GRAMMAR QUICK REFERENCE · p a t h f i n d e r t e f l grammar quick reference a concise yet comprehensive handbook to help you understand the prescriptive mechanics of english grammar

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GRAMMAR QUICK REFERENCE A CONCISE YET COMPREHENSIVE HANDBOOK TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND THE PRESCRIPTIVE MECHANICS OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR.

Table of Contents

Important points to consider when teaching grammar 3

Syllabi 6

Tenses 12

The Present Simple 13

The Present Continuous 16

The Past Simple 18

The Past Continuous 22

The Present Perfect Simple 25

The Present Perfect Continuous 31

The Past Perfect Simple and Continuous 33

Future Forms 36

Future Forms: The Present Continuous 37

Future Forms: The Be Going To Form 39

Future Forms: The Future Simple 41

Future Forms: The Future Continuous 43

Future Forms: The Future Perfect Simple and Future Perfect Continuous 45

Future Forms: The Present Simple 47

Tense Timeline Summary 49

Identifying Tenses and Conditionals 49

Selected Irregular Verbs 51

Modal Auxiliary Verbs 52

Must 53

Have to 54

Shall 55

Should 56

May/might 57

Can 58

Could 59

Will 60

Would 61

Teaching Ideas for Modals 62

Conditionals 66

First Conditional 66

2

Second Conditional 68

Third Conditional 70

Other Conditionals 72

The Passive Voice 74

Reported Speech Statements 77

Reported Speech Questions 81

Countable and Uncountable Nouns 82

Adjectives 83

Adverbs 85

Gerunds and Infinitives 86

Prepositions 87

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3

Important points to consider when teaching grammar

Introduction Before you teach any target structure to the students you have to know it yourself.

You must anticipate problems in: ● form ● function ● phonology

These are some of the things you’ll have to think about when working with grammar: ● Whether the structure is appropriate for the students’ level, ● How many teaching units it will take, ● What order to teach them, and ● What the best way to build the units is. You need to consider what

relevant, appropriate and useful contexts in which to teach it are (e.g. initially teaching the first conditional as a threat is not very useful).

Putting structures on the whiteboard

Take the target structure and write all the forms - positive, negative, questions and short answers. There are many ways to map out a target structure. Here’s an example of how to write out the present simple:

Affirmative sentences

I walk every day.

You

We

They

He walks

She

It

Negative sentences

I don’t walk every day.

You

We

They

He doesn’t

She

It

(continued)

4

Important points to consider when teaching grammar (continued)

Putting structures on the whiteboard (continued)

Yes/no questions

Do I walk every day?

You

We

They

Does He

She

It

Short answers

Yes/no, I do/don’t.

You

We

They

He does/doesn’t.

She

It

When planning a grammar lesson

One way to go about conceptualizing grammar teaching is as follows:

1. Think of all spelling problems and other irregularities (e.g. third person singular -s) etc.

2. Write all of the ways in which the target structure is used.

3. Afterwards, think of all possible pronunciation problems: stress,

weak forms, contractions, silent letters, etc.

Also, ask yourself these questions during the planning: ● How important is the target structure?

● How difficult is it?

● Has something previously been taught that can be used as a

building block?

● Is it a review/remedial?

● How much time do you have?

Answering these questions will give you an idea of how many classes you will need to teach the grammar point. The best way to start is by choosing the most common function and the appropriate level of structure for a given function.

(continued)

5

Important points to consider when teaching grammar (continued)

When planning a grammar lesson

Even if it seems trivially easy, review all the forms to make sure you have

them clear:

● Positive statements

● Wh- questions

● Short questions and short positive and negative answers

● Affirmative sentences

● Yes/no questions

● Negative statements

6

Syllabi

Introduction Many varieties of EFL syllabi exist. The following is a suggested structure teaching order for the three main student levels.

Beginner/ Elementary

Verbs:

to be

to have

to want

to need

to like

Tenses: (all forms - questions. negative and affirmative answers)

Present simple

Past simple - with regular and irregular verbs, pronunciation of

endings /d/, /t/, /Id /

Present continuous (for present and future):

Be going to future

Future simple

Modals:

can/can’t - to show ability

could/couldn’t

may/might

should/shouldn’t

Other Grammar Points:

Subject pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

Object pronouns: me, you, him, her, it us. you, them

Imperatives

Equal comparison using adjectives and nouns: She’s as pretty

as a picture.

Unequal comparison using adjectives and nouns: Faster than a

plane, bigger than a house ...

It’s + Adj. + infinitive: It’s good to learn English.

Adjective word order

Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her, our, your, their too/enough Wh- questions - who, what, where, why, when, how a/an/the/some

(continued)

7

Syllabi (continued)

Beginner/ Elementary (continued)

Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those Prepositions Countable/uncountable nouns How much/many...? very/too + adj.: It’s very expensive. It’s too expensive. Adverbs of frequency: always, usually, sometimes, rarely, never How often...? Adverbs of manner: quickly, slowly, fast, nervously Adverbial word order

Supplementary:

Cardinal numbers

Ordinal numbers

Telling time

Days of the week

Months of the year

Seasons

Professions

Family tree

Functions:

Describing people/places/things

Giving directions

Giving advice/opinions

Making plans

Apologizing

Making excuses

Agreeing/disagreeing

Asking questions about language

Lexis (vocabulary):

Houses/furniture People

Clothes

Food

Places

Personal data

(continued)

8

Syllabi (continued)

Beginner/ Elementary (continued)

Expressions:

What’s it like?

I’d like (to)

There is/are

Had to

Can get

To think/don’t think so

Intermediate This level is difficult to define as it covers such a vast range of abilities.

Generally, students at this level need first to be introduced to most of the

concepts/structures below. At a higher level, these items need to be

reviewed with an added level of difficulty. The items below are listed in

related groups with the first item in each group being the easiest.

Remember that knowing the structure is not enough. They have to

demonstrate their knowledge by using it.

Tenses:

Past continuous

Present perfect with been/just/yet/already

Present perfect continuous

Past perfect simple

Past perfect continuous

Future simple vs. be going to future

First conditional: If it rains, we’ll…

Second conditional: If I were you, I’d…

Third conditional: If it had rained, we would have…

Passive voice - present, past, present perfect

Modals may/might/could (+ be, do):

Could vs. managed to

must vs. can’t (+ be, do)

(continued)

9

Syllabi (continued)

Intermediate (continued)

Grammar Points:

Gerunds (after verbs such as like, quit, enjoy), e.g. I enjoy

eating.

Gerunds as subject: Running is good for you.

There was/were, There is/are

Reported statements with tense changes: She said she liked it.

Embedded questions: Ask her what she wants for dinner.

Indefinite pronouns: all, any, enough, half, some, none, most

Use without an article

Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, ourselves,

themselves

Supplementary:

Too + adj. + infinitive: That horse is too mean to ride.

too much/many

more/less/fewer than

the most/least/fewest

Expressions:

Used to be/do vs. to get used to ...

Be supposed to

I wish +past/+past perfect (I wish I was there/I wish I had been

there)

Functions:

Narrative

Describing a process

Prohibition

Obligation

Stating intention

Criticism and blame

Giving compliments

Wish vs. hope

Say vs. tell

Tell/ask/want someone to do something

Tell/ask/show someone how to do something

Make/let someone do something

(continued)

10

Syllabi (continued)

Advanced Tenses:

Present simple vs. continuous (review)

Verbs which don’t take continuous forms

Present perfect simple (review)

Present perfect continuous (review)

Future continuous (review)

Future perfect (review)

Mixed conditionals

Passive + get, give, tell (indirect object)

Passive causative (get/have something done)

Modals may/might/could be doing:

Must/can’t be doing

Should/ought to/be supposed to have done

Must/can’t have done/been doing

Need doing

Grammar Points:

Relative clauses: This is the house that Jack built.

Non-defining clauses: Jack, who is a fireman, built that house.

Double comparative: The bigger the bait, the better the fish.

Double preposition: From Here To Eternity

Whatever/whichever

Verb patterns (gerund/infinitive)

Supplementary:

Purpose: in order, so that

Emphatic use of auxiliary

in spite of, because of

Conjunctions: besides, although

Phrasal verbs

Idioms

(continued)

11

Syllabi (continued)

Advanced Functions:

Expressing:

● Regret

● Worry

● Apprehension

● Gratitude

● Appreciation

● Enthusiasm

● Anger

Talking about taboo or socially sensitive subjects

Summarizing

Insulting

Expressions:

Unless + first conditional

It’s time + past tense

Would rather

If only + past perfect

Wish + would

Remember/stop/try + gerund or infinitive

12

Tenses

Introduction This is a reference of the most common tenses taught. Here you will see how each is formed, the different functions that the tense can represent, what it should look like on a timeline, phonological idiosyncrasies, teaching units (or the minimum number of classes you would need to teach the grammar point sufficiently), typical student errors (TSEs), and teaching ideas.

Tense appendix guide

To help you navigate the following section, please note the following:

Teaching units are very subjective. You might have a class of false beginners, in which case many of the earlier language devices taught to them might be readily absorbed. This is especially true of groups you have only recently started with. Plan extra for the first few units to gauge their understanding. The suggested teaching unit order is also indicated.

Forms should be spread out. Don’t try to focus on all of them in one class.

Timelines are a very useful way of demonstrating the time relationship between certain functions and time displacement. In timelines, X’s indicate completed actions, straight lines indicate ongoing events, and dashed lines indicate an event that will most likely continue. For example, in the following timeline:

Timeline for I was studying last night when the phone rang.

Function: interrupted past action

The X donates a single event (the phone rang), and the solid line indicates an ongoing action (I was studying). We can tell from the timeline that the studying (solid line) was interrupted by the phone ringing (X) sometime in the past. From the lack of context, we don’t know whether the speaker continued to study or stopped to answer the phone, so we use a dashed line after the event.

Typical student error examples are preceded with an asterisk (*), as in the following example:

*I am here since last year.

X was studying

past future

now

13

The Present Simple

Form Regular verbs: I drink milk every day.

(S + V + O)

He drinks milk every morning.

(S + V-s + O)

Irregular verbs:

I have an apple. He has an apple.

I am tall. She is tall. They are tall.

Yes/No Questions:

Do you usually drink milk?

Yes, I do.

Yes, I do drink milk every day.

