Family

See this interesting video about    Family tree

Reading Exercise: Family 

Present continuous

1. Use of the Present Progressive

1.1. actions happening at the moment of speaking

Peter is reading a book now.

1.2. fixed plans in the near future

We are going to Basel on Saturday.

1.3. temporary actions

I am working in Rome this month.

1.4. actions happening around the moment of speaking (longer actions)

My friend is preparing for his exams.

How to make the Present Continuous Tense

(also called the Present Progressive Tense)

The present continuous (sometimes called the present progressive) tense in English is really easy to make and is the same for all verbs. We make it using thepresent simple of 'be' + verb-ing:

Here is how we make the positive:

Positive	Positive Short Form
I am sleeping	I'm sleeping
you are sleeping	you're sleeping
he is sleeping	he's sleeping
she is sleeping	she's sleeping
it is sleeping	it's sleeping
we are sleeping	we're sleeping
they are sleeping	they're sleeping

We can make the negative by adding 'not':

Negative	Negative Short Form
I am not sleeping	I'm not sleeping
you are not playing	you aren't playing
he is not reading	he isn't reading
she is not working	she isn't working
it is not raining	it isn't raining
we are not cooking	we aren't cooking
they are not listening	they aren't listening

Questions are also really, really easy. Just like we made the question with 'be' in the present simple, here we also put 'am', 'is', or 'are' before the subject to make a 'yes / no' question:

Yes / No Questions

am I eating chocolate ?

are you studying now ?

is he working ?

is she doing her homework ?

is it raining ?

are we meeting at six ?

are they coming ?

For 'wh' questions, just put the question word at the front:

Wh Questions

Why am I eating chocolate ?

What are you studying now ?

When is he working ?

What is she doing ?

Why is it raining ?

Who are we meeting ?

How are they travelling ?

Exercise 1: Present Continuous - Mixed

Quantifiers

What are quantifiers?

A quantifier is a word or phrase which is used before a noun to indicate the amount or quantity:
'Some', 'many', 'a lot of' and 'a few' are examples of quantifiers.
Quantifiers can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns.
Examples:

There are some books on the desk
He's got only a few dollars.
How much money have you got?
There is a large quantity of fish in this river.
He's got more friends than his sister.

Examples of quantifiers

With Uncountable Nouns

• much
• a little/little/very little *
• a bit (of)
• a great deal of
• a large amount of
• a large quantity of

With Both

• all
• enough
• more/most
• less/least
• no/none
• not any
• some
• any
• a lot of
• lots of
• plenty of

With Countable Nouns

• many
• a few/few/very few **
• a number (of)
• several
• a large number of
• a great number of
• a majority of

* NOTE

few, very few mean that there is not enough of something.
a few means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.

** NOTE

little, very little mean that there is not enough of something.
a little means that there is not a lot of something, but there is enough.

Click here to see a video about quantifiers 

Exercise 1: quantifiers

Exercise 2: quantifiers

Simple present questions, short answers

Questions in the Simple Present Tense

To make a question in English we normally use Do or Does. It has no translation in Spanish though it is essential to show we are making a question. It is normally put at the beginning of the question.

• Affirmative: You speak English.
  Question: Do you speak English?

You will see that we add DO at the beginning of the affirmative sentence to make it a question. We use Do when the subject is I, you, we or they.

• Affirmative: He speaks French.
  Question: Does he speak French?

When the subject is he, she or it, we add DOES at the beginning to make the affirmative sentence a question. Notice that the letter S at the end of the verb in the affirmative sentence (because it is in third person) disappears in the question. We will see the reason why below.

We DON'T use Do or Does in questions that have the verb To Be or Modal Verbs (can, must, might, should etc.)

Examples of Questions with Do and Does:

• Do you need a dictionary?
• Does Mary need a dictionary?
• Do we have a meeting now?
• Does it rain a lot in winter?
• Do they want to go to the party?
• Does he like pizza?

Short Answers with Do and Does

In questions that use do/does it is possible to give short answers to direct questions as follows:

Sample Questions	Short Answer (Affirmative)	Short Answer (Negative)
Do you like chocolate?	Yes, I do.	No, I don't.
Do I need a pencil?	Yes, you do.	No, you don't.
Do you both like chocolate?	Yes, we do.	No, we don't.
Do they like chocolate?	Yes, they do.	No, they don't.
Does he like chocolate?	Yes, he does.	No, he doesn't.
Does she like chocolate?	Yes, she does.	No, she doesn't.
Does it have four wheels?	Yes, it does.	No, it doesn't

Click here to see a video about simple present questions

Exercise 1: simple present tense

Exercise 2: simple present tense

Exercise 3: present tense, shot answers

Object pronouns

English Grammar Rules

The seven basic pronouns have one form when they are used as subjects and another form when they are used as objects.

