Guess What Grammar and Vocabulary Cheat Sheets
Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives) 4
Adverb or Adjective 6
Adverbs of Frequency 8
Agreement 11
Body Parts 14
Capital Cities of the World 15
Capital Letters 19
Cities 21
Comparatives and Superlatives 24
Composite Adjectives 26
Count and Noncount Nouns 27
Do-Have-Make-Take 31
Either-Neither-So-Too 41
Even Though 43
Famous People 44
Future Clauses 45
How 47
If/Unless 48
Inventions 50
Measurement 52
Modern Library Top 100 Novels 53
Movies: AFI's Top 100 U.S. Films 55
Negatives 57
Numbers 1-20 60
Opposites 61
Other 64
Passive Mode 67
Past (Irregular Past/Past Part.) 68
Past Perfect 70
Plurals 71
Prepositions (in, on, at, to) 74
Present Perfect 75
Presidents of the United States 77
Pronouns and Possessives 78
Questions (Direct) 79
Questions (Indirect, a.k.a. Noun Clauses) 82
Relative Clauses 83
Reported Speech 86
Short Answers 91
Short Answers 93
Should Have 94
Spelling Rules 95
Spelling Demons 97
Spelling GH 101
State Capitals 102
Synonyms 103
Tags 105
Two-Word Verbs (a.k.a. Phrasal Verbs) 107
Unreal 108
Verb + Base Form 110
Verb + Gerund 112
Verb + Infinitive 114
Verbs/Adjectives + Prep 116
Weigh 119
Wish and Hope 120
USING GUESS WHAT
Guess What Instructions 121
Guess What Requirements 125
Guess What Menu of Exercises 126
Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives)
Some adjectives are confusing because they have two forms:
amazed/amazing
annoyed/annoying
bored/boring
confused/confusing
convinced/convincing
fascinated/fascinating
frightened/frightening
interested/interesting
shocked/shocking
surprised/surprising
tired/tiring
These adjectives come from verbs:
That man AMAZES me. He can lift 2000 pounds!
The children ANNOY me whenever they scream loudly.
His speech IS BORING me now. His subject DOESN'T INTEREST me. It tires me!
These instructions CONFUSE me. I can't understand them.
His argument is stupid. It doesn't CONVINCE me that he's right.
Insects FASCINATE me. I want to read everything I can about them!
That big dog is beginning to FRIGHTEN me. Look at its big teeth!
He SHOCKED me with his dirty language! What bad manners he showed!
You SURPRISED me when you showed up without calling first.
Whenever a thing, action or person causes a feeling in people, we give them
an -ING adjective:
He lifted a car! He's an AMAZING man. (He amazes me with his strength.)
The children are very ANNOYING. (They annoy other people around them.)
This is such a BORING class. (The class bores me. It doesn't interest me.)
Long walks are TIRING. (Long walks tire me. Hard work tires me.)
Whenever a person feels something because of something (or someone) else,
we give them an -ED adjective:
I'm AMAZED by that man. (That's how I feel after seeing him lift a car.)
I'm getting ANNOYED by my kids. (I feel a little angry when they annoy me.)
I'm BORED by this class. (I feel tired, disinterested. The class is dull.)
I'm TIRED after this long walk. (Exercise makes me feel this way.)
The situation: I feel It is
I spilled water on my pants. embarrassed embarrassing
My pants fell down in front of the class. humiliated humiliating
I want to learn about this new computer. interested interesting
This is a new and wonderful computer! fascinated fascinating
This TV show isn't saying anything new. bored boring
He's been talking about algebra for hours!! bored to death deadly boring
I've been working all day. tired tiring
I've been running for three miles! exhausted exhausting
Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives) (cont.)
The situation: I feel It is
This big dog is growling at me! scared scary
The hurricane is going to hit our city!! frightened frightening
This man-eating shark has enormous teeth!!! terrified terrifying
This fly keeps buzzing around my head. annoyed annoying
I lost my favorite hat! upset upsetting
My daughter didn't clean her room!! angry, mad maddening
The dog did its mess on the carpet!!! furious infuriating
I can't understand the instructions. confused confusing
I don't know why my wife is mad at me. perplexed perplexing
I can't pass the test after trying 2 times. frustrated frustrating
I can't pass the test after trying 6 times! discouraged discouraging
He's picking his nose in public! disgusted disgusting
The man is doing number two on the street!! repulsed repulsive
Women were tortured and raped in the war!!! horrified horrifying
He told a good joke that made me laugh. amused amusing, funny
This show made me laugh until my sides hurt! in hysterics hysterical
The show was fun to watch. entertained entertaining
She was pregnant and had twins (two babies). surprised surprising
She was pregnant and had quintuplets (five)! amazed amazing
She won $25 million in the lottery!! astonished astonishing
astounded astounding
He shot and killed his wife!!! shocked shocking
His argument is strong. He has good reasons. convinced convincing
His argument is weak. He has no proof. unconvinced unconvincing
The dinner was big and delicious. satisfied satisfying
I didn't enjoy the dinner. It wasn't tasty. disappointed disappointing
My favorite goldfish died last night! sad sad
My dog was run over by a car!! depressed depressing
My son died in an auto accident!!! devastated devastating
I got an A on my sociology test. happy happy
I'm going to ride the roller coaster today! excited exciting
I'm going to meet the company president! delighted delightful
My wife is going to have a baby!!! thrilled thrilling
The teacher says my English is improving. encouraged encouraging
I heard Martin Luther King's speech! inspired inspiring
My son isn't home and it's after midnight. worried worrisome
My daughter doesn't eat much anymore. troubled troubling
I'm going to take my driving test today. nervous nerve-wracking
Adverb or Adjective
Adjectives describe a noun (a person, place or thing).
They come after the verb BE:
He is HUNGRY.
She was ANGRY yesterday.
He is being NAUGHTY right now.
Have you ever been so SAD that you couldn't eat?
Don't be MAD at me.
They also go before nouns:
She's a very PRETTY girl.
He used to be a GOOD driver.
I want you all to be CAREFUL workers.
Adjectives come after some other verbs, especially SEEM, FEEL, and LOOK:
She seems HAPPY.
He feels SICK.
He looks ANGRY.
Adverbs describe a verb. They tell HOW an action is performed.
Most adverbs are formed by adding LY to an adjective:
He sings LOUDLY. (He is a LOUD singer.)
She drives CAREFULLY. (She is a CAREFUL driver.)
He does his work CARELESSLY. We have to fire that CARELESS man!
Speak HONESTLY. Tell me HONESTLY how you feel. Be HONEST.
Some adverbs do not have LY. They have the same form as the adjective:
He drives FAST. He's a FAST driver.
He speaks LOW. He has a LOW voice. (LOWLY means poor or low class.)
He works HARD. He's a HARD worker.
HARDLY is completely different from HARD.
It means "almost nothing" or "almost not at all" as in:
I was so sick I could HARDLY eat. (I had trouble eating.)
We could HARDLY believe our ears! (We were very surprised!)
You're HARDLY the man for the job. (You are NOT suitable for it.)
Three words beginning with Q often cause problems for learners:
quick/quickly
quiet/quietly
quite
QUICK is FAST:
Work QUICKLY and you will finish sooner. Be QUICK!
QUIET is SILENT:
Play QUIETLY, please. I have a headache. Be QUIET!
QUITE means VERY or COMPLETELY:
I don't QUITE understand you. (I don't understand completely.)
Adverb or Adjective (cont.)
I'm not QUITE ready. (I'm not completely ready.)
She's QUITE beautiful. (very beautiful)
He's QUITE angry with you. (very angry)
If an adjective ends in Y, change the Y to I before adding LY:
happy happily
She's a HAPPY girl. She plays HAPPILY all day long!
noisy noisily
He's a NOISY boy. He plays so NOISILY that he gives me a headache.
hungry hungrily
He was very HUNGRY. He looked HUNGRILY at the big meal on the table.
merry merrily
MERRY Christmas! We're singing MERRILY all night!
In addition to describing a verb, an adverb can describe an adjective.
It tells HOW MUCH or to what degree the adjective is true.
He is VERY aggressive. (VERY is an adverb describing aggressive.)
She is AWFULLY talented. (AWFULLY means VERY.)
I'm SO mad that I want to scream. (SO is usually used with THAT.)
I'm not COMPLETELY ready. (COMPLETELY tells HOW ready the speaker is.)
You are REALLY careless! (REALLY tells HOW careless.)
COMPLETELY and REALLY can be used before verbs, but VERY isn't generally
used before verbs:
CORRECT: I REALLY love that movie. I REALLY adore Leo DiCaprio!
INCORRECT: *I VERY love that movie. *I VERY adore Leo DiCaprio!
CORRECT: I COMPLETELY agree with her. She's right.
INCORRECT: *I VERY agree with her.
You can use VERY MUCH before a verb, or at the end of the sentence.
CORRECT: I VERY MUCH enjoy a trip to the country!
CORRECT: I enjoy a trip to the country VERY MUCH.
CORRECT: I REALLY enjoy a trip to the country!
INCORRECT: *I VERY enjoy a trip to the country.
Americans tend to use REALLY more than VERY MUCH, especially before
LOVE, LIKE, and HATE:
I REALLY love him. I REALLY hate the subway. I REALLY like that class.
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The adverb form of GOOD is WELL:
He's a GOOD dancer. He dances WELL, and he acts WELL, too.
WELL can be used before past participles that are used as adjectives:
This is a WELL MADE chair. The play was WELL WRITTEN.
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of Frequency
Adverbs of frequency tell how often somebody is, feels or does something.
The most common ones are:
adverb relative frequency
always 100%
almost always 99%
usually 80%
often 60%
sometimes 40%
occasionally 30%
seldom (rarely) 20%
almost never 1%
never 0%
(These numbers don't mean anything;
they just give a general idea of "how often.")
In general, adverbs of frequency go before a verb,
except after an auxiliary verb.
regular verbs
He USUALLY TAKES his son to the park on Sundays.
I SOMETIMES EAT with my sister.
She NEVER COMES on time.
We ALMOST NEVER TAKE lunch to work with us.
auxiliary verbs
He IS USUALLY at the park with his son.
I WAS SOMETIMES angry with my sister when I was young.
She WILL NEVER be on time.
We HAVE ALMOST ALWAYS seen her on the weekends.
HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when used with past participles:
I HAVE ALWAYS PLAYED baseball on Saturday afternoons.
She HAS NEVER BEEN to France.
We HAD ALWAYS SPOKEN Spanish before we moved to England.
HAVE, HAS and HAD are regular verbs when not used with past participles:
I ALWAYS HAVE trouble with my math homework.
She NEVER HAS fun at the beach.
We ALWAYS HAD to clean the house after we had a party.
Adverbs of Frequency (cont.)
DO, DOES, and DID are auxiliary verbs only when used in questions or negatives:
DID you finish the project on time?
He DIDN'T like the dinner, so he DIDN'T eat it.
In other cases, DO, DOES and DID are regular verbs:
He NEVER DOES his homework for that class.
I ALWAYS DID the dishes when I was young.
They SOMETIMES DO their office work at home.
In questions, the adverb of frequency goes after the subject:
Did YOU ALWAYS do the dishes when you were younger?
Is HE OFTEN absent from class?
Are YOU USUALLY on time for work?
The adverb EVER is used in questions to mean "at any time" in your life:
Will SHE EVER finish this paper?
Has HE EVER been to France?
Can YOU EVER forgive me for what I've done to you?
Do YOU EVER go to scary movies, or only romantic ones?
SOMETIMES, OFTEN and USUALLY can also be used as the beginning of a sentence.
Sometimes I was angry with my sister when I was young.
Often, I eat with my sister.
Usually, I'm at the park with my son.
(You don't have to put a comma after Sometimes, but you may.)
THE OTHER ADVERBS SHOULD NOT BEGIN A SENTENCE!
Wrong *Seldom I go to church. *Always he eats alone.
Right I seldom go to church. He always eats alone.
Wrong *Never I eat meat.
Right I never eat meat.
Wrong *Always she's in church.
Right She's always in church.
Adverbs of Frequency (cont.)
If the auxiliary is negative, the adverb of frequency can go before or after it
(sometimes in either position).
Each case is different and must be learned from examples.
okay We USUALLY DON'T take our dog with us to the store.
okay We DON'T USUALLY take our dog with us to the store.
not okay *We always can't understand him.
(Say, "We CAN NEVER understand him.")
okay We CAN'T ALWAYS understand him.
okay We OFTEN CAN'T understand the teacher.
okay We CAN'T OFTEN understand the teacher.
okay He ISN'T ALWAYS on time for class.
not okay *He always isn't on time for class.
(Say, "He's NEVER on time for class.")
(When in doubt, you are probably safer putting the adverb
after the negative auxiliary verb.)
Some other adverbs follow the same position rules as the adverbs of frequency.
The most common ones are
probably
most likely (=probably)
all
both
also
He PROBABLY FOUND that in the garbage.
She MOST LIKELY SPEAKS fluent Spanish.
They ALL ENJOYED themselves at the game.
We BOTH KNOW the president.
She sings, and she ALSO DANCES.
I AM PROBABLY not going to be on time tomorrow.
He WILL MOST LIKELY take the train to Boston.
You MUST ALL come on time for class every day.
They CAN BOTH cook.
She's a singer, and she's ALSO a dancer.
ALL and BOTH can also be part of a subject:
ALL OF THE STUDENTS came today.
OR ALL THE STUDENTS came today.
OR The students ALL CAME today.
BOTH OF MY PARENTS are dead.
OR BOTH MY PARENTS are dead.
OR My parents ARE BOTH dead.
Agreement
Subject-Verb Agreement (Plural/Singular)
Singular subjects (except for I and YOU) always need an S on the
present-tense verbs that accompany them:
He SELLS furniture.
She LIVES in Detroit.
This TAKES time.
It RAINS a lot in Seattle.
Plural subjects, and the pronouns I and YOU, have no S on the
present-tense verbs that accompany them:
They SELL furniture.
I LIVE in Chicago.
You TAKE too much for granted.
Some auxiliary verbs that are present or future tense have no S:
can He can swim.
must She must study.
should It should take an hour.
will Bob will eat with us.
might Sandra might come too.
ought The dog ought to stay outside.
may My son may arrive soon.
Other auxiliary verbs have an S in the present:
does DOES he like pizza?
has HAS she seen that movie yet?
is IS Bob coming to your party?
was WAS Sheila at the meeting?
No verbs have a final S in the past tense!
He SOLD furniture.
They SOLD furniture.
She LIVED in Chicago.
They LIVED in Chicago.
DID he like the show?
DID they like the show?
Pronouns that are created by adding -ONE, -BODY or -THING to
NO-, ANY-, SOME-, EVERY- are ALL SINGULAR. (They are also written
as one word, except for NO ONE, which is two words.)
Nobody LOVES me.
DOES anyone like pizza?
Something SMELLS funny in here.
Everyone HATES a crowded subway on a hot day.
Agreement (cont.)
EACH and EVERY are always singular:
EACH boy and girl WANTS candy. EVERY man and woman NEEDS good health.
Prepositional phrases may modify (describe) a subject of a sentence, but
prepositional phrases are almost never the subject!
The BOY WITH THE MARBLES IS going to play with me.
(BOY is the subject of IS, "with the marbles" is a prepositional phrase.)
The PURPOSE OF THESE PAPERS IS to inform you.
(PURPOSE is the subject of IS, "of these papers" is a prepositional phrases.)
With OR, the subject is the thing or person AFTER the OR:
Either the boys or Mary IS going to cook dinner.
(MARY is the subject.)
Either Mary or the boys ARE going to cook dinner.
(THE BOYS is the subject.)
In America, NONE usually agrees with whatever it is talking about.
NONE of the fruit TASTES good.
(FRUIT is singular, so NONE is singular.)
NONE of the pears TASTE good.
(PEARS is plural, so NONE is plural.)
PERCENT agrees with whatever it is talking about.
FIFTY PERCENT of the fruit IS rotten.
FIFTY PERCENT of the pears ARE rotten.
SOME can be singular or plural.
SOME of the fruit IS rotten.
SOME of the apples ARE rotten.
Relative pronouns agree with whatever they are referring to.
This is the box of apples that IS broken. (THAT refers to the BOX.)
This is the box of apples that ARE rotten. (THAT refers to the APPLES.)
Dishes (prepared food), amounts of money and amounts of time are usually
singular:
Rice with scallops IS my favorite dish at that restaurant.
Forty-five dollars IS too much to spend on a radio.
Seven weeks IS a long time to wait for a package.
Some plural nouns don't have an S, such as CHILDREN, PEOPLE, MEN, WOMEN,
DEER, FISH, GEESE, MICE and some others. See information on PLURALS for
a more complete list.
Some singular nouns end in S, like NEWS and CRISIS.
Agreement (cont.)
In questions that begin with WHO or WHAT as the subject of the question,
the verb is usually singular:
WHO IS coming to your party?
WHAT MAKES you so nervous?
In America, collective nouns are generally treated as singular even
though they refer to more than one:
The COUPLE over there SEEMS happy. (The PARTNERS SEEM happy.)
The GROUP IS being formed. (The MEMBERS ARE coming together.)
The FAMILY LIVES together. (The RELATIVES LIVE together.)
THERE IS or THERE ARE will be used depending on the FIRST item
in the list:
THERE IS a dog and three cats in that house.
THERE ARE three cats and a dog in that house.
A gerund (-ING form) is often used as a subject.
Gerunds are the form used in English to make a noun from a verb:
She SWIMS every day. (SWIMS is a verb.)
SWIMMING is her favorite activity. (SWIMMING is a noun.)
Gerunds are ALWAYS singular.
SWIMMING HAS always been my favorite sport.
RAISING a child TAKES patience and love.
BUILDING a bridge REQUIRES engineering expertise.
LOVING you IS easy because you're beautiful.
ONE OF is always followed by a plural, but ONE is the SINGULAR subject
(not the prepositional phrase beginning with OF + Plural):
ONE of my friends IS coming to see me.
ONE of the cities WAS invaded by Hannibal.
ONE of the children WANTS to eat dinner now.
ONE of the secretaries NEEDS a new computer.
ONE of the hardest things about the job IS dealing with the boss.
Notice how, in each case, ONE is follow by OF + PLURAL:
one OF MY FRIENDS
one OF THE CITIES
one OF THE CHILDREN
one OF THE SECRETARIES
one OF THE HARDEST THINGS
ONE OF must ALWAYS be followed by a plural!
ONE OF must ALWAYS be followed by a plural!!
ONE OF must ALWAYS be followed by a plural!!!
Body Parts
Parts of the Head
| | | | | | | |
head |__ hair ____|___|___|__|
| |
| forehead |
| |
| eyebrow eyebrow |
| |
face | eye-eyelid eye-eyelid| ear
| |
| eyelashes eyelashes | earlobe
| |
| cheek nose cheek |
| |
| mouth/lips/teeth |
| |
|___________chin_________|
| |
| neck |
Parts of the Body
| |
/-- shoulder--| |---shoulder---\
/ | | \
/ arm | (back) | \
/ | | \
/ | chest | \
/ | |
/elbow | x x |
\ | |
\ | |
\ | |
-wrist | |
hand | |
fingers - liver stomach |
thumb pinky | |
|| | | navel |
|| | | x |
thumbnail nail | |
|-- waist----waist---waist-
Parts of the Lower Body
------------------------
| waist waist |
| |
| (behind) |
| |
| leg / |
| / |
| / |
| \ |
\ \ |
\ \ |
\ \ knee |
| | |
ankle |
\___|________
| \== big toe
| foot -
heel |_____________- toes
Capital Cities of the World
Afghanistan---Kabul
Albania---Tirane
Algeria---Algiers
American Samoa---Pago Pago
Andorra---Andorra La Vella
Angola---Luanda
Antigua & Barbuda---Saint John's
Argentina---Buenos Aires
Aruba---Oranjestad
Australia---Canberra
Austria---Vienna
Bahamas---Nassau
Bahrain---Manama
Bangladesh---Dacca
Barbados---Bridgetown
Belgium---Brussels
Belize---Belmopan
Benin---Porto Novo
Bermuda---Hamilton
Bhutan---Thimphu
Bolivia---La Paz
Botswana---Gaborone
Brazil---Brasilia
Brunei---Bandar Seri Begawan
Bulgaria---Sofia
Burkina Faso---Ouagadougou
Burundi---Bujumbura
Cambodia---Phnom Penh
Cameroon---Yaounde
Canada---Ottawa
Cape Verde---Praia
Cayman Islands---George Town
Central African Rep.---Bangui
Chad---N'djamena
Chile---Santiago
China---Beijing
Colombia---Bogota
Comoros---Moroni
Congo---Brazzaville
Costa Rica---San Jos‚
Cote D'ivoire---Abidjan
Cuba---Havana
Cyprus---Nicosia
Czechoslovakia---Prague
Denmark---Copenhagen
Djibouti---Djibouti
Dominica---Roseau
Dominican Republic---Santo Domingo
Ecuador---Quito
Egypt---Cairo
El Salvador---San Salvador
Capital Cities of the World (cont.)
Equatorial Guinea---Malabo
Ethiopia---Addis Ababa
Falkland Islands---Stanley
Fiji---Suva
Finland---Helsinki
France---Paris
French Guiana---Cayenne
French Polynesia---Papette
Gabon---Libreville
Gambia---Banjul
Ghana---Accra
Greece---Athens
Greenland---Nuuk
Grenada---Saint George's
Guadeloupe---Basse-Terre
Guam---Agana
Guatemala---Guatemala City
Guinea---Conakry
Guinea-Bissau---Bissau
Guyana---Georgetown
Haiti---Port-au-Prince
Honduras---Tegucigalpa
Hong Kong---Victoria
Hungary---Budapest
Iceland---Reykjavik
India---New Delhi
Indonesia---Jakarta
Iran---Tehran
Iraq---Baghdad
Ireland---Dublin
Israel---Jerusalem
Italy---Rome
Jamaica---Kingston
Japan---Tokyo
Jordan---Amman
Kenya---Nairobi
Kiribati---Bonriki
Kuwait---Kuwait
Laos---Vientiane
Lebanon---Beirut
Lesotho---Maseru
Liberia---Monrovia
Libya---Tripoli
Liechtenstein---Vaduz
Luxembourg---Luxembourg
Macau---Macau
Madagascar---Antananarivo
Malawi---Lilongwe
Malaysia---Kuala Lumpur
Maldives---Male
Mali---Bamako
Malta---Valletta
Martinique---Fort-de-France
Mauritania---Nouakchott
Capital Cities of the World (cont.)
Mauritius---Port Louis
Mexico---Mexico City
Monaco---Monaco
Mongolia---Ulan-Bator
Morocco---Rabat
Mozambique---Maputo
Myanmar---Yangon
Namibia---Windhoek
Nauru---Yaren
Nepal---Kathmandu
Netherlands---Amsterdam
Netherlands Antilles---Willemstad
New Caledonia---Noumea
New Zealand---Wellington
Nicaragua---Managua
Niger---Niamey
Nigeria---Lagos
North Korea---Pyongyang
Norway---Oslo
Oman---Muscat
Pakistan---Islamabad
Panama---Panama City
Papua New Guinea---Port Moresby
Paraguay---Asuncion
Peru---Lima
Philippines---Manila
Poland---Warsaw
Portugal---Lisbon
Puerto Rico---San Juan
Qatar---Doha
Reunion---Saint-Denis
Romania---Bucharest
Russia---Moscow
Rwanda---Kigali
Saint Kitts-Nevis---Basseterre
Saint Lucia---Castries
Saint Vincent---Kingstown
San Marino---San Marino
Sao Tome & Principe---Sao Tome
Saudi Arabia---Riyadh
Senegal---Dakar
Seychelles---Victoria
Sierra Leone---Freetown
Singapore---Singapore City
Solomon Islands---Honiara
Somalia---Mogadishu
South Africa---Pretoria
South Korea---Seoul
Spain---Madrid
Sri Lanka---Colombo
Sudan---Khartoum
Suriname---Paramaribo
Capital Cities of the World (cont.)
