Pronouns - personal pronouns (I, me, you etc)

Pronouns are words we use in the place of a full noun.

We have both subject and object pronouns:

SubjectObject
I me
you you
he him
she her
it it
we us
you you
they them

We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not
sure if we are talking about a man or a woman we use they/them.

This is Jack. Hes my brother. I dont think you have met him.
This is Angela. Shes my sister. Have you met her before?
Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.
You could go to a doctor. They might help you.

Subject pronouns

We use subject pronouns as subject of the verb:

I like your dress.

You are late.
He is my friend
It is raining
She is on holiday
We live in England.
They come from London.
 Warning

Remember: English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.
Im waiting for my wife. Is late. > She is late.
If there is no other subject we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject.

Object pronouns

We use object pronouns:

as the object of the verb:

Can you help me please?

I can see you.
She doesnt like him.
I saw her in town today.
We saw them in town yesterday, but they didnt see us.

after prepositions:

She is waiting for me.

Ill get it for you.
Give it to him.
Why are you looking at her?
Dont take it from us.
Ill speak to them.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. > He was a teacher.
Im waiting for my wife. Is late. > She is late.
Look at the time! Is half past two.> Its half past two.

except for the imperative (see more)

Go away.
Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use there or it.

there

We use there as a dummy subject with part of the verb be followed by a noun
phrase. (see Clauses, sentences and phrases):

to introduce a new topic:

There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.

There has been an accident. I hope no one is hurt.

with numbers or quantities:

There was a lot of rain last night.

There must have been more than five hundred in the audience.

to say where something is:

There used to be a playground at the end of the street.

There are fairies at the bottom of the garden.
I wonder if there will be anyone at home.

with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and the to-infinitive:

There is nothing to do in the village.

There was plenty to read in the apartment
There was nothing to watch on television.
There is a lot of work to do

If we want to show the subject of the to-infinitive we use for:

There is nothing for the children to do in the village.

There was plenty for us to read in the apartment
There was nothing for them to watch on television.
There is a lot of work for you to do.

with an indefinite pronoun or expressions of quantity and an -ing verb:

There is someone waiting to see you.

There were a lot of people shouting and waving.

We use a singular verb if the noun phrase is singular:

There is a meeting this evening. It will start at seven.

There was a lot of rain last night.
There is someone waiting to see you.

We use a plural verb if the noun phrase is plural:

There are more than twenty people waiting to see you.

There were some biscuits in the cupboard.
There were a lot of people shouting and waving.

It
We use it to talk about:

times and dates:

Its nearly one oclock.

Its my birthday.

weather:

Its raining.
Its a lovely day.
It was getting cold.

to give an opinion about a place:

Its very cold in here.

It will be nice when we get home.
Its very comfortable in my new apartment.

to give an opinion followed by to-infinitive:

Its nice to meet you.

It will be great to go on holiday.
It was interesting to meet your brother at last.

to give an opinion followed by an -ing verb:

Its great living in Spain.

Its awful driving in this heavy traffic.
It can be hard work looking after young children.

Using "it" to talk about people

We use it to talk about ourselves:

on the telephone:

Hello. Its George.

when people cannot see us:

[Mary knocks on door] Its me. Its Mary.

We use it to talk about other people:

when we point them out for the first time:

Look. Its Sir Paul McCartney.

Whos that? I think its Johns brother.

when we cannot see them and we ask them for their name:

[telephone rings, we pick it up] Hello. Who is it?

[someone knocks on door. We say:] Who is it?
 Why do we use this and these?

We use this (singular) and these (plural) as pronouns:

- to talk about people or things near us:

This is a nice cup of tea.

Whose shoes are these?

- to introduce people:

This is Janet.
These are my friends, John and Michael.

WARNING:
We dont say These are John and Michael.
We say This is John and this is Michael.

- to introduce ourselves to begin a conversation on the phone:

Hello, this is David, Can I speak to Sally?

Why do we use that and those?

We use that (singular) and those (plural):

- to talk about things that are not near us:

Whats that?
This is our house, and thats Rebeccas house over there.
Those are very expensive shoes.

- We also use that to refer back to something someone said or did:

- Shall we go to the cinema?

- Yes, thats a good idea.

- Ive got a new job.

- Thats great.

- Im very tired.
- Why is that?

this, these, that, those with nouns

We also use this, these, that and those with nouns to show proximity

We use this and these for people or things near us:

We have lived in this house for twenty years.

Have you read all of these books?

and that and those for people or things that are not near us:
 Who lives in that house?
Who are those people?

We use one (singular) and ones (plural) to avoid unnecessary repetition.

See those two girls? Helen is the tall one and Jane is the short one.
Which is your car, the red one or the blue one?
My trousers are torn. I need some new ones.
See those two girls. Helen is the one on the left.
Lets look at the photographs. The ones you took in Paris.

We often use them after Which ... in questions:

You can borrow a book. Which one do you want?

There are lots of books here. Which ones are yours?

Which question word to use?

We use who to ask questions about people:

Who is that?
Who lives here?
Who did you see?

We use whose to ask about possession:

Whose coat is this? [or] Whose is this coat?

Whose book is that? [or] Whose is that book?
Whose bags are those? [or] Whose are those bags?

We use what to ask questions about things:

What is that?
What do you want?

We use which to ask someone to choose something:

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Ive got two books. Which do you want?

We can also use what and which with nouns:

What subjects did you study at school?

What newspaper do you read?
Which newspaper do you read the Times or the Guardian?
Which book do you want?
Which one is yours?

Questions with prepositions:

Questions ending in prepositions are very common in English.

After Who, Which or What we often have a preposition at the end of the sentence:
 Who does this book belong to?
What are you looking for?
Which university did you go to?
What country do you come from?

The reflexive pronouns are:

Singular: myself - yourself - himself - herself - itself

Plural: ourselves - yourselves - themselves

When we use a reflexive pronoun

We use a reflexive pronoun:

as a direct object when the object is the same as the subject of the verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.

Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.

We can use a reflexive pronoun as direct object with most transitive verbs, but these
are the most common:

amuse blame cut dry enjoy help

hurt introduce kill prepare satisfy teach

Some verbs change their meaning slightly when they have a reflexive pronoun as
direct object:

Would you like to help yourself to another drink?

= Would you like to take another drink.

I wish the children would behave themselves.

= I wish the children would behave well.
 He found himself lying by the side of the road.
= He was surprised when he realised that he was at the side of the road.

I saw myself as a famous actor.

= I imagined that I was a famous actor.

She applied herself to the job of mending the lights.

= She worked very hard to mend the lights.

He busied himself in the kitchen.

= He worked busily in the kitchen.

I had to content myself with a few Euros.

= I had to be satisfied with a few Euros.

We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things people usually do
for themselves, such as wash, shave, dress:

He washed [himself] in cold water.

He always shaved [himself] before going out in the evening.
Michael dressed [himself] and got ready for the party.

We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis:

He dressed himself in spite of his injuries.

Shes old enough to wash herself.

as indirect object when the indirect object is the same as the subject of the
verb:

Would you like to pour yourself a drink.

Weve brought ourselves something to eat.

as the object of a preposition when the object refers to the subject of the clause:

They had to cook for themselves.

He was feeling very sorry for himself.

Warning

But we use personal pronouns, not reflexives, after prepositions of place...

He had a suitcase beside him.

and after with when it means "accompanied by":

She had a few friends with her.

 We use a reflexive pronoun...

with the preposition by when we want to show that someone did

something alone and/or without any help:

He lived by himself in an enormous house.

She walked home by herself.

The children got dressed by themselves.

I prepared the whole meal by myself.

to emphasise the person or thing we are referring to:

Kendal itself is quite a small town.

especially if we are talking about someone very famous:

Sir Paul McCartney himself sang the final song.

We often put the reflexive pronoun at the end of the clause when we are using it for
emphasis:

I baked the bread myself.

She mended the car herself

We use the reciprocal pronouns each other and one another when two or more
people do the same thing. Traditionally, each other refers to two people and one
another refers to more than two people, but this distinction is disappearing in modern
English.

Peter and Mary helped one another.

= Peter helped Mary and Mary helped Peter.

We sent each other Christmas cards.

= We sent them a Christmas card and they sent us a Christmas card.

They didnt look at one another.

= He didn't look at her and she didn't look at him.

We also use the possessive forms each others and one anothers:

They helped to look after each others children.

We often stayed in one anothers houses.

NOTE: We do not use reciprocal pronouns as the subject of a clause.

The indefinite pronouns are:

The relative pronouns are:

Subject Object Possessive

who who(m) whose

which which whose

that that

We use who and whom for people, and which for things.
Or we can use that for people or things.

We use relative pronouns:

after a noun, to make it clear which person or thing we are talking about:

the house that Jack built

the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

to tell us more about a person or thing:

My mother, who was born overseas, has always been a great traveller.
Lord Thompson, who is 76, has just retired.
We had fish and chips, which is my favourite meal.

But we do not use that as a subject in this kind of relative clause.

We use whose as the possessive form of who:

This is George, whose brother went to school with me.

We sometimes use whom as the object of a verb or preposition:

This is George, whom you met at our house last year.

This is Georges brother, with whom I went to school.

But nowadays we normally use who:

This is George, who you met at our house last year.

This is Georges brother, who I went to school with.
When whom or which have a preposition the preposition can come at
the beginning of the clause...

I had an uncle in Germany, from who[m] I inherited a bit of money.

