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

Future Tenses in English Grammar

Understanding how to express future actions and predictions is crucial in English. Here's a breakdown of key future forms:

Future Continuous (Will be + -ing)

• Usage: Actions in progress at a specific time, duration, or interval in the future.
• Keywords: this time tomorrow, at 5 PM, for two hours, then.

Future Perfect (Will have + Past Participle)

• Usage: Actions completed before a specific moment in the future.
• Keywords: by this time, by then, by tomorrow, future adverb + perfect adverb.

Predictions and Certainty

Expressing predictions often involves specific verbs and adverbs:

• Verbs: think, believe, suppose, hope, know.
• Adverbs/Phrases: I'm sure, perhaps, probably, definitely.

Understanding English Modal Verbs

Modal verbs... Continue reading "English Grammar Essentials: Tenses, Modals, and Passive Voice" »

Clasificación de las palabras

Según su significado

• Sustantivos: nombran objetos, seres o ideas (ej. libro, árbol, bondad).
• Adjetivos: expresan cualidades (ej. pequeño, frondoso, verde).
• Verbos: establecen acciones, estados o procesos (ej. acompañar, ser, madurar).
• Adverbios: indican circunstancias de lugar, tiempo, modo, etc. (ej. aquí, ahora, lentamente).

Según su forma

• Variables: cambian su forma (ej. ciudad/ciudades, nadaba/nadábamos).
• Invariables: no cambian de forma (ej. por, pero, además).
• Simples: formadas por un solo monema (ej. agua, nube, y, por).
• Compuestas: formadas por más de un lexema (ej. lavaplatos, parachoques).
• Primitivas: no contienen ningún morfema derivativo (ej. casa, perro).
• Derivadas: contienen prefijos, infijos o sufijos

Travel and Lifestyle Vocabulary

• Travel: beach holiday, city break, travel companion, return flight, winter sports, train ticket, five-star accommodation, luxury hotel, day trip.

Verbs and Phrasal Verbs

• Common Verbs: borrow (pedir prestado), lend (dejar), look (mirar), see (ver), watch (mirar en movimiento).
• Phrasal Verbs: get on (subir), get off (bajar), set off (salir), come back (volver), come across (encontrar), turn back (tornar enrere), stop off (parar), put up (alojarse), put on (ponerse), take off (treure).

Adjectives and Descriptors

• Style: smart-casual (elegante/deportivo), fashionable vs. old-fashioned (de moda), tight vs. baggy (apretado/holgado).
• Qualities: comfortable vs. uncomfortable (cómodo/incómodo), impractical vs. practical (práctico/

Informal Email/Letter Structure

Greeting: Hi Juanjo,

Sorry that I haven't been in touch for a while, but I've been ill. I had a temperature of 40ºC, so I've been in bed for five days. I'm feeling a bit better today, so I've been catching up on my emails.

How are you? What have you been doing? I hear everyone is fine. My mother is stressed with work and taking care of my brother Alix, which is just as naughty as ever. How is your family? I hope they're well.

[Invent something relevant to the topic here.]

Well, that's all for now. Please give my regards to your family. I hope to hear from you soon.

Take care,

SANDRA

Useful Expressions

• Sorry to hear about your exam results.
• Glad to hear that you're all well (Encantado de saber que estás bien).
• Good luck

Mastering English: Time, Word Building, and Connectors

Time Vocabulary and Expressions

Verbs related to time:

• Give: dar
• Have: tener
• Kill: matar
• Make up for: compensar
• Run out of: quedarse sin
• Save: guardar
• Spare: sobrante
• Take: tomar
• Take up: absorber
• Waste: perder

Prepositions of Time:

• At: en
• Before: antes
• By: por
• For: para
• From: desde
• In: dentro de
• Off: apagado
• On: sobre
• To: a

Common Time Expressions:

• With time to spare: con tiempo de sobra
• The whole time: todo el tiempo
• Time's up: se acabó el tiempo
• Short of time: poco tiempo
• I've got time on my hands: tengo el tiempo en mis manos
• For the time being: siendo por el momento
• A question of time: una cuestión de tiempo
• A long time ago: hace mucho tiempo
• There isn't much time left: no queda mucho tiempo
• The time next week:

Common Expressions and Collocations with the Verb Do

• Anything (no hacer nada): My brother does not do anything in my house.
• A job (hacer un trabajo): My brother does a job with my friend.
• Badly (hacer mal): My brother does your homework badly.
• Nothing (no hacer nada): My father does nothing in my house.
• A burp (hacer un eructo): My brother does a burp after dinner.
• A painting (hacer un cuadro): My cousin does a painting in the afternoon.
• Business (hacer un negocio): My mother does business with my family.
• Right (hacer las cosas bien): My mother does right in my house.
• A course (hacer un curso): My brother does an English course.
• A service (hacer un servicio): The electrician does a service in the mall.
• Damage (hacer daño): My brother does damage to me.

English–Spanish Vocabulary

• Earn: ganar
• Write his: escribir su
• An application form: un formulario de solicitud
• An advert: un anuncio
• Vacancy: vacantes
• Started work: trabajo iniciado
• A part-time job: un trabajo a tiempo parcial
• Filled: lleno
• Application form: formulario de aplicaciones
• Offered: ofrecido
• A job: un trabajo
• Successful: exitoso
• Worried: preocupado
• Businessman: empresario
• About: acerca de
• Someone: alguien
• Remembering: recordando
• First: primero
• Looking: mirando
• Start: comienzo
• Would like: gustaría
• Expect: esperar
• Don't mind: no importa
• Spend time: pasar el tiempo
• Want: querer
• Learn: aprender
• Need: necesidad
• Doing: obra
• Thinks: pensar
• Abroad: en el extranjero

Common Objects and Question Words

• Paper aeroplane: avión de papel
• Place again: lugar de nuevo
• Same: mismo
• Sense

First Conditional

Structure: If + simple present + simple future

• If I study for the exam, I will get a good grade.
• If it rains today, I'll stay at home. (Si llueve hoy, me quedaré en casa)
• If it is cold, you must wear warm clothes. (Si hace frío, debes usar ropa abrigada)
• If he is busy now, I will come back tomorrow. (Si está ocupado ahora, regresaré mañana)

Question Tags

If a statement is positive, it should be tagged with a negative statement, and vice versa.

• All of you will take an exam after holidays, won't you?

Questions and Negatives

• Question: If Clara is free tomorrow, will he invite her? (¿Si Clara está libre mañana, la invitará él?)
• Negative: If Clara isn't free tomorrow, he won't invite her. (Si Clara no está libre mañana, él no

Introduction: hacer introducción general del tema, Ej: Some people claim/believe/say (algunas personas afirman/creen/dicen), It is sometimes said (a veces se dice) Arguments in favor: damos argumentos de lo que apoyemos (poner unos cuantos) Ej: Let me start by saying (déjame empezar diciendo), On the one hand (por un lado). Arguments against: si no es lo que defiendes poner pocos Ej: On the other hand...(por otra parte), Secondly (en segundo lugar) Conclusion: poner tu opinión Ej: In conclusión (en conclusion).EXPRESSIONS: However (sin embargo), still (todavia) though (aunque), that (que) while (mientras que) In fact (de hecho) actually (actualmente) owing to (debido a) bebidas (además). INTRODUCCIÓN: Las personas suelen estar acostumbradas