UNIVERSITY OF

TECHNOLOGY
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
CENTRE

Grammatical
Structures

M.A.

Mayada R. Al-Salami

1.Tenses
Simple Present Tense
e.g. I sing.
How do we make the simple present tense?
Subject+ main verb

Look at these examples:

I live in New York.
The moon goes round the Earth.
John drives a taxi.
He does not drive a bus.
We meet every Thursday.
We do not work at night.
There are three important exceptions:
for positive sentences, we do not normally use the
auxiliary.
For the 3rd person singular(he, she,it), we add s to the
main verb or es to the auxiliary.
For the verb to be ,we do not use an auxiliary , even
for questions and negatives.
Look at these examples with the main verb (like) :
Subject
+

I,you,we,they
He,she,it

auxiliary
verb

Main
verb
like
likes

coffee.
coffee.

I,you,we,they
He,she,it
Do

Does

Do
Does
I,you,we,the
y
he,she,it

Not
Not

like
like
like

coffee.
coffee.
coffee?

like

coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that
there is no auxiliary:
+
?

Subject
I
You,we,they
He,she,it
I
You,we,they
He,she,it
Am
Are
Is

main verb
Am
Are
Is
Am
Are
Is
I
You,we,they
He,she,it

not
not
not

French .
French.
French.
old.
old.
old.
Late
late?
late?

Exercise 1.1.
Put a circle around the correct answer:
Do you (like,likes,be like) chocolate milk?
He (do,does,is) not want to come to the movies.
(is,are,am) we too late to catch the bus?
It .(is,are,am)a beautiful day today.
Sorry,Lisa ..(be,am,is) not here at the moment.
.(is, are, am) I correct?
Robert(is,does,are) not go to my school.

 My parents(live,lives, are live) in a 2 bedroom

apartment.
We .(do be ,are, do are) European.
You (looks, are, be) so happy today

Present Continuous Tense

We use the present continuous tense to talk about:
-action happening now.
-action in the future.
s. + aux(is,are,am)+ v.ing
Examples:
I am eating my lunch.
John is going out with Mary.
I am taking my exam next month.
I am living with my sister until I find an apartment.
We make the present continuous tenses by adding ing
to the base verb. Normally its simple- we just add-ing. But
sometimes we have to change the word a little. Perhaps
we double the last latter, or we drop a letter. Here are the
rules to help you know how to spell the present
continuous tense.

Just add-ing to the base verb:

Work
>
Working
Play
>
Playing
Basic
Assist
>
Assisting
rule
See
>
Seeing
Be
>
Being
If the base verb ends in consonant +stressed vowel +consonan
double the last letter.
S
t
o
p
consonant
stressed vowel
consonant
(vowels= a,e,i,o,u)
Exceptio Stop
>
Stopping
n1
Run
>
Running
Begin
>
Beginning
Exceptio If the base verb ends in ie, change the ieto y:
n
Lie
>
Lying
2
Die
>
Dying
If the base verb ends in vowel + consonant+e, omit the e:
Exceptio Come
>
Coming
n
Mistake
>
Mistaking
3
Exercise 1.2.
Put a circle around the best answer:
(is,are,am)they coming over for dinner?
Maxwell..(is,are,am) not sleeping on our sofa.
My mother-in-law is ..(stay,staying,be staying) at
our house this week.
I (eat,am eating,eating) my dinner right now.
My sister..(learn, is learning, learning) Spanish.

 I am.(work, be working,working) at hai salon until

September.
We (eat,eats, are eating)at a fancy restaurant
tonight.
They are..(opening, open, open) a new record shop
downtown.
Melissa is(lie, lieing, lying) down on her bed.

Present Perfect Tense

The present perfect tense is a rather important
tense in English, but it gives speakers of some
languages a difficult time. That is because it uses
concepts or ideas that do not exist in those
languages. In fact, the structure of the present
perfect tense is very simple.
The structure of the present perfect tense is:
Subject+ auxiliary verb (have) + main verb
participle)

(past

Here are some examples of the present perfect

tense:

+
-

subject auxiliary
verb
I
have
she
has

Not

main
verb
Seen
Been

We

have

Not

Played

Have

You

finishe

ET.
to
Rome.
football
.

