What Are Verbs

English Grammar from EnglishClub.
com
i- English Grammar Terms

ii- The 8 English Parts of Speech
These are the words that you use to make a sentence. There are only 8 types of word - and the
most important is the Verb!
1- Verbs
be, have, do, work
2- Nouns
man, town, music
3- Adjectives
4- Adverbs
5- Pronouns
6- Prepositions
a, the, 69, big

loudly, well, often
you, ours, some
at, in, on, from
7- Conjunctions
and, but, though
8- Interjections
ah, dear, er, um
iii- Revision
i Glossary of English Grammar Terms
Active Voice
In the active voice, the subject of the verb does the action (eg They killed the President).
See also Passive Voice.
Adjective
A word like big, red, easy, French etc. An adjective describes a noun or pronoun.
Adverb
A word like slowly, quietly, well, often etc. An adverb modifies a verb.
Article
The "indefinite" articles are a and an. The "definite article" is the.
Auxiliary Verb
A verb that is used with a main verb. Be, do and have are auxiliary verbs. Can, may, must
etc are modal auxiliary verbs.
Clause
A group of words containing a subject and its verb (for example: It was late when he
arrived).
Conjunction
A word used to connect words, phrases and clauses (for example: and, but, if).
Infinitive
The basic form of a verb as in to work or work.
Interjection
An exclamation inserted into an utterance without grammatical connection (for example:
oh!, ah!, ouch!, well!).
Modal Verb
An auxiliary verb like can, may, must etc that modifies the main verb and expresses
possibility, probability etc. It is also called "modal auxiliary verb".
Noun
A word like table, dog, teacher, America etc. A noun is the name of an object, concept,
person or place. A "concrete noun" is something you can see or touch like a person or car.
An "abstract noun" is something that you cannot see or touch like a decision or happiness.
A "countable noun" is something that you can count (for example: bottle, song, dollar).
An "uncountable noun" is something that you cannot count (for example: water, music,
money).
Object
In the active voice, a noun or its equivalent that receives the action of the verb. In the
passive voice, a noun or its equivalent that does the action of the verb.
Participle
The -ing and -ed forms of verbs. The -ing form is called the "present participle". The -ed
form is called the "past participle" (for irregular verbs, this is column 3).
Part Of Speech
One of the eight classes of word in English - noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun,
preposition, conjunction and interjection.
Passive Voice
In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb (eg The President was
killed). See also Active Voice.
Phrase
A group of words not containing a subject and its verb (eg on the table, the girl in a red
dress).
Predicate
Each sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The predicate is
what is said about the subject.
Preposition
A word like at, to, in, over etc. Prepositions usually come before a noun and give
information about things like time, place and direction.
Pronoun
A word like I, me, you, he, him, it etc. A pronoun replaces a noun.
Sentence
A group of words that express a thought. A sentence conveys a statement, question,
exclamation or command. A sentence contains or implies a subject and a predicate. In
simple terms, a sentence must contain a verb and (usually) a subject. A sentence starts
with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), question mark (?) or exclamation mark
(!).
Subject
Every sentence contains (or implies) two parts: a subject and a predicate. The subject is
the main noun (or equivalent) in a sentence about which something is said.
Tense
The form of a verb that shows us when the action or state happens (past, present or
future). Note that the name of a tense is not always a guide to when the action happens.
The "present continuous tense", for example, can be used to talk about the present or the
future.
Verb
A word like (to) work, (to) love, (to) begin. A verb describes an action or state.
ii Parts of Speech Examples

Here are some sentences made with different English parts of speech:
verb
noun
verb
noun
verb
verb
Stop!
John
works.
John
is
working.
pronoun
verb
noun
noun
verb
adjective
noun
She
loves
animals.
Animals
like
kind
people.
noun
verb
noun
adverb
noun
verb
adjective
noun
Tara
speaks
English
well.
Tara
speaks
good
English.
pronoun
verb
preposition
adjective
noun
adverb
She
ran
to
the
station
quickly.
pron.
verb
adj.
noun
conjunction
pron.
verb
pron.
She
likes
big
snakes
but
hate
them.
Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:

interjection
pron.
conj.
adj.
noun
verb
prep.
noun
adverb
Well,
she
and
young
John
walk
to
school slowly.
Words with More than One Job

Many words in English can have more than one job, or be more than one part of speech.
For example, "work" can be a verb and a noun; "but" can be a conjunction and a
preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In addition, many
nouns can act as adjectives.

To analyze the part of speech, ask yourself: "What job is this word doing in this
sentence?"
Here are some examples:
word
part of speech
example
work
noun
My work is easy.
verb
I work in London.
conjunction
John came but Mary didn't come.
preposition
Everyone came but Mary.
adjective
Are you well?
adverb
She speaks well.
interjection
Well! That's expensive!
noun
We ate in the afternoon.
noun acting as adjective
We had afternoon tea.
but
well
afternoon
These are just a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the words
above. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word but has six jobs
to do:
verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!
1 English Verbs
1.1- What Are Verbs?
Verb Classification
Helping Verbs
Main Verbs
1.2- Verb Forms
Forms of Main Verbs
Forms of Main Verbs: Examples
Forms of Helping Verbs

1.3- English Verb Tenses
What is Tense?
The English Tense System
o Present Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple, Perfect
to sing
sing, sang, sung
singing
sings
Continuous
Past Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple, Perfect
Continuous
Future Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple, Perfect
I sing
I am singing
I have sung
I have been singing
I sang
I was singing
Continuous
1.4- Phrasal Verbs

1.5- Conditionals
1.6- Modal Verbs
Can, Could, Be able to
Have to, Must, Must not
Shall and Will
1.7- Gerunds (-ing)
put out
look after
get on with
if I win
if I won
if I had won
can, shall, must...
1.8- Questions
Basic Question Structure
fishing is fun
I hate working
Do you like me?
Why do you like me?
Basic Question Types
Do you like me or him?

You like me, don't you?
1.9- Tag Questions

1.10- The English Subjunctive
1.11- Active Voice, Passive Voice
1.12- Infinitive or -ing?