Does he usually drink milk?

Yes, he does.

Yes, he does drink milk every day.

Negatives:

I don’t usually drink milk. He doesn’t usually drink milk.

Wh- Questions:

What do you usually drink for breakfast?

Function Habitual action: He walks to work every day.

Facts / Eternal truths: Hot air rises. Honesty is always the best policy.

Unalterable plans: I leave on Tuesday.

Fixed schedule: The train leaves at 6 pm.

Instantaneous action: Gretzky scores!

Performative verbs: I say ... I believe ... I name this ship...

Past action in newspaper headlines: Trump denies knowledge…

Historic/fictional present: Darwin presents evidence for the...

Past Narrative: A man walks into a bar ...

Descriptions with verb to be: This is John. John is a teacher.

(continued)

14

The Present Simple (continued)

Timeline Timeline for I study every day.

Function: habit

Phonology / s / / z / / Iz / in the third-person singular –s

wants runs rises

Teaching units 1. First and second person singular: Statements, Wh- questions, short

answers, negatives

2. Third person singular: statements. wh- questions, short answers,

negatives

3. All personal pronouns: all forms, mixed

4. With adverbs of frequency: all forms, mixed

Typical student errors

Form:

Omission of -s in third person singular:

*He get up late.

Omission of the auxiliary:

*He no(t) wash dishes.

Where goes he?

Word order with adverbs of frequency:

*He goes usually to the movies.

Confusion between present tenses:

*I’m go to the bank on Fridays.

Function:

Confusion with present continuous tense

What do you do? vs. What are you doing?

*I am sometimes getting up late.

(continued)

X

study every day

X X X X X X X X X X

study every day past future

now

15

The Present Simple (continued)

Teaching ideas Stative verbs: like, dislike, want, need, hate

Describing characters

Matching up people’s likes and dislikes:

● a guessing game in which students’ likes and dislikes are described-

the rest of the class has to guess who is being described

● a computer dating game in which students match up likely candidates.

● any game call be used in which taste or approval/disapproval is

involved.

Habits, routines, lifestyles

● Personal habit survey.

● A day in the life of Mr. T (can be done with mime, pictures, etc.)

My daily routine

20 Questions

Students choose a profession and write it on a piece of paper. Other

students have 20 questions in which to find out what the profession is.

For instance, they can ask, “Do you work with other people?”

16

The Present Continuous

Form Affirmatives: (S + be + V-ing + O)

I am eating lunch now. She is eating lunch now. They are eating lunch now.

Negatives: (S + be + not + V-ing + O)

I am not eating lunch now.

Wh- Questions: What are you eating now?

Yes/No Questions:

Are you eating lunch now? Yes, I am. No, I am not.

Function Action occurring at the moment of speaking: She’s studying now.

Future plans/arrangements (see Futures): We’re meeting next week.

Temporary habitual action: I’m reading Catch 22 this week.

Persistent or habitual actions: I’m always losing things.

Phonology Contractions: I am reading. = I’m reading now.

You are working hard. = You’re working hard now.

She is walking tall. = She’s walking tall now.

Timeline

Timeline for I am studying now.

Function: ongoing action

Teaching units 1. First and second person singular:

Statements, Wh- questions, short answers, negatives

2. Third person singular:

Statements, Wh- questions, short answers, negatives

3. All persons: all forms, mixed.

(continued)

now am studying

past future

17

The Present Continuous (continued)


Form: Omission of the verb be

*He eating lunch. Using participles without –ing added

*He is eat lunch. Addition of auxiliary do in questions and negatives

*He does not eating lunch.

Function: Confusion with present simple tense

*I’m sometimes getting up at 8:00.

Teaching ideas Visuals:

Pictures are the best way of presenting and practicing the present continuous tense. From a picture there is no doubt that the action is happening right now.

Real situations:

What is happening outside the window now? (Students describe what they see.) What is happening inside the classroom now? e.g.: What is everyone wearing today?

Guessing the action:

Using visuals, mimes, or sounds recorded on a tape, the teacher or a student cues an action. Students then guess what it is. This can be done in teams or as individuals.

Derailed picture game:

Divide the class into two teams. Give each team a detailed picture which includes various people doing things. Set a time limit for each team to memorize the details. Teams swap pictures, While looking at the first team’s picture, Team Two asks about the action, e.g. “What is the man in the corner doing now?’ Team One replies, “He’s walking in the garden.” Score one point for each correctly asked question; one point for each correct answer.

18

The Past Simple

Form Regular verbs: (S + V-ed (2nd form) + O) I walked home from school yesterday. They walked home with me yesterday.

Irregular verbs:

I went home by bus yesterday.

They went home with me yesterday.

Yes/No Questions:

Did you walk home yesterday? Yes, I did. Yes, I walked home

yesterday.

Did they go home by bus yesterday? Yes, they did. Yes, they went

home by bus yesterday.

Negatives:

I didn’t walk home yesterday.

They didn’t go home by bus yesterday.

Wh- Questions:

What did you do yesterday?

How did they go home yesterday?

Function Past completed action/Definite past: I walked home yesterday.

Habitual past: He walked to work every day last year.

Events happening simultaneously in the past: I sat and watched.

Sequenced past events: I arrived and asked for a drink.

Narrative in past or fictional future: Ugg walked slowly across the

Martian terrain.

Very polite referral to the present: Did you want me?

Phonology Pronunciation of the -ed endings depends on whether the last sound is:

voiced /d/ (as in loved),

voiceless /t/ (as in walked), or

d/t /Id/ (as in dusted)

(continued)

19

The Past Simple (continued)

Timeline Timeline for I studied last night.

Function: past completed action

Teaching units 1. Regular verbs:

Statements, Wh- questions – all personal pronouns Concentrate on

pronunciation of –ed.

2. Regular and irregular verbs:

Statements, Wh- questions – all personal pronouns

3. Regular and irregular:

Yes/No questions and short answers – all personal pronouns

4. Regular and irregular verbs:

Wh- questions, positive and negative response

5. How long ago ... ? and …ago.

Many more practice lessons introducing new irregular verbs

systematically are highly recommended.


Form:

Omission of auxiliary

*Where went he?

Retaining past form in questions and negatives

*Where did he went?

*He didn’t went home.

Regularization of irregulars

*I weared a warm coat.

Note: The main problem with the past simple is the introduction and

practice of irregular verbs. This practice should be interspersed with the

introduction of new language items.

(continued)

X

studied last night past future

now

20


Teaching ideas Cleaning will generate practice in the /d /, /t/, /Id/ endings of the regular

verbs: polished, cleaned dusted, etc Students tidy up the classroom they

are in, or another one previously stage-set, and comment.

Any sequence of past events:

mime, pictures, cartoons, monologues.

Note: Picture/mime normally elicits present continuous tense. Be

careful to include past time markers and phrases. Remember to teach

sequencing words: then, next, after that, in the end.

“How long ago ...”

- interviews personal, or role play famous people

- history quiz

Personal experiences:

Put pieces of paper with personal subjects written on them such as

pets, family, garden, room into a hat. Students draw a subject card

out of a hat and then talk about it. Other students listen and ask

questions.

Chain stories:

The teacher writes a statement/headline on the board. By a

question/-answer process around the class, the events/motives

leading up to the headline are elicited.

Cut-up picture stories:

Give students cut up pictures from a sequence. Students create

their own sequence and re-tell the story.

True or false:

Each student tells the class one true and one false story (this can

be done in pairs). The other students must guess which is true and

which is false.

(continued)

21


Teaching ideas (continued)

Writing about past events:

A letter to a friend telling him/her about something of interest that

happened.

More questions in the past simple:

Use any factual text (a biography usually works best). Students

work in pairs. One student has the complete text while the other has

the same text with crucial information missing. This creates all

information gap and questions must be asked in order to complete

the text

Songs:

“Rocky Raccoon” - The Beatles

“There was an old woman who swallowed a fly’’’ - traditional

“Sounds of silence” - Simon and Garfunkel

“The Golden Vanity” - traditional

Songs with clear words can be used for music dictation, gap fill, etc.

22

The Past Continuous

Form Affirmative: (S + be [2nd form] + V-ing + O)

I was working on Friday. We were working together last night.

He was washing his car at 4:00. They were washing cars, too.

Yes/No Questions:

Were you working yesterday? Yes, I was. Yes, I was working.

Negatives:

I wasn’t working yesterday morning. No, I wasn’t working.

Wh- Questions:

What were you doing yesterday?

Function Interrupted action in the past: I was reading when the train arrived.

An action with long (though limited) duration: I was hiking last

weekend.

Simultaneous actions in the past: I was cooking while she was

studying.

Repeated past action: Students were asking this question a lot last

year.

Phonology The /t/ is dropped (elided) from wasn’t and weren’t:

He wasn’t stopping sounds like he wasn stopping.

Intruding R between were and eating in We were eating.

Timeline



(continued)

X was studying

past future

now

23

The Past Continuous (continued)

Teaching units All personal pronouns, all forms - mixed

Interrupted past continuous: (with when)

She was taking a bath when he called.

Typical

student errors

Form:

(confusion of subject-verb agreement and conjugation)

*We was working.

Function:

Overuse of the simple past when past continuous would be more

appropriate

T: What were you doing when the earthquake struck?

*S: I took a shower.

Teaching ideas For Past Continuous:

Pictures with clocks on them: These become cues for students to

ask questions e.g.: “What were you doing at 8:00 last night?”

Describing a scene in the past: Use a picture with a lot or detail and

a clearly annotated past date, e.g.: a police diagram reconstructing

the scene of an accident

For Interrupted Past Continuous:

Timelines:

I was walking down the street when I saw the accident.

Contexts:

Any situation which involves sudden interruption, e.g. crimes and

disasters, an accident, a murder mystery, the sinking of the Titanic,

an earthquake, Pompeii, etc.

(continued)

24

The Past Continuous (continued)

Teaching ideas

(games)

Note: This game involves questions in the simple past and the past

continuous but it can be limited to one tense or the other if necessary.

Alibi

A crime is established (a murder?) in the past. Students draw lots to

decide who the culprit is and who the detective is. The detectives

leave the room to prepare their questions. The other students

prepare alibis to protect themselves and to cover for the culprit. The

detectives return and question each suspect individually trying to

catch the students out through contradiction. The detectives decide

on the culprit.

