Unit 9

I feel good
1.Do you remember these words?

This is unit 9, so you might be used to English right now. You have learnt useful vocabulary and grammar
structures so far. Let’s keep on learning new words! In this unit, we will learn how to talk about
character and emotions and how to write formal letters or emails.

So, let’s read something you will probably understand easily:

Paul is a friend of mine we have known each other for more than ten years. He’s kind and generous
he always shares everything he owns. In fact, the other day we were with friends at a club and he paid
for our dinner. Well, to be honest he was in a good mood because he had been promoted. His boss is
so happy with his job, and it is perfectly understandable he is a smart guy and very sociable, he gets
on well with everybody. He’s also reliable and patient but everything that glitters is not gold because
he is everything but punctual! Anyway, we will have had lunch to celebrate his promotion by the next
week!

GLOSSARY:

Kind: someone who cares about others.

Generous: someone who helps others and doesn’t have any problem about sharing their money.
Happy: someone who is pleased.
Smart: someone who is clever and intelligent.
Sociable: someone who makes friends easily and enjoys meeting people.
Reliable: someone you can trust.
Patient: someone who is calm and has patience.
Punctual: someone who arrives at places on time.

2. Reading

Now, we will read a text which is a little more complex.

How should a good co-worker be like? Many people would agree that a good colleague should be
someone friendly, easy-going, loyal and hard-working. Unfortunately, the reality is different when it
comes to big enterprises where there is a large number of employees and competitiveness is the order
of the day. It is usually easy to find good people around us, people who are willing to help their co-
workers or to socialise with them after work, but let’s be honest, it only takes one bad apple to spoil
the bunch, and what happens when there is only one person who makes the others upset? Sometimes
this kind of people tends to be a pain in the neck as they are bossy, dull and a cold fish. However, it
only takes one person to be like a fish out of water. […]
 […] How can we change those awkward moments at work? Those toxic co-workers are not normally
social butterflies but we should ask ourselves the reason why they behave that way. Maybe, they have
a feeling of inferiority or they have some kind of personal problems. In any case, we should talk to
them in a friendly way and try to deal with the root of their problems. If they don’t change their mind
and keep on being lone wolves and bad colleagues, we should let our supervisor know the situation. It
would be a good idea to have someone willing to intervene between the toxic person and the rest of
the employees.

Nowadays, many people feel themselves under stress and that can be one of the reasons why they
don’t feel like making friends at work, but is that a good decision? Does it really make them feel good
with themselves? Colleagues are the family we have at work, and having a good relationship with
them is necessary to be motivated and to feel comfortable at the workplace. What kind of co-worker
are you?

3. Vocabulary: character and emotions

As we have seen in the reading, this topic is incredibly useful as we can use this vocabulary to describe
ourselves or other people and to tell others how we feel. Let’s see some vocabulary you should know.
You will learn phrasal verbs, idioms and nouns related to character and emotion.

GLOSSARY:

Hard-working Dull Fair

A good egg Even-tempered Easy-going
Loyal A social butterfly Bad-tempered
Outgoing Annoyed A people person
Clumsy Mean Depressed
A pig-headed Bossy Stingy
Overjoyed A pain in the neck Fussy
Talkative Upset A cold fish

GLOSSARY

Hard-working: a person who works a lot. Dull: boring.

Even-tempered: calm and not easily angry at
others.
Bad-tempered: someone who becomes angry
and upset easily.
Clumsy: a person who has accidents because
they are not careful.
Bossy: a person who controls others. A bossy
person tells other people what to do.
Fussy: someone who is hard to satisfy.
Stubborn: obstinate and difficult to change
their mind.
Easy-going: someone who is relaxed and
friendly.
Outgoing: someone who is friendly and likes
meeting other people.
Mean: someone who is miserly.
Stingy: a person who doesn’t share their
money.
Talkative: someone who talks a lot.
Moody: a person whose moods change easily.
Fair: a right treatment.
Loyal: someone who is supportive and faithful.
Annoyed: to be mad at someone.
Depressed: to be very sad.
Overjoyed: to be extremely happy.
Upset: if someone is upset, they can be worried
or sad about something, or angry.
Concerned: to be worried.
A good egg: someone who is nice.
A social butterfly: someone who is sociable.
A people person: someone friendly and nice
who likes meeting people.
A pig-headed: a person who is stubborn.
A pain in the neck: an annoying person.
A cold fish: a cold person who doesn’t show
their feelings.
A lone wolf: a person who likes to be alone.

4. Grammar

In this section, we are going to deal with Future Perfect Simple. We are going to focus on the structure,
the use of this verb tense and some useful words and phrases that can help us identify this future
tense.

4.1 Future Perfect Simple

Structure

To form the future perfect simple in statements, we need two auxiliary verbs “will” (‘ll) like in the
future simple and “have” like in present and past perfect tenses followed by the past participle of the
main verb.

Affirmative → Subject + WILL + HAVE+ Past Participle

“They will have finished their homework by this time tomorrow.”

“She will have been here for two years by Monday.”

In negative sentences, it is necessary to negate the auxiliary verb “will”  “won’t (will not)”, followed
by “have” and the past participle of the main verb.

Negative → Subject + WON’T+ HAVE+ Past Participle

“They won’t have arrived at home by this time next week”

“She won’t have bought this house by Tuesday”

To make questions, it is important to change the order between the subject and the auxiliary verb
“will”. The subject is followed by “have” and past participle.

Interrogative → WILL + subject + HAVE+ Past Participle?

“Will Susan have arrived at our place in a week?”

“Will you have finished your report at nine?”

 Uses

1. The Future Perfect Simple is used for actions that will be complete before a particular moment in
the future. Let’s see the following example to understand it better:

Tom will move into a different house in three weeks. At the end of those three weeks, Tom will have
moved into that new house.

