A little bit of grammar

Common irregular verbs

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Base form	Past tense	Past participle
be begin break bring buy build choose come cost cut do draw drive eat feel find get give go have hear hold keep know leave lead let lie lose make mean meet pay put run say see sell send set sit speak spend stand take teach tell think understand wear win write	was/were began broke brought bought built chose came cost cut did drew drove ate felt found got gave went had heard held kept knew left led let lay lost made meant met paid put ran said saw sold sent set sat spoke spent stood took taught told thought understood wore won wrote	been begun broken brought bought built chosen come cost cut done drawn driven eaten felt found got given gone had heard held kept known left led let lain lost made meant met paid put run said seen sold sent set sat spoken spent stood taken taught told thought understood worn won written

THE VERB TENSES

SIMPLE

Simple Present ►Expresses an action or condition that regularly or usually exists. It exists now, has existed in the past, and will probably exist in the future.

I work all week.

Steven does his homework every day.

Simple Past ►Expresses an action or condition that began and ended in the past.

I worked last night.

Steven did his homework yesterday.

Simple Future ►Expresses an action or condition that will happen some time after the present moment.

I will work hard tomorrow.

I am going to work hard tomorrow.

Steven will do his homework.

Steven is going to do his homework.

PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS

Present Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that is in progress or that is taking place at the moment of speaking.

I am working on the project.

Steven is doing his homework now.

Past Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that began, continued for a period of time, and ended in the past.

I was working all night.

Steven was doing his homework when I called.

Future Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that will begin some time in the future and will continue for a period of time.

I will be working next week.

Steven will be doing his homework during lunch break tomorrow.

PERFECT

Present Perfect ►Expresses an action or condition that occurred at some unspecified time in the (recent) past and persists in the present.

I have worked hard all my life.

Steven has done his homework.

Past Perfect ►Expresses an action or condition that was completed in the (distant) past, or one that occurred before another event took place.

I had worked for this company before.

Steven had done his homework before he left.

Future Perfect ►Expresses an action or condition that will be completed in the future before another future event occurs.

I will have finished my work by the time you get home.

Steven will have done his homework for hours before he goes to bed.

PERFECT PROGRESSIVE / CONTINUOUS

Present Perfect Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that began in the past and has continued up to the present moment.

I have been working for many years.

Steven has been doing his homework for hours.

Past Perfect Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that happened over a period of time in the past, or that was in progress until another event occurred.

I had been working hard on the project.

Steven had been doing his homework until you arrived.

Future Perfect Progressive/Continuous ►Expresses an action or condition that will be in progress before or until another event in the future occurs.

I will have been working here for 12 years this summer.

Steven will have been doing his homework for hours before he goes to bed.

PRESENT SIMPLE

drink – drinks cry – cries

ride – rides do – does

teach – teaches splash – splashes

buy – buys study – studies

Affirmative sentence:

subject + verb – > I drink coffee.

Negative sentence:

subject + do + not (don’t) + verb – > I don’t drink coffee.

subject + does + not (doesn’t) +verb – > She does not drink coffee.

Question:

do / does + subject + verb – > Do you drink coffee?

WH – question:

WH-word + do / does + subject + verb – > What do you want?

REMEMBER!!!

Use the Present Simple to talk about: habitual actions, things that happen in general, general truths

Examples:

I always drink coffee.

He never drinks tea.

We usually speak English.

She rarely drinks beer.

Water freezes at 0 C.

Use the Present Simple with these adverbs of frequency: often, usually, rarely, sometimes, seldom, never, always

To ask about habits, routines or facts, use: Do / Does + subject + base form of the verb

Example:

Do you drive to work?

Modals of deduction (present)

Use modals of deduction to say how sure you are about something.

Use:

could / might / may – for things / actions that are possible

Example: He could be our new teacher.

That girl might be his new girlfriend.

The man in black may be his grandfather.

must – for things / actions that are almost certain

Example: She must be his sister.

can’t – for things / actions that are impossible

Example: That lady can’t be our new principal. I saw her working at a grocery store last week.

Time clauses with WHEN and WHILE

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Action interrupted by another action

*** Note:

=> long action: use while + Past Continuous

=> short action: use when + Past Simple

They were watching a movie when the phone rang.

While he was driving, the car broke down.

When the car hit him, he was walking.

Actions in progress at the same time

While Lidia was cleaning the house, Dan was cooking dinner.

Maria was reading while George was sleeping.

*** NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE IN MEANING:

1) When he came home, she cooked dinner. (he came home, and she started cooking dinner after that)

2) When he cam home, she was cooking dinner. (she started cooking dinner before he came home)

Indefinite pronouns

Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things that are not specific, not known or not the focus of the sentence.

“-one”: someone, anyone, everyone, no one
“-body”: somebody, anybody, everybody, nobody
“-thing”: something, anything, everything, nothing

Uses:

“-one” and “-body” – to refer to a person or a group of people

Everyone knows drinking water is good for your health.

Somebody left the door open and the cat disappeared.

“-thing” – to refer to things (not people)

I found out something about your brother.

Everything I bought is for my sister.

“some-“, “every-“, “no-” – in affirmative statements

Someone ate all the chips.

Everyone loves cake.

No one drinks juice in my class.

“any-” – in negative statements

She doesn’t go out with anybody.

I don’t see anything wrong with your laptop.

I don’t think anyone should drink wine.

Modals of regret

Do you have any regrets?

Use these modals to talk about your regrets:

SHOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I should have listened to my parents more when I was a teenager. (I didn’t listen to my parents. Now I’m a poor artist who can’t pay the bills.)

COULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I could have chosen a different career. (I didn’t like my parents’ suggestions and chose to go to art school.)

WOULD + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

I wish I had listened to my parents. I would have been a rich doctor now. (Unfortunately, I’m just a poor artist and nobody knows my name.)

Adjectives ending in “-ED” and “-ING”

How you feel inside: “-ED”

disgusted
confused
bored
excited
frightened
embarrassed

How you make others feel: “-ING”

disgusting
confusing
boring
exciting
frightening
embarrassing

Examples:

disgusted & disgusting

I was disgusted by the food at my friend’s wedding. It was really bad.

The food at my best friend’s wedding was disgusting. It had a bad smell.

confused & confusing

All students are confused. English grammar is hard to understand.

The teacher is confusing. The students can’t understand anything.

bored & boring

The students are bored. The teacher is not funny at all.

The teacher is boring. No one likes his classes.

excited & exciting

Elena was really excited about the party.

The party was exciting. Elena danced all night.

frightened & frightening

The cat was frightened and ran away.

The dog was big and frightening. The cat got scared and wanted to hide.

embarrassed & embarrassing

I was so embarrassed. I made so many mistakes and everyone laughed.

His behavior was embarrassing. His parents were very upset and promised to teach him a lesson.