Consequences

Each student starts with a blank sheet of paper. Responding to the

teacher’s instruction, students write an appropriate response on the

sheet. After each response, they fold down the paper towards

themselves concealing what they have just written and pass the

paper to their neighbor on the right. Their next response will be

written on the new paper passed to them by their neighbor on the

left.

Teacher’s cues

1. Write the name of a well-known man.

2. Write the name of a well-known woman.

3. Where did they meet?

4. What was he wearing?

5. What was she wearing?

6. What was he doing when she saw him?

7. What did she say to him?

8. What did he reply?

9. What did they decide to do?

10. What was the consequence?

11. What did the newspapers say?

At the end of the game, the students share the compilation stories.

25

The Present Perfect Simple

Form Affirmative: (S + have + Past Participle + O)

I have visited Mexico before.

She has visited the United States before.

Yes/No Questions:

Have you visited Mexico before? Yes, I have. Yes. I’ve visited

Mexico before.

Negatives:

I haven’t visited Mexico before

I’ve never visited Mexico before.

Wh- Questions:

Where have you visited? I’ve visited Mexico.

Function Life experience: I’ve visited India before.

Incomplete past: I’ve taught here for 10 years.

Recent past action: I’ve just missed him, I’ve cut my finger.

Repeated past action: The police have stopped me 8 times this month.

Announcement: War has been declared in China. (often in the passive

voice). China has declared war.

Changes: My, you’ve grown.

Timeline Timeline for I have visited the castle before.

Function: past experience

(continued)

X

have visited the castle

past future

now ?

26

The Present Perfect Simple (continued)

Note: Grammar books often refer to the Past Simple as The Definite

Past (i.e. a completed past action or state that finished at a definite

time). Grammar books often call the Present Perfect The Indefinite

Past (an action/state that started at some point in the past, we don’t

know when or we don’t care when, which ends at the moment of

speaking, just before it). Most students (and many teachers) have a

difficult time grasping this concept.

Teaching units Ever/never/before - with simple past - all personal pronouns, all forms

Just/yet/already - all personal pronouns, all forms

For/since, contrasted with simple past - all personal pronouns, all

forms

Note: It’s a good idea to start with regular verbs and focus on the

concept of tile structure at first. Then keep introducing irregular forms

later on at higher levels.


Form:

Use of present simple:

*I am here since March 5.

Use of since instead of for where time period is notionally specific:

*I’ve been here since two weeks.

Use of ago for a period of time:

*I’ve been here since two weeks ago.

Mixing usage of yet and already;

*I haven’t already done my homework.

Use of irregular verbs - confusing simple past with past participle

form:

*I’ve came to see her.

(continued)

27



Function:

ever/never/before: distinguishing between a finished action at a

specified past time (past simple) and a finished action at an

unspecified past time (present perfect):

Q: When have you been to Japan?

A: *I have been in Japan in July.

Note: for/since: Use of present perfect to link past and present an

action which started in the past and continues into present time or even

into the future.

e.g.: for with a period of time:

I’ve been here for a minute/2 days/a month.

since with a beginning point:

I’ve been here since May/Tuesday/last week.

just for present result: e.g. to distinguish from past simple, teach

with a demonstrable result: She looks relaxed. She’s just returned

from vacation.

already and yet are used to express realized and unrealized

expectations in relation to the present: e.g. Have you eaten all of

the cookies already?

Teaching ideas Ever/Never/Before:

Any situation which investigates past experiences: For example,

travel experiences (e.g. Have you ever been to Italy?). Use

postcards of famous places places, pictures of unusual foods, etc.

Alternatively, a map of the world, a copy of a passport with entry/exit

visas from all over the world, or a picture of a suitcase plastered

with labels from different countries. These can be used to

contextualize a role-play (tourist at a resort passport check, etc.).

Interviews:

Use the interview format in role-play between employer and

prospective employee. Have you ever done this kind of work

before? Cues call also be taken from the prospective employee’s

resume: I see you’ve worked with this system before.

(continued)

28



Questionnaire:

Compile and consolidate the class’ experiences of travel, work,

or unusual events through open pairs Q and A with white board

feedback.

For/Since:

Any waiting situation: e.g. bars, stations, prisons. Incorporate

questions such as How long have you been here?

Note: Annotation of dates and times is important.

Friends: Students write down the first six names of acquaintances

that come into their heads. In pairs, they ask each other who each

person is and how they’ve known him/her.

Possessions: As above. This time, students write down their six

favorite possessions and discuss with a partner what it is, why they

like it, and how long they’ve had it.

Note: After activities like those above, include a feedback session so that the third person singular form can he used, e.g.: Bill is a friend of Student A. Student A has known him for 12 years.

Just can be used when any situation where it’s obvious that an

action has just been completed.

Do something and discuss what’s just been done: Teacher

leaves the room and takes off/puts on/adjusts some piece of clothing.

When the teacher returns, the students have to guess what he/she’s

just done.

Note: This is primarily British English, as American speakers tend more to use the past simple when talking about recent past events. For example:

Br. Eng.: Rob has removed his jacket.

Am. Eng.: Rob removed his jacket.

(continued)

29



Magazine picture: e.g., any ad such as those for cleaning products or

insurance firms which clearly present results of recent past actions.

Crime/disaster/newsworthy event scene: students role-play live

TV/radio interviewer questioning witnesses on the scene of a recent

event.

Present result which has obvious consequences:

Any situation where a recent change has taken place (British

English).

- Two friends meet after not seeing each other for six

months. (You’ve lost weight, etc.)

- The errant student returning home after “going punk” in

London. Role-play the parents in shocked disbelief: “But

your hair has turned green,” etc.

- Discussion: How your city has changed recently (prices,

buildings. population, etc.).

Yet/Already:

Chain drill: logical sequence of activities interrupted to comment on

what has/has not been completed, e.g. You’ve written a letter, but

you haven’t signed it. You’ve signed the letter, but you haven’t put it

in an envelope yet.

Survey: Set up a calendar divided into morning and afternoon.

Establish that it’s now 2:00 p.m. All the things in the morning have,

therefore, been done and all afternoon activities haven’t been done

yet.

9:00 a.m. type letters 3:00 p.m. go to the bank

11:00 a.m. call Ms. Smith 5:00 p.m. finish report

She’s already typed the letters. She hasn’t gone to the bank yet.

Role-play: Anyone in a position of authority checking up on someone to

see that they have completed a set assignment: Have you done the

__________ yet? A drill sergeant, a boss, a nagging husband, etc.

(continued)

30



Questionnaire: Students investigate where everyone has visited in their

city so far:

Have you been to the castle yet?

Have you ridden a rickshaw yet?

Ever/Never:

Any dialogue which explores general life experience and then covers more specific time information:

A: Have you ever been to Japan? B: Yes, I have. A: When did you go there? B: I went in 1978.

Role-play/controlled Q and A using map of the world with dates attached to various countries. The dates represent places which have been visited and when. The places that have no dates form the “No, I’ve never been to _________” answer.

Already/Yet:

Any situation which includes completing projects and appointments.

This works in an office/ business setting.

A: I’ve already typed the report.

B: When did you do it?

Just:

A: I’ve just seen the boss.

B: When did you see her?

A: I saw her a moment ago.

B: What did she say?

31

The Present Perfect Continuous

Form Affirmative: (S + have/has + been + V-ing + O) I have been studying English for two years. She has been working here since March.

Negative:

I haven’t been studying English for a long time.

Yes/No Questions: Have you been studying English lately? Yes, I have. Has she been working here for a long time? Yes, she has.

Wh- Questions:

How long have you been studying English?

Function Incomplete past (with for/since): We’ve been working together for 6

years.

To emphasize results vs. action: I’ve cleaned the house. vs. I’ve been

cleaning the house.

Phonology Contractions are most often used with this form.

e.g. I’ve been working here since Christmas.

Reduced forms are difficult to recognize and produce: /v/ and /z/ as in:

How long / have they / been waiting?

Timeline Timeline for I have been studying for two hours.

Function: incomplete past

Teaching units 1. With for/since all forms, all personal pronouns.

2. In contrast with present perfect all forms, all personal pronouns.

3. In contrast with other tenses all forms, all personal pronouns.


Form: Omission of been

*I’ve standing here for 20 minutes. Other TSE’s include those applicable to Present Perfect tense.

(continued)

now have been studying

past future

32

The Present Perfect Continuous (continued)

Teaching ideas Students construct timelines based on their past experience: (since) 1989 (for) 2 years now

e.g. A: How long have you been living here? B: We have been living here since 1989.

Causes and consequences

Role cards

Q and A sentence match

33

The Past Perfect Simple and Continuous

Form Affirmative: (S + had + Past Participle (3rd form) + O) (S + had + been + V-ing) They had eaten before he arrived. They had been eating for hours before he arrived.

Negative:

They hadn’t eaten before he arrived.

Yes/No Questions: Had they eaten before he arrived? Yes, they had.

Wh- Questions:

What had happened before he arrived?

Function Past Perfect:

“Past from the past” - sequence of events stated or implied.

We had spoken before the meeting started.

Definite time:

They had arrived at 7:00 a.m., one hour before the bomb

exploded.

Indefinite time:

The house had been empty for a long time before he moved in.

With reported speech: A: I have eaten already. B: What did he say? C: He said he had eaten already.

With the third conditional:

If he hadn’t spoken, we wouldn’t have known.

Past Perfect Continuous: “Past from the past” - actions continuing for some time

They had been collecting their belongings for days when the volcano exploded.

(continued)

34

The Past Perfect Simple and Continuous (continued)

Timelines Timeline for I had studied chapter 4 before I started chapter 5.

Function: past from the past

Timeline for I had been studying chapter 4 before I my friends arrived.

Function: past continuing before past

Teaching units 1. Past Perfect Simple: all forms all personal pronouns 2. Past Perfect Continuous: all forms, all personal pronouns


Form: Using a past auxiliary and a past simple main verb:

*I had sang it first. *I had sing it first.

Function:

Sequence of events in the past Use by the time/before/after/because/when to show sequence.

He left when I arrived. (simultaneous or arrival first) He had already left before I arrived. (leaving definitely first)

(continued)

X

chapter 4 past future

now chapter 5

X

X studying

past future

now

35

The Past Perfect Simple and Continuous (continued)

Teaching ideas Sequence of actions and checking: Journey to the Moon After they had blasted off, they ... etc.