1.13- Plural Verbs with Singular Subjects
1.14- Verb Meanings with Continuous Tenses
Verbs not Used with Continuous Tenses
Verbs with Two Meanings
He insists that he come

Cats eat mice
Mice are eaten by cats
to do
doing
the board do
the board does
Am I being silly?
Be and Continuous Tenses
1.15- Used to do & Be used to

Used to do
Be used to
1.16- going to do
I used to do it
I am not used to it
1.17- Future Time

Will: for no prior plan and prediction
Going to: for intention and prediction
Present Continuous: for prior plan
Present Simple: for schedule
Summary
1.18- For & Since for Time
I am going to do
I will do
I am going to do
I am doing
I do
for two days

since 1st April
1.1 What are Verbs?

The verb is king in English. The shortest sentence contains a verb. You can make a oneword sentence with a verb, for example: "Stop!" You cannot make a one-word sentence
with any other type of word.
Verbs are sometimes described as "action words". This is partly true. Many verbs give the
idea of action, of "doing" something. For example, words like run, fight, do and work all
convey action.
But some verbs do not give the idea of action; they give the idea of existence, of state, of
"being". For example, verbs like be, exist, seem and belong all convey state.
A verb always has a subject. (In the sentence "John speaks English", John is the subject
and speaks is the verb.) In simple terms, therefore, we can say that verbs are words that
tell us what a subject does or is; they describe:
action (Ram plays football.)

state (Anthony seems kind.)
There is something very special about verbs in English. Most other words (adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions etc) do not change in form (although nouns can have singular and
plural forms). But almost all verbs change in form. For example, the verb to work has five
forms:
to work, work, works, worked, working
Of course, this is still very few forms compared to some languages which may have thirty
or more forms for a single verb.
In this lesson we look at the ways in which we classify verbs, followed by a quiz to test
your understanding:
Verb Classification
Helping Verbs
Main Verbs
Verb Classification
We divide verbs into two broad classifications:
1. Helping Verbs
Imagine that a stranger walks into your room and says:
I can.
People must.
The Earth will.
Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated anything to you? Probably
not! That's because these verbs are helping verbs and have no meaning on their own.
They are necessary for the grammatical structure of the sentence, but they do not tell us
very much alone. We usually use helping verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main
verb. (The sentences in the above examples are therefore incomplete. They need at least a
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main verb to complete them.) There are only about 15 helping verbs.
2. Main Verbs
Now imagine that the same stranger walks into your room and says:
I teach.
People eat.
The Earth rotates.
Do you understand anything? Has this person communicated something to you? Probably
yes! Not a lot, but something. That's because these verbs are main verbs and have
meaning on their own. They tell us something. Of course, there are thousands of main
verbs.
In the following table we see example sentences with helping verbs and main verbs.
Notice that all of these sentences have a main verb. Only some of them have a helping
verb.
helping verb
main verb
John
likes
coffee.
You
lied
to me.
They
are
happy.
The children
are
playing.
We
must
go
do
not want
now.
any.
Helping verbs and main verbs can be further sub-divided, as we shall see on the following
pages.
Helping Verbs
EnglishClub.com Tip
Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".
Helping verbs have no meaning on their own. They are necessary for the grammatical
structure of a sentence, but they do not tell us very much alone. We usually use helping
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verbs with main verbs. They "help" the main verb (which has the real meaning). There
are only about 15 helping verbs in English, and we divide them into two basic groups:
Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)

These are the verbs be, do, and have. Note that we can use these three verbs as helping
verbs or as main verbs. On this page we talk about them as helping verbs. We use them in
the following cases:
be
o
o
to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)

to make the passive (Small fish are eaten by big fish.)
have
o
to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)
o
o
o
o
to make negatives (I do not like you.)

to ask questions (Do you want some coffee?)
to show emphasis (I do want you to pass your exam.)
to stand for a main verb in some constructions (He speaks faster than she
does.)
do
Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)

We use modal helping verbs to "modify" the meaning of the main verb in some way. A
modal helping verb expresses necessity or possibility, and changes the main verb in that
sense. These are the modal verbs:
can, could
may, might
will, would,
shall, should
must
ought to
Here are examples using modal verbs:
I can't speak Chinese.

John may arrive late.
Would you like a cup of coffee?
You should see a doctor.
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I really must go now.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Semi-modal verbs (3 verbs)
The following verbs are often called "semi-modals" because they they are partly like modal helping verbs
and partly like main verbs:
need
dare
used to
Main Verbs
EnglishClub.com Tip
Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".
Main verbs have meaning on their own (unlike helping verbs). There are thousands of
main verbs, and we can classify them in several ways:
Transitive and intransitive verbs

A transitive verb takes a direct object: Somebody killed the President. An intransitive verb
does not have a direct object: He died. Many verbs, like speak, can be transitive or
intransitive. Look at these examples:
transitive:
I saw an elephant.
We are watching TV.
He speaks English.
intransitive:
He has arrived.
John goes to school.
She speaks fast.
Linking verbs
A linking verb does not have much meaning in itself. It "links" the subject to what is said
about the subject. Usually, a linking verb shows equality (=) or a change to a different
state or place (>). Linking verbs are always intransitive (but not all intransitive verbs are
linking verbs).
Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher)
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Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful)

That sounds interesting. (that = interesting)
The sky became dark. (the sky > dark)
The bread has gone bad. (bread > bad)
Dynamic and stative verbs

Some verbs describe action. They are called "dynamic", and can be used with continuous
tenses. Other verbs describe state (non-action, a situation). They are called "stative", and
cannot normally be used with continuous tenses (though some of them can be used with
continuous tenses with a change in meaning).
dynamic verbs (examples):
hit, explode, fight, run, go
stative verbs (examples):
be
like, love, prefer, wish
impress, please, surprise
hear, see, sound
belong to, consist of, contain, include, need
appear, resemble, seem
Regular and irregular verbs

