CENTRO EDUCATIVO

ALPHA LEARNING CARACAS, S.C.

GRAMMAR WORKSHOP I
CONTENTS

I. THE ARTICLES

II. REGULAR and IRREGULAR PLURALS

III. THE SIMPLE and CONTINUOUS TENSES

a.

THE PRESENT
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Present Simple. Present Continuous

B. THE PAST

Past Simple

Past Continuous / Was were going to

c.

FUTURE
TENSES

Will

Shall / To be going to / Present Continuous for Future

Future Continuous

IV. MODAL VERBS

10

V. POSSESSIVE FORMS

14

VI. RELATIVE CLAUSES

16

VII. ADJECTIVES

17

VIII. COMPARATIVES and SUPERLATIVES

18

IX. INTRODUCING COMPOSITIONS

19

I. THE ARTICLES
a) The Indefinite Article ( a / an )
It is used only before singular countable nouns. A is used before a word beginning with a
consonant sound; AN before a word beginning with a vowel sound. Examples: a day, a
boy, a train, an apple, an open book, an angry child, an hour, an honest man, an
honorable act, an heir, etc. However, we say a European, a University, a useful book,
because the first sound in each of these words is not a vowel sound but a consonant one.
The Indefinite Article is used
1. With the meaning one, any, (it doesnt matter which).
Examples:
I have a sister and two brothers.
Please pass me a fork.
A triangle has three sides.
2. Before singular nouns denoting a profession, trade, religion, class.
Examples:
George wants to be an engineer.
He was a Muslim not a Christian.
The King made him a lord.
b) The Definite Article ( the )
It is invariable for gender and number. It can be used before singular or plural nouns
whether countable or uncountable.
The Definite Article is used
1. We use THE when it is clear in the situation which thing or person we mean. For
example, in a room we talk about the light, the floor, the door, the ceiling, etc. We also
say the bank, the post office, the doctor, the dentist, the hospital.
2. Before superlatives:

This is the oldest building in London.

This is the best I can do.

3. It is not used before nouns with general sense.

Examples:
Life is very hard for some people (NOT: the life).
Patient is a virtue (NOT: the patient).
c) Zero Article
No article ( the / a / an ) is used:
1. With meals: I have breakfast / dinner / supper at nine. Lunch is at one.
2. With home: I go home at five.
3. With certain places after go to when the idea expressed concerns the use made of the
building: go to work / go to school / go to college / go to prison / go to church / go to
bed.
Examples:
He has gone to school (to learn).
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But:

He has gone to the school (just to see the place).

They are in church just now (to worship).
They are in the church just now (merely looking round).

But:
EXERCISES
*Put in a / an / the or no article.
1. Have you finished with _____________ book I lent you last week?
2. I usually go to ___________ school at 7.00 a.m.
3. I always go to ____________ church on Sunday morning.
4. Would you like ___________ apple?
5. Did _________ police find _________ person who stole your bicycle?
6. Could you close _____________ door, please?
7. This is _________ nice house. Does it have ____________ garden?
8. I never go _________ home before seven in the evening.
9. It was warm and sunny, so we decided to sit in ____________ garden.
10. I saw ______ accident this morning. _______ car crashed into ________ wall.
________ driver of ______ car was not hurt, but ________ car was badly damaged.
11. My parents have ______ cat and ______ dog. _______ dog never bites ________cat,
but _________ cat often scratches __________ dog.
12. I went to the store and asked to speak to ____________ manager.
13. We live in a small apartment near __________ center of town.
14. I usually go to __________ bed almost at midnight.
15. ____________ Books are my best friends.

II. REGULAR and IRREGULAR PLURALS

1. The plural of almost all nouns is formed by adding -s to the word: book-books / tabletables / apple-apples / dog-dogs, etc.
2. Words that end in the letters -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z, and most words that end in -o add -es:
glass-glasses / brush-brushes / church-churches / box-boxes / buzz-buzzes / potatopotatoes / hero-heroes / volcano-volcanoes, but there are some exceptions to this.
Those words that are still felt to be foreign take the -s form. The principal ones are:
pianos, photos, dynamos, kilos, magnetos, solos. All nouns ending in -o preceded by a
vowel take only the -s form: studios, radios, bamboos, portfolios.
3. Words ending in -y preceded by a consonant letter change the -y to -ies: lady-ladies /
story-stories / army-armies / fly-flies. Words ending in -y preceded by a vowel letter
simply add -s: valley-valleys / donkey-donkeys / boy-boys / key-keys.
4. The ending -f or -fe in most nouns is changed to -ves: leaf-leaves / wife-wives / thiefthieves / loaf-loaves / half-halves. But there are many words ending in -f or -fe that
simply add -s to form the plural: roof-roofs / gulf-gulfs / chief-chiefs / dwarf-dwarfs /
belief-beliefs. Some words have both forms: scarfs-scarves / staffs-staves / hoofs-hooves.