Police report of damage done by a storm, a burglary, etc.

The burglars had cut the alarm before they kicked in the door.

Any action chain story

Emotional reactions She cried I because he’d... I laughed!

Describing historical events

36

Future Forms

Form The Future in English takes many forms:

Future Simple: I’ll be back by 1:30. Future Continuous: I’ll be leaving town on Friday. Be Going To Future: I am going to eat lunch at noon. Future Perfect: I’ll have been in Fiji for three days by next Monday. Future Perfect Continuous: I’ll have been traveling for two weeks by next Saturday. Present Continuous: I am working all day Thursday. Present Simple: Lunch hour is at 1:00.

Teaching order This is the recommend teaching order for futures for elementary students:

1. Present Continuous (for future) is taught first because students already know Present Continuous for present. The teacher merely introduces the same structure with a new function.

2. Be Going to Future is next because it is very common and is often underused by students.

3. Future Simple is last because it is much less commonly used and students often use it inappropriately.

37

Future Forms: The Present Continuous

Note: This tense is primarily used to describe actions happening in the present. Despite its label, however, it is commonly used to express future meaning in the context of plans and arrangements. The form stays the same. When teaching the present continuous for future arrangements, a clear time-marker is essential.

Function Plans or arrangements (decided in advance): Fred’s coming to dinner tonight. (This is usually with a human agent and action verbs.) Things just starting: I’m stepping out for lunch.

Timeline Timeline for I’m working tomorrow.

Function: future arrangement

Teaching units All personal pronouns, all forms.


Form: Omission of syntactical elements:

*I playing tennis.

Function: Confusion of Present Continuous for more certain plans and arrangements with Be Going To Future for less certain intentions

e.g., I am going to see a film tonight (but I haven’t bought a ticket or decided on the film)

vs. I’m going to see Bladerunner tonight at 7pm (I bought tickets yesterday).

Context is very important to differentiate present from future time

(continued)

X

working tomorrow past future

now

38

Future Forms: The Present Continuous (continued)

Teaching ideas Anything involving plans and arrangements: Possible situations: a diary which describes what is happening over the week to come, an appointment book, etc.

Arranging dates and making excuses, giving invitations, etc.

Possible situations telephone conversations: e.g. one student asks, “What are you doing on Sunday?” Student 2 consults the diary and replies. The same can he done for business arrangements, inviting people to a dinner party, etc.

Invitation Game:

Students are given role cards with a brief description of what they’re doing that night. The information should be similar to make the game produce more questions.

e.g.: Dinner at Denny’s (hamburger & salad) Dinner at Denny’s (hamburger & salad) Dancing at Eurocheese (New Wave music) Dancing at “J-Rocks” (Rock-n-Roll)

There are only two cards exactly the same for each evening date. As in the Vacation Game, students must find their date for the evening by questioning each other as to the information on their role cards (students are not permitted to read each other’s cards).

Songs:

“I’m leaving on a jet plane” by John Denver

39

Future Forms: The Be Going To Form

Form Affirmatives: (S + be + going to + V (1st form) + O) I am going to play tennis tomorrow. She is going to play tennis tomorrow.

Negative:

They aren’t going to play tennis on Saturday.

Yes/No Questions: Are you going to play tennis tomorrow’? Yes, I am.

Wh- Questions:

What are you going to do tonight?

Function Intention: I’m going to fix it tomorrow. Prediction/Future as fact (based on objective/observable evidence): They’re going to leave next year. (Jim was offered a better job in LA.) Things on the way: She’s going to have a baby. Predicting immediate future result of present cause: Look out! Those books are going to fall!

Phonology Going to is often reduced to ‘gonna’ in this form. I’m going to is pronounced as umguna or mgune.

Timeline Timeline for I’m going to call my mom tomorrow.

Function: future plan/intention




*I going to play tennis. Function:

Confusion of present continuous for more certain plans and arrangements with Be Going to future for less certain intentions, e.g. I am going to see a film tonight (but I haven’t bought a ticket or decided on the film) vs. I’m seeing Bladerunner tonight at 7 p.m. (I bought the tickets yesterday).

(continued)

X

call my mom past future

now

40

Future Forms: The Be Going To Form (continued)

Teaching ideas Anything which involves intentions: Possible situations: planning a vacation, escape from jail, a career, a business take-over.

Anything which involves organization and allocation of roles:

This will cover question forms with the Be Going to Future: Who is going to...? Possible situations: Organizing a party, a picnic, a theatrical show, etc.

Anything which involves describing a process in sequence:

The teacher demonstrates a process. After each step, the next step is elicited.

The vacation game

Devise three or four distinctly different vacations. Put the information on role cards, making sure that there are at least two cards the same for each vacation. Students are each given a vacation. Without reading each others’ cards, they must find the partner(s) who they will be going on vacation with. If it is a large class, then it could be five or six people all going on the same trip. Once they have found their pall or group, then together they must plan the vacation in detail. Where are they going to visit? How much money are they going to take? How long are they going to stay? How are they going to pass the time?

Songs

“Who’s going to take you home?” The Cars “I’m going to make you love me.” The Supremes

41

Future Forms: The Future Simple

Form Affirmative: (S + will + V (1st form) + O) I will meet you tomorrow.

Negative:

I won’t meet you tomorrow.

Yes/No Questions: Will you meet me tomorrow? Yes, I will.

Wh- Questions:

Who will you meet tomorrow?

Function Information about future: We will do that next week. Predictions: You’ll meet a tall stranger in the next 3 years. Spontaneous decisions:

A: Is it raining? B: Yes. I think I’ll stay home. A: Then I’ll stay at home, too.

Promises: I’ll return the key next Tuesday. Threats: Do that again and I’ll kill you. Strong intention: I really will stop smoking. Requests: Will you send me the bill please? Orders: Will you be quiet! Offers: Will you have some more wine?

Phonology Contracted forms: I will go. = I’ll go. He will go. = He’ll go.

Timeline Timeline for Is the TV broken? OK, I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.

Function: spontaneous decision


(continued)

X

will buy TV past future

now

42

Future Forms: The Future Simple (continued)


Form: Students often use to + infinitive:

*Sunday I will to go on a picnic. Function:

Confusion between Be Going to Future and Future Simple. Context is very important to differentiate intention from a spontaneous decision.

e.g. A: I really need to borrow some money. B: I’ll lend you some vs. I’m going to lend you some.

Teaching ideas With present simple in time clauses: She’ll be happy when we arrive. Going on a picnic/lost in the desert: What will you take? Predicting future changes in the next 10/20/30 years:

Use various topics: medicine, technology, lifestyle, e.g. The world will be on-line by 2050.

Fortune teller: You will marry a beautiful woman in 3 years. Predicting life changes: I think I’ll work in America next year. Songs:

“When I’m 64” - The Beatles “When I get to Phoenix” “You’ll take the high road ...” - traditional “That’ll be the day” - Buddy Holly

43

Future Forms: The Future Continuous

Form Affirmative: (S + will + be + V-ing + O) I’ll be wearing a red tie tomorrow night.

Negatives:

I won’t be wearing a red tie tomorrow night.

Yes/No Questions: Will you be wearing a red tie tomorrow night? Yes, I will. / No, I won’t.

Wh- Questions:

What will you be wearing tomorrow night?

Function Actions occurring around a particular time in the future (generally unfinished activity): I’ll be eating at 7:00 tonight. Fixed or decided future events: I’ll be leaving at 6:00 as usual. Repeated future events: I’ll be studying every free moment next semester.

Phonology Contractions. I will be = I’ll be

Timeline Timeline for I will be studying when you arrive.

Function: action happening at a particular time in the future



Form: Missing part of the structure:

*We will be wait for you. (omission of -ing) *We will waiting for you. (omission of be)

Function: The student might use this structure to relate an action continuing after a specific point in the future.

(continued)

X will be studying

past future

now

44

Future Forms: The Future Continuous (continued)

Teaching ideas Trying to arrange a meeting: A: Will you be free at 4:30 tomorrow afternoon? B: No, I’ll be playing tennis.

Making excuses:

A: Can I see you on Friday? B: No, I’ll be washing my hair.

45

Future Forms: The Future Perfect Simple and Future Perfect

Continuous

Form Affirmatives: (S + will + have + Past Participle (3rd form) + O) (S + will + have + been + V-ing + O)

I will have finished it by 3:00 today. They will have been working for nine hours by 6:00.

Negatives:

I won’t have finished it by 3:00. I won’t have been working for nine hours by 6:00.

Yes/No Questions:

Will you have been working for nine hours by 6:00? Yes, I will have.

Wh- questions: How much will you have finished by 3.00? How long will you have been working by 6:00?

Function Future Perfect: Past from the future:

By December, I’ll have been here five years. Future Perfect Continuous:

Past from the future which stresses the continuing action rather than duration. All action that began before a certain future time and will not have finished by that time:

By 10:00 p.m. I will have been traveling for three hours.

Timelines Future perfect simple

Timeline for I will have studied Chapter 4 before I start Chapter 5.

Function: action happening at a particular time in the future

(continued)

X

chapter 4 past future

now chapter 5

X

46

Future Forms: The Future Perfect Simple and Future Perfect

Continuous (continued)

Timelines (continued)

Future perfect continuous

Timeline for I will have been studying for two hours by the time you

arrive.

Function: Past from the future which stresses duration



Form: Making sure all parts of the structure are there. With this complex tense structure, syntactical elements are often omitted.

Function:

Students are often challenged by the idea of looking back from a more future action to a less future action.

Teaching ideas Predicting someone’s significant life events: By 19, he’ll have bought his first car.

Anybody’s prospective day: By 1:00, I’ll have finished my English lesson.

Anticipating a holiday: By this time next week, we’ll have been skiing for two days.

A university student’s program: By the end of the second year, she’ll have completed her degree.

you arrive

studying past future

now

47

Future Forms: The Present Simple

Note: As is the case with the present continuous used to describe

future arrangements, the core meaning of this tense is present (see

Presents). Despite its label, however, it is commonly used to express

future meaning in the context of schedules. The form stays the same. A

clear time-marker is essential.

