Keys to grammar exercises удалено Grammar references

UNIT 1. Present Tenses. Present Simple

+	Verb+ (e)s	He plays tennis
--	Do/does not + verb	He doesn’t play tennis
?	Do/does … + verb?	Does he play tennis?

We use the present simple for:

• facts and permanent states. Mark works for an advertising company.

• general truths and laws of nature. Oil floats on water.

• habits and routines (with always, usually, etc). He usually goes jogging in the mornings.

• timetables and programmes (in the future). The plane to Madrid takes off at 6:30 pm.

• sporting commentaries, reviews and narrations. Beckham wins the ball, then he crosses and Owen scores.

• feelings and emotions. I love Paris, because it's a beautiful city.

The time expressions we use with the present simple are: Usually, often, always, every day/week/month/year/etc, in the morning/afternoon/evening, at night/the weekend, on Fridays, etc

Present Continuous

+	Am/is/are + Verb + ing	He’s living in Thailand.
--	Am/is/are not + verb + ing	He isn’t living in Thailand.
?	Am/is/are … + verb + ing?	Is he living in Thailand?

We use the Present Continuous

• for actions taking place at or around the moment of speaking. The kids are playing video games in the living room.

• for temporary situations. They are painting the house.

• for fixed arrangements in the near future. I am going to a party tonight.

• for currently changing and developing situations. The rivers are becoming more and more polluted.

• with adverbs such as always to express anger or irritation at a repeated action. She is always biting her nails when someone talks to her.

Note: The verb enjoy can be used in continuous tenses to express a specific preference.

Bob really enjoys going to the cinema, (general preference)

The time expressions we use with the present continuous are: Now, at the moment, at present, these days, nowadays, still, today, tonight, etc

State Verbs are verbs which describe a state rather than an action, and so do not usually have a continuous tense. These verbs are:

• verbs of the senses (appear, feel, hear, look, see, seem, smell, sound, taste, etc). She seems really worried.

• verbs of perception (agree, assume, believe, forget, hope, know, realise, remember, understand, etc). I believe what he says.

• verbs which express feelings and emotions (adore, desire, despise, detest, dislike, enjoy, hate, like, love, mind, prefer, want, etc). Jane hates eating spicy food.

• and some other verbs (appear, be, belong, contain, cost, fit, have, include, keep, matter, mean, need, owe, own, resemble, seem, want, weigh, wish, etc). This house belongs to a very rich man.

!!! Some of these verbs can be used in continuous tenses, but with a difference in meaning.

THINK I think he's a very good actor. (= believe)

We are thinking about moving to a new house. (=are considering)

HAVE She has hundreds of books. (= own, possess)

Everyone is having a great time at the party. (= experiencing)

He is having a bath. (= taking) They are having lunch. (= eating)

SEE You can see my house from up here. (= it is visible)

I see what he means. (= understand)

I'm seeing the dentist this evening. (= am meeting)

TASTE This pie tastes delicious. (= it is, has the flavour of)

Ann is tasting the soup to see if it's spicy enough. (= is testing)

SMELL His perfume smells very good. (= has the aroma)

He is smelling the flowers. (= is sniffing)

APPEAR She appears to know where she's going. (= seems to)

He is appearing in a play at the Rex. (= is performing)

FIT The skirt fits her perfectly. (= it's the right size)

John is fitting a new lock on the front door. (= is attaching/installing)

UNIT 2. Past Tenses. Past Simple.

+	Verb+ (e)d	He played tennis
--	Did not + verb	He didn’t play tennis
?	Did … + verb?	Did he play tennis?

We use the past simple:

• for an action that occurred at a definite time (stated or implied) in the past.

They spent their summer holidays in Italy last year.

• for actions that happened in the past, one immediately after the other.

She locked the door behind her and took off her shoes.

• for habits or states which are now finished.

Mr Smith worked in a bank when he was younger.

Note: used to can also be used instead of the past simple for habits/repeated actions in the past.

ago (= back in time from now) is used with the past simple. I got home about an hour ago.

Time expressions we use with the past simple include: yesterday, then, when, How long ago?, last night/week/month/year/Sunday/June/etc, in 1980, etc

Past Continuous.

+	Was/were + Verb + ing	He was watching the news.
--	Was/were not + verb + ing	They weren’t watching the news.
?	Was/were … + verb + ing?	Were you watching the news?

We use the past continuous:

• for an action which was in progress when another action interrupted it. We use the past continuous for the action in progress (the longer action) and the past simple for the action which interrupted it (shorter action).

