Grammar’s Sheet

Subject pronouns
The English subject pronouns are: I, you, he, she, it, we and they.

1: We use these pronouns when they are the subject of a verb.

 I like London.
 You have eaten the chocolate.
 He plays football.
 She hates mushrooms.
 It was cold.
 We are French.
 They are going home.

Object Pronouns
In English, we also have object pronouns. These are: me, you, him, her, it, us and them.
We use the object pronouns in most situations when the pronoun is not the subject of a
verb.

1: We use them for the object of a verb.

 John knows me.
 Amanda kissed you.
 The dog licked him.
 David hugged her.
 The teacher dropped it.
 The children love us.
 Luke helped them.

2: We use them after a preposition.

 It's important to me.
 Can the children come with you?
 Look at her!

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  The chocolate is for him.
 David is looking forward to it.
 Keep up with us!
 Lucy works for them.

3: We use them after 'be'.

 Who's there? It's me!
 It's you.
 This is her.
 It was him!

4: We use them with short answers.

 A: Who's there? B: Me!

 A: Who ate the cake? B: Him!
 A: I'm tired. B: Me too.

With short answers, we can also use a subject pronoun + a verb.

 A: Who's there? B: I am!

 A: Who ate the cake? B: He did!
 A: I'm tired. B: I am too.

5: We use them after 'as' and 'than' for comparison.

 She is as tall as me.

 He is taller than her.

We can again use the subject pronoun + a verb in the same situation.

 She is taller than I am.

 He is taller than she is.

6: We use them after 'but' and 'except'.

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  Everybody went home early but me.
 Everybody went home early except him.

A) Choose and underline the correct pronoun:

1. I/Me like the city of Braga.
2. The children are hungry as we/us.
3. All the students passed except I/me.
4. Who’s there? I/Me!
5. They/Them love pizza.
6. A: Is that the man you told me about? B: Yes, that’s he/him.
7. We all like chocolate cake except her/she.
8. Him/He will get a new computer soon.
9. His sister isn’t as tall as he/him.
10. Is that chocolate for me/I?
11. Her/She wants to go home early.
12. Everyone arrived home o time but him/he didn’t.
13. Please keep up with we/us.
14. Who ate all the biscuits? Her/She.
15. We/Us have been to London.
16. Could you pass the tea to she/her?
17. My brother is taller than me/I.
18. Me/I went to the library yesterday.
19. Our new teacher is friendlier than she/her.
20. All the children came inside except they/them.

Possessive adjectives
The possessive adjectives in English are: my, your, his, her, its, our and their. They
say who something belongs to.
 I have a bag - this is my bag.
 You have a cat - that is your cat.
 He has a car - it is his car.
 She has a book - it is her book.
 The dog has a bed - it is its bed.

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  We have a flat - it is our flat.
 They have a daughter - she is their daughter.

Possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns also say who something belongs to, but they replace the noun.
So we use them alone. In this case, we don't use 'its'. In English, the possessive
pronouns are: mine, yours, his, hers, ours and theirs.

 I have a bag - this is mine.

 You have a cat - that cat is yours.
 He has a car - it is his.
 She has a book - it is hers.
 We have a flat - it is ours.
 They have a daughter - she is theirs.

A) Choose and underline the correct possessive pronoun/adjective.

1.Is this cup your / yours?

 2. The coffee is my / mine.

3. That coat is my / mine.

4. He lives in her / hers house.

5. You might want your / yours phone.

6. The new car is their / theirs.

7. She cooked our / ours food.

8. Don't stand on my / mine foot!

9. She gave him her / hers suitcase.

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 10) I met their / theirs mother.

11) Is this their / theirs coffee?

12) Is the flat her / hers?

13) The grey scarf is my / mine.

14) That red bike is our / ours.

15) We should take our / ours coats.

16) That is my / mine car.

17) He dropped  my / mine bag.

18) Are these phones their / theirs?

19) These cakes are our / ours!

20) Are those children  your / yours?

English plural nouns

In order to change a singular noun to its plural form in English, you usually add "s".