We bought a chainsaw, with which we cut up all the wood.

or at the end of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany who[m] I inherited a bit of money from.

We bought a chainsaw, which we cut all the wood up with.

We can use that at the beginning of the clause:

I had an uncle in Germany that I inherited a bit of money from.

We bought a chainsaw that we cut all the wood up with.

somebody someone something

anybody anyone anything

nobody no one nothing

everybody everyone everything

We use indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things without saying exactly who or
what they are. We use pronouns ending in -body or -one for people, and pronouns
ending in -thing for things:

Everybody enjoyed the concert.

I opened the door but there was no one at home.
It was a very clear day. We could see everything.

We use a singular verb after an indefinite pronoun:

Everybody loves Sally.

Everything was ready for the party.

When we refer back to an indefinite pronoun we normally use a plural pronoun:

 Everybody enjoyed the concert. They stood up and clapped.
I will tell somebody that dinner is ready. They have been waiting a long time.

We can add -'s to an indefinite pronoun to make a possessive.

They were staying in somebodys house.

Is this anybodys coat?

We use indefinite pronouns with no- as the subject in negative clauses (not
pronouns with any.)

Anybody didnt come >> Nobody came.

We do not use another negative in a clause with nobody, no one or nothing:

Nobody came.
Nothing happened.

We use else after indefinite pronouns to refer to people or things in addition to the
ones we already mentioned.

All the family came, but no one else.

If Michael cant come well ask somebody else.
So that's eggs, peas and chips. Do you want anything else?

We use a noun with s with a singular noun to show possession:

We are having a party at Johns house.

Michael drove his friends car.

We use s with a plural noun ending in -s:

This is my parents house.

Those are ladies shoes.

But we use s with other plural nouns:

These are mens shoes.

Childrens clothes are very expensive.

We can use a possessive instead of a noun phrase to avoid repeating words:

Is that Johns car? No, its Marys [car]. > No, its Marys.

Whose coat is this? Its my wifes [coat]. > Its my wifes.

Can you match these possessive adjectives to the right personal pronouns?

its, your, my, their, our, her, his

Subject Object Possessive Adjective

I me

You you

He him

She her

It it

We us

They them

We use possessive adjectives:

to show something belongs to somebody:

Thats our house.

My car is very old.

for relations and friends:

 My mother is a doctor.
How old is your sister?

for parts of the body:

Hes broken his arm.

Shes washing her hair.
I need to clean my teeth.

Can you match these possessive pronouns to the right personal pronouns and
possessive adjectives?

yours, mine, theirs, ours, hers, his, its

Subject Object Possessive adjectives Possessive pronouns

I me my
You you your
He him his
She her her
It it its
We us our
They them their

We can use a possessive pronoun instead of a noun phrase:

Is that Johns car? No, its [my car] > No, its mine.

Whose coat is this? Is it [your coat]? > Is it yours?

Her coat is grey, [my coat]is brown Her coat is grey, mine is brown.
We can use possessive pronouns after of.

We can say:

Susan is one of my friends.

or
Susan is a friend of mine.
but not
Susan is a friend of me

or

I am one of Susan's friends.

or
I am a friend of Susan's.
but not
I am a friend of Susan

We use whose to ask questions:

Pattern A Pattern B

Whose coat is this? or Whose is this coat?

Whose book is that? or Whose is that book?

Whose bags are those? or Whose are those bags?

We use adjectives to describe nouns.

Most adjectives can be used in front of a noun:

They have a beautiful house.

We saw a very exciting film last night.

or after a link verb like be, look or feel:

 Their house is beautiful.
That film looks interesting.

A lot of adjectives are made from verbs by adding -ing or -ed:

-ing adjectives:

The commonest -ing adjectives are:

amusing shocking surprising frightening interesting disappointing exciting

tiring worrying boring terrifying annoying

If you call something interesting you mean it interests you.

If you call something frightening you mean it frightens you.

I read a very interesting article in the newspaper today.

That Dracula film was absolutely terrifying.

-ed adjectives:

The commonest ed adjectives are:

annoyed bored frightened worried tired closed excited delighted disappointed

If something annoys you, you can say you feel annoyed. If something interests you,
you can say you are interested.

The children had nothing to do. They were bored.

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:

He was a nice intelligent young man.

She had a small round black wooden box.

Opinion adjectives:

Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe
almost any noun:

good bad lovely strange

beautiful nice brilliant excellent

awful important wonderful nasty

Some adjectives give a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe
particular kinds of noun:

Food: tasty; delicious

Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable
People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly

We usually put a general opinion in front of a specific opinion:

Nice tasty soup.

A nasty uncomfortable armchair
A lovely intelligent animal

Usually we put an adjective that gives an opinion in front of an adjective that

is descriptive:

a nice red dress; a silly old man; those horrible yellow curtains

We often have two adjectives in front of a noun:

a handsome young man; a big black car; that horrible big dog

Sometimes we have three adjectives, but this is unusual:

a nice handsome young man;

a big black American car;
that horrible big fierce dog

It is very unusual to have more than three adjectives.

Adjectives usually come in this order:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

General Specific
Size Shape Age Colour Nationality Material
opinion opinion
We use some adjectives only after a link verb:

afraid alive alone asleep

content glad ill ready

sorry sure unable well

Some of the commonest -ed adjectives are normally used only after a link verb:

annoyed; finished; bored; pleased; thrilled

We say:

Our teacher was ill.

My uncle was very glad when he heard the news.
The policeman seemed to be very annoyed

but we do not say:

We had an ill teacher.

When he heard the news he was a very glad uncle
He seemed to be a very annoyed policeman

A few adjectives are used only in front of a noun:

north northern
countless eventful
south southern
occasional indoor
east eastern
lone outdoor
west western

We say:

He lives in the eastern district.

There were countless problems with the new machinery.

but we do not say:

The district he lives in is eastern

The problems with the new machinery were countless.

Try these tasks to improve your adjective ordering.

We use comparative adjectives to describe people and things:

 This car is certainly better but its much more expensive.
Im feeling happier now.
We need a bigger garden

We use than when we want to compare one thing with another:

She is two years older than me.

New York is much bigger than Boston.
He is a better player than Ronaldo.
France is a bigger country than Britain.

When we want to describe how something or someone changes we can use two
comparatives with and:

The balloon got bigger and bigger.

Everything is getting more and more expensive.
Grandfather is looking older and older.

We often use the with comparative adjectives to show that one thing depends on
another:

When you drive faster it is more dangerous

> The faster you drive, the more dangerous it is.
When they climbed higher it got colder
> The higher they climbed, the colder it got.

Superlative adjectives:

We use the with a superlative:

It was the happiest day of my life.

Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
Thats the best film I have seen this year.
I have three sisters, Jan is the oldest and Angela is the youngest .

Intensifiers:

(Intermediate)

We use words like very, really and extremely to make adjectives stronger:

Its a very interesting story

Everyone was very excited.
Its a really interesting story.
Everyone was extremely excited

We call these words intensifiers. Other intensifiers are:

amazingly exceptionally incredibly

remarkably particularly unusually
We also use enough to say more about an adjective, but enough comes after its
adjective:

If you are seventeen you are old enough to drive a car.

I cant wear those shoes. Theyre not big enough.

Intensifiers with strong adjectives:

Strong adjectives are words like:

enormous, huge = very big

tiny = very small
brilliant = very clever
awful; terrible; disgusting; dreadful = very bad
certain = very sure
excellent; perfect; ideal; wonderful; splendid = very good
delicious = very tasty

We do not normally use very with these adjectives. We do not say something is "very
enormous" or someone is "very brilliant".

With strong adjectives, we normally use intensifiers like:

absolutely completely totally utterly

really exceptionally particularly quite

The film was absolutely awful.

He was an exceptionally brilliant child.
The food smelled really disgusting.

Mitigators are the opposite of intensifiers. When we want to make an adjective less
strong we use these words:

fairly - rather - quite

By the end of the day we were rather tired.

The film wasnt great but it was quite exciting.

and in informal English: pretty

We had a pretty good time at the party.

We call these words mitigators.

We often use two nouns together to show that one thing is a part of something
else:

the village church; the car door; the kitchen window; the chair leg;
my coat pocket; London residents
 Warning

We do not use a possessive form for these things. We do not talk about:

The cars door; the kitchens window; the chairs leg

We can use noun modifiers to show what something is made of:

a gold watch; a leather purse; a metal box

We often use noun modifiers with nouns ending in -er and -ing:

an office worker; a jewellery maker; a potato peeler; a shopping list; a swimming

lesson; a walking holiday.

We use measurements, age or value as noun modifiers:

a thirty kilogram suitcase; a two minute rest; a five thousand euro platinum
watch; a fifty kilometre journey;

We often put two nouns together and readers/listeners have work out what they
mean. So:

an ice bucket = a bucket to keep ice in

an ice cube = a cube made of ice

an ice breaker = a ship which breaks ice

the ice age = the time when much of the Earth was covered in ice.

Sometimes we find more than two nouns together:

London office workers; grammar practice exercises

Position of noun modifiers

Noun modifiers come after adjectives:

The old newspaper seller

A tiring fifty kilometre journey

Verbs in English have four basic parts:

Base form -ing form Past tense Past participle

work working worked worked

play playing played played

listen listening listened listened

Most verbs have past tense and past participle in ed (worked, played, listened). But
many of the most frequent verbs are irregular.