Have

d?
Done

they

it?

For &Since with present perfect tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect
tense:
We use( for) to talk about a period of time-5
minutes,2 weeks, 6 years
We use( since) to talk about a point in past time-9
oclock,1st January.

For
a period of time
20 minutes
three days
6 months
4 years
2 centuries
a long time
Ever

Since
A point in past
time
6.15 pm
Monday
January
1994
1800
I left school
the beginning
of time

Examples:
I have been here for 20 minutes.
I have been here since 9 oclock.
He has worked in New York for a long time.
He has worked in New York since he left school.

Exercise 1.3 :
Circle the word that best complete each sentence:
Lindsay(has, is, have) not been to France.
(has, is, have) you finished your homework?
They ..( ,s ,,es , ,ve ) gone to a rock concert.
(is,has,have) you been to Japan?
We. ..(have, has,are) never eaten Mexican food.

Simple Past Tense

We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or
a situation an event- in past.
Examples:
- We did not hear the telephone.
- Did you see the car?
-We did not sing at the concert.
- Did you watch TV last night?
To make the simple past tense, we use:
Past form only
or
auxiliary did + base form

Here you can see examples of the past form and base
form for irregular verbs and regular verbs:
V1
Base
Regular Work
Verb
Explode

V2
Past
Worked
Exploded

V3
Past participle
Worked
Exploded

Irregul
ar
Verb

Went
Saw
Sang

Gone
Seen
Sung

Go
See
Sing

You do not need

The past form

for all regular
verbs ends ined
The past form
for
irregular
verbs
is
variable. You
need to learn
it by heart.

the
past
participle form
to
make
the
simple
past
tense.
It
is
shown here for
completeness
only.
The structure for positive sentences in the simple
past tense is:
Subject + main verb (past)
The structure for negative sentences in the simple
past tense is:
Subject + auxiliary verb(did)+not+ main
verb(base)
The structure for question sentences in the simple
past tense is:
Auxiliary verb(did)+subject+main verb
(base)
The auxiliary verb (did) is not conjugated. It is the
same for all persons (I did, you did, he did, etc). The
base form and past form do not change. Look at these
examples with the main verbs go and work:
Subject
+

I
You

She
We

Auxiliary
verb

Did
Did

Main
verb
Went
Worked
not
not

Go
Work

to school.
very
hard.
with me.
yesterday
.

Did

You

Go

Did

They

Work

to
Londodn?
at home?

Exception : The verb to be is different. We conjugate the

verb to be (I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were,
they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative
and question sentences. To make a question, we change
the subject and verb. Look at these examples:
+
?

Subject
I,he/she/it
You,we,they
I,he/she/it
You,we,they
Was
Were

Main verb
Was
Were
Was
not
Were
not
I
,he/she/it
you,we,th
ey

here.
in London.
there.
happy.
right?
late?

Exercise 1.4:
Full each blank below with a suitable word:
I ..(goed,went,gone) to the mall after school.
My brother..(seen,saw,sees) a bear an hour
ago.
..(Did,do,does) Mike visit his grandmother last
night?
Alex did not.(work,worked,working) last weekend.
What..(do,did,does)you eat for lunch yesterday?

Past Continuous Tense

The past continuous tense expresses action at a
particular moment in the past. The action started before
that moment but has not finished at that moment.
The structure of the past continuous tense is:
Subject

auxiliary verb BE
Conjugated in
simple past
tense
Was
Were

Main verb
Present
participle
Base+ing

For negative sentences in the past continuous tense, we

insert (not) between the auxiliary verb and main verb.
For question sentences , we exchange the subject and
auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with
the past continuous tense:
subject
+
+
?
?

I
You
He,she,it
We
Were
Were

auxiliary
verb
Was
Were
Was
Were
You
They

main verb

Not
Not

watching
Working
Helping
joking.
Being
Playing

TV.
hard.
Mary.
Silly?
footba
ll?

Exercise 1.5:
Use the past continuous tense or simple past tense as
appropriate :

 My brother and sister(be)playing tennis at 11 am

yesterday.
you still working at 7pm last night?
At 8:30 am today I ..(be) driving to work.
We .(be) sleeping at 11 pm.
Why .(be) he having lunch at 4pm.
I .(meet) Jogn in town yesterday. He (shop).
Mary.(waiting) for me when I ..(arrive).
The telephone rang while we ..(watch) TV.