Function Used in dependent clauses with if/unless/when/as soon as, etc.: We all go out to meet her when she comes.

Fixed/unalterable plans or schedules: We attack at dawn. The plane departs at 10:30.

Timelines Timeline for My plane arrives at 6 PM tonight.

Function: fixed timetable

Teaching units 1. Fixed schedules. The plane leaves at midnight.

2. With dependent clauses. We hide in the basement for her surprise

party.


Form: Students often want to use will in the dependent clause:

*We’ll all go out to meet her when she will come. Function:

Use of present continuous for less certain plans instead of present simple for fixed plans or schedules, e.g.: the train is leaving at 7 PM vs the train leaves at 7 PM.

(continued)

X

plane arrives past future

now

48

Future Forms: The Present Simple (continued)

Teaching ideas Railway, bus, or airline timetables Here you can use a poorly-recorded announcement to mimic what students would hear in an airport or train station.

Itinerary from a courier

Marriage vows A: Will you marry me? B: Yes, when you have enough money / as soon as you get a promotion / when you buy me a big diamond.

49

Tense Timeline Summary

Present Simple

Timeline for I study every day.

Function: habit

Present Continuous

Timeline for I am studying now.

Function: ongoing action

Past Simple

Timeline for I studied last night.

Function: past completed action

Past Continuous



Future Simple Timeline for Is the TV broken? OK, I’ll buy a new one.

Function: spontaneous decision

Future Continuous

Timeline for I will be studying when you arrive.

Function: action happening at a particular time in future

Present Perfect Simple Timeline for I have visited the castle before.

Function: past experience

Present Perfect Continuous Timeline for I have been studying for two hours.

Function: incomplete past

Past Perfect Simple Timeline for I had studied Chapter 4 before I started

Chapter 5.

Function: past from the past

Past Perfect Continuous Timeline for I had been studying chapter 4 before I my

friends arrived.

Function: past continuing before past

Future Perfect Simple Timeline for I will have studied Chapter 4 before I start

Chapter 5.

Function: action happening at a specific time in the future

Future Perfect Continuous Timeline for I will have been studying for two hours by the

time you arrive.

Function: Past from the future which stresses duration

X X X X X X X X X X study every day

past future now study every day

now am studying

past future

now was studying

phone rang past future

X X

studied last night

past future now

X

will buy new TV

past future now now was studying

past future X

X

have visited

past future now ?

now studying

past future

X chapter 4

past future now chapter 5

X now studying

past future X

X X chapter 4

past future now chapter 5

now studying

past future X

50

Identifying Tenses and Conditionals

Tense labels and functions

There are three basic tenses, Present, Past and Future. Each of these can be Simple, Continuous, or Perfect. All perfect tenses can in turn be either simple or continuous. Future forms consist of an additional form be going to which can be either simple or continuous and functionally overlaps with will (Future Simple). Not all tenses necessarily refer to the time of their label. For example, both present perfects have a past referents, and present continuous or present simple can be used to refer to future plans (e.g. I am leaving tomorrow or The bus leaves tomorrow at 10). In the context of conditional utterances and indirect speech, past tenses can refer to present and future, for example He told me he was 18 or If I had money now.

Present Simple V1 / Vs1

Continuous be + Ving

Perfect Simple has/have + V3

Continuous has/have + been + Ving

Past Simple V2

Continuous was/were + Ving

Perfect Simple had + V3

Continuous had + been + V3

Future Simple will + V1

Continuous will + be + Ving

Going to Simple be going to + V1

Continuous be going to + be + Ving

Perfect Simple will + have + V3

Continuous will + have + been + Ving

Note: The past and future progressive as well as the past and future perfect are simply formed by making the auxiliary verb be or have past or future, i.e. have / had / will have and be / was / were or will be / is going to be. The same applies to continuous perfects, i.e. to be + Ving / to have been + Ving / had been + Ving or will have been + Ving.

Five tricks have + V3 form → the tense is present perfect had + V3 form → the tense is past perfect Ving → _____________ continuous tense no Ving → _____________ simple tense will/going to → future ________ tense

51

Selected Irregular Verbs

Infinitive

(basic, V1) Past form

(V2) Past Participle

(V3) Infinitive

(basic, V1) Past form

(V2) Past Participle

(V3)

become became become keep kept kept

begin began begun know knew known

bite bit bitten lead led led

blow blew blown leave left left

break broke broken lend lent lent

bring brought brought lie lay lain (laid)

build built built lose lost lost

burn burnt burnt make made made

buy bought bought mean meant meant

can could been able meet met met

catch caught caught pay paid paid

choose chose chosen put put put

come carne come read /ri:d/ read /red/ read /red/

cost cost cost rise rose risen

cut cut cut ring rang rung

do did done run ran run

draw drew drawn say said said

drink drank drunk see saw seen

drive drove driven sell sold sold

eat ate eaten show showed shown

fall fell fallen sing sang sung

feel felt felt sleep slept slept

find found found speak spoke spoken

fly flew flown stand stood stood

forget forgot forgotten steal stole stolen

get got got (gotten) swim swam swum

give gave given take took taken

go went gone tell told told

grow grew grown think thought thought

have had had wear wore worn

hear heard heard will would --

hit hit hit win won won

52

Modal Auxiliary Verbs

What are modal auxiliary verbs?

These are all modal auxiliary verbs (MAVs): can, could, may, might, must, shall, will, should, would (ought to, need to, have to, dare to, and got to are sometimes called false or defective modal verbs).

Rules for modal usage

When forming sentences with modal auxiliary verbs, the following rules must be adhered to: 1. Modal Auxiliary Verbs (MAVs) have no infinitive:

Incorrect: *You want us to must wear ties. Correct: You want us to have to wear ties.

2. MAVs are not inflected with person or tense:

Incorrect: *He mights be sick. He mighted done it. Correct: He might be sick. He might have done it.

3. MAVs are followed by the infinitive without to: Incorrect: *I must to remember. Correct: I must remember.

4. MAVs do not need auxiliary verbs in questions or negatives: Incorrect: *I don’t must eat. *Do I must sleep? Correct: I mustn’t eat. Must I sleep?

All of the above contribute to student error. Also, the fact that MAVs don’t have tense endings or become negative in the usual way confuses students. MAVs are used to talk about things:

● we expect, ● which are possible, ● we think are necessary, ● we are uncertain about, or ● which didn’t happen.

MAVs are not used for situations that definitely exist or existed.

Note: It is not recommended to use timelines to concept check medals because they:

require other verbs and/or time markers to be located in time, are often used for temporally ambiguous functions such as

polite requests, advice, prohibition, etc., are often used for hypothetical or fantastic situations which are

not clearly located in time or space.

53

Must

Form Affirmative: You must eat your vegetables.

Negatives:

You mustn’t eat your vegetables. Yes/No Questions:

Must I eat my vegetables now? Yes, you must. Wh- Questions:

What must I do?

Function Strong obligation/compulsion: I must go now. You must pay by Friday.

Logical conclusion: He’s white as a sheet; he must be ill. He’s not at home: he must he at work.

Strong prohibition where authority is held by the speaker and is directed toward the listener:

You must come to work on time.


Negatives: Mustn’t (prohibition) is not the opposite of must for obligation:

You must eat your vegetables! / You needn’t eat them. You don’t have to... You mustn’t eat sweets! / You may eat sweets.

Questions: Must in a question changes the authority: Must we be home by 5:00? Must is used for querulous, annoyed questioning: Must you tap the table? It irritates me.

Tenses: The past tense of must is had to: I had to wear a uniform at school.

Must can be used with perfect and continuous tenses: It must have been Mr. Mustard in the conservatory. I must have been dreaming.

54

Have to

Form Affirmative: I have to work every day. I have got to see the dentist soon. (British)

Negatives:

You don’t have to brush every day. You haven’t got to see the dentist today. (British)

Yes/No Questions:

Do you have to work every day? Yes, I do Have you got to go today? Yes, I’ve got to. (British)

Wh- Questions:

What do I have to do? Who have you got to see? (British)

Function Obligation/compulsion: different from must because the; speaker’s authority is not involved:

She’ll have to sleep on the sofa. Logical necessity (less common than use of must):

There has got to be some explanation.

Phonology Have to receives stress on have. Have got to receives stress on got.


Question forms: Can be used interchangeably with need:

Has she got to sleep in the kitchen? Does she need to...? Can be used for querulous, annoyed questions:

Do you have to speak so loudly? Differentiation between habitual action and a single event:

A: Mommy, I’ve got to go! B: Do you really have to go again?

Tenses Past tense form is had to: Someone had to lose.

Can be used in perfect and continuous tenses: He has to have a diploma. She doesn’t have to.

55

Shall

Form Affirmative: I shall talk to him later.

Negatives:

We shan’t visit them tonight Yes/No Questions:

Shall I talk to him later? Yes, you shall. No, we shan’t. Wh- Questions:

Who shall we talk to later?

Function Note: Shall has become archaic in contemporary American usage; however, British-English students will need some clarification at Upper Intermediate/ Advanced levels in the finer points of usage. In British usage, shall is interchangeable with will for most common functions. The exceptions follow:

Asking for instructions: What time shall we come and see you?

Asking for a decision: What shall we do?

Offering assistance: Shall I carry your bag?

Making suggestions: Let’s see a film tonight, shall we?

Biblical or imperious predictions: You shall go to the ball tonight. He shall be mine soon.


Negatives: Not always used for opposite meaning: You shan’t lose it. (and I’ll see you don’t) You shan’t leave. (I insist you stay)

Negative intention: I shan’t write. (I don’t intend to).

Questions: Change to listener as authority: Shall I carry your case for you?

Used for making offers/suggestions: Shall I do it? Shall we have lunch?

Tenses Shall does not take the past tense. Should is used in place of shall for second and third conditionals as well as indirect speech.

56

Should

Form Affirmative: You should see a doctor.

Negatives:

You shouldn’t see a doctor. Yes/No Questions:

Should I see a doctor? Yes, you should. Wh- Questions:

Who should I see?

Function Obligation: I should leave because I have to get up early. (present) Criticism: He shouldn’t have said that. (past) Advice: You should see a doctor. (future meaning) Possibility in the first conditional: If you should see him, ask him. For would in the first person (archaic British):

I shouldn’t, if I were you. I should like to say a few words.