Swaziland---Mbabane
Sweden---Stockholm
Switzerland---Bern
Syria---Damascus
Taiwan---Taipei
Tanzania---Dar Es Salaam
Thailand---Bangkok
Togo---Lome
Tonga---Nuku'alofa
Trinidad & Tobago---Port-of-Spain
Tunisia---Tunis
Turkey---Ankara
Tuvalu---Funafuti
Uganda---Kampala
United Arab Emirates---Abu Dhabi
United Germany---Berlin
United Kingdom---London
Uruguay---Montevideo
USA---Washington D.C.
Vanuatu---Port Vila
Venezuela---Caracas
Vietnam---Hanoi
Virgin Islands UK---Road Town
Virgin Islands US---Charlotte Amalie
Western Sahara---Laayoune
Western Samoa---Apia
Yemen---Sanaa
Yugoslavia---Belgrade
Zaire---Kinshasa
Zambia---Lusaka
Zimbabwe---Harare
Capital Letters
Rules for Capital Letters
USE capital letters for
1. titles (all words except short prepositions and articles)
The Land of the Lost (The is capital as a 1st word)
Rules for Capital Letters (FOR is a short preposition)
A Moon for the Misbegotten (A is capital as a 1st word)
Freshman Seminar 101 (the title of a college course)
Police Find Body in River (IN is a short preposition)
Why I Am Coming to School (TO is a short preposition)
2. names of people, places, companies, institutions, holidays,
nationalities, languages and brand names
Richard Shur is younger than Bill Clinton.
New York City is a big city. Fifth Avenue is a long avenue.
42nd Street is a dirty street.
LaGuardia Community College is a two-year college.
Roosevelt Hospital is a good hospital.
The Rocky Mountains are in the United States.
I saw the Coit Tower and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Chinese New Year, Christmas Eve, Valentine's Day
I have some Japanese friends who speak Spanish.
I use Ivory soap and Colgate toothpaste.
3. professional and family titles when used with names
Dr. Brown, Aunt Rhoda, Uncle Jake, Professor Shur
4. first word of a sentence and the pronoun I
She is smart, but she's lazier than I am.
5. days of the week, months
On Tuesday we have class. Our vacation is in March.
6. religions and some religious words
I'm Catholic. I love God and He loves me. I also love the Pope.
Capital Letters (cont.)
DO NOT USE capitals for
7. seasons of the year
I think spring is the nicest time of year.
8. earth-sun-moon-universe
(but capitalize other planets and stars)
The earth is near Mars and Venus. They all go around the sun.
9. jobs and professions (except as titles, as in #3, above)
I need a good doctor, but Doctor Smith isn't home.
I'm going to be an occupational therapist.
10. school subjects and majors (except names of specific courses)
I'm studying biology even though my major is computer science.
(BUT: My course is called Intro to Computer Programming II.)
11. words after a semi-colon (;)
I hate him; he's a busybody. It's hot; it's not cold.
Cities
Addis Ababa---Ethiopia
Amsterdam---Holland
Athens---Greece
Atlanta---Georgia
Atlantic City---New Jersey
Baghdad---Iraq
Baltimore---Maryland
Bangkok---Thailand
Barcelona---Spain
Beijing---China
Belgrade---Yugoslavia
Berlin---Germany
Birmingham---England
Bogota---Colombia
Bombay---India
Boston---Massachusetts
Brussels---Belgium
Bucharest---Romania
Budapest---Hungary
Buenos Aires---Argentina
Buffalo---New York
Cairo---Egypt
Calcutta---India
Cape Town---South Africa
Caracas---Venezuela
Chicago---Illinois
Cincinnati---Ohio
Cleveland---Ohio
Columbus---Ohio
Copenhagen---Denmark
Dallas---Texas
Delhi---India
Denver---Colorado
Detroit---Michigan
Dublin---Ireland
El Paso---Texas
Frankfurt---Germany
Glasgow---Scotland
Guadalajara---Mexico
Hamburg---Germany
Hartford---Connecticut
Havana---Cuba
Helsinki---Finland
Ho Chi Min City---Vietnam
Hong Kong---China
Honolulu---Hawaii
Houston---Texas
Indianapolis---Indiana
Istanbul---Turkey
Jakarta---Indonesia
Johannesburg---South Africa
Kiev---Ukraine
Cities (cont.)
Kinshasha---Zaire
Kobe---Japan
Kyoto---Japan
Lagos---Nigeria
Las Vegas---Nevada
Lima---Peru
Lisbon---Portugal
Little Rock---Arkansas
Liverpool---England
London---England
Los Angeles---California
Madrid---Spain
Manchester---England
Manila---the Philippines
Marseille---France
Medellin---Colombia
Melbourne---Australia
Mexico City---Mexico
Miami---Florida
Milan---Italy
Minneapolis---Minnesota
Montreal---Canada
Moscow---Russia
Munich---Germany
Naples---Italy
Nashville---Tennessee
New Orleans---Louisiana
New York---New York
Newark---New Jersey
Oklahoma City---Oklahoma
Osaka---Japan
Oslo---Norway
Paris---France
Philadelphia---Pennsylvania
Phoenix---Arizona
Pittsburgh---Pennsylvania
Portland---Oregon
Rangoon---Burma
Reykjavik---Iceland
Richmond---Virginia
Rio de Janeiro---Brazil
Rome---Italy
St. Louis---Missouri
St. Petersburg---Russia
San Antonio---Texas
San Diego---California
San Francisco---California
San Juan---Puerto Rico
Santa Fe---New Mexico
Santiago---Chile
Santo Domingo---the Dominican Republic
Sao Paulo---Brazil
Seattle---Washington
Cities (cont.)
Seoul---South Korea
Shanghai---China
Singapore---Singapore
Stockholm---Sweden
Sydney---Australia
Taipei---Taiwan
Tehran---Iran
Tel Aviv---Israel
Tokyo---Japan
Toronto---Canada
Vancouver---Canada
Vienna---Austria
Warsaw---Poland
Yokohama---Japan
Zurich---Switzerland
Comparatives and Superlatives
Comparative and Superlative
We use the comparative forms (ER or MORE) to make a comparison between
two things or people:
My brother is BIGGER THAN I am. He's SMARTER THAN me, too.
The winter of '96 was a SNOWIER winter THAN the winter of '97.
I have two sons. My MORE INTELLIGENT son is in college.
Sometimes we don't name the second person or thing, but we are thinking
about it, and we know the listener is thinking about it:
I'll see you LATER (than now).
Your work is getting BETTER (than your previous work).
I need a BIGGER hat (than the one I have now).
BETTER is the form that means "more good."
WORSE is the form that means "more bad."
We use the superlative forms (EST or MOST) to single out one thing or
person in a group. We use THE with the superlative:
My brother is THE BIGGEST boy in the family.
Last winter was THE SNOWIEST winter in many years.
These girls are THE MOST INTELLIGENT girls in the school.
THE BEST= "the most good." THE WORST= "the most bad."
We usually name the group or place that the superlative person or thing
is the best or most of something in. If we don't do that, we often
use the present perfect with the superlative:
He's the smartest guy in the class. (but not in the school)
That's the most beautiful sunset [that] I've ever seen!
She's the most beautiful woman in town. (but not in the world)
If you use possessive adjectives (my, his, John's), don't use THE:
She's MY OLDEST daughter. (NOT *She's the my oldest daughter.)
Somebody stole JOHN'S MOST EXPENSIVE pen. (NOT *the John's...)
Comparatives and Superlatives (cont.)
Spelling Rules for Comparative/Superlative
no. of syllables comparative superlative
------------------------------------------------------------------
1 syllable add ER add EST
fast faster than the fastest
big bigger than the biggest
-------------------------------------------------------------------
2 syllables that
end in y change Y to I and change Y to I and
add ER add EST
heavy heavier than the heaviest
snowy snowier than the snowiest
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2 syllables that
don't end in y use MORE and use THE MOST and
don't add ER! don't add EST!
modern more modern than the most common
common more common than the most modern
--------------------------------------------------------------------
3 or more syllables use MORE and use THE MOST and
don't add ER! don't add EST!
beautiful more beautiful than the most beautiful
enjoyable more enjoyable than the most enjoyable
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Composite Adjectives
Composite Adjectives
In English, we can make a hyphenated adjective with a number and a noun.
The noun after the hyphen will always be singular, NOT plural!
The Empire State Building has 102 stories.
It's a 102-story building.
Numbers below 11 should be written as words:
There are nine men on the team.
It's a nine-man team.
Two cars fit in my garage.
It's a two-car garage.
Sometimes three words are hyphenated together, especially with OLD:
My daughter is three years old.
She's a three-year-old girl.
Count and Noncount Nouns
Quantity Words
Words that tell about nouns are called adjectives, and in English,
adjectives usually don't have a plural form:
Nouns that can be plural are called COUNT NOUNS. Notice that the adjectives
before these nouns remain the same whether the count noun is singular
or plural:
I have a GOOD IDEA. I have some GOOD IDEAS.
She has a DIFFERENT CUSTOM. She has DIFFERENT CUSTOMS.
He wants a BIG CAR. He likes BIG CARS.
A few adjectives, however, are only singular or plural. These
include articles, demonstrative adjectives, and quantity adjectives.
Articles
singular plural
a some
the (no change) the
I need A BOX. I need SOME BOXES.
THE CAR is over there. THE CARS are over there.
Count and Noncount Nouns (cont.)
Demonstrative Adjectives
SINGULAR PLURAL
this these
that those
which (no change) which
I'm selling THIS BOAT. I'm selling THESE BOATS.
I bought THAT COMPUTER. I bought THOSE COMPUTERS.
WHICH SWEATER did you buy? WHICH SWEATERS did you buy?
Count Nouns (singular and plural)
We can talk about quantity for a singular count noun with the words
a, an, one
another (=one other, one more)
I have to buy A BOOK. (one book)
Give me ONE SANDWICH, not two.
I'm still hungry. Give me ANOTHER HAMBURGER. (one more hamburger)
The count nouns can also be plural, with words like:
some/some more
several, a few
many, too many, not many
I need SOME BOWLS for the soup. I need SOME MORE glasses, too.
Take SEVERAL COOKIES. They're small. Take A FEW crackers, too.
Don't eat TOO MANY SANDWICHES. You'll get a stomachache.
Noncount Nouns (always singular)
We can also talk about the quantity for a noncount noun, which is a
noun that is ALWAYS singular and CANNOT BE PLURAL. We use words like:
some/some more
a little
much, too much, not much
Give me SOME ADVICE.
You should have A LITTLE WATER.
Don't drink TOO MUCH COFFEE. You'll be up all night!
I need SOME MORE TIME.
There's TOO MUCH NOISE in here. Be quiet!
Count and Noncount Nouns (cont.)
Quantity Adjectives
Noncount Nouns Count Nouns
(ALWAYS SINGULAR) PLURAL (singular with A/AN)
===================== =======================
too much too many
much many
a lot of (no change) a lot of
some (no change) some
---- several
a little a few
not much not many
very little very few
only a little only a few
little few
any (no change) any
no (no change) no
Noncount Nouns/Always singular! Count nouns/Plural (singular with A/AN)
=================================== ======================================
A LITTLE = some A FEW = some
LITTLE = not much FEW = not many
VERY LITTLE = not much VERY FEW = not many
ONLY A LITTLE = not much ONLY A FEW = not many
Don't drink TOO MUCH COFFEE! Don't eat TOO MANY MANGOES!
How MUCH TIME did it take to write? How MANY TIMES did he read it?
I need A LOT OF MILK. I need A LOT OF SPOONS.
Give me SOME WATER. Give me SOME PENS and SEVERAL PENCILS.
We have A LITTLE ADVICE for you. Can I make A FEW SUGGESTIONS?
There isn't MUCH TIME. Hurry! We don't have MANY EGGS. Don't eat any.
He has VERY LITTLE PATIENCE. He has VERY FEW FRIENDS.
She has ONLY A LITTLE EDUCATION. She took ONLY A FEW CLASSES.
She has LITTLE INTEREST in that man. The dumb idiot has FEW good IDEAS.
I don't need ANY HELP. I don't have ANY SISTERS.
There is NO TRAFFIC today. There are NO CARS on the road.
Noncount Nouns/always singular! Count Nouns/plural (or singular with A/AN)
some... a little... some... several... a few...
advice suggestions, ideas
air breaths of air
chicken (food on a plate) pieces of chicken
clothing clothes
equipment tools
food sandwiches, hamburgers
fruit apples, oranges, pears, cherries
Count and Noncount Nouns (cont.)
furniture pieces of furniture, chairs
garbage, trash pieces of trash
grammar grammar points, grammar rules
hardware hammers, nails, screws, saws, files
help
homework assignments, homework assignments
housework chores
information pieces of information
jewelry bracelets, necklaces
literature books, novels
luggage suitcases
machinery machines
mail letters, packages, postcards
money dollars, dimes, pennies
music songs, operas, concerts
news (It has S, but it's singular!) news items, pieces of news
pain pangs
paper sheets of paper, pieces of paper
patience
poetry poems
postage stamps
scenery sights
silverware forks, spoons, knives
sorrow, sadness pangs of sorrow, moments of sadness
soup bowls of soup
sugar spoons of sugar, packets of sugar
time (continuous length of time) times (separate occasions)
toast slices of toast, pieces of toast
traffic cars
vocabulary words
water glasses of water
Do-Have-Make-Take
DO...
ENJOYING LIFE with DO
do what[ever] you want
do what[ever] you feel like
do your own thing (teenage slang from the '60s)
(do what you really enjoy, regardless of other people's opinions)
do something interesting, new, fun, wild, exciting
do a [crossword] puzzle
HOUSEWORK with DO
do housework
do chores (household jobs, often by the children in a family)
do errands (at home or at work)
do the cleaning
do the ironing
do the laundry
(=wash the clothes)
do the shopping
(=go shopping)
do the cooking
do the dishes
(=wash the dishes)
do the gardening (around a house)
JOB WORK and SCHOOL WORK with DO
do business with somebody
do a job
do a good, bad job
do homework
do an assignment, a homework assignment
do an exercise, some exercises (as in a schoolbook)
do it again (repeat an action)
do it over (repeat an action)
do it until you get it right
do it right
(perform correctly)
do it wrong
(make a mistake)
do the same thing (as somebody else, or repeat an action)
do your taxes
(=prepare your taxes)
do work, do school work, do housework, do homework, do office work
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
HURTING THINGS with DO
do damage (to something)
PERFORMING ARTS with DO
do an imitation of somebody (act like somebody)
do a number, a song
(=sing a song, usually performing for others)
do a dance number (a short dance performance)
do a scene (from a play)
do a skit, sketch (a short, funny theater piece)
do a (comedy) routine
PERSONAL ACTIVITIES with DO
do exercise (to stay in shape and healthy)
(=get some exercise)
do your nails (women)
do your hair (women)
RIGHT and WRONG with DO
do your best
do your duty (often to your country)
do somebody a favor
do a favor for somebody
do harm (to somebody)
do the right thing
do what's right
do somebody wrong (harm somebody, usually emotionally)
HAVE...
ATTRIBUTION, POSSESSION with HAVE
have a book, a car, a home, etc.
(own or possess something)
have a book, dictionary, a piece of paper on your desk
(leave something on your desk)
have brown hair, green eyes, a large nose, etc.
(be a person with these kinds of body parts)
have a son, a husband, children, cousins, relatives
have a friend, have friends
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
BIRTH with HAVE
have a baby
(=give birth to a baby)
CLOTHING with HAVE
have a sweater
(possess a sweater)
have a sweater on
(be wearing a sweater)
have nothing on
(be naked)
DIFFICULTY with HAVE
have misgivings, reservations, worries
(feel uneasy about some plan or past action)
have problems
(with something, with someone, doing something)
have a hard time
(doing something)
have difficulty
(doing something)
EATING, DRINKING with HAVE
have food or beverage
(=eat or drink)
have a meal, have a snack, have a bite to eat (a snack)
have breakfast, have toast, have eggs, have coffee, etc.
have lunch, have a sandwich, have a milk shake, etc.
have dinner, have spaghetti, have dessert, have tea, etc.
ENJOYMENT with HAVE
I have a date Friday. (a friendly or romantic meeting, not for business)
(You MAKE a date FOR Friday, HAVE a date Friday, GO ON the date Friday)
have fun (somewhere, with somebody, doing something)
have a good time (somewhere, with somebody, doing something)
have a party (=throw a party)
have people over (=invite people to your home)
have a picnic (=go on a picnic)
have sex (=make love)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
HAVE GOT, HAS GOT = HAVE, HAS
I have got (I've got) got something
(=I have something)
He has got (he's got) something
(=He has something)
I have got (I've got) to do something
(=I have to do something, I must do something)
He has got (He's got) to do something
(=He has to do something, he must do something)
IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS with HAVE
have an appointment (first you have to MAKE the appointment)
(have an agreement to meet with someone for something serious)
have a broken heart (devastated that a loved one is dead or gone)
have no chance to win or succeed at something (have no opportunity)
have no choice (be forced to do something that you don't want to)
have a cold, have the flu
have a disease (cancer, AIDS, the measles, pneumonia, etc.)
have a heart attack
have an idea about something or how to do something, have no idea
have an interest in something or someone, have no interest in
We have a meeting./We're having a meeting. Be sure to come.
(there is a plan to meet, usually for something serious)
We're having a meeting now./We're in a meeting now. Hold all calls.
(a meeting is taking place currently)
One thing has nothing to do with the other.
(the two things are not related)
have nothing to do with somebody else
(stay away from another person)
have nothing to worry about
have nothing to be afraid of
have nothing to fear
have an opinion on something, have no opinion
have patience, have no patience
have a preference for something or someone, have no preference
have a good reason, have no reason to do something
(have a good justification or no justification to do something)
(but BE right, BE correct, HAVE the right idea, MAKE sense)
have no right to do something (not have moral or legal authority)
have somebody do something
(=tell somebody to do something)
have something done (have a car repaired, have your hair cut,
have your pet neutered, have the brakes realigned)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
SLANG EXPRESSIONS with HAVE
have a cow (teenage slang)
(=get very angry)
have a fit (slang)
(=get very angry)
have a heart (slang)
(=be kind, be nice, be helpful to someone in need)
have nothing over on somebody
(not be better than somebody)
MAKE...
ASSEMBLING with MAKE
make something (construct with tools)
(a chair, a birdhouse, a doll, a car, jewelry, TV sets)
(but you BUILD a house, skyscraper, building, school)
BEDS with MAKE
make the bed
(put the sheets, blankets and pillows neatly on a bed)
BUSINESS with MAKE
make an offer
make a business deal
make a sale
make [some amount of money]
make a lot of money
make a profit
make a fortune
CHANGE FOR THE BETTER with MAKE
make progress
make improvements
make a change, make changes (someplace, in the way you do things)
make corrections (on written work)
make repairs
make renovations
make amends (to somebody after doing something wrong to them)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
COOKING, PREPARING FOOD with MAKE
make breakfast
make tea, coffee, toast, an omelet, scrambled eggs, etc.
make lunch
make a sandwich, a milk shake, etc.
make dinner
make spaghetti and meatballs (or any dish that is prepared)
DECISIONS with MAKE
make a choice, a decision, a selection
ERRORS with MAKE
make a an error, a mistake
make a fool of yourself
make a mess (of things)
IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS with MAKE
make a fire (to cook or keep warm)
make good time
(travel quickly and arrive early on a trip to someplace)
make it (to a place)
(=get someplace, arrive someplace)
make a list
make up your mind, make your mind up (decide)
make a phone call, make a reservation
make (the) rules
make sense (seem to be right about something)
make a speech, make a presentation
make sure (of some information)
make a turn, a left turn, a right turn, a U-turn
OTHER PEOPLE with MAKE
make an apology (to somebody)
make an excuse, make excuses (for doing something wrong)
make a (good, bad) impression (on somebody)
make love to (or with) somebody
(=have sex with somebody)
(=sleep with somebody)
make noise (be loud)
make noise (cause people to notice you, for good or bad reasons)
make a spectacle of yourself (act VERY foolishly)
make waves (cause people to notice you, for good or bad reasons)
make somebody comfortable, happy, mad, etc.
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
make somebody do something (not TO do!)
(=force somebody to do something,
order somebody to do something)
make trouble (for somebody or for yourself)
make yourself at home
(relax in somebody else's home or office)
PLANS, ARRANGEMENTS with MAKE
make a date for Friday (plan to meet Friday, not for business)
make an appointment for Friday (usually for something serious)
make plans to do something with someone [on] Friday, next week
make an arrangement, make arrangements to do something
make preparations for an event, for a day
TALKING TO OTHERS with MAKE
make a suggestion, a comment
make a complaint
TRYING, SUCCEEDING with MAKE
make an attempt, an effort (=try)
make your dreams come true
make it (=succeed in some enterprise)
TAKE...
EXPRESSIONS with TAKE
take somebody's advice
(listen to suggestions)
take a bath, take a shower
(wash your body in the tub)
take blood
(remove some blood from somebody's arm for a medical test)
take a break
(rest, relax)
take care of someone
(watch after, be responsible for another person)
take care of someone (criminal slang)
(=Kill, hurt, or frighten somebody.)
take care of something
(accept responsibility to do a job)
take chances, take risks
(do something dangerous)
EXPRESSIONS with TAKE (cont.)
take a dictation
(write down what the teacher says in class)
take dictation
(write down what somebody, usually the boss in an office, says)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
take dollar bills (accept into a machine)
(That candy machine doesn't take dollar bills, only coins.)
take [down] some information
(=write down some information)
take it easy
(calm down, don't rush, or don't worry)
take first place
(win first place in a contest)
take something for granted
(believe something without questioning its truthfulness)
take medicine, take aspirin, take a pill
(eat, drink or swallow medicine)
take a message
(write down information for somebody who is not there)
EXPRESSIONS with TAKE (cont.)
take an amount of money (agree to an offer)
(He won't take less than $500 for that used car.)
take an oath
(promise to do an important job with good, honest behavior)
take pictures of something or of somebody
(use a camera to make photographs)
take a seat
(sit down in a chair)
take someone's hand (hold their hand)
(Always take your child's hand when crossing the street!)
take somebody somewhere
(Take Jimmy to the zoo. He wants to see the monkeys.)
take something (put something in your hand)
(Take the hammer and one nail, and put the nail into the wall.)
take something (receive something from somebody else)
(Here! Take this hamburger.)
take something (that doesn't belong to you)
(steal something, or borrow something without permission)
take something unpleasant or somebody's unpleasant behavior
(I can't take that loud noise! When will they stop?
I can't take your constant complaining!)
take steps, measures
(do what's necessary, often to fix or avoid a problem)
take ten
(Take ten minutes to rest. Then start working again.)
take a test
(try to write the correct answers to questions on an examination)
take time to do something
(It will take us two hours to get to Boston from here.
It took me three days to finish this job.
