GRAMMAR

STARTER UNIT :

Present Tenses.

We can use all these forms:

to talk about the present:

London is the capital of Britain.
He works at McDonald’s.
He is working at McDonald's.
He has worked there for three months now.
He has been working there for three months now.

 

to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 17.00.
I'll phone you when I get home.
He is meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
I'll come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night

Which verb above describes...?

1-A general truth

2-An action that happens regularly

3-An action happening now

4-A definite plan for the near future.

Past Tenses.

The past tense in English is used:

• to talk about the past
• to talk about hypotheses (when we imagine something)
• for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Past simple:	I worked
Past continuous:	I was working
Past perfect:	I had worked
Past perfect continuous:	I had been working

 Which verb above describes ...?

1. a completed action in the past.

2. an action in progress interrupted by another action.

3. an action in progress at a specific time in the past.

Perfect Simple Tenses.

To form the present perfect, the auxiliary verb "to have" is used in the present and the past participle of the verb. For regular verbs, the past participle is the past simple form. See the lesson on the simple past for more information on how to form the past.

Which verb above describes... ?

1. an action that took place at an unspecified time in the past and is relevant to the present

2. an action that started in the past and continues to the present

3. an action that took place before a specific moment in the past.

Future Tenses.

Take a look at the four future tenses in English and how they’re used in a sentence:

1. A spontaneous decision

2. A future plan

3. An action completed by a specific time in the future

4. A prediction based on present evidence

5. An action in progress at a specific time in the future

6. A prediction

UNIT 1 : AIMING HIGH

Present Perfect Simple. 

Structure : Have / Has + past participle.

Present Perfect Continuos.

Como en el presente perfecto, usamos el verbo auxiliar “to have” además de “been” (el participio pasado del verbo “to be”) más el verbo+ing.

Subject	Auxiliary	Verbo+ing
I, you, we, they	have been	talking, studying, waiting…
he, she, it	has been	talking, studying, waiting…

Structure : Have / Has + Been + Verb + -Ing.

Past Perfect Simple.

Structure : Had + Past Participle

Igual que en el presente perfecto, se forma el pasado perfecto con el verbo auxiliar “to have” y el participio pasado. El verbo auxiliar estará en pasado.

Sujeto	Verbo Auxiliar	Forma Corta	Participio Pasado
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had	I’d, you’d, he’d, she’d, it’d, we’d, they’d	studied, visited, worked…

Past Perfect Continuous.

Structure : Had + Been + Verb + -Ing

Como en el presente perfecto continuo, se forma el pasado perfecto continuo con el verbo auxiliar “to have”, “been” y el verbo+ing.

Sujeto	Auxiliar	Verbo+ing
I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had been	studying, working, traveling…

UNIT 2 : GET INVOLVED

Reported Speech.

Direct speech: I like ice cream.

Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.

Present simple ⇨ Past Simple

I’m from Spain. ⇨ He said he was from Spain.

I love speaking in English ⇨ She said she loved speaking in English.

I live in London. ⇨ He said he lived in London.

Present Continuous ⇨ Past Continuous

I’m resting on the sofa. ⇨ He said he was resting on the sofa.

You’re driving on the wrong side. ⇨ She said I was driving on the wrong side.

You’re working too hard. ⇨ She told me I was working too hard.

Past Simple ⇨ Past Perfect

I drove to Paris yesterday. ⇨ He said he had driven to Paris the previous day.

I woke up in hospital. ⇨ He said he had woken up in hospital.

I worked last Sunday. ⇨ He said he had worksed last Sunday

Present Perfect ⇨ Past Perfect

I’ve bought a new cushion. ⇨ She said she had bought a new cushion.

I’ve swum with sharks. ⇨ She said she had swum with sharks.

I’ve swallowed my chewing gum. ⇨ He said he had swalloed his chewing gum.

Past Perfect ⇨ Past Perfect

¡Buenas noticias! No hay que cambiar el tiempo verbal para pasarlo a ‘reported speech’.

The jury had had many doubts about the case. ⇨ She said the jury had had many doubts about the case.

Can ⇨ Could

I can’t understand Scottish people. ⇨ She said she couldn’t understand Scottish people.

I can play the piano. ⇨ He said he could play the piano.

I can cook for you. ⇨ He said he could cook for me.

Will ⇨ Would

I’ll take the rubbish out this evening. ⇨ He said he would take the rubbish out that evening.

I’ll love you forever. ⇨ She said she’d love me forever.

I’ll speak to the manager. ⇨ He said he would speak to the manager.

UNIT 3 : OUT AND ABOUT

Modal Pefects

Must Have

It is used to express a logical conclusion about something that happened in the past.

The lights are off, they must have gone out.

May / Might have

It is used to express possibility in the future.

The might have won if their star player hadn´t been injured.