This is more a question of vocabulary than of grammar. The only real difference between
regular and irregular verbs is that they have different endings for their past tense and past
participle forms. For regular verbs, the past tense ending and past participle ending is
always the same: -ed. For irregular verbs, the past tense ending and the past participle
ending is variable, so it is necessary to learn them by heart.
regular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
look, looked, looked

work, worked, worked
irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle
buy, bought, bought

cut, cut, cut
do, did, done
Here are lists of regular verbs and irregular verbs.
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EnglishClub.com Tip
One way to think of regular and irregular verbs is like this: all verbs are irregular and the so-called regular
verbs are simply one very large group of irregular verbs.
Often the above divisions can be mixed. For example, one verb could be irregular,
transitive and dynamic; another verb could be regular, transitive and stative.
Regular Verbs
Unlike English irregular verbs, regular verbs change very little.
This is a list of 600 of the most common regular verbs in English. The past tense and past
participle of regular verbs end in -ed, for example: work, worked, worked.
Please note the following points.
Some verbs can be both regular and irregular, for example:
learn, learned, learned
learn, learnt, learnt
Some verbs change their meaning depending on whether they are regular verbs or
irregular verbs, for example to hang:
to hang regular
hang, hanged,
hanged
to kill or die, by dropping with a rope around the

neck
to hang irregular
hang, hung,
hung
to fix something (for example, a picture) at the top

so that the lower part is free
The present tense of some regular verbs is the same as the past tense of some irregular
verbs:
regular
found founded founded
irregular
find found found
Irregular Verbs
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Irregular verbs are an important feature of English. We use irregular verbs a lot when
speaking, less when writing. Of course, the most famous English verb of all, the verb "to
be", is irregular.
What is the difference between regular and irregular verbs?
With regular verbs, the rule is simple. The past simple and past participle end in -ed.
Here are some examples of regular verbs:
With REGULAR verbs...
Base
Form
Past
Simple
Past
Participle
finish
finished
finished
stopped
stopped
worked
worked
the past simple and past participle always end

stop
in -ed:
work
But with irregular verbs, there is no rule:
With IRREGULAR verbs...
Base Form
Past Simple
Past Participle
sometimes the verb changes completely:
sing
sang
sung
sometimes there is "half" a change:
buy
bought
bought
sometimes there is no change:
cut
cut
cut
A good way to learn irregular verbs is to try to sort the different types into groups, as
above.
Irregular verbs are very common in English, especially spoken English. For written and
more formal English, we tend to use regular verbs. But when speaking, we use irregular
verbs a lot.
1.2 Verb Forms
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English verbs come in several forms. For example, the verb to sing can be: to sing, sing,
sang, sung, singing or sings. This is a total of 6 forms. Not many, considering that some
languages (French, for example) have more than 30 forms for an individual verb. English
tenses may be quite complicated, but the forms that we use to make the tenses are
actually very simple! With the exception of the verb to be, English main verbs have only
4, 5 or 6 forms. To be has 9 forms. Do not confuse verb forms with tenses. We use the
different verb forms to make the tenses, but they are not the same thing.
In this lesson we look at the forms of main verbs and helping (auxiliary) verbs, followed
by a quiz to check your understanding:
Forms of Main Verbs

Forms of Main Verbs

EnglishClub.com Tip
Main verbs are also called "lexical verbs".
English main verbsexcept the verb "to be"have only 4, 5 or 6 forms. "To be" has 9
forms.
regular
irregular
V1
V2
V3
infinitive
base
past
simple
past
participle
present
participle
present simple,
3rd person
singular
(to) work
work
worked
worked
working
works
(to) sing
(to) make
(to) cut
sing
make
cut
sang
made
cut
sung
made
cut
singing
making
cutting
Sings
makes
cuts
(to) do*
(to) have*
do
have
did
had
done
had
doing
having
Does
has
infinitive
base
past
simple
past
participle
present
participle
present simple
(to) be*
be
was,
were
been
being
am, are, is
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In the above examples:
to cut has 4 forms: to cut, cut, cutting, cuts

to work has 5 forms: to work, work, worked, working, works
to sing has 6 forms: to sing, sing, sang, sung, singing, sings
to be has 9 forms: to be, be, was, were, been, being, am, is, are
Note that the infinitive can be with or without to. For example, to sing and sing are both
infinitives. We often call the infinitive without to the "bare infinitive".
EnglishClub.com Tip
The verb to be is always an exception, in many ways!
At school, students usually learn by heart the base, past simple and past participle
(sometimes called V1, V2, V3, meaning Verb 1, Verb 2, Verb 3) for the irregular verbs.
They may spend many hours chanting: sing, sang, sung; go, went, gone; have, had, had;
etc. They do not learn these for the regular verbs because the past simple and past
participle are always the same: they are formed by adding "-ed" to the base. They do not
learn the past participle and 3rd person singular present simple by heartfor another
very simple reason: they never change. The present participle is always made by adding
"-ing" to the base, and the 3rd person singular present simple is always made by adding
"s" to the base (though there are some variations in spelling).
* Note that "do", "have" and "be" also function as helping or auxiliary verbs, with exactly
the same forms (except that as helping verbs they are never in infinitive form).

Infinitive
I want to work
He has to sing.
This exercise is easy to do.
Let him have one.
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Base - Imperative
Work well!
Make this.
Have a nice day.
Be quiet!
Base - Present simple (except 3rd person singular)
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I work in London.
You sing well.
They have a lot of money.
Base - After modal auxiliary verbs
I can work tomorrow.

You must sing louder.
They might do it.
You could be right.
Past simple
I worked yesterday.
She cut his hair last week.
They had a good time.
They were surprised, but I was not.
Past participle
I have worked here for five years.

He needs a folder made of plastic.
It is done like this.
I have never been so happy.
Present participle
I am working.
Singing well is not easy.
Having finished, he went home.
You are being silly!
3rd person singular, present simple
He works in London.
She sings well.
She has a lot of money.
It is Vietnamese.

