The Present Simple

We use The Present Simple for:

➢ Facts; eg: I love chocolate.
➢ Daily routines; eg: My father goes to work by bus.
➢ Things that don’t or will not change; eg: water boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
➢ Describing yourself. eg: I have short hair.

3rd PERSON SINGULAR (He, She, It) SPELLING RULES:

Most verbs: Verbs ending in s, ss, ch, sh, x, o: Verbs ending in consonant + y: Verbs ending in vowel + y:
add –s add -es drop the y then add -ies add -s
walk – walks miss – misses study – studies play – plays
talk – talks watch – watches tidy – tidies enjoy – enjoys
smell – smells wash – washes stay – stays
fix – fixes
go – goes

Affirmative
I, You, We, They + Verb (infinitive) + object eg: I/You/We/They smell good.
He, She, It + Verb (infinitive + (s / es / ies)) + object eg: He/She/It smells good.

Negative
I, You, We, They +don’t + Verb (infinitive) + object eg: I/You/We/They don’t go out.
He, She, It + doesn’t + Verb (infinitive) + object eg: He/She/It doesn’t go out.

Interrogative
Do + I, You, We, They + Verb (infinitive) + object? eg: Do I/You/We/They play the ball?
Does + He, She, It + Verb (infinitive) + object? Eg: Does He/She/It play the ball?

Exercise 1. Fill in the blanks with the present simple of the verbs in brackets (Aff, Neg, Int).
1. Janet _________________________ (not/watch) a film on TV.
2. The girl _________________________ (finish) her homework.
3. __________ my father __________________________ (fix) the TV?
4. The children ________________________ (not/visit) the museum every school year.
5. __________ Helen _________________ (wash) her hair every two days?
6. My friend _______________________ (try) to cheer me up.
7. My sister _________________________ (play) with me.
8. __________ they ___________________ (offer) me a CD every Christmas?
9. Beto ___________________ (not/study) with us.
10. My mother always _________________________ (divide) the cake in six.
11. The young boy __________________________ (cry) for help.
12. Violet ___________________________ (hate) garlic.
Exercise 2. Rewrite the sentences in the affirmative, negative and interrogative forms.

1. Aff: I walk to school.

Neg: ________________________________________________________________________________
Int: _________________________________________________________________________________

2. Aff: ___________________________________________________________________________
Neg: That driver doesn’t stop at the traffic lights.
Int: __________________________________________________________________________________

3. Aff: ______________________________________________________________________________
Neg: _________________________________________________________________________________
Int: Does the kite fly real high?

Exercise 3. Write the third person singular in the present simple of the following verbs in the right
place.
finish like fly enjoy study cook obey brush try want touch
pray open go apply catch stay supply do
hurry play pay

Verb + -s Verb + -es Consonant + y -ies Vowel + y + -s

The Past Simple of regular verbs

The verbs in the past simple for regular verbs have the following rules:
1. Verbs ending in e you add –d.
Eg: love – loved live – lived

2. Verbs ending in consonant + y, you drop y then add –ied.

Eg: study – studied copy – copied

3. Short verbs ending in vowel + consonant, you double the last letter then add –ed.
Eg: stop – stopped hug – hugged

4. Most verbs you just add –ed.

Eg: cook – cooked visit – visited
The Past simple of irregular verbs

Base Form Past Simple Base Form Past Simple

be was/were lose lost

begin began make made
break broke mean meant
bring brought meet met
buy bought pay paid
build built put put
choose chose run ran
come came say said
cost cost sell sold
cut cut send sent
do did set set
draw drew sit sat
drive drove speak spoke
eat ate spend spent
feel felt stand stood
find found take took
get got teach taught
give gave tell told
go went think thought
have had understand understood
hear heard wear wore
hold held win won
keep kept write wrote
know knew
leave left
lead led
let let
lie lay

Affirmative sentences Negative sentences Interrogative sentences

Marta lived in Matola. Marta didn’t live in Matola. Did Marta live in Matola?

