUMPED FOR the steak frites.
He POINTED OUT that I only had two weeks to get
Point out Make someone aware of something.
the whole thing finished.
Poke Move things around or search in a casual way I POKED ABOUT in my CD collection to see if I
about to try to find something. could find it.
Poke Move things around or search in a casual way I POKED AROUND in my desk to see if the letter
around to try to find something. was there.
Polish off Finish, consume. She POLISHES OFF half a bottle of gin every night.
Polish up Improve something quickly. I need to POLISH UP my French before I go to Paris.
Pop in Visit for a short time. He POPPED IN for a coffee on his way home.
He’s always POPPING OFF when things don’t suit
Pop off Talk loudly, complain.
him.
Turn a computer or electronic device on so
Power up I POWERED UP my laptop and started work.
that it is ready to use.
In rural areas where they have a monopoly, some
Price up Charge more for something. garages PRICE UP fuel because there’s nowhere else
to buy it.
The lorry was going slowly but we managed to PULL
Pull ahead Overtake, move in front.
AHEAD.
The traffic was so bad that it took me ages to PULL
Pull out Move into traffic.
OUT.