EnglishClub.com Tip
Helping verbs are also called "auxiliary verbs".
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All helping verbs are used with a main verb (either expressed or understood*). There are
2 groups of helping verbs:
Tense helping verbs, used to change the tense of the main verb.
Modal helping verbs, used to change the "mood" of the main verb.
Tense helping verbs
Modal helping verbs
Do
(to make simple tenses)
can
Could
Be
(to make continuous tenses)
may
Might
Have
(to make perfect tenses)
will
Would
shall
Should
must
ought (to)
"Do", "be" and "have" as helping verbs have
exactly the same forms as when they are main
verbs (see forms of main verb above) (except that
as helping verbs they are never used in infinitive
forms).
Tense helping verbs are followed by the main verb
in a particular form(see forms of main verb
above):
do + V1 (base verb)
be + -ing (present participle)
have + V3 (past participle)
"Do", "be" and "have" can also function as main

verbs. (see forms of main verb above)
Modal helping verbs are invariable.

They always have the same form.
"Ought" is followed by the main

verb in infinitive form. Other modal
helping verbs are followed by the
main verb in its base form (V1).
ought + to... (infinitive)
other modals + V1 (base

verb)
Modal helping verbs cannot also

function as main verbs.
* Sometimes we make a sentence that has a helping verb and seems to have no main
verb. In fact, the main verb is "understood". Look at the following examples:
Question: Can you speak English? (The main verb speak is "expressed".)
Answer: Yes, I can. (The main verb speak is not expressed. It is "understood"
from the context. We understand: Yes, I can speak English.
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But if somebody walked into the room and said "Hello. I can", we would understand
nothing!
21
1.3 English Verb Tenses

In some languages, verb tenses are not very important or do not even exist. In English,
the concept of verb tenses is very important.
What is Tense?
Tense and Time
The English Tense System
Regular Verbs
Irregular Verbs
Be
Present Tenses
Present Tense
Present Continuous Tense
Present Perfect Tense
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
I do do, I do
I am doing, I am doing tomorrow
I have done
I have been doing
Past Tenses
Past Tense
Past Continuous Tense
Past Perfect Tense
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
I did do, I did

I was doing
I had done
I had been doing
Future Tenses
Future Tense
Future Continuous Tense
Future Perfect Tense
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
I will do
I will be doing
I will have done
I will have been doing
What is Tense?
tense (noun): a form of a verb used to indicate the time, and sometimes the continuation
or completeness, of an action in relation to the time of speaking. (From Latin tempus =
time).
Tense is a method that we use in English to refer to timepast, present and future. Many
languages use tenses to talk about time. Other languages have no tenses, but of course
they can still talk about time, using different methods.
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So, we talk about time in English with tenses. But, and this is a very big but:
we can also talk about time without using tenses (for example, going to is a
special construction to talk about the future, it is not a tense)
one tense does not always talk about one time (see tense and time for more about
this)
Terminology
Here are some of the terms used in discussing verbs and tenses.
Mood
indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact, which can be positive (affirmative)
or negative
I like coffee.
I do not like coffee.
interrogative mood expresses a question
Why do you like coffee?
imperative mood expresses a command
Sit down!
subjunctive mood expresses what is imagined or wished or possible
The President ordered that he attend the meeting.
Voice
Voice shows the relationship of the subject to the action. In the active voice, the subject
does the action (cats eat mice). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (mice
are eaten by cats). Among other things, we can use voice to help us change the focus of
attention.
Aspect
Aspect expresses a feature of the action related to time, such as completion or duration.
Present simple and past simple tenses have no aspect, but if we wish we can stress with
other tenses that:
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the action or state referred to by the verb is completed (and often still relevant),
for example:
I have emailed the report to Jane. (so now she has the report)
(This is called perfective aspect, using perfect tenses.)
the action or state referred to by the verb is in progress or continuing (that is,
uncompleted), for example:
We are eating.
(This is called progressive aspect, using progressive [continuous] tenses.)
Tense and Time

It is important not to confuse the name of a verb tense with the way we use it to talk
about time.
For example, a present tense does not always refer to present time:
I hope it rains tomorrow.

"rains" is present simple, but it refers here to future time (tomorrow)
Or a past tense does not always refer to past time:
If I had some money now, I could buy it.

"had" is past simple but it refers here to present time (now)
The following examples show how different tenses can be used to talk about different
times.
TIME
TENSE
past
present
future
I want a coffee.
I leave tomorrow.
Present Simple
She
likes
coffee.
I am having dinner.
I am taking my
exam next month.
Present Continuous
They
Present Perfect
Simple
I have seen ET.
are
living
I have finished.
in
London.
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Present Perfect
Continuous
I have been playing

tennis.
We have been working for four hours.
Past Simple
I finished one hour

ago.
Past Continuous
I was working at
2am this morning.
Past Perfect Simple
I had not eaten for

24 hours.
Past Perfect
Continuous
We had been
working for 3
hours.
Future Simple
If she loved you

now, she would
marry you.
If you came
tomorrow, you
would see her.
If I had been
working now, I
would have missed
you.
If I had been
working tomorrow,
I could not have
agreed.
Hold on. I'll do it

now.
I'll see you

tomorrow.
I will be working at
9pm tonight.
Future Continuous
I will have finished

by 9pm tonight.
Future Perfect
Simple
We will have been married for ten years next month.

They may be tired
when you arrive
because they will
have been working.
Future Perfect
Continuous
In 30 minutes, we will have been working for four hours.
English Tense System

For past and present, there are 2 simple tenses + 6 complex tenses (using auxiliary verbs).
To these, we can add 4 "modal tenses" for the future (using modal auxiliary verbs
will/shall). This makes a total of 12 tenses in the active voice. Another 12 tenses are
available in the passive voice. So now we have 24 tenses.
25
24 Tenses
simple tenses
ACTIVE
complex tenses
(formed with
auxiliary verbs)
PASSIVE
past
present
future
past
present
future
past perfect
present perfect
future perfect
past
continuous
present
continuous
future
continuous
past perfect
continuous
present perfect
continuous
future perfect
continuous
past
present
future
past perfect
present perfect
future perfect
past
continuous
present
continuous
future
continuous
past perfect
continuous
present perfect
continuous
future perfect
continuous
so-called "modal
tenses"
englishclub.com Tip
Some grammar books use the word progressive instead of continuous. They are exactly the
same.
The use of tenses in English may be quite complicated, but the structure of English
tenses is actually very simple. The basic structure for a positive sentence is:
subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

