Mastering English Grammar: Modals, Conditionals, and Vocabulary

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 you.

Second Conditional (Hypothetical/Unreal Present)

Structure: If + Simple Past, Would + Infinitive

Examples:

• If I knew his phone number, I would send him a text message.
• If I had 500€ to spend today, I would buy some new clothes.

Third Conditional (Unreal Past)

Structure: If + Past Perfect, Would Have + Past Participle

Examples:

• If he hadn't been so good-natured, he would have got very angry with me.
• I would have felt terrible if I had failed my exam.
• I would have bought that dress if it had been cheaper.

Active and Passive Voice Transformations

The passive voice shifts focus from the agent (doer) to the action or the recipient.

Simple Present

Active: Spiders catch flies. — Passive: Flies are caught by spiders.

Present Continuous

Active: They are building a house. — Passive: A house is being built by them.

Simple Past

Active: He wrote that book. — Passive: That book was written by him.

Past Continuous

Active: You were reading a magazine. — Passive: A magazine was being read by you.

Present Perfect

Active: I have eaten pasta. — Passive: Pasta has been eaten by me.

Future (Will)

Active: I will buy a bike. — Passive: A bike will be bought by me.

Future (Going to)

Active: She is going to run a marathon. — Passive: A marathon is going to be run by her.

Essential English Vocabulary

Television and Media Terms (Topic 3)

Cartoon

Dibujos animados

Chat show

Programa de entrevistas

Detective series

Series de detectives

Documentary

Documentales

Game show

Concursos

The news

Noticias

Reality show

Reality

Sitcom

Serie de comedias

Broadcast

Emitir un programa

Appear

Aparecer

Record

Grabar

Miss

Perderse algo

Change

Cambiar

Ban

Prohibir

Describing People (Appearance and Personality) (Topic 5)

Bald

Calvo

Clean shaven

Bien afeitado

Freckled

Pecoso

Overweight

Sobrepeso

Shoulder-length

Media altura (cabello)

Spotty

Granoso

Straight

Liso (cabello)

Scruffy

Desaliñado

Stubbly

Con barba de tres días

Well-built

Bien formado

Wrinkled

Arrugado

Caring

Afectuoso / Cercano

Deceitful

Mentiroso

Dull

Soso

Moody

Malhumorado

Rude

Maleducado

Selfish

Egoísta

Shy

Tímido

Common English False Friends

Words that look similar in English and Spanish but have different meanings:

• Notices: Avisos (not news)
• News: Noticias
• Success: Éxito (not event)
• Event: Evento
• Discussion: Debate/Conversación (not shouting)
• Argument: Pelea verbal / Discusión acalorada
• Record (verb): Grabar
• Remember: Recordar
• Educated: Culto (referring to knowledge)
• Polite: Educado (referring to manners)
• Eventually: Finalmente
• Temporarily: Temporalmente