5. Irregular plurals: man-men / woman-women / child-children / ox-oxen / tooth-teeth /

foot-feet / goose-geese / mouse-mice / louse-lice / die-dice. Some words have the same
form for singular and plural: sheep, swine, deer, fish.
6. Some nouns are never used in the singular, for example the name of articles of dress:
trousers, pants, shorts, pyjamas, clothes..
EXERCISES
*Give the plural of the following nouns:
convoy
______________________ dwarf
________________________
fox
______________________ inch
________________________
sheep
______________________ studio
________________________
volcano
______________________ pants
________________________
life
______________________ butterfly
________________________
gentleman
______________________ key
________________________
deer
______________________ mouse
________________________
scarf
______________________ piano
________________________
goose
______________________ fish
________________________
radio
______________________ tooth
________________________
child
______________________ staff
________________________

III. THE SIMPLE and CONTINUOUS TENSES

A. THE PRESENT
a) THE PRESENT SIMPLE
*Form: They work in a bank. / He works in a bank.
*Note: To make negative statements, questions, or short answers we need the auxiliaries
DO or DOES. The 3rd person singular adds -s to the base form of the verb in the positive
sentence. The Present Simple is often found with adverbs of frequency.
*Use
1. This tense is used to express an action which happens again and again, that is, a habit:
She drinks eight glasses of water a day. / We go to the movies every weekend.
2. It is used to express a fact that stays the same for a long time, that is, a state:
We live in New York. / He works in a bank.
3. It is used to express something, which is always true about a person or about the
world:
The sun rises in the east. / She comes from Spain.
*The spelling of the 3rd person singular
1. The normal rule is add s to the base form of the verb: wants / eats / helps / drives.
2. Add es to the verbs that end in s, -sh, -ch, -x and o. Examples: he kisses / she
washes / he watches / she fixes / it goes.
3. Verbs which end in a consonant + y change to ies: It carries / she hurries / he flies.
But verbs which end in a vowel + y only add s: she buys / he says.
b) THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

*Form: I am working. / They arent studying.

*Note
1. In the positive short answer we cannot say Yes, Im or Yes, shes. This is WRONG.
2. All continuous tenses have the idea of an activity in progress, and the activity is
temporary.
*Use
1. This tense is often used to express an activity happening at the moment of speaking,
that is, an activity that is in progress now:
Im reading this book at the moment.
What are you doing?
2. It is also used to express an activity that is happening for a limited period of time
around now, but is not necessarily happening at the moment:
Please dont take that book. Annes reading it.
Whats your brother doing these days?
*The spelling of the present participle (-ing form)
a. The normal rule is add -ing to the base form of the verb: go-going / wear-wearing /
visit-visiting / eat-eating.
b. Verbs that end in one -e lose the -e: smoke-smoking / come-coming / hope-hoping /
write-writing.
c. Verbs that end in -ee keep the -ee: see-seeing / agree-agreeing.
d. In verbs of one syllable, with one written vowel + one written consonant, the
consonant is doubled: stop-stopping / hit-hitting / run-running / plan-planning / beginbeginning.
e. Exceptions: If the consonant is y, w, or x it is not doubled: play-playing / show-showing
/ fix-fixing.
EXERCISES
*Put the verb in the correct tense, Present Simple or Present Continuous.
1. Anne ____________________ (make) all her own clothes.
2. At the moment she ______________________________ (make) a dress for herself.
3. The sun ____________________ (rise) in the east.
4. I ______________________________________ (work) overtime this month because
I ______________________________________ (save up) to buy a ca.
5. She usually ______________________________ (learn) languages very fast, but she
____________________________________ (have) problems with Chinese.
6. He _______________________ (smoke) thirty cigarettes a day, but at the moment he
______________________________________ (try) very hard to cut down.
*Some of these sentences are in the wrong tense. Correct them if necessary.
1. Im liking black coffee. ________________________________________________
2. I get up at seven in the morning. __________________________________________
3. Peters in the kitchen. He cooks breakfast.
______________________________
4. Restaurants are staying open late in Spain.
______________________________
5. It rains at the moment. ________________________________________________
6. I think Mexicos a beautiful country.
____________________________________