It takes time to learn English.)
take your time
(don't rush)
take some time off
(stop working for a while)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
take a train, bus, subway, taxi, boat
(=go by train, by bus, by subway, by taxi, boat)
take a trip
(=go on a trip)
take turns
(have each person do something in order, not all at the same time)
take a vacation
(=go on vacation)
take a walk, take long walks
(=go for a walk, go for long walks)
TAKE with PREPOSITIONS
take after somebody
(be similar to somebody in the way you act)
take something apart
(put something into pieces, usually carefully)
take back something
(obtain a possession that is yours)
take back something you've said
(admit you were wrong about it)
take off
(for an airplane, leave the ground)
take off
(for a business, become successful, because it "starts to fly")
take off a piece of clothing
(remove something you're wearing)
take on a responsibility
(accept a job or duty)
take out
(remove a thing from inside somewhere)
take out an ad in a newspaper
(place an advertisement in a paper)
take somebody out
(invite a person to a restaurant, movie, disco)
take out the garbage
(put the household garbage by the street)
take over for somebody
(agree to accept somebody else's responsibilities, job, duties)
take up fishing, photography, dancing, knitting, etc.
(start doing or learning something)
Do-Have-Make-Take (cont.)
IDIOMATIC and SLANG EXPRESSIONS with TAKE
take the cake
(be the best, but often used jokingly when someone is the worst)
(You really take the cake! You've lost five customers today!)
take the good with the bad
(accept bad things that happen along with good things)
take it on the chin
(allow someone to be cruel to you)
take it out on somebody
(be unkind to a person who is not responsible for your problem)
take your medicine
(accept punishment that you have earned)
take a pill (teenage slang)
(calm down, don't get upset)
take a shot
(make an attempt, often when there is very little hope of success)
(to GET a shot is to get an inoculation in the doctor's office)
Either-Neither-So-Too
Either - Neither - So - Too
In short sentences showing that one subject is the same as another,
we use SO and TOO to show that two subjects are the same if the
first statement is positive:
TOO comes at the end of a sentence, short or long:
Mary CAN COOK fried chicken.
Sarah CAN too.
Sarah CAN COOK fried chicken too.
SO comes at the beginning of a short sentence. It is not used with
a long sentence, only a short one:
Mary CAN COOK fried chicken.
So CAN Sarah.
In the long form of agreement, with TOO, you repeat the complete verb.
In the short form of agreement, you must use only the auxiliary verb.
Use the same auxiliary verb that is used in the first sentence, but
change for singular or plural subject, if necessary.
John SHOULD WORK harder in his math class.
long form: Peter SHOULD WORK harder too.
short form: Peter SHOULD too.
short form: So SHOULD Peter.
Professor Rice HAS BEEN to Europe.
long form: Professor Simpson and his wife HAVE BEEN there too.
short form: Professor Simpson and his wife HAVE too.
short form: SO HAVE Professor Simpson and his wife.
(HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when they are used with
a past participle.)
If the first sentence doesn't have an auxiliary verb, then you must
choose DO, DOES or DID. DO and DOES are singular and present tense.
DO is present tense, used with plural subjects, YOU and I.
DID is past tense for all subjects.
Alan ATE three hamburgers yesterday
long form: Rick ATE three hamburgers yesterday too.
short form: Rick DID too.
short form: So DID Rick.
Either-Neither-So-Too (cont.)
Fred LOVES to go jogging in Central Park.
long form: Martha LOVES to go jogging there too.
long form: Ted and Buddy LOVE to go jogging there too.
short form: Martha DOES too. Ted and Buddy DO too.
short form: So DOES Martha. So DO Ted and Buddy.
If the first statement is negative, then agreement for the second subject
will use EITHER or NEITHER.
EITHER comes at the end of a sentence, which can be a long sentence
or a short one. The first sentence has a negative form,
and the sentence with EITHER also has a negative form.
NEITHER comes at the beginning of a short sentence.
NEITHER is not used with a long sentence.
NEITHER must be used with an auxiliary verb in the POSITIVE FORM even though
the first sentence uses a negative form:
Martha and Ken DON'T HAVE a dog.
long form: Peter and Sheila DON'T HAVE a dog either.
short form: Peter and Sheila DON'T either.
short form: NEITHER DO Peter and Sheila. (DO is the positive form.)
More examples with EITHER and NEITHER...
Ann and Grace aren't in school today.
long form: Phil ISN'T in school either.
short form: Phil ISN'T either.
short form: NEITHER IS Phil. (IS is in the positive form.)
Patrick doesn't have any money.
long form: Bill DOESN'T HAVE any money either.
short form: Bill DOESN'T either.
short form: NEITHER DOES Bill. (DOES is in the positive form.)
Another comment about NEITHER...
NEITHER is used for a completely different purpose, with NOR,
to say that something is negative about both subjects or objects.
The verb will be in the positive form:
NEITHER Peter NOR Sam CAN UNDERSTAND the lesson. (They are both confused.)
She WILL INVITE NEITHER Meg NOR Amy to her party.
Even Though
Even Though
EVEN THOUGH can be used instead of BUT when we express a fact that
goes against normal expectation. (When we're hungry, we usually eat!)
a. She's hungry, BUT she's not going to eat.
b. EVEN THOUGH she's hungry, she's not going to eat.
c. She's not going to eat EVEN THOUGH she's hungry.
You do not use BUT if you use EVEN THOUGH!
If the EVEN THOUGH clause (part of the sentence) comes first,
then the EVEN THOUGH clause is followed by a comma (sentence b).
If the EVEN THOUGH clause comes last, there is no comma (sentence c).
A longer, and probably less desirable, way to say EVEN THOUGH
is DESPITE THE FACT THAT:
DESPITE THE FACT THAT she's hungry, she's not going to eat.
Famous People
He designed Guess What!
Rick Shur
He was the only elected American president to be impeached.
Bill Clinton
He wrote Hamlet.
William Shakespeare.
He led the North to victory in the American Civil War.
Ulysses S. Grant
He led the South to defeat in the American Civil War.
Robert E. Lee
He discovered the theory of relativity.
Albert Einstein
He discovered gravity.
Isaac Newton
She founded the Red Cross.
Clara Barton
He led the fight against apartheid in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela
He was the first president of Russia after the Soviet Union disintegrated.
Boris Yeltsin
He brought communism to China.
Mao Tse Tung
He was found not guilty in the slashing death of his wife and her friend.
O.J. Simpson
He created Mickey Mouse and an amusement park named for him.
Walt Disney
only 20th century American elected president while serving as vice pres.
George Bush
He succeeded Richard Nixon as president.
Gerald R. Ford
He is the only African American actor to hold a Best Actor Oscar.
Sidney Poitier
He was the first American to orbit the earth.
John Glenn
He was the first man to walk on the moon.
Neil Armstrong
He fought and died at the Alamo and has a knife named after him.
Jim Bowie
He was the first Indian president of Mexico.
Benito Juarez
Future Clauses
Future Clauses
We can use BEFORE, WHEN, AS SOON AS, or AFTER to connect two sentences.
BEFORE means EARLIER THAN.
5 PM - eat dinner 6 PM - do homework
He'll eat dinner BEFORE he does his homework.
(Eating will be EARLIER THAN doing homework.)
AFTER means LATER THAN or FOLLOWING.
3 PM - do the laundry 4 PM - watch TV
They'll watch TV AFTER they do the laundry.
(Watching TV will be FOLLOWING or LATER THAN doing laundry.)
WHEN means AT THE SAME TIME AS (or IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING).
4 PM - get home 4 PM - watch football on TV
He'll watch football on TV WHEN he gets home.
(He'll get home at 4 PM and immediately following that, he'll
turn on the TV to watch football.)
June 10 - turn 21 June 10 - have her first drink
She'll have her first drink WHEN she turns 21.
(She'll become 21 years old and have her first drink of whiskey
on the same day, June 10, her birthday.)
AS SOON AS means IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING
9 AM - get to the office 9:01 PM - look for the file
She'll look for the file AS SOON AS she gets to the office.
(She'll look for the file immediately after she arrives.)
The part of the sentence including and following the words
WHEN, BEFORE, AFTER, or AS SOON AS
is called the time clause. These are all time clauses:
when she turns 21
when he gets home
as soon as she gets to the office
before he does his homework
after they do the laundry
Future Clauses (cont.)
In English, if the time clause is about the future (as all of these
examples are), the verb MUST NOT be in the future tense. Instead,
the verb is in the simple present tense. This does not mean that
the sentence is talking about the present. It is simply a grammar rule.
The time clause can come first or last:
1a. She'll have her first drink WHEN SHE TURNS 21.
1b. WHEN SHE TURNS 21, she'll have her first drink.
2a. He'll eat BEFORE HE DOES HIS HOMEWORK.
2b. BEFORE HE DOES HIS HOMEWORK, he'll eat.
3a. She'll look for the file AS SOON AS SHE GETS TO THE OFFICE.
3b. AS SOON AS SHE GETS TO THE OFFICE, she'll look for the file.
4a. He'll watch football on TV WHEN HE GETS HOME.
4b. WHEN HE GETS HOME, he'll watch football on TV.
If the time clause comes last (sentences 1a, 2a, 3a, 4a) there is no comma.
If the time clause comes first, the time clause is followed by a comma,
as in sentences 1b, 2b, 3b, 4b.
How
Questions with How
How (adjective) What's the level of (a given adjective)?
How angry What's the level of anger?
How beautiful What's the level of beauty?
How cold What's the lowest temperature?
How dangerous What's the extent of danger?
How far What's the distance?
How fast What's the speed?
How hard What's the difficulty?
How heavy What's the weight?
How high What's the height?
How hot What's the highest temperature?
How long What's the length in size or length of time?
How many What's the number?
How much What's the total amount (in cost, weight, volume)?
How often What's the frequency of occurrences in a given period?
How sick What's the condition of bad health?
How soon What's the first possible time something can happen?
How tall What's the height?
If/Unless
If/Unless
You will pass the test IF you study for it.
The IF clause is the part of the sentence including IF and the subject and verb
that follow IF: if you study for it
The MAIN clause is the other part of the sentence: You will pass the test
The IF clause tells what is necessary, what needs to happen, for the
MAIN clause to come true.
"Passing the test" can come true but it is necessary that "you study for it."
The IF clause is also called the CONDITION. A condition is something that
is necessary to do (studying) for another thing (passing the test) to happen.
In a statement about the future, what WILL happen, the IF clause cannot have
a future tense. Instead, the simple present form of the verb is used.
The simple present verb will have S at the end if the subject is singular.
The simple present verb will not have S if the subject is plural, I or YOU.
He will fall down IF HE RUNS too fast.
She will succeed IF SHE WORKS really hard.
They will lose their car IF THEY LEAVE it unlocked on the street.
The IF clause can come first or last.
If the IF clause comes last, as in the sentences above, there is no comma.
If it comes first, as in the sentences below, there is a comma after the
IF clause:
If he runs too fast, he will fall down.
If she works really hard, she will succeed.
If they leave their car unlocked on the street, they will lose it.
UNLESS is the opposite of IF.
You will fail the test UNLESS you study hard for it.
The UNLESS clause (unless you study hard for it) tells what must happen
if you want to PREVENT the statement in the main clause (You will fail).
To PREVENT an action is to make it NOT HAPPEN, or not come true.
By studying hard for the test, you PREVENT (AVOID, ESCAPE) failing the
test.
If/Unless (cont.)
You will catch a cold UNLESS you wear a coat.
You will AVOID, PREVENT catching a cold by wearing a coat.
I'll go to the beach UNLESS it rains.
Rain will PREVENT me from going to the beach.
The UNLESS clause can come first or last, according to rules given above,
for the IF clause.
If the UNLESS clause is first, it is followed by a comma:
Unless it rains, I'll go to the beach.
If the UNLESS clause is last, there is no comma:
I'll go to the beach unless it rains.
The verb in the UNLESS clause cannot be in the future tense. It must be in
the present tense, according to the rules given above, for IF clauses.
You'll catch a cold UNLESS YOU WEAR a coat.
She'll fail the math exam UNLESS SHE STUDIES for it.
He'll lose his car UNLESS HE PARKS it in a garage.
This doesn't mean that the sentence is about the present time.
It is simply a grammar rule of English.
Inventions
1593 Galileo (Italian) --- thermometer
1625 Jean-Baptiste Denys (French) --- blood transfusion
1642 Blaise Pascal (French) --- adding machine
1643 Evangelista Torricelli (Italian) --- barometer
1656 Christiaan Huygens (Dutch) --- pendulum clock
1668 Isaac Newton (English) --- reflecting telescope
1701 Jethro Tull (English) --- seed drill
1760 Benjamin Franklin (American) --- bifocal spectacles
1764 J. Hargreaves (English) --- spinning jenny
1765 James Watt (Scottish) --- steam Engine
1775 David Bushnell (American) --- submarine
1780 Samuel Harrison (English) --- steel pen
1783 Montgolfier brothers (French) --- balloon
1786 Andrew Meikle (Scottish) --- thresher
1787 John Fitch (American) --- steamboat
1793 Eli Whitney (American) --- cotton gin
1796 Edward Jenner (English) --- vaccination for small pox
1800 Alessandro Volta (Italian) --- voltaic cell
1804 Francois Appert (French) --- canning
1815 Humphry Davy (English) --- miner's safety lamp
1816 Karl D. Sauerbronn (German) --- bicycle
1823 C. Macintosh (Scottish) --- raincoat
1829 W.A. Burt (American) --- typewriter
1830 Jacob Perkins (American) --- ice-making machine
1831 Cyrus McCormick (American) --- reaper
1831 Michael Faraday (English) --- dynamo
1834 Thomas Davenport (American) --- electric streetcar
1835 Samuel Colt (American) --- revolver
1837 John Deere (American) --- steel plow
1837 S.F.B. Morse (American) --- telegraph
1845 Elias Howe (American) --- sewing machine
1852 Elisha G. Otis (American) --- elevator
1852 J.B.L. Foucault (French) --- gyroscope
1853 Gail Borden (American) --- condensed milk
1855 Robert Bunsen (German) --- Bunsen burner
1857 George M. Pullman (American) --- sleeping car
1861 R.J. Gatling (American) --- Gatling gun
1862 Alfred Nobel (Swedish) --- blasting cap
1865 Joseph Lister (English) --- antiseptic surgery
1868 G. Westinghouse (American) --- railway air brakes
1876 Nikolaus A. Otto (German) --- gas engine
1876 A.G. Bell (American) --- telephone
1877 Thomas Edison (American) --- phonograph
1877 G.F. Swift (American) --- refrigerator car
1878 D.E. Hughes (American) --- microphone
1879 Thomas Edison (American) --- incandescent lamp
1879 James Ritty (American) --- cash register
1884 L.E. Waterman (American) --- fountain pen
1885 Karl Benz (German) --- gasoline-powered automobile
1887 J.B. Dunlop (Scottish) --- air-inflated rubber tire
1888 George Eastman (American) --- Kodak camera
1888 W. Burroughs (American) --- adding machine
Inventions (cont.)
1893 Thomas Edison (American) --- movie projector
1893 W.L. Judson (American) --- zipper
1895 Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen (German) --- x-ray
1896 G. Marconi (Italian) --- wireless telegraphy
1903 Wright brothers (American) --- airplane
1911 Elmer A. Sperry (American) --- gyrocompass
1914 E.D. Swinton (English) --- tank
1918 John Browning (American) --- automatic rifle
1922-26 T.W. Case (American) --- sound motion pictures
1925 C. Birdseye (American) --- quick-frozen food
1926 R.H. Goddard (American) --- liquid-fuel rocket
1928 Alexander Fleming (English) --- penicillin
1937 W.H. Carothers (American) --- nylon
1939 Igor Sikorsky (American) --- helicopter
1942 Wernher von Braun (German) --- guided missile
1942 Enrico Fermi and team (American) --- nuclear reactor
1944 Wernher von Braun (German) --- ballistic missile
1945 J. Robert Oppenheimer and team (American) --- atomic bomb
1947 Percy L. Spencer (American) --- microwave oven
1948 William Shockley and John Bardeen (American) --- transistor
1948 Edwin Land and Walter H. Brattain (American) --- Polaroid camera
1950 Peter Carl Goldmark (American) --- color television
1952 Edward Teller and team (American) --- hydrogen bomb
1954 Jonas Salk (American) --- polio vaccine
1955 Gregory Pincus (American) --- oral contraceptive
1956 Charles Ginsberg (American) --- videotape
1958 Samuel Cohen and team (American) --- neutron bomb
1972 J.S. Kilby, J.D. Merryman (American) --- electronic pocket calculator
Measurement
Time
100 years = 1 century
366 days = 1 leap year
12 months = 1 year
28-31 days = 1 month
7 days = 1 week
24 hours = 1 day
60 minutes = 1 hour
60 seconds = 1 minute
Volume
1 liter = 1000 milliliters
1 gallon = 4 quarts
1 quart = 2 pints
1 pint = 2 cups
1 cup = 8 (fluid) ounces
Length
1 kilometer = 1000 meters
1 meter = 100 centimeters
1 meter = 1000 millimeters
1 mile = 5280 feet
1 mile = 1760 yards
1 yard = 3 feet
1 yard = 36 inches
1 foot = 12 inches
Area
640 acres = 1 square mile
Weight
1 kilogram = 1000 grams
1 gram = 1000 milligrams
1 ton = 2000 pounds
1 pound = 16 (dry) ounces
Quantity
1 gross = 12 dozen
1 dozen = 12 items
Conversion
1 mile = 1.609 kilometers
1 kilometer = 0.621 miles
1 meter = 39.37 inches
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
1 kilogram = 2.205 pounds
1 pound = 453.59 grams
1 pound = 0.454 kilograms
1 liter = 1.057 quarts
1 quart = 0.946 liters
Modern Library Top 100 Novels
1 (1922 James Joyce) --- Ulysses
2 (1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald) --- The Great Gatsby
3 (1916 James Joyce) --- A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
4 (1955 Vladimir Nabokov) --- Lolita
5 (1932 Aldous Huxley) --- Brave New World
6 (1929 William Faulkner) --- The Sound and the Fury
7 (1961 Joseph Heller) --- Catch-22
8 (1941 Arthur Koestler) --- Darkness at Noon
9 (1913 D.H. Lawrence) --- Sons and Lovers
10 (1939 John Steinbeck) --- The Grapes of Wrath
11 (1947 Malcolm Lowry) --- Under the Volcano
12 (1903 Samuel Butler) --- The Way of All Flesh
13 (1949 George Orwell) --- 1984
14 (1934 Robert Graves) --- I, Claudius
15 (1927 Virginia Woolf) --- To the Lighthouse
16 (1925 Theodore Dreiser) --- An American Tragedy
17 (1940 Carson McCullers) --- The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
18 (1969 Vonnegut) --- Slaughterhouse Five
19 (1952 Ralph Ellison) --- Invisible Man
20 (1940 Richard Wright) --- Native Son
21 (1959 Saul Bellow) --- Henderson the Rain King
22 (1934 John O'Hara) --- Appointment in Samarra
23 (1936 John Dos Passos) --- U.S.A.
24 (1919 Sherwood Anderson) --- Winesburg, Ohio
25 (1924 E.M. Forster) --- A Passage to India
26 (1902 Henry James) --- The Wings of the Dove
27 (1903 Henry James) --- The Ambassadors
28 (1934 F. Scott Fitzgerald) --- Tender Is the Night
29 (1935 James T. Farrell) --- Studs Lonigan
30 (1915 Ford Madox Ford) --- The Good Soldier
31 (1945 George Orwell) --- Animal Farm
32 (1904 Henry James) --- The Golden Bowl
33 (1900 Theodore Dreiser) --- Sister Carrie
34 (1934 Evelyn Waugh) --- A Handful of Dust
35 (1930 William Faulkner) --- As I Lay Dying
36 (1946 Robert Penn Warren) --- All the King's Men
37 (1927 Thornton Wilder) --- The Bridges of San Luis Rey
38 (1910 E.M. Forster) --- Howards End
39 (1953 Baldwin) --- Go Tell It on the Mountain
40 (1948 Graham Greene) --- The Heart of the Matter
41 (1954 William Golding) --- Lord of the Flies
42 (1970 James Dickey) --- Deliverance
43 (1975 Anthony Powell) --- A Dance to the Music of Time
44 (1928 Aldous Huxley) --- Point Counter Point
45 (1926 Ernest Hemingway) --- The Sun Also Rises
46 (1907 Joseph Conrad) --- The Secret Agent
47 (1904 Joseph Conrad) --- Nostromo
48 (1915 D.H. Lawrence) --- The Rainbow
49 (1920 D.H. Lawrence) --- Women In Love
50 (1934 Henry Miller) --- Tropic of Cancer
Modern Library Top 100 Novels (cont.)
51 (1948 Norman Mailer) --- The Naked and the Dead
52 (1969 Philip Roth) --- Portnoy's Complaint
53 (1962 Vladimir Nabokov) --- Pale Fire
54 (1932 William Faulkner) --- Light in August
55 (1957 Jack Kerouac) --- On the Road
56 (1930 Dashiell Hammett) --- The Maltese Falcon
57 (1928 Ford Madox Ford) --- Parade's End
58 (1920 Edith Wharton) --- The Age of Innocence
59 (1911 Max Beerbohm) --- Zuleika Dobson
60 (1961 Walker Percy) --- The Moviegoer
61 (1927 Willa Cather) --- Death Comes for the Archbishop
62 (1951 James Jones) --- From Here to Eternity
63 (1957 John Cheever) --- The Wapshot Chronicle
64 (1951 J.D. Salinger) --- The Catcher in the Rye
65 (1962 Anthony Burgess) --- A Clockwork Orange
66 (1915 W. Somerset Maugham) --- Of Human Bondage
67 (1902 Joseph Conrad) --- Heart of Darkness
68 (1920 Sinclair Lewis) --- Main Street
69 (1905 Edith Wharton) --- The House of Mirth
70 (1960 Lawrence Durrell) --- The Alexandria Quartet
71 (1929 Richard Hughes) --- A High Wind in Jamaica
72 (1961 V.S. Naipaul) --- A House for Mr. Biswas
73 (1939 Nathaniel West) --- The Day of the Locust
74 (1929 Ernest Hemingway) --- A Farewell to Arms
75 (1938 Evelyn Waugh) --- Scoop
76 (1961 Muriel Spark) --- The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
77 (1939 James Joyce) --- Finnegans Wake
78 (1901 Kipling) --- Kim
79 (1908 E.M. Forster) --- A Room With a View
80 (1945 Evelyn Waugh) --- Brideshead Revisited
81 (1971 Saul Bellow) --- The Adventures of Augie March
82 (1971 Wallace Stegner) --- Angle of Repose
83 (1979 V.S. Naipaul) --- A Bend in the River
84 (1938 Elizabeth Bowen) --- The Death of the Heart
85 (1900 Joseph Conrad) --- Lord Jim
86 (1975 E.L. Doctorow) --- Ragtime
87 (1908 Arnold Bennett) --- The Old Wives' Tale
88 (1903 Jack London) --- The Call of the Wild
89 (1945 Henry Green) --- Loving
90 (1981 Salman Rushdie) --- Midnight's Children
91 (1932 Erskine Caldwell) --- Tobacco Road
92 (1983 William Kennedy) --- Ironweed
93 (1966 John Fowles) --- The Magus
94 (1966 Jean Rhys) --- Wide Sargasso Sea
95 (1954 Iris Murdoch) --- Under the Net
96 (1979 William Styron) --- Sophie's Choice
97 (1949 Paul Bowles) --- The Sheltering Sky
98 (1934 James M. Cain) --- The Postman Always Rings Twice
99 (1955 J.P. Donleavy) --- The Ginger Man
100 (1918 Booth Tarkington) --- The Magnificent Ambersons
Movies: AFI's Top 100 U.S. Films
1 [1941] --- Citizen Kane
2 [1943] --- Casablanca
3 [1972] --- The Godfather
4 [1939] --- Gone With the Wind
5 [1962] --- Lawrence of Arabia
6 [1939] --- The Wizard of Oz
7 [1967] --- The Graduate
8 [1954] --- On the Waterfront
9 [1993] --- Schindler's List
10 [1952] --- Singin' in the Rain
11 [1946] --- It's a Wonderful Life
12 [1950] --- Sunset Boulevard
13 [1957] --- The Bridge on the River Kwai
14 [1959] --- Some Like It Hot
15 [1977] --- Star Wars
16 [1950] --- All About Eve
17 [1951] --- The African Queen
18 [1960] --- Psycho
19 [1974] --- Chinatown
20 [1975] --- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
21 [1940] --- The Grapes of Wrath
22 [1968] --- 2001: A Space Odyssey
23 [1941] --- The Maltese Falcon
24 [1980] --- Raging Bull
25 [1982] --- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
26 [1964] --- Doctor Strangelove
27 [1967] --- Bonnie and Clyde
28 [1979] --- Apocalypse Now
29 [1939] --- Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
30 [1948] --- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
31 [1977] --- Annie Hall
32 [1974] --- The Godfather Part II
33 [1952] --- High Noon
34 [1962] --- To Kill a Mockingbird
35 [1934] --- It Happened One Night
36 [1969] --- Midnight Cowboy
37 [1946] --- The Best Years of Our Lives
38 [1944] --- Double Indemnity
39 [1965] --- Doctor Zhivago
40 [1959] --- North by Northwest
41 [1961] --- West Side Story
42 [1954] --- Rear Window
43 [1933] --- King Kong
44 [1915] --- The Birth of a Nation
45 [1951] --- A Streetcar Named Desire
46 [1971] --- A Clockwork Orange
47 [1976] --- Taxi Driver
48 [1975] --- Jaws
49 [1938] --- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
50 [1969] --- Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Movies: AFI's Top 100 U.S. Films (cont.)