Most verbs have past tense and past participle in ed ( worked, played, listened). But
many of the most frequent verbs are irregular:

Base form Past tense Past participle

was/were been
be began begun
begin broke broken
break brought brought
bring bought bought
buy built built
build chose chosen
choose came come
come cost cost
cost cut cut
cut did done
do drew drawn
draw drove driven
drive ate eaten
eat felt felt
feel found found
find got got
get gave given
give went gone
go had had
have heard heard
Base form Past tense Past participle

hear held held

hold kept kept
keep knew known
know left left
leave led led
lead let let
let lay lain
lie lost lost
lose made made
make meant meant
mean met met
meet paid paid
pay put put
put ran run
run said said
say saw seen
see sold sold
sell sent sent
send set set
set sat sat
sit spoke spoken
speak spent spent
spend stood stood
stand took taken
take taught taught
teach told told
tell thought thought
think understood understood
understand wore worn
wear won won
win wrote written
write

We make questions by:

1: moving an auxiliary to the front of the clause:

Everybody is watching >> Is everybody watching?

They had worked hard >> Had they worked hard?

He's finished work >> Has he finished work?

Everybody had been working hard >> Had everybody been working hard?

He has been singing >> Has he been singing?

English is spoken all over the world >> Is English spoken all over the world?

The windows have been cleaned >> Have the windows been cleaned?

2: or by moving a modal to the front of the clause:

They will come >> Will they come?

He might come >> Might he come?

They will have arrived by now >> Will they have arrived by now?

She would have been listening >> Would she have been listening?

The work will be finished soon >> Will the work be finished soon?
They might have been invited to the Might they have been invited to the
>>
party party?

3: The present simple and the past simple have no auxiliary. We make questions
by adding the auxiliary do/does for the present simple or did for the past simple:

They live here >> Do they live here?

John lives here >> Does John live here?

Everybody laughed >> Did everybody laugh?

The verb phrase in English has the following forms:

1) a main verb:

Verb

We are here.
I like it
Everybody saw. the accident
We laughed.

The verb may be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (saw, laughed). A
verb phrase with only a main verb expresses simple aspect

2) an auxiliary verb ("be") and a main verb in ing form:

 Auxiliary "be" Verb (-ing)

Everybody is watching
We were laughing

A verb phrase with "be" and ing expresses continuous aspect.

3) an auxiliary verb ("have") and a main verb with past participle:

Auxiliary "have" Verb (past participle)

They have enjoyed themselves.

Everybody has worked hard.
He had finished work.

A verb with "have" and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb
with have/has expresses present perfect, and a verb with had expresses past
perfect.

4) an auxiliary verb ("have" + "been") and a main verb in the ing form:

Auxiliary "have" + "been" Verb (-ing)

Everybody has been working hard

He had been singing
 A verb with "have" and "been" and the present participle expresses perfect
continuous aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect continuous,
and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.

5) a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main
verb:

Modal Verb Main verb

They will come.

He might come.

6) We can use modal verbs with the auxiliaries "be", "have", and "have been":

Modal Auxiliary Verb

They will be listening

He might have arrived
She must have been listening

There are two tenses in English past and present.

The present tenses in English are used:

to talk about the present

to talk about the future

to talk about the past when we are telling a story in spoken English or when we are
summarising a book, film, play etc.

There are four present tense forms in English:

 Tense Form

Present simple: I work

Present continuous: I am working

Present perfect: I have worked

Present perfect continuous: I have been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the present:

He works at McDonalds. He has worked there for three months now.

He is working at McDonalds. He has been working there for three months
now.
London is the capital of Britain.

to talk about the future:

The next train leaves this evening at 1700 hours.

Ill phone you when I get home.
Hes meeting Peter in town this afternoon.
Ill come home as soon as I have finished work.
You will be tired out after you have been working all night.

We can use the present tenses to talk about the past...

The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London.
But the third person (she/he/it) adds an -s: She works in London.

Use

We use the present tense to talk about:

something that is true in the present:

 Im nineteen years old.
He lives in London.
Im a student.

something that happens again and again in the present:

I play football every weekend.

We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of

frequency) with the present tense:

I sometimes go to the cinema.

She never plays football.

something that is always true:

The adult human body contains 206 bones.

Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.

something that is fixed in the future.

The school term starts next week.

The train leaves at 1945 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.

Questions and negatives

Look at these questions:

Do you play the piano?

Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?

With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the
third person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.

We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:

But look at these questions with who:

 Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Look at these sentences:

I like tennis, but I dont like football. (dont = do not)

I dont live in London now.
I dont play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They dont work at the weekend.
John doesnt live in Manchester. (doesnt = does not)
Angela doesnt drive to work. She goes by bus.

With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does not
(doesnt) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (dont) for the others.

The present perfect is formed from the present tense of the verb have and the past
participle of a verb:

The present perfect continuous is formed with have/has been and the -ing form of
the verb:

Use

We use the present perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continues in the present:

Theyve been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

Note: We normally use the present perfect continuous for this:

She has been living in Liverpool all her life.

Its been raining for hours.

for something we have done several times in the past and continue to do:

Ive played the guitar ever since I was a teenager.

He has written three books and he is working on another one.
Ive been watching that programme every week.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

Theyve been staying with us since last week.

I have worked here since I left school.
Ive been watching that programme every week since it started.

when we are talking about our experience up to the present:

Note: We often use the adverb ever to talk about experience up to the present:
 My last birthday was the worst day I have ever had.

Note: and we use never for the negative form:

Have you ever met George?

Yes, but Ive never met his wife.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of speaking:

I cant get in the house. Ive lost my keys.

Teresa isnt at home. I think she has gone shopping.
Im tired out. Ive been working all day.

We use the present perfect of be when someone has gone to a place and returned:

A: Where have you been?

B: Ive just been out to the supermarket.

A: Have you ever been to San Francisco?

B: No, but Ive been to Los Angeles.

But when someone has not returned we use have/has gone:

A: Where is Maria? I havent seen her for weeks.

B: She's gone to Paris for a week. Shell be back tomorrow.

We often use the present perfect with time adverbials which refer to the recent past:

just; only just; recently;

Scientists have recently discovered a new breed of monkey.

We have just got back from our holidays.

or adverbials which include the present:

ever (in questions); so far; until now; up to now; yet (in questions and negatives)

Have you ever seen a ghost?

Where have you been up to now?
Have you finished your homework yet?
No, so far Ive only done my history.

WARNING:

We do not use the present perfect with an adverbial which refers to past time which
is finished:

I have seen that film yesterday.

We have just bought a new car last week.
When we were children we have been to California.

But we can use it to refer to a time which is not yet finished:

 Have you seen Helen today?
We have bought a new car this week.

he present continuous tense is formed from the present tense of the verb be and the
present participle (-ing form) of a verb:

Use

1. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the present:

for something that is happening at the moment of speaking:

Im just leaving work. Ill be home in an hour.

Please be quiet. The children are sleeping.

for something which is happening before and after a given time:

At eight oclock we are usually having breakfast.

When I get home the children are doing their homework.

for something which we think is temporary:

Michael is at university. Hes studying history.

Im working in London for the next two weeks.

for something which is new and contrasts with a previous state:

These days most people are using email instead of writing letters.
What sort of clothes are teenagers wearing nowadays? What sort of music are
they listening to?

to show that something is changing, growing or developing:

The children are growing quickly.

The climate is changing rapidly.
Your English is improving.

for something which happens again and again:

Its always raining in London.

They are always arguing.
George is great. Hes always laughing.

Note: We normally use always with this use.

2. We use the present continuous tense to talk about the future:

for something which has been arranged or planned:

Mary is going to a new school next term.

What are you doing next week?
 3. We can use the present continuous to talk about the past:

When we are telling a story:

When we are summarising the story from a book, film or play etc.:

There are two tenses in English past and present.

The past tense in English is used:

to talk about the past

to talk about hypotheses things that are imagined rather than true.

for politeness.

There are four past tense forms in English:

Tense Form

Past simple: I worked

Past continuous: I was working

Past perfect: I had worked

Past perfect continuous: I had been working

We use these forms:

to talk about the past:

He worked at McDonalds. He had worked there since July..

He was working at McDonalds. He had been working since July.

to refer to the present or future in conditions:

He could get a new job if he really tried.

If Jack was playing they would probably win.
 and hypotheses:

It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.

I would always help someone who really needed help.

and wishes:

I wish it wasnt so cold.

In conditions, hypotheses and wishes, if we want to talk about the past, we

always use the past perfect:

I would have helped him if he had asked.

It was very dangerous, What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadnt spent so much money last month.

We can use the past forms to talk about the present in a few polite expressions:

Excuse me, I was wondering if this was the train for York.
I just hoped you would be able to help me.

Forms

With most verbs the past tense is formed by adding -ed:

call >> called; like >> liked; want >> wanted; work >> worked

But there are a lot of irregular past tenses in English. Here are the most common
irregular verbs in English, with their past tenses:

infinitive irregular past

be was/were
begin began
break broke
bring brought
buy bought
build built
choose chose
come came
cost cost
cut cut
do did
draw drew
drive drove
eat ate
 infinitive irregular past

feel felt
find found
get got
give gave
go went
have had
hear heard
hold held
keep kept
know knew
leave left
lead led
let let
lie lay
lose lost
make made
mean meant
meet met
pay paid
put put
run ran
say said
sell sold
send sent
set set
sit sat
speak spoke
spend spent
stand stood
take took
teach taught
tell told
think thought
understand understood
wear wore
win won
write wrote

Use

We use the past tense to talk about:

 something that happened once in the past:

I met my wife in 1983.

