1 Grammar reference

Simple present Present progressive

Affirmative Negative Affirmative Negative
I/you like school. I/you don’t (do not) go to I am playing. I’m not (am not) eating.
He/She/It eats toast. school. You are playing. You aren’t (are not) eating.
We/You/They take photos. He/She/It doesn’t (does He/She/It is playing. He/She/It isn’t (is not) eating.
not) play. We/You/They are We/You/They aren't (are not)
We/You/They don’t (do playing. eating.
not) enjoy cartoons.
• we use the present progressive to describe activities
• we use the simple present to talk about routines and that are happening now or temporary situations
habits and permanent situations
We like action movies. He goes to school every day.
• we use 'm not, isn’t or aren’t before the main verb to
form the negative
• we use don’t or doesn’t before the main verb to form
• we usually use contracted forms in conversation and
the negative informal writing
• we usually use contracted forms in conversation and They aren’t watching right now.
informal writing She’s using her phone now.
She doesn’t use social media very often.
Questions Short answers
Questions Short answers Am I cooking lunch? Yes, I am.
Do I/you take lunch to Yes, I/you do. No, I’m not.
school? No, I/you don’t. Are you cooking Yes, you are.
Does he/she/it go to work? Yes, she/he/it does. lunch? No, you aren’t.
No, she/he/it doesn’t. Is he/she/it playing Yes, she/he/it is.
Do we/you/they play Yes, we/you/they do. soccer? No, she/he/it isn’t.
tennis? No, we/you/they don’t. Are we/you/they Yes, we/you/they are.

• we use do or does before the subject (I/you/he etc.) in

questions. The main verb doesn’t change form
Does she check her email in the morning?
• we don’t repeat the main verb in short answers
Do you have a laptop? Yes, I do./No, I don’t.
eating? No, we/you/they aren’t.
• we use be before the subject in questions
Is he cooking dinner now?
• we don’t repeat the verb -ing in short answers
Is he eating now? Yes, he is. No, he isn’t.

Adverbs and expressions of Simple present and present

frequency
less frequent more frequent
always usually often sometimes hardly ever
• we use adverbs of frequency to say how often we do
things
We hardly ever go out on the weekend.
• adverbs of frequency usually go before the main
verb. This includes negative sentences
I often read but I don’t usually listen to music.
• adverbs of frequency come after the verb be
She’s never at home in the morning.
• expressions usually go at the end of a sentence
We check our favorite blogs every day.
progressive
• we use the simple present to talk about routines and
habits and permanent situations
never
I always take a shower when I wake up.
Lisa and Lena are German pop singers.
• we use the simple present with adverbs of frequency
and time expressions such as every day
I post something on my blog every day.
• we use the present progressive to describe activities
that are happening now or temporary situations
He’s writing an email.
• we normally use present progressive with time
expressions such as now, at the moment
He’s giving a presentation at the moment.

• we ask questions using How often … ? • we don’t use the present progressive with some
verbs such as have got, like, love, prefer, want
How often does he send you a text?

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 Grammar practice 1

Simple present 4 Rewrite the sentences using the words in

parentheses.
1 Choose the correct option. 1 I take a shower. (every morning)
1 In China they use/uses chopsticks to eat.
I take a shower every morning.
2 I don’t take/don’t takes a camera on vacation
2 They play badminton on Thursdays. (usually)
anymore.
3 She studies/study film in college.
3 We don’t do our homework in the morning.
4 All my classmates watches/watch science fiction
(always)
movies.
5 He doesn’t watch/don’t watch a movie every
day. 4 Tim is unhappy. (never)
6 I always buys/buy popcorn at the movie theater.
7 My sister go/goes to stay with her friend every 5 I go to the hairdresser. (three times a year)
Friday.
6 He doesn’t take photos at football practice.
2 Write complete questions using the simple (often)
present. Then write short answers.
1 you / like / documentaries (–)
Do you like documentaries? No, I don’t.
2 your brother / play / video games (+)
Simple present and present
progressive
3 your classmates / like / the math teacher (+) 5 Complete the text with the simple present or
present progressive form of the verbs.
4 your cousin / go / to college (–)
be enjoy not like prefer read say study