51 [1940] --- The Philadelphia Story
52 [1953] --- From Here to Eternity
53 [1984] --- Amadeus
54 [1929] --- All Quiet on the Western Front
55 [1965] --- The Sound of Music
56 [1970] --- M*A*S*H
57 [1950] --- The Third Man
58 [1940] --- Fantasia
59 [1955] --- Rebel Without a Cause
60 [1981] --- Raiders of the Lost Ark
61 [1958] --- Vertigo
62 [1982] --- Tootsie
63 [1939] --- Stagecoach
64 [1977] --- Close Encounters of the Third Kind
65 [1991] --- The Silence of the Lambs
66 [1976] --- Network
67 [1962] --- The Manchurian Candidate
68 [1951] --- An American in Paris
69 [1953] --- Shane
70 [1971] --- The French Connection
71 [1994] --- Forrest Gump
72 [1959] --- Ben-Hur
73 [1939] --- Wuthering Heights
74 [1925] --- The Gold Rush
75 [1990] --- Dances With Wolves
76 [1931] --- City Lights
77 [1973] --- American Graffiti
78 [1976] --- Rocky
79 [1978] --- The Deer Hunter
80 [1969] --- The Wild Bunch
81 [1936] --- Modern Times
82 [1956] --- Giant
83 [1986] --- Platoon
84 [1996] --- Fargo
85 [1933] --- Duck Soup
86 [1935] --- Mutiny on the Bounty
87 [1931] --- Frankenstein
88 [1969] --- Easy Rider
89 [1970] --- Patton
90 [1927] --- The Jazz Singer
91 [1964] --- My Fair Lady
92 [1951] --- A Place in the Sun
93 [1960] --- The Apartment
94 [1990] --- Goodfellas
95 [1994] --- Pulp Fiction
96 [1956] --- The Searchers
97 [1938] --- Bringing Up Baby
98 [1992] --- Unforgiven
99 [1967] --- Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
100 [1942] --- Yankee Doodle Dandy
Negatives
Negative Sentences
In English, you make verbs negative by using one of the 20 auxiliary verbs:
have do am can must
has does is could might
had did are shall may
was should
were will
would
The negative form of an auxiliary verb is used, most often (but not always)
in the contracted (apostrophe) form of the verb + NOT:
haven't don't am not can't must not
hasn't doesn't isn't couldn't might not
hadn't didn't aren't shall not may not
wasn't shouldn't
weren't won't
wouldn't
WON'T has a spelling change from WIll + NOT.
CAN'T has a spelling change from CAN + NOT (one N is taken out).
All the other contractions are made by
1. putting the auxiliary verb and NOT together
DOESNOT (DOES + NOT)
2. taking out the O in NOT
DOESN T
3. putting an apostrophe (') where the O used to be
DOESN'T
If a verb is used with an auxiliary verb, then the verb is negated
by making the auxiliary verb negative:
He IS singing now. He ISN'T singing now.
She CAN drive. She CAN'T drive.
They HAVE been there. They HAVEN'T been there.
DID he come in? DIDN'T he come in?
He'LL (He WILL) leave. He WON'T leave.
If a verb is not used with an auxiliary verb, then you must put
DOESN'T, DON'T or DIDN'T before the simple (base) form of the
verb you wish to negate. DOESN'T and DON'T are used for present
tense verbs, DOESN'T for singular subjects, DON'T for plural
subjects, I, and YOU. DIDN'T is used for past tense verbs.
He eats meat. He DOESN'T EAT meat.
She loves New York. She DOESN'T LOVE New York.
They worked hard. They DIDN'T WORK hard.
Negatives (cont.)
DO, DOES, DID, and DON'T, DOESN'T, DIDN'T are ALWAYS used with a
simple form of the other verb. The simple form (base form) is the
form with no S, no ED, no past tense and no ending of any kind.
He DIDN'T EAT very much. NOT *He DIDN'T ATE very much.
She DOESN'T LOVE him. NOT *She DOESN'T LOVES him.
The other nine auxiliary verbs that are ALWAYS used with a simple form
are CAN, COULD, SHALL, SHOULD, WILL, WOULD, MUST, MIGHT, MAY.
HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when they are used with
a past participle in the present perfect or past perfect tenses.
When HAVE, HAS, and HAD are auxiliary verbs, the negative forms
HAVEN'T, HASN'T and HADN'T are used:
He has been to Europe. He HASN'T BEEN to Europe.
I have said that before. I HAVEN'T SAID that before.
They HAVE TAKEN the test. They HAVEN'T TAKEN the test.
HAVE, HAS and HAD are regular verbs when they are NOT used with
a past participle. To make them negative, you have to use
DON'T, DOESN'T or DIDN't with the simple form HAVE.
(HAVE is the only simple form. HAS is NOT a simple form!)
He has money. He DOESN'T HAVE money.
She has to work. She DOESN'T HAVE to work.
Bob had to leave. Bob DIDN'T HAVE to leave.
I have her number. I DON'T HAVE her number.
In English, there are two kinds of negative words, hard and soft:
hard negatives soft negatives
never ever
no one anyone
no any
nobody anybody
none any
not (n't) ---
nothing anything
nowhere anywhere
without ---
Negatives (cont.)
An English sentence can have many negative words,
but the first negative word must be a hard negative.
It can be N'T (= NOT) in a contraction.
The negative words that come after the first hard negative
must all be soft negatives:
I have NO money.
I doN'T have ANY money. (N'T is the first hard negative. ANY is soft.)
We NEVER said that!
We didN'T EVER say that! (N'T is the hard negative. EVER is soft.)
He NEVER said ANYTHING to anybody.
She doesN'T have ANY money.
She caN'T say ANYTHING to ANYBODY about it.
DidN'T you find ANY good movies ANYWHERE?
He arrived with NO money.
He arrived WITHOUT ANY money. (WITHOUT is a hard negative. ANY is soft.)
He left WITHOUT saying ANYTHING to ANYONE.
DoN'T EVER talk to ANYBODY ANYWHERE about ANYTHING for ANY reason!
(You have one hard negative, N'T, followed by many soft negatives.)
Numbers 1-20
1 --- one
2 --- two
3 --- three
4 --- four
5 --- five
6 --- six
7 --- seven
8 --- eight
9 --- nine
10 --- ten
11 --- eleven
12 --- twelve
13 --- thirteen
14 --- fourteen
15 --- fifteen
16 --- sixteen
17 --- seventeen
18 --- eighteen
19 --- nineteen
20 --- twenty
30 --- thirty
40 --- forty
50 --- fifty
60 --- sixty
70 --- seventy
80 --- eighty
90 --- ninety
Opposites
after (in time) --- before
alive --- dead
allow --- forbid
answer (the response) --- question
answer (give a response) --- ask
arrival (of a plane) --- departure
ask (inquire) --- answer
aunt --- uncle
bad --- good
beautiful (like a painting) --- ugly
before (in time) --- after
better --- worse
big --- little
black --- white
bored --- interested
boring --- interesting
bottom --- top
boy --- girl
brother --- sister
came --- went
careful --- careless
careless --- careful
cheap --- expensive
cold --- hot
come --- go
cool --- warm
cried --- laughed
cry --- laugh
dark --- light
dead --- alive
decrease --- increase
deep --- shallow
departure (of a train) --- arrival
die --- live
difficult --- easy
down --- up
downtown --- uptown
dry --- wet
east --- west
empty --- full
enter (go inside a building) --- exit
exit (to go out) --- enter
fail (a test) --- pass
failed (a test) --- passed
fast --- slow
fat --- thin
father --- mother
follow (walk behind) --- lead
frown --- smile
full (like a refrigerator) --- empty
Opposites (cont.)
future --- past
girl --- boy
give --- take
go --- come
good --- bad
grandmother --- grandfather
guilty --- innocent
happy --- sad
hard (like a diamond) --- soft
hate --- love
he --- she
heaven --- hell
heavy --- light
hell --- heaven
here --- there
high --- low
hot --- cold
increase --- decrease
innocent (in court) --- guilty
interested --- bored
interesting --- boring
land (a plane) --- take off
large --- small
laugh --- cry
laughed --- cried
lead (walk ahead) --- follow
left --- right
light (in weight) --- heavy
light (in brightness) --- dark
live --- die
lived --- died
long --- short
love --- hate
man --- woman
married --- single
modern --- old-fashioned
mother --- father
narrow --- wide
near --- far
nephew --- niece
niece --- nephew
north --- south
obey (follow a command) --- order
old (a person) --- young
old (a thing) --- new
old-fashioned --- modern
order (to give a command) --- obey
over --- under
pass (a test) --- fail
past (in time) --- future
peace --- war
poor (in money) --- rich
pull --- push
push --- pull
Opposites (cont.)
question (an inquiry) --- answer
remember --- forget
remembered --- forgot
rich --- poor
right (direction) --- left
rises (what the sun does) --- sets
rose (what the sun did) --- set
sad --- happy
set (what the sun did) --- rose
sets (what the sun does every day) --- rises
shallow --- deep
she --- he
short (like a person) --- tall
short (like a road) --- long
short --- tall
sick --- healthy
single (marital status) --- married
sister --- brother
slow --- fast
smooth --- rough
soft --- hard
son --- daughter
south --- north
take --- give
take off (a plane) --- land
tall --- short
there --- here
took --- gave
top --- bottom
ugly (like a painting) --- beautiful
uncle --- aunt
up --- down
uptown --- downtown
war --- peace
warm --- cool
went --- came
west --- east
wet --- dry
white --- black
wide --- narrow
win --- lose
woman --- man
won --- lost
work --- play
worse --- better
young --- old
Other
Other
OTHER is generally used with an article or adjective that comes
before OTHER:
I don't like these paintings. Show me SOME OTHER ones.
I have two sons. One is in France. THE OTHER one is in England.
I have two aunts. One is in California. MY OTHER aunt is in New York.
If you don't like this idea, I have SEVERAL OTHER ideas to propose.
OTHER can be singular or plural.
Give me THE OTHER shoe.
Give me THE OTHER shoes.
Show me YOUR OTHER project.
Show me YOUR OTHER projects.
Send me THAT OTHER book you were talking about.
Send me THOSE OTHER books you were talking about.
ANOTHER is only singular. It means ONE other. It can't be used with
a plural noun.
Singular:
Give me ANOTHER reason (ONE more reason) why I should take that class.
also okay: Give me ONE OTHER reason why I should take that class.
Give me ANOTHER tomato (ONE more tomato) for this salad.
Plural:
Give me SOME OTHER reasons for doing that.
Give me SEVERAL OTHER reasons for doing that.
Give me YOUR OTHER reasons for doing that.
GIVE me A FEW OTHER tomatoes for the salad.
We use THE or a possessive adjective (MY, YOUR, HIS, HER, THEIR, OUR)
before OTHER when the alternative is limited and specific:
I have finished polishing this shoe. Give me THE OTHER one.
(You only have two shoes. There is only ONE other shoe.)
I have two brothers. One is in college. THE OTHER one is at home.
(You have exactly ONE other brother.)
He has two suits, but one is dirty. He'll wear HIS OTHER one.
(He has exactly ONE other suit.)
I have five children. One is in school. MY OTHER ones are too young.
(ALL of the other four are too young.)
Other (cont.)
We use SOME OTHER or ANOTHER when the alternative is not limited or specific:
We don't have to see that movie. There are SOME OTHER good ones.
(There are SOME good ones of the many, many movies playing.)
Your first suggestion was good. Give me SOME OTHER suggestions.
(I don't know how many you have. They aren't specified yet.)
I'm still hungry. Give me ANOTHER apple.
(There are many apples in the kitchen. Any apple will be okay.)
You can use a possessive adjective between SOME OF, A FEW OF, ONE OF, etc.
and OTHER to show that the items are not limited or specified:
He got an A in the class. SOME OF MY OTHER students got an A, too.
(I'm not specifying how many or which ones.)
Did you like his poem? Do you want to hear A FEW OF HIS OTHER poems?
(Not all of the other ones, just an unspecified few.)
We often use ONE (singular) or ONES (plural) after OTHER (and other adjectives)
when we don't want to repeat the noun:
You ate that sandwich quickly. Do you want ANOTHER ONE?
I enjoyed these books. I want to read SOME OTHER ONES.
You can replace OTHER ONES with OTHERS:
I enjoyed these books. I want to read some OTHERS. (some OTHER ONES)
Some politicians are honest, but some OTHERS are liars. (some OTHER ONES)
If you use OTHER ONES or OTHERS, you must not add the noun:
RIGHT: I don't like these shoes. Show me SOME OTHER ONES.
WRONG! *I don't like these shoes. Show me SOME OTHER ONES SHOES.*
RIGHT: Twelve students are in class. Where are THE OTHERS?
WRONG! *Twelve students are in class. Where are THE OTHERS STUDENTS?*
You can never use OTHERS and ONES together:
RIGHT: He did this painting, and he did A FEW OTHER ONES.
RIGHT: He did this painting, and he did A FEW OTHERS.
WRONG! *He did this painting, and he did A FEW OTHERS ONES.*
Other (cont.)
You can never use OTHERS before a noun:
RIGHT: Read A FEW OTHER newspapers.
RIGHT: Read A FEW OTHER ones.
RIGHT: Read A FEW OTHERS.
WRONG! *Read A FEW OTHERS newspapers.*
NEVER USE “The” with “Another”!!
You can never use THE with ANOTHER!!!
You can use the or an, but never both!!!!
Use THE OTHER for specific things.
Use ANOTHER for non-specific things.
RIGHT: I have one glove. I lost THE OTHER one. (specific)
RIGHT: I have one piece of paper. I need ANOTHER one. (non-specific)
WRONG! *Where is THE ANOTHER glove?* (RIGHT: Where is THE OTHER glove?)
Passive Mode
Passive Voice
The passive voice is used when you don't know, or don't wish to identify,
the subject who performs an action on something or somebody else.
The passive voice is made by adding a past participle to a form of BE:
The form of BE can be any tense, any number:
a. He WAS TAKEN to jail.
b. They WILL BE KILLED if they don't get out of the way!
c. HAVE you ever BEEN BITTEN?
d. Thousands of trees ARE SOLD here every year.
The active voice specifies the subject who performs the action:
a. The police TOOK him to jail.
b. The tractor WILL KILL them if they don't get out of the way!
c. HAS a dog ever BITTEN you?
d. The tree nursery owner SELLS thousands of trees here every year.
If you wish, you can use the passive voice and then add BY to name the
person or thing who/that performed the action:
a. He WAS TAKEN to jail BY THE POLICE.
b. They WILL BE KILLED BY THE TRACTOR.
c. HAVE you ever BEEN BITTEN BY A DOG?
d. Thousands of trees ARE SOLD here BY THE TREE NURSERY OWNER.
The passive voice can be in any tense and number:
past (singular) He WAS TAKEN to jail last night.
past (plural) They WERE ARRESTED last week.
present (singular) He IS always PUNISHED by his father whenever he lies.
present (plural) Thousands of hats ARE SOLD here every year.
present progressive The room IS BEING PAINTED now. Don't go in there.
past progressive The dog WAS BEING TEASED while the cat was eating.
future The lights WILL BE TAKEN down on January 7.
present perfect He HASN'T BEEN HIRED yet.
past perfect He HAD BEEN CHEATED before, so he was extra careful.
auxiliary verbs That CAN BE EATEN. The teacher SHOULD BE FIRED.
Past (Irregular Past/Past Part.)
Important Irregular Verbs
The following irregular verbs are given in three parts:
SIMPLE FORM PAST PAST PARTICIPLE
If these verbs are used with prefixes (foresee, overcome, undertake, etc.), they will have
the same irregular forms as the unprefixed forms (i.e., foresaw, overcame, undertaken, etc.)
1. be was/were been
2. bear (deliver a child) bore born
3. bear (deliver a package) bore borne
4. beat beat beaten
5. become became become
6. begin began begun
7. bend bent bent
8. bet bet bet
9. bind bound bound
10. bite bit bitten
11. bleed bled bled
12. blow blew blown
13. break broke broken
14. breed bred bred
15. bring brought brought
16. build built built
17. burst burst burst
18. buy bought bought
19. cast cast cast
20. catch caught caught
21. choose chose chosen
22. cling clung clung
23. come came come
24. cost cost cost
25. creep crept crept
26. cut cut cut
27. deal dealt dealt
28. dig dug dug
29. dive (jump head-first) dove dived
30. dive (scuba diving) dived dived
31. do did done
32. draw drew drawn
33. drink drank drunk
34. drive drove driven
35. eat ate eaten
36. fall fell fallen
37. feed fed fed
38. feel felt felt
39. fight fought fought
40. find found found
41. fly flew flown
42. forbid forbade forbidden
43. forget forgot forgotten
44. forgive forgave forgiven
45. freeze froze frozen
46. get got gotten
47. give gave given
48. go went gone
49. grind ground ground
50. grow grew grown
51. hang hung hung
52. hang (execute) hanged hanged
53. have had had
54. hear heard heard
55. hide hid hidden
56. hit hit hit
57. hold held held
58. hurt hurt hurt
59. keep kept kept
60. know knew known
61. lay laid laid
62. lead led led
63. leave left left
64. lend lent lent
65. let let let
66. lie (rest, recline) lay lain
67. lie (not tell the truth) lied lied
68. light lit/lighted lit/lighted
69. lose lost lost
70. make made made
71. mean meant meant
72. meet met met
73. pay paid paid
74. plead pleaded/pled pleaded/pled
75. prove proved proven/proved
76. put put put
77. quit quit quit
78. read read (sounds like "red") read (sounds like "red")
79. rid rid rid
80. ride rode ridden
81. ring rang rung
82. rise rose risen
83. run ran run
84. say said said
85. see saw seen
86. seek sought sought
87. sell sold sold
88. send sent sent
89. set set set
90. sew sewed sewn/sewed
91. shake shook shaken
92. shed shed shed
93. shine (the sun) shone shone
94. shine (a shoe) shined shined
95. shoot shot shot
96. show showed shown/showed
97. shrink shrank shrunk
98. shut shut shut
99. sing sang sung
100. sink sank sunk
101. sit sat sat
102. sleep slept slept
103. slide slid slid
104. sling slung slung
105. slink slinked/slunk slinked/slunk
106. slit slit slit
107. sneak sneaked/snuck sneaked/snuck
108. sow sowed sown/sowed
109. speak spoke spoken
110. speed sped/speeded sped/speeded
111. spend spent spent
112. spin spun spun
113. spit spit/spat spit/spat
114. split split split
115. spread spread spread
116. spring sprang sprung
117. stand stood stood
118. steal stole stolen
119. stick stuck stuck
120. sting stung stung
121. stink stunk/stank stunk
122. stride strode stridden
123. strike (delete) struck stricken
124. strike (hit) struck struck
125. string strung strung
126. strive strove/strived striven/strived
127. swear swore sworn
128. sweep swept swept
129. swell swelled swollen/swelled
130. swim swam swum
131. swing swung swung
132. take took taken
133. teach taught taught
134. tear tore torn
135. tell told told
136. think thought thought
137. throw threw thrown
138. thrust thrust thrust
139. wake woke woken
140. wear wore worn
141. weave wove/weaved woven/weaved
142. weep wept wept
143. win won won
144. wind wound wound
145. wring wrung wrung
146. write wrote written
Past Perfect
Past Perfect
The past perfect is formed with the auxiliary verb HAD and a past participle:
a. He HAD already LEARNED Spanish before he moved to Mexico.
b. We HAD always TAKEN subways before he got rich.
c. HAD you KNOWN him for a long time before you married him?
The past perfect is called "a past before a past."
It is used to show that one action was in the past, and another action,
the one in the past perfect, was even earlier than that.
In the above sentences:
a. He moved to Mexico. Before moving to Mexico, he had learned Spanish.
b. He got rich. Before getting rich, we had taken subways.
c. You married him. Before marrying him, had you known him for long?
The past perfect is not always used if one past event is earlier than another.
If many different past events occurred in a connected way, one after the other,
then the simple past is used:
He woke up, read the paper, cooked breakfast and ran out the door.
(This is what happened, one thing after the other, during the morning.)
She went to the store. Then she came home and made dinner.
(This is what happened, one thing after the other, during the day.)
We rarely use the past perfect alone. It is usually part of a sentence
that has a simple past in it so that the two are contrasted, one being
an earlier event (the past perfect verb) than the other (the past verb).
It sounds strange to native speakers to hear the past perfect without the
other event:
STRANGE! *I had lived in France.
(The native speaker will probably ask, "Before what?")
Notice the difference between these two sentences:
a. My mother talked to me about sex before I went out on my first date.
b. My mother had talked to me about sex before I went out on my first date.
In the first sentence (a), the mother probably spoke to the daughter on the
same day or evening that she was having her first date. The simple past is
used for both TALKED and WENT OUT because the events occurred together.
In the second sentence (b), the mother had probably spoken to the daughter
as she was growing up, during her childhood, about the facts of life (sex).
The past perfect is used (HAD TALKED) to specify to the listener that these
sex talks were earlier events, not right before the daughter ran out of the
house and got into her boyfriend's car.
c. I learned German before I went to Germany.
d. I had learned German before I went to Germany.
Sentence C probably means immediately or soon before going to Germany.
Sentence D probably means much earlier, maybe in school or as a child.
Plurals
Spelling Rules for Plurals (copyright 1999, Rick Shur)
1. Add s to make most plurals:
duck ducks
song songs
garage garages
place places
path paths (Don't add es to th!)
