4. Grammar

4.1. Auxiliary verbs and questions

We learn English for speaking. Questions are the basis of communication. Study four kinds of questions first and then practice them in speech.

Remember: the more practice you have, the better you will speak to foreigners and understand them.

1. general questions:

b) Alternative questions:

2. alternative questions:

c) special questions:

Special questions or Wh-questions begin with a question word such as Who, What, Which, Where, When, How long, How many (used with countable nouns) / How much (used with uncountable nouns).

There are two kinds of special questions:

• to a subject (Who/What is asked to the third person singular after he, she, it; a question doesn’t need any auxiliary verb);

• to any other word (a question needs an auxiliary verb).

d) disjunctive / or tag, / or tail questions:

Disjunctive question consists of two parts: a sentence + a question tail (чи не так?)

Help:

General – загальний

Alternative – альтернативний

Disjunctive - роздільний

Practice – Grammar in use

Task 1: Ask five questions (general, alternative, special to a subject, special to any other word, disjunctive) to the following sentences:

1. We walk in the park every evening.

2. The English language helps me discover a new world.

3. He is writing a letter now.

4. They usually listen to the news in the car.

5. Helen writes to her brother once a week.

6. We are preparing for the party.

7. They don’t live near the beach.

Task 2: Complete the sentences with the question words:

What kind? When? How many? How much? What?

1._________ tea or coffee do you drink a day?

2._________ do you usually get up in the morning?

3._________ of music do you like?

4._________ brothers and sisters have you got?

5._________ did you do last night?

2. Present Perfect

Revision 1:Study this example situation:

Carlson is ill. He can’t eat jam. Why? -

The dog has broken his jam jar.

The Present Perfect and Present Perfect Continuous don’t exist in Ukrainian / Russian languages. But they are often used in English speech in different situations. Present perfect is used with an auxiliary verb ‘have (has)’ which is not translated but is used to differentiate this tense from other present tenses.

Revision 2: Regular and irregular verbs

To use this tense you should know irregular forms very well.

• Regular verbs have –ed ending in past simple: to play – played, to try – tried, to plan – planned, to travel – travelled.

• Irregular verbs are in the table of Irregular Verbs, the second column of which is used for past simple and the third one for Perfect tenses and passive forms. These verbs are often used in speech and needed to be learnt: to be – was/were – been; to begin – began – begun; to cut – cut – cut; to write –wrote - written.

Revision 3: Study the table of present tenses:

	Simple Tense (простий час)	Continuous (тривалий)	Perfect (здійснений)	Perfect-Continuous
Present (теперішній)	+ I study well. ? Does he study well? - He doesn’t study well.	+ He is reading now. ? Is he writing? - He is not writing.	+ I have already done it. ? Has he done it? - He hasn’t done it yet.

Revision 4: Study the situations when the present perfect tense is used.

Important: Start learning three forms of irregular verbs from now. One of the

Study with us:

+He has just gone to the market.

? Has he already gone? – Yes, he has gone. / No, he has not (hasn’t) gone.

-He hasn’t gone yet.

Practice –Grammar in use

Task 1: Match the present perfect to the correct description: a number to a letter.

1 I have bought a new car.

2 We have been friends for four years.

3 He has written two articles this week.

4 I have just seen Tom.

a - the time period is not over at the moment of speaking, the situation answers the question ‘How many / How much?’;

b- an action has finished and the result is visible / evident in the present;

c- unstated time in the past, the action is more important than the time;

d- an action used with state verbs, it started in the past and continues up to now, the situation answers the question ‘How long?’

Task 2: Act out a dialogue.

John: Where have you been?

Mary: I’ve been to the canteen.

John: How long have you been there?

Mary: I have been there for half an hour.

John: Have you seen George?

Mary: Yes, I have.

John: May be it’s he who has taken my car?

Mary: Yes, he has.

John: Really? Has he got a license?

Mary: No, he hasn’t.

John: Why hasn’t he taken a test?

Mary: He failed the test then.

John: Oh, where has he gone? I have to leave you. Bye!

Task 3: Translate the following sentences: present perfect with the time expressions.