We went to Spain for our holidays.
They got home very late last night.

something that happened again and again in the past:

When I was a boy I walked a mile to school every day.

We swam a lot while we were on holiday.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.

something that was true for some time in the past:

I lived abroad for ten years.

He enjoyed being a student.
She played a lot of tennis when she was younger.

we often use phrases with ago with the past tense:

I met my wife a long time ago.

Questions and negatives

We use did to make questions with the past tense:

When did you meet your wife?

Where did you go for your holidays?
Did she play tennis when she was younger?
Did you live abroad?

But look at these questions:

Who discovered penicillin?

Who wrote Don Quixote?

For more on these questions see question forms

We use didnt (did not) to make negatives with the past tense:

They didnt go to Spain this year.

We didnt get home until very late last night.
I didnt see you yesterday.

The past continuous is formed from the past tense of be with the -ing form of the
verb:

We use the past continuous to talk about the past:

for something which continued before and after another action:

The children were doing their homework when I got home.

Compare:
 I got home. The children did their homework.
and
The children did their homework when I got home.

As I was watching television the telephone rang.

This use of the past continuous is very common at the beginning of a story:

The other day I was waiting for a bus when

Last week as I was driving to work

for something that happened before and after a particular time:

It was eight oclock. I was writing a letter.

Compare:

At eight oclock I wrote some letters.

In July she was working in McDonalds.

.to show that something continued for some time:

My head was aching.

Everyone was shouting.

for something that was happening again and again:

I was practising every day, three times a day.

They were meeting secretly after school.
They were always quarrelling.

with verbs which show change or growth:

The children were growing up quickly.

Her English was improving.
My hair was going grey.
The town was changing quickly.

We use the verb had and the past participle for the past perfect:

I had finished the work.

She had gone .

The past perfect continuous is formed with had been and the -ing form of the verb:

I had been finishing the work

She had been going.

The past perfect is used in the same way as the present perfect, but it refers to a time
in the past, not the present.
 We use the past perfect tense:

for something that started in the past and continued up to a given time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.
She didnt want to move. She had lived in Liverpool all her life.

We normally use the past perfect continuous for this:

She didnt want to move. She had been living in Liverpool all her life.
Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

for something we had done several times up to a point in the past and continued to
do after that point:

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a

teenager.
He had written three books and he was working on another one.
I had been watching the programme every week, but I missed the last episode.

We often use a clause with since to show when something started in the past:

They had been staying with us since the previous week.

I was sorry when the factory closed. I had worked there since I left school.
I had been watching that programme every week since it started, but I missed
the last episode.

when we are reporting our experience and including up to the (then) present:

My eighteenth birthday was the worst day I had ever had.

I was pleased to meet George. I hadnt met him before, even though I had met
his wife several times.

for something that happened in the past but is important at the time of reporting:

I couldnt get into the house. I had lost my keys.

Teresa wasnt at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect to talk about the past

in conditions, hypotheses and wishes:

I would have helped him if he had asked.

It was very dangerous. What if you had got lost?
I wish I hadnt spent so much money last month.

We use the present perfect to show that something has continued up to the present

Theyve been married for nearly fifty years.

She has lived in Liverpool all her life.

or is important in the present:

Ive lost my keys. I cant get into the house.

Teresa isnt at home. I think she has gone shopping.
We use the present perfect continuous to show that something has been continuing
up to the present:

Its been raining for hours.

Weve been waiting here since six oclock this morning.

We use the past perfect to show that something continued up to a time in the past:

When George died he and Anne had been married for nearly fifty years.

... or was important at that time in the past:

I couldnt get into the house. I had lost my keys.

Teresa wasnt at home. She had gone shopping.

We use the past perfect continuous to show that something had been continuing up
to a time in the past or was important at that time in the past:

Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

He was a wonderful guitarist. He had been playing ever since he was a
teenager.

We use will with the perfect to show that something will be complete at some time in
the future:

In a few years they will have discovered a cure for the common cold.
I can come out tonight. I'll have finished my homework by then.

We use would with the perfect to refer to something that did not happen in the past
but would have happened if the conditions had been right:

If you had asked me I would have helped you.

I would have helped you, but you didnt ask me.
You didnt ask me or I would have helped you.

We use other modals with perfective aspect when we are looking back from a point
in time when something might have happened, should have happened or would have
happened.

The point of time may be in the future:

Well meet again next week. We might have finished the work by then.
I will phone at six oclock. He should have got home by then.

the present:

Its getting late. They should have arrived by now.

Hes still not here. He must have missed his train.

or the past:

I wasnt feeling well. I must have eaten something bad.

I checked my cell phone. She could have left a message.
 Both tenses have a continuous form. These continuous tenses are formed with the
verb be and the ing form of the verb:

We use continuous aspect:

for something happening before and after a given time.

Hes getting on the train. [before and after the moment of speaking]
It was quarter past ten. We were watching the news on television.

for something continuing before and after another action:

Mother will be cooking the dinner when we get home.

We were waiting for the bus when it started to rain.

for something continuing for some time:

Everybody will be waiting for us.

They had been working hard all day.

for something happening again and again:

Theyve been doing that every day this week.

The children were always shouting.
He will be practising the piano every night.

for something temporary:

We are renting an apartment until our house is ready..

He was working in a garage during the vacation.

for something new:

We have moved from Birmingham. Were living in Manchester now.

He had left university and was working in his fathers business.

to describe something changing or developing:

Everything has been getting more difficult.

He was growing more bad-tempered every day.

Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:

active passive

The hunter killed the lion. >> The lion was killed by the hunter.
 active passive

Someone has cleaned the windows >> The windows have been cleaned

The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:

be past participle

English is spoken all over the world

The windows have been cleaned

Lunch was being served

The work will be finished soon

They might have been invited to the party

We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:

Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.

Peter got hurt in a crash.

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:

She was attacked by a dangerous dog.

The money was stolen by her husband.

We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

 active passive

I gave him a book for his birthday >> He was given a book for his birthday.

Someone sent her a cheque for a She was sent a cheque for a thousand
>>
thousand euros euros.

We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

active passive

They called off the meeting. >> The meeting was called off.

His grandmother looked after him. >> He was looked after by his grandmother.

They will send him away to school. >> He will be sent away to school.

Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:

be supposed to be expected to be asked to

 be scheduled to be allowed to be told to

John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.

You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.

We use the to-infinitive:

to express purpose (to answer "Why...?"):

He bought some flowers to give to his wife.

He locked the door to keep everyone out.

We sometimes say in order to or in order not to:

We set off early in order to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly in order not to wake the children

or we can say so as to or so as not to:

We set off early so as to avoid the traffic.

They spoke quietly so as not to wake the children.

after certain verbs (see verbs followed by infinitive), particularly verbs

of thinking and feeling:

choose, decide, expect, forget, hate, hope, intend, learn, like,

love, mean, plan, prefer, remember, want, would like, would love

and verbs of saying:

agree, promise, refuse

They decided to start a business together.

Remember to turn the lights out.

Some verbs are followed by a direct object and the infinitive(see verbs followed by
infinitive):

advise, ask, encourage, invite, order, persuade, remind, tell, warn,

expect, intend, would prefer, want, would like

She reminded me to turn the lights out.

He encouraged his friends to vote for him.

after certain adjectives.

Sometimes the to-infinitive gives a reason for the adjective:

disappointed
 glad

sad

happy

anxious

pleased

surprised

proud

unhappy

We were happy to come to the end of our journey

= We were happy because we had come to the end of our journey
John was surprised to see me
= He was surprised because he saw me

Other adjectives with the to-infinitive are:

able

unable

due

eager

keen

likely

unlikely

ready

prepared

unwilling

willing

Unfortunately I was unable to work for over a week.

I am really tired. Im ready to go to bed.

We often use the to-infinitive with these adjectives after it to give opinions:

difficult

easy

possible

impossible
 hard

right

wrong

kind

nice

clever

silly

foolish

Its easy to play the piano, but its very difficult to play well.
He spoke so quickly it was impossible to understand him.

We use the preposition for to show who these adjectives refer to:

difficult

easy

possible

impossible

hard

It was difficult for us to hear what she was saying.

It is easy for you to criticise other people.

We use the preposition of with other adjectives:

Its kind of you to help.

It would be silly of him to spend all his money.

As a postmodifier (see noun phrases) after abstract nouns like:

ability

desire

need

wish

attempt

failure

opportunity

chance
 intention

I have no desire to be rich.

They gave him an opportunity to escape.
She was annoyed by her failure to answer the question correctly.

We often use a to-infinitive as a postmodifier after an indefinite pronoun

(See indefinite pronouns):

When I am travelling I always take something to read.

I was all alone. I had no one to talk to.
There is hardly anything to do in most of these small towns.

We can use the -ing form of the verb:

as a noun:

I love swimming.
Swimming is very good for your health.
You can get fit by swimming regularly.

-ing nouns are nearly always uncount nouns

as an adjective:

The main problem today is rising prices.

That programme was really boring.
He saw a woman lying on the floor.

Because the -ing noun or adjective is formed from a verb it can have any of
the patterns which follow a verb, for example:

... an object:

I like playing tennis.

Can you imagine living on the moon?