An auxiliary verb is used in all tenses. (In the simple present and simple past tenses, the
auxiliary verb is usually suppressed for the affirmative, but it can and does exist for
intensification.) The following table shows the 12 tenses for the verb to work in the
active voice.
structure
auxiliary
simple
normal
past
present
future*
I worked
I work
I will work
main verb
26
intensive
do
base
I did work
I do work
have
past
participle
I had
worked
I have
worked
I will have
worked
continuous
be
present
participle
-ing
I was
working
I am
working
I will be
working
continuous
perfect
have
been
present
participle
-ing
I had been
working
I have been
working
I will have
been
working
perfect
* Technically, there are no future tenses in English. The word will is a modal auxiliary
verb and future tenses are sometimes called "modal tenses". The examples are included
here for convenience and comparison.
Here are some more detailed examples covering affirmative, negative and interrogative
with:
a regular verb
an irregular verb
the irregular verb "to be"
English Tense System:

regular verbs
This page shows an example of the basic English tense system with the regular verb to
work. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the
interrogative or question form (?).
The basic structure is:
+ positive: subject + auxiliary verb + main verb

- negative: subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb
? question: auxiliary verb + subject + main verb
These are the various forms of the main verb that we use to construct the various tenses:
27
work
worked
worked
working
base verb
past
past participle
present participle -ing
Tenses
SIMPLE
do + base verb
(except future:
will + base verb)
SIMPLE PERFECT
have + past participle
CONTINUOUS
be + ing
CONTINUOUS
PERFECT
have been + ing
past
present
future
I did work.
I worked.
I do work.
I work.
I will work.
I did not work.
I do not work.
I will not work.
Did I work?
Do I work?
Will I work?
I had worked.
I have worked.
I will have worked.
I had not
worked.
I have not
worked.
I will not have

worked.
Had I worked?
Have I worked?
Will I have
worked?
I was working.
I am working
I will be working.
I was not
working.
I am not
working?
I will not be
working.
Was I working?
Am I working?
Will I be working?
I had been
working.
I have been
working.
I will have been

working.
I had not been

working.
I have not been

working.
I will not have been

working.
Had I been
working?
Have I been
working?
Will I have been

working?

irregular verbs
28
This page shows an example of the basic English tense system with the irregular verb to
sing. It includes the affirmative or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the
interrogative or question form (?).

sing
sang
sung
singing
base verb
past
past participle
present participle -ing
Tenses
SIMPLE
do + base verb
(except future:
will + base verb)
SIMPLE PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
be + -ing
past
present
future
I did sing.
I sang.
I do sing.
I sing.
I will sing.
I did not sing.
I do not sing.
I will not sing.
Did I sing?
Do I sing?
Will I sing?
I had sung.
I have sung.
I will have sung.
I had not sung.
I have not sung.
I will not have

sung.
Had I sung?
Have I sung?
Will I have sung?
I was singing.
I am singing
I will be singing.
I was not
singing.
I am not singing.
I will not be
singing.
Was I singing?
Am I singing?
Will I be singing?
29
CONTINUOUS
PERFECT
have been + -ing
I had been
singing.
I have been
singing.
I will have been

singing.
I had not been

singing.
I have not been

singing.
I will not have been

singing.
Had I been
singing?
Have I been
singing?
Will I have been

singing?
englishclub.com Tip
The basic structure of tenses for regular verbs and irregular verbs is exactly the same (except to
be). The only difference is that with regular verbs the past and past participle are always the same
(worked, worked), while with irregular verbs the past and past participle are not always the same
(sang, sung). But the structure is the same! It will help you a great deal to really understand that.

to be
This page shows the tense system for the irregular verb to be. It includes the affirmative
or positive form (+), the negative form (-) and the interrogative or question form (?). "To
be" is an exceptional verb. It is always different from other verbs, in various ways. So we
cannot expect "to be" to have exactly the same structure as other verbs!
However, the basic structure for to be is the same as for all verbs:

Exception! For simple past and simple present tenses, the structure is not the same. In
fact, it's even easier! There is no auxiliary verb. Here is the structure:
+ positive: subject + main verb

- negative: subject + main verb + not
? question: main verb + subject
30
be
was, were
been
being
am, are, is
base
past simple
past participle
present participle
present simple
Tenses
SIMPLE
present simple or
past simple
(except future:
will + base verb)
SIMPLE PERFECT
CONTINUOUS
be + -ing
CONTINUOUS
PERFECT
have been + -ing
past
present
future
I was
I am
I will be
I was not
I am not
I will not be
Was I?
Am I?
Will I be?
I had been.
I have been.
I will have been.
I had not been.
I have not been.
I will not have

been.
Had I been?
Have I been?
Will I have been?
I was being.
I am being
I will be being.
I was not
being.
I am not being.
I will not be being.
Was I being?
Am I being?
Will I be being?
I had been
being.
I have been
being.
I will have been

being.
I had not been

being.
I have not been

being.
I will not have

been being.
Had I been
being?
Have I been
being?
Will I have been

being?
In the following table, we see to be conjugated with all persons in the singular (I, you,
he/she/it) and in the plural (we, you, they) for the 12 tenses.
SIMPLE
past
present
future
31
was
am
will be
you
were
are
will be
he/she/it
was
is
will be
we
were
are
will be
you
were
are
will be
they
were
are
will be
past
present
future
had been
have been
will have been
you
had been
have been
will have been
he/she/it
had been
has been
will have been
we
had been
have been
will have been
you
had been
have been
will have been
they
had been
have been
will have been
past
present
future
was being
am being
will be being
you
were being
are being
will be being
he/she/it
was being
is being
will be being
we
were being
are being
will be being
you
were being
are being
will be being
they
were being
are being
will be being
CONTINUOUS PERFECT
past
present
future
singular
had been being
have been being
will have been being
you
had been being
have been being
singular
plural
PERFECT
singular
plural
CONTINUOUS
singular
plural
32
plural
he/she/it
had been being
has been being
we
had been being
have been being
you
had been being
have been being
they
had been being
have been being
Simple Present Tense

I sing
How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

do
base
There are three important exceptions:

1. For positive sentences, we do not normally use the auxiliary.
2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the
auxiliary.
3. For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.
Look at these examples with the main verb like:
subject
+
?
auxiliary verb
main verb
I, you, we, they
like
coffee.
He, she, it
likes
coffee.
I, you, we, they
do
not
like
coffee.
He, she, it
does
not
like
coffee.
Do
I, you, we, they
like
coffee?
Does
he, she, it
like
coffee?
Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:
33
subject
main verb
34
am
French.
You, we, they
are
French.
He, she, it
is
French.
am
not old.
You, we, they
are
not old.
He, she, it
is
not old.
Am
late?
Are
you, we, they
late?
Is
he, she, it
late?
How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:
the action is general

the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future
the action is not only happening now
the statement is always true
John drives a taxi.

past
present
future
It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.
Look at these examples:
I live in New York.