5 you / write / a blog (–) Right now I 1 ’m reading a book called The Knife
of Never Letting Go. The author is Patrick Ness and
6 Anna / watch / Lisa and Lena (+) this 2 the first book of a trilogy. I 3
the book because it’s very exciting.
At school we 4 another book, Animal
Farm. It's interesting but I 5 it as much.
Adverbs and expressions of The teacher 6 it’s a very good book but
frequency I7 books with more action.

3 Order the words to write sentences.
1 watch / documentaries / once a week / I
I watch documentaries once a week.
2 my mom / goes / every day / to the gym
6 Write complete questions in the simple
present or present progressive.
1 when / you / watch TV
When do you watch TV?
2 your dad / cook dinner / every day

3 go / once a month / to the movie theater / we

3 how often / you / read the news

4 I / go / hardly ever / the supermarket / to

4 you / do homework / right now

5 often / they / talent shows / on TV / watch

5 what movie / people / talk about / these days

6 sometimes / she / her homework / in the library /

does 6 they / play video games / now

7 I / take a shower / before / usually / to school / I

go

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2 Grammar reference

(there) was/were Simple past

Affirmative Negative Affirmative
I was I wasn’t (was not) I/You played
You were You weren’t (were not) He/She/It played
He/She/It was He/She/It wasn’t (was not) We/You/They played
We/You/They were We/You/They weren’t (were
not) • we use the simple past to describe finished actions or
There was/were There wasn’t/weren’t (was situations in the past
not/were not) I visited the Eiffel Tower last year.
Questions
Was I … ?
Short answers
Yes, I was. No, I wasn’t.
• the form is the same for all subject pronouns

Were you … ? Yes, you were. No, you
weren’t.
Was he/she/it … ? Yes, he/she/it was.
No, he/she/it wasn’t.
Were we/you/they … ? Yes, we/you/they were. No,
we/you/they weren’t.
Was/Were there … ? Yes, there was/were. No
there wasn’t/weren’t.
• we use there was/wasn’t with singular nouns
There was a lot of space in the gym.
• the regular past simple ending is -ed
travel  traveled, surf  surfed
• many common verbs are irregular (see the irregular
verb list on page 80)
go  went, have  had
Negative
I/You didn’t (did not) find
He/She/It didn’t (did not) find
We/You/They didn’t (did not) find

• we use there were/there weren’t with plural nouns • we use didn’t (did not) before the verb to form the
There weren’t any stores open last night. negative
We didn’t see the Tower of London on our trip.
could Questions Short answers
• we use could for ability and possibility in the past Did I/you eat? Yes, I/you did.
She could ride a bike when she was four years old. No, I/you didn’t.

• The form is the same for all subject pronouns
I could play the piano when I was young.
She could ride a horse when she was three.
They could speak German when they were five.
• The negative form of could is couldn’t (could not)
He couldn’t swim until he was ten.
• We never use to after could/couldn’t
Past time expressions
• we often use time expressions with the simple past
I wasn’t at school yesterday.
It was their birthday party a week ago.
Did he/she/it eat? Yes, he/she/it did.
No, he/she/it didn’t.
Did we/you/they eat? Yes, we/you/they did.
No, we/you/they didn’t.
• we use did + subject + base form to make questions
Did they go to the Natural History Museum?
used to
• we use used to to talk about states in the past
I used to be scared of spiders but now I quite like them.
• we also use used to to talk about habits in the past
My uncle used to work in a store but now he works at
home.
• we only use used to in the simple past
• after used to we write the verb in the base form
• the negative form of used to is didn’t use to
You didn’t use to live in Spain.
• the question form of used to is Did + subject + use to
+ base form
Did they use to live on a lake?