Meaning changes with tense changes: present = obligation/advice, e.g. I should try it. past = criticism/regret, e.g. I should have tried it.

Tenses Shall does not take the past tense. Should is used in place of shall for second and third conditionals as well as indirect speech.

57

May/might

Form Affirmative: He might come to the party.

Negatives:

He might not come to the party.

Yes/No Questions: May I come to the party? Yes, you may. No, you may not.

Wh- Questions: What might I bring to the party?

Function Granting permission: You may smoke now. (might = formal) Polite request: May I smoke here, please? Possibility: might is traditionally more remote than may

It may rain today. It might even snow. Blessing/curse:

May you be forever young. May the fleas of 1,000 camels infest your armpits!


Negatives: For permission, the negative gives the opposite meaning:

You may not go to the party. (you don’t have permission) For possibility, it is not necessarily opposite:

She might not come to the party. Questions:

When asking for permission the authority moves from the speaker to the listener.

May I speak? (Listener has the authority to refuse) For possibility, may is replaced by can:

Can he come?

Tenses No past tense for blessings or curses The past tense of may for permission is might:

I asked if I might go to the party with them. Could is normally used informally

I asked if I could go to the party with them. May/might can be used in perfect and continuous tenses:

He may have tried / he might he joking.

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Can

Form Affirmative: I can speak Chinese.

Negatives:

She can’t speak Chinese. Yes/No Questions:

Can you speak Chinese? No, I can’t. Yes, I can. Wh- Questions:

Where can I find a good Chinese teacher?

Function Ability: I can speak three languages. Granting permission: personal or impersonal - colloquial:

You can sit down now. Possibility: (more common in negatives and questions):

Big dogs can be dangerous. Offers and requests: Can I buy you a drink? Can you tell me...


Negatives: Used for the negative form of must for logical necessity: He can’t be sick. I saw him at the theater.

Tenses: Past tense of can is could: He could speak French when he was young.

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Could

Form Affirmative: He could start in June.

Negatives:

He couldn’t start in June. Yes/No Questions:

Could you start in June? Yes, I could. No. I couldn’t. Wh- Questions:

When could you start?

Function Polite requests: Could I use the phone, please? Remote possibility: He could be president someday. Suggestions: You could take the bus.


Tenses: Could is used for general ability: He could read when he was three.

…but not for particular ability: Were you able to get the tickets? Did you manage...?

Couldn’t can be used for both general and particular ability.

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Will

Form Affirmative: I’ll help you.

Negatives:

I won’t help you. Yes/No Questions:

Will you help? Yes, I will. No. I won’t Wh- Questions:

What will you do now?

Function Willingness (either speaker’s or subject’s): My friend will help you.

I’ll help. Insistence (either speaker’s or subject’s):

I will not go to work today! You will do it!

Prediction (with a future adverbial): He’ll arrive at 6 p.m. Typical characteristics: Dogs will attack when angry.


Negatives do not mean the opposite of the function: I won’t interfere. (I’m not willing to.) He won’t do it. (He insists on not doing it.) They won’t be there. (It’s probable they aren’t there.)

Questions used to make requests: Will you open the door?

Questions used for exasperated insistence: Will you please be quiet?

Tenses Past tense for insistence and typical behavior is would: She would do that! (insistence) The king would talk to his advisors every day. (typical behavior)

Will can be used in perfect and continuous tenses to show prediction: He will have finished by now. It will be raining when I arrive in London.

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Would

Form Affirmative: I’d help, if I could.

Negatives:

We wouldn’t have helped you if it weren’t necessary. Yes/No Questions:

Would you help her? Yes, I would No, I wouldn’t. Wh- Questions:

What would you do if you were her?

Function In second conditional: If I were king of the world, I’d marry 20 wives.

Note: Was is common in spoken American English but in formal spoken and/or written contexts were is used.

In third conditional:

If I had won the money, I would have spent it all by now. For polite requests: Would you open it, please? Habitual past actions:

We would go fishing a lot when we were young.

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Teaching Ideas for Modals

Must (obligation)

● Imperative advice on illnesses/accidents requiring immediate

attention. What to do in an emergency, fire, accident, etc.

Must (prohibition)

● Interpretation of pictogram signs (warnings)

Have to (obligation)

● Driving lessons

● Documentation necessary for driving a car in the U.S., applying to a

school, entering the U.S., etc.

● Duties and responsibilities of various professions (an expanded table)

● Routine obligations of a prisoner

● Role-play authority / subordinate relationships (boss-secretary)

● A letter home about life in the army

Should/shouldn’t (advice)

● ‘Dear Abby’ letters or phone-in radio program Medical problems: a

visit to the doctor

● Psychological problems: a visit to the psychiatrist

● Family/spouse problems: a visit to the marriage counselor

● A newcomer to the city is advised where to go/what to see, etc.

Had better (advice/warning)

(see should/shouldn’t)

Note: Had better is a stronger or more urgent recommendation and is used with graver predicaments.

Will have to (future obligation) / will be able to (future ability)

● Any novice situation where those involved are about to undergo some

sort of training and where they try to envision their future obligations

and abilities.

● Trainee pilots:

Six months from now we’ll be able to fly by ourselves.

● Prisoners looking forward to a future date when they’ll be free:

We’ll have to stay out of trouble.

We’ll be able to come and go whenever we want.

(continued)

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Teaching Ideas for Modals (continued)

May/might/could (possibility)

Note: Unpredictability, ambiguity, uncertainty, etc. must be inherent in the contexts to ensure that “must/can’t + infinitive” would not be more applicable.

● Holiday plans

● Weather

● Odd objects in a bag: students have to guess what they are.

● Ambiguous sounds on tape: students have to guess what is

happening. If students are in teams the competition is to see how

many different things that might/could be happening.

● The apartment building: using a set of cue cards, each with a front

door and something going on behind that door. Elicit responses such

as:

They might he having a party in 402

They might be listening to an opera in 404.

Must/can’t/couldn’t (assumption/deduction)

● Situational prompts:

T: You see a man with a white cane walking down the street.

S: He must be blind.

● Quiz: How long ago was JFK assassinated? It must be about 50 years.

May/might/could have done (possibility - past action)

Must/can’t/couldn’t have done (assumption - past action) (mixed)

May/might/could and must/can’t (possibility and assumption) (mixed)

● The teacher challenges the student to justify when to use must/can’t

● Crossword: It could be ‘horse’, or it might be ‘mouse’.

● Speculating about an ambiguous picture

● Sound sequences: Students guess a story and justify their plot by

interpreting specific pre-recorded sounds.

● Character assessments: Students write about each other’s ages,

characters, interests, and skills. They report the overall picture of a

person to the whole class, which then deduces which member is

being described.

● Definitions: Students in teams choose obscure/difficult vocabulary and

give three separate definitions, only one of which matches each word.

The other team must try to deduce which definition is correct.

● Again, in teams, students tell their opponents three stories, one true

and two fictitious. The opposing team has to determine who is lying

and justify their decision.

(continued)

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Could have done (unrealized potential ability)

● Recrimination: A situation where an apology is made but is not

accepted because the person at fault didn’t do everything in their

power to prevent the problem:

A: I’m sorry I didn’t tell you dinner was cancelled tonight.

B: Well, you could have left a message.

● Regret: The failed movie star/sports personality looks over a life of

lost opportunities and dreams up alternatives to all the wrong

decisions she has made e.g. I could have been a star.

Should have done

● Recriminations: Role-play discussion about any disastrous situation’ a

dinner party that went all wrong, e.g.

We should have asked if anyone was a vegetarian.

You shouldn’t have invited that alcoholic couple.

● Regrets: Students reflect on decisions they might have made and

which would have had and effect on events in their lives, e.g. I should

have told her the truth!

● Judgments: A chain of events leading from one disaster to another

commented on by students: people climbing up a mountain, poorly

equipped and eventually stranded, e.g. We should have packed more

supplies.

● Information: Someone got lost going to school. With a map, discuss

the mistaken route and correct it for future reference, e.g. You should

have turned left at Smith Street.

Can/can’t (ability)

● Perception:

I can see. Students describe a picture/a view from a window

I can hear. Students try to identify taped sounds.

● Psychological test: Visualize a scene which is then interpreted

● Skills and abilities e.g. I can play the piano.

● Student skills: questionnaire

● Role-play: job interviews, e.g. Can you type 60 words a minute?

● Role-play: new parents bragging about their kids, e.g. Johnny can

count to three million!

(continued)

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Could/couldn’t (past ability)

● Comparing current abilities with those you had as a child e.g.

When I was young I could work all day and play all night.

● A list of famous dead people and their lifetime achievements: e.g.

Houdini could escape from anywhere.

May/might/could have done (past possibility)

Note: Be sure to include passives in subsequent practice activities, since they occur frequently with this construction.

● Clues and problem solving: Students piece together a crime from

a set of clues left on the scene: e.g. He may/might/could be the

murderer because…

● Geologists in the year 3000 find everyday objects from the 1980’s

and surmise what they could have been used for.

● A worried parent, guardian, spouse, etc. envisages the worst

when the loved one doesn’t return home that night:

He could have been kidnapped.

She may have fallen into a ditch.

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Conditionals

Overview

1st conditional 2nd conditional 3rd conditional

If + pres. simple fut. simple

If + past simple would +V1

If + past perfect would + have + V3

If you do this, I will kill you.

If you did that, I would kill you.

If you had done that, I would have killed you.

First Conditional

Form Affirmative: (If + S + V-s, S + will + V + O) If it rains, I’ll stay home. I’ll stay at home if it rains.

Negatives:

I won’t go out if it rains. If it rains, I won’t go out. Yes/No Questions:

Will you stay home if it rams? Yes, I will / No, I won’t. Wh- Questions:

What will you do if it rains? If it rains, what will you do?

Function Predicting probable future results of present possibilities

Phonology Contractions and weak forms of will If it’s too hard, I’ll let you do it.

Teaching units All personal pronouns, all forms. Practice each form separately before mixing them.

(continued)

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First Conditional (continued)


Form: Using will in the if clause:

*If it will rain, I’ll stay home. Function:

If indicating possibility becoming contused with when: *When it rains, I’ll stay home.

Teaching ideas Any drill presented on cards, one for the cause, one for the result,

so that the reversibility can be overtly manipulated. Open pair random clause match.