Can´t Have

It is used in a similar way to Must have but in a negative way.

We can use it when we are sure that this did not happen in the past.

Fran failed the exam, he can´t have been paying attention in class.

Could Have

Can be used instead of Can´t have

I know you love chocolate, it couldn´t have been easy to say no to that piece of cake.

It is also used to express that something was possible in the past but did not actually happen.

She could have run faster,  but she wanted to save her energy

Could have in the affirmative is similar to Might Have and serves to express possibility in the past.

I don´t know,  it could have been different if you were there.

Should Have / Ought to have

It is used when it did not happen but it would have been better if it did.

I told you, you should have studied more.

Would Have

It is used for conditional sentences in English.

Modals

Can

Indicates possibility or ability.

I can speak five languajes.

Could

Could Indicates ability or possibility in the past.

Joe could speak spanish when he was young.

May

Like Could, it is used to express possibilities in the future.

You may leave if you like.

Might

It is used to express possibilities in the present and in the future.

It might be better to finish this now, rather than wait until tomorrow.

Will

It is used to form the future tense.

I will help you.

Shall

It is used in the UK like Will, but in a more polite and correct way.

Chris shall be happy to see you.

Should

Indicates an obligation or a recommendation.

I should call my parents more often.

Ought to

It is synonymous with Should but is less common.

She ought to quit smoking.

Must

Indicates a prohibition, obligation or necessity.

It must be difficult to learn a new languaje as an adult.

Would

To declare a preference and to ask about something politely.

She would like to go to New York.

UNIT 4 : THE GREEN SCENE

CONDITIONALS

Zero Conditionals : If / Unles / When + Present Simple + Present Simple.

A general truth or fact. If I run, I get tired

First Conditional : If / Unless + Present Simple + Will / Modal + Verb Imperative.

A future possibility or advice or suggestion in the form of  a command.

If it rains today, I'll stay at home

Second Conditional : If / Unless + Past simple + Would / Modal + Verb.

An imaginary or hypothetical situation.

If we lived in France we learned French very fast

Third Conditional : If + Past Perfect Simple + Would have / modal perfect + past participle.

An impossible or unfulfilled situation in the past.

If you had worked harder, you would have passed your exam

WISH CLAUSES

I wish / If only + Past simple.

Hopes will happen in the future.

I wish more people were aware of the problems

I wish / If only + Past Perfect Simple.

Is unhappy about in the present.

If only I had gone to Ecuador with Max. He said it was great

I wish / If only + could / Would + Base form.

Regrets about the past.

I wish I could go to Ecuador, but I can´t stay for two months

UNIT 5 : ANIMALIA

THE PASSIVE

Be + Past participle

We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive.

Tense	Active	Passive
present simple	I make a cake.	A cake is made (by me).
present continuous	I am making a cake.	A cake is being made (by me).
past simple	I made a cake.	A cake was made (by me).
past continuous	I was making a cake.	A cake was being made (by me).
present perfect	I have made a cake.	A cake has been made (by me).
pres. perf. continuous	I have been making a cake.	A cake has been being made (by me).
past perfect	I had made a cake.	A cake had been made (by me).
future simple	I will make a cake.	A cake will be made (by me).
future perfect	I will have made a cake.	A cake will have been made (by me).

THE CAUSATIVE

Have / Get + Object + Past participle

Causative verbs do not indicate something that the subject did, but something that a third person did for him. With an example you will see it more clearly: “I have my hair cut every month”

Maria can’t go to the beach today because she is having her car repaired Sujeto + Causative verb + Objeto + Participio Maria + is having + her car + repaired The door is closed but I will have the janitor open it for you Sujeto + Causative verb + Agente + Infinitive verb + Objeto I + will have + the janitor + open + it We cannot go to Laura’s place because she is having her apartment painted Sujeto + Causative verb + Objeto + Participio She + is having + her apartment + painted Be careful and leave your shoes outside. I got the floor cleaned last week. Sujeto + Causative verb + Objeto + Participio I + am getting + the floor + cleaned UNIT 6 : MAKING A LIVING

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Relative clauses or relative clauses are those that act as subordinates to a main clause, adding more information about a thing or a person that had already been mentioned before. For example:

The cushions that are on the couch are purple and green.

In this case, the main clause would be The cushions are purple and green and the secondary or subordinate clause The cushions are on the couch. To unite both we use the relative pronoun that, which refers to cushions.

WHO

The woman who works at my office is very efficient.

Mark’s brother, who is 18, has just started University.

WHICH

The book which I read last week is very interesting.

The cat, which is very friendly, is called Tom.

THAT

The woman that works at my office is very efficient.

The book that I read last week is very interesting.

WHOSE

Yesterday I met the girl whose sister is a supermodel.

I knew the guy whose bike you bought.

WHOM

To whom it may concern. 

Whom does he love?