I copied the exercise. I didn’t copy the exercise. Did I copy the exercise?

My sister hugged me. My sister didn’t hug me. Did my sister hug me?

He visited his grandparents. He didn’t visit his grandparents. Did he visit his grandparents?

We went to school yesterday. We didn’t go to school yesterday. Did we go to school yesterday?

Exercise 1. Write sentences in the Past Simple forms.

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

_____________________________ Beto didn’t write the letter. __________________________

She cooked dinner. _____________________________ __________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________ Did they study together?

Ana broke the window. _____________________________

_____________________________

_____________________________ You didn’t see Beto. _________________________

_____________________________ _____________________________ Did I understand the lesson?

Exercise 2. Put these words in order and write sentences (past simple)

a) last year / Brazil / visit / not / she.

______________________________________________________________________________________
b) give / me / ? / my / pencil / you.
______________________________________________________________________________________
c) a / I / BMW / yesterday / drive.
______________________________________________________________________________________
d) the / love / surprise / she.
______________________________________________________________________________________
e) not / last night / baby / cry / the.
______________________________________________________________________________________
f) ? / you / church / to / last Sunday / go.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Degree of Adjectives (Normal, Comparative, Superlative)

Type Normal Comparative degree Superlative degree

degree
One syllable
adjective strong + ER strrong+er ---- stronger + EST strong+est -----
strongest
Adjectives
ending in E large +R large+r ----- larger + ST large+st ----- largest

Adjectives
ending in a big Double consonant + ER Double consonant + EST
vowel+consonant bigg+er ----- bigger bigg+est ----- biggest

Adjectives happy Drop Y + IER Drop Y + IEST

ending in Y happ+ier ----- happier happ+iest ----- happiest

Three or more Expensive + more before the adjective + most before the adjective
syllables more expensive most expensive
adjectives
good better best
Irregular bad worse worst
adjectives little less least
far farther farthest

Eg: 1. Mary is _______taller________ than Kate. (tall)

2. Joana is the _____nicest______ girl I know. (nice)

2. Tete province is the ____hottest______ province in Mozambique. (hot)

3. Ana is _____shier_____ than Carla. (shy)

4. This test is ____more difficult______ than that test. (difficult)

5. I am the ______best_______ student in my class. (good)

Exercise 1. Complete with the Normal, Comparative and Superlative degree of these adjectives.

a) Tom is ___________________________ than Robert. ( slim )

b) Robert is the _____________________________ boy I know. (fat)

c) Beto is a _________________________________ boy. (thin)

d) John is ___________________________ than David. (young)

e) Ana is very ___________________________. (young)

f) David is the ___________________________ person in the family. (old)

g) A dog is a _____________________________ animal. (dangerous)

h) A lion is _______________________________ than a dog. (dangerous)

i) Lion is the _________________________________ animal in the jungle. (dangerous)

j) Celeste is the ________________________________ girl I know. (naughty)

k) Silvia is an ________________________________ girl, (angry)

l) Silvia is _________________________________ than Celeste. (nice)

m) That is the ________________________________ pizza I have ever seen. (huge)

n) Ana is _________________________________ at English than me. (good)

o) I am the ________________________________ student in my class. (bad)

First Conditional / 1st Conditional

If + subject + Verb (Present Simple) + object ---------- subject +Will (not) + Verb Infinitive + object

The First / 1st Conditional is used to talk about things which might happen in the future; describes possible
things, which could easily come true.
• If It rains tomorrow, I will not go to school.
• you will get “PPF”, If you don’t go to school.