7. Hes speaking three languages. __________________________________________

8. Shes having an apartment near the center.
______________________________
9. What are you thinking of Shakespeare? ____________________________________
10. Im so hungry, I need to eat something. ____________________________________
B. THE PAST
a) THE PAST SIMPLE
*Form: She worked hard. / They worked hard. / He bought a house / We bought a house.
*Note: There are no changes in the verb for the different persons. To make negative
statements, questions, or short answers we need the auxiliary DID. Put did before the
subject + the base form of the verb in questions, and didnt (did not) before the base form
of the verb in negative sentences.
*Use
1. The Past Simple expresses an action which happened at a specific time in the past and
is now finished:
We went to Greece for my holidays last year.
We stayed for two weeks.
2. This tense is used to tell a story.
3. Some of the time expressions found with this tense are: last year / last month / two
years ago / yesterday / yesterday morning / in 1983 / in summer / when I was young, etc.
*The spelling of regular verbs
a. The normal rule is add -ed to the base form of the verb: work- worked / help- helped.
b. When verbs end in -e just add -d: like-liked / bake-baked.
c. In verbs of one syllable with one vowel + one consonant, the consonant is doubled:
stop-stopped / plan-planned.
d. But the consonant is not doubled if it is y, x or w: play-played / show-showed / fixfixed.
e. In most two-syllable verbs the consonant is doubled if the stress is on the second
syllable: prefer-preferred / admit-admitted.
f. Verbs that end in a consonant + -y change to -ied: carry-carried / bury-buried.
b) THE PAST CONTINUOUS
*Form: I was watching TV. / We werent working.
*Use
1. The Past Continuous is used to express an activity happening at a particular time in the
past:
What were you doing at 8.00 last night?
I was watching television.
2. It is also used to express an activity that is interrupted:
When we arrived, she was making some coffee.
When I was walking in the park, it began to rain.
3. Because of the idea of duration the Past Continuous is used for descriptions.
c). WAS / WERE GOING TO
*Form: They were going to get married, but in the end they changed their minds.

*Use
We can use was - were going to + infinitive to say that something was planned at a past
time. When we use this structure, it often means that the planned action did not happen:
I was going to stay at home last night, but I decided to go out.
We were going to eat at the Italian restaurant, but it was full, so we ate somewhere else.
EXERCISES
*Put the verb in the correct tense, Past Simple or Past Continuous.
1. Last year I ____________________(go) to Greece for my holidays.
2. I __________________(decide) to fly because it is much quicker than going overland.
3. On the morning I left London, it__________________________________(rain), but
when I ______________________ (step) off the plane in Greece, it was a beautiful day.
The sun______________________________________________(shine), and a cool wind
_________________________________(blow) from the sea.
4. I______________(take) a taxi to my hotel. As I __________________________(sign)
the register, someone __________________________________(tap) me on the shoulder.
I _______________________(turn) round. It was a friend I hadnt seen for ten years. He
_______________________________________________(stay) at the same hotel.
5. That evening we____________________(go) for a walk. The town was still very busy.
Street traders _________________________________________(sell) souvenirs, and the
foreign tourists ____________________________________(try) to bring down the price
with the aid of a Greek phrase book. We ___________________________(listen) to their
chatter for a while, then returned to our hotel.
*Rewrite the sentences with the correct tense Past Simple or Past Continuous.
1. She (hurt) her ankle while she (play) tennis.
________________________________________________________________________
2. While I (have) a bath, the telephone (ring)
________________________________________________________________________
3. The man (steal) my bag when I (not/look)
________________________________________________________________________
4. While I (drive) along the road, a cat (run) out in front.
________________________________________________________________________
*Complete the sentences using was-were going to.
1. Betty __________________________________ (play) tennis on Saturday, but she had
something else to do.
2. I ________________________________ (take) the train that leaves at 5:20, but then I
decided to take the one at 7:00 pm.
3. They ________________________________ (buy) a dog, but they changed their mind
and bought a cat.
C. FUTURE TENSES
There are several ways of talking and writing about the Future in English. The most
commons are:
a) WILL
*Form: I will come on time. / You wont be late.
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*Use
1. Will is used to express a future prediction:
I think itll rain tomorrow.
Youll fall down if youre not careful.
2. Will expressing future intention: Ill have a steak, please.
Ill see you next week.
3. Will expresses an intention or decision made at the moment of speaking, that is, not
planned or premeditated. In many languages this idea is expressed in the present tense,
because the decision to act and the act itself are so close in time.
Example:
A. Can I ring you tonight?
B. Yes, Ill give you my number. Its 3871425.
*The decision to give the number is made only one second before the actual giving of it,
and Will does not really refer to the future, but signifies a present intention.
*To say: I give you my number is WRONG.
b) SHALL
*Form: I shall come to London in March.
*Use
1. British speakers use shall with the 1st person pronouns (I and we) in preference to will.
Most Americans do not make this distinction.
2. Shall in the question form is different, it is used to express an offer not a future
prediction or intention: Shall I get you an aspirin?
c) TO BE GOING TO
*Form: Shes going to eat. / Im going to read.
*Use
1. It is probably the most common verb phrase used for future.
2. Going to expresses a future intention, plan, or decision thought about before the
moment of speaking:
Were going to get married in June.
When I grow up, Im going to be a doctor.
3. Going to is used to express a future event for which there is some evidence now:
Look at those clouds, its going to rain.
Watch out! those boxes are going to fall over!
*Will or Going to?
Notice the difference between will and going to to express an intention:
A. Weve run out of sugar.
A. Weve run out of sugar.
B. I know. Im going to buy some.
B. Have we? I didnt know. Ill buy
some when I go shopping.
The difference is not that going to is more certain, and is not about near or distant future,
but it concerns when the decision was made.
d). THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS for FUTURE
*Form: Were having a meal together.

