THE PAST SIMPLE

Hi there!

Today, we get back to the grammar explanations being the turn of the PAST SIMPLE.

Be aware of the difference between Regular (thay make their past and past participle form by adding -ed to the verb root) and Irregular verbs (there is a list with their past and past participle forms that you should be familiar with).

At the end of this post you will find some practice.

Enjoy!

PAST SIMPLE: USES.

We use the PAST SIMPLE:

- to express an actions finished in the past.
- to series of completed actions in the past.
- together with the PAST CONTINUOUS, the PAST SIMPLE interrupted an action which was in progress in the past.

Silent Letters

Everybody who is learning English wants to have a proper accent when speaking. This is very difficult if you don't start learning on an early age or if you don't go abroad for a time of your life.

It is known that pronuntiation is one of the clues to speak a proper English. For Spanish speakers, English is very weird because you don't pronounce as you write. For instance, in Spanish you pronounce every single letter that is written but in English you don't.

Here you have some Word lists with SILENT CONSONANTS and SILENT VOWELS that you can use to improve your vocabulary knowledge and your pronuntiation.

Enjoy!

Basic Word list

Pre- Intermediate Word list

Using extreme adjectives

Hello there!

Today we are going to put into practice some vocabulary tips to develop our speaking skill.

We, as Spanish speakers, can make some mistakes using adjectives when speaking in English.

If we don't know the exact meaning, we try to translate it into Spanish, but sometimes in English the meaning is "harder" than what we really want to express and for English speakers it sounds very exagerated.

Here we have some advices from our friend @C.EnglishTeacher to improve your vocabulary using extreme adjectives which show more level than using normal adjectives.

Please, feel free to play this video all the times you need to and while listening try to pronounce them.

Enjoy!

How much or how many????

If we want to learn how to use HOW MUCH ?  and  HOW MANY ?  first of all we need to know the difference between COUNTABLE and UNCOUNTABLE nouns.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, when we say COUNTABLE noun, we are talking about some nouns that refer to things which, in English, can be treated as separated items that can be counted. 

COUNTABLE nouns can be singular or plural. They can be used with a/an and with numbers and many other determiners like these, a few... For example:

                    a house, three houses
                    a book, a box full of books
      
                    She has got two sisters and a younger cousin.
                    Sean bought Kevin a few magazines.

Knowing that we consider UNCOUNTABLE nouns those which refer to things that are seen as a whole or mass and cannot be separated or counted. Some examples of UNCOUNTABLE nouns are:

                    - Ideas and experiences: advice, information, progree, news, luck, fun, work
                   
                    - Materials and substances: water, rice, cement, gold, milk

                    - Weather words: weather, thunder, lightning, rain, snow

                    - Names of groups or collections of things: furniture, equipment, rubbish, luggage

                    - Other common uncountable nouns include: accomodation, bagage, homework, knowledge, money, permission, research, traffic, travel.

👀 These nouns cannot be used with A/AN or numbers and not used in the PLURAL. For example:

                    We're going to get new furniture for the living room. 

          Not: We’re going to get a new furniture for the living room. or We’re going to get new furnitures for the living room.

So, when we want to know the quantity or amount of something, we ask HOW MUCH ? for the uncountable nouns and HOW MANY ? for the contable nouns. These questions always follow the same structure:

                    HOW MUCH/MANY + noun + verb +  C ?

Here you have a summary chart from our friends from Woodward English:

LET'S PRACTISE!

Choose the correct alternative: How much? How many?

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

- ing Spelling rules

It is regular to see verbs that end in -ing when we are reading in English. But, do we know how to build them?

When adding the -ing ending to the stem of a verb, we have to consider some rules that we will see in this post.

Enjoy!

Verbs ending with a silent -e.

- For the verbs that end with a silent - e, we remove the -e and add -ing. For example:

                    drive → driving

           

                    use → using

                    bake → baking

                    smile → smiling

     

EXCEPTIONS.

Verbs ending in -ee, -ye, and -oe do not drop the final -e when adding -ing. For example:

                    free → freeing

                    dye → dying

Verbs ending with a consonant + a vowel + a consonant.

- For the verbs that have a short vowel and only one consonant at the end, we usually double the consonant and add -ing. For example:

                    swim → swimming

  

                    cut → cutting

                    stop → stopping

EXCEPTIONS.

We do not double the final consonant when the verb ends in -W, -X, or -Y.

                    fix → fixing

Verbs ending with -ie.

- For the verbs that end with -ie, we change it for -ying. For example:

                    lie → lying
   
                    die → dying

                    tie → tying

Verbs ending with a vowel + -l.

- For the verbs that end in consonant + vowel + -l, we normally doublé the final -l and add -ing. For example:

                    travel → travelling

                    cancel → cancelling

                    label → labelling

Verbs ending with a stressed vowel + -r.

- For the verbs that end in a stressed vowel + -r, we double the final -r and add - ing. But for the verbs that end in an unstressed vowel + -r, we do NOT double the final -r and add - ing directly. For example:

       

                    suffer → suffering

                    answer → answering

                    refer → referring

         

THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS

We will continue with the Grammar explanations and today it's the PRESENT CONTINUOUS turn.

Present Continuous is also a verb tense that we have to control since our first English lessons.

At the end of this post you will find some practice.

Enjoy!

PRESENT CONTINUOUS: USE.

We use the Present Continuous to:

- say what is happening at the moment.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS: STATEMENTS.