Past Perfect Tense

The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to
understand and to use, This tense talks about the past in
the past . It expresses action in the past before another
action in the past.
The structure of the past perfect tense is:
Subject

auxiliary verb HAVE

+
Conjugated in simple past
tense
Had

Main verb
Past
participle
V3

For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we

insert (not) between the auxiliary verb and the main verb.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and
auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the
past tense:
subject
+

auxiliary
verb
Had

Main verb

You

had

Stopped

she

Had

not

Gone

?
?

We
Had
Had

Had
You
They

not

left.
arrived?
Eaten

Finished

my
work.
before
me.
to
school.
Dinner?

Note: When speaking with the past perfect tense, we

often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
I had
You had

Id
Youd

She had
He had
It had
We had
They had

Shed
Hed
Itd
Wed
Theyd

Exercise 1.6:
Use the past perfect tense :
He told us that the train left(has,is,had)
I thought I had(meeting, met, meet) her before,
but I was wrong.
He explained that he had(closed,willclose,close)
the window because of the rain.
I wondered if I had ..(was, being, been) there
before.
I asked them why they ..(has,hadnot,are) finished.

Simple Future Tense

We use the simple future tense when there is no plan or
decision to do something before we speak. We make the
decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at
these examples:
We will see what we can do to help you.
Maybe well stay in and watch television tonight.
We often use the simple future tense with the verb (to
think) before it:
I think Ill go to the gym tomorrow.
I think I will have a holiday next year.
We often use the simple future tense to make a
prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan.
We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some
examples:

 It will rain tomorrow.

Who do you think will get the job?
The simple future tense is often called (will), because we
make the simple future tense with the modal auxiliary will.
The structure of the simple future tense is:
Subject+ auxiliary verb will + main verb (base)
For negative sentences in the simple future tense , we
insert (not) between the auxiliary verb and main verb. For
question sentences, we exchange the subject and
auxiliary verb. Look at these example sentences with the
simple future tense:
Subject
+
+

I
You

auxiliary
verb
Will
Will

She

Will

not

We
Will

Will
You

not

Will

They

main
verb
Open
Finis
h
Be

the door.
before me.

at school
tomorrow.
Leave yet.
Arriv on time?
e
Want dinner?

When we use the simple future tense in speaking, we

often contract the subject and auxiliary verb:
I will
You will
He will
She will
It will
We will
They will

Ill
Youll
Hell
Shell
Itll
Well
Theyll

For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we

contract with wont like this:
I will not
You will not
He will not
She will not
It will not
We will not
They will not

I wont
You wont
He wont
She wont
It wont
We wont
They wont

Exercise 1.7:
Read the following sentences carefully then try to find the
suitable answer:
Ill .(am,being,be) in London tomorrow.
I dont think I ...............(,ll buy
car.

, bought, buy) that

People .(will, wont , were) go to Jupiter before

the 22nd century.
What will you.. (being.,doing,do) tomorrow?
Exercise 1.8:
Fill the blank with a suitable tense:
We ___ TV when it started to rain. (to watch)
I ___ to visit you yesterday, but you ___ not at home. (to want) (to be)
Look! It ___ , so we can't ___ to the beach. (to rain) (to go)
The sun ___ in the East. (to rise)

 Since 2003 they ___ their son every year. (to visit)
While the doctor ___ Mr Jones, his son ___ outside this morning. (to
examine) (to wait)
After Larry ___ the film on TV, he decided to buy the book. (to see)
Wait a minute, I ___ this box for you. (to carry)

2.(Comparison) Comparing things or

talking about similarities and differences
Look at the table of comparative and superlative
adjectives and complete the rules below:
Adjective
Quick
Happy
Modern
Expensive

Comparative
quicker
Happier
more modern
more expensive

Superlative
(the)quickest
(the)happiest
most modern
most expensive

Example: A dish of noodles is one of the quickest meals

you can make- its much
quicker than making a rice dish, for example.
To form the comparative:
With one syllable words, we add 1.
With two-syllable words ending in y, we change
the-y to 2 .and add 3.with most other twosyllable words and words with three or more
syllable, we add the word 4
To form superlative:
With one- syllable words, we add5.