Exercise 1. Complete the sentences using CONDITIONAL TYPE I:

Put the verb into the correct first conditional form:

1. If I __________________ (go) out tonight, I __________________ (go) to the cinema.

2. If you __________________ (get) back late, I __________________ (be) angry.

3. If he __________________ (come), I __________________ (be) surprised.

4. If we __________________ (wait) here, we __________________ (be) late.

5. If I __________________ (not / go) to bed early, I __________________ (be) tired tomorrow.

6. If you __________________ (not / want) to go out, I __________________ (cook) dinner at home.

7. He __________________ (not / get) a better job if he __________________ (not / pass) that exam.

8. I __________________ (buy) a new dress if I __________________ (have) enough money.

9. We __________________ (be) late if we __________________ (not / hurry).

10. I __________________ (not / go) if you __________________ (not / come) with me.
Articles: A, An, The, --.

We use the indefinite article a before a consonant sound.

We use the indefinite article an before a vowel sound.

We use a and an when we are referring to something for the first time in our speech or unknown to the
listener.

We also use a and an when we are referring to singular countable nouns.

Eg: _a_ cat _an_ apple _a_ boy _an_ old man

We use the definite article the:

➢ For specific or unique things.
➢ When we refer to something for the second time in our speech or known to the listener.
Eg: _the_ moon Eg: _the_ house next to my place is big.

I have _a_ bicycle. _The_ bicycle is very beautiful.

Yesterday I saw _a_ man. _The_ man was trying to enter in my bedroom.

We use – no article for:

➢ Names of people; Countries; Languages; Days of the week; Generalized plural; Uncountable nouns.

Eg: _--_ Beto _--_ English _--_ Teachers should be friendly to students.

_--_ Mozambique _--_ Monday Do you need _--_ water?

Exercise 1. Fill in the gaps with a or an.

a) _____ elephant c) _____ hour e) _____ university g) _____ European car

b) _____ table d) _____ teacher f) _____ umbrella h) _____ ice cream

Exercise 2. Complete with a, an, the or --.

a) My sister bought ____ PC and _____ laptop. _____ PC is for all of us but _____ laptop is only for her.

b) I planted _____ tree in my garden last year. _____ tree has now grown big.

c) Do you like _____ coffee?

d) Can I open _____ window?

e) I saw _____ mouse passing by. Did you see it? – No. I was reading _____ interesting magazine.

f) I don’t like _____ horror movies.

g) _____ man in the Mercedes Benz is my boss.

h) _____ Education is very important _____ life.

i) Where is _____ money I left here?

Connectors (AND, BUT, BECAUSE, OR, SO)

Connectors are used to join and connect clauses.

And – expresses addition. When we use it, we add something to the previous clause.

But – expresses contrast. When we use it we are opposing two ideas.

Because – expresses cause. When we use it we are presenting a reason.

So – expresses the result of something stated on the previous clause.

Or – expresses choice. When we use it we are presenting alternatives.

Eg: My sister and I study at Colégio Shalom.

I like fruit but I don’t like papaya.

I am going to bed because I am sleepy.

Ana is intelligent so she gets good grades.

Do you prefer coffee or tea?

Exercise 1. Join the two sentences using the connectors (and, so, but, or, because)

a) I can’t speak French. I can speak German.

______________________________________________________________________________________
b) You can’t go to the park. It is closed.
______________________________________________________________________________________
c) She is thin. She eats a lot.
______________________________________________________________________________________
d) Barbara is intelligent. She gets good grades.
______________________________________________________________________________________
e) Michael doesn’t study much. He gets good grades.
______________________________________________________________________________________
f) Steve didn’t go to school. He had the flu.
______________________________________________________________________________________
g) I was very nervous. I didn’t pass the driving test.
______________________________________________________________________________________
h) Samuel goes to school by bus. I go with him.
______________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise 2. Write your own sentences using the connector given.

a) SO - _______________________________________________________________________________

b) BUT - _____________________________________________________________________________

c) OR - ______________________________________________________________________________

d) BECAUSE - ________________________________________________________________________

e) AND - _____________________________________________________________________________
WILL and (BE) GOING TO
WILL, we use:
- to make decisions that are made at the time of speaking
- to state a fact about the future
- to make a promise
- to make a prediction
- with words like I think, I guess, I hope, probably, possibly

(BE) GOING TO, we use:

- to express a future event that has been planned before the time of speaking
- to make a future prediction based on facts / evidence

Exercise 1. Fill in the blanks with the words into brackets using will or be going to.
1. My father _____________________________ (travel) to Australia next week.