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 Grammar practice 2

(there) was/were Past time expressions

1 Complete the sentences with was, were, 4 Choose the correct option.
wasn’t or weren’t. 1 We moved houses last/in the last year.
1 My friends weren’t at the party last night. 2 Our cousin sailed around Mallorca in/on 2018.
(–) 3 I read a book on the Aztecs for three months
2 I in Hong Kong last summer. (+) ago/three months ago.
3 There any sandwiches left after 4 I forgot it was John’s birthday in/on Friday.
lunch. (–) 5 They went shopping the last/last week.
4 After his tennis match he very tired. 6 Did he win his game yesterday/the last day?
(+)
5 My friend at school today
because she felt sick. (–)
Simple past
6 There lots of young children at the 5 Complete the sentences with the simple past
show (+) of the verbs in parentheses.
1 We watched a great show on TV last night.
2 Order the words to make sentences and
(watch)
questions.
2 She skiing in Canada over
1 you / asleep / were / at / midnight ?
Christmas. (go)
Were you asleep at midnight?
3 You home until quite late last night.
2 yesterday / was / it / cold ? (not come)
 4 They the mountain last weekend
3 was / he / for his / doctor’s appointment / late due to bad weather. (not climb)
 5 you pancakes for
4 there / a city / was / on a lake / in 1300 ? breakfast? (have)
 6 Complete the text with the simple past of the
5 successful / the Aztecs / town planners / were verbs in parentheses.
 César Barrón 1 was (be) a Mexican wrestler.
6 Montezuma / emperor / was / of the Aztecs ? He 2 (have) two brothers and a sister.
 He 3 (not live) in Mexico all the time
because of his job. He 4 (travel) to
other countries such as the USA and Japan. His stage
could name 5 (be) Silver King. He
3 Complete the sentences with could or couldn’t 6 (not be) an actor but he
and the verbs. 7 (play) a wrestler in the movie
Nacho Libre with Jack Black.
eat go play sing speak walk
used to
1 She could play the violin when she was seven.
(+) 7 Complete the sentences with used to or didn’t
2 We Spanish and English when we use to and the verbs in the box.
were four. (+)
be like love play watch
3 He for a walk because it was raining.
(–) 1 I used to love cartoons, but now I find them
4 They cakes because they were on a boring.
special diet. (–) 2 When I was ten I the piano every day.
5 I all the Madonna songs when I 3 My grandmother TV because she
was at school. (+) didn’t have one.
6 She to school when she lived in 4 There only five channels on TV.
Edinburgh. (+)
5 My dad reading books on an
eReader but now he thinks it’s great.

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3 Grammar reference

Past progressive Simple past and

Affirmative Negative past progressive
I was working. I wasn’t (was not) working. • we often use the past progressive with the simple
You were playing You weren’t (were not) past in the same sentence
games. playing games. I was biking in the park when I had an accident.
He/She/It was sleeping. He/She/It wasn’t (was not)
sleeping.
• we use the past progressive to describe activities
which were in progress
We/You/They were We/You/They weren’t (were
I was biking in the park …
taking photos. not) taking photos.

• we use the past progressive to describe activities in

• we use the simple past to describe an action which
interrupted the activity
progress at a specific time in the past
when I had an accident.
I was practicing the piano at four o’clock yesterday
afternoon.
when and while
• we use subject + was/were + verb -ing
• we use when before the simple past and while before
He was watching TV until 11 o’clock last night.
the past progressive
• we use not to form the negative She was washing the dishes when she broke a plate.
She wasn’t listening to music earlier. While she was washing the dishes, she broke a plate.
Yes/No questions Short answers
Was I wearing a hat? Yes, you were.
No, you weren’t.
Were you having lunch? Yes, I was.
No, I wasn’t.
Was he/she/it walking? Yes, she/he/it was.
No, she/he/it wasn’t.
Were we/you/they Yes, we/you/they were.
eating? No, we/you/they weren’t.

