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Part 1.  Introducing yourself and others

 

 There is a range of ways to introduce yourself and people.

 

Here are expressions to introduce yourself:

         My name is ...

         I'm ....

         I’m …. But please call me …..

         Nice to meet you; I'm …

         Pleased to meet you; I'm ...

         Let me introduce myself; I'm ...

         I'd like to introduce myself; I'm ...

 

Here are expressions to introduce others:

        This is my friend Jack

         Jack, please meet Nicolas.

         Jack, have you met Nicolas?

         I'd like you to meet Linda.

         I'd like to introduce you to Betty.

         Leila, this is Barbara. Barbara this is Leila.

 

   Useful responses when introducing yourself or other people:

 

         Hi Jack, I’m Linda

         Nice to meet you.

         Pleased to meet you.

         Happy to meet you.

         How do you do?

 

Things to remember:

         When introducing yourself or other people in a formal situation use full names. ("I'm Alex Litterman.")

         "How do you do?" isn't really a question, it just means "Hello"

 

 

 

1. This- That - These - Those

 

  Q: What is this?

  A: This is a book/ It is (It’s) a book

 

  Q: What’s that?

  A: That’s a backpack/ It’s a backpack

 

  Q: What are these?

  A: These are/ They are (They’re) pens

 

  Q: What are those?

  A: Those are/ They are (They’re) notebooks

 

  This: NEAR, SINGULAR (1)                           These: NEAR, PLURAL (>=2)

  That: FAR, SINGULAR (1)                              Those: FAR, PLURAL (>=2)

 

 

  2. BE or HAVE?
 

   BE: To describe something or someone - Subject + to be + complement (adjective)

      To say that someone or something is in a specific place - Subject + to be + complement (place)

 

   TIP: I AM                               She/He/It IS                          You/We/They ARE

         Example: He is tall.

         Mike is intelligent.

         Nancy and Sussan are pretty.

         The house is big

 

         He is in the house.

         Mike is at the airport.

         Nancy and Sussan are in the building.


 

  HAVE: to express possession

  TIP:  I, We, You, They,    HAVE

                 She, He, It      HAS

 

         Subject + have/ has + complement (noun)

                    

         Subject + have/has + complement

                                         (adjective + noun)

 

         Example:

         He has a new car.

         Mike has a pretty girlfriend.

         Nancy and Sussan have homework.

         The house has a big garden.

 

Part 1: Hate, like, love and prefer

 

We can use hate, like, love and prefer with an -ing form or with a to-infinitive:

I hate to see food being thrown away.

I love going to the cinema.

I prefer listening to the news on radio than watching it on TV.

He prefers not to wear a tie to work.

 

We often use the -ing form to suggest enjoyment (or lack of it), and the to-infinitive form to express habits or preferences.

 

 Compare

 

I like making jam.                                                                     

He likes telling jokes.

They don’t like sitting for too long.

 

We have a lot of fruit in the garden. I like to make jam every year.

I prefer to sort out a problem as soon as I can.

If you prefer not to go camping there are youth hostels nearby.

 

The -ing form is more common than the to-infinitive form after hate and love:

I hate decorating. I’d rather pay a professional to do it.

    emphasis on the experience/action

a habit or preference

Part 2: Present Simple Tense
 
  • The forms of the simple present
The affirmative form of the simple present:
 

I, you, we, they play. 

 

He, she, it plays.

 

Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an "s". For example, "he plays, she sings,it works..."

 

Examples:

Nancy and James speak good German.

Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.

The children play in the garden every weekend.

 

The interrogative form of the simple present:

 

Do I, you, we, they play?

Does he, she, it play? 

 

Examples:

Do you speak good German?

Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?

 

The negative form of the simple present:

 

I, you, we,they do not/don't play.

 

He, she, it does not/doesn't play.

 

Examples:

No, I don't speak German.

No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

 

  • The use of the simple present:

 

The simple present is used:

  • to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.

  • to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't open at 7.

  • to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day. She doesn't eat cereal.

  • to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't circle the sun.

 
The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:

All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it) form:

 

Examples:

I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.

My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.