2. Add es to sh, ch, s, x, z:
brush brushes
watch watches
dress dresses
box boxes
buzz buzzes
3. Change y to i and add es if a consonant comes before y:
city cities
story stories
cry cries
fly flies
quarry quarries
baby babies
country countries
caddy caddies
buggy buggies
4. Don't change y if a vowel comes before y. Just add s.
toy toys
monkey monkeys
key keys
guy guys
play plays
boy boys
day days
5. Add s to final o if a vowel comes before o
stereo stereos
radio radios
zoo zoos
Add es to final o if a consonant comes before o
volcano volcanoes
tomato tomatoes
hero heroes
EXCEPTION 1: music words from Italian add only s
piano pianos
solo solos
Plurals (cont.)
EXCEPTION 2: words that are short forms of longer words add just s
photo photos (from photograph)
auto autos (from automobile)
memo memos (from memorandum)
6. Change final f or fe to ves
calf calves
life lives
wolf wolves
thief thieves
wife wives
knife knives
half halves
EXCEPTIONS: chefs, chiefs, roofs, beliefs, safes, briefs
and words ending in ff: cliffs, bluffs, puffs
7. Pluralize capital letters, and words made of capital letters (acronyms),
with an apostrophe:
There are three I's in "responsibility."
I have two TV's at home. There are many YMCA's in New York.
8. To make people's names plural add s or es, just as with common words
(see Rules 1 and 2):
The Shurs are going on vacation.
The Bushes have already left the White House.
The Clintons have had marital difficulties.
The Pappases (Mr. and Mrs. Pappas) are home now.
The above sentences use the plural form of the verb (are, have).
You can also talk about a whole family in the singular:
The Shur family is going on vacation.
The Bush family has already left the White House.
The Clinton family likes to visit Cape Cod.
Plurals (cont.)
9. Some important words have irregular plurals:
man men
woman women (notice that man/men are in woman/women)
child children
foot feet
tooth teeth
person people (persons is uncommon)
mouse mice
goose geese
ox oxen
fish fish
deer deer
sheep sheep
rhinoceros rhinoceri
hippopotomus hippopotomi
10. Some words from Latin and Greek have irregular plurals:
a phenomenon several phenomena
a crisis several crises
a parenthesis two parentheses
11. Possessive forms of a plural add only ' if the plural ends with s.
If the plural has no s of its own, then add 's:
The boys' room is down the hall. My daughters' school is okay.
The children's bedroom is blue. The people's choice was Clinton.
12. Other plural words:
a/some I need a book. I need some books.
this/these I need this book. I need these books.
that/those I need that book. I need those books.
the/the I need the book. I need the books. (NO CHANGE)
which/which This is the book which you need.
These are the books which you need. (NO CHANGE)
Prepositions (in, on, at, to)
Rules for Prepositions IN, ON, AT, TO
Basic Rules
A. AT a time
B. ON a day
C. IN a month (season, year, decade, century)
D. AT an address
E. ON a street
F. IN an area (neighborhood, town, borough, state, country, continent, ocean,
the world, the solar system, the universe)
20 Special Rules for Prepositions IN, ON, AT, TO
1. look AT and listen TO
2. TO with verbs of desire, necessity, expectation
love TO, like TO, hate TO, want TO, need TO, have TO, hope TO, expect TO
3. AT night
IN the morning, IN the afternoon, IN the evening
4. ON transportation
ON the bus, ON the train, ON the subway, ON a plane, ON a jet, ON a ship,
ON a bicycle, ON a motorcycle, ON a surfboard, ON a skateboard
BUT
IN a car, IN a taxi, IN a small boat, IN an elevator, IN a helicopter
5. AT an intersection (where two streets cross)
AT Broadway and 42nd Street, AT Fifth Avenue and 34th Street
6. ON an island, ON a farm, ON a college campus, ON earth, ON a planet
7. expressions that mean sometimes use different prepositions:
from time TO time, ON occasion, once IN a while
8. IN a park, IN a yard, AT a playground
9. ON anything flat
ON a plate, ON the wall, ON the floor, ON a shelf, ON the blackboard,
ON a table, ON a desk, ON the stove, ON your face, a hat ON your head
10. IN a room or anything smaller
IN the closet, IN a drawer, IN a cup, IN a bowl, IN a glass, IN your
mouth, ideas IN your head, a look IN your eye, a ribbon IN your hair
11. TO when moving from point A TO point B
go TO school, drive TO work, take a trip TO Boston, take your kids TO
school, fly TO London, walk TO the library, bring your dog TO the vet
12. ON a/an [adjective] morning, afternoon, evening, night, day
ON a cold afternoon, ON a sunny morning, ON a rainy evening,
ON a Saturday night, ON a spring day, ON a special night
13. ON vacation, ON the weekend, ON a trip, ON a picnic, ON your break,
ON a leave of absence, ON your lunch hour
14. IN the water swimming (or drowning), ON the water boating
15. AT the beach (the whole place), lie ON the beach (=ON the sand), play IN the sand
16. ON anything like a line
ON the coast, stand ON line, ON the border, ON the side, ON a team/committee
17. ON forms of communication
ON TV, ON the radio, ON the phone, ON the fax machine, ON the computer, ON
a disk, ON a CD, ON a hard drive, ON a channel, ON a screen
18. a report or news article ON the economy (=ABOUT the economy)
19. ON time for an event or activity: Come to the meeting ON time. Be in class ON time.
20. IN time (or too late) TO do something: Get to the station IN time TO catch a train.
Present Perfect
Present Perfect
We make the present perfect tense with
HAVE or HAS + past participle
She HAS TAKEN this class before. (She'S TAKEN...)
He HAS never EATEN Japanese food. (He'S never EATEN...)
We HAVE SEEN that movie already. (We'VE SEEN...)
There are three important reasons that we use the present perfect:
A. an indefinite or uncertain past, especially with NEVER and EVER
HAVE you EVER EATEN Japanese food? (I don't know if you have.)
I'VE GONE to France several times. (I don't remember exactly when.)
She'S NEVER BEEN in an accident. ("Never" has no specific time.)
I'VE BEEN mugged twice. (I don't remember, or care about, when.)
BUT we use the simple past if we say when something happened:
I ATE at that restaurant last year.
I WENT to France in 1983.
She WAS in an accident when she was a girl.
I WAS mugged twice last December.
B. a length of time which is not finished yet
How long HAVE you LIVED in New York? (You're still in New York.)
I'VE STUDIED English for three years. (I'm still studying it.)
I'VE BEEN here since 4 o'clock. (I'm still here.)
I'VE LIVED in Queens since I came to America. (I'm still there.)
She HAS KNOWN Mr. Kim since 1987. (She still knows him.)
He HAS LOVED her since they met. (He still loves her.)
Notice that SINCE must be followed by a specific past time (4 o'clock, 1987)
or past event in the past tense (I came to America, they met).
Present Perfect (cont.)
We use the simple past for a length of time which completely ended:
When I WAS in France, I studied business for two months. (I'm back home now.)
After I came to New York, I LIVED in Brooklyn for a year, but I later moved.
I STAYED there for four hours, but I left at 8:00 pm.
(In all of the above examples, the action happened but then finished.)
C. expressions with YET, ALREADY, JUST, and superlatives
HAVE you DONE the dishes YET?
I'VE ALREADY TAKEN this class.
He HAS JUST ARRIVED.
That's THE BEST paper HE HAS ever WRITTEN.
He's THE NICEST person I'VE MET in my life!
Many native speakers, especially in America, use the simple past tense
with these words:
Did you do the dishes yet?
I already took that class.
He just arrived.
That's the best paper he ever wrote.
He's the nicest person I ever met.
The first three are are commonly accepted while the last two, with
superlatives (the best, the nicest) are somewhat jolting to conservatively educated ears.
Presidents of the United States
1. 1789-1797 --- George Washington
2. 1797-1801 --- John Adams
3. 1801-1809 --- Thomas Jefferson
4. 1809-1817 --- James Madison
5. 1817-1825 --- James Monroe
6. 1825-1829 --- John Quincy Adams
7. 1829-1837 --- Andrew Jackson
8. 1837-1841 --- Martin Van Buren
9. 1841-1841 --- William Henry Harrison
10. 1841-1845 --- John Tyler
11. 1845-1849 --- James Knox Polk
12. 1849-1850 --- Zachary Taylor
13. 1850-1853 --- Millard Fillmore
14. 1853-1857 --- Franklin Pierce
15. 1857-1861 --- James Buchanan
16. 1861-1865 --- Abraham Lincoln
17. 1865-1869 --- Andrew Johnson
18. 1869-1877 --- Ulysses Simpson Grant
19. 1877-1881 --- Rutherford Birchard Hayes
20. 1881-1881 --- James Abram Garfield
21. 1881-1885 --- Chester Alan Arthur
22. 1885-1889 --- Grover Cleveland
23. 1889-1893 --- Benjamin Harrison
24. 1893-1897 --- Grover Cleveland
25. 1897-1901 --- William McKinley
26. 1901-1909 --- Theodore Roosevelt
27. 1909-1913 --- William Howard Taft
28. 1913-1921 --- Woodrow Wilson
29. 1921-1923 --- Warren Gamaliel Harding
30. 1923-1929 --- Calvin Coolidge
31. 1929-1933 --- Herbert Clark Hoover
32. 1933-1945 --- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
33. 1945-1953 --- Harry S. Truman
34. 1953-1961 --- Dwight David Eisenhower
35. 1961-1963 --- John Fitzgerald Kennedy
36. 1963-1969 --- Lyndon Baines Johnson
37. 1969-1974 --- Richard Milhous Nixon
38. 1974-1977 --- Gerald Rudolph Ford
39. 1977-1981 --- Jimmy Carter
40. 1981-1989 --- Ronald Reagan
41. 1989-1993 --- George Bush
42. 1993- 2001 --- Bill Clinton
43. 2001- ???? --- George W. Bush
Pronouns and Possessives
Pronouns and Possessives
Subject Object Possessive Possessive
Pronoun Pronoun Adjective Pronoun
I me my mine
you you your yours
he him his his
she her her hers
it it its its
we us our ours
you you your yours
they them their theirs
(THEY is the plural form for HE, SHE and IT.)
(THEM is the plural form for HIM, HER, and IT.)
Subject pronouns begin a sentence. The subject is or does something.
He eats sandwiches every day.
She is a good friend of mine.
They have never seen this film.
Object pronouns receive an action.
I gave her a sandwich.
They fired him.
We called them yesterday.
Possessive adjectives go before nouns.
This is their cat. That is her cat. I see my cat. Where is your cat?
These are their cats. Those are her cats. I see my cats. Where are your cats?
(Notice that possessive adjectives are the same for plural or singular nouns!)
Possessive pronouns are used WITHOUT nouns.
Compare:
possessive ADJECTIVES BEFORE NOUNS:
It is their cat. That is her book. I see my pen. Where is your car?
They are their cats. Those are her books. I see my pens. Where are your cars?
possessive PRONOUNS WITHOUT NOUNS:
It is theirs. That is hers. I see mine. Where is yours?
They are theirs. Those are hers. I see mine. Where are yours?
(Notice that both possessive pronouns and possessive adjectives stay
THE SAME regardless of the gender or number of the noun they describe.
Possessives agree only with gender and number of the PERSON WHO HAS OR
POSSESSES the thing or things: A woman loves HER son, HER daughter, HER kids.)
Questions (Direct)
The form for asking a direct question is (W) X S (V)...
W is a question word: Who, What, Where, When, Why, How
X is an auxiliary verb
have do am can must
has does is could might
had did are shall may
was should
were will
would
S is the subject of the question
V is a verb or verb form (in addition to the auxiliary verb)
(W) X S (V)
1. Where is your father working these days?
2. Are they at the party?
3. Why do you talk so much?
4. Does your brother eat meat?
5. How much did that book cost?
6. Have you seen my textbook?
7. Isn't your mother feeling well?
8. Do the students have their books?
9. Can't you swim a mile?
10. Will it rain today?
11. Am I your friend?
12. Why aren't they here yet?
Questions that expect a YES or NO answer are called YES/NO questions.
They do not have a W part (Who, What, Where, etc.)
They begin with the X part (an auxiliary verb, positive or negative).
(no W) X S (V)
1. Were they at the party?
2. Doesn't your brother eat meat?
3. Have you seen my textbook?
4. Isn't your mother feeling well?
5. Do the students have their books?
6. Can't you swim a mile?
7. Will it rain today?
8. Am I your friend?
9. Aren't they here yet?
10. Are your friends coming?
Questions (Direct) (cont.)
To change a statement into a YES/NO question, use the same auxiliary verb
for the question that you see in the statement.
Change the word order and add a question mark.
He IS my father.
IS he your father?
They CAN SWIM a mile.
CAN they SWIM a mile?
She HAS SEEN the Statue of Liberty.
HAS she SEEN the Statue of Liberty?
They ARE here.
ARE they here?
We'LL (We WILL) CALL you.
WILL you CALL us?
If the statement has no auxiliary verb, then the question is made with
DO, DOES or DID.
DO is the present tense auxiliary for plural subjects, YOU, and I.
DOES is the present tense auxiliary for singular subjects.
DID is the past tense auxiliary for both singular and plural subjects.
Change the statement's verb to the SIMPLE FORM.
DO, DOES and DID are always used with the simple form of a verb.
The simple form has no S, no ED (or past tense) or ending of any kind.
He eats out every night.
DOES he EAT out every night?
She thinks about her mother all the time?
DOES she THINK about her mother all the time?
We went to Omaha.
DID you GO to Omaha?
HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only if they are used with
a past participle:
He HAS SEEN that movie.
HAS he SEEN that movie?
She HAS TAKEN two tests.
HAS she TAKEN two tests?
They HAVE EATEN already.
HAVE they EATEN already?
Questions (Direct) (cont.)
If HAVE, HAS, and HAD are not used with a past participle, they are
regular verbs, and the question form will be made with DO, DOES or DID:
(HAVE is the simple form that you must use with DO, DOES, DID.)
They HAVE a lot of money. She HAS to go. He HAD fun.
DO they HAVE a lot of money? DOES she HAVE to go? DID he HAVE fun?
Questions with Who and What as subject
An exception to the W X S V or X S V rule for making questions occurs when
you don't know the subject. In these cases, we use Who/What and the verb:
Who teaches this class? (NOT *Who does teach...?)
What makes you angry? (NOT *What does make...?)
Who brought that pear? (NOT *Who did bring....?)
The verb is generally in the singular form, with -s, whenever
we ask a present-tense question where Who or What are the subject:
Who wants pizza? (NOT *Who want...?)
We make the verb the singular form even when we expect the answer to
be plural: -Who IS coming to your party?
-All my friends ARE coming!
Questions (Indirect, a.k.a. Noun Clauses)
Indirect Questions
The form for asking a direct question is (W) X S V...
(W) X S V
1. Where is your father working these days?
2. Are they going to the picnic?
3. Why do you talk so much?
4. Does your brother eat meat?
5. How much did that book cost?
6. Have you seen my textbook?
INDIRECT QUESTIONS are questions that DO NOT BEGIN WITH THE W-WORD
OR THE X-WORD, as in the examples above.
They begin with some phrase like "Do you know" or "Can you tell me."
While the direct questions (above) use DO, DOES and DID, indirect
questions do not. They use the original verb form in the correct
form (number, tense ending).
Indirect questions use IF in YES/NO questions. The other W-words
(WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, HOW) will remain the same.
W S (X) V
Can you tell me where your father is working these days?
Do you know if they are going to the party?
Please tell me why you talk so much.
Tell me if your brother eats meat.
Do you know how much that book cost?
Please let me know if you have seen my textbook.
Notice, above, that indirect questions don't always have a question mark.
Expressions like "Please let me know" or "Tell me" are really commands,
not questions, so they will end with a period.
The indirect question form is also used with expressions like "I wonder"
or "I don't know" or "I don't care."
I wonder where his father is working these days.
I don't know if they are going to the party.
I don't care how much that book cost.
I don't care if his brother eats meat.
Relative Clauses
Restrictive Relative Clauses
A sentence can have more than one subject and verb. Sometimes, we use
a short clause (group of words with subject and verb) to identify
or explain something about a person, place or thing in the sentence.
Assume that there are two books, a ten-dollar book and a five-dollar book.
If somebody asks you which one you want, and you don't have much money,
you might say:
a. I want the five-dollar book.
b. I want the book THAT COSTS FIVE DOLLARS.
In sentence B, you are using a restrictive (relative) clause. A
restrictive clause specifies which one. It is composed of a
relative pronoun, in this case, THAT, which refers to the book, and
the verb COSTS, along with more information (FIVE DOLLARS, the price).
You can talk about places with restrictive clauses:
I want to visit the place WHERE I WAS BORN.
In the case, the relative pronoun is WHERE, because it refers to a place.
It is followed by the subject and verb, I WAS BORN. This restrictive
clause defines the place I want to visit.
Another kind of restrictive clause defines a person.
There are many good teachers here, but I'm looking for a special
kind of teacher.
I want a teacher WHO WILL TEACH ME ABOUT GRAMMAR.
The relative pronoun is WHO, referring to TEACHER. WHO is generally the
relative pronoun for people, while THAT is for things:
Another kind of restrictive clause defines possession.
An orphan is a person with no parents.
His or her parents are dead.
An orphan is a person WHOSE PARENTS ARE NO LONGER ALIVE.
The relative pronoun WHOSE takes the place of a possessive adjective
like HIS, HER, THEIR, MY, YOUR, OUR.
I am a person. My sense of duty is strong.
I am a person WHOSE SENSE OF DUTY IS STRONG. (WHOSE takes the place of MY.)
Relative Clauses (cont.)
The word WHY is a kind of relative pronoun used with THE REASON.
The warm weather is the reason WHY I MOVED TO FLORIDA.
We often take out THE REASON:
The warm weather is WHY I MOVED TO FLORIDA.
Now look at these four sentences.
A and C have something in common, as do B and D.
A. These are the vegetables THAT FELL ON THE FLOOR.
B. These are the vegetables THAT I BOUGHT YESTERDAY.
C. These are the teachers WHO TAUGHT MATH LAST YEAR.
D. These are the teachers WHO(M) I HIRED YESTERDAY.
In Sentence D, about teachers, WHOM is the more correct relative pronoun,
but many people, especially in America, no longer
use the WHOM form in this kind of sentence.
WHOM is more correct than WHO because WHOM refers to an OBJECT, not a SUBJECT.
WHOM refers to THE TEACHERS, and they are not the SUBJECT of the verb HIRED.
They are the OBJECT. The TEACHERS didn't hire anybody. I hired THEM. They
"received" the action, so they are the OBJECT of the verb HIRED, and WHOM
refers to people who are OBJECTS of an action in the relative clause.
With things, we use THAT whether the thing is a SUBJECT or an OBJECT.
A. These are the vegetables THAT FELL ON THE FLOOR.
B. These are the vegetables [THAT] I BOUGHT YESTERDAY.
C. These are the teachers WHO TAUGHT MATH LAST YEAR.
D. These are the teachers [WHO(M)] I HIRED YESTERDAY.
Look at Sentence A. The relative pronoun THAT refers to the vegetables.
In this case, the vegetables are the SUBJECT of the verb FELL. The
vegetables did the action, they FELL.
In Sentence B, the relative pronoun THAT refers to the vegetables again,
but this time it is an OBJECT relative pronoun. The vegetables didn't BUY
anything. I bought THEM. They "received" the action.
So sentences B and D both have relative pronouns that are OBJECT RELATIVE
PRONOUNS. [When relative pronouns are object relative pronouns, they may be omitted.]
Unlike WHO and WHOM for people, THAT (for things) doesn't change form,
whether it refers to an OBJECT or SUBJECT of a verb in a relative clause.
We often use restrictive clauses to define things:
A mechanic is a person WHO FIXES CARS.
A refrigerator is an appliance THAT KEEPS FOOD COLD.
A playground is a place WHERE CHILDREN PLAY.
A widow is a woman WHOSE HUSBAND HAS DIED.
Relative Clauses (cont.)
Any relative clause that defines something, or specifies which thing
or person we are talking about, is restrictive and is used in a sentence
with NO COMMA.
Nonrestrictive Relative Clauses
Another kind of relative clause is NONRESTRICTIVE. This means that it
doesn't identify or specify which one, and it doesn't define what
something or someone is. It gives extra information about someone or
something:
I played soccer, WHICH IS A FAST-MOVING GAME.
I met Dr. Peterson, WHO WAS VERY EAGER TO TALK WITH ME.
I shook hands with Martin Luther King, WHOM MOST AMERICANS REVERE GREATLY.
We went to Las Vegas, WHERE MANY PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR LIFE SAVINGS.
I sent a letter to Mr. Sanders, WHOSE SON HAD JUST JOINED THE ARMY.
In the above sentences, the relative clauses are nonrestrictive because
they are not defining anything or explaining which one. They are only
adding extra information about the person, place or thing. Because the
clauses are considered "extra information" and not necessary for specifying
who or what I am talking about, they are set apart from the main part of
the sentence with a comma.
Notice that, in nonrestrictive clauses, the relative pronoun is usually
WHICH, while in restrictive clauses, the relative pronoun is usually THAT.
restrictive: This is the pen THAT I USE MOST.
nonrestrictive: This is my only watch, WHICH MY FATHER GAVE ME YEARS AGO.
Compare these two clauses, one restrictive and one nonrestrictive:
A. (I have only one aunt.) My aunt, who lives in California, is coming soon.
B. (I have two aunts.) My aunt who lives in California is coming soon.
In Sentence A, the fact that my aunt lives in California is extra information;
it isn't necessary to identify which aunt I'm talking about because I have
only one. In Sentence B, the fact about living in California is the
way I specify which of two aunts is coming. (Not the one from Florida!)
In Sentence B, the relative clause is restrictive because it identifies which
aunt, and there is no comma setting it apart from the subject, My aunt. In
Sentence A, the relative clause is "extra," or nonrestrictive, and it is set
apart from the rest of the sentence. The clause, WHO LIVES IN CALIFORNIA,
is surrounded by commas.
Be careful to put relative clauses next to the thing or person they are
talking about.
My daughter met the principal of the school. She is five years old.
WRONG: *My daughter met the principal of the school, who is five years old.
(This seems to say that the principal is five years old!)
RIGHT: My daughter, who is five years old, met the principal of the school.
Reported Speech
The rules for reported speech are divided into these sections:
1. reporting a statement
2. reporting a question (see also #9)
3. using indirect objects
4. reporting commands
5. changing present to past
6. changing past to past perfect
7. changing auxiliary verbs
8. tenses that don't change in reported speech
9. rules for direct questions and reported questions
10. time expressions that change in reported speech
Direct speech is speech inside quotation marks. It is used to repeat the
exact words that somebody said:
My mother told me, "You have to work harder in school, or you'll fail."
While this is okay for sharing stories with friends, this is not the best
way to report a conversation, either in speech or in writing. It shows a better
command of the language to use reported speech:
My mother told me that I had to work harder or that I would fail.
1. reporting a statement
When reporting a statement (not a question), we generally use THAT:
In short sentences, we often drop THAT, but in writing it is a good idea
to use it all the time, even for short sentences!
NOTE: In reported speech, we repeat THAT after AND, BUT and OR.
NOTE: There are no commas before or after AND, BUT or OR in reported
speech.
NOTE: There are no commas before or after THAT.
She said THAT he was hungry and THAT he wanted to eat soon.
He told me THAT he had never been to France but THAT he wanted to go.
They promised us THAT they would tell the truth.