 With two-syllable words ending in y, we change

the y to 6and add 7with most other twosyllable
words and words with three or more
syllables, we add the word(s)

So we can say that regular one-syllable adjectives form

like these:
Adjective
superlative
Young
youngest

comparative
younger

(the)

If the adjective ends in a single vowel and consonant (not

w) , the final letter is doubled , as in thin .thinner
Examples(sad,big,fat,hot,wet)

Two-syllable adjectives ending in a consonant followed

by the letter (y) have forms like these:
Adjective
superlative
dirty
(the) dirtiest

comparative
dirtier

examples (angry, busy, easy, silly, funny, happy, heavy)

Most other two- syllable adjectives and all longer

adjectives form their comparative and superlative like
this:
Adjective

comparative

superlative

Careful

more careful

most careful

Irregular adjectives have the following forms:

Good

better

(the)best

Bad

worse

Far

farther

Old

older

(the)worst
(the)farthest
oldest

Exercise 2.1
Choose the correct form of the word in brackets:
He plays the piano really well- in fact hes
(good) pianist Ive ever heard.
(best- the best- the goodest)
When I first fell ill, I was feeling even(bad) than I
do now.
(badder- worst- worse)
I heard .(beautiful) music you can imagine.
(the beautifullest- beautifuller- the most beautiful)
No one could be..(kind) than my uncle.
(kindest- kinder- as kind)
Exercise 2.2
Complete the sentences using the comparative
superlative form of the word in brackets:

or

This is (good)..hamburger Ive ever eaten.

The old chef was (bad).than the new one.
This restaurant is (expensive) in London. It
costs a fortune.
This is one of the (easy) recipes I know- a child could
make it.

 These apples are (sweet) than those.

Joses mother always finds (cheap)vegetables in the
market than in the supermarket.
People say small vegetables are (nice) than large
ones.
I think salad is (healthy) than chips.

Exercise2.3:
Fill in the gaps. Use the comparative of the word in
brackets.
My house is ______ than yours (small)
Sara is ______ than Tom (young)
Teresa is ______ than John (old)
Chemistry is ________ than English (difficult)
His handwriting is ______ than Mabels (bad)

3. Articles
What is an artice ? Basically, an article is an
adjective. Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.
English has two articles: the and a/an. The is used
to refer to specific or particular nouns ; a/an is used
to modify non-specific or non-particular nouns. We
call the the definite article and a/an the indefinite
article.
the = definite article
a/an = indefinite article
For example, if I say, "Let's read the book," I mean a
specific book. If I say, "Let's read a book," I mean any
book rather than a specific book.
Here's another way to explain it: The is used to
referto a specific or particular member of a group.
For example, "I just saw the most popular movie of
the year." There are many movies, but only one
particular movie is the most popular. Therefore, we
use the.
"A/an" is used to referto a non-specific or nonparticular member of the group.
For example, "I would like to see a movie." Here,
we're not talking about a specific movie. We're talking
about any movie. There are many movies, and I want
to see any movie. I don't have a specific one in mind.
Normally, we use a/an to refer to something for the
first time.

For example, We went to a museum in Paris. We ate

at the museum too.

Indefinite Articles: a and an

"A" and "an" signal that the noun modified is
indefinite, referring to any member of a group. For
example:
"My daughter really wants a dog for Christmas." This
refers to any dog. We don't know which dog because
we haven't found the dog yet.
"Somebody call a policeman!" This refers to any
policeman. We don't need a specific policeman; we
need any policeman who is available.
"When I was at the zoo, I saw an elephant!" Here,
we're talking about a single, non-specific thing, in this
case anelephant. There are probably several
elephants at the zoo, but there's only one we're
talking about here.

Remember , using a or an depends on the

sound that begins the next words . SO
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant: a boy;
a car; a bike; a zoo; a dog
an + singular noun beginning with a vowel: an
elephant; an egg; an apple; an idiot; an orphan
a + singular noun beginning with a consonant sound:
a user (sounds like 'yoo-zer,' i.e. begins with a
consonant 'y' sound, so 'a' is used); a university.