*Use
The Present Continuous for future expresses a future event that has already been arranged
and planned. The verbs found in this tense are verbs of activity and motion (see, have,
meet, go, come, leave, start)
Examples:
Im seeing him tomorrow.
Im having lunch with John tomorrow.
He is meeting me outside the cinema.
Were going on a cruise around the world.
My aunt is coming to stay for a few days.
*Present Continuous or Going to?
The difference between Present Continuous for Future and Going to is very small.
Compare:
1. Im going to have dinner with Mary tonight. (Intention, Going to)
This sentence expresses not only a planned future event, but the speakers attitude
towards it. It means I want to have dinner with Mary tonight.
2. Im having dinner with Mary tonight. (Arrangement, Present Continuous)
This sentence expresses only a planned future event, and nothing of the speakers attitude
towards it. Perhaps the person wants to go, perhaps not. It is simply an activity in his or
her agenda.
3. However, in the following sentence, only Going to is possible not the Present
Continuous: Its going to rain tomorrow. NOT Its raining tomorrow.
This is because this sort of event cannot be arranged by human beings.
*Present tense for future time
a) The presence of a future time expression in a sentence whose verb is in present
indicates that the statement refers to a forthcoming event and not to a customary, or
repetitive activity.
Examples:
The Bakers arrive tomorrow.
Richard graduates in June.
The next meeting is a week from today.
b) Some words for future time are: soon, later, tomorrow, next week, next year.
e) THE FUTURE CONTINUOUS
*Form: Mrs. Allen will be preparing refreshment at this time next week.
*Use
The Future Continuous expresses an activity that will be in progress at a very specific
time in the future. This structure needs a time expression:
Dont phone at 8.00. Well be having supper.
This time tomorrow Ill be flying to New York.
EXERCISES
*Complete these sentences, using Will, Going to or Present Continuous for Future..
1. A. Poor Sue went to the hospital yesterday.
B. Im sorry to hear that. I _________________________ (send) her some flowers.
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2. We ________________________________ (fly) to Madrid next week.

3. A. This rooms very cold.
B. Youre right. I ____________________________________ (turn) on the heater.
4. Professor Allen ________________________ (meet) his wife outside the restaurant.
5. A. Are you still going out with Alice?
B. Oh yes. We ___________________________________ (get) married next year.
6. He ___________________________________ (have) dinner with her this evening.
7. A. Oh dear. I cant do this homework
B. Dont worry. I ___________________________ (help) you.
8. My grandparents _________________________ (come) this weekend to stay with us.
9. A. Why are you buying so much food?
B Because I _______________________________________ (cook) for ten people.
10. _________________ you ____________________ (leave) tomorrow?
11. A. Jack is very angry with you.
B. Is he? I didnt realize. I _________________________ (ring) him and apologize.
12. A. Its Johns birthday tomorrow.
B. Is it? I cant afford a present but I ______________________ (send) him a card.
*Answer the following questions using the Future Continuous. Say what you will be
doing at this time next year.
1. Where will you be living?
________________________________________________________________________
2. Who will you be living with?
________________________________________________________________________
3. What will you be studying?
________________________________________________________________________

IV. MODAL VERBS

The Modal Verbs are sometimes called modal auxiliaries because they help other verbs
to form interrogative and negative sentences. The Modal Auxiliaries are: can, could, will,
would, shall, should, ought to, may, might and must. They differ from the other auxiliaries
(do, does, did) in that they have no s-forms, ing-forms, or participles.
The best way to master the use of Modals is to observe how they are used because they
have different meanings in different situations.
A. Asking People To Do Things, Requests
Can - Could Will Would
Can you wait a moment, please?
Could you tell me how to get to the bus station?
Will you help me please?
Would you do me a favor?
To ask for something you can say Can I have? / Could I have?
Can I have these postcards, please? (In a gift shop).
Could I have the salt, please? (At the dinner table).