2. reporting a question
When reporting a question, we use IF for yes/no questions or the
appropriate question words (who, what, where, when, how, why) for
information questions:
NOTE: Never use THAT when reporting a question!
NOTE: Never use a question mark (?) when reporting a question!
Reported Speech (cont.)
He asked me IF I was going to the office party. ("Are you going to...")
He asked me WHEN I would call him. ("When will you call me?")
He asked me HOW MUCH my rent was. ("How much is your rent?")
(See Part 9 for a full explanation of reporting questions.)
3. using indirect objects
3a. The following verbs must be used with an indirect object:
(There is no TO before these indirect objects!)
told He TOLD ME that he was hungry.
informed We INFORMED HER that the store was closed.
reminded He REMINDED THE STAFF that the meeting was at 8 pm.
3b. The following verbs may be used with an indirect object, but the indirect
object is optional (up to you).
(There is no TO before these indirect objects!)
He asked his wife why she was so angry.
OR He asked why she was so angry.
asked We asked (her) where her husband was.
answered He answered (me) that he couldn't help.
promised She promised (him) that she would stay.
3c. The following verbs need TO before the indirect object. For any verb that
needs TO before the indirect object, the indirect object is optional:
He SAID TO ME that he was the chief of police.
OR He said that he was the chief of police.
said He said (to his wife) that he was hungry.
explained We explained (to her) why we had been late.
exclaimed She exclaimed (to the boy) that she was furious.
complained They complained (to us) that the room was too cold.
4. reporting commands
In English we report commands, orders, requests and suggestions to other
people in a five-part format:
Somebody told somebody else to/not to do something
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
She told her daughter to eat.
We asked them to help us.
The officer ordered me not to run.
He advised the student not to quit.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones wanted their son to study.
Reported Speech (cont.)
5. changing present to past
If the direct speech was in the present tense, the reported speech must be
in the past tense:
She said, "I am an actress, and I also sing."
She said that she was an actress and that she also sang.
THE EXCEPTION to this rule is if you are reporting speech with the "telling"
verb in the present tense. This often occurs when the speech is from a very
recent conversation (usually the same day) or is about something a person
says repeatedly, habitually:
My mother always TELLS me that she WANTS me to be an actress.
BUT My mother TOLD me that she WANTED me to be an actress.
John TELLS us that his department NEEDS more time.
BUT John TOLD us that his department NEEDED more time.
6. changing past to past perfect
If the direct speech was in the past tense, the reported speech must be in
the past perfect (the "past before a past" form):
He said, "I WAS scared when I FELL down the stairs."
He said that he HAD BEEN scared when he HAD FALLEN down the stairs.
Many native speakers disregard this rule. They use the past tense again
in the reported form:
He said that he WAS scared when he FELL down the stairs.
Some people consider the above sentence to be grammatically unacceptable.
A popular compromise, which satisfies many modern grammarians, is to
change AT LEAST THE FIRST VERB TO PAST PERFECT:
He said that he HAD BEEN scared when he FELL down the stairs.
7. changing auxiliary verbs
Some auxiliary verbs change from direct to reported speech:
can/could I asked him, "CAN I see your sister?"
I asked him if I COULD see his sister.
shall/should She asked, "SHALL I call you later?"
She asked if she SHOULD call me later.
will/would He told them, "I'LL help you tomorrow."
He told them that he WOULD help them the following day.
Reported Speech (cont.)
may/might She said, "I MAY study tonight."
She said that she MIGHT study that night.
must/had to He said, "I MUST see a doctor soon."
He said that he HAD TO see a doctor soon.
(There is no past for of MUST, so we use HAD TO.)
8. verb tenses that don't change in reported speech
Some verbs and verb combinations have no change in the reported form.
Don't change the past perfect (HAD + p.p.), the unreal (present or
past), or any combination with COULD, SHOULD, WOULD, or MIGHT.
past prf. He said, "My father HAD already DIED before I graduated."
He said that his father HAD already DIED before he had graduated.
present He said, "I WOULD HELP the homeless if I WERE mayor."
unreal He said that he WOULD HELP the homeless if he WERE mayor.
past She said, "I WOULD HAVE GIVEN the answer if I HAD KNOWN it."
unreal She said that she WOULD HAVE GIVEN the answer if SHE HAD KNOWN it.
could I said, "I COULD RUN faster when I was young."
I said that I COULD RUN faster when he had been young.
I said, "I COULD HAVE FINISHED more if I HAD HAD time."
I said that I COULD HAVE FINISHED more if I HAD HAD time.
should He said, "You SHOULD GET married."
He said that I SHOULD GET married.
She said, "I SHOULD HAVE WORN a better dress yesterday."
She said that she SHOULD HAVE WORN a better dress the day before.
might I said, "I MIGHT GO to the Statue of Liberty."
I said that I MIGHT GO to the Statue of Liberty.
They said, "Our son MIGHT HAVE BEEN at his friend's house."
They said that their son MIGHT HAVE BEEN at his friend's house.
Reported Speech (cont.)
9a. direct questions: The form for asking a direct question is (W) X S V...
(W) X S V
1. Where is your father working these days?
2. Are they going to the picnic?
3. Why do you talk so much?
4. Does your brother eat meat?
5. How much did that book cost?
6. Have you seen my textbook?
9b. reported questions: Here are the reported forms of the above questions...
W S (X) V
1. He asked me where my father was working those days.
2. He asked me if they were going to the picnic.
3. He asked me why I talked so much.
4. He asked me if my brother ate meat.
5. He asked me how much that book had cost.
6. He asked me if I had seen his textbook.
10. expressions that change in reported speech
In reporting a conversation that took place in the past, certain
time expressions, which were true for the speakers when they spoke,
would no longer make sense to speakers who are talking about the
old conversation.
this/these that/those
here there
tomorrow the following day/the next day
next month the following month/the next month
today that day
tonight that night
this afternoon that afternoon
yesterday the day before/the previous day
last year the year before/the previous year
last night the night before/the previous night
Short Answers
Short Answers and Responses
You can answer a YES/NO question in a long form or a short form:
Question: Are you going to school now?
long answer: Yes, I'm going to school now.
short answer: Yes, I am.
The short answer uses Yes or No, followed by a comma, and
then the subject and auxiliary verb. The auxiliary verb is
the same one used in the question. There are 20 auxiliary verbs:
have do am can must
has does is could might
had did are shall may
was should
were will
(be) would
Question: Are you going to school now?
long answer: Yes, I'm going to school now.
short answer: Yes, I am.
In the above question, the auxiliary verb is ARE, which is
from the BE group. The answer uses AM, to agree with I, but
it is still the same auxiliary verb, BE.
Question: HAS he eaten yet?
long answer: Yes, he's eaten already.
short answer: Yes, he HAS.
Question: DOES she live in San Francisco?
long answer: Yes, she lives in San Francisco.
short answer: Yes, she DOES.
Question: ARE they coming to visit?
long answer: Yes, they're coming to visit.
short answer: Yes, they ARE.
Question: IS Spin City on TV now?
long answer: Yes, it's on TV now.
short answer: Yes, it IS. (The subject is IT for the TV program.)
Question: ARE there any Russian students here?
long answer: Yes, there are some Russian students here.
short answer: Yes, there ARE. (THERE is the subject in THERE IS/THERE ARE.)
Short Answers (cont.)
Note: You can contract THERE IS to THERE'S,
but you shouldn't contract THERE ARE to *THERE'RE.
THERE'RE is still considered an incorrect form by most grammarians.
It's better to write out THERE ARE completely.
Notice that after a comma, a pronoun (you, he, she, it, we, they)
is NOT written with a capital letter (he, NOT *He; she, NOT *She).
The only exception to this is that the subject I is always written
with capital I, no matter where it appears in a sentence.
Notice also that in the short answer, you can't make a contraction
(with an apostrophe) between the pronoun and auxiliary verb.
RIGHT: Yes, I am.
WRONG! *Yes, I'm.
RIGHT: Yes, he has.
WRONG! *Yes, he's.
RIGHT: Yes, they are.
WRONG! *Yes, they're.
Disagreement
If somebody makes a statement that we disagree with, we often state
our opposition with a short answer form.
We use the same auxiliary verb that was used in the statement:
Statement: John IS the smartest boy in the class.
Disagreement: No, he ISN'T!
Statement: Clinton WILL be president for eight more years.
Disagreement: No, he WON'T!
Statement: It HASN'T rained yet this winter.
Disagreement: Yes, it HAS!
If the statement has no auxiliary verb then you must use
DOESN'T, DON'T or DIDN'T in the short answer.
DOESN'T and DON'T are used for present tense (DOESN'T for singular subjects,
DON'T for plural subjects, I, and YOU).
DIDN'T is used for past tense verbs for all subjects, singular or plural.
Statements with no auxiliary verb:
Short Answers (cont.)
Statement: He eats meat. Present tense singular
Disagreement: No, he DOESN'T!
Statement: She loves New York. Present tense singular
Disagreement: No, she DOESN'T.
Statement: They teach biology. Present tense plural
Disagreement: No, they DON'T!
Statement: You cheat on exams. Present tense, I and YOU
Disagreement: No, I DON'T!
Statement: They worked hard. Past tense
Disagreement: No, they DIDN'T.
HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when they are used with
a past participle in the present perfect or past perfect tenses.
Present Perfect
Statement: He HAS BEEN to Europe.
Disagreement: No, he HASN'T!
Statement: I HAVE SAID that before.
Disagreement: No, you HAVEN'T!
Statement: They HAVE TAKEN the test.
Disagreement: No, they HAVEN'T!
Past Perfect
Statement: We had learned English before we came here.
Disagreement: No, you HADN'T!
HAVE, HAS and HAD are regular verbs when they are NOT used with a past
participle. To make the short response, you use DON'T, DOESN'T or DIDN'T.
Statement: He has money.
Disagreement: No, he DOESN'T!
Statement: Bob had to leave.
Disagreement: No, he DIDN'T!
Statement: I have her phone number in my wallet.
Disagreement: No, you DON'T!
Should Have
Should Have/Shouldn't Have
We use SHOULD and SHOULDN'T to state current necessity, duty or obligation:
You SHOULD WORK harder.
You SHOULDN'T LEAVE the dog in the hot car.
You SHOULD DRIVE carefully.
You SHOULDN'T EAT five Big Macs.
You SHOULDN'T SLEEP during the lecture.
We use SHOULD HAVE and SHOULDN'T HAVE to talk about past mistakes,
which are too late to change:
You didn't finish the job on time! You SHOULD HAVE WORKED harder!
You left the dog in the hot car! You SHOULD HAVE TAKEN it with you!
You had an accident! You SHOULD HAVE DRIVEN more carefully!
You got a stomachache yesterday! You SHOULDN'T HAVE EATEN five Big Macs!
You missed all the information! You SHOULDN'T HAVE SLEPT during the lecture!
In all of the above statements, the "advice" is too late to help anybody.
SHOULD HAVE and SHOULDN'T HAVE are followed by a past participle.
SHOULD HAVE GONE
SHOULDN'T HAVE SLEPT
SHOULD HAVE TAKEN
SHOULD HAVE BEEN
We often use SHOULD HAVE and SHOULDN'T HAVE with Unreal statements.
(See the exercises on Unreal Past.)
You didn't wake up on time!
You SHOULD HAVE SET your alarm clock before you went to bed.
If you HAD SET your alarm, you WOULD HAVE WOKEN up at the right time.
When we speak, we usually say SHOULD'VE (which sounds like SHOULD OF)
instead of SHOULD HAVE. In formal compositions, write SHOULD HAVE out
completely. Most grammarians consider SHOULD'VE too informal for writing.
Spelling Rules
Spelling Rules
1. DOUBLE the LAST LETTER of a word before adding ING, ED, ER or EST
a. if the LAST THREE LETTERS are consonant-vowel-consonant (C-V-C)
DOUBLE
run running runner
big bigger biggest
step stepping stepped stepper
bus bussing bussed
DO NOT DOUBLE
eat eating eater
fast faster fastest
kick kicking kicked kicker
b. Two syllables: DOUBLE only if the STRESS (accent) is at the END
DOUBLE
prefer (pre 'FER) preferring preferred
forget (for 'GET) forgetting
begin (be 'GIN) beginning beginner
DO NOT DOUBLE
offer ('OF fer) offering offered
market ('MAR ket) marketing marketed marketer
listen ('LIS ten) listening listened listener
c. NEVER double w, x or y
show showing showed shower
fix fixing fixed fixer
play playing played player
d. treat the QU combination like one consonant
DOUBLE
quit quitting quitter
DOUBLE (The stress is at the end: e 'QUIP)
equip equipping equipped
DO NOT DOUBLE (The stress is at the beginning: 'E qual)
equal equaling equaled
Spelling Rules (cont.)
2. DROP the FINAL E of a word before adding ING, ED, ER or EST
love loving loved lover
write writing writer
hide hiding hider
large larger largest
EXCEPTIONS: DO NOT DROP final e for these ing forms
see seeing
canoe canoeing
be being
dye dyeing (to dye means to color hair or clothes)
MORE EXCEPTIONS: Here are three special ing forms
lie lying
die dying (to die means to stop living)
tie tying
3. CHANGE Y to I before MOST endings if there is a CONSONANT before y
dry dried dries drier
happy happier happiness happily
city cities citification
study studies studied
carry carries carried carrier
DO NOT CHANGE Y if there is a VOWEL (a,e,o,u) before y
play playing plays played
buy buying buys buyer
monkey monkeying monkeys monkeyed
DO NOT CHANGE Y if you add -ING: NEVER DROP Y BEFORE ING!!!!
study studying
carry carrying
try trying
stay staying
Spelling Demons
Commonly Misspelled Words
abusing
achieving
advice (noun: give some advice)
advise (verb: advise the students)
affect (have an influence on someone or something)
allowed
angry
answered
anyone
apartment
around
attitude
babies
baseball
basketball
because
beers (Bears like fish more than beer.)
behavior
believe
believed
business
came (past tense)
career (profession)
careful
carrier (a person who delivers mail)
Carter (39th president)
caught (past of catch)
chauffeur's (a chauffeur's license is necessary for professional drivers)
cheaper
Chelsea (Clinton's daughter or a neighborhood in New York City)
children
choice (noun: make a choice)
choose (verb: choose someone to work with you)
Christmas
city (not capital unless it's part of a name)
City (capital if part of a name, like Oklahoma City)
classmates
clothes (what you wear)
cloths (small pieces of material, often used for cleaning)
college
comfortable
commission
committing
common
communication
community
Community (capital in a name: LaGuardia Community College)
complaints (noun: make a few complaints to the manager)
completely
consequences (results, effects)
continue
Spelling Demons (cont.)
continuing
convincing
costume (special clothing for the theater or Halloween)
costumers (people who design costumes for the theater)
country
crime
custody (ownership or guardianship: having custody of children)
customers (shoppers)
customs (traditions)
daily
dangerous
daughter
decision
definite
delivery
devastating
diamond
didn't
difference (noun: What's the difference?)
different (adjective: He's different from his brother.)
difficulties (plural)
difficulty (singular)
disease (serious illness)
dissatisfied
divorced (adjective: not married anymore)
doesn't (does not)
dollars
dolphins (sea mammals like porpoises)
economic (adjective: financial, as an economic problem)
economical (inexpensive to use, as an economical car the uses very little gas)
economize (verb: save money, spend less than usual)
economy (noun: the financial situation of a country or city)
effects (noun: results or consequences)
English (always capital E)
enough (no T on enough!)
enter (verb, go in)
entrance (noun: the door that you use to enter a building)
especially (more than others, above all: I like fruit, especially oranges.)
every (each)
example
excellent
except (but not: Everybody went to the zoo except Mary.)
exception (noun: something that doesn't follow a rule)
excited (adjective, how you feel: I'm excited because my uncle is coming.)
exciting (adjective, how something is: Trips on the river are exciting!)
expensive
experiences
farther ("more far")
fattening (food that makes you fat is fattening)
finally
football (the American game, not soccer)
foreign
fortunately
Spelling Demons (cont.)
frightening
fulfill
functional
geese (plural of goose)
German (the language)
Germany (the country)
Giuliani (the mayor of New York City)
giving
graduated
grammar
greatest
habit
happier
harmony
heavier ("more heavy")
height (noun: What is your height?)
high (adjective: That mountain is high.)
homeland (home country)
honest (truthful)
husband
immigrant (noun, alien)
immigrants (noun, aliens)
immigrate (verb, to come into a new country)
immigrated (past tense)
instructions
interesting
jealous
Jersey (as in New Jersey, the state)
language
laundry
learning
left (the past tense of leave, or a position/direction, the opposite of right)
life (noun: Live your life the best you can.)
little (small)
litter (garbage)
lives (verb: He lives in New York; also a plural noun: A cat has 7 or 9 lives.)
magazine
major (your main area of study in college)
married (adjective, not single; also verb: She married her boyfriend.)
masculine
mayor (the leader of a city)
members
most (almost all)
must (should, has to)
necessary (adjective: Take some necessary steps.)
necessity (noun: Clean air is a basic necessity.)
neighbor (the person)
neighborhood (the place)
partner's (possessive: My partner's wallet is missing.)
passenger
plans (plural noun: make plans; also a verb: She plans to take a trip.)
prefer
preferred (past tense)
profession (occupation)
Spelling Demons (cont.)
professional
professors
prohibited
Reagan (the 40th president)
reason
reasonable
reasons
received
responsibilities
restaurant
rum (the alcoholic drink, often added to Coca Cola)
semester
separate (adjective: apart, not with; or verb: put two things or people apart)
serious
shopping
similar (almost the same as: He's similar to his brother.)
sometime (one day in the future: Come and visit me sometime.)
sometimes (occasionally: We usually stay home, but sometimes we go out.)
speak (verb)
special
speech (noun)
spirits
States (United States)
stopped
street
studying
succeed (verb: Succeed in all your endeavors.)
success (noun: Have success in all your endeavors.)
sunlight
theater
their (possessive for they: They are painting their house.)
there (not here; also a subject showing existence: There are two pens here.)
they (plural of he, she, or it)
they're (they are)
though (Even though she's tired, she will keep working.)
thought (past of think; or a noun: an idea)
throughout (all over: They traveled throughout the country.)
too (also: He has a boy and a girl too; more than is good: He drank too much.)
totally (completely)
tough (strong, difficult)
Tower (Eiffel Tower, Sears Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa)
traffic (a lot of cars)
uncomfortable
United (United States, United Nations)
usually (most of the time)
vegetables
very
volleyball
Washington (Washington DC, the state of Washington on the west coast)
weighs (verb: He weighs 200 pounds.)
weight (noun: What is your weight?)
wives (more than one wife)
wolves (more than one wolf)
writing
Spelling GH
bought (past of buy)
brought (past of bring)
caught (past of catch)
daughter (girl)
dough (material used to make bread)
enough (sufficient)
fought (past of fight)
height (noun: What is the height of that tree?)
high (adjective: How high is that tree?)
rough (hard, difficult, or not gentle, not smooth)
taught (past of teach)
thought (past of think)
through (from one side to the other side, through the window)
throughout (all over, throughout the country)
tough (hard, difficult, or strong, or strict, as a tough boss)
weigh (verb: How much do you weigh?)
weighs (verb: He weighs 200 pounds.)
weight (noun: What is the weight of that rock?)
State Capitals
Alabama --- Montgomery
Alaska --- Juneau
Arizona --- Phoenix
Arkansas --- Little Rock
California --- Sacramento
Colorado --- Denver
Connecticut --- Hartford
Delaware --- Dover
Florida --- Tallahassee
Georgia --- Atlanta
Hawaii --- Honolulu
Idaho --- Boise
Illinois --- Springfield
Indiana --- Indianapolis
Iowa --- Des Moines
Kansas --- Topeka
Kentucky --- Frankfort
Louisiana --- Baton Rouge
Maine --- Augusta
Maryland --- Annapolis
Massachusetts --- Boston
Michigan --- Lansing
Minnesota --- St. Paul
Mississippi --- Jackson
Missouri --- Jefferson City
Montana --- Helena
Nebraska --- Lincoln
Nevada --- Carson City
New Hampshire --- Concord
New Jersey --- Trenton
New Mexico --- Santa Fe
New York --- Albany
North Carolina --- Raleigh
North Dakota --- Bismarck
Ohio --- Columbus
Oklahoma --- Oklahoma City
Oregon --- Salem
Pennsylvania --- Harrisburg
Rhode Island --- Providence
South Carolina --- Columbia
South Dakota --- Pierre
Tennessee --- Nashville
Texas --- Austin
Utah --- Salt Lake City
Vermont --- Montpelier
Virginia --- Richmond
Washington --- Olympia
West Virginia --- Charleston
Wisconsin --- Madison
Wyoming --- Cheyenne
Synonyms
Synonyms
Synonyms are words that mean the same thing.
To be synonyms, two words must have the same word form:
FAT is a synonym of HEAVY. They are both simple adjectives.
FATTER is a synonym of HEAVIER. They are both comparative adjectives.
DIE is a synonym of EXPIRE. They are both verbs in the simple form.
DIED is a synonym of EXPIRED. They are both verbs in the past tense.
DYING is a synonym of EXPIRING. They are both gerunds (-ING forms).
PEACE is a synonym of SILENCE. They are both nouns.
PEACEFUL is a synonym of SILENT. They are both adjectives.
ACCUSTOMED --- used
ADMIT --- confess
ALIEN --- foreign
ALMOST ALWAYS --- usually
AMUSING --- funny
APPEARS --- seems
ARTISTIC --- creative
ASTOUNDED --- astonished
ATTEMPTED --- tried
BLEW UP --- exploded
CAUTIOUS --- careful
CHOOSE --- decide
COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS --- professors
COLLEGE CLASSES --- courses
COMMANDED --- ordered
COSTLY --- expensive
DEADLY --- fatal
DIFFICULTY --- trouble
DROPS OUT OF --- quits
EACH --- every
EMPLOYEES --- workers
ESSENTIAL --- necessary
EXIT --- leave
EXTREMELY TIRED --- exhausted
FAST --- quickly
FAST --- quick
FATTER --- heavier
FILM --- movie
FREQUENTLY --- often
FRIGHTENING --- scary
FROM TIME TO TIME --- sometimes
Synonyms (cont.)
FULL OF PEOPLE --- crowded
GO UP --- increase
GOOD-LOOKING --- attractive
HARD --- difficult
INDUSTRIAL PLANTS --- factories
INEXPENSIVE --- cheap
INTEND --- plan
JOKING --- kidding
KEEP ON --- continue
KIDS --- children
LARGE --- big
LEAVE --- quit
MAD --- angry
NEEDS --- has
OCCUPATION --- profession
OPTIMISTIC --- hopeful
OUGHT TO --- should
OUTGOING --- friendly
PERMIT --- allow
PUT OFF --- postpone
QUITE --- very
RECOMMENDED --- suggested
REMAIN --- stay
RESERVED --- shy
RUSHED --- hurried
SCARED --- afraid
SELDOM --- rarely
SEVERE --- strict
SILENT --- quiet
SILENTLY --- quietly
SMALL --- little
SPORTSMAN --- athlete
STARTED --- begun
STARTED --- began
STARTS --- begins
STOP --- quit
STOPPED BREATHING --- died
STOPPED WORKING --- retired
STRONGLY DISLIKES --- hates
STRONGLY ADVISED --- urged
TAKE IN AIR --- breathe
THOUGHT ABOUT --- considered
THRILLING --- exciting
TIPSY --- drunk
TOXIC --- poisonous
TREMBLED --- shook
TREMBLING --- shaking
UNABLE TO HEAR --- deaf
UNABLE TO SEE --- blind
UNINTERESTING --- boring
VERY WELL-KNOWN --- famous
WELL-LIKED --- popular
WENT DOWN --- dropped
WRITER --- author
Tags
Tags are short question combinations that we add to statements to
ask if we are correct about something we are saying. Often, we add
"right?" to the end of a statement to make it a question:
He's coming to the party, right?