... or an adverbial:

You can earn a lot of money by working hard.

There were several people waiting for the bus.

... or a clause:

I heard someone saying that.

The -ing noun can be used:

as the subject of a verb:

Learning English is not easy.

as the object of a verb:

 We enjoy learning English.

Common verbs followed by an -ing object are:

admit like hate start avoid

suggest enjoy dislike begin finish

as the object of a preposition

Some people are not interested in learning English.

The -ing adjective can come:

in front of a noun:

I read an interesting article in the newspaper today.

We saw a really exciting match on Sunday.

The commonest ing adjectives used in front of the noun are

amusing interesting worrying shocking disappointing

boring surprising exciting terrifying frightening

tiring annoying

after a noun:

Who is that man standing over there?

The boy talking to Angela is her younger brother.

and especially after verbs like see, watch, hear, smell etc.
 I heard someone playing the piano.
I can smell something burning.

1. We use the present simple:

to talk about something happening regularly in the present:

The children come home from school at about four.

We often see your brother at work.

to talk about something happening continually in the present:

They live next door to us.

He works for the Post Office.

to talk about things which are generally true:

Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.

The Nile is the longest river in Africa.

2. We use the present continuous:

to show that something in the present is temporary:

We are living in a rented flat at present.

My wife usually goes in to the office, but she is working at home today.

for something happening regularly in the present before and after a given time:

Im usually getting ready for work at eight oclock.

When I see George hes always reading his newspaper.

for something happening before and after the moment of speaking:

I cant hear you. Im listening to my iPod.

Be quiet. The children are sleeping.

3. We use modal verbs

to talk about the present when we are not sure of something:

I dont know where Henry is. He might be playing tennis.

Whos knocking at the door? I dont know. It could be the police.

1 Talking about past events and situations:

We use the past simple:

when we are talking about an event that happened at a particular time in the past
 We arrived home before dark
The film started at seven thirty.

when we are talking about something that continued for some time in the past

Everybody worked hard through the winter.

We stayed with our friends in London.

When we are talking about something that happened several times in the past we
use

the past simple:

Most evenings we stayed at home and watched DVDs.

Sometimes they went out for a meal.

or used to

Most evenings we used to stay at home and watch DVDs.

We used to go for a swim every morning.

... or would

Most evenings he would take the dog for a walk.

They would often visit friends in Europe.

WARNING: We do not normally use would with stative verbs.

We use the past continuous:

when we are talking about something which happened before and after a given time
in the past

It was just after ten. I was watching the news on TV.

At half-time we were losing 1-0.

when we are talking about something happening before and after another action in
the past:

He broke his leg when he was playing rugby.

She saw Jim as he was driving away.

2 The past in the past

When we are looking back from a point in the past to something earlier in the
past we use the past perfect:

Helen suddenly remembered she had left her keys in the car.
When we had done all our shopping we caught the bus home.
They wanted to buy a new computer, but they hadnt saved enough money.
They would have bought a new computer if they had saved enough money.
 3 The past and the present:

We use the present perfect:

when we are talking about the effects in the present of something that happened in
the past:

I cant open the door. Ive left my keys in the car.

Jenny has found a new job. She works in a supermarket now.

When we are talking about something that started in the past and still goes on:

We have lived here since 2007. (and we still live here)

I have been working at the university for over ten years.

4 The future in the past

When we talk about the future from a time in the past we use:

would as the past tense of will

He thought he would buy one the next day.

Everyone was excited. The party would be fun.

was/were going to

John was going to drive and Mary was going to follow on her bicycle.
It was Friday. We were going to set off the next day.

the past continuous:

It was September. Mary was starting school the next week.

We were very busy. The shop was opening in two weeks time.

1. When we know about the future we normally use the present tense.

We use the present simple for something scheduled or arranged:

We have a lesson next Monday.

The train arrives at 6.30 in the morning.
The holidays start next week.
It is my birthday tomorrow.

We can use the present continuous for plans or arrangements:

Im playing football tomorrow.

They are coming to see us tomorrow.
Were having a party at Christmas.

2. We use will to talk about the future:

 When we make predictions:

It will be a nice day tomorrow.

I think Brazil will win the World Cup.
Im sure you will enjoy the film.

To mean want to or be willing to:

I hope you will come to my party.

George says he will help us.

To make offers and promises:

I'll see you tomorrow.

We'll send you an email.

To talk about offers and promises:

Tim will be at the meeting.

Mary will help with the cooking.

3. We use (be) going to:

To talk about plans and intentions:

Im going to drive to work today.

They are going to move to Manchester.

When we can see that something is likely to happen:

Be careful! You are going to fall.

Look at those black clouds. I think its going to rain.

4. We often use verbs like would like, plan, want, mean, hope, expect to talk about
the future:

What are you going to do next year? Id like to go to University.

We plan to go to France for our holidays.
George wants to buy a new car.

5. We use modals may, might, and could when we are not sure about the future:

I might stay at home tonight, or I might go to the cinema.

We could see Mary at the meeting. She sometimes goes.

6. We can use should if we think something is likely to happen:

We should be home in time for tea.

The game should be over by eight oclock.

7. Clauses with time words:

 In clauses with time words like when, after, and until we often use a present
tense form to talk about the future:

Ill come home when I finish work.

You must wait here until your father comes.
They are coming after they have had dinner.

8. Clauses with if:

In clauses with if we often use a present tense form to talk about the future:

We wont be able to go out if it rains.

If Barcelona win tomorrow they will be champions.

WARNING: We do not normally use will in clauses with if or with time words:

Ill come home when I will finish work.

We wont be able to go out if it will rain rains.

But we can use will if it means a promise or offer:

I will be very happy if you will come to my party.

We should finish the job early if George will help us.

9. We can use the future continuous instead of the present continuous or going to for
emphasis when we are talking about plans, arrangements and intentions:

Theyll be coming to see us next week.

I will be driving to work tomorrow.

Verbs in time clauses and conditionals follow the same patterns as in other
clauses except:

In clauses with time words like when, after, until we often use the present
tense forms to talk about the future:

Ill come home when I finish work.

You must wait here until your father comes.
They are coming after they have had dinner.

in conditional clauses with if or unless we often use the present tense forms to talk
about the future:

We wont be able to go out if it is raining.

If Barcelona win tomorrow they will be champions.
I will come tomorrow unless I have to look after the children.

We do not normally use will in clauses with if or with time words:

Ill come home when I will finish work.

We wont be able to go out if it will rain. rains.
 It will be nice to see Peter when he will get home gets home.
You must wait here until your father will come comes.

but we can use will if it means a promise or offer:

I will be very happy if you will come to my party.

We should finish the job early if George will help us.

"if" clauses and hypotheses

Some clauses with if are like hypotheses so we use past tense forms to talk about the
present and future.

We use the past tense forms to talk about the present in clauses with if :

for something that has not happened or is not happening:

He could get a new job if he He cannot get a job because he has not
=
really tried tried.

If Jack was playing they would Jack is not playing so they will probably
=
probably win not win.

If I had his address I could write to I do not have his address so I cannot
=
him write to him.

We use the past tense forms to talk about the future in clauses with if:

for something that we believe or know will not happen:

We would go by train if it wasnt so We wont go by train because it is

=
expensive too expensive.
 I would look after the children for you at I cant look after the children
=
the weekend if I was at home because I will not be at home.

to make suggestions about what might happen:

If he came tomorrow we could borrow his car.

If we invited John, Mary would bring Angela.

When we are talking about something which did not happen in the past we use
the past perfect in the if clause and a modal verb in the main clause:

If you had seen him you could have You did not see him so you could not
=
spoken to him speak to him

You could have stayed with us if you You couldnt stay with us because you
=
had come to London didnt come to London.

If we hadnt spent all our money we We have spent all our money so we cant
=
could take a holiday. take a holiday

If I had got the job we would be living I did not get the job so we are not living
=
in Paris in Paris.

If the main clause is about the past we use a modal with have:

If you had seen him you You did not see him so you could not
=
could have spoken to him. speak to him.
 You could have stayed with us if you had You couldnt stay with us because you
=
come to London. didnt come to London.

If you had invited me I

= You didnt invite me so I didnt come.
might have come.

If the main clause is about the present we use a present tense form or a modal
without have:

If I had got the job we would be I did not get the job so we are not
=
living in Paris now. living in Paris now.

If you had done your homework You did not do your homework so you
=
you would know the answer. do not know the answer.

We use past tense forms to talk about wishes:

We use past tense modals would and could to talk about wishes for the future:

I dont like my work. I wish I could get a better job.

Thats a dreadful noise. I wish it would stop.
I always have to get home early. I wish my parents would let me stay out
later.

We use past tense forms to talk about wishes for the present:

I dont like this place. I wish I lived in somewhere more interesting.

These seats are very uncomfortable. I wish we were travelling first class.
Everyone wishes they had more free time.
John wishes he wasnt so busy.
I wish it wasnt so cold.

We use the past perfect to talk about wishes for the past:
 I wish I had worked harder when I was at school.
Mary wishes she had listened to what her mother told her.
I wish I hadnt spent so much money last month.

Hypotheses (things that we imagine)

When we are talking about hypotheses:

We use present tense forms after phrases like what if, in case and suppose to talk
about the future if we think it is likely to happen:

Those steps are dangerous. Suppose someone has an accident.

We should leave home early in case we are late.