The Moon goes round the Earth.
John drives a taxi.
He does not drive a bus.
We do not work at night.
Do you play football?
35
Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that
are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these
examples of the verb to be in the present simple tensesome of them are general, some
of them are now:
Am I right?
Tara is not at home.
You are happy.
past
present
future
The situation is now.
I am not fat.
Why are you so beautiful?
Ram is tall.
past
present
future
The situation is general. Past, present and future.

EnglishClub.com Tip
This page shows the use of the simple present tense to talk about general events. But note that there are
some other uses for the simple present tense, for example in conditional or if sentences, or to talk about
the future. You will learn about those later.
Present Continuous Tense

I am singing
We often use the present continuous tense in English. It is very different from the simple
present tense, both in structure and in use.
In this lesson we look the structure and use of the present continuous tense, follwed by a
quiz to check your understanding:
36
Structure: how do we make the present continuous tense?

Use: when and why do we use the present continuous tense?
Spelling: how do we spell verbs with -ing for the present continuous tense?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses. So the present progressive tense is the same
as the present continuous tense.
How do we make the Present

Continuous?
The structure of the present continuous tense is:

be
base + ing

subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
am
speaking
to you.
You
are
reading
this.
She
is
not staying
in London.
We
are
not playing
football.
Is
he
watching
TV?
Are
they
waiting
for John?
How do we use the Present Continuous?

We use the present continuous tense to talk about:
action happening now

action in the future
37
Present continuous tense for action happening now

a) for action happening exactly now
I am eating my lunch.
past
present
future
The action is happening

now.
Look at these examples. Right now you are looking at this screen and at the same time...
...the pages are turning.
...the candle is burning.
...the numbers are spinning.
b) for action happening around now

The action may not be happening exactly now, but it is happening just before and just
after now, and it is not permanent or habitual.
John is going out with Mary.

past
present
The action is happening around

now.
Muriel is learning to drive.

I am living with my sister until I find an apartment.
future
38
Present continuous tense for the future

We can also use the present continuous tense to talk about the futureif we add a future
word!! We must add (or understand from the context) a future word. "Future words"
include, for example, tomorrow, next year, in June, at Christmas etc. We only use the
present continuous tense to talk about the future when we have planned to do something
before we speak. We have already made a decision and a plan before speaking.
I am taking my exam next month.

past
present
future
!!!
A firm plan or programme
exists now.
The action is in the future.
We're eating in a restaurant tonight. We've already booked the table..

They can play tennis with you tomorrow. They're not working.
When are you starting your new job?
In these examples, we have a firm plan or programme before speaking. The decision
and plan were made before speaking.
How do we spell the Present Continuous?

We make the present continuous tense by adding -ing to the base verb. Normally it's
simplewe just add -ing. But sometimes we have to change the word a little. Perhaps we
double the last letter, or we drop a letter. Here are the rules to help you know how to spell
the present continuous tense.
Basic rule
Just add -ing to the base verb:

work
>
working
play
>
playing
assist
>
assisting
see
>
seeing
39
be
Exception 1
>
being
If the base verb ends in consonant + stressed vowel + consonant, double

the last letter:
consonant
stressed
vowel
consonant
(vowels = a, e, i, o, u)
stop
>
stopping
run
>
running
begin
>
beginning
Note that this exception does not apply when the last syllable of the base
verb is not stressed:
open
Exception 2
Exception 3
>
opening
If the base verb ends in ie, change the ie to y:

lie
>
lying
die
>
dying
If the base verb ends in vowel + consonant + e, omit the e:

come
>
coming
mistake
>
mistaking
Present Perfect Tense

I have sung
The present perfect tense is a rather important tense in English, but it gives speakers of
some languages a difficult time. That is because it uses concepts or ideas that do not exist
in those languages. In fact, the structure of the present perfect tense is very simple. The
40
problems come with the use of the tense. In addition, there are some differences in usage
between British and American English.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the present perfect, followed by a quiz to
check your understanding:
Structure: how to make the present perfect tense

Use: when and why to use the present perfect tense
For and Since with the present perfect tense. What's the difference?
EnglishClub.com Tip
The present perfect tense is really a very interesting tense, and a very useful one. Try not to translate the
present perfect tense into your language. Just try to accept the concepts of this tense and learn to "think"
present perfect! You will soon learn to like the present perfect tense!
How do we make the Present Perfect

Tense?
The structure of the present perfect tense is:

have
past participle
Here are some examples of the present perfect tense:

subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
have
seen
ET.
You
have
eaten
mine.
She
has
not been
to Rome.
We
have
not not played
football.
Have
you
finished?
Have
they
done
it?
41
Contractions with the present perfect tense

When we use the present perfect tense in speaking, we usually contract the subject and
auxiliary verb. We also sometimes do this when we write.
I have
I've
You have
You've
He has
She has
It has
John has
The car has
He's
She's
It's
John's
The car's
We have
We've
They have
They've
I've finished my work.