 

Thus the rule is:

He / she / it + Verb + S

 

There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules:

 

Silent e

close = closes 
note = notes

 

Vowel + y

play = plays
say = says

 

Consonant + y

study = studies 
marry = marries

 

Verbs ending in o

go = goes 
do = does

 

Verbs ending in s, z, sh, tch, ch

miss = misses
buzz = buzzes
hatch = hatches 
finish = finishes
teach = teaches 

 

Examples:

She drives to work every morning.

He says he plays football on the weekends

 

Exception:

The verb to have changes its forms as follows:


I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.

 

I have = he / she / it has

 

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Present Continuous Tense
The form of the present continuous tense

 

Present continuous tense if formed with  

the verb to be (in the simple present) + verb + ing

 

  • The affirmative forms of the present continuous:

 

I am/'m eating.

 

You, we, they are/’re eating.

 

He, she, it is/'s eating. 

 

  • The interrogative forms of the present continuous

 

Am I eating?

 

Are you, we, they eating? 

 

Is he, she, it eating? 

 

  • The negative forms of the present continuous

 

I am not/'m not eating.

 

You, we, they are not/aren't eating. 

 

He, she, it is not/isn't eating.

 

The use of the present continuous tense

 

  • The present continuous is used to talk about actions happening at the time of speaking.

Example:

Where is Mary? She is having a bath. (Not she has a bath)

What are you doing at the moment in front of your screen? Don't you know? Well … you are reading this lesson. You are learning English.

 

  • The present continuous can also be used when an action has started but hasn’t finished yet.

Example:

I am reading a book; it’s a nice book. (It means = I am not necessarily reading it; I started reading it but I haven’t finished it yet

 

Special verbs

 

There are verbs which are normally not used in the present continuous.

 

Examples:

be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem, smell, think, understand, want, wish

 

It's not correct to say:

He is wanting to buy a new car.*

You must say:

He wants to buy a new car.

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Download pdf version of Unit 1: 

Download pdf version of Unit 2: 

Download pdf version of Unit 3: 

UNIT 1- INTRODUCTION, COLOURS AND NUMBERS
UNIT 2- SCHOOL
UNIT 3: HOBBIES
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Unit 4: PLANS
Will for the future or the simple future

 

The forms of the simple future:

The simple future is formed as follows:

will / 'll + verb

will = 'll

 

The affirmative form of the simple future:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they

will / ''ll

go.

Examples:

  • I think I'll buy a new computer.

  • I will open the door. Someone is ringing the bell.

 

The interrogative form of the simple future:

Will I, you, he, she, it, we, they go?

Examples:

  • Will you buy a computer?

  • Will you go to the party?

 

The negative form of the simple future:

I, you, he, she, it, we, they will not/won't go.

 

will not = won't

Examples:

  • I will not stay at home if I finish the homework.

  • I won't visit Big Ben if I go to London.

 

The use of the simple future:

  • We use the simple future for instant decisions.
    Example: "I've left the door open; I'll close it."

  • We use the simple future , when we predict a future situation:
    Example: "She'll pass the exam. She's hardworking"

  • We use the simple future with: "I (don't) think...", "I expect...", "I'm sure...", "I wonder...", "probably".
    Example: "It will probably rain tonight" , "I wonder what will happen?

  • We use the simple future in conditional sentences type one. (More on conditional sentences here):
    Example: "If I have enough time, I'll watch the film."

 

Things to remember:

1. We don't use the simple future to say what somebody has already decided or arranged to do in the future. We use instead either the present continuous or "going to + verb" (Future plan) :

  • Ann is traveling to New York next week. (NOT, "Ann will travel ")

  • Are you going to watch television? (NOT "will you watch").

2. You can use shall instead of will for I and we:

  • I shall play football.(Or, I will play ...)

  • We shall play football. (Or, we will play ...)

3. 'll is the short form of will. You can say either:

  • I will go, or

  • I 'll go.

4. Won't is the short form of will not. You can say either:

  • I will not go, or

  • I won't go.

going to for the future
 
To be + going to + verb:

We use 'going to' to express the future when we intend to do something or have decided to do something but did not arrange it. It is just an intention.

Example:

  • A: The windows are dirty.
    B: Yes I know. I'm going to clean them later.
     = I've decided to clean them ,but I haven't arranged to clean them.

 

We also use 'going to' to make predictions.

Example:

  • Watch out! you are going to break the glass.

  • It's so cloudy! I think it's going to rain.

Download pdf version of Unit 4: 

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