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*Note
1. Can is more familiar than could. Could is appropriate in many situations, both formal
and informal.
2. Will can also express a promise, or agreement: I will bring the book tomorrow.
I will come at ten to four.
3. Would can be also used in invitations:. Would you like to go to the movies tomorrow?
4. Will and would are used with clause of condition:
I will eat without you If youre not home by six.
I would buy you a house in the country if I were rich.
B. Offering To Do Things
Will Shall Can - Would
Ill carry your bags for you.
Shall I get you something to drink?
Can I get you a cup of coffee?
Would you like a cup of coffee?
Shall can also express an invitation or a suggestion:
What shall we do tonight?
Shall we go out or stay at home?
*Note
1. It is important to understand the difference between Will as a modal verb, which
expresses concepts such as requests and offers, and Will as an auxiliary of future, where,
like all auxiliaries it only shows tense and has no intrinsic meaning at all.
2. As a modal verb Shall is used in the question form to express an offer, an invitation or
a suggestion. It is almost always used in the 1 st person, singular or plural. The past tense
of shall is should.
C. Expressing Obligation
a) Must Have to (Strong obligation)
Must
In one of its meanings, must has an imperative quality suggesting a command or an
obligation. The negative must not (mustnt) expresses a prohibition. Must also implies a
logical conclusion or explanation. Examples:
1. Obligation: They must get up early tomorrow.
2. Prohibition: You mustnt walk on the grass.
3. Logical conclusion: If Paul left here at four oclock, he must be home by now.
You have worked hard all day, you must be tired.
*Note
Must is rare in the question form. When it is used, it is normally in the 1st person (singular
or plural):
Must I wear my uniform?
Must we go to this party?

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Have to
1. Instead of Must the verb have to is often used to express obligation. It is much more
widely used since it has all the forms of a verb that must does not have:
*Future:
Youll have to get up early tomorrow.
*Past:
I had to get up at 6.00 to go to school.
*Present Perfect:
Ive had to look after my mother for the past ten years.
*Gerund:
I hate having to get up on winter mornings.
2. In questions and negative sentences have to needs an auxiliary (do, does, did, will).
3. In the question form must is rare, as a rule, have to is preferred.
*Notes
1. In the negative must and have to have completely different meanings:
a. Mustnt = prohibition:
You mustnt steal other peoples property.
b. Dont have to = no obligation:
I dont have to work if I dont want to.
2. The important difference between must and have to:
Must expresses the authority of the speaker.
Have to refers to the authority of another person, or to obligation generally.
3. If you are not sure which one to use to express obligation, have to is safer.
b) Should Ought to (Mild obligation)
1. Should and Ought to both express mild obligation, and so they are often used to give
advice, and to make suggestions:
Miss Carter ought to see a doctor as soon as possible.
We should be careful crossing streets.
2. Unfulfilled obligation:
I should be reading my assignment.
She ought to be writing her essay.
3. Probability:
It is eight oclock. The guests should be arriving soon.
George is bright an he works hard. He ought to do well.
*Notes
1. In most cases ought to can be replaced by should; of the two, ought to is the rather
more emphatic.
2. Note that ought is followed by the infinitive with to. Should is followed by the simple
form of the verb.
D. Expressing Ability
Can Could To be able to
She can sing well but she cant read music.
I could read when I was four.
I am writing to inform you that I will be able to attend the interview on June 4th.
Be able to
Can, could and be able to all express ability. Can and be able to have the same meaning,
but can is more commonly used. Be able to is more formal. Be able to is used:
1. To give emphasis to a statement of ability or possibility:
After her illness she wasnt able to walk for a year.
We wont be able to live here much longer.
The use of couldnt and cant in these two examples would be correct but less forceful.
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2. To express the meaning of manage to or succeed in concerning one specific occasion:

Although the sea was rough, they were able to (=managed to) swim to the shore.
Luckily they heard the alarm and were able to escape.
Here the use of could would not be correct.
3. To replace the missing tenses of can and could:
Future: Ill be able to walk again soon.
Present Perfect: Ive never been able to understand your husband.
Gerund: Being able to drive has changed my life completely.
Infinitive: Id love to be able to help, but I cant, sorry.
4. On formal occasions (especially when written): I am afraid we are unable to offer you
a refund on your ticket. The negative form of able to is not able to or unable to.
E. Expressing Possibility
Can Could May - Might
I can come on Monday.
She couldnt go to the party because she was ill.
I may go to Italy.
He admitted that the news might be true.
May usually expresses a greater degree of possibility than might (more likely than might).
Could, May and Might can also express a future possibility:
It could rain, so Ill take my umbrella.
We might run out of oil.
It may rain tomorrow.
*Notes
1. May can also express prohibition: People may not pick flowers in this park.
2. May and Might are used in exclamatory sentences to indicate a wish:
May all your dreams come true!
He hoped that we might have a very happy holiday.
F. Permission
a) Asking for permission
Can Could May Would
Can I go now?
Could I borrow your car tonight?
May I go to the party?
Would you mind if I opened the window?
b) Giving Permission
Can May
You can go home now.
You may use your dictionary for the test.
c) Refusing permission
Can
You cant smoke in this room. Its not allowed.

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*Note
Be allowed to is also used to express permission:
Are we allowed to use a dictionary?
Youre not allowed to drive a car without insurance.
EXERCISES
* Complete the sentences using Can, Could or Be able to.
1. Tom _________________ drive, but he doesnt have a car.
2. Suzy, I wont _____________________________ to go to your birthday party, sorry!
3. He cant sing now, but he ___________________ sing very well when he was a child.
4. I used to ___________________________ stand on my head, but I cant do it now.
5. Ask Ann about your problem. She __________________________ help you.
*Complete the sentences with Must, Have to, Should.
1. I really think you ___________________ get your hair cut.
2. Im overweight. The doctor said I ___________________ eat too many sweets.
3. She has a fortune. She ______________________________ to work in her whole life.
4. Careful, darling. You _________________ play with matches. Theyre too dangerous.
5. Its my mothers birthday next week. I __________________ remember to buy her a
present and a card.
*Talk about future plans. You are not sure what is going to happen. Use May and Might.
1. What are you going to do this weekend? (Go to the movies?)
I dont know yet, but ______________________________________________________
2. When is Jack coming to see us? (Tomorrow evening?)
Im not sure, but __________________________________________________________
3. Where are you going on your vacation? (To Brazil?)
I havent decided yet, but ___________________________________________________

V. POSSESSIVE FORMS
a) s ( apostrophe s ) and of
1. It is normally used s when the first noun is a person or an animal:
The managers office (Not the office of the manager).
The horses tail.
Otherwise (with things) we normally use of
The door of the room (Not the rooms door)
The beginning of the story (Not the storys beginning).
Sometimes we can use s when the first noun is a thing. For example, you can say:
The books title or The title of the book, but it is safer and more usual to use of
2. We can use s when the first noun is an organization or places:
The governments decision or the decision of the government
Italys largest city.
The worlds population.

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3. After a singular noun we use s: Bobs hat / Joness houses / Burnss poems.
Use apostrophe only (without the s) when s or z sound comes before the final s in a
singular word that end in s: Moses journey. / Cassius plan.
4. After a regular plural noun (which ends in s) we use only an apostrophe ():
My sisters room. / The students classroom.
If a plural noun does not end in s (an irregular plural), we use s: A childrens book. /
The womens page.
5. We can also use s with time words: Tomorrows meeting has been canceled / Do you
still have last Saturdays newspaper? / I have a weeks vacation / My house is only
about five minutes walk.
6. We can use s after more than one noun: Jack and Jills wedding.
It is possible to use s without a following noun: Toms apartment is much larger than Anns.
b) Possessive Adjectives. The Possessive Adjectives change according to the gender and
number of the possessor. They can be used only before a noun. The Possessive Adjectives
are: my /your / his / her / its / our / your / their.
c) Possessive Pronouns. The Possessive Adjectives are used before nouns, the Possessive
Pronouns, however, may stand alone. The Possessive Pronouns: mine / yours / his / hers /
its / ours / theirs.
d) Object Pronouns*. The Object Pronouns are: me / you / him / her / it / us / you / them.
They are used:
a) when they are the direct object of a verb:
subject
she
they
it

verb
read
pleased
bit

b) or when they are governed by a preposition..

object
it
her
him
I spoke to him.
I had a letter from her.