We use a past tense form to talk about the future after suppose and what if to
suggest something is not likely to happen:

It might be dangerous. Suppose they got lost.

What if he lost his job. What would happen then?

We use modals would, could for a hypothesis about the future:

We cant all stay in a hotel. It would be very expensive.

Drive carefully. You could have an accident.

We use would in the main clause and the past in a subordinate clause to talk about
the imagined future:

I would always help someone who really needed help.

I would always help someone if they really needed it.

We use modals with have to talk about something that did not happen in the past:

I did not see Mary, or I might have spoken to her.

Its a pity Jack wasnt at the party. He would have enjoyed this party.
Why didnt you ask me. I could have told you the answer.

The verb be has the following forms:

I am We are
Present simple: Affirmative You are You are
He/She/It is They are
 Am I? Are we?
Question form: Are you? Are you?
Is he/she it? Are they?

We are not/arent
I am not/ Im not
You are not/arent
Negative: You are not/ arent
They are not/aren't
He/She/It is not/ isnt

I was We were
Past simple You were You were
He/She/It was They were

The past participle: been.

Present perfect: has/have been

Past perfect: had been

The verb be is used in the following patterns:

1. with a noun:

My mother is a teacher.
Bill Clinton was the president of the US.

2. with an adjective:

This soup is very tasty.

The children were good.

2.1 with the -ing form to make the continuous aspect

We were walking down the street.

Everything was wet. It had been raining for hours.

2.2 with the -ed form to make the passive voice

 The house was built in 1890.
The street is called Montagu Street.
This car was made in Japan.

3. with a prepositional phrase:

John and his wife are from Manchester.

The flowers are on the table.

Some verbs are followed by either a noun or an adjective:

She was a good friend. = N+V+N

She was very happy. = N + V + Adj.

He became headmaster. = N+V+N

He became angry. = N + V + Adj.

These verbs are called link verbs. Common verbs like this are:

be

become

appear

feel

look

remain

seem

sound

She seemed an intelligent woman.

She seemed intelligent.
 He looked hungry.
He looked a good player.

After appear and seem we often use to be:

She appeared to be an intelligent woman.

He seemed to be angry.

Some link verbs are followed by an adjective. Common verbs like this are:

get

go

grow

taste

smell

He got hungry in the evening.

She grew stronger every day.

Delexical verbs:
have, take, make, give, go and do
We often use common verbs like have and take with nouns like a shower, a drink:

I took a shower. = I showered.

She had a drink. = She drank something.

We call these delexical verbs because the important part of the meaning is
taken out of the verb and put into the noun.

We often put adjectives in front of the noun:

I took a cold shower.

She had a nice, refreshing drink.

The verbs used most frequently in this way are:

have take make give

have
We use have with:

Food and drink: a meal, breakfast, lunch, dinner, a snack, a cup of tea
Talking: a chat, a conversation, a discussion, a talk
Washing: a bath, a shower, a wash, a scrub
Resting: a break, a holiday, a rest
Disagreeing: an argument, a dispute, a fight, a quarrel
 I had a good breakfast before I left home.
We had a long talk about the problem.
The kids should have a bath before they go to bed.
She generally had a short holiday in July or August.
They had a serious quarrel about their fathers will.

We also use have with nouns formed from verbs:

I think you should have a look at this.

She had a bite of the cake.
Im thirsty. Im going to have a drink of water.
I had a listen to that new CD in the car.
They are going to have a swim.

The modal verbs are:

can could

may might

shall should

will would

must

We use modal verbs to show if we believe something is certain, probable or possible (or
not). We also use modals to do things like talking about ability, asking permission
making requests and offers, and so on.

The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would.

The modals are used to show that we believe something is certain, probable or
possible:

Possibility:
We use the modals could, might and may to show that something is possible in the
future, but not certain:

They might come later. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come later.)

They may come by car. (= Perhaps/Maybe they will come by car.)
If we dont hurry we could be late. (= Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)

We use could have, might have and may have to show that something was
possible now or at some time in the past:

Its ten oclock. They might have arrived now.

They could have arrived hours ago.

We use the modal can to make general statements about what is possible:

It can be very cold in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold in winter)

You can easily lose your way in the dark. (= People often lose their way in the
dark)

We use the modal could as the past tense of can:

It could be very cold in winter. (= Sometimes it was very cold in winter.)

You could lose your way in the dark. (= People often lost their way in the dark)

Impossibility:

We use the negative cant or cannot to show that something is impossible:

That cant be true.

You cannot be serious.

We use couldnt/could not to talk about the past:

We knew it could not be true.

He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

Probability:

We use the modal must to show we are sure something to be true and we have
reasons for our belief:

Its getting dark. It must be quite late.

You havent eaten all day. You must be hungry.

We use must have for the past:

They hadnt eaten all day. They must have been hungry.
You look happy. You must have heard the good news.

We use the modal should to suggest that something is true or will be true in the
future, and to show you have reasons for your suggestion:

Ask Miranda. She should know.

It's nearly six o'clock. They should arrive soon.
We use should have to talk about the past:

It's nearly eleven o'clock. They should have arrived by now.

The modal verbs are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will and would.

The modals are used to do things like talking about ability, asking permission making
requests, and so on.

Ability:

We use can to talk about someones skill or general abilities:

She can speak several languages.

He can swim like a fish.
They cant dance very well.

We use can to talk about the ability to do something at a given time in

the present or future:

You can make a lot of money if you are lucky.

Help. I cant breathe.
They can run but they cant hide.

We use could to talk about past time:

She could speak several languages.

They couldnt dance very well.

We use could have to say that someone had the ability/opportunity to do something,
but did not do it:

She could have learned Swahili, but she didnt have time.
I could have danced all night [but didn't].

Permission:

We use can to ask for permission to do something:

Can I ask a question, please?

Can we go home now?

could is more formal and polite than can:

Could I ask a question please?

Could we go home now?

may is another more formal and polite way of asking for permission:

May I ask a question please?

May we go home now?

We use can to give permission:

 You can go home now if you like.
You can borrow my pen if you like.

may is a more formal and polite way of giving permission:

You may go home now, if you like.

We use can to say that someone has permission to do something:

We can go out whenever we want.

Students can travel free.

may is a more formal and polite way of saying that someone has permission:

Students may travel free.

Instructions and requests:

We use could you and would you as polite ways of telling or asking someone to do
something:

Could you take a message please?

Would you carry this for me please?
Could I have my bill please?

can and will are less polite:

Can you take a message please?

Will you carry this for me please?

Suggestions and advice:

We use should to make suggestions and give advice:

You should send an email.

We should go by train.

We use could to make suggestions:

We could meet at the weekend.

You could eat out tonight.

We use conditionals to give advice:

Dan will help you if you ask him.

Past tenses are more polite:

Dan would help you if you asked him.

Offers and invitations:

We use can I and to make offers:

 Can I help you?
Can I do that for you?

We can also use shall I

Shall I help you with that?

Shall I call you on your mobile?

We sometime say I can ... or I could ... or Ill (I will) ... to make an offer:

I can do that for you if you like.

I can give you a lift to the station.
Ill do that for you if you like.
Ill give you a lift to the station.

We use would you like (to) ... for invitations:

Would you like to come round tomorrow?

Would you like another drink?

We use you must or we must for a very polite invitation:

You must come round and see us.

We must meet again soon.

Obligation and necessity

We use must to say that it is necessary to do something:

You must stop at a red light.

Everyone must bring something to eat.
You can wear what you like, but you must look neat and tidy.
Im sorry, but you mustnt make a noise in here.

We use had to for this if we are talking about the past:

Everyone had to bring something to eat.

We could wear what we liked, but we had to look neat and tidy.

We use a modal verb with have and the past participle:

Subject Modal Have Past Participle

They will have arrived by now

You might have seen the film

 Jack and Jill would have been late

We use a modal verb with have to refer back:

from a point of time in the past:

We were very worried. Someone might have taken the car.

from the present

It is nearly eight oclock. They will have arrived by now.

or from the future:

We wont eat until they arrive. They might not have had supper.

or to refer to past time:

You should have helped her when she asked.

They might have got lost. Nobody knows where they are.

Questions and negatives:

We make questions by putting the subject after can/could:

Can I ? Can you ? Could I Could you ? and so on.

The negative form is cant in spoken English and cannot in written English.
We sometimes say cannot, but it is very emphatic.

The negative form of could is couldnt in spoken English and could not in written
English.
We sometimes say could not.

We use can and cant :

To talk about ability:

Maria can speak four languages.

I cant swim, but my sister can.

To say that something is possible or impossible:

Learning English can be difficult [= Learning English is sometimes difficult.]

Children can be very naughty [= Children are sometimes very naughty.]
Its still light. It cant be bedtime.
 For requests and refusals of requests

Can I go home now?

You can go whenever you like.
You can borrow the car today, but you cant have it tomorrow.

To offer to help someone:

Can I help you?

Can I carry that bag for you?

We use could and couldnt as the past tense of can/cant:

To talk about ability:

I could run very fast when I was younger.

She couldnt get a job anywhere.

To say that something was possible or impossible:

Our teacher could be very strict when we were at school. [= Some teachers were
very strict.]
People could starve in those days. [= People sometimes starved.]
You couldnt use computers in the nineteenth century.

To make a polite request:

Could I go now please?

Could you lend me a dictionary please?

To make a polite offer:

Could I give you a lift?

I could carry that for you.

We use could have:

to show that something is possible now or was possible at some time in the past:

Its ten oclock. They could have arrived now.