You're the new manager, right?
She doesn't like pizza, right?
They haven't finished yet, right?
More often, however, we use tags. Tags are an auxiliary verb plus pronoun:
A. He's coming to the party, ISN'T HE?
B. You're the new manager, AREN'T YOU?
C. She doesn't like pizza, DOES SHE?
D. They haven't finished yet, HAVE THEY?
If the statement is POSITIVE, as Sentences A and B, then the tag is NEGATIVE.
If the statement is NEGATIVE, as Sentences C and D, then the tag is POSITIVE.
Forming Tags
You use the same auxiliary verb that is used in the statement.
If the statement doesn't have an auxiliary verb, then you need to use
DON'T, DOESN'T, DIDN'T.
Use DON'T for present tense verbs, plural subject, or I or YOU.
Use DOESN'T for present tense verbs, singular subject.
Use DIDN'T for past tense verbs, singular or plural subject.
E. They like pizza, DON'T THEY?
F. He hates New York, DOESN'T HE?
G. We made a mistake, DIDN'T WE?
H. You don't want this book, DO YOU?
I. He DOESN'T LIVE in California, DOES HE?
J. It fell on the floor, DIDN'T IT?
HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when they are used with
a past participle in the present perfect or past perfect tenses.
Present Perfect
K. He HAS BEEN to Europe, HASN'T HE?
L. You HAVE SAID that before, HAVEN'T YOU?
M. They HAVE TAKEN the test, HAVEN'T THEY?
Tags (cont.)
Past Perfect
N. She HAD LEARNED English before she came here, HADN'T SHE?
HAVE, HAS and HAD are regular verbs when they are NOT used with a past
participle. To make the short response, you use DON'T, DOESN'T or DIDN'T.
O. He has money, DOESN'T HE?
P. Bob had to leave, DIDN'T HE?
Q. You have her phone number in your wallet, DON'T YOU?
Special Rule for the pronoun, I, and the verb, AM
If the statement has the pronoun, I, and the verb, AM, and is negative,
then the form in the statement is I'M NOT, and the form in the tag is AM I?
R. I'm not bothering you, AM I?
If the statement has the pronoun I, and the verb AM, and is positive,
then the form in the statement is I'M, but the tag is AREN'T I?
S. I'm a real idiot, AREN'T I?
The contraction *AMN'T does not exist in modern English.
In old-fashioned English, almost never heard in America, it is possible
to say
T. I'm a real idiot, AM I NOT?
But this sounds strange to most American speakers of English.
Two-Word Verbs (a.k.a. Phrasal Verbs)
Two-Word Verbs
Two-word verbs are made of a verb and a preposition. The combination
gives a special meaning, usually different from the meaning of the
verb by itself.
Two-word verbs are used with object pronouns (it, him, her, me, you, them, us)
or proper nouns (Robert, Mary) or common nouns (the book, the student).
Two-word verbs that use the prepositions ON, OFF, UP, DOWN, OVER, IN, OUT,
AWAY, BACK are usually "separable." This means that the object pronouns
must go between the verb and the preposition (they are "separated"):
I WOKE him UP.
I'm TURNING it OVER.
He THROWS them OUT.
PUT her DOWN.
He's TRYING it ON.
With common nouns and proper nouns, you have a choice. You can separate
the verb and preposition, or you can keep them together and put the
common or proper noun after them:
I WOKE Robert UP.
I WOKE UP Robert.
I'm TURNING the hamburger OVER.
I'm TURNING OVER the hamburger.
He THROWS his old magazines OUT.
He THROWS OUT his old magazines.
PUT little Susie DOWN.
PUT DOWN little Susie.
He's TRYING the hat ON.
He's TRYING ON the hat.
Some Common Two-Word Verbs
Call her up. Use the phone to talk to her.
Pick him up. Go to him with your car and give him a ride.
Pick it up. Lift it off the floor or ground.
Put it on. Put a piece of clothing on your body to start wearing it.
Put it down. Lay it on the table or on the floor.
Put it away. Put it into its storage place where you usually keep it.
Put it back. Put it into its storage place where you usually keep it.
Take it out. Remove it from where it is and bring it outside.
Take her out. Invite her for a date, to dinner, dancing, a movie.
Take it off. Remove clothing from the body, stop wearing it.
Throw it out. Put it in the garbage can.
Try it on. Test clothing to see if it fits well and looks good.
Turn it over. Turn it to the opposite side, as a hamburger on a grill.
Turn it on. Start using an electric light or appliance.
Turn it off. Stop using an electric light or appliance.
Wake him up. Make him stop sleeping.
Unreal
Unreal Conditionals
Present Unreal Conditional
The PRESENT UNREAL is the tense we use to think about imaginary changes,
generally not realistic or possible ones, in our current (present, now) life.
Real: I don't have a million dollars now. I won't buy a big house.
Unreal: If I HAD a million dollars now, I WOULD BUY a big house.
The IF clause, the part of the sentence with IF and the subject and verb that
follow IF, is the imaginary condition, the thing you are imagining being true.
The main clause (the other part of the sentence) is the imaginary result, the
thing that would become possible as a consequence of the imaginary change.
The verb in the IF clause is in the PAST tense. This does not mean
that you are thinking about the past! It is just a grammatical rule
to use the past form of the verb to show some imagined condition at
the present, current time.
The result (the main clause) uses WOULD or COULD (ability) to show
what would follow if the condition in the IF clause were true.
Real: I don't know her name. I won't ask her out.
Unreal: If I KNEW her name, I WOULD ASK her out.
Real: I don't have good knees. I can't go jogging.
Unreal: If I HAD good knees, I COULD GO jogging.
In an IF clause, the unreal form of BE is always WERE, never WAS.
WERE is the form for ALL subjects, singular and plural, when the
verb BE is used in an unreal condition.
Real: I'm not rich. I can't buy a business.
Unreal: If I WERE rich, I could buy a business.
An Unreal Condition can be negative:
Real: I live in an apartment. I don't own a dog.
Unreal: If I DIDN'T LIVE in an apartment, I WOULD OWN a dog.
Real: I am sick. I will have to stay in bed.
Unreal: If I WEREN'T sick, I WOULDN'T HAVE to stay in bed.
Real: I know Spanish. I'm able to shop in bodegas.
Unreal: If I DIDN'T KNOW Spanish, I WOULDN'T BE able to shop in bodegas.
Unreal (cont.)
Past Unreal Conditional
The Past Unreal is the tense we use to talk about changes that we imagine
in the past, not about our current situation or life. Of course, it's
impossible to change the past, but we often imagine how situations would have
been different if we had done something that we didn't do, or something had
happened that didn't happen.
Real: In school, I didn't study for the math test, so I failed it.
Unreal: If I HAD STUDIED for the math test, I WOULD HAVE PASSED it.
The IF clause uses the PAST PERFECT (HAD + a past participle) to show
the imagined change in the past. The main clause, or the result clause,
uses "WOULD PERFECT" (WOULD HAVE + a past participle). WOULD HAVE is
often written as a contraction, WOULD'VE, although some grammar books
find it too informal. The accepted negative of WOULD HAVE is WOULDN'T HAVE.
More examples of the Past Unreal Conditional:
Real: On the highway, you were speeding, so you crashed.
Unreal: If you HADN'T BEEN speeding, you WOULDN'T HAVE CRASHED.
Real: I didn't win the lottery last year. I didn't buy a car.
Unreal: If I HAD WON the lottery last year, I WOULD HAVE BOUGHT a car.
Real: He smoked two packs a day. He died of cancer.
Unreal: If he HADN'T SMOKED two packs a day, he WOULDN'T HAVE died of cancer.
Verb + Base Form
12 auxiliary verbs are used with a base (simple) form of the other verb:
do We DON'T HAVE time.
does DOES he KNOW Spanish?
did They DIDN'T EAT dinner last night.
can CAN you SING?
could He COULDN'T FIND his wallet.
shall SHALL we GO?
should She SHOULD STUDY harder.
will What WILL you DO tomorrow?
would I WOULD LIKE a cup of coffee.
must You MUST STOP at a red light.
might It MIGHT RAIN tomorrow.
may She MAY VISIT us soon.
The preposition TO is usually followed by the base form of a verb:
(It doesn't matter what tense the sentence is in!)
Simple present: He always tries TO PAY attention.
Simple past: Yesterday, she wanted TO SEE her boss.
Present progressive: They are hoping TO WIN the lottery.
Present perfect: He has never attempted TO FIND a job.
Past perfect: He had hoped TO LEARN English before he came here.
Past progressive: I was trying TO TURN on the oven.
Future: I'll try TO CALL you later.
(Sometimes TO is followed by a gerund, an -ing form.
This is covered in Verb + Gerund.)
With the verbs INSIST, RECOMMEND, and SUGGEST,
we add the word THAT
then a subject pronoun (you, he, she, they)
then the base form of a verb:
(It doesn't matter what tense INSIST, RECOMMEND, or SUGGEST are in!)
The professor INSISTS THAT SHE STUDY harder.
The professor INSISTED THAT WE COME to class early.
The professor WAS INSISTING THAT HE SPEAK to her after class.
The doctor RECOMMENDED THAT HE GET more sleep.
My doctor RECOMMENDS THAT I DO exercise every morning.
The doctor HAS RECOMMENDED THAT SHE STOP smoking.
Harold SUGGESTED THAT I STUDY French.
Martha IS SUGGESTING THAT HE TAKE a vacation.
The principal SUGGESTED THAT THE TEACHER GO on a leave of absence.
Verb + Base Form (cont.)
With the verbs LET, MAKE, and HELP
we use the object pronoun (him, her, me, us, them, you)
or a proper noun (Mary, Mr. Smith, Bob)
or a common noun (the student, her neighbor)
and then the base form of a verb:
(It doesn't matter what tense LET, MAKE, or HELP are in!)
She LET HIM STAY with her for a week last year.
She IS LETTING THEM USE a dictionary for their test.
She HAS NEVER LET HER DAUGHTER GO to clubs at night.
She always LETS ME PLAY with her dog.
He MADE HER DO the dishes after dinner last night.
He's MAKING THEM WASH the car.
HE was MAKING HER SON EAT
The verb HELP can be used with an optional (not necessary) TO:
He HELPED HER (TO) CLEAN her apartment.
Americans usually DON'T use TO with HELP:
He HELPED HER CLEAN her apartment.
The object pronoun (me, him, her, us, them, you)
is followed by the base form of the next verb.
(It doesn't matter what tense HELP is in!)
He HELPED ME FIND my dog.
She HELPS HER STUDENTS TRANSLATE mail from the college.
We ARE HELPING THEM PAINT their house.
They HAVE always HELPED US RAISE our children.
She's going to HELP HIM FILL OUT his tax forms.
I HELPED HER MOVE some furniture.
The verbs WATCH, SEE, and HEAR are used with a base form of the next verb:
The object pronoun is used (him, her, me, them)
or a proper noun or common noun.
Then, the activity observed or heard is a verb in the simple form:
(It doesn't matter what tense WATCH, SEE and HEAR are in!)
I WATCHED MY SON PLAY baseball yesterday.
I HEARD THEM COME in last night.
I DIDN'T SEE HIM DIVE. I wasn't paying attention.
We HEARD HER SING in the school concert.
I SAW THE YANKEES PLAY the Mets last summer.
Ken HEARD SOMEBODY SCREAM a few minutes ago.
Verb + Gerund
Some verbs are followed by a gerund (-ing form) of the next verb:
(It doesn't matter what tense or number the first verb is in!)
1. enjoy I ENJOY LIVING on the Upper West Side.
2. miss I MISS PLAYING baseball. I used to do it a lot.
3. remember I REMEMBER SITTING on Mama's lap when I was little.
(BUT remembering something that you need to do:
I REMEMBERED TO LOCK the door. REMEMBER TO CALL!)
4. regret I REGRET SPEAKING to you like that. I'm so sorry.
5. report The woman REPORTED HEARING gun shots outside her home.
6. mind I hate vacuuming, but I don't MIND DOING the dishes.
7. dislike I DISLIKE LISTENING to the boss's long speeches.
8. can't help I CAN'T HELP laughing! You look so funny like that!
9. stop She STOPPED WORKING when the bell rang.
10. quit You have to QUIT SMOKING if you want to live past 50.
11. finish HAVE you FINISHED PAINTING your house yet?
12. give up She GAVE UP STUDYING English after two years.
13. keep (on) Please KEEP (ON) WORKING. It's not time to quit yet.
14. go on GO ON SINGING! You have a lovely voice!
15. think about I'm THINKING ABOUT MOVING to a different city.
16. consider HAVE you CONSIDERED BUYING a new house?
17. discuss We DISCUSSED GETTING a new and bigger car.
18. talk about We TALKED ABOUT TAKING a vacation.
19. concentrate on You have to CONCENTRATE ON FINDING a job.
20. practice She PRACTICED TYPING until she could type a lot faster.
21. imagine I CAN'T IMAGINE HAVING a dog in this small apartment!
22. risk Apologize to the boss! Don't RISK LOSING this job!
23. avoid You SHOULD AVOID TALKING to her. She's a real gossip!
24. delay We DELAYED SENDING payment until we had the money.
25. postpone He POSTPONED FLYING to England due to the bad weather.
26. put off Don't PUT OFF DOING the homework until Sunday night.
27. have trouble We HAD TROUBLE FINDING a cheap hotel room there.
28. have problems We'RE HAVING PROBLEMS TEACHING our dog to sit up.
29. have fun We HAD FUN RIDING horses on my uncle's farm.
30. have a good time We'LL HAVE A GOOD TIME TALKING with Grandpa.
31. spend [time] We SPENT FOUR HOURS LOOKING for our lost cat.
We SPENT THREE DAYS RELAXING at the resort hotel.
32. deny OJ DENIED KILLING Nicole.
33. admit (to) OJ ADMITTED (TO) HITTING Nicole once.
34. confess to The thief CONFESSED TO STEALING the diamond bracelet.
Verb + Gerund (cont.)
35. prefer A to B I PREFER SWIMMING to RUNNING because I have bad legs.
(BUT if you're using only ONE verb with PREFER:
They invited me out, but I PREFERRED TO STAY home.)
36. look forward to We LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING our grandparents again.
37. get accustomed to I CAN'T GET ACCUSTOMED TO USING English all the time.
38. get used to Her husband died. She has to GET USED TO BEING alone.
39. go dancing He GOES DANCING every weekend. He WENT DANCING Sunday.
40. go fishing We WENT FISHING with our father when we were young.
41. go sightseeing We WENT SIGHTSEEING and saw Rockefeller Center.
42. go shopping The refrigerator is empty. We'LL GO SHOPPING tomorrow.
43. go hiking He'LL GO HIKING in the Catskill Mountains next March.
44. go skiing DID you GO SKIING in Aspen last week? How was the snow?
45. go camping We'RE GOING CAMPING soon. Get a tent and sleeping bag.
46. go sailing We WENT SAILING, but there wasn't any wind on the lake.
47. go boating We WENT BOATING in the bay, but we ran out of gas.
48. go ice skating The lake has frozen over. Let's GO ICE SKATING.
49. go jogging I can't GO JOGGING until I find my sneakers.
50. go hunting My father WENT HUNTING. He brought home two ducks.
51. go roller skating I used to GO ROLLER SKATING every weekend.
52. go roller blading Nowadays, we go ROLLER BLADING, not roller skating.
53. go window shopping We went window shopping on 5th Ave. We only looked!
The Great 8
8 verbs can be used with either a gerund (-ing form) or a TO form:
1. like I LIKE LIVING in New York. There's so much to do.
I LIKE TO GO to a museum once in a while.
2. love She LOVES TAKING care of her birds.
She LOVES TO READ books about parrots.
3. hate He HATED COMMUTING to work when he had a job.
He HATED TO WORK in that little cubicle at his job.
4. can['t] stand I CAN'T STAND LISTENING to her complain!
How CAN you STAND TO CLEAN up after your husband!?
5. can[’t] bear How CAN she BEAR LOOKING at him in that condition?
I CAN’T BEAR WAITING any longer.
6. continue CONTINUE WORKING. It isn't time to quit yet.
CONTINUE TO FILE these papers with the other ones.
7. start He STARTED STUDYING when he was six.
He STARTED TO STUDY English in high school.
8. begin BEGIN WRITING when I tell you to, not before!
DON'T BEGIN TO WRITE until I tell you to.
Verb + Infinitive
Some verbs are followed by the infinitive form of the next verb.
The infinitive is TO + the base (simple) form of a verb.
Some of these verbs can also be followed by the negative infinitive,
which is NOT TO + the base (simple) form of a verb.
(The first verb can be in any number and tense.)
1. would like I'D LIKE TO SEE Paris someday.
2. want I WANT TO START dinner, and I want you to help me.
3. wish I WISH TO MAKE a complaint. Your service is terrible.
4. long She LONGS TO SEE her children again. They're in Peru.
5. need I NEED TO DO the laundry. I have no clean shirts.
6. have I'd like to stay, but I can't. I HAVE TO GO now.
7. expect I EXPECT TO FINISH it today. I'm almost sure I will.
8. hope I really HOPE TO FINISH today, but I'm not sure I can.
9. plan She PLANS TO VISIT her mother after work.
10. agree She AGREED NOT TO SEE other men and TO DATE only him.
11. arrange Can you ARRANGE TO MEET me at the airport next week?
12. intend I INTEND TO FINISH this report no later than Friday!
13. mean I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL him. It was an accident!
14. decide We DECIDED NOT TO GO out but TO STAY home and watch TV.
15. choose Mother, I'll marry whoever I CHOOSE TO MARRY!
16. tend I TEND TO SCREAM when I'm angry. That's my bad habit.
17. try TRY TO ANSWER every question. You have 60 minutes.
(BUT trying out a new idea or suggestion:
If your clothes aren't white enough, TRY USING bleach.)
18. attempt We ATTEMPTED TO REACH him by phone, but he wasn't home.
19. forget DON'T FORGET TO SEND your mother a birthday card.
20. fail Don't FAIL TO LOCK the door if you leave the house!
21. remember DID you REMEMBER TO TURN OFF the TV when you left?
(BUT remembering something, as in a childhood memory:
I REMEMBER SITTING on my mama's lap when I was four.)
22. offer He OFFERED TO LEND me $100, but I didn't need it.
23. promise He PROMISED TO BUY her a car if she got her license.
24. threaten She THREATENED TO HIT her son if he didn't stop crying.
25. prepare I covered the floor because I'm PREPARING TO PAINT here.
26. hesitate I HESITATED TO ASK him for help because he was so busy.
27. refuse My father REFUSED TO GIVE me money. He wouldn't help.
28. seem The dog SEEMS TO BE hungry. Try giving it some food.
29. appear She APPEARS TO BE happy. See? She's smiling.
30. deserve You've worked very hard. You DESERVE TO GET a raise.
Verb + Infinitive (cont.)
31. afford We CAN'T AFFORD TO BUY a car now. We're broke.
32. manage DID you MANAGE TO FIND his house using the map I drew?
33. pretend He PRETENDED TO BE a rich banker, and she believed him!
34. learn (how) I LEARNED TO SWIM before I LEARNED HOW TO WALK.
The following verbs require an indirect object before TO or NOT TO:
35. ask He ASKED ME TO HELP him paint his house.
36. invite He INVITED HER to dance with him.
37. beg She BEGGED HER HUSBAND TO STOP seeing other women.
38. tell I TOLD HIM TO WORK harder and NOT TO TALK so much.
39. order He ORDERED THEM TO DROP their guns and NOT TO MOVE.
40. command The sergeant COMMANDED HIS MEN TO MARCH twenty miles.
41. require The college REQUIRES YOU TO TAKE a writing course.
42. allow They DON'T ALLOW YOU TO SMOKE in the building. Go outside.
43. permit He PERMITTED HIS DAUGHTER TO STAY out as late as she wanted.
44. forbid She FORBADE HER SON TO SMOKE. She threw out his cigarettes.
45. advise My guidance counselor ADVISED ME to apply to more colleges.
46. counsel The pastor COUNSELED HER to give her baby up for adoption.
47. urge His doctor URGED HIM to give up smoking immediately.
48. convince He CONVINCED ME TO VOTE for Clinton. He gave me good reasons.
49. persuade He PERSUADED MARY TO MARRY him by promising to be faithful.
50. pay He PAID ROBERT $20 TO CLEAN his yard and SWEEP the patio.
51. hire They HIRED MRS. SOAMES TO ANSWER phones and DO filing.
52. dare They DARED ME TO DRIVE 90 mph. I did it to prove I was brave.
53. invite He INVITED ME TO GO with him and his family to the zoo.
54. warn She WARNED HIM TO STAY away from the dog and NOT TO TOUCH it.
55. encourage My music teacher ENCOURAGED ME TO JOIN the school band.
56. push Their coach PUSHED THEM to practice longer and harder.
57. exhort The manager EXHORTED US to observe safety measures carefully.
58. challenge I CHALLENGED MY EMPLOYEES to double their output in the coming week.
The Great 8
8 verbs can be used with either a gerund (-ing form) or a TO form:
1. like I LIKE LIVING in New York. There's so much to do.
I LIKE TO GO to a museum once in a while.
2. love She LOVES TAKING care of her birds.
She LOVES TO READ books about parrots.
3. hate He HATED COMMUTING to work when he had a job.
He HATED TO WORK in that little cubicle at his job.
4. can['t] stand I CAN'T STAND LISTENING to her complain!
How CAN you STAND TO CLEAN up after your husband!?
5. can[’t] bear How CAN she BEAR LOOKING at him in that condition?
I CAN’T BEAR WAITING any longer.
6. continue CONTINUE WORKING. It isn't time to quit yet.
CONTINUE TO FILE these papers with the other ones.
7. start He STARTED STUDYING when he was six.
He STARTED TO STUDY English in high school.
8. begin BEGIN WRITING when I tell you to, not before!
DON'T BEGIN TO WRITE until I tell you to.
