1

INDIRECT QUESTIONS

1) QUESTIONS WITH:
 MODAL VERBS (SHOULD, CAN, MUST, MAY, MIGHT) we invert the subject and
 AUXILIARY VERBS (DO, DOES, DID, WILL, WOULD, HAVE) the modal / auxiliary

SHOULD I WEAR FORMAL CLOTHES FOR THE PARTY? → modal verb

WHERE DID YOU TRAVEL LAST MONTH? →auxiliary verb (simple past)

2) NEGATIVE QUESTIONS → TO SHOW SURPRISE OR WE WANT TO PERSUADE THE LISTENER TO AGREE WITH US

WHY DIDN’T YOU STUDY? → to show surprise

ISN’T SHE PRETTY? → to persuade the listener to agree with you

3) VERB FOLLOWED BY A PREPOSITION → THE PREPOSITION GOES AT THE END OF THE QUESTION

WHO ARE YOU SPEAKING TO? → speak to

WHO DID YOU GO WITH? → go with

4) WHO / WHAT / WHICH as the SUBJECT OF THE QUESTION → WE DON’T USE AUXILIARY VERBS (DO, DOES…)

→ WE USE THE VERB IN THE CORRECT VERBAL TENSE

WHO TOLD YOU THAT? → WHO= THE NAME OF A PERSON (SUBJECT OF THE VERB TOLD: PETER TOLD ME)

WHAT WILL HAPPEN? → WHAT = AN EVENT (SUBJECT OF THE VERB WILL HAPPEN: SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN)

Cf:

WHO DID YOU CALL YESTERDAY?

I CALLED PETER YESTERDAY.

WHAT WILL YOU DO TOMORROW

I WILL WATCH A FILM.

 2

AUXILIARY VERBS: TO BE (am; is; are; was; were), DO, DOES, DID, HAVE, HAS, WILL, WOULD

MODAL VERBS : CAN, MUST, SHOULD, MAY, MIGHT, HAVE TO, COULD
1) TO AVOID REPEATING THE MAIN VERB

I LIKE football but my son DOESN’T. → auxiliary verb in the same verbal tense.

My daughters ARE sleeping but my son ISN’T. → to verb

I CAN speak in English but my neighbour CAN’T. → modal verbs

2) SO / NEITHER
SO to say that something is the same (POSITIVE SENTENCES)
I like tea. →So DO I. = ME TOO
I went to Italy. → So DID I.
NEITHER to say that something is the same (NEGATIVE SENTENCES)
I don’t like tea. →Neither DO I.
I didn’t go to Italy. → Neither DID I.

3) TO SAY THAT SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT.

I don’t like tea. → I DO.

4) TO MAKE REPLY QUESTIONS (TO SHOW INTEREST / SURPRISE)

I will cook tonight. → WILL you?

5) TO SHOW EMPHASIS (TO CONTRADICT)

SIMPLE PRESENT:
You don’t cook every day.
I do cook. (do + infinitive)
She doesn’t study hard.
She does study. (does + infinitive)

SIMPLE PAST
You didn’t tidy your bedroom.
I did tidy it! (did + infinitive)

WILL, HAVE, HAS, WOULD (NO CONTRACTIONS)

She won’t come to the party.
She will come.

6) TO MAKE QUESTIONS TAGS (TO CHECK INFORMATION )

She won’t go, will she? → negative verb + positive tag
You can speak Italian, can’t you? → positive verb + negative tag
 3

THE COMPARATIVE + THE COMPARATIVE

USE: TO SHOW THAT ONE THING DEPENDS ON ANOTHER

THE SOONER we start, THE EARLIER we´ll finish → if you start soon, we will finish early.

THE COLDER it is, THE MORE clothes you need to wear → if it is cold, you will need to wear more clothes.

1) COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

SHORT ADJECTIVES LONG ADJECTIVES IRREGULAR ADJECTIVES

1 syllable: 2 or more syllables good→ BETTER
COLD → COLDER COMFORTABLE → MORE comfortable
EXPENSIVE → LESS expensive bad→ WORSE
2 syllables ending in –y:
EARLY → EARLIER far→ FURTHER

2) COMPARATIVE ADVERBS

ADVERBS -LY UNCHANGING ADVERBS IRREGULAR ADVERBS

QUIETLY → MORE quietly HARD → HARDER WELL→ BETTER
FAST → FASTER
HAPPILY → LESS happily BADLY→ WORSE

FAR→ FURTHER

3) CLAUSES : THE MORE / LESS you sleep

4) NOUNS: THE MORE / LESS money you need

 4

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE: HAVE/ HAS + P.P.

→ emphasis: the completion of the action
1) TO TALK ABOUT PAST EXPERIENCES (INDEFINITE TIME IN THE PAST)
I have been to Rome twice.

2) FINISHED ACTIONS WITH PRESENT RESULTS (INDEFINITE TIME IN THE PAST)

My computer has crashed.

3) WITH THE ADVERBS: JUST (+) , ALREADY (+), NEVER (+), EVER (?), YET (-/?)
I have JUST / ALREADY finished my homework.
He has NEVER been to Italy.
Have you EVER been to Paris?
I haven’t done my homework YET. / Have you done your homework YET?

