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

Character Analysis: Who Moved My Cheese?

1. Description of the 4 Characters:

• Sniff: A person who recognizes early changes.
• Scurry: A person who decides to take faster action on changes.
• Hem: A person who does not like change; a conformist who will not change anything.
• Haw: A person who always believed they are not afraid of changes and is considered to be good.

Personal Identification

2. Who do you identify with?

I identify with Haw because I always want to learn new things, gaining both personal and professional knowledge to continue growing as a person. I do not fear change because changes are good and require leaving one's comfort zone.

Defining Personal Success

3. What is your "Cheese"?

I would like to lead a life where I have to fend for myself.... Continue reading "Adapting to Change and Business Correspondence Basics" »

English Vocabulary Practice

Vocabulary Extension 1

Exercise 1: Matching

1. f
2. c
3. b
4. g
5. d
6. a
7. e

Exercise 2: Word Completion

1. activities
2. advertise
3. blame
4. collection
5. humorous
6. pollution
7. quarrel
8. native speaker

Exercise 3: Collocations & Phrases

1. foreign language / pronounce
2. join / talk into / worthwhile
3. championship / countless / sensible
4. equality / doubtful
5. fluent / get the message across / accent / slang

English Grammar Practice

Grammar Practice 1

Exercise 1: Verb Tenses

1. had rented / will have found
2. had gone / have ridden
3. has gone shopping / will have bought
4. had taken / was taking / will have repaired

Exercise 2: Verb Tenses & Time Expressions

1. has just called
2. had finished solving the problem when the bell rang
3. had been cleaning the garage for two hours
4. got to the station after the train

Modal Verbs: Obligation, Advice, and Ability

These verbs express necessity, prohibition, advice, or capability. (Topic 3)

• Must: debes (obligation)
• Mustn't: no debes (prohibition)
• Should: deberías (advice)
• Shouldn't: no deberías (negative advice)
• Can: puedes (ability/permission)
• Can't: no puedes (inability/prohibition)
• Could: podía (past ability/suggestion)
• Couldn't: no podía (past inability)
• Have to: tener que (external obligation)
• Don't have to: no tener que (lack of obligation)

English Conditional Sentences (Types 1, 2, and 3)

Conditional sentences describe real or hypothetical situations and their results. (Topic 5)

First Conditional (Real Possibility)

Structure: If + Simple Present, Will + Infinitive

Example: If I see Carlos, I will ask him to call... Continue reading "Mastering English Grammar: Modals, Conditionals, and Vocabulary" »

arise arose arisen surgir/awake awoke awoken despertar(se) /bite bit bitten morder/ bet bet bet apostar/ bleed bled bled sangrar /blow blew blown soplar /break broke broken romper/ bring broght brought traer/ build built built construir/burn burnt burnt quemar/ buy bought bought comprar/ catch caught cauht coger agarrar /dig dug dug cavar/ draw drew drawn dibujar dream dreamt dreamt soñar /fall fell fallem caerse/ feed fed fed alimentar/ feel felt felt sentir/ fight fought fought luchar/ find found found encontrar/ fly flew flown volar/ freeze froze frozen congelar/ get got got conssguir recibir/ grow grew grown crecer cultivar /hang hung hung colgar/ hear heard heard oir/ hide hid hiden esconderse/ hit hit hit pegar golpear/hold held held... Continue reading "Irregular Verbs in English: Past Simple and Past Participle" »

Body Parts

Vocabulary

• Ankle: tobillo
• Back: espalda
• Brain: cerebro
• Chest: pecho
• Finger: dedos
• Heart: corazón
• Knee: rodilla
• Muscle: músculo
• Neck: cuello
• Shoulder: hombro
• Skin: piel
• Thumb: dedo gordo
• Toe: dedo del pie
• Wrist: muñeca

Health and Fitness

Vocabulary

• Fit: en forma
• Healthy: sano, saludable
• Ill: malo, enfermo
• Strong: fuerte
• Unfit: no está en forma
• Weak: débil

Environment

Vocabulary

• Environment: medio ambiente
• Decrease: disminuir
• Eco-friendly: respetuoso con el medio ambiente
• Fossil fuels: combustibles fósiles
• Global warming: calentamiento global
• Greenhouse gas: gas del efecto invernadero
• Grow: crecer, cultivar
• Increase: aumentar
• Organic: orgánico
• Pollution: contaminación
• Produce: producir
• Run out: agotarse, quedarse sin

Additional Vocabulary

• Algae: alga
• Beef: carne

Essential English Grammar Foundations

Articles and Quantifiers

• A/An: uno/a
• Any: alguno/a
• Some: algunos/as
• The: la/el

Key Question Words

• How many: cuántos
• How much: cuánto cuesta (or quantity)
• How often: con qué frecuencia
• How far: hasta dónde
• How long: cuánto tiempo

Verb Tenses: Past Simple

Structure of the Past Simple Tense

• Affirmative (A): Subject + Verb in past (irregular or -ed form) + Complement.
• Negative (N): Subject + didn't / did not + Main Verb (base form) + Complement.
• Interrogative (I): Did + Subject + Main Verb (base form) + Complement + ?

Usage

Used to talk about actions that happened in the past and are finished.

Comparative Note

Used to describe an action finished at a specific time before now.

Verb Tenses: Past Continuous

Structure of the Past

TRANSITION WORDS - ANSWERS

REASONS

• The film star wore dark glasses SO NOBODY recognized him.
• You should take your car to the mechanic BECAUSE it may break down.
• The trains didn’t operate DUE TO a heavy snowfall
• She was imprisoned SINCE her accomplice made a full confession to the police.
• The thief didn’t want to leave any fingerprints SO he wore gloves.
• The show was cancelled BECAUSE OF her illness.
• The judge didn’t send him to jail DUE TO HIS YOUTH.
• The five-cent coin looks very Canadian SINCE it has a picture of a beaver on it.

CONTRAST

• ALTHOUGH The book is very long, I’m going to try to read it before next week.
• DESPITE THE FACT THAT HE CAUSED the problem, she’s the one who solved it.
• EVEN THOUGH Volkswagen cars are cheap, they last a long

Here is a list of common irregular English verbs, their past tense, past participle, and Spanish translation:

• be / was-were / been / ser, estar
• beat / beaten / golpear
• become / became / become / llegar a ser
• begin / began / begun / empezar
• bend / bent / bent / doblar
• bet / bet / bet / apostar
• bleed / bled / bled / sangrar
• blow / blew / blown / soplar
• break / broke / broken / romper
• bring / brought / traer
• build / built / construir
• burn / burnt / burned / quemar
• buy / bought / comprar
• catch / caught / coger
• choose / chose / chosen / elegir
• come / came / come / venir
• cost / cost / costar
• cut / cut / cortar
• dig / dug / cavar
• do / did / done / hacer
• draw / drew / drawn / dibujar
• dream / dreamt / dreamed / soñar
• drink / drank / drunk / beber
• drive / drove / driven / conducir
• eat

English Grammar: Tenses and Structures

Past Tense

Simple Past

• A 1.1 will be interviewed, wasn't understood, been estimated, was/has been ordered, had been accused, is alleged
• B 1.will be charged, is being reported, have stolen, is estimated, wasn't expected, had been/was believed
• C 1.was expected, has been demonstrated, is being claimed, will be released, had been suspected, isn't thought

Past Continuous

• A 2.are believed to be discussing, are thought to be, is reported to have cancelled, admitted making up / having made up, apologised for destroying, refused to move, reminds us to change
• B 2.1 is/was known to be, are reported to be holding, are/were thought to have left, (have) advised not going out, confessed to taking, promised to improve, encouraging