2. “What are your plans for the future?” “I ______________________________ (be) a famous actor!”

3. I don’t think schools ______________________________ (change) very much in the next few years.

4. Our computer broke down yesterday, so we ____________________________ (buy) a new one soon

5. I think that people ____________________________ (live) on the moon by 2050.

6. Peter is not studying hard enough. He ________________________________ (not/pass) this year.

7. The sun is shining and the sky is so blue. It _______________________________ (be) a nice day.

8. “The phone is ringing!” “Ok, don’t worry, I _________________________________ (answer) it!”

9. Those cars are going too fast! They ____________________________________ (crash).

10. “Mum, can I go out now? I promise I __________________________ (do) my homework tonight!”

11. When I grow up I probably ______________________________ (not/watch) so much TV.

12. Tomorrow the weather _________________________________ (be) sunny and dry.

13. “This exercise is too difficult for me!” “Don’t worry, I ___________________________ (help) you!”

14. Do you think Diana ______________________________ marry Tom?” “No, I don’t think so”

15. I _______________________________ (love) you forever and ever.

REPORTED / INDIRECT SPEECH

With REPORTED / INDIRECT speech you generally inform someone else of what other people just said,
ordered, suggested, offered, asked…

This speech is often done in a different place and usually on a different day so you need to make some
changes:

Direct Speech Indirect / Reported Speech *

I He / She

You I / We

Personal Pronouns We They

Me Him / Her

You Me / Us

Indirect Objects Us Them

My His / Her

Your My / Our

Possessive Adjectives Our Their

This That

Demonstrative These Those

Here There

* 3rd person no changes.

Today Direct Speech Indirect / Reported Speech *

Today That day

Expressions of time Tonight That night

Tomorrow The following day

 Yesterday The day before / the previous day

Last day / last week The day before / the week before

Next week / next year The following week / the following year

Now Then

… ago … before

Direct Speech Indirect / Reported Speech *

Present Simple Past Simple

“I work hard.” He said He said that he worked hard.

Present Continuous Past Continuous

“He is teaching us English.” She said She said that he was teaching them English.

Past Simple Past Perfect

“I worked hard yesterday.” He said that he had worked hard the day before.

Present Perfect Past Perfect

“I have done my homework.” He said He said that he had done his homework.

Past Perfect Past Perfect

“She has cooked the dinner for us.” He said He said that she had cooked the dinner for them.

Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

“I was sleeping this morning.” He said He said that he had been sleeping that morning.

Present Perfect Continuous\ Past Perfect Continuous

“We have been studying this afternoon.” She said She said that they had been studying that afternoon.

Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous

“He had been living here for 4 years.” He said He said that he had been living there for 4 years.

Future Conditional
“I will call you tomorrow.” She said She said that she would call me the following day.
 REPORTING VERBS
FOR OFFERS AND
FOR STATEMENTS FOR QUESTIONS FOR COMMANDS
SUGGESTIONS

… said to sb that … asked sb if … ordered sb to + inf … offered sb to+ inf

… told sb that
… assured sb that
… remarked that
… mentioned that
… commented that
… admitted that
… denied that…
ask sb to + inf suggested +that…/gerund
/ wh- told sb to + inf
enquired requested
wondered begged sb to + inf
wanted to know implored sb to +inf
was curious to know shouted to sb +inf
screamed at sb

/ gerund
apologize for + gerund
promised to + inf

If we are reporting something that was said but it is still true we don’t need to move the tense back.
Eg: “I love Paul”. She said she loves Paul