 Remember that this rule also applies when you use

acronyms:
Introductory Composition at Purdue (ICaP) handles
first-year writing at the University. Therefore, an
ICaP memo generally discusses issues concerning
English 106 instructors.
If the noun is modified by an adjective, the choice
between a and an depends on the initial sound of the
adjective that immediately follows the article:
A broken egg
A n un usual problem
A European country (sounds like 'yer-o-pi-an,' i.e.
begins with consonant /j/ sound)
Remember, too, that in English, the indefinite articles
are used to indicate membership in a group:
I am a teacher. (I am a member of a large group
known as teachers.)
Brian is an Irish man. (Brian is a member of the
people known as Irish.)

Definite Article : the

The definite article is used before singular and plural
nouns when the noun is specific or particular. The
signals that the noun is definite, that it refers to a
particular member of a group. For example:
"The dog that bit me ran a way." Here, we're talking
about a specific dog, the dog that bit me.

 "I was happy to see the policeman who sabe dmy

cat!" Here, we're talking about a particular
policeman.
Even if we don't know the policeman's name, it's still
a particular policeman because it is the one who
sabed the cat.
"I saw the elephant at the zoo." Here, we're talking
about a specific noun. Probably there is only one
elephant at the zoo.

Countable and Noncountable Nouns

The can be used with non countable nouns, or the

article can be omitted entirely.
"I love to sail over the water" (some specific
body of water) or "I love to sail over water" (any
water).
"He spilled the milk all over the floor" (some
specific milk, perhaps the milk you bought earlier
that day) or "He spilled milk all over the floor"
(anymilk).
"A/an" can be used only with countable nouns.
"I need a bottle of water."
"I need a new glass of milk."
Most of the time, you can't say, "She wants a water,"
unless you're implying, say, a bottle of water.

Omission of Articles

 Some common types of nouns that don't take an

article are:
Names of languages and nationalities: Chinese,
English, Spanish, Russian
Names of sports: volleyball, hockey, baseball
Names of academic subjects: mathematics, biology,
history, computer science
Exercise 3.1:
Fill the blanks with a suitable article , if necessary:
1. I have played .piano since I was eight years old.
2. Can you identifybicycle that was stolen?
3. We read __ book.
4. I am going to visit Mexico and United States.
5. Corruption is only one.problems facing the world.
6. Peter has
aunt in Berlin.
........

7. .love is something.rich can not buy.

8. Puppies are really cute. ones which live in.flat
below mine are particularly pretty.
9. Who is..person standing in the hallway?
10.
Life in most parts ofAsian continent
remain rural.
Exercise 3.2:
Select a or an
- I have got

- She has got

big shirt.

orange ribbon.

- I'm

Swedish girl.

- He is

English boy.

- What

old man!

- Give me

- I can see

- There is

pencil, please.

yellow car.

cat.

Exercise 3.3 :
Choose the correct definite or indefinite article: "the", "a",
"an" or "x" (zero article) .
-

I bought pair of shoes.

I saw ..movie last night.
They are staying at .. hotel.
I think . man over there is very unfriendly.
I do not like . basketball.
That is ..problem I told you about.
..night is quiet. Let's take a walk!

. price of gas keeps rising.

John traveled to . Mexico.
Juan is . Spanish.
I read . amazing story yesterday.
My brother does not eat ......... chicken.
love is such .. beautiful thing.
I live in apartment. apartment is new.
I would like piece of cake.
I was in Japanese restaurant. . restaurant
served good food.
- Sara can play .. guitar.

4. Active and Passive Voice

THE VOICE
the form of a verb that shows whether the subject
does something or has something done to it.
A- The active voice:- shows that the subject does
something or is the doer of the action.
- Ali is doing a Ph.D. research
- B-The passive voice:- shows that something is done to
the subject.
- A Ph.D. research is being done by Ali

1-Structure of The Passive voice

(Be+P.P)
The object in the active becomes the subject in the
passive.
Active:-the cat(Sub.) chases the mouse(Obj.)
Passive:-the mouse(Sub.) is chased by the cat
A sentence with an intransitive verb can not be made
passive we see with our eyes.

