Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for English

English Grammar Review

Modal Verbs: Would

Affirmative: I would organize a clean-up day.

Negative: I wouldn't throw garbage on the streets.

Questions: What would you do to make it a better place?

Conditional Type 2

We use "if I were you..." when we want to give advice.

If I were you, I would + bare infinitive.

Examples:

• If you worked hard, you would have a better chance of getting good grades.
• If I were you, I would quit the school team and join a local team instead.

Present Perfect Tense

Use the present perfect tense for:

• Actions that started in the past and continue to the present.
• Actions that happened in the past and we can see their results in the present.

Note: When we use "never" in the negative, we use "have/has."

[has/have + past participle]

Examples:

Present simple

+S+Vinf+He dances

• Actions habituls o rutines.
• Fets generals o cientifics.
• Amb horaris I programs (The train leaves at 9 o'clock).

Adv. Frequency: always, once, every, in the parts of day, at time/at night on days, how often?

Present continuous

+S+am/is/are+Ving He dancing

• Dir allo que esta passant en el moment que es parla.
• Expresar accions prolongades que pasen en un present mes ampli.
• Expresar q farem en un futur proper en tota seguritat pq eu em fixat.

At the moment, at present, today, now, right now, this, these. Future: soon, later, tomorrow, this, next.

Past simple

+S+V2/+ed He danced

• Past actions which happened at a specific time.
• Accions consecutives del pasado.
• Descriure com era algo en el pasado.
• Una accio curta va pasar cuan una mes

• Be - was/were - been = ser, estar
• Beat - beat - beaten = golpear
• Become - became - become = llegar a ser
• Begin - began - begun = empezar
• Bend - bent - bent = doblar
• Bet - bet - bet = apostar
• Bite - bit - bitten = morder
• Bleed - bled - bled = sangrar
• Blow - blew - blown = soplar
• Break - broke - broken = romper
• Bring - brought - brought = traer
• Build - built - built = construir
• Burn - burnt - burnt = quemar
• Burst - burst - burst = reventar, estallar
• Buy - bought - bought = comprar
• Catch - caught - caught = coger, atrapar
• Choose - chose - chosen = elegir
• Come - came - come = venir
• Cost - cost - cost = costar
• Cut - cut - cut = cortar
• Deal - dealt - dealt = comerciar, tratar
• Dig - dug - dug = cavar
• Do - did - done = hacer
• Draw - drew - drawn = dibujar
• Dream - dreamt -

Characters:

Henry:

• The narrator and chief character in Factotum, Henry Chinaski is a classic antihero.
• He is green-eyed, the son of a workaholic veteran of World War I who is critical of his son's 4F status during World War II for psychological reasons, addicted to alcohol and sex, and has drunk his way through two years at Los Angeles City College while studying journalism.
• He works when he must, flops in the cheapest places he can find, eats when he can, and drinks constantly.
• The novel follows Henry's misadventures getting and losing jobs in New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Los Angeles again, Miami, and Los Angeles a third time.
• His attempts to parlay his two years of journalism into an editorial job at the Los Angeles

Richard Hannay is an intelligent officer in South Africa. He has returned to Britain because his life was boring. One day, his neighbor tells him that he must be considered dead because the anarchists are looking for him. When Hannay finds her dead neighbor, he escapes with Scuder's notebook. Then, he will meet different people until he discovers the message in the notebook.

Hannay tells him that he has a bet with his friends and convinces him to give him his clothes so he can escape from the building without the anarchists recognizing him.

When jumping from the train, he finds an inn and when he enters, he meets a boy who really wants to be a writer. Hannay manages to stay at the inn, lying about his true story.

Later, he has a car accident and... Continue reading "The 39 Steps: A Thrilling Adventure of Richard Hannay" »

Mastering English Tenses and Modal Verbs

Past Simple and Present Perfect

• Roland didn’t set his alarm…
• We decided to take… because Sue hadn’t seen…
• Jane has lost her key…
• Louisa hasn’t swum in the…
• The match didn’t last…
• My father has had six…
• When did they buy…?
• Jenny was… she had forgotten…
• How long have you known…?
• I had made…

Past Simple and Past Perfect

• Last summer, I met…
• Fiona… she had missed…
• Dan had been painting…
• Sally hasn’t written…
• How many times have you broken…?
• Andy has been staying…
• Rebecca has lost…
• I didn’t know…

Present Perfect Simple and Continuous

• Susie has been staying in the…
• Joana hasn’t bought that…
• They haven’t been playing…
• Matt has just gone…
• We haven’t known…

Modal Verbs

• You

Workplace Vocabulary and Communication

1.

• The new train makes it possible to commute easily.
• We must fire these bags of sort.
• Unfortunately, we had to commute to fire.
• The night shift at the hospital requires specific qualifications.
• Have you done your shift, Shane?
• She was hired because of her qualifications.
• If you need a computer, you should specialize in that field.

2.

• This job requires good people skills, individuals who know how to communicate correctly.
• He always slacks off at work. I won't be surprised if he doesn't have a job in two months.
• I'm going to ask for a raise this month. I need to earn more money to buy a new car.
• I forgot to pack my lunch. I'll just buy a sandwich in the supermarket.
• He went to run an errand. He needed to help his grandfather

1. Defining Relative Clauses

• Are those the children that you looked after some years ago?
• Mayka is a Spanish woman whose husband is Egyptian.
• She hasn't given me back the book which she borrowed from me last week.
• We didn't know the doctor who came by.
• I have found the comic which you were looking for.
• We went to the party which wasn't very enjoyable.

2. Non-Defining Relative Clauses

• Sheila, who has never visited England, speaks good English.
• A friend of mine, whose father is the manager of the company, helped me to get a job.
• The population of London, which was once the largest city in the world, is now falling.
• The storm, which nobody had been expecting, caused a lot of damage.
• This is Mr. Smith, whose son Philip plays in our team.
• My sister, whose boyfriend

Food

F, F, T

A Town B Eat C Stop

1. Yes, I love travelling
2. It depends on the weather
3. I broke my leg
4. Children are complicated
5. What would you do?
6. I would go to USA
7. I don't think so

1. I can't understand how you could be happy with two TV channels. I need a lot of channels.

2. I can't concentrate because the music I am listening to is very quiet.

3. I agree with you. I think it is boring.

4. Mary, you should come to the school trip. You will have a good time.

In my opinion, a healthy life is to eat healthy food every day, although sometimes you can eat fast food. Healthy food for me is meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, milk, and fruit. I think that we should avoid eating a lot of sugar and salt. In addition, people should do exercise every day to have fun. For example,... Continue reading "Importance of Healthy Eating and Exercise for a Fun-filled Life" »

Presenting an Opinion

Many believe the teenage years are the best. However, I disagree.

Supporting Arguments

Firstly, most teenagers lack independence. They follow parental and teacher directives. Additionally, they often have limited finances.

Secondly, while teens may have fewer adult responsibilities, they face other concerns. Exam pressure can significantly impact their future.

Conclusion

All in all, despite the fun, I believe the best years come later, with a job, financial stability, and freedom.

Useful Phrases

Expressing Opinions

• From my point of view...
• As far as I am concerned...
• I am sure/convinced that...
• I (dis)agree with the statement, because...

Presenting Facts

• It is widely known that...
• It is a well-known fact that...
• Research has shown that.