Subjects are what the sentence is about.

Objects are what is affected by the action of the subject.

• I like orange juice. (I is the subject).
• I read books. (Books is the object as it is receiving the action).

PRONOUNS
Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun
I	Me
You	You
He	Him
She	Her
It	It
We	Us
You (plural)	You
They	Them

Object pronouns are used instead of nouns, usually because we already know what the object is. It makes the sentence easier to read and understand and avoids repetition. We normally use object pronouns after a verb or a preposition.

Examples
I like horses.	Subject Pronoun
Horses don't like me.	Object Pronoun
We talk to our neighbour.	Subject Pronoun
She talks to us.	Object Pronoun
They listen to the teacher.	Subject Pronoun
Listen to me carefully.	Object Pronoun
You speak very quickly.	Subject Pronoun
We watch them on TV.	Object Pronoun

The Object Pronoun - it

Be careful when using 'it' as an object pronoun because it is only in the correct context that it has meaning. It needs to have already been mentioned or obvious to the listener what you are referring to. Compare;

• You are sitting on it! (The listener probably doesn't know what the speaker refers to).
• The letter is on the sofa. You are sitting on it! (It is obvious in the second sentence that the reference is to the letter)

Click here to see a video about  object pronouns. 

Exercise: Object Pronouns

Would like

We use would like or ’d like to say politely what we want, especially when making offers and requests:

Would you like a biscuit with your coffee?

Can you order for Ellie? She’d like the Margarita pizza, please.

Verbs that follow would like are in the to-infinitive form:

Would you like to listen to that again?

I’d like to get a return ticket for tomorrow.

We can use I’d like to as a short answer to an offer or invitation:

A:

You must have dinner with us.

B:

Yes, I’d like to.

A:

Good. Is Sunday night any good?

Click here to see a video about  modal verb Would

Exercise 1: Would like 

Exercise 2: Would like

How much is it?

See this interesting video about prices, demonstrative pronouns, one and ones. 

                                                  

Work and workplaces

 See this interesting video about Work And workplaces

Exercise: Jobs and occupations

Demonstratives; one , ones

This, that, these, those, one, ones 

Main points

You use the demonstrative pronouns "this", "that", "these", and "those" when you are pointing to physical objects or identifying people.

You use "one" or "ones" instead of a noun that has been mentioned or is known.

1. You use the demonstrative pronouns "this", "that", "these", and "those" when you are pointing to physical objects. "This" and "these" refer to things near you, "that" and "those" refer to things farther away.

This is a list of rules.

"I brought you these". Adam held out a bag of grapes..

That looks interesting.

Those are mine.

2. You use "this", "that", "these", and "those" when you are identifying or introducing people, or asking who they are.

Who's this?

These are my children, Susan and Paul.

3. You use "this", "that", "these", and "those" to refer back to things that have already been mentioned.

"Let's go to the cinema." - "That's a good idea".

These are not easy questions to answer.

4. You use "one" or "ones" instead of a noun that has already been mentioned or is known in the situation, usually when you are adding information or contrasting two things of the same kind.

My car is the blue one.

Don't you have one with buttons instead of a zip?

Are the new curtains longer than the old ones.

You can use "which one" or "which ones" in questions.

Which one do you prefer?

Which ones were damaged?

You can say "this one", "that one", "these ones", and "those ones".

I like this one better.

We'll have those ones, thank you.

5. In formal English, people sometimes use "one" to refer to people in general.

One has to think of the practical side of things.

One never knows what to say in sucn situations.

Click here to see a video about demonstrative; one, ones

Exercise 1: One or ones 

Exercise 2: Demonstrative pronouns 

Simple present Wh-questions and stataments

Wh Questions -  The Simple Present Tense

What are Wh - Question Words?

Form:
Wh question word (what, when...)   +   do / does   +   Subject (I, you, we...)    +  verb    +  others

These wh question words are at the beginning of the sentence. After them, we use auxiary verb and subject.
We don't use yes or no in the answer.


Example Sentences: 

"Where" question asks for the place:

• Where does she live?  --> She lives in NewYork.
• Where do you meet your friends? --> I meet them at the school.

"What" question asks for information about something:

• What do you like eating most?  --> I like eating fruits most.
• What do you read?  --> I read funny books.

"When" question asks for information about time:

• When do you meet your father? --> I meet him at 9.
• When does she come home?  --> She comes home late.

"Who" question asks for information about a person:

• Who do you know here? --> I don't know anybody.
• Who do you like?  --> I like my friend, Tom.

"Why" question asks for information about reason, explanation:

• Why does she cry? --> She lost his toy car.
• Why do we stay here --> It's cheap.