2-Structure of The Passive Voice

In a sentence with two objects, either object may
become the subject of the passive verb, while the
other is retained,
Active:I teach you English
Passive:-1- English is taught to you by me
2- You are taught English by me

Active:
O

S+V+

Passive: S + Be
+ PP(V3ed) + by

TABLE OF ENGLISH
TENSES
IN
The Simple
Present Tense

Active: S +
V(s/es) + O

The Present
Continuous Tense

Active: S + am/is/are +
V-ing + O
Passive: S + am/is/are+

The Present
Perfect Tense

Active: S + Has/Have +
V3ed + O
Passive: S + has/have +
been +PP + by + O

The Simple Past

Tense

Active: S + V2ed + O
Passive: S + was/were
The

Past
Continuous Tense

Active: S + was/were +
V-ing + O
Passive: S + was/were
+ being + PP + by + O

 The

Past Perfect
Tense

Active: S + had +
V3ed + O
Passive: S + had+
been + PP + by + O

The Simple
Future Tense

Active: S + will/shall +
V+O

Passive with
Active: S + V + To-inf +
O
Passive: S + V + To Be
+ PP + by + O
Exercise 4.1 :
A) Rewrite the
0

10

sentences in Active voice.

Example: Letters were written by the students.
The students wrote letters.
1)
true

true

true

The president was elected by the people.

true

true

2)
1

The
true

true

true

true

exercise is completed by the teacher.

3)
1

The bag
true

true

true

true

was packed by his mother.

B) Make correct passive forms. Mind the tenses in

1

brackets.
Example: the car - to produce (Simple Present)
the car is produced
1)
true

true

true

true

true

true

true

volleyball - to play (Simple Past)

2)
1

stories - to
true

tell (Simple Present)

true

3)
1

posters - to
true

true

true

true

make (Simple Present)

C) Rewrite the sentences in Passive voice.

Example: The students wrote letters.
Letters were written by the students.
1)
true

true

true

true

true

They understand Spanish.

2)
1

Frank takes
true

true

true

true

true

true

true

true

photos.

3)
1

The girls

can play handball.

D) Are the sentences written in Active or Passive voice?

1) The bus driver was hurt.
true

Active voice
true

Passive voice
true

2) These cars are produced in Italy.

1

Active voice
true

Passive voice
true

3) They often read e-mails.

1

Active voice
true

Passive voice
true

5. Countable and un countable nouns

Countable Nouns: are things that are counted as one,
two, three, and so on.
Uncountable Nouns: cannot be counted.

Countable Nouns
Countable nouns are easy to recognize . They are things
that we can count. For example : pen. We can have one,
two, three or more pens.
These nouns have singular and plural forms. Before
singular countable nouns you can use a/an.
You cannot use singular countable nouns alone without
words such as:
a, an, one, my, your, his, etc.
We form plurals of most nouns by adding s to the
singular noun.
Singular

Plural

one book

two books

one horse

many horses

 Note/We form plurals of nouns which end with s,x,z,sh,ch by adding es

to the singular noun.
Singular

Plural

Match

matches

Bus

buses

Dish

dishes

Box

boxes

Note/ Look at these nouns which end with y

Singular

Plural

City

cities

Baby

babies

Singular

Plural

Boy

boys

Key

keys

Note/ Nouns which end with f ,fe

Singular

Plural

Knife

knives

Shelf

shelves

Note / There are irregular cases

Singular

Plural

Man

men

Woman

women

Child

children

Person

people

Foot

feet

Tooth

teeth

Goose

geese

Mouse

mice

Examples:
- A dog is an animal.
Dogs are animals.
- There is one person here.
There are three people here.

Uncountable Nouns
Uncountable nouns are substances , concepts etc that we cannot divide into
separate elements . We cannot count them. For example, we cannot count
milk. We can count bottles of milk or litres of milk, but we cannot
count milk itself. Here are some more uncountable nouns:
-

Music , love, happiness

Advice, information, news
Furniture, luggage
Rice, sugar, butter, water
Electricity, gas, power
Money, currency

We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use

a singular verb. For example:
This news is very important.
Your luggage looks heavy.
Note/ We do not use the indefinite article a/an with
uncountable nouns. We cannot say an information or a
music. But we can say a something of:
A piece of news.
A bottle of water.
A grain of rice.