Regular plurals:

Examples:

Singular Plural

snake snakes

window windows

box boxes

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boy boys

lorry lorries

potato potatoes

knife knives

Spelling of plurals:
The plural form of most nouns is created simply by adding the letter "s".

 more than one snake = snakes

 more than one girl = girls
 more than one window = windows

Nouns that end in -ch, x, s, z or s-like sounds, however, will require an es for the plural:

 more than one witch = witches

 more than one box = boxes
 more than one gas = gases
 more than one bus = buses
 more than one kiss = kisses

Nouns that end in a vowel + y take the letter s:

 more than one boy = boys

 more than one way = ways

Nouns that end in a consonant + y drop the y and take ies:

 more than one baby = babies

 more than one lorry = lorries

A lot of nouns that end in o take es in the plural:

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 more than one potato = potatoes
 more than one hero = heroes

o becomes oes

echo echoes

embargo embargoes

hero heroes

potato potatoes

tomato tomatoes

torpedo torpedoes

veto vetoes

Some nouns ending in o break the above rule and get os in the plural form:

o becomes os

auto autos

kangaroo kangaroos

kilo kilos

memo memos

photo photos

piano pianos

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pimento pimentos

pro pros

solo solos

soprano sopranos

studio studios

tattoo tattoos

video videos

zoo zoos

Other nouns ending in o get either os or oes i the plural forms:

o becomes os or oes

buffalo buffalos/buffaloes

cargo cargos/cargoes

halo halos/haloes

mosquito mosquitos/mosquitoes

motto mottos/mottoes

no nos/noes

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tornado tornados/tornadoes

volcano volcanos/volcanoes

zero zeros/zeroes

Plurals of nouns that end in f or fe usually change the f sound to a v sound and add s or -
es.

 more than one knife = knives

 more than one leaf = leaves
 more than one hoof = hooves
 more than one life = lives
 more than one self = selves
 more than one elf = elves

Irregular plurals:

There are several nouns that have irregular plural forms.

Singula
Plural
r

fish fish

sheep sheep

barracks barracks

foot feet

tooth teeth

goose geese

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tooth teeth

goose geese

child children

man men

woman women

person people

mouse mice

Plurals formed in this way are sometimes called irregular plurals or mutated (or
mutating) plurals.

 more than one child = children

 more than one woman = women
 more than one man = men
 more than one person = people
 more than one goose = geese
 more than one mouse = mice
 more than one barracks = barracks
 more than one deer = deer

A) Complete the following sentences with the correct plurals.

1. These (person) __________are protesting against the president.

2. The (woman) ___________ over there want to meet the manager.
3. My (child)  ___________hate eating pasta.
4. I am ill. My (foot) _________ hurt.
5. I clean my (tooth) __________ three times a day.
6. The (student ) ___________ are doing the exercise right now.

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 7. The (fish) ___________ I bought is in the fridge.
8. They are sending some (man) ____________ to fix the roof.
9. Where did you put the (knife) _________?
10. (Piano)  _________ are expensive
11. Some (policeman) ________ came to arrest him.
12. Where is my (luggage) _________?
In the car!

B) Write «the correct form of the plural:

1. city - ___________
2. house -  _________
3. boy -  ___________
4. family - _________
5. life - ____________
6. photo - __________
7. phone - __________
8. sandwich - __________
9. nurse - __________
10. village - _________
11. toy - ___________

Present Simple

We use the present simple to talk about repeated actions or events, permanent states or
things which are always true.

We use the present simple to talk about things which are repeated every day, every
week, every year, etc.

I usually get up at 7 o'clock.

During the week I have swimming practice on Mondays, I do taekwondo on
Tuesdays and tennis on Thursdays.
We always go on holiday in the summer.

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We often use adverbs of frequency sometimes, often, usually or other time expressions
like on Mondays, twice a week or in the summer.

We also use the present simple for general facts, for example when talking about
science or geography.

Thailand is really hot at this time of year.

Snakes live on the ground, in trees and in water.

The main thing is that the third person singular forms end in -s or -es. That's
for he, she or it.

He watches black and white films at his cinema club on Wednesdays.

He thinks chess is a sport!

And the other forms don't end in -s  or -es?  

I watch TV a lot. We think Coldplay are boring.

Questions and Negatives

For most verbs we use the present simple of the verb do/does + subject +

infinitive without to to form questions.

Do you see him on Wednesdays then?

Does Jack like sports?

For negatives we use the subject + do/does + not + infinitive without to.

Daisy and Jack don't go out together much at the weekend.

I don't think Coldplay are boring.

A) Choose the correct word to complete each sentence:

1. Jack _____ to a film club on Wednesdays.

a) go
b) goes

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2. I _____ reading in my free time.
a) loves
b) love

3. They _____ usually see each other during the week.

a) don’t
b) doesn’t

4. The train _____ at 6.30.

a) leave
b) leaves

5. _____ Ollie play chess?

a) Do
b) Does

6. Daisy _____ most sports.

a) like
b) likes

7. We always _____ at 7 o'clock.

a) gets up
get up

8. What _____ you think of their new album?

a) do
b) does

B) Write the word in the correct form to fill the gaps.