We were watching a horror film on TV when we heard a strange noise.

• for two or more simultaneous actions in the past.

They were having dinner while Michael was washing the car.

• for an action which was in progress at a stated time in the past. We don't mention when the action started or finished. At 8 o'clock last night I was walking home from work.

• to describe the atmosphere, setting, etc and to give background information to a story.

The birds were singing and the sun was shining. I was sitting outside in the garden when something strange happened...

Note: When there are two past continuous forms in a sentence with the same subject we can avoid repetition by using just the present participle (-ing form) and leaving out the verb to be. He was walking along, and he was eating an ice cream. = He was walking along, eating an ice cream.

The time expressions we use with the past continuous include: while, when, as, all morning/evening/day/week/etc

!!! State verbs do not generally have a continuous form.

Used to/Would

+	Used to/would + infinitive	He used to/would play tennis
--	Did not + use to + infinitive	He didn’t use to play tennis
?	Did … + use to + infinitive?	Did he use to play tennis?

• We use used to/would (always/often/etc) + bare infinitive to refer to past habits or states.

He used to/would go jogging every morning when he was younger.

• In such cases used to/would can be replaced by the past simple with no change in meaning.

When the children were younger they woke up/used to wake up late every day.

• But for an action that happened at a definite time in the past we use the past simple, not used to.

I drove to work yesterday. (NOT: I used to drive to work yesterday.)

• We also use used to to talk about past facts or generalizations which are no longer true. I used to live in Rome. Now I live in Madrid. (NOT: I would live)

!!! Would is unusual in the negative form and in yes/no questions.

!!! We do not use would with state verbs.

UNIT 3. Present perfect

We use the present perfect when we want to show a link between the present and the past.

+	Have/has + past participle	He’s started the assignment.
--	Have/has not + past participle	I haven’t started the assignment
?	Have/has … + past participle?	Have you started the assignment?

We use the present perfect:

• an action which started in the past and continues up to the present, especially with state verbs (see Unit 1, above) such as be, have, like, know, etc. He has known me for six years.

• a recently completed action. I have (just/already) finished my essay.

• personal experiences or changes. She has put on five kilos.

• an action that happened at an unstated time in the past. The emphasis is on the action; when it occurred is unimportant or unknown.

I have washed the dishes. Natalie has been to France twice.

Time expressions used with the present perfect: already (+) is used in statements and questions (to suggest surprise). I have already spoken to Ann. Have you finished cooking already?

Yet is used with the present perfect in questions (?) and negations (-).

Have you paid the bill yet? Steven hasn't finished work yet.

Other time expressions we use with the present perfect are: always, just, ever, never, so far, today, this week/month/etc, how long, lately, recently, still (in negations), etc, for/since

Present Perfect Continuous

+	have/has been + verb + ing	He’s been studying really hard.
--	have/has not been + verb + ing	He hasn’t been studying really hard..
?	have/has …. been + verb + ing?	Have they been studying really hard?

We use the present perfect continuous:

• to put emphasis on the duration of an action which started in the past and continues up to the present. We have been working on this project all morning.

• for an action which started in the past and lasted for some time. It may still be continuing, or have finished but left a result still visible in the present. She's tired because she has been working very hard lately.

• to express anger, irritation or annoyance. She has been reading my newspaper without asking me.

• for repeated actions in the past continuing to the present. He has lost weight because he has been going to the gym every day

Time expressions used with the present perfect (simple and continuous):

since (= from a starting point in the past) is used with the present perfect (simple and continuous). I haven't seen Paul since we left school.

for (= over a period of time) is used with the present perfect (simple and continuous). They've been working on the project for months.

Note: with the verbs live, work, teach and feel we can use the present perfect or the present perfect continuous with no difference in meaning. He has lived/has been living in Manchester for the last six years.

GRAMMAR EXTRA: We use the present perfect tense with the following structures: It/this/that is the first/thesecond/the best/the only/the worst ...

It’s the first time I’ve ever had to write such a long assignment.

That’s the sixth cup of coffee you’ve had today.

Unit 4. Past tenses II. Past Perfect

+	Had + past participle	He’d started the assignment.
--	Had not + past participle	I hadn’t started the assignment
?	Had … + past participle?	Had you started the assignment?

We use the past perfect:

• when we are talking about the past and want to mention something that happened earlier:

His father was a composer and his grandfather had also been a musician. (Mozart's grandfather was a musician and then later his father became a composer) Sometimes we use words like just or already. Notice that these adverbs go between the auxiliary and the main verb:

By the time he was 17, Mozart's reputation had already begun to spread through Europe.