• in yes/no questions we use was/were before the

subject
Were you carrying the camera yesterday?
Was Nina working yesterday?
• we don’t repeat the verb -ing in short answers
Were they talking in class?
No, they weren’t.
Was it raining yesterday?
Yes, it was.
• with wh- questions the word order is wh- question
word + was/were + subject + verb -ing
What were they talking about?
Where was she staying in Paris?

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 Grammar practice 3

Past progressive Simple past and

1 Complete the sentences with the past past progressive
progressive form of the verbs in the box. 4 Choose the correct options.
cook listen not drive not walk 1 You were visiting/visited your friend when
read ski watch I saw/was seeing you last week.
2 My friends weren’t doing/didn’t do their
1 I was reading a science fiction story in bed at homework when I called them last night.
10:00 pm.
3 You wore/were wearing that dress when I saw
2 My friends down the mountain. you at Nick’s party last week.
3 My sister the car, my mom was. 4 While I waited/was waiting at the train station
4 You to Adele’s new album. I was noticing/noticed this ad.
5 My dad dinner for the whole family. 5 I carried/was carrying the shopping bags when
6 We very fast so it took a long time I dropped/was dropping the eggs.
to climb the hill. 6 Were you walking/Did you walk home when
7 Carlos vloggers online. I saw you?

2 Order the words to make yes/no questions. 5 Correct one mistake in each of the sentences.
Then write short answers. 1 Was Jason swim in the afternoon?
1 in the afternoon / was / surfing / Jamie (+) Was Jason swimming in the afternoon?
Was Jamie surfing in the afternoon? Yes, he was. 2 Rafa was study in the library.
2 texting / Nina / at 4:00 pm / was / you (–) 
3 We didn’t feeling well after lunch.
3 you / were / sleeping / at 8:00 am / yesterday (+) 
4 What were you do yesterday afternoon?
4 Grant and Archie / hockey / playing / at 12 o’clock 
/ yesterday / were (–) 5 Did you making dinner when I called you?

5 your cousin / visiting / was / last weekend (+) 6 You weren’t dance all night at the party.

6 were / at 9:00 am / you / making breakfast (–) 7 You were went on vacation to Rome last month.

3 Write complete questions with the
past progressive. when and while
1 what / music / you / listen to 6 Complete the sentences with when or while.
What music were you listening to? 1 I was dancing with Rick when the music
2 where / they / travel to stopped.
2 They heard loud music they were
3 who / the teacher / talk to walking in the city center.
3 I was cleaning my room, I found the
tickets.
4 what / you / eat / last night
4 I was talking to Sara the teacher
came in.
5 where / she / fly to
5 My mom met some good bands
she was organizing the festival.
6 who / use / the computer / last night 6 my brother got home, my parents
were sleeping.

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4 Grammar reference

Quantifiers: a lot of (lots of), Comparative and superlative

some, any, not much/many adjectives
• we use some, any, a lot of (lots of ), much and many to Syllables Adjective Comparative Superlative
talk about quantities of things
One short shorter the shortest
• we use some in affirmative sentences with plural Two windy windier the windiest
countable nouns and uncountable nouns to talk ending -y
about a medium quantity
Two or comfortable more the most
We have some time so we don’t need to hurry. more comfortable comfortable
• we use a lot of (lots of) in affirmative sentences with Irregular good better the best
plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns to talk bad worse the worst
about a large quantity far farther/further the farthest/
Phil has a lot of different ideas about the trip. furthest

• we use many in negative sentences with plural
countable nouns to talk about a small quantity
They don't have many books to choose from.
• we use much in negative sentences with uncountable
nouns to talk about a small quantity
The children don’t get much of an allowance.
• we use comparative adjectives to compare two things,
places or people
• we form comparative adjectives by adding -er to
adjectives with one syllable or -ier to adjectives with
two syllables ending in -y
This house is prettier than the last one.