1. Alfie ________________ in London. (live)

2. ________________ you go swimming a lot? (Do)

3. Sophie ________________ in Thailand today. (be)

4. We ________________ go to the same school. (do not)

5. I ________________ old black and white films. (hate)

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6. She ________________ as a travel writer. (work)

7. My dad ________________ breakfast before us. (have)

8. They ________________ taekwondo on Tuesdays. (do)

Present Continuous

We use the present continuous (am/is/are + -ing) to talk about temporary things which
have begun but haven't finished. They are often happening now, at this moment.

Here are some examples of things happening now.

I'm just uploading some photos to Facebook and I'm sending a message to

Billie.
We're all riding camels and the sun's shining.
They're waiting for me to get off the phone!

We use the present continuous for future arrangements with other people.

At eight I’m meeting Lucas, just for a quick coffee.

Questions and negatives

For questions you just change round the subject and the verb to be. So, You are > Are
you, then add the –ing form. Sometimes you need a question word first.

Are you working hard for the exam?

What are you doing?
Is anybody sitting here?

For negatives you add not after the verb to be. Don't forget to use a contraction if you're
speaking.

You're not really studying at all, are you? (or You aren't really studying…)

They aren't using the computer room at the moment.
This program isn't working.

If a verb ends in e, you take off the e and add –ing

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 have - having          ride - riding

If a verb ends in a vowel + a consonant, the consonant is usually doubled before you

add –ing.

swim - swimming           run - running

But be careful with verbs with more than two syllables where the stress isn't on the last
syllable. With those you don't double the consonant.

visit - visiting          open - opening     

If the stress is on the last syllable, you do double the final consonant.

begin - beginning       

A) Are these sentences True or False? Underline the correct answer.

1. We use the present continuous for permanent states or situations. True/False

2. We use the present continuous for temporary situations. True/False

3. We often use the present continuous for things happening right now. True/False

4. We can use the present continuous for future arrangements. True/False

5. We can use the present continuous with all verbs. True/False

6. Some verbs – for talking about emotions, thinking, the senses, etc. – cannot be used
in the continuous form. True/False

B) Put the verb in the present continuous tense.

1. I’m really busy – I _______________________ (study) for the exam.

2. Right now we _______________________ (ride) camels!

3. They said they _______________________ (have) a great time.

4. Daisy _______________________ (download) an album.

5. What _______________________ (you do) at the moment?

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6. They _______________________ (wait) for me in the café.

7. _______________________ (Oliver work) hard?

8. The weather’s terrible, so we _______________________ (not go) walking much.

Present Simple VS Present Continuous

A) Choose the correct Present Simple or Present Continuous form for each sentence.

1.A: "Excuse me, __________ English?" B: "No, sorry."

a.do you speak

b.are you speaking

c.you speak

2.I ________ .

a.aren't very often doing sport

b.don't very often do sport

c.don't do sport very often

3.I am hungry. I ______ to eat something.

a.want

b.'m wanting

c.am want

4.What time ____________ work on Fridays?

a.she starts

b.does she start

c.is she starting

5.I usually _________ to work, but this week I_________.

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a.drive / walk

b.drive / walking

c.drive / 'm walking

6. I __________ coffee. I prefer tea.

a.don't like

b.not like

c.am not liking

7.You can turn off the TV. I _____________ it.

a.don't watch

b.'m not watch

c.'m not watching

8. There isn't any milk left in the fridge. We _________ to buy some.

a.needs

b.need

c.are needing

9. Can I sit here? Somebody ___________ in my seat.

a.sits

b.sit

c.is sitting

10. "What __________?" "I'm a dentist."

a.do you do

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b.are you doing

c.are you do

B) Fill in the gaps with the correct form.

Dear Laura,
I  _______(write) this letter from Cadiz in the south of Spain. I ______ (sit) at a terrace
by the sea and I'm having a great time!
What ______ (I/ do) here? Well, I needed a change and I wanted to see the world. I got
a job with an English travel company. They ______ (need) native English people for
their English customers. Every day I ______ (help) travellers with any problems and
I ______ (tell) them about the town. I only arrived two weeks ago so I _______ (still
learn) about the job. I ______ (love) this job, but I never _______ (get) any free
weekends.
Oh dear. I must go now. Someone _____ (come) to ask me a question.
I'll write again soon.
Love,
Jess.

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