4) SUPERLATIVES
It’s the best film I have ever seen

5) THE FIRST (SECOND, THIRD, ...) TIME

It’s the first time I have eaten sushi.

6) NON-ACTION VERBS: Sth STARTED IN THE PAST AND IT’S STILL TRUE NOW. HOW LONG ... / FOR / SINCE / ALL
DAY
HOW LONG have you known Peter?
I have known him FOR 2 years / SINCE 2018.

7) TO SAY OR ASK HOW MUCH/MANY OR HOW OFTEN WE HAVE DONE STH UP TO THIS MOMENT
HOW MANY pages have you read?

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS: HAVE/ HAS + BEEN + VERB+ING.

→ emphasis: the duration of the action
1) ACTION VERBS: Sth STARTED IN THE PAST AND IT’S STILL HAPPENING NOW. HOW LONG ... / FOR / SINCE / ALL DAY
I have been studying FOR 2 hours / SINCE 4:00 / ALL day
HOW LONG have you been ironing?

2) FOR REPEATED ACTIONS. WITH ALL DAY, RECENTLY

He has been playing the violin ALL day.

3) FOR CONTINUOUS ACTIONS WHICH HAVE JUST FINISHED (also when they are temporary actions)
We have been living in this flat for the last two months.
 5

ADJECTIVES
1) ADJECTIVES AS NOUNS
THE + ADJECTIVE → to talk about a group of people
 NATIONALITIES:
Singular (-sh, -ch, -ss, -ese) the English, the French, the Swiss, the Chinese…

! Plural (other nationalities): the Brazilians, the Italians…

 SPECIFIC GROUPS IN SOCIETY:
SINGULAR: the blind, the deaf, the young, the old, the elderly, the rich, the poor, the unemployed, the
homeless, the dead, the sick, etc.
ADJECTIVE + NOUN
Singular: a poor person→ to talk about one person
Plural: poor people→ to talk about a group of people in general (without article: the)

2) ADJECTIVE ORDER → two or three adjectives before a noun

OPINION DESCRIPTIVE
SIZE AGE SHAPE COLOUR PATTERN ORIGIN/PLACE MATERIAL
expensive big old long silver striped French wooden NOUN
beautiful small new short purple Swiss cotton
little round

SO AND SUCH
1) SO
SO + adjective
I was so tired that I fell asleep while eating.
SO + adverb
He spoke so quickly that I couldn’t get a word of what he was saying.
SO MANY + countable nouns
There aren’t so many cars on the road these days.
SO MUCH + uncountable nouns
There isn’t so much traffic these days.
2) SUCH
SUCH + adjective + uncountable noun
She got such terrible news yesterday that she couldn’t go on working.
SUCH + adjective + plural countable noun
My neighbours are such good people
SUCH a / an+ adjective + singular countable noun
My cousin is such an interesting woman.
 6

NARRATIVE TENSES

1) SIMPLE PAST → to talk about a series of events, consecutive complete / finished actions in the past.
I got up at 6.30 this morning and walked to the bus stop.

2) PAST CONTINUOUS → to talk about an action in progress in the past

While / When I was waiting for the bus, I saw a car accident.

3) PAST PERFECT → to talk about the earlier past, things that happened before the main event
PAST

PRESENT
leave arrive

When I (arrive) arrived at the bus stop, the bus (leave) had left.

4) PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS → to talk about actions which happened before the main event in the past
and were in progress until that moment .
→ with ACTION VERBS.

PAST

PRESENT
cry get

When I (get) got home, I realized that she (cry) had been crying / had cried.

PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS PAST PERFECT

→ emphasis on the duration of the action → emphasis on the completion of the action
She was laughing because she HAD BEEN WATCHING a She was laughing because she HAD WATCHED a funny
funny film. film.
 7

ADVERBS
 describe an action: I speak fluently.
 modify an adjective: It’s extremely cold.
 modify an adverb: It’s incredibly late.
 One word: e.g.: incredibly
 A phrase: e.g.: once a week

TYPES OF ADVERBS – Position:

1) ADVERBS OF MANNER→how you do sth.
after the verb: I walk quickly.
passive voice (mid position): He was seriously injured.

2) ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY→how often you do sth.

after the verb to be: I am never late.
before the main verb: He usually gets up at 6.00

3) ADVERBS OF TIME →when you do sth.

at the end of a sentence or clause: It rained yesterday.

4) ADVERBS OF PLACE→ where you do sth.

at the end of a sentence or clause: It rained here.
adverbs of place go before adverbs of time: It rained here yesterday.

5) ADVERBS OF DEGREE→ how much sth. is done or modify an adjective

extremely, incredibly, very ... + adjective: it’s extremely big
verb + a lot, much : I drank a lot, I didn’t eat much
verb + a little, a bit: I slept a little
a little, a bit + adjectives: I’m a bit tired.

6) COMMENT ADVERBS → give the speaker’s opinion

at the beginning of a sentence or clause:
Luckily, I passed the exam.
I forgot to stud, but luckily they cancelled the exam.
e.g.: basically, clearly, obviously, apparently, eventually, fortunately, unfortunately, luckily, etc.

7) OTHER ADVERBS: just, even, probably

In mid position:
I just need some more minutes.
She didn’t even say goodbye.
I’ll probably stay home next weekend.