• we use any in negative sentences with plural
countable nouns and uncountable nouns to talk
about zero quantity
We didn’t get any allowance when we were young.
• we also use any in questions about quantity
Do you have any old clothes to donate?
too much/many, (not) enough
• we use too much/many to say we have more than
necessary
There are too many people in here.
You gave me too much money, please take some back.
• We use enough to talk about the right amount of
something
I think we have enough water for the hike.
• We use not enough to say we have less than we want
of something
He doesn't have enough money to pay for a taxi.
• for adjectives with more than one syllable, we usually
use more + adjective
The train is more comfortable than the bus.
• we use than after the comparative adjective
Berlin is colder than Barcelona.
• we use superlative adjectives to compare more than
two things, places or people
• we form superlatives by adding -est to adjectives with
one syllable or -iest to adjectives with two syllables
ending in -y
Adam is the shortest person in the family.
• For adjectives with more than one syllable, we use
most + adjective
This is the most important book you will read this term.
• we use the before superlative adjectives and we use in
after the adjective
This is the smallest table in the school.
• good, bad and far are irregular adjectives and they
have different comparative and superlative forms
This school is better than that one. My school is the best
in the city.

(not) as + adjective + as
• we use as + adjective + as to say that two things are
similar to each other
New York is as big as London.
• We use the structure not as + adjective + as to say that
something is less than something else
This chocolate cake is not as expensive as the vanilla cake.

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 Grammar practice 4

Quantifiers Comparative and superlative

1 Complete the sentences with a lot of, many, adjectives
much, some or any. 4 Write the comparative and superlative form
1 I don’t spend much time shopping of the adjective.
because it’s boring.
1 small smaller smallest
2 We never buy clothes online, we
2 big
prefer going to the stores.
3 cheap
3 I have money I can lend you.
4 busy
4 This art gallery doesn't have
pictures to look at, so we won’t be long. 5 expensive
5 You have seven bags of shopping! You bought 6 sunny
food at the supermarket! 7 difficult
6 We don't have money, so let’s just 8 heavy
get a sandwich for lunch. 9 good
7 Is there food left for me? 10 bad

2 Choose the correct option. 5 Write complete sentences with the correct
1 We have some/any/much laptops in our form of the adjective.
classroom. 1 my shoes / comfortable / my boots
2 My printer doesn't have any/many/some paper My shoes are more comfortable than my boots.
in it.
2 a salad / healthy / a burger
3 We have five bags of pasta – that’s some/a lot of/

many pasta!
3 cheetahs / fast / humans
4 Do you have lot of/many/much things to buy?

5 Are there some/much/any cookies in the
cupboard? 4 the blue whale / big / animal in the ocean
6 My phone battery doesn’t have many/some/ 
much charge left. 5 I think / a Bugatti / beautiful / car / in the world
7 Can I have some/much/many water? 
6 we / good / students / in our school
too much/many, (not) 

enough
(not) as + adjective + as
3 Complete the sentences with too much/many
or (not) enough. 6 Rewrite the sentences using (not) as … as.
1 I don’t like it here, it’s too busy and there are 1 A movie ticket is cheaper than a theater ticket.
too many people. A movie ticket is not as expensive as a
2 There are ten people and eight sandwiches. There theater ticket.
are sandwiches. 2 Glasgow is colder than Madrid in the summer.
3 We can’t stay here, this hotel costs Glasgow is
money. 3 Alex and James are very similar in intelligence.
4 There is time to catch the four Alex is
o’clock train. We’ll have to wait until five o’clock.
4 The red shoes are $20 and the black shoes are
5 I don’t know which one to buy, there are $20. They are both cheap.
to choose from.
The red shoes are
6 Do you have money to buy that?
5 The movie Captain Marvel was less successful than
7 I don’t drink water. the movie Avengers: Endgame.
8 $100 is money for a sweater so I The movie Captain Marvel was
won’t buy it.

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