John's seen ET.
They've gone home.
EnglishClub.com Tip
He's or he's??? Be careful! The 's contraction is used for the auxiliary verbs have and be. For example,
"It's eaten" can mean:
It has eaten. [present perfect tense, active voice]
It is eaten. [present tense, passive voice]
It is usually clear from the context.
How do we use the Present Perfect Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect tense. There is always a connection with the past
and with the present. There are basically three uses for the present perfect tense:
1. experience
2. change
3. continuing situation
42
1. Present perfect tense for experience

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about experience from the past. We are not
interested in when you did something. We only want to know if you did it:
I have seen ET.

He has lived in Bangkok.
Have you been there?
We have never eaten caviar.
past
present
future
!!!
The action or state was in
the past.
In my head, I have a
memory now.
Connection with past: the event was in the past.

Connection with present: in my head, now, I have a memory of the event; I know
something about the event; I have experience of it.
2. Present perfect tense for change

We also use the present perfect tense to talk about a change or new information:
I have bought a car.

past
present
Last week I didn't have a

car.
Now I have a car.
future
John has broken his leg.

past
present
future
43
Yesterday John had a good

leg.
Now he has a bad leg.
Has the price gone up?

past
present
Was the price $1.50

yesterday?
Is the price $1.70 today?
future
The police have arrested the killer.

past
present
Yesterday the killer was

free.
Now he is in prison.
future
Connection with past: the past is the opposite of the present.

Connection with present: the present is the opposite of the past.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Americans do not use the present perfect tense so much as British speakers. Americans often use the past
tense instead. An American might say "Did you have lunch?", where a British person would say "Have you
had lunch?"
3. Present perfect tense for continuing situation

We often use the present perfect tense to talk about a continuing situation. This is a state
that started in the past and continues in the present (and will probably continue into the
future). This is a state (not an action). We usually use for or since with this structure.
I have worked here since June.

He has been ill for 2 days.
How long have you known Tara?
past
present
future
44
The situation started in the

past.
It continues up to now.
(It will probably continue

into the future.)
Connection with past: the situation started in the past.

Connection with present: the situation continues in the present.
For & Since with Present Perfect

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.
We use for to talk about a period of time5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.

We use since to talk about a point in past time9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
for
since
a period of time
a point in past time
20 minutes
6.15pm
three days
Monday
6 months
January
4 years
1994
2 centuries
1800
a long time
I left school
ever
the beginning of time
etc
etc
I have been here for 20 minutes.

I have been here since 9 o'clock.
45
John hasn't called for 6 months.

John hasn't called since February.
He has worked in New York for a long time.
He has worked in New York since he left school.
EnglishClub.com Tip
For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense

I have been singing
How do we make the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the present perfect continuous tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb + auxiliary verb + main verb

have
has
been
base + ing
Here are some examples of the present perfect continuous tense:

subject
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
main verb
have
been
waiting
for one hour.
You
have
been
talking
too much.
It
has
not been
raining.
We
have
not been
playing
football.
Have
you
been
seeing
her?
Have
they
been
doing
their homework?
46
Contractions
When we use the present perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the
subject and the first auxiliary. We also sometimes do this in informal writing.
I have been
I've been
You have been
You've been
He has been
She has been
It has been
John has been
The car has been
He's been
She's been
It's been
John's been
The car's been
We have been
We've been
They have been
They've been
I've been reading.

The car's been giving trouble.
We've been playing tennis for two hours.
How do we use the Present Perfect Continuous Tense?

This tense is called the present perfect continuous tense. There is usually a connection
with the present or now. There are basically two uses for the present perfect continuous
tense:
1. An action that has just stopped or recently stopped

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past
and stopped recently. There is usually a result now.
I'm tired because I've been running.

past
present
!!!
Recent action.
Result now.
future
47
I'm tired [now] because I've been running.

Why is the grass wet [now]? Has it been raining?
You don't understand [now] because you haven't been listening.
2. An action continuing up to now

We use the present perfect continuous tense to talk about an action that started in the past
and is continuing now. This is often used with for or since.
I have been reading for 2 hours.

past
present
Action started in past.
Action is continuing now.
future
I have been reading for 2 hours. [I am still reading now.]

We've been studying since 9 o'clock. [We're still studying now.]
How long have you been learning English? [You are still learning now.]
We have not been smoking. [And we are not smoking now.]
For and Since with Present Perfect Continuous Tense

We often use for and since with the present perfect tense.
We use for to talk about a period of time5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years.

We use since to talk about a point in past time9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday.
for
since
a period of time
a point in past time
20 minutes
6.15pm
three days
Monday
6 months
January
4 years
1994
48
2 centuries
1800
a long time
I left school
ever
etc
etc
I have been studying for 3 hours.

I have been watching TV since 7pm.
Tara hasn't been feeling well for 2 weeks.
Tara hasn't been visiting us since March.
He has been playing football for a long time.
He has been living in Bangkok since he left school.
EnglishClub.com Tip
For can be used with all tenses. Since is usually used with perfect tenses only.
Simple Past Tense

I sang
The simple past tense is sometimes called the preterite tense. We can use several tenses
to talk about the past, but the simple past tense is the one we use most often.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of the simple past tense, followed by a quiz
to check your understanding:
Structure: how do we make the simple past tense?

Use: how do we use the simple past tense?
How do we make the Simple Past?

To make the simple past tense, we use:
past form only

or
auxiliary did + base form
49
Here you can see examples of the past form and base form for irregular verbs and
regular verbs:
V1
base
V2
past
V3
past participle
regular
verb
work
explode
like
worked
exploded
liked
worked
exploded
liked
The past form for all

regular verbs ends in
-ed.
irregular
verb
go
see
sing
went
saw
sang
gone
seen
sung
The past form for

irregular verbs is
variable. You need to
learn it by heart.
You do not need the past

participle form to make the
simple past tense. It is shown
here for completeness only.
The structure for positive sentences in the simple past tense is:
subject + main verb

past
The structure for negative sentences in the simple past tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb + not + main verb

did
base
The structure for question sentences in the simple past tense is:
auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

did
base
The auxiliary verb did is not conjugated. It is the same for all persons (I did, you did, he
did etc). And the base form and past form do not change. Look at these examples with the
main verbs go and work:
subject
I
auxiliary verb
main verb
went
to school.
50
+
?
You
worked
very hard.
She
did
not go
with me.
We
did
not work
yesterday.
Did
you
go
to London?
Did
they
work
at home?
Exception! The verb to be is different. We conjugate the verb to be (I was, you were,
he/she/it was, we were, they were); and we do not use an auxiliary for negative and
question sentences. To make a question, we exchange the subject and verb. Look at these
examples:
+
?
subject
main verb
I, he/she/it
was
here.
You, we, they
were
in London.
I, he/she/it
was
not there.
You, we, they
were
not happy.
Was
I, he/she/it
right?
Were
you, we, they
late?
How do we use the Simple Past?