I	am	reading playing	a book. golf.
He She It	is
We You They	are

To form statements in Present Continuous we have to use the following structure:

               S + VERB to be (am, is, are) + V- ing + C.

So, we make the Present Continuous tense with the verb "to be" and the -ing form of the main verb.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS: NEGATIVE.

I	am not	reading playing	a book. golf.
He She It	is not isn’t
We You They	are aren’t

To form a negative statement in Present Continuous we use the negative form of the verb "to be".

              S + am not/ isn't/ aren't + V- ing + C.

The short form of "is not" is "isn't" and the short form of "are not" is "aren't"; the first person singular form has not short form.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS: QUESTIONS.

Am	I	reading playing	a book?  golf?
Is	He She (It)*
Are	You We They

*Not suitable for these examples.

To make questions in Present Continuous, we use:

                 Am/ Is/ Are + S + V -ing + C ?

SHORT ANSWERS.

Is she playing basketball? Yes, she is.

Are they reading a book? No, they aren't.

LET'S PRACTISE!

Here you have some links where you can put into practice what you have learnt in this lesson. 😉

Present Continuous Practice: Statements and Negative.

Present Continuous Practice: Questions.

Present Continuous Practice: Statements, Negative and Questions.

Present Simple and Present Continuous Practice

Present Continuous Practice: All Levels

Body parts vocabulary

Body parts is one of the topics of vocabulary that we learn in elementary courses of English.
Here you have some vocabulary about the BODY.

Did you know all of them?

Enjoy!

To infinitive or -ing?

The weekend is here and we have the opportunity of practising our favourite hobbies or just enjoying our free time. But, do you know how to express what you LIKE, HATE, LOVE OR PREFER?
We can use hate, like, love and prefer with both forms the -ing or with to-infinitive.

There is a very small difference in meaning between the two forms. We often use the -ing form to suggest enjoyment (or lack of it), and the to-infinitive form to express habits or preferences. for example:

I love climbing at the weekends.

I hate to wake up early.

The -ing form emphasises the action or experience. The to-infinitive gives more emphasis to the results of the action or event.

EXCEPTIONS

Would + hate, like, love, prefer

When we use would or ’d with hate, like, love, prefer, we use the to-infinitive, NOT the -ing form:

We would love to watch your .

Not: We would love watching your film.

They’d hate to cause a problem.

Not: They’d hate causing a problem.

I’d prefer not to give you my name.

Not: I’d prefer not giving you my name.

THE PRESENT SIMPLE

This is a full explanation about the first verb tense we should learn when studying English, THE PRESENT SIMPLE.

At the end of this post you will find some practice.

Enjoy it!

PRESENT SIMPLE: USE.

We use the Present Simple Tense to:

  - describe regular events and premanent states.

  - talk about general truths and facts.

  - talk about habits and routines.

PRESENT SIMPLE: STATEMENTS.

I You We They	play like	golf.
He She It	plays likes

To form statements in Present Simple we have to use the following structure:

          S + V (stem) + Complement

In the third person singular we add -s to the verb stem.

But, there are some exceptions:

    - When the verb ends in -ss, -sh, -ch, or -o, we add -es.

    (miss → misses, go → goes)

    - With some verbs ending in -y, we change the -y to -ies.                    

    ( hurry → hurries).

PRESENT SIMPLE: NEGATIVE.

I You We They	do not don’t	like play	golf.
He She It	does not doesn’t

To form a negative statement in Present Simple we have to add the auxiliary verb "DO/DOES" and the negative particle "NOT".

S + don't/doesn't + V (stem) + Complement

Notice that when expressing a negative statement in third person, the  ending -s jumps from the main verb to the auxiliary.

The short form of "do not" is "don't"; and the short form of "does not" is "doesn't".

PRESENT SIMPLE: QUESTIONS.

Do	(I)* You We They	like play	golf?
Does	He She (It)*

* Not suitable for these examples.

To make questions in Present Simple, we use:

Do/Does + S + V (stem) + Complement + ?

In questions, the ending -s jumps again from the main verb to the auxiliary verb.

SHORT ANSWERS.

Do you like golf? Yes, I do.

Does he play golf? No, he doesn't.

In the short answers we use the Subject + the auxiliary verb, depending on if the answer is negative or affirmative we use do/don't.

LET'S PRACTISE!

Here you have some links where you can put into practice what you have learnt in this lesson. 😉

Present Simple Practice: Statements and Negative (1)

Present Simple Practice: Questions (1)

Present Simple Practice: Statements and Negative (2)

Present Simple Practice: Questions (2)

Present Simple Practice All Levels

British English VS. American English (Part 1)

It is sometimes difficult for us, as English learners, to differentiate between English and American English.

Here you have the first "lesson" where you can see some of the differences of vocabulary.

Both of them are correct, BUT REMEMBER!!! If you sit an official exam you have to choose only one, in other words, you can't mix both. ☺

Enjoy!

The Weather

This Winter is being very harsh. Here you have some vocabulary and expressions to describe the weather.

Hello!

Welcome to my Blog!!

This Blog has been created to help you to learn English in an EASY way. I hope you will find it useful for extending your knowledge of this wonderful language.
If you miss any explanation, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Este blog ha sido creado para ayudarte a aprender inglés de una manera fácil. Espero que lo encuentres útil para ampliar tus conocimientos de este maravilloso idioma. Si echas en falta alguna explicación, por favor, no dudes en contactar conmigo.