They could have arrived hours ago.

Questions and negatives:

We make questions by putting the subject after may/might:

May I ? Could I Might I ? Etc.

The negative forms are may not and might not..

We use may:

when we are not sure about something:

 Jack may be coming to see us tomorrow.
Oh dear! Its half past ten. We may be late for the meeting.
There may not be very many people there.

to make polite requests:

May I borrow the car tomorrow?

May we come a bit later?

When we use may not for a refusal it is emphatic:

You may not!

You may not borrow the car until you can be more careful with it.

We use might:

when we are not sure about something:

I might see you tomorrow.

It looks nice, but it might be very expensive.
Its quite bright. It might not rain today.

As the past tense of may for requests:

He asked if he might borrow the car.

They wanted to know if they might come later.

For very polite requests:

Might I ask you a question?

Might we just interrupt for a moment?

We use may have and might have to show that something has possibly happened
now or happened at some time in the past:

Its ten oclock. They might have arrived now.[= Perhaps they have arrived]
They may have arrived hours ago. [= Perhaps they arrived hours ago.]

Possibility

We use the modal can to make general statements about what is possible:

It can be very cold in winter. (= It is sometimes very cold in winter)

You can easily lose your way in the dark. (= People often lose their way in the
dark)

We use could as the past tense of can:

It could be very cold in winter. (=Sometimes it was very cold in winter.)

You could lose your way in the dark. (=People often lost their way in the dark)

We use could to show that something is possible in the future, but not certain:
If we dont hurry we could be late. (=Perhaps/Maybe we will be late)

We use could have to show that something is/was possible now or at some time in the
past:

Its ten oclock. They could have arrived now.

They could have arrived hours ago.

Impossibility:

We use the negative cant or cannot to show that something is impossible:

That cant be true.

You cannot be serious.

We use couldnt/could not to talk about the past:

We knew it could not be true.

He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

Ability:

We use can to talk about someones skill or general abilities:

She can speak several languages.

He can swim like a fish.
They cant dance very well.

We use can to talk about the ability to do something at a given time in

the present or future:

You can make a lot of money if you are lucky.

Help. I cant breathe.
They can run but they cant hide.

We use could to talk about past time:

She could speak several languages.

They couldnt dance very well.

Permission:

We use can to ask for permission to do something:

Can I ask a question, please?

Can we go home now?

could is more formal and polite than can:

Could I ask a question please?

Could we go home now?
 We use can to give permission:

You can go home now if you like.

You can borrow my pen if you like.

We use can to say that someone has permission to do something:

We can go out whenever we want.

Students can travel free.

Instructions and requests:

We use could you and as a polite way of telling or asking someone to do something:

Could you take a message please?

Could I have my bill please?

can is less polite:

Can you take a message please?

Offers and invitations:

We use can I to make offers:

Can I help you?

Can I do that for you?

We sometimes say I can ... or I could ... to make an offer:

I can do that for you if you like.

I can give you a lift to the station.

We use will:

to talk about the future to say what we believe will happen

to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do

to make promises and offers

would is the past tense form of will. Because it is a past tense it is used:

to talk about the past.

to talk about hypotheses things that are imagined rather than true.

for politeness.

Beliefs

We use will
 to say what we believe will happen in the future:

We'll be late.
We will have to take the train.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to say what we believed would happen:

I thought I would be late so I would have to take the train.

Offers and promises

We use I will or We will to make offers and promises:

Ill give you a lift home after the party.

We will come and see you next week.

Willingness

to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do:

Well see you tomorrow.

Perhaps dad will lend me the car.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to talk about what people wanted to do or were willing to do:

We had a terrible night. The baby wouldnt go to sleep. He kept waking up and
crying.
Dad wouldnt lend me the car, so we had to take the train.

to talk about something that we did often in the past because we wanted to do it:

When they were children they used to spend their holidays at their grandmothers
at the seaside. They would get up early every morning and theyd have a quick
breakfast then they would run across the road to the beach.

Conditionals

We use will in conditionals with if and unless to say what we think will happen in the
future or present:

Ill give her a call if I can find her number.

You wont get in unless you have a ticket.

We use would to talk about hypotheses, about something which is possible but not
real:

to talk about the result or effect of a possible situation:

 It would be very expensive to stay in a hotel.

in conditionals with words like if and what if. In these sentences the main verb is
usually in the past tense:

I would give her a call if I could find her number.

If I had the money I'd buy a new car.
You would lose weight if you took more exercise.
If he got a new job he would probably make more money.
What if he lost his job. What would happen then?

We use conditionals to give advice:

Dan will help you if you ask him.

Past tenses are more polite:

Dan would help you if you asked him.

Phrases with would:

would you, would you mind (not) -ing, for requests:

Would you carry this for me please?

Would you mind carrying this?
Would you mind not telling him that?

would you like ...; would you like to ..., for offers and invitations:

Would you like to come round tomorrow?

Would you like another drink?

I would like ; Id like (you)(to) ..., to say what we want or what we want to
do:

Id like that one please.

Id like to go home now.

Id rather (I would rather) to say what we prefer:

Id rather have that one.

Id rather go home now.

I would think, I would imagine, I'd guess, to give an opinion when we are not sure
or when we want to be polite:

Its very difficult I would imagine.

I would think thats the right answer.

We use will:
 to talk about the future to say what we believe will happen

to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do

to make promises and offers

would is the past tense form of will. Because it is a past tense it is used:

to talk about the past.

to talk about hypotheses things that are imagined rather than true.

for politeness.

Beliefs

We use will

to say what we believe will happen in the future:

We'll be late.
We will have to take the train.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to say what we believed would happen:

I thought I would be late so I would have to take the train.

Offers and promises

We use I will or We will to make offers and promises:

Ill give you a lift home after the party.

We will come and see you next week.

Willingness

to talk about what people want to do or are willing to do:

Well see you tomorrow.

Perhaps dad will lend me the car.

We use would as the past tense of will:

to talk about what people wanted to do or were willing to do:

We had a terrible night. The baby wouldnt go to sleep. He kept waking up and
crying.
Dad wouldnt lend me the car, so we had to take the train.

to talk about something that we did often in the past because we wanted to do it:
 When they were children they used to spend their holidays at their grandmothers
at the seaside. They would get up early every morning and theyd have a quick
breakfast then they would run across the road to the beach.

Conditionals

We use will in conditionals with if and unless to say what we think will happen in the
future or present:

Ill give her a call if I can find her number.

You wont get in unless you have a ticket.

We use would to talk about hypotheses, about something which is possible but not
real:

to talk about the result or effect of a possible situation:

It would be very expensive to stay in a hotel.

in conditionals with words like if and what if. In these sentences the main verb is
usually in the past tense:

I would give her a call if I could find her number.

If I had the money I'd buy a new car.
You would lose weight if you took more exercise.
If he got a new job he would probably make more money.
What if he lost his job. What would happen then?

We use conditionals to give advice:

Dan will help you if you ask him.

Past tenses are more polite:

Dan would help you if you asked him.

Phrases with would:

would you, would you mind (not) -ing, for requests:

Would you carry this for me please?

Would you mind carrying this?
Would you mind not telling him that?

would you like ...; would you like to ..., for offers and invitations:

Would you like to come round tomorrow?

Would you like another drink?

I would like ; Id like (you)(to) ..., to say what we want or what we want to
do:
 Id like that one please.
Id like to go home now.

Id rather (I would rather) to say what we prefer:

Id rather have that one.

Id rather go home now.

I would think, I would imagine, I'd guess, to give an opinion when we are not sure
or when we want to be polite:

Its very difficult I would imagine.

I would think thats the right answer.

We use the perfective will have when we are looking back from a point in time when
something will have happened.

By the end of the decade scientists will have discovered a cure for influenza.
I will phone at six oclock. He will have got home by then.

or looking "back" from the present:

Look at the time. The match will have started.

Its half past five. Dad will have finished work.

We use would have as the past tense form of will have:

I phoned at six oclock. I knew he would have got home by then.

It was half past five. Dad would have finished work.

We use would have in past conditionals to talk about something that did not
happen:

If it had been a little warmer we would have gone for a swim.

He would have been very angry if he had seen you.

1. Some verbs have two objects an indirect object and a direct object:

Subject Verb Indirect object Direct object

My wife sent me an email

He brought his mother some flowers

 He cooked all his friends a delicious meal

These clauses have the structure: V + N (indirect object) + N (direct object)

2. We can use a prepositional phrase with to or for with an indirect object:

Subject Verb Direct object Prepositional phrase

My wife sent an email to me

He brought some flowers for his mother

He cooked a delicious meal for all his friends.

These clauses have the structure : V + N (direct object) + Prepositional phrase (indirect
object)

3. Common verbs with for and an indirect object are:

book

buy

get

cook

keep

bring

make

pour

save

find
 They booked a table for me at the restaurant.
We made toys for all the children.

4. Common verbs with to and an indirect object are:

give

lend

offer

pass

post

read

sell

send

show

promise

tell

He gave his programme to the man sitting next to him.

They sent Christmas cards to all their customers.

5. If the indirect object is a long phrase we normally use to or for:

He showed his ticket to the policeman standing by the door.

We kept something to eat and drink for all the people who arrived late.

6. If the indirect object is a pronoun we normally use the N + V + N + N pattern:

I poured him another drink.

Their mother read them another story.

