English Clockwork Demystifying English Grammar Lesson 1 Study Block 1: The verb and its characteristics Part 1: Nice

ce to meet you, I am a verb. Before we start for real, let me satisfy a little curiosity: So what is a verb for you? In this first block we will discover the verb is a mate full of special powers and weaknesses. We will see they have conjugation characteristics, duration, meaning, voice, mood, etc. But before anything let me explain you all a very important thing. Many of you can ask: 'Well, Nimlot, what is the practical use of all this stuff?' The objective of this comprehensive grammar course IS NOT to make any student a grammar specialist. My objective is to make you understand the essence of the English language and be able to use the language in the correct way when in a dubious situation. To summarise, a grammar course aim is to provide tools to improve communication, both oral and verbal, not to clog your minds with complicated names and concepts. So if you thought so, relax. All the lessons will respect the student's time. So let's begin! 1. Duration of a verb: Stative verbs vs dynamic verbs: The verbs according to its duration, that is the meaning period of time described by the verb, can be stative or dynamic. Stative verbs are those ones who have no duration and no distinguished endpoint because they describe states, characteristics about something or someone and states and characteristics can't be considered over time Let's see some examples: Jeff has red hair. ('has' shows a characteristic about Jeff). Nimlot likes his students very much. ('likes' shows Nimlot's feelings). Julia wants a computer. ('wants' shows Julia's desire about a computer). One important thing about the stative verb is the fact they can't be used in the continuous tenses because of their indefinite duration. So we can never say 'Jeff is having red hair' because his hair is always red. Here are some important verbs that deserve our attention once they are stative: Like, know, belong, love, realise, fit, hate, suppose, contain, want, mean, consist, need, understand, seem, prefer, believe, depend, agree, remember, matter, mind, recognise, see, own, appear, look (=seem), sound, taste, smell, hear, astonish, deny, disagree, please, impress, satisfy, promise, surprise, doubt, think (=have an opinion), feel (=have an opinion), wish, imagine, concern, dislike, be, have, deserve, involve, include, lack, measure (=have length etc), possess, owe, weigh (=have weight). These verbs CAN'T be used in continuous tenses. Dynamic verbs ave duration, that is, they occur over time. This time may or may not have a defined endpoit and may or may not have ocurred. Let's see some examples: Jeff teaches French with CEM. ('teaches' show an action Jeff performs as a routine). Linda travels to her parents' house every year. ('travels' shows an action linda performs every year). Dynamic verbs can either be simple or continuous once they express actions over time. So, we can also say 'Jeff is teaching French with CEM at the moment' and 'Linda is travelling to her mother house'.

*** Observation*** Some verbs can be either stative or dynamic depending on the meaning. The main verbs in this category are: be, have, see, taste, think. Let's some examples with more details. You are stupid! (stative 'are' shows a personality trace). You are being stupid (dynamic 'are being' in this case means behaving or acting) I have a car. (stative 'have' shows something which is mine). I'm having lunch. (dynamic 'have lunch is an expression which has the meaning of eating). I see two red birds there. (stative 'see' is an ability you have). I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow. (dynamic 'seeing' has the meaning of meeting). 2. Exercise: Decide if the verb is stative or dynamic. a) I have lunch with my family most evenings. b) I own two cats. c)I think orange juice is healthy. d) I'm thinking about moving to a new place. e)The new dish you prepared tastes great! f)I'm tasting the soup to see if it is too salty. ________________________________________________________________________________ English Clockwork Demystifying English Grammar Lesson 2 Study Block 1: The verb and its characteristics Part 1: Nice to meet you, I'm a verb. 2 Seeing the time inside the tenses: The Present Simple vs the present continuous In our last lesson we studied how the verbs can be classified as stative or dynamic verbs according to their duration. We also studied that stative verbs can't be used with continuous tenses because we can't establish their duration. Today we'll go a little deeper and we'll see how the duration has its influence over sentences in the present simple and the present continuous. The present simple - He, she, it + s - Interrogative Do/Does; Negative Don't/Doesnt. The main characteristic the present simple shows us when we consider the duration of the verbs is the fact that this verbal tense talks about a 'wide present', that is, we can't precise when the action or the state the subject has got started and we can't also precise when it will finish. The only thing we know it that the information provided by the verb happens in a moment of time we call present, and this 'present' is flexible. We can consider the period of time we want in our minds. For this reason the present simple have the following uses: We use the present simple for: *thoughts and feelings - I think so. I like it.

* states, things staying the same, facts and things that are true for a long time: We live quite near * repeated action: We come here every year. * Meaning future when we're talking about a time, usually a public one such as a train timetable: The train leaves at seven thirty-three tomorrow morning. The present continuous - am/are/is + main verb + ING While the present simple talks about a 'wide present', the present continuous does the opposite. The main characteristic of the present continuous is to point a specific point inside this 'wide present' and thus establish much more precisely when the information provided by the verb took place. Contrarily to the present continuous we can't consider the time freely because the moment when the action happens is at least considered as the moment of speaking. Another important thing we must remember is that stative verbs are never used in the present continuous once these kinds of verbs, by definition, provide information that we can regard as outside an established time. For this reason it is extremely important to be aware about the context you provide to the person you are sharing information. We use the present continuous: * When we are in the middle of an action - I'm waiting for the train. * When things are changing after a long period of time: The number of cars in the road is increasing * Meaning future for what someone has arranged to do in the future: - I'm meeting Harriet at six o'clock. At work Alan is talking to Mark in the corridor. Complete their conversation using present simple or present continuous. Mark: Are you looking (you/look) for someone? Alan: Yes I need to speak to Neil (I/speak). He is'nt in his office. Mark: (1) _______________(he/talk) to the boss at the moment. (2) _____________(you/think) (3) ___________(they/be) discussing money at the moment? Alan: Oh, right! How about you? (4) ________________(you/look) for someone too? Mark: Yes. Linda (5) ________________ (you/know) where she is? Alan: Oh! She isn't here today. She only (6) ___________(work) six days a week. (7) ______________(she/not/work) on Fridays. She'll be here on Monday. Mark: Thank you! (8) _______________(you/know) a lot of things about Linda. Alan: Well, most days (9) __________________(I/give) her a lift, or (10)___________________(she/give) me some. (11)_________ (she/live) quite close to me. (12) ____________ (it/save) petrol. Mark: Yes, of course! Good idea (13) ______________(I/agree). Well,(14) ______________(I/waste) my time here. I'll get back to my computer.