*These pronouns are used after the verb belong to to express possession.
EXERCISES
*Join two nouns using an apostrophe () or of
1. The camera / Tom
________________________________________________
2. The eyes / the cat
________________________________________________
3. The top / the page
________________________________________________
4. The children / Don and Mary
__________________________________________
5. The birthday / my father
__________________________________________
6. The car / Mikes parents
__________________________________________
7. The garden / our neighbors
__________________________________________
8. The ground floor / the building __________________________________________

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9. The name / the street

________________________________________________
10. The house / my aunt and uncle __________________________________________
11. The population / the world
__________________________________________
12. The eyes / my father
________________________________________________
*Fill in the blanks with the correct pronoun.
1. Is this car _______? No, it isnt _______
2. Are these Pauls books? Yes, they are _______
3. Does this pen belong to ______? No, it doesnt belong to ______. It belongs to _____
4. Is that Marys watch? No, it isnt ____________. It is _________
5. Is this classroom ours? Yes, it is ________ classroom. It belongs to __________
6. Are Joe and Tom Mrs. Smiths children? Yes, they are ___________ children.
7. Is this his pen? No, it isnt _________. It belongs to __________
8. Thats my book, and those are __________ pens too.
9. Whose pencils are these? They are _____________
10. This is the classroom, and this is ____________ door.
11. My shoes are black and ______________ are blue.
12.Thats Marthas book and this pen is _____________ too.

VI. RELATIVE CLAUSES

Defining Relative Clauses qualify a noun, and tell us exactly which person or thing is
being referred to.
1. Who / that as a subject pronoun. These are used in relative clauses to define the
person or people we are talking about. We cannot leave out the relative pronoun if it is the
subject of the clause: I met a man who works in advertising.
This is the baker that gave me some fresh bread.
2. Which / that as subject pronoun. These are used in the same way to define things:
This is the dog which followed me all over the Lake District.
Ill lend you the book that changed my life.
3. Who / which / that as object pronoun. Notice how we can leave out the relative
pronoun if it is the object of the relative clause. This is very common:
Did you like the present ( ) I gave you?
Did you like the present that I gave you?
This is the fisherman who I met when I was in South Shields.
This is the fisherman ( ) I met when I was in South Shields.
4. Where. This means in which and is used to talk about places. It can never be left out:
This is the village where I stayed in Devon.
5. When. This means at which time; on which occasion:
Sunday is the day when very few people go to work.

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6. Whose. This means of whom and replaces his, her and their in relative clauses. It can
never be left out:
Thats the man whose cauliflowers won first prize in the flower show.
EXERCISES
*Join the sentences with who, when, where, which, whose or that.
1. A man lent me his hammer. He lives next door.
________________________________________________________________________
2. Have you met the family? They have just moved in to the house next door.
________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the name of the car? It won the Car of the Year award.
________________________________________________________________________
4. The Queens last visit was in May. She opened the new hospital.
________________________________________________________________________
5. We then moved to Paris. We lived for six years.
________________________________________________________________________
6. A girl fainted. She was standing behind me in the line.
________________________________________________________________________
7. Over the road is the hairdressers. I usually have my hair cut there.
________________________________________________________________________
8. Thats the library. They usually have interesting art exhibitions.
________________________________________________________________________
*Join the two sentences, omitting who or which.
1. Thats the man. I was talking about him last night.
________________________________________________________________________
2. What did you do with the eggs? I bought them this morning.
________________________________________________________________________
3. Did you like the photo? I took it of you and your husband.
________________________________________________________________________
4. You spoke to a man on the phone. That was my father.
________________________________________________________________________
5. They bought a house. It was very expensive.
________________________________________________________________________

VII. ADJECTIVES
Sometimes we use two or more adjectives together:
Tom lives in a nice new house.
In the kitchen there was a beautiful large round wooden table.
a) Adjectives like new / large / round / wooden are fact adjectives. They give us objective
information about something (age, size, color, etc.)

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b) Adjectives like nice / beautiful are opinion adjectives. They tell us what someone
thinks of something. Opinion adjectives go before fact adjectives:
A
A

Opinion
nice
delicious

Fact
sunny
hot

Sometimes there are two or more fact adjectives:

Noun
day
soup
A beautiful large round table.