Any situations where actions in the future are dependent on certain factors. Planning a vacation - If we go to Spain, we will have to ..

Organizing an itinerary (timetables and events): If we go to Brazil, we’ll be there for the Carnival.

Chain drills:

A: (pulls a subject out of a hat: Party) I’m going to have a party. B: If you have a party, I’ll buy lots of champagne. C: If you buy lots of champagne, I’II come. This can be done with What if… A: I’m going home early. B: What if you forget your keys? A: If I forget my keys, I’ll climb in the window B: What if the window is locked? etc.

Superstitions: discussion of national proverbs and superstitions:

If you walk under a ladder, you’ll have had luck. Promises: Making a commercial:

If you buy our product, you’ll always be young and beautiful. Threats: If you don’t clean your room, you can’t go out. Songs: “If you leave me now ... “ Chicago

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Second Conditional

Form Affirmative: (If + S + V-ed + 0, S + would + V + O) If I owned a plane, I’d travel the world.

Negatives:

I wouldn’t travel if I owned a plane. If I owned a plane, I wouldn’t travel.

Yes/No Questions:

Would you travel the world if you owned a plane? Yes, I would / No, I wouldn’t.

Wh- questions:

What would you do if you won the lottery? If you won the lottery, what would you do?

Function Future hypothetical results of a hypothetical present situation

Phonology Contractions: If she were taller, she’d hit her head on the ceiling. Weak forms of would:

If she were smarter, she wouldn’t need to study so much.

Teaching units All personal pronouns, all forms. Practice each form separately before mixing them.


Using would in the if clause: *If I would have a million dollars, I’d spend it.

Teaching ideas Any hypothetical situation… fantasizing about the future

Dreaming of an ideal world

What you would do with a large amount of money? What you would do if you were a famous person?

Desert island discussion: What would you take?

Solving hypothetical problems

Organizational activities: giving reasons why certain candidates should be chosen for a position.

A dinner party where the guests are incompatible - students work out a seating plan: Mr. Jones would argue with Ms. Smith if we put them next to each other.

(continued)

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Second Conditional (continued)


Chain drills: (see First Conditional) A: I’m not going to Japan this year. But if I had enough money, I’d go to Kyoto. B: If I went to Kyoto, I’d stay with...

Making suggestions: If you used this kind of oil, your car would run better.

Songs: “If I were a rich man ...” “If I had a hammer…” Peter. Paul & Mary

Film: “The Wizard of Oz”

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Third Conditional

Form Affirmative: (If + S + had + V [3rd form] + O, S + would + have + V [3rd form] + O)

If you’d spoken sooner, I would have helped. Negatives:

I wouldn’t have helped you, even if you’d asked. If you’d asked, I still wouldn’t have helped you.

Yes/No Questions:

Would you have helped if I had asked? Yes, I would have / No, I wouldn’t have.

Wh- Questions:

What would you have done if I had asked for help? If I had asked for help, what would you have done?

Function Past hypothetical result of a hypothetical situation

Phonology Weak forms and contractions: I’d’ve helped if you’d asked.

Teaching units All personal pronouns, all forms, though lots of practice with each form before mixing them.



*If I had made a mistake, she would caught it. Using past simple in the if clause:

*If I made a mistake, she would have caught it Using would have done in both clauses:

*If I would have made a mistake, she would have caught it.

Teaching ideas Any unreal past situation

Looking back on a series of disasters, wishing those hadn’t happened and imagining how things would have turned out differently if certain actions had been taken. Teacher mimes a story or tells it in pictures.

(continued)

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Third Conditional (continued)


Students do chain drill Bill went to a party, got drunk, insulted his hostess, etc.

If he hadn’t gone to the party, he wouldn’t have gotten drunk. If he hadn’t gotten drunk ...

Note: The more detailed the situation, the more practice for students.

Supposing what students would have done with their lives if they hadn’t made certain crucial decisions

If I hadn’t left the US, I would have finished my MA by now. Any situation which involves reprimanding/recrimination

The nagging spouse: If you hadn’t left the back door open all night, the dog wouldn’t have gotten out.

Transposing present rules or attitudes to the historic past

Discussing historical laws: If you’d stolen a loaf of bread 300 years ago, you would have been hanged.

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Other Conditionals

Zero Conditional

An event which invariably produces the same result

If + Present Simple, then + Present Simple:

If she takes a taxi, she arrives on time.

Polite Second Conditional

will/would/be willing to used in the if clause:

If you would take a seat, I’ll get the principal.

I wonder if you could/would... (polite request)

Insistent Conditional (usually second and third conditional)

If I hadn’t been a girl, I would be a boy.

Here the if clause is unchangeable past (third conditional) and the

then clause is hypothetical present (second conditional)

When the original condition started in the past, but the condition has

a present result.

If only ...

Used to indicate a wish or regret:

Wish

If only he’d go, we could talk.

Regret

If only I’d had the time, I could have finished.

If only + would = regret about an action:

If only she would listen.

Wish/Unreality/Possibility

I wish he could come. Present action with future possibility

I wish he had come. Present action with past unreality

I wished he would come. Past action with future possibility

I wished he had come. Past action with past unreality

(continued)

73

Other Conditionals (continued)

Supposing/What if...

Supposing he’s late. What will we do?

What if he were ugly? Would you still marry him?

In case ... (meaning: if a likely situation occurs, we often use it to talk

about taking precautions)

He carries an umbrella in case it rains.

Note: Don’t use will after in case for the future. It doesn’t have the same meaning as if.

Provided that/Providing that/As long as (meaning: but only if...)

You can drive my new BMW provided that you’re careful.

She could have kept it as long as she took care of it.

Unless (meaning: only if/except if...)

Don’t tell her unless she asks.

She wouldn’t care about you unless you left her.

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The Passive Voice

Form Active: The dog bit me. (S + V + 0) Passive: I was bitten by the dog. (S + be + V3 + by + O)

Affirmative: The building is finished. It was finished last month. It has just been finished. It will be finished in two weeks. The diplomat was killed by terrorists / has been killed / will be killed / should be killed.

Negatives:

The building wasn’t finished on time.

Yes/No Questions: Will the building be finished in two weeks? Yes, it will be. Was the diplomat killed by terrorists? Yes, he was.

Wh- Questions:

When was the building finished?

Function When the agent is unknown or implied: My bag was stolen. To impersonalize/remove focus from agent: Mistakes were made. When the subject/agent is unimportant:

The goods are then shipped to our distributor.

Teaching units 1. Present Simple (all personal pronouns, all forms) 2. Present Perfect 3. Past Simple and Present Perfect 4. Future Simple 5. Modals (e.g., should be done)


Students will make the same errors that they would with the active tenses. There are no problems as such which belong to tenses in the passive voice. Students will, however, under-employ it as it is not used as often in most other languages. Therefore, it is important to provide students with many different contexts to practice the form.

(continued)

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The Passive Voice (continued)

Teaching ideas Note: The overall idea in any situation where the agent is unknown, unimportant or implied (but don’t forget to practice some sentences containing an agent). Remember in the practice to avoid only giving sentences in the active and having them changed into the passive. This doesn’t encourage students to conceive original sentences in the passive.

Present Simple:

Any situation which involves a process: Coffee is produced in Brazil. The beans are grown... picked by... sent to...

Chain drills using operations or systems: The education system is designed to... Children are sent to ... taught...given...

Any situation which generalizes about present facts: French is taught in most schools. Pelicans are only found in coastal regions.

Past Simple:

Expanded biographies: Students are given skeleton information about a (famous) person and produce passive sentences.

Year of birth: 1927 - Marilyn Monroe was born in 1927. First movie role: 1945 - She was offered her first movie role in ...

Quiz: Asking about past facts: When was JFK assassinated? The graveyard: A large illustration shows a graveyard full of tombstones where all the dead were murdered in strange circumstances:

Bobby Daud

Strangled Bobby Daud was strangled in 1848.

1848

Present perfect:

Any situation which shows the result/evidence of an action which has just happened, but where the agent is unknown:

A picture of a city after an earthquake. A picture of a burglarized, ransacked house: The house has just been burglarized.

All the valuables have been stolen. Any situation which involves recent changes, remodeling:

The house has been renovated. It’s been painted.

(continued)

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The Passive Voice (continued)

Teaching ideas Present perfect vs. simple past: Any situation which involves current news (use headlines as cues):

President Shot in Early Hours - The president was shot early this morning. Terrorist Held Suspect - A terrorist has been arrested. Future Simple: Any situation which involves future development plans: The new park will be built here. (town planners) Taxes will be lowered. (political campaigns)

Modal perfect: Any situation which involves an impersonal recommendation, a problem requiring arbiters, lawyers, etc. The inheritance: Students act as a group of executors of a will. They decide how an inheritance is to be divided. The other group of heirs challenges the executors’ decision, etc.:

The property should be divided equally or sold. Problems in a community: The local council decides how the community should be improved.

Jobs should be provided. A new recreation area should be designed.

Note: Other passives include causatives e.g. have something done/get something done, be supposed to/be said to

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Reported Speech Statements

Form Direct → Reported I always do it that way. → He said he always did it that way. We’re going to leave it. → He told me they were going to leave it. I’ve done it. → She said she’d done it. They’ll help us. → Anne told me they’d help us. I can play the piano. → You said you could play the piano. She might come tonight. → She said she might come tonight.

Note: Should/could/might/did/had done in direct speech do not change in reported speech. Therefore, do not teach them with reported speech.

That can be included or omitted after say/tell me.

Tense and place shifts

Notice how the tense shifts in the following examples:

Tense change Example

present → past He told me he was 18. He said he was going to come.

will + V1 → would + V1 He said he would come.

past → past perfect He said he had sung that song before.

In reported statements you see changes of tenses and expressions of here and now. Here are some examples:

today, yesterday, tomorrow He said he had done it that day/the day before/the next day.

now He said it was better then.

here He said he had been living there for years.

this He said that he had seen that before.

(continued)

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Reported Speech Statements (continued)

Teaching units In mini-units, teach the tense changes in the sequence below. Include both say and tell.

Present simple → Past simple

is going to → was going to

Present perfect → Past perfect

will → would

can → could

may → might

All tenses again: This time mixed. Include say and tell. Also differentiate

between these verbs and speak and talk.