2. To talk about the duration of an action at a certain point in the future.

For example, I will have worked as a teacher for twenty years by the end of the week.

3. We use future perfect when we are certain about something:

My parents will have left the house by now, don’t rush, there is no need to rush because I am sure
my parents are not at home.

Time expressions

By + (month, By this time/By Before As soon as When

day, then/By the
tomorrow, the time
end of…)
Paul will have sold Bill won’t have finished She will have cleaned As soon as you get When I move (present
his house by the end his project by the time her parents’ car before (present simple) married, simple) into my new
of the month. we arrive (present they arrive. (present you will have been house, I will have
simple) at home. simple) married twice. moved three times.
Summing up

Subject+will+have+past
Affirmative
participle

Subject+won't+have+past
Negative
participle

Future Perfect Simple

Will+subject+have+past
Interrogative
participle?

By+month/day/tomorrow
/by the end
Time expressions of.../before/as soon
as/when/ by this time/by
then/by the time

4.2 Future perfect simple versus Future simple

It is easy to mix up future perfect simple with future simple. You should bear in mind that “future
perfect simple” expresses an action or event which is supposed to be completed or finished at a specific
moment in the future otherwise “future simple” expresses predictions, promises and spontaneous or
natural decisions. Let’s compare both future perfect and future simple with the following example:

1. Sarah will finish her project on Sunday.

2. Sarah will have finished her project by Sunday.

1. It is a prediction Sarah will probably finish her project on Sunday, that’s what we think it’s going to
happen.

2. The second example suggests that Sarah will finish her project before that day. She might finish her
project on Saturday for instance.
Summing up

Future • Complete actions at a

perfect certain point in the
simple future.

Future • Predictions/Natural
Simple decisions/promises.

Remember!

Future Perfect Simple is used to talk about an action that is finished or complete at a certain point in
the future. We use expressions such as “before”, “by the time” or “when” followed by present simple.
Future simple is used to talk about predictions, promises and spontaneous decisions.

5. Writing

Introduction

In this section, we will learn how to write a formal letter or email, as well as its structure and the
language we should use. Nowadays, with the use of technologies, it is almost compulsory to know how
to write formal emails as they are useful to apply for a job or to communicate with your boss or
colleagues.

What is a formal email or letter?

We are supposed to write formal letters or email to people we don’t know very well or people we have
to address them in a formal way such as your boss, professor or manager, among others. Formal emails
and letters have the same structures and rules. The only difference is that we write a letter on paper
and an email in digital format.

Structure

In this section, we will learn the structure we should use when it comes to writing a formal email or
letter. You should start it with a formal salutation, an introduction of us, a body, a closing and a
signature:
 1. Salutation: we are not addressing friends or relatives, therefore we are not supposed to say
“hi” or “hello”, we should use formal manners such as  Dear Sir or Madam (if we don’t know
their surname), to whom it may concern or to the attention of. If we know the person we are
writing to, we can use dear plus a surname. For example: Dear Mr Williams.

2. Introduction: it is important to introduce ourselves, for example, My name is Sarah Smith, I am

the manager of… This is an email for…

3. Body: it should include the purpose of the email or letter and other detailed and important
information.

4. Closing: as we mentioned before, it is important to use formal greeting, to close our email or
letter we should pay special attention to the person we are writing to. On the one hand, if we
know the name of the addressee we can say Yours sincerely or respectfully yours. On the other
hand, if we don’t know it, we can close it with Yours faithfully.

5. Signature: you have to write your name after you close the letter or email.

Language

When we write formal emails or letters, we should use polite set expressions such as “dear” or “yours
sincerely” as we mentioned before. We should try to use formal language (e.g. words with Latin origin),
that’s why we should avoid the use of contractions (don’t, I’d…) and the use of colloquial words, phrasal
verbs or idiomatic expressions. The use of modal verbs and conditionals is also advisable to be written in
this kind of texts.

Example

This is an example of a formal letter. It is a letter of application.

Dear Madam,
My name is Sarah Sharples. I am writing in response to your advertisement. I am interested in applying
for the role of accountant.

Please find my resume attached below. As you will see, I have worked at Numbers S.A. for ten years. I
was responsible for the accounting department, as well as recruiting employees for accounting jobs. I
had the privilege to enhance my communicative skills and my ability to resolve conflicts.

Given the experience I have acquired at Numbers S.A., I consider myself well-qualified to perform the
tasks required in your department as I have good qualities to handle the demands of the post. For
instance, I can speak English and French, I can work well under pressure and I am an expert in MS Excel.
Thank you for your time, I would be grateful if you could consider my application. I look forward to
hearing from you.

Yours faithfully,

Sarah Sharples.
Summing up

Salutation
Introduction
Body
Closing
Signature

Formal
Formal language
environment

Formal
emails
and letters

Key ideas

Let’s see a summary of what you have learnt in this unit:

• Reading: in this unit we read a text about toxic colleagues. We used a wide range of vocabulary
and expressions related to personality.

• Vocabulary: this section was focused on character and emotions. This kind of vocabulary is
useful to express our feelings and talk about ourselves.

• Grammar: we focused on future perfect simple. This verb tense is helpful when we want to
talk about complete actions in the future.

• Listening: we listened to two recordings. One of them was about post-vacation depression and
the other one was about a woman talking about a friend of hers. These recordings help us to
enhance character and emotions vocabulary.

• Writing: We learnt how to write formal letters and emails, it will help us enrich our vocabulary
and improve spelling. Formal emails or letters are important these days. Whether you want to
apply for a job or communicate with a company.

• Speaking: regarding pronunciation, we have paid attention to the digraph <gh> and the
differences in pronunciation. We have also seen a dialogue between two people who were
talking about a problematic co-worker.