Exercise 1. Transform the following sentences in Reported Speech.

statements
1. “I don’t know what she is doing”. He said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. “I can’t speak as many languages as you do” She confessed.
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. “I met her in London last year”. He said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. “I have already finished the book you lent me”. My friend told me
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. “If you do that again I’ll be angry.” My mother said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. "I can't believe what you're saying," Paul told me
______________________________________________________________________________________
commands/ suggestions/offers
1. “Wait outside. I’ll tell you when to come in”. He told the boys
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. “We could go to see a film tonight”. She suggested
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. “Don’t leave the vase on the table”. She told us
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. Shall I make you a cup of coffee? She offered
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. “Let’s have dinner at home instead of going out” Ann suggested
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. "How about rating a canoe?" he said.
______________________________________________________________________________________
7. "Let's go for a swim!" he said.
______________________________________________________________________________________

questions
1. “Are you leaving tomorrow?”. He asked her
______________________________________________________________________________________
2. “Can you help me with my homework?” My brother asked me
______________________________________________________________________________________
3. “Is he coming next Tuesday? He asked
______________________________________________________________________________________
4. “When did my mother phone?” My flat mate asked
______________________________________________________________________________________
5. “Where have you been lately?” Ann wanted to know
______________________________________________________________________________________
6. "Did you pass the exam?" I said to Joe.
______________________________________________________________________________________
 The Importance of English

English is an international language. Nowadays we need English for almost everything: for business, for
school, for work and even for everyday conversation. If you travel abroad, you suffer a lot if you do not
master English or if you don’t speak it at all. People use it for communication. It is not the most spoken
language but it is as it is called the “business language”. Wherever you go, whatever business you do,
whomever you want to talk to if you communicate in English you are almost 100% sure that you will be
successful.

1. Read the text then write T (true) or F (false)

a) English is a national language. _________
b) If you travel aboard and you do not speak English, you will do just fine. ________
c) English is needed for almost everything. ________
d) English is the most spoken language. ________
e) If you communicate in English, you will be almost 100% successful. ________

Tourism helps to promote English in Inhambane

The number of people learning English in private and government schools has increased up to 20%.
According to a joint report from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Tourism, the number of tour
guides as well as other tourism-related professionals has been growing for the past five years. The report
stated that many youngsters are more and more interested in learning English to be able to communicate
with as many tourists who visit Inhambane as possible. However, there is still a need to develop and
increase the number of classes, as well as trained teachers to cope with this great increment. It is also
expected that the number may double in forthcoming years.
1. Read the text then write T (true) or F (false)

a) The number of people teaching English in private and government schools has increased up to 20 %.
_________
b) Many youngsters are interested in learning English to be a tour guide. _________
c) There is no need to increase the number of classes. _________
For the coming years the number of needed classes and trained teachers may double. _________
The Past Continuous tense

Affirmative: Subject + was / were + Verb (ing) + Object

Eg: The students were listening to the teacher.
Teresa was learning to play the piano.

Negative: Subject + was / were + NOT + Verb (ing) + Object

Eg: The students weren’t listening to the teacher.
Teresa was not learning to play the piano.

Interrogative: Was / Were + Subject + Verb (ing) + Object?

Eg: Were the students listening to the teacher?
Was Teresa learning to play the piano?

Exercise 1. Complete with the verbs into brackets (past continuous)

a) What _____________ they ___________________? (do)

b) It __________________________. (snow)

c) They ___________________________ to a story. (not/listen)

d) He _____________________ on his coat. (put)

e) ________ you __________________ as well? (come)

f) We _____________________________ a cartoon. (not / watch)

g) __________John _____________________ in the yard? (smoke)

h) You ___________________________ attention. (not /pay)

i) He __________________________ for an exam. (sit)

j) The children ___________________________ in the playground. (run)

k) Where ____________ you _________________? (go)

l) What ____________ Tracy _________________? (eat)