!!! We use the past simple if the events are mentioned in chronological order:

Mozart’s grandfather was a musician and his father was a composer.

• for an action which happened before another past action or before a stated time in the past. Ann had finished her homework by five o'clock.

• for an action which finished in the past and whose result was visible at a later point in the past. She had sprained her ankle a few days earlier and it was still hurting.

• for a general situation in the past. Everything had seemed normal at first.

• with words like when, as soon as, by the time, after to show the order of events:

When Mozart was born, five of his siblings had already died. (Mozart's siblings died first, then Mozart was born)

!!! Notice the difference in meaning between these two sentences:

When I got home, my husband cooked dinner. (= I got home and then my husband cooked dinner)

When I got home, my husband had cooked dinner. (= my husband cooked dinner before I got home)

• to talk about an indefinite time before a particular point in the past, often with words like always, sometimes, never, before, by + fixed time:

His family were richer than they had ever been before. (= they were not as rich at any time before this point in the past)

By the time he was six, the little boy had written a composition of his own,

• to report past events using reporting verbs: The man told me he had met my father a long time before.

The time expressions we use with the past perfect are: before, after, already, justf for, since, till/until, when, by the time, never, etc

Past Perfect Continuous

+	had been + verb + ing	He’d been studying for ages.
--	had not been + verb + ing	He hadn’t been studying for long.
?	had …. been + verb + ing?	Had they been studying for long?

We use the past perfect continuous:

• to put emphasis on the duration of an action which started and finished in the past, before another action or stated time in the past, usually with for or since. He had been driving for an hour when he realised he had forgotten to lock the door.

• for an action which lasted for some time in the past and whose result was visible in the past. He had been swimming and his hair was still wet.

GRAMMAR EXTRA: We use the past perfect tense to talk about the past disappointment or things that did not happen as expected:

The politician had expected to be re-elected, but in the end she only got ten per cent of the vote.

I had been hoping to go with my brother on his trip but I was too sick to go.

UNIT 5. Future I

+	Will + Verb	He’ll enjoy it.
--	will not (won’t) + verb	He won’t enjoy it.
?	Will … + verb?	Will they enjoy it?

We use the future simple (will + bare infinitive) for:

• decisions made at the moment of speaking. It's cold in here - I'll close a window.

• predictions about the future, based on what we think, believe or imagine, using the verbs think, believe, expect, etc, the expressions be sure, be afraid, etc, and the adverbs probably, certainly, perhaps, etc. He will probably come later.

• promises, threats, warnings, requests, hopes, and offers. Will you help me wash the dishes?

We use be going to:

• for plans, intentions or ambitions for the future. He's going to be a lawyer when he finishes university.

• actions we have already decided to do in the near future. Peter is going to work with his uncle during the holidays.

• predictions based on what we can see or what we know, especially when there is evidence now that something will happen later. It's cloudy; it's going to rain tonight.

We use the present continuous for:

• definite arrangements for the future. I'm flying to Paris tomorrow. (I've bought my ticket.)

Grammar extra: Making predictions using words other than will

In formal writing we often use expressions other than will to predict the future (e.g. be likely to, be predicted to, be estimated to, be certain to):

The population is likely to increase to 22 million in 2011.

UNIT 6. Future II

1. We use the present simple ('timetable future') for:

• fixed routines and arrangements for the future (timetables, programmes, etc), usually decided by someone else. My flight to Paris leaves at 6 o'clock tomorrow.

• after conjunctions such as when, as soon as, after, before, until, as long as:

I’ll be feeling really nervous when I get to Rome, (not when I will get to Rome)

Can you do it before we have the departmental meeting? (not before we will have the meeting)

Note that other present tenses are also possible:

The time expressions we use with future forms (future simple, be going to, present continuous, present simple) include: tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, tonight, soon, next week/summer, etc, in a week/month, etc

2. Be about to

+	am/is/are about to + verb	I'm about to go to Rome.
--	am/is/are not about to + verb	I'm not about to go to Rome.
?	am/is/are... + verb?	Are you about to go to Rome?

We use be about to to talk about something likely to happen in the immediate future: I’m about to go to Rome for a conference. (I will be leaving very soon)

!!! The negative form suggests the speaker has no intention of doing something: I’m not about to cancel my trip. (= I have no intention of cancelling my trip)