Some verbs are two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases). They consist of
a verb and a particle:

grow + up
>> The children are growing up.

Often this gives the verb a new meaning:

take + after
>> She takes after her mother
= She looks like her mother, or She behaves like her mother.

count + on
>> I know I can count on you
= I know I can trust you, or I know I can believe you.
Some transitive two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases) have only
one pattern:

N (subject) + V + p + N (object)

[Note: N = noun; V = verb; p = particle]

N (Subject) Verb Particle N (Object)

She takes after her mother

I can count on you
My father comes from Madrid

Some transitive two part verbs (see Clauses, Sentences and Phrases) are phrasal
verbs. Phrasal verbs have two different patterns:

The usual pattern is: N + V + N + p

N (Subject) Verb (N) Object Particle

She gave the money back

He knocked the glass over
We will be leaving our friends and neighbours behind

But sometimes these verbs have the pattern: N (subject) + V + p + N (object)

N (Subject) Verb Particle N (Object)

 She gave back the money
He knocked over the glass
We will be leaving behind our friends and neighbours

When the object is a personal pronoun,these verbs always have the pattern:

N + V +N + p:

She gave back it

>> She gave it back

He knocked over it
>> knocked it over

We will be leaving behind them

>> We will be leaving them behind

Phrasal verbs are nearly always made up of a transitive verb and

a particle. Common verbs with their most frequent particles are:

bring: about, along, back, forward, in, off, out, round, up

buy: out, up

call: off, up

carry: off, out

cut: back, down, off, out, up

give: away, back, off

hand: back, down, in, on out, over, round

knock: down, out, over

leave: behind, out

let: down, in, off, out

pass: down, over, round

point: out

push: about, around, over

put: across, away, down, forward, off, on, out, through, together, up

read: out

set: apart, aside, back, down

shut: away, in, off, out

 take: apart, away, back, down, in, on, up, over

think: over, through, up

Reflexive verbs

1 The reflexive pronouns (see pronouns) are:

Singular: myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself

Plural: ourselves; yourselves; themselves

We use a reflexive pronoun after a transitive verb (see Clauses, Sentences and
Phrases) when the direct object is the same as the subject of the verb:

I am teaching myself to play the piano.

Be careful with that knife. You might cut yourself.

These are the verbs most often found with reflexive pronouns:

cut

dry

enjoy

hurt

introduce

kill

prepare

teach
 Some verbs change their meaning slightly when they have a reflexive pronoun as
direct object:

amuse

apply

busy

content

behave

blame

distance

express

find

help

see

Would you like to help yourself to

= Would you like to take another drink?
another drink?

I wish the children would behave

= I wish the children would behave well.
themselves.

He found himself lying by the side He was surprised when he realised that he
=
of the road. was at the side of the road.

I saw myself as a famous actor. = I imagined that I was a famous actor.

She applied herself to the job of

= She worked very hard to mend the lights.
mending the lights.
He busied himself in the kitchen. = He worked busily in the kitchen.

I had to content myself with a few

= I had to be satisfied with a few Euros.
Euros.

The verb enjoy always has an object:

We all enjoyed the party.

I really enjoyed my lunch.

If enjoy has no other object, we use a reflexive pronoun:

They all enjoyed They all enjoyed themselves.

I really enjoyed I really enjoyed myself.

NOTE: We do not use a reflexive pronoun after verbs which describe things
people usually do for themselves:

He washed in cold water.

He always shaved before going out in the evening.
Michael dressed and got ready for the party.

We only use reflexives with these verbs for emphasis:

He dressed himself in spite of his injuries.

Shes old enough to wash herself.

Ergative verbs

1. Ergative verbs are both transitive and intransitive:

Peter closed the door Transitive: N + V + N

The door closed Intransitive: N + V

 I boiled a pan of water Transitive: N + V + N

The pan boiled Intransitive: N + V

2. Common ergative verbs are:

begin

break

change

close

drop

crack

dry

end

finish

grow

improve

increase

move

open

shake

start

stop

tear

turn

I broke the glass.

I dropped the glass and it broke.

The referee blew his whistle and started the match.

The match started at 2.30.
 We grew some tasty potatoes.
The potatoes were growing well.

The wind shook the trees.

The trees shook in the wind.

3. Many verbs to do with cooking are ergative verbs:

bake

boil

cook

defrost

freeze

melt

roast

You should roast the meat at 200 degrees centigrade.

The meat was roasting in a hot oven.

I always defrost meat before I cook it.

I am waiting for the meat to defrost.

Melt the chocolate and pour it over the ice cream.

The chocolate was melting in a pan.

4. Verbs to do with vehicles are often ergative:

back

crash

drive

fly

reverse

run

sail

start

stop

Im learning to fly a plane.

The plane flew at twice the speed of sound.

He crashed his car into a tree.

His car crashed into a tree.
 5. We use some ergative verbs with only a few nouns:

catch: dress, coat, clothes, trousers etc.

fire : Gun, pistol, rifle, rocket.

play: guitar, music, piano, violin, CD, DVD etc.

ring: bell, alarm

She caught her dress on a nail.

Her dress caught on a nail.

He fired a pistol to start the race.

A pistol fired to start the race.

1 Some verbs are followed by the to-infinitive:

I decided to go home as soon as possible.

We all wanted to have more English classes.

Common verbs followed by the to-infinitive are:

Verbs of thinking and feeling:

choose

decide

expect

forget

hate

hope

intend

learn

like

love

mean

plan

prefer

remember

would like

would love
 Verbs of saying:

agree

promise

refuse

Other common verbs are:

arrange

attempt

fail

help

manage

tend

try

want

2 Some verbs are followed by a noun and the to-infinitive:

She asked him to send her a text message.

He wanted all his friends to come to his party.

Common verbs with this pattern are:

Verbs of saying:

advise

ask

encourage

invite

order

persuade

remind

tell

warn *

*Note: The verb warn is normally used with not

The police warned everyone not to drive too fast.
 Verbs of wanting or liking:

expect

intend

would

prefer

want

would like

Other verbs with this pattern are:

allow

enable

force

get

teach

3. Passive infinitive

Many of these verbs are sometimes followed by a passive infinitive

(to be + past participle):

I expected to be met when I arrived at the station.

They wanted to be told if anything happened.
I dont like driving myself. I prefer to be driven.

Common verbs followed by ing nouns are:

Verbs of liking and disliking:

detest

dislike

enjoy

hate

fancy

like

love
 I love swimming but I hate jogging.
They always enjoyed visiting their friends.
A: Do you fancy going for a walk?
B: I wouldnt mind

Phrases with mind:

wouldnt mind (= would like)

dont mind (= I am willing to)

would you mind (= will you please?)

I wouldnt mind having some fish and chips.

I dont mind waiting for a few minutes.
Would you mind holding this for me?

Verbs of saying and thinking:

admit

consider

deny

imagine

remember

suggest

Our guide suggested waiting until the storm was over.

Everyone denied seeing the accident.

Other common verbs are:

avoid

begin

finish

keep

miss

practise

risk

start

stop
 I havent finished writing this letter.
Lets practise speaking English.

Passive form of -ing

Many of these verbs are sometimes followed by the passive form of -ing: being + past
participle

I dont like being interrupted.

Our dog loves being stroked under the chin.

Noun + -ing clause

Some verbs are followed by a noun and an -ing clause:

Verbs to do with the senses:

see

watch

hear

smell

listen to

etc.

We saw everybody running away.

I could hear someone singing.

Other common verbs:

catch

find

imagine

leave

prevent

stop

I caught someone trying to break into my house.

We couldnt prevent them getting away.

With "that"
 We can use clauses with that:

after verbs of thinking:

think

believe

expect

decide

hope

know

understand

suppose

guess

imagine

feel

remember

forget

I hope that you will enjoy your holiday.

She didnt really think that it would happen.
I knew that I had seen her somewhere before.

after verbs of saying:

say

admit

argue

reply

agree

claim

deny

mention

answer

complain

explain
 promise

suggest

They admitted that they had made a mistake.

She argued that they should invest more in the business.
The children complained that they had nothing to do.

Note: tell and some other verbs of saying almost always have an indirect object (see
clauses, sentences and phrases). There are also some fixed expressions with tell such
as tell the truth, tell a lie, tell a story, tell it like it is.

tell

convince

persuade

inform

remind

We tried to tell them that they should stop what they were doing.
The police informed everybody that the danger was over.

as postmodifiers after nouns to do with thinking or saying:

advice

belief

claim

feeling

argument

hope

promise

report

guess

opinion

idea

He made a promise that he would do all he could to help.

I had a funny feeling that something was wrong.

after some nouns to say more about the noun:

fact
 advantage

effect

possibility

chance

danger

evidence

problem

difficulty

She pointed out the danger that they might be left behind.
There was a chance that we would succeed

Note: We often use a that clause to define one of these nouns after the verb be :

danger

problem

chance

possibility

fact

The danger is that we will be left behind.

The fact is that it is getting very late.

after some adjectives which describe feelings to give a reason for our feelings:

pleased

sorry

happy

unhappy

sad

excited

glad

disappointed

afraid

I am sorry that you cant come.

Everybody was pleased that the danger was past.
It is lucky that you were able to drive us home.
No "that"

NOTE: We can always use a clause without the word that:

They admitted [that] they had made a mistake.

The police informed everybody [that] the danger was over.
I am sorry [that] you cant come.
There was chance [that] we would succeed.