Nouns that can be countable and uncountable

Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and
uncountable, often with
a change of meaning.
Countable
There are two hairs in
my coffee
There are two lights in
our bedroom.
Shhhhh I thought I
heard a noise. There
are so many different
noises in the city.

Hair

Uncountable
I dont have much hair.

Light Close the curtain. Theres

too much light
Nois Its difficult to work when
e
there is too much noise.

The use of a/an,some,any

a / an + singular countable noun ( a pen, an apple)
some + plural countable nouns - positive sentences ( There are some cars)
some + uncountable nouns - positive sentences ( There is some oil)
any - we use any in negative sentences and in most questions.(countable and
uncountable nouns) I don't have any pens. There isn't any salt.
Do you have any sisters?

How much How many

how much - we use with uncountable nouns

how many - we use with countable nouns.

Exercise 5.1 :
Write c for countable and u for uncountable:
time -

books chairs -

sugar -

milk -

pens -

hair

meat -

butter -

friends -

fingers -

flour -

apples -

houses -

bread -

jam -

oil -

cars -

salt -

cheese -

rice -

tea -

honey -

pencils -

games -

tomatoes -

carrots -

Exercise 5.2:
Choose a, an, some or any
a) It is
b)

dog.

b) Have you got

c) c) I bought

friends?
milk.

d) Linda has not got

pets.

e) There is

orange on the table.

f) Tim eats

cheese every day.

g) We don't have
h) My brother found
i) My sister found

bread.
money.
pen.

cream -

j) Do you have
k) There are
l) Is there

eggs?
students in the classroom.
pencil on the desk?

Exercise 5.3:
Choose How much or How many
a)

cheese do you buy?

b)

books are there in your bag?

c)

films did Tom see last week?

d)

money do you spend every week?

e)

friends does Linda have?

f)

sugar do we need?

g)

tomatoes are there in the fridge?

h)

meat are you going to buy?

i)

milk did you drink yesterday?

j)

apples do you see?

6. Phrasal Verbs
What are they?
How do you use them correctly?
Phrasal verbs are commonly used in English, so its important to learn them!
A phrasal verb has 2 parts:
1) a verb
2) and a preposition (at least one)
*often a phrasal verb has a special meaning. Here are some examples:
Show up = arrive/come
Show off

= brag/show how great you are

Show around = to familiarize someone with a new place

Take off = leave a place
Take after = to resemble or look like another person
*Sometimes phrasal verbs have an object. The object
simply answers
the question: What? Or Who?
Examples:
Cynthia drops off the children at 8:00 each day.
Drop off = phrasal verb . . . WHO does she drop off?
The children . . .

The children = object

*When a phrasal verb uses an object, the object can usually occur in
2 positions:
(=this is called a separable phrasal verb)

Look at this example:

Michael was scheduled to marry Lisa in two days. He should have been
excited, but he wasnt. Instead, he felt . . . Very Very VERY
Nervous!!!
But, a day before the wedding, Michael decided that he had made a
BIG mistake!So he called off the wedding!
1. He called off

the wedding.

2. He called the wedding off.

3. He called it off.
So we can say that :
An object of a separable phrasal verb can appear:
1. After the phrasal verb:
They turned up the volume.
OR . . .
2. In the middle of a phrasal verb:
They turned the volume up.
3. But, if the object is a pronoun it must be in the middle.
They turned IT up.
Exercise 6.1 :
What are some other ways to say each sentence below?
1. She tried on her new dress.
2. They called off the games due to rain.

Exercise 6.2:
choose between the three words given to complete the sentences.

1. I have to take our new dish-washer

2. My plane takes
3. Take

because it doesn't work.(to,back,up)

in about half an hour.(up.out,off)

your socks and shoes and come and have a paddle!(of,off,out)

4. Can you take the rubbish

to the street for me? (out,back,up)

5. My grandparents took us

for dinner and then to the theatre.(out,by,in)

6. I tore

my ex-boyfriend's letters and gave them back to him.(out,down,up)

7. When I think

on my youth, I wish I had studied harder.(about,forward,

(back)
8. I'll have to think this job offer
of)
9. We threw our old furniture
10. Please turn your music

before I make any decisions.(about,over,

when we won the lottery.(away,down,on)

while the guests are here.(round,up,down)

7. English Conditionals
There are several structures that are called conditionals .
Condition means situation or circumstance . If a particular condition is true ,
then a particular result happens.

