1 Defining clauses

*are essential to the sentence; cannot be omitted; have

no commas

I know the man who starred in that film!

That's the seat where I left my wallet!

*relative pronouns can be omitted if they are the object

of the verb

The girl (who) I met yesterday was really nice.

The film (which) we saw was very exciting.

*prepositions normally go at the end of the relative

clause

The boy (who) I spoke to was English.

Relative pronouns

who people

which things

that people/things

whose possession

when time

where place

why reason

2 Non-defining clauses

*give extra information that can be omitted; the

information goes between commas.

Martha, who is Spanish, is coming to stay in our house.

*can refer to the whole previous clause

We went to see the latest Star Wars film, which was

fabulous.

! In non-defining clauses, the relative pronoun can

never be omitted.

File 21: Clause and result clauses

1 So much/many, so little/few (that)

*so many, so few (that) with countable nouns I've got so many CD's that I don't know where to put them!

*so much/so little (that) with uncountable nouns We spent so much time in the theme park that we missed our coach.

2 So/such (that)

*so...(that) with adjectives and adverbs

I'm so glad (that) I passed my exam!

He spoke so quietly (that) I couldn't hear him.

*such a...with singular, countable nouns

I had such a fabulous day (that) I didn't want

to go home.

*such...(that) with plural, countable nouns

and with uncountable nouns

They gave us such large pizzas (that) we couldn't

finish them!

It was such good news (that) we couldn't

believe it!

3 Too/enough

*gives a negative idea-something is not wanted

or desired

too + quantifier (+noun)

I've eaten too much (food). I feel sick!

too + adjective/adverb

My coffee's too hot. I can't drink it.

He runs too fast. I can't keep up.

enough + noun

I've had enough food.

adjective/adverb + enough

It was cold enough to snow.

! Enough goes after the adjective/adverb while

too goes before.

too + adjective/adverb (+for + sb) + infinitive

with to

*things that are difficult, and therefore impossible

to do

The film was too scary for my sister to watch it

to watch.

We were too tired to stay awake.

! Do not repeat the subject of the verb but

remember to include prepositions where

necessary.

The sun was too strong to look at it at.

Compare:

1 The exercise was too difficult. (I couldn't do it.)

2 The exercise was very difficult, (difficult but not impossible)

4 not + adjective/adverb + enough(+for 4- sb)+ infinitive with to

*when a person or thing is insufficient in some

way

You're not old enough to drive. You're only 14.

Compare:

1 The sea was too cold for us to swim in.

2 The sea wasn't warm enough for us to swim in.

File 22: Useful linking words

1 Addition

also, besides, furthermore, in addition, moreover, what's more

2 Listing points in an argument

First (of all), To start with, In the first place, Next, Secondly, Finally, Last but not least, In conclusion, To sum up

3 Time sequencers

at the beginning, at first, as soon as, afterwards, by the time, later, in the end, at last

4 Condition

as long as, if, unless

5 Cause and result

as, because, since, so, that, that's why

6 Contrast

although, but, however, in spite of/despite, nevertheless, on the other hand

1 Example/illustration

for example, for instance, such as

File 23: Spelling rules

1 Doubling final consonants

*One-syllable words. If you add an ending to a word that ends in a vowel + consonant, the final consonant is doubled

shop-shopping

fat-fatter-fattest

*Two syllable words. If you add an ending to a word

that ends in a vowel + consonant, and the last syllable

is stressed, the final consonant is doubled.

forget-forgetting

permit-permitting

2 Words ending in -e

*silent -e after a consonant is often dropped before a

vowel

drive-driving

arrive-arrival

*silent -e is kept before a consonant

announce-announcement

3 Words ending in -y

*af ter а с consonant, -y changes to -ie when you add -s

city-cities

cry-cries

*words ending in a final vowel + -y don't

change

journey -journeys

say-says

4 Exceptions

*verbs ending in a vowel + -y form the past participle by changing -y to -I and adding -d not -ed say-said lay-laid

File 24: Punctuation rules

1 Capital letters

*at the beginning of a sentence *f or names of people and places

2 Full stops

*at the end of sentences

3 Commas

*in lists of three or more items

I need paper, a pencil, a pen and a dictionary.

*with adverbial phrases

In the end, he managed to escape.

*af ter adverbial clauses

If I were you, I'd phone your parents.

*around non-defining relative clauses

My boyfriend, who is very ambitious, has

just got a really good job.

4 Quotation marks

*around direct speech 'Help!¹ he shouted. I'm stuck!¹

5 Apostrophes

*to indicate possession

Clare's jacket.

*to indicate omission

That's my wallet. (= That is)

! When its is a possessive pronoun we do not use

an apostrophe.

The dog wagged it's its tail.

Vocabulary file

1 Adjectives from verbs and nouns

We add these suffixes to verbs and nouns to form Adjectives. Notice any spelling changes. -able -al -ant -ful -ible -ive -ous -(t)ic -y -ed -ing

-able af ford-affordable, believe-believable, depend-dependable, drink-drinkable, enjoy-enjoyable -al critic-critical, culture-cultural, environment-environmental, fiction-fictional, influence-influential, inspiration-inspirational, intellect-intellectual, music-musical, nation-national, practice-practical, profession-professional -ant please-pleasant

-ful care-careful, cheer-cheerful, harm-harmful, hope-hopeful, success-successful, thought-thoughtful

-ible collapse-collapsible, horror-horrible, sense-sensible

-ive action-active, destruction-destructive, imagination-imaginative, sense-sensitive -ous ambition-ambitious, courage-courageous, danger-dangerous, fame-famous, glamour-glamorous

-(t)ic artist-artistic, energy-energetic, optimism-optimistic, romance-romantic -y fun-funny, mood-moody, scare-scary -ed amuse-amused, amaze-amazed, annoy-annoyed, bore-bored, frighten-frightened, interest-interested, tire-tired

-ing amuse-amusing, amaze-amazing, annoy-annoying, bore-boring, entertain-entertaining, interest-interesting, frighten-frightening, tire-tiring