Form: Students confuse say and tell:

*He said me we could go. Students don’t move back a tense:

*I’m going. He said he is going. Students confuse person:

*I’m going. He said I was going. Anything which would be a structural error in the tenses will become a structural error in the reported statement:

*He said he was living here since Easter. Function:

It is important to establish clear contexts when teaching reported speech so that the reported statement is definitely displaced from the time or place when it was first said. If this distancing does not occur, then you conceptually invalidate the purpose of backshifting the tense.

Teaching ideas The content must be: ● Removed in time: The activity spoken about must be finished by

the time it is reported. ● Removed in association: The reporter wants to distance

him/herself from the speaker either because the reporter doesn’t believe what was said, i.e. the statement’s validity is ill doubt, or because the medium has changed (what was originally in a letter is now a verbal report).

(continued)

79



Present Simple: Use a commercial that is patently full of false promises:

“This product cleans your bath better than any other on the market.”

Then a dissatisfied customer complains when it doesn’t work. But you said ...

A boyfriend/girlfriend situation where one boasts to the other:

“I own three Cadillacs.” When they climb into the 1996 Hyundai with a crap paint job, cheesy neon dashboard, and surfboard spoiler:

But you said you owned three Cadillacs.

Be Going to Future: A fortune-teller tells a spurious future:

“You are going to have lots of money.” Then the client reports later:

She said I was going to have lots of money, but...

Fooled again - Tour guide: “You’re going to stay in a luxury hotel.”

When the tourists get to the bedbug-infested motel: But you said we were going to stay in a luxury hotel!

On a Friday, get your students to tell each other what they’re going to do on the weekend. On Monday, students verify what their peers actually did.

But you told me you were going to have dinner with a hot date!

Present Perfect: Distribute copies of a letter you’ve written to a friend describing the preparations you have already made for some future event, e.g. a party:

We’ve bought all the wine and we’ve decorated the living room.

Comment later after the event is over: He said he’d bought...

Boasting about false experiences and being proved wrong:

“I’ve been here lots of times before.” Speaker gets lost. But you said you’d been here before.

(continued)

80



Can: Boasting about false ability/skills:

“I can type 100 words per minute.” Three hours later:

You said you could type ... Mixed Tenses:

A letter which includes a mixture of tenses is then discussed afterwards. A speech with a mixture of tenses is recorded and later discussed. Students read their horoscopes (mixed tenses) and then discuss their validity.

81

Reported Speech Questions

Form Yes/No Questions: “Do you need any help?” → She asked me if/whether I needed help. Wh- Questions: “What do you need?” → He asked me what I needed.

Teaching units Both Yes/No and Wh- questions, all personal pronouns, all forms. (Omit the tenses which do not backshift, e.g. past perfect.) Follow-up with review lessons because the structural problems for students won’t be ironed out in only one.


Form: Students are so used to inverting subject and verb in the direct question form that they continue to do so here:

*She asked me where were they going. Function:

As in Reported Speech - Statements.

Teaching ideas Any situation where it is important for someone to find out what questions were asked:

Partners in crime: One has just been interrogated by the police while the other is about to be and needs to know what questions were asked. Witnesses: One has just been cross-examined, the other is about to be. Students: One has just had an oral exam, the other is about to. Prospective employees: One has just had an interview, the other is about to. Stars: One has just been interviewed live on TV, the other is about to be. Telephone: Students sit in a semi-circle. At one end, the teacher (or a student) thinks of a complicated direct question and whispers it into the ear of the next student. The question is passed on around the semi-circle in whispers. Once whispered, the question cannot be repeated. Even if someone has no idea of what was said, they must still pass on to their neighbor the nearest version of what they heard. They must carry on regardless. The last person in the semi-circle then must declare what he thinks the question was: “Tran asked ... “

82

Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Review In English, most nouns have a plural and singular form: egg/eggs. Some are uncountable: news, information, water. Before uncountable nouns, you can use some, any, much, and his, but not a/an or many: *many beer VS. much beer Many uncountable nouns also have a countable form but this form means something different: some paper vs. some papers. Countable/Uncountable nouns are usually taught early in the syllabus with there is/there are: There is an egg. There are some eggs. There is some water.


Form: Using the wrong quantifier:

*We don’t have some gas. *Do you have many gas? *I don’t have a little gas.

Many words are uncountable in English but countable in most other languages: accommodation, bread, baggage, advice, furniture, information, news, luggage, permission, progress, scenery, traffic, travel, weather, work, etc.

some blood, much gas, a lot of homework

Teaching ideas In a grocer’s At the breakfast table Checking the refrigerator/shopping list Recipes Boasting about possessions A customs official Discussing a legacy Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

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Adjectives

Review Adjectives qualify nouns: The ______________ house. Adjectives precede the noun they qualify (except after copula verbs, i.e. to be, to seem, etc.):

She’s a beautiful woman. The woman is beautiful.

Adjectives do not change number or gender to agree with the noun they qualify:

Those women are excellent teachers. Comparative adjectives are made when comparing two things.

Comparative adjectives add -er than if the adjective is one-syllabled or 2-syllabled and in -y:

● if the word ends in –y, it becomes -ier: scary → scarier ● if the word ends in -e, add only or: fine → finer ● if the word ends in a vowel then a consonant, double the

consonant: big → bigger Comparative adjectives of two or more syllables use more... than:

She is more beautiful than Marilyn Monroe. Irregular adjectives are:

● good/better bad/worse some/more little/less far/farther further/farther (only for distance)

● old/elder (only for family) Comparisons can be made using not as __________ as or as _________ as for equal comparisons. Superlative adjectives are used when three or more objects are compared.

Superlative adjectives of one-syllable or two-syllables and ending in -y, add -est (same spelling rules apply as above) and have the preceding:

the tallest the prettiest

Superlative adjectives of two or more syllables are preceded by the most:

the most expensive

(continued)

84

Adjectives (continued)

Review (continued)

Irregular superlatives are: ● the best ● the worst ● the most ● the least ● the furthest ● the farthest ● the eldest, etc.

To qualify an adjective, use an adverb:

That was an awfully good meal. (adv.) (adj.)

Multiple adjectives follow this order: 1. opinion 2. size and length 3. shape and width 4. age 5. color 6. origin/location 7. material/substance

He lives in a lovely, 4-foot by 6-foot rectangular padded cell. She has an interesting, large, green, Niemann-Marcus, silk hat.

85

Adverbs

Review

There are many kinds of adverbs: ● Degree: quite, very, fairly ● Manner: slowly, quickly, nervously ● Place: here, there, nearby ● Time: yesterday, now, for, since, yet ● Frequency: always, sometimes, never ● Position/direction: high, straight, left ● Coordination: as, yet, moreover

Most adverbs of manner are made from the adjective. But there are exceptions, of course:

early, fate, straight, hard, wrong(ly), short, long, high, well (some of these have an -ly form that has a different meaning.)

There are some informal adverbs with adjective forms: That’s a pretty amazing soup. After moving she was dead tired.

Comparative and superlative adverbs are made by adding more __________ than, the most __________ and as __________ as, except those that have the same form as adjectives and, therefore, behave like adjectives:

She walks more quickly than I do. He works as fast as lightning.

Adverbs qualify verbs or other adverbs or adjectives, so their position in sentences is important.

Teaching ideas Adverbs of frequency: habits/routines, questionnaires - Use a calendar: Mon Tues Wed Thu Fri X X X X X = always X X X = sometimes = never

or use a graded list: always =100%

sometimes = 50%

never = 0%

adverbs of manner: discussing people at a party: She drinks heavily. direction: giving and asking for directions position: with prepositions, describing a room degree: giving opinions: I quite like pasta. He’s very good. time: use tenses to help with the concept for lower levels. coordination: joining sentences - writing practice.

86

Gerunds and Infinitives

Review

A gerund is a present participle which acts as a noun (N), adjective (A), or complement (C):

I like fishing (N). I like to go fishing (C). I have a fishing rod (A). Fishing is fun (N)

The infinitive is the root part of the verb: to eat/eat

The problem with infinitives is which verbs they follow: He stopped playing tennis. (stop is followed by a gerund when it means) ;

It’s a matter of introducing the students to the patterns so that they get used to using them - like irregular past forms.

The most problematic are verbs which are followed by to + infinitive or verb +ing, and mean something different:

I like being alone. I like to be alone.

Infinitives are also used: After some adjectives: I’m pleased to see you. After who, what, how, etc. as the object: I wonder who to invite. For purpose: I did it to punish him. Without to after certain verbs: Could you help me push the car?

Gerunds are also used: As the subject/complement of a sentence: Smoking is bad for you. After prepositions: Do it before going. After needs/wants in passive voice: Your hair needs cutting. After to as a preposition or adverbial particle: I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Teaching ideas Progressive stories: After -ing, we... Select a group of verbs and incorporate them into a story/quiz/listening activity.

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Prepositions

Review The nine most common prepositions are: at, by, for, from, in, of, on, to, and with. The function and meaning of a preposition differs greatly in varying contexts. Therefore, it is necessary to practice prepositions in different situations with much recycling throughout a course. Prepositions can be classified in many ways:

Destination Time Duration Goal Distance Reason

Set out for Alaska

For seven years

Buy for $4 Fish for salmon

For seven miles

Italy is famous for its cuisine.

From: work from 9 to 5, 60 to 80 degrees, from NY to LA

Source: Paper is made from wood.

Origin: The man from U.N.C.L.E.

Cause: It is wet from the rain.

In enclosure: The man is in the room.

A period: World War II ended in 1945.

Currency: Pay me in dollars.

Future appointment: Come by in forty-five minutes.

Language: Write and speak in English.


Spatial meanings of in, on, at: Mary is standing on the walkway at the gate in my garden.

Temporal meanings of in, on, at: The meeting will be at 7:30 on the first Sunday in March.

for/since with perfect tenses: *I have been in class since an hour. (refers to beginning of span) I have been in class since 2:00. (refers to duration of span)

Teaching ideas Use visual symbols for spatial relationships.

Manipulate real objects in the classroom - including the students - to demonstrate spatial relationships.

Teach and test preposition use with cloze activities.

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GRAMMAR QUICK REFERENCE · p a t h f i n d e r t e f l grammar quick reference a concise yet comprehensive handbook to help you understand the prescriptive mechanics of english grammar