Verbs/Adjectives + Prep
adapt to (become accustomed to)
adjust to (make necessary changes in order to adapt)
afraid of
agree on something
agree with someone
apologize to
apply for
appropriate for
approve of
argue with
arrive in a town (city, country)
arrive at a school (station, work, or any specific place)
ashamed of oneself or someone else
associate with
aware of
believe in Santa Claus (think something is real)
believe in the death penalty (agree with something)
belong to
blame for
borrow from
bring up (raise a child)
capable of
care for (enjoy something, watch over someone)
care about (feel something is important)
cast a spell on
caught with one's pants down (embarrassed, humiliated)
change into
check on
choose between
co-operate with
come from (a city or country)
complain to
concentrate on
contribute to
convinced of
critical of
depend on someone or on a condition
die of a disease
different from
disagree with
discourage someone from doing something
disgusted with someone or something
equal to
escape from
explain something to someone
faith in someone or something
familiar with
famous for (well-known due to an ability)
fight with
figure out (finally understand)
fill in (the blank spaces)
fill out (complete a form)
forget about (stop thinking or worrying about someone or something)
Verbs/Adjectives + Prep (cont.)
forgive someone for doing something
get back from (return)
get out (leave a room)
get to (come to)
get with the program (work well with coworkers)
get away with (do something bad without punishment)
get in someone's way (prevent someone else's movement or functioning)
get behind (support someone or something)
get on (a bus, train, plane)
go on (continue)
good at something
grateful to someone
grateful for something
happy about something
have on (wear an item of clothing)
have trouble with
hear about
hear from (receive a letter or phone call)
hear of (know about someone or something's existence)
help with something
hide from someone
hold on (grab something, or wait)
identical to (the same as)
imported from (received from a far away place)
independent of (someone)
insist on doing something
instead of
interfere with someone or some process (bother, annoy, disrupt)
jealous of (envious of)
keep secrets from someone
keep on (continue)
know about
known for (famous for)
laugh at (a joke or someone foolish)
leave for (go to)
limit to
listen to
look at (see, watch, observe)
look for (search)
look forward to (wait with excitement or anticipation)
loyal to
made of
mess with (bother or annoy someone)
object to
participate in
pay for
pay attention to
play with someone or something
point at someone or something
prefer doing one thing to doing another thing
prevent someone from doing something
prohibit someone from doing something
protect someone from danger
proud of
Verbs/Adjectives + Prep (cont.)
provide with (supply necessary things)
put off (postpone, delay)
put up with (accept something or someone that annoys or bothers)
put on (clothing)
recovered from (an illness)
rely on (depend on)
respect for (have respect for someone)
responsible for (in charge of)
run out (have no more of something)
same as (the same as = equal to, identical to)
say something to something
separate from someone
show something to someone
similar to (almost the same as)
smile at something or someone
sorry about (feeling ashamed about a mistake or unkind act)
sorry for (feeling pity for an unfortunate person)
steal something from someone
succeed in doing something (have success with something)
suffer from (a disease, illness, inability, weakness)
suitable for (appropriate, the right thing)
superior to (better than)
suspicious of someone (not believing or trusting)
take someone out (for dinner, a movie, a date)
take off (leave the airport and go into the sky)
take care of someone or something necessary to do
talk about something
talk about someone behind someone's back
think of (have an opinion, remember someone)
think about (consider, put someone or something in mind)
tired of doing something
tolerant of someone
transform into something new
try on (clothes)
turn on (a light, a TV)
turn off (a light, a TV)
upset about something
useful for (helpful)
wait for
wear out (use something so much that it stops being useful)
work with someone or a tool
work for a company or someone
worry about a person or problem
Weigh
Weigh
The simple form of the verb is WEIGH.
There is no T in the verb!!!
How much do you WEIGH? (Use the simple form with DO, DOES, DID.)
He WEIGHS 200 pounds. (Add S for singular subjects in the preent.)
I WEIGHED the baby yesterday. (Add ED for the past tense.)
The noun form is WEIGHT.
What is your WEIGHT?
You should lose WEIGHT!
What is the WEIGHT of one bar of gold?
Wish and Hope
Wish and Hope
We use the verb HOPE when something is very possible.
We use the verb WISH about impossible things or things that are not
likely to happen (things that you don't really expect to happen.)
Hope
To say what you hope about the past, you use the simple past:
I hope she found the restaurant.
I hope he passed his class last semester.
To say what you hope about the present, you use the present:
I hope he's all right.
I hope he knows where the clinic is.
I hope he's having a good time in Florida.
I hope he likes Italian food.
To say what you hope about the future, you use the present (or the
future, although it is less common):
I hope he has a good time in Florida next month.
(I hope he'll have a good time in Florida next month.)
I hope she comes to see us when she passes through New York.
(I hope she'll come to see us when she passes through New York.)
Wish
To say what you wish about the past, you use the past perfect:
I wish I had passed my ESL class last semester! (You didn't pass.)
I wish she had given me her phone number. (She didn't give it to you.)
To say what you wish about the present, you use the past:
I wish I had a good job. (You have a bad job now.)
I wish I had a million dollars. (You don't have a lot of money.)
I wish I knew how to speak Japanese. (You can't speak it.)
I wish I could type. (You can't type.)
I wish I were a good dancer. (You're a bad dancer.)
I wish she were nicer to me. (She's not nice to you.)
(Note! We use WERE for all subjects when we use wish.)
To say what you wish about the future, you use WOULD:
I wish people would stop talking about Monica Lewinsky.
I wish you would quit smoking.
(Note! If you think there is a chance that something can happen, use
hope, not wish: "I hope Clinton does something about healthcare soon."
GuessWhat 3.2
for Windows
Instructions
and
Menu of
Exercises
created by Rick Shur, 2006
Manual © Rick Shur, 2007
CCTV
Computer Creations/Technology Visions
309 W 109 ST #3H
New York, NY 10025
212-864-1684
rickshur@
Congratulations! You are using GuessWhat! 3.2,
an English grammar, vocabulary and spelling program by Rick Shur.
GUESS WHAT MENU
Use this menu to
--Play GuessWhat! (or hit Ctrl-G, or double-click an exercise)
--See your scores (or hit Ctrl-S)
--Exit an exercise (or hit Ctrl-E)
--Print for a Student [Print out up to 25 questions once an exercise is in play.]
--Print for a Class [For teachers, needs a password, email rickshur@.]
--Quit GuessWhat! (or hit Ctrl-Q, or click the X in the upper right corner)
OPTIONS MENU
Use this menu to
--Play for Points (Ctrl-P) or for Fun (Ctrl-F)
--Choose Original Order (Ctrl-O), the same order every time
or Random order.(Ctrl-R), a mixed up order each time
--Play with a Timer to test your speed (do a speed drill from 1 to 7 minutes)
--Turn Sound On or Sound Off
With Sound On, you will hear a Beep with each correct answer.
Your "Beep" sound will be whatever your Windows "Beep" is set to.
Click the Start button and go to Control Panel
Click "Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices"
Click "Change the sound scheme."
Click on the Sounds tab.
Set your "Default Beep" to any sound available on your computer.
A sound can be any wave file (extension ".wav") that you like.
--Enter User Name (Ctrl-N)You can change the user's name or enter a user's name for the first time.
(When you access scores, they will be given only for the current user.
Enter a new user name if you want to see scores for that person.)
There is no limit to the number of different users who use the program.
HELP MENU
--How to play GuessWhat! (Ctrl-H) will give you these instructions.
You can also print these instructions. They are in the Help.Inf file
that resides in the same folder as the GuessWhat! program.
--Grammar/Vocabulary Information (Ctrl-I)
This will give you a brief overview of the grammar or vocabulary
you need to know in order to do the current exercise.
--Print Grammar/Vocabulary Information
This lets you have a paper copy of the grammar information on your selected exercise.
--About GuessWhat!
This will tell you the Version Number of the program you are using.
CHOOSING AN EXERCISE
On the lefthand side, there is a list of exercises.
Double-click an exercise to play.
You can also click an exercise and then hit Ctrl-G.
You can also click an exercise and choose Play GuessWhat! from the GuessWhat! menu.
How Many Questions?
You must tell GuessWhat! how many exercises you want to do.
If you change your mind, and you don't want to do an exercise, put 0 in for the number.
TO SEE HOW MANY WORDS YOUR ANSWER NEEDS
To learn how many words and letters are needed in the answer,
you can click or hit {Enter} to see what the answer should look like.
For example, if the question (found in Two-Word Verbs) is:
What did John do when he dropped his book?
You can hit {Enter} and you will see
** ****** ** **. (because the answer is: He picked it up.)
This tells you that you need four words. The second word has
six letters. The other words have two letters.
TO GET GRAMMAR OR VOCABULARY INFORMATION
Hit Ctrl-I or choose Grammar/Vocab Info from the Help menu
TO ANSWER A QUESTION
If you are ready to answer a question, type the answer
and hit or click {Enter}.
If you have given Guess What the answer it wants, then
you will get some points and move on to the next question.
However, if your answer is not EXACTLY what Guess What wants,
you will get some feedback.
For example, if the question is
What did John do when he dropped his book?
and you type
He pick up.
the feedback will be
He pick** ** up.
This tells you that you are almost correct, but you forgot
the "ed" in "picked" and you forgot the pronoun "it."
You cannot go on to the next question until you type the
answer exactly as GuessWhat! wants it.
You can click the Give Up! button at any time to see the answer,
but you will still have to type it correctly yourself before continuing.
SCORING
If you finish an exercise, you will get a score, and it will be recorded.
To see all your scores, hit Ctrl-S or choose See Scores from the
GuessWhat! menu.
EDITING
While you are typing, you can make corrections before you hit {Enter}.
Here are the commands for editing:
right arrow This moves one space to the right without erasing.
left arrow This moves one space to the left without erasing.
Backspace This erases the letter TO THE LEFT of the cursor.
Delete This erases the letter that is ON the cursor.
Space bar This adds a space between words.
(For moving to the right and left, use the arrows!)
Ctrl-left arrow When you hold down the Control (Ctrl) key while you hit
the left arrow, you move to the PREVIOUS word.
Ctrl-right arrow When you hold down the Control (Ctrl) key while you hit
the right arrow, you move to the NEXT word.
This software, like all software, is in the developmental stage.
This is a programmer's way of saying that it might not work perfectly.
It might freeze or keep repeating something. You never know.
Machines do not make mistakes. Computer programmers sometimes do.
TO STOP THE PROGRAM, if for any reason the Quit command doesn't work
Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete
Guess What 3 was authored by Rick Shur in 2005
It is published by CCTV (Computer Creations /Technology Visions)
It is written in Visual , which can be run on any Windows system except
Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR WINDOWS
UPDATED WITH THE "NET.FRAMEWORK." You can do that by going to:
You can find Rick at his Web site
and
rickshur@
You can find this software at your college bookstore.
Rick Shur has been teaching all levels of ESL, since 1979, at
LaGuardia Community College
Credit ESL Dept. - Room E200
31-10 Thomson Avenue
Long Island City, NY 11101
718-482-5641
Requirements for Running Guess What 3.2
Requirement #1
GuessWhat 3.2 will run on almost any Windows but not Windows 95 and Windows 3.1.
Note: If you want to record your scores to the disk, keep the write-protection tab on your diskette in the DOWN position.
Requirement #2
The desktop must be set at 1024 x 768.
Click the Start button.
Click Control Panel.
Click Appearance and Themes.
Click Change the Screen Resolution.
Set the screen resolution to 10024 x 768 with the sliding bar.
Click OK.
You can also
Right-click anywhere on your desktop.
Choose Properties from the pop-up menu.\
Choose Settings.
Set the screen resolution to 10024 x 768 with the sliding bar.
Click OK.
If you can not reset your desktop to 1024 x 768, then your computer’s monitor or video card is too old to run this software.
Requirement #3
Your Windows must be updated with the Net Framework 2.0.
This is a free program from Microsoft.
You can get and run the program from . In your browser’s address bar, put
dotnetfx.exe
Run the program and it will install the Net Framework on your computer.
Guess What Menu of Exercises
1. Adjectives- ed/ing A
-Write an adjective ending in ED or ING in the complete, correct form.
The most exc____________ ride at Coney Island is the roller coaster.
2. Adjectives- ed/ing B
-Write an adjective ending in ED or ING in the complete, correct form.
Are you int____________ in sports? Do you want to see a soccer game?
3. Adverb or Adjective
-Guess the correct adjective or adverb. Spell carefully! (Be careful!)
Please do your work q______________. Stop making so much noise.
4. Adverbs of Frequency
-Give the number of the correct position for each adverb.
[always] You 1 are 2 talking 3 about 4 your 5 dead 6 mother!
5. Agreement
-Give an appropriate verb. Use only one word. Watch tense!
The reason for taking so many precautions __________ to be safe now.
6. Body Parts
-Guess the body part. Give a one-word answer.
You wear a belt around it.
7. Capital Cities of the World 1
-Give the capital city. Use the English names where they exist.
France
8. Capital Cities of the World 2
-Give the capital city. Use the English names where they exist.
North Korea
9. Capital Letters
-Rewrite the whole sentence with necessary capitals.
i'm studying computer science at hostos community college.
10. Cities, Cities, Cities!
-Guess the country or state in the U.S. of each city.
Baltimore
11. Comparatives 1
-Make a comparative sentence. Start with the first item or person.
Harry can run the mile in 4:32. Kevin can run the mile in 4:49.
12. Composite Adjectives 1
-Finish the sentence with the correct composite adjective form.
We say that it's___________________. (if it's a building that has five stories)
13. Count and Noncount Nouns 1
-Fill in the space with a, an or some.
Can you give me __________ advice? You have some experience.
14. Count and Noncount Nouns 2
-Write the correct choices. Separate them with a hyphen [-].
There yesterday.
15. Do-Have-Make-Take
-Fill in the correct form of do, have, make or take.
We haven't ________ a party at our house for a long time.
16. Either-Neither-So-Too A
-Fill in the words that show agreement in short response form.
Kevin can speak Spanish. _________________________ Rick.
17. Either-Neither-So-Too B
-Fill in the words that show agreement in short response form.
Marzena misses her home country. _________________________ Luz.
18. Even Though
-Rewrite the sentence beginning with Even though...
He doesn't love Mary, but he's going to marry her
19. Famous People
-Name the famous person.
He was the first president of Russia after the Soviet Union disintegrated.
20. Future Clauses 1
-Finish the sentence with BEFORE, AFTER or WHEN. (exclude days/times)
Betsy will visit Miami on June 20. She'll go to Havana on June 22.
Betsy will visit Miami________________________________
21. Grammar Diagnostic 1
-Fill in the space with ONE WORD or a CONTRACTION (with apostrophe).
I ____________ told her the news yet. I'll tell her soon.
22. Grammar Diagnostic 1a
-Supply ONE WORD beginning with the letter given in the < >.
He's ____________ now. Say good-bye.
23. Grammar Diagnostic 2
-Fill in the space with ONE WORD or a CONTRACTION (with apostrophe).
You ____________ told the boss about this before it got worse!
24. How
-Fill in the space with an appropriate word for the question.
How ________ do you visit a dentist? Twice a year, or less?
25. I'm Thinking Of...
-Here's the category. What am I thinking of?
a kind of jewelry
26. If/Unless
-Fill in the blank with ONE word that makes the most sense.
You will have an accident __________ you drive carefully.
27. Inventions
-Guess the invention!
1845 Elias Howe (American)
28. Measurement
-Give the equivalent.
1 pound = 16
29. Modern Library Top 100 Novels
-Guess the novel. Both THE RANKING AND AUTHOR are given.
2 (1925 F. Scott Fitzgerald)
30. Movies: AFI's Top 100 U.S. Films
-Guess the movie. The placement and year produced are given.
36 [1969]
31. Negatives 1
-Give the negative form. Use contractions where possible.
Annie lives in Brooklyn. She ___________________ in Manhattan.
32. Negatives 2
-Give the negative form. Use contractions where possible.
He had no friends in high school. He __________ friends in high school.
33. Numbers 1-20 (Spelling)
-Spell the number correctly.
40
34. Opposites 1
-Guess the most common opposite.
narrow
35. Other
-Finish the sentence with the correct form of "other." Use one/ones.
Chris: That cookie was delicious! Can I have one more?
Terry: Of course! Have _________________________
36. Passive Mode 1
-Fill in the blank with the correct form of the passive. Watch tense!
This class (teach) __________________ by Professor Snow next semester.
37. Passive Mode 1a
-Supply the correct form of the verb in the passive mode.
The car (repair) ________________________________________ right now.
38. Passive or Present Perfect
-Fill in the correct form of have or be.
He _____________ taken to jail for a robbery he committed.
39. Past 1 (Irregular Past/Past Part.)
-Give the past and past participle like this: ate, eaten
begin (start) _________________________
40. Past 1a (Mixed Past Tense)
-Give the past tense in the affirmative (instead of negative).
She didn't wear a skirt. She ____________ a dress.
41. Past 2 (Irregular Past Tense)
-Guess the IRREGULAR past tense verb I'm thinking of.
That ostrich ________________ an egg the size of a soccer ball.
42. Past and Plural
-Correct one with two: I didn't eat one pear. Answer= I ate two pears.
I didn't buy one peach.
43. Past Perfect 1
-Put one verb in past, one in past perfect. Use a comma: ate, had gone
I (invite)________ her to the movie, but she (already make)________ other plans.
44. Plurals 1
-Give the plural.
tooth
45. Plurals 2a
-Rewrite the sentence by making [bracketed] words plural.
This [person] is not smart enough to work by himself.
46. Plurals 2b
-Rewrite the sentence by making [bracketed] words plural.
I have a [goose] which cries at night.
47. Plurals 2c
-Rewrite the sentence by making [bracketed] words plural.
Which is the boss's ?
48. Prepositions 1 (in, on, at, to)
-Give the preposition.
We don't have school ________ Saturday.
49. Prepositions 2 (in, on, at, to)
-Give prepositions. Put hyphens between several answers. [to-on-in]
I rarely look _____ people _____ the subway.
50. Prepositions 3a (in, on, at, to)
-Give prepositions. Put hyphens between several answers. [at-in-on]
Once _____ a while, I like _____ go ______ church _____ night.
51. Prepositions 3b (in, on, at, to)
-Give prepositions. Put hyphens between several answers. [in-on-to]
Once _____ a while, I like _____ go ______ church _____ night.
52. Prepositions 3c (in, on, at, to)
-Give prepositions. Put hyphens between several answers. [on-to-at]
I was born ____ 1945 ____ January 1 ____ Albuquerque, New Mexico.
53. Present Perfect 1
-Fill in the correct past or present perfect.
[I live] __________________ here for thirty years, and I won't move.
54. Present Perfect 2
-Fill in the present perfect. Use have, has, haven't or hasn't.
He _____________________________ many books, but he's never sold one.
55. Presidents of the United States
-Give the official name of the president.
16. 1861-1865
56. Pronouns and Possessives
-Give the pronouns and possessives. Put a hyphen [-] between them.
wore party.
57. Quantity 1
-Supply a word: a, some, very, few, little, much, many, enough
There are a __________ mice in the house.
58. Quantity 1a
-Supply a word: a, some, very, few, little, much, many, only, lot, of
How __________ time does she need to sew these buttons on my shirt?
59. Questions- Direct 1
-Guess the question for the answer given. DON'T use contractions.
I weigh 130 pounds.
60. Questions- Direct 1a
-Guess the question. (Use contractions with "is" where possible.)
To the bank. (I went to the bank.)
61. Questions- Direct 1b
-Guess the question. (Use contractions with "is" where possible.)
Yes, he had a good time.
62. Questions Indirect 1
-FINISH the indirect question that begins-- Do you know...
How did Maria get to school today?
63. Relative Clauses 1a - Restrictive
-Fill in the space with that, who, whose, which, when, where, why
A widow is a woman __________ husband has died.
64. Relative Clauses 1b - Restrictive
-Fill in the space with that, who, whose, which, when, where, why
An apartment building is a place ________ many families live together.
65. Relative Clauses 2a - Non-Restrictive
-Rewrite as one sentence. Use who, whom, whose, which, where.
We went to Riverside Park. We saw a lot of dogs there.
66. Relative Clauses 2b - Non-Restrictive
-Rewrite as one sentence. Use who, whom, whose, which, where.
I wrote Sandra a letter of condolence. Her mother had died.
67. Reported Speech 1
-Give the two missing words. Put a hyphen [-] between them.
John said, "I'm a doctor." John said ____________ he ____________ a doctor.
68. Reported Speech 2
-Give only the missing words. Use "that" for statements.
Mary asked, "Was the teacher sick last week?" Mary asked ___________ before.
69. Short Answers (responses)
-Use short responses to disagree: e.g., Yes, it will/No, he doesn't.
Bill Clinton fought in the Vietnam War
70. Should Have/Shouldn't Have
-Supply the three missing words to provide a logical opinion.
My son was speeding last night in my car. You [s h l] _____ him your car!
71. Spelling - The Change Y to I Rule
-Fill in the missing word.
He is studying. He usually ____________ after he gets home.
72. Spelling - The Doubling Rule
-Fill in the missing word.
They shop here every day. They are ____________ here now.
73. Spelling - The Drop Final E Rule
-Fill in the missing word.
He writes letters every day. He is __________ a letter now.
74. Spelling 1a (-ing form & past tense)
-Give the ING FORM and PAST TENSE. Write it like this: going, went
study ____________
75. Spelling 1b (-ing form & past tense)
-Give the ING FORM and PAST TENSE. Write it like this: going, went
admit _______
76. Spelling 2a (past, pp, -s, -ing)
-Give the FOUR forms like this: wrote, written, writes, writing
ride ______
77. Spelling 2b (past, pp, -s, -ing)
-Give the FOUR forms like this: wrote, written, writes, writing
dry ____
78. Spelling 2c (past, pp, -s, -ing)
-Give the FOUR forms like this: wrote, written, writes, writing
die ___
79. Spelling Errors A
-Spell the misspelled word correctly. Don't retype the sentence.
It was hard, but fortunally, I did well in school.
80. Spelling Errors B
-Give the misspelled word correctly. Don't retype the sentence.
She weights 220 pounds, and her doctor wants her to eat less
81. Spelling GH (problem -gh- words)
-Give the correct word.
My daughter/daugther is seven years old.
82. State Capitals
-Give the state capital.
California
83. State Spelling
-Spell the state's name. The two-letter postal code is given.
PA
84. Superlative 1
-Fill in the missing words.
The Atacama Desert in Chile has rain once or twice every century. It _______ place on earth.
85. Synonyms 1
-Give a word (lower case) meaning the same as the CAPITALIZED one(s).
Many INDUSTRIAL PLANTS are closing down and moving abroad
86. Tags 1
-Give the appropriate two-word tag.
Bill and Sheila aren't getting married, _______________?
87. Two-Word Verbs 1
-Give a three-word command with a two-word verb. Remember the period.
I don't know if this hat will fit me right.
88. Two-Word Verbs 2
-Answer with a two-word verb in a complete sentence.
What did John do when he dropped his book?
89. Unreal Past 1
-Fill in the logical words. Use contractions only for negatives.
If I _________________________ the answer, I would have raised my hand.
90. Unreal Past 2
-Write an unreal sentence. Start with IF. Use contractions with WOULD.
He shaved too fast. He cut himself.
91. Unreal Present 1
-Fill in the logical word. Use contractions if possible.
If she __________ better German, she could work in Germany.
92. Unreal Present 2
-Write an unreal sentence. Start with IF. Contract WOULD if possible.
You don't pay attention in class. You don't learn anything.
93. Unreal Present and Past
-Fill in the logical words. Use contractions for negatives and WOULD.
If my boss __________________________ me that raise, I would have quit.
94. Verb + Base Form 1
-Fill in the space with a base (simple) form of a verb.
I suggested to her that she _______________ her abusive husband forever.
95. Verb + Gerund 1
-Fill in the space with a gerund (ING form).
We have problems ____________ care of our four dogs.
96. Verb + Infinitive 1
-Fill in the space with an infinitive (TO form).
We paid him ____________ the grass in our front yard every Saturday.
97. Verb Combinations
-Fill in a verb: simple, infinitive (with TO), or gerund (with ING).
We'll have trouble ___________ her when she speaks. Her English is bad.
98. Verbs/Adjectives + Prep. 1a
-Supply the best preposition for each sentence.
He's different __________ his brother. His brother is a better student.
99. Verbs/Adjectives + Prep. 1b
-Supply the best preposition for each sentence.
He succeeded ________ getting his diploma after years of studying.
100. Weigh
-Supply one of the following: weigh, weighs, weighed, weight
What ______________ more, gold or lead?
101. Wish and Hope
-Fill in the space with one or two words.
I wish you _________________ live in San Francisco. It's so far from LA!
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