We put fact adjectives in this order:

1.How big?2.How old?3.What color?4.Where from?5. What is it made of?NOUN
Examples:

A tall young man (1-2)

A small black plastic bag (1-3-5)

Big blue eyes (1-3)

An old white cotton shirt (2-3-5)

a) Adjectives of size and length (big, small, tall, short, long, etc.) go before adjectives of
shape and width (round, fat, thin, slim, wide, etc.).
Examples:
A tall thin woman. / A long narrow street.
b) We also use adjectives after some verbs (be, get, become, feel, smell, taste, sound,
seem, look): Are you tired? / Be careful! / Im getting hungry.
Do you feel tired? / Dinner smells good. / This coffee tastes strong.
Tom sounded angry when I spoke to him.
*Note: Adjectives are always in the singular form.
EXERCISES
*Put the adjective in parentheses in the correct position.
1. An unusual ring (gold)
________________________________________________
2. An old lady (nice) ______________________________________________________
3. A good-looking man (young)
__________________________________________
4. Black gloves (leather)
________________________________________________
5. An American movie (old) ________________________________________________
6. A large nose (red) ______________________________________________________
7. A sunny day (lovely)
________________________________________________
8. Long hair (blonde / beautiful)
__________________________________________
9. An old painting (interesting / French)
____________________________________
10. A little village (old / lovely)
__________________________________________
11. A big cat (fat / black)
________________________________________________
12. Beautiful girl (nice / intelligent) __________________________________________
13. A city (ancient / picturesque)
__________________________________________
14. A car (classical / expensive)
__________________________________________
15. A modern house (attractive)
__________________________________________

VIII. COMPARATIVE and SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

a) The Comparative is formed by adding -er to short adjectives, and the word than:
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sweet sweeter than / soft softer than.

By adding more or less with long adjectives and the word than:
beautiful - more beautiful than / expensive less expensive than.
b) The Superlative is formed by adding -est to short adjectives and the article the:
sweet - the sweetest / soft - the softest.
By using most with long adjectives and the article the:
beautiful - the most beautiful / interesting - the most interesting.
There are a number of irregular Comparatives
Adjective
Comparative
good
better than
bad
worse than
little
less than
near
nearer than
much (many)
more than
far
farther (further) than
late
later (latter) than
old
older than

Superlative
the best
the worst
the least
the nearest (next)
the most
the farthest (furthest)
the latest (last)
the oldest (eldest)

*Note: Equality is expressed by using asas and the adjective:

Harry is as old as William.
Mary is as careful as Margaret.
Mexico has as many skyscrapers as New York.
EXERCISES
*Complete the sentences with the comparative or superlative form.
1. A plane is
_____________________________ a bus (fast)
2. My mother is _____________________________ cook in the family (good)
3. Taxis are
_____________________________ buses (expensive)
4. William is
_____________________________ his brother (strong)
5. Your shoes are_____________________________ the shoes I have (comfortable)
6. This lesson is _____________________________ yesterdays (easy)
7. Jane is ___________________________________ George (young)
8. This book is _____________________________ in the list (important)
9. Mike is
_____________________________ boy in the group (short)
10. This book is _____________________________ that one (interesting)
11. Today is
_____________________________ yesterday (warm)
12. The blue dress was _______________________ of the three (pretty)
13. Mary is
_____________________________ her little sister (thin)
14. James is
_____________________________ me (fat)
15. Todays sky is
_______________________ yesterdays (blue)

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IX. INTRODUCING COMPOSITIONS

The Use of Linking Words
Linking words are used to join words, phrases, or sentences. Some linking words and
expressions are:
Actually, after that, after, although, and, anyway, as, as for, as soon as, at the moment,
because, because of, before, but, during, fortunately, in my opinion, personally, so,
thats why, then, time was, time-when, until, when, which, while
EXERCISES
*Read the story about Mrs. Padley, an 82-year-old Irish housewife.
Mary Padley was born in Ireland. Orphaned at six weeks old, she was raised by
nuns. She saw little of the outside world till she was 21 when she moved to
London. She worked as a maid and then as a cashier in a supermarket. Working
there she met her husband, Frederick Padley. He died aged 72. Mrs. Padley has
just celebrated her 82nd birthday. Her friends have advised her to stop doing the
housework and gardening, but she likes baking all her own cakes. She planned a
small birthday party, but forty guests arrived and stayed until midnight.
*Here are seven sentences about Mrs. Padley. Put one of the following linking words into
each gap:
but / because of / although / when / because / during / after
1. _________________ her parents died, she went to live in an orphanage.
2. _________________ her youth she saw little of the outside world.
3. She left the orphanage ______________ she wanted to go to London.
4. She met her husband __________ she was working as a cashier in a supermarket.
5. __________________ she is 82, she still does a lot of work in the house.
6. Friends advised her to stop gardening _______________________ her old age.
7. Mrs. Padley wanted a small birthday party, ______________ 40 people arrived.
*Write a list of simple sentences about your daily routine. Connect the stages of your
routine with Then I , After that I , After (lunch) I , in order to write a paragraph.

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