1. He has already eaten his lunch.

2. I have just posted the letter.

3. She has published a book recently.

4. I have always wanted to have a house.

5. I have known him since childhood.

6. I haven’t seen you for ages.

7. Have you ever been to London?

8. Has he gone to Moscow yet?

9. Have you seen her lately?

10. They have never worked abroad.

11. I haven’t seen Jim so far.

12. You haven’t answered my question yet.

4.3. Present Perfect - Continuous (have / has been doing)

Revision 1: S

tudy this example situation:

Is it raining?

No, but the ground is wet.

It has been raining all night.

Present Perfect Continuous – продовжена

(не)завершена дія, яка пов’язана з теперішнім часом.

Revision 2: Study the whole table of present tenses:

	Simple Tense (простий час)	Continuous (тривалий)	Perfect (здійснений)	Perfect-Continuous
Present (теперішній)	+ I study every day. ? Do you study well? - I don’t study well.	+ He is reading now. ? Is he reading? - He is not reading.	+ I have just done it. ? Have you done it? - I haven’t done it yet.	+ I have been waiting for you for an hour. ? Have you been waiting? - I haven’t been waiting for long.

Revision 3: Study the situations when the present perfect-continuous tense is used.

Study with us again:

+ He has been painting this picture for two hours.

? Has he been painting this picture since morning? – Yes, he has. / No, he hasn’t.

- He hasn’t been painting this picture for long.

Revision 4: Compare I am doing and I have been doing:

Present Continuous now	now
be doing	have been doing
Don’t disturb me. I’m writing.	I’ve been working hard for two hours.
We need an umbrella. It’s raining now.	The ground is wet. It has been raining.

Help:

Exist – існувати

Differentiate – розрізняти

Participle – дієприкметник

Recently / lately – нещодавно

Visible – видимий, очевидний

Be over – скінчувати

Prolonged – продовжений

Explanation – пояснення

Practice – Grammar in use

Task 1: Match the present perfect-continuous to the correct description: a number to a letter

1. She is tired. She has been running.

2. You have been talking on the phone for twenty minutes.

1. There is a connection between past and present: emphasis is put on the duration of the action which started in the past and continues up to now (a situation is used with action verbs);

2. Past and present are also connected: the result of a long action (finished or which may be still going on) is visible in the present.

Task 2: Identify the present tenses and situations to them.

1. She has dyed her hair red.

2. The sun is shining now.

3. He always goes to bed at 11 p.m.

4. She has been doing her homework for two hours.

5. The sun rises in the west.

6. Bertha is not here. She has gone to the library.

7. Alan is flying to Barcelona tonight.

8. He is always laughing at me! I don’t like this situation.

9. I have already cleaned the flat but as I have been working late all week, I haven’t had time to cook for you.

10. I have bought a bag.

Task 3: Ask and answer questions using the present perfect-continuous tense with ‘for or since’.

E.g.: Susan / teach / Spanish / 2005?

Has Susan been teaching Spanish since 2005? Yes, she has. She has been teaching it since 2005.

1. Peter / work / for this company / two years?

2. Julie / play / the guitar / morning?

3. Sam / watch /TV / half an hour?

4. Molly / hide / in a farmhouse / yesterday?

5. Karen / read / the book / all morning?

6. Catherine / wait / for a bus / twenty minutes?

Task 4: Put the verb in brackets into the correct form (+, ?, - ) of perfect continuous.

e.g. Lisa _______ the house all morning? (clean)

Has Lisa been cleaning the house all morning?

1. Jim ________ his car all day? (repair)

2. I _________ this book for two weeks. (not / read)

3. Mr. Bell is tired. He ________ with his report since morning. (work)

4. Molly ________ with me since last week? (stay)

5. Sam ________ to ride a horse for two hours. (learn)

Task 5: Put the verbs in brackets into present perfect or perfect continuous.

a) I’m planning to buy a new house. I ________ (look) for it for two months. I _________ (already / visit) ten houses, but I ________ ( not / find) any I liked yet.

b) My Spanish lessons are going very well. I __________ (learn) Spanish for five months until now and I love it. I _________ (already / learn) a lot.

c) John __________ (be) very busy recently. He _________ (already / paint) the living-room and the bedrooms, but he __________ (not / start) painting the kitchen yet.