"How" question asks for information about manner, the way to do:

• How do you come here?--> I come here by bus.
• How do they get to work --> by train.

Exercise 1 :  Wh-questions

Exercise 2: Present simple: Wh- questions

Comparisons with adjetives

Comparative form of Adjectives

When we compare things, people or even ideas we look at what makes them different from each other.

Comparative adjectives are used to show what quality one thing has more or less than the other. They normally come before any other adjectives.

FORMING THE COMPARATIVE

The way you form the comparative from an adjective depends – on the number of syllables and the spelling of the adjective.

Words of one syllable ending in 'e'.

For example:-

A motorway is wider than a road.

Words of one syllable, with one vowel and one consonant at the end.

Double the consonant and add -er to the end of the word.

For example:   big - bigger

Words of one syllable, with more than one vowel or more than one consonant at the end.

Add - er to the end of the word.

high - higher,    Example: Mount Everest is higher than Mount Snowdon.

Words of two syllables, ending in 'y'.

Change 'y' to 'i', and add -er to the end of the word.

Example: happy - happier

For example:-

Some people seem to be luckier than other people.

Words of two syllables or more, not ending in 'y'.

Place 'more' before the adjective.

Example: beautiful - more beautiful

For example:-

Arguably Rome is more beautiful than Paris.

For every rule, there is at least one exception and there are also irregular adjectives that you need to memorise as you come across them.

For example:-

• 'good' becomes 'better'
• 'bad' becomes 'worse'
• 'far' becomes 'farther' or 'further'

Exercise: Comparative adjetives 

Time expressions

 The Simple Present Tense
Time Expressions

every day / week / year / Friday

Example Sentences:

• We go to work every day.
• She plays tennis every week.
• We visit our uncle in London every year.
• They meet at a cafe every Sunday.
• I pay my bills every month.

on Mondays, at the weekend ,etc

Example Sentences:

• I don't work on Sundays.
• My wife cleans the house at the weekend.
• Tom and I play chess on Mondays.

in the afternoons, morning etc.

Example Sentences:

• She gets up late on Monday mornings.
• We have lunch at 2 in the afternoon.
• I try not to eat anything at night.
• Sally doesn't work in the evening.
• He plays tennis in the evening.
• He gets up early in the morning.

in winter / spring, etc.

Example Sentences:

• We wear warm clothes in winter.
• She goes swimming in summer.
• The trees lose their leaves in spring.

Exercise 1: time expressions 

Exercise 2:  time expressions

Statements with be; Possessives adjetives

Possessive adjectives are used to show possession or ownership of something. While we use them when we refer to people, it is more in the sense of relationship than ownership.
The possessive adjectives in English are as follows:

The possessive adjective needs to agree with the possessor and not with the thing that is possessed.

Examples

• My car is very old.
• Her boyfriend is very friendly.
• Our dog is black.
• Their homework is on the table.

Like all adjectives in English, they are always located directly in front of the noun they refer to. (Possessive Adjective + Noun)

We do not include an S to the adjective when the noun is plural like in many other languages.

Examples:

• Our cars are expensive. (Correct)
  Ours cars are expensive. (Incorrect)

However, the verb that is used needs to be in agreement with the noun - if the noun is singular then the verb is singular; if the noun is plural then the verb is plural.

Examples:

• My pen is black. (Singular)
  My pens are black. (Plural)
• Our child is intelligent. (Singular)
  Our children are intelligent. (Plural)

Its vs. It's

Be careful not to confuse its and it's.

Its = The possessive adjective for It.
It's = a contraction of it is.

Exercise 1: possessives adjetives
Exercise 2: possessives adjetives

WH-questions with be

When do you use a wh-question?

If you want information about a fact/person/thing/place/manner/… you use a wh-question. 

They are called wh-questions because they start with a question word.

Question words are pronouns: they represent the information you are asking about: "Who" is with you? "Peter" is with me.

The question words are:

• What: to ask about objects: What is she doing?
• How: to ask about a manner: How are you?
• Where: to ask about a place: Where are you going?

• Who: to ask about people: Who are you?
• When: to ask about a time: When are you leaving?

1-) Match the questions to the answers

2-) Exercise  Wh questions with be.

Yes/No questions and short answers with be

Yes/No questions and short answers with the verb be

Yes/No questions – be (am, are, is)

Subject and verb change their position in statement and question.

·        Sentence: You are from Germany.

·        Question: Are you from Germany?

We always use the short answer, not only Yes or No.

NOTE:

If the answer is Yes, we always use the long form. → Example: Yes, I am.

If the answer is No, we either use the long or the contracted form (short form). → Example: No, I am not → No, I'm not.

Exercise 1: Questions

Exercise 2: Questions With the Verb "To Be"