If Y = 10 then 2Y = 20
If 2 Y = 3 then 2Y= 6
There are three basic conditionals that we use very often. There are some more
conditionals that we do not use so often.

Structure of conditional sentences

1. First conditional real possibility
We are talking about the future . We are thinking about a particular
condition or situation in the future, and the result of this condition.
There is a real possibility that this condition will happen . For example,
it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this afternoon.
But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will
you do?
If
Condition
Result
Present simple
Will+ base verb
If
it rains
I will stay at home.
Notice that we are thinking about the future condition. It is not raining
yet. But the sky is cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the
present simple tense to talk about the possible future condition. We use
will + base verb to talk about the possible future result. The important
thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility that the
condition will happen. Here are some more examples:
If
Condition
Result
Present simple
Will+base verb
If
I see Mary
I will tell her.
If
Tara
is
free He will invite her.
tomorrow
If
They do not pass Their teacher will be sad.
their exam
If
It rains tomorrow
Will you stay at home?

Result
If
Condition
Will+base verb
Present simple
I will tell Mary
If
I see her.
He will invite If
She is free tomorrow.
Tara
Their teacher will If
They do not pass their exam.
be sad
Will you stay at If
It rains tomorrow?
home
Note: sometimes , we use shall, can or may instead of will, for example:
If you are good today, you can watch TV tonight .

2. Second condition: Unreal possibility or dream

The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still
thinking about the future . We are thinking about a particular
condition in the future, and the result of this condition. But there is not
a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do
not have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No!No lottery ticket, no
win! But maybe you will buy a lottery ticket in the future. So you can
think about winning in the future , like a dream. Its not very real, but
its possible.
If
Condition
Result
past simple
Would +base verb
If
I won the lottery
I would buy a car.
So there is an unreal possibility that the condition will happen. Here are
some more examples:
If
Condition
Result
past simple
Would +base verb
If
I married Mary
I would be happy
If
Ahmed became rich
She would marry him.
If
It snowed next July
What would you do?
If
I had a lot of money
I would travel around the
world.
Look at these examples:
Result
If
condition
Would+base verb
Simple past
I would be happy
If
I married Mary

She would marry Ahmed

If
he became rich
What would you do
If
It snowed next July?
Note: sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, for
example: If I won a million dollars, I could stop working.
3. Third conditional: no possibility
The first and second conditionals talk about the future . With the third
conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past
that did not happen. That is why there is no possibility for this
condition. The third conditional is also like a dream, but with no
possibility of the dream coming true.
If

Condition
Result
Past perfect
Would have + past participle
If
I had won the lottery
I would have bought a car.
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of
would have, for example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might
have won.
Look at more examples in the table below:
If
Condition
Result
Past perfect
Would have + past participle
If
I had seen Mary
I would have told her.
If
Tara had been free yesterday
I would have invited her.
If
They had not passed their exam Their teacher would have
been sad.
If
It had rained yesterday
What would you have done?
Resultq
Would have+ p.p
I would have told Mary
I would have invited Tara
Their teacher would have
been sad

If
If
If
If

condition
Past perfect
I had seen her.
She had been free today.
They had not passed their
exam.

Zero conditional: certainty

We use the so- called Zero conditional when the result of the condition
is always true, like a scientific fact.
If
Condition
Result
Present simple
Present simple
If
You heat ice
it melts.

If
I miss the 8 oclock bus
I am late for work.
If
I am late for work
My boss gets angry.
Note: We can also use when instead of if , for example: When I get up
late I miss my bus.
Exercise 7.1:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

choose between the three words given to complete the

sentences:
Phosphorus..if you expose it to air.
(will burn, would burn, burns)
If I have enough time, Ithe football match.
(watch, ,ll watch , watching)
If I were a millionaire, I .. a castle.
(would buy, buy, bought)
If he had..careful, he wouldnt have had that terrible accident.
(be, been, have)
If it had rained yesterday, what would you have..?
(done, do, did)