We use the simple past tense to talk about an action or a situationan eventin the past.
The event can be short or long.
Here are some short events with the simple past tense:
The car exploded at 9.30am yesterday.

She went to the door.
We did not hear the telephone.
51
Did you see that car?

past
present
future
The action is in the past.

Here are some long events with the simple past tense:
I lived in Bangkok for 10 years.

The Jurassic period lasted about 62 million years.
We did not sing at the concert.
Did you watch TV last night?
past
present
future
The action is in the past.

Notice that it does not matter how long ago the event is: it can be a few minutes or
seconds in the past, or millions of years in the past. Also it does not matter how long the
event is. It can be a few milliseconds (car explosion) or millions of years (Jurassic
period). We use the simple past tense when:
the event is in the past

the event is completely finished
we say (or understand) the time and/or place of the event
EnglishClub.com Tip
In general, if we say the time or place of the event, we must use the simple past tense; we cannot use the
present perfect.
Here are some more examples:
I lived in that house when I was young.

He didn't like the movie.
What did you eat for dinner?
John drove to London on Monday.
Mary did not go to work yesterday.
Did you play tennis last week?
52
I was at work yesterday.

We were not late (for the train).
Were you angry?
Note that when we tell a story, we usually use the simple past tense. We may use the past
continuous tense to "set the scene", but we almost always use the simple past tense for the
action. Look at this example of the beginning of a story:
"The wind was howling around the hotel and the rain was pouring down. It was cold. The
door opened and James Bond entered. He took off his coat, which was very wet, and
ordered a drink at the bar. He sat down in the corner of the lounge and quietly drank
his..."
EnglishClub.com Tip
This page shows the use of the simple past tense to talk about past events. But note there are some other
uses for the simple past tense, for example in conditional or if sentences.
Past Continuous Tense

I was singing.
The past continuous tense is an important tense in English. We use it to say what we
were in the middle of doing at a particular moment in the past.
In this lesson we look at:
Structure: how do we make the past continuous tense?

Use: how do we use the past continuous tense?
o Past continuous tense + simple past tense
englishclub.com Tip
Continuous tenses are also called progressive tenses.
How do we make the Past Continuous

Tense?
The structure of the past continuous tense is:
subject +
auxiliary verb BE
conjugated in simple past tense
+ main verb
present participle
53
was
were
base + ing
For negative sentences in the past continuous tense, we insert not between the auxiliary
verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary
verb. Look at these example sentences with the past continuous tense:
subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
was
watching
TV.
You
were
working
hard.
He, she, it
was
not helping
We
were
not joking.
Were
you
being
silly?
Were
they
playing
football?
Mary.
english club.com Tip

The spelling rules for adding ing to make the past continuous tense are the same as for the
present continuous tense.
How do we use the Past Continuous

Tense?
The past continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the past. The
action started before that moment but has not finished at that moment. For example,
yesterday I watched a film on TV. The film started at 7pm and finished at 9pm.
At 8pm yesterday, I was watching TV.

past
present
future
54
8pm
At 8pm, I was in the middle
of watching TV.
When we use the past continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what
time we are talking about. Look at these examples:
I was working at 10pm last night.

They were not playing football at 9am this morning.
What were you doing at 10pm last night?
What were you doing when he arrived?
She was cooking when I telephoned her.
We were having dinner when it started to rain.
Ram went home early because it was snowing.

Some verbs cannot be used (document break refer to verb meanings with continuous tenses) in
continuous/progressive tenses.
We often use the past continuous tense to "set the scene" in stories. We use it to describe
the background situation at the moment when the action begins. Often, the story starts
with the past continuous tense and then moves into the simple past tense. Here is an
example:
" James Bond was driving through town. It was raining. The wind was blowing hard.
Nobody was walking in the streets. Suddenly, Bond saw the killer in a telephone box..."
Past Continuous Tense + Simple Past

Tense
We often use the past continuous tense with the simple past tense. We use the past
continuous tense to express a long action. And we use the simple past tense to express a
short action that happens in the middle of the long action. We can join the two ideas
with when or while.
In the following example, we have two actions:
1. long action (watching TV), expressed with past continuous tense
2. short action (telephoned), expressed with simple past tense
past
present
future
55
Long action.
I was watching TV at 8pm.
8pm
You telephoned at 8pm.
Short action.
We can join these two actions with when:
I was watching TV when you telephoned.
(Notice that "when you telephoned" is also a way of defining the time [8pm].)
We use:
when + short action (simple past tense)

while + long action (past continuous tense)
There are four basic combinations:

I was walking past the car
When
the car exploded

The car exploded
While
when
it exploded.
I was walking past it.
while
I was walking past the car
I was walking past it.

it exploded.
Notice that the long action and short action are relative.
"Watching TV" took a few hours. "Telephoned" took a few seconds.

"Walking past the car" took a few seconds. "Exploded" took a few milliseconds.
Past Perfect Tense

I had sung.
The past perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and to use. This tense talks
about the "past in the past".
56
Structure: how do we make the past perfect tense?

Use: how do we use the past perfect tense?
How do we make the Past Perfect Tense?

The structure of the past perfect tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb HAVE + main verb

conjugated in simple past tense
past participle
had
V3
For negative sentences in the past perfect tense, we insert not between the auxiliary verb
and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary verb.
Look at these example sentences with the past perfect tense:
subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
had
finished
my work.
You
had
stopped
before me.
She
had
not gone
We
had
not left.
Had
you
arrived?
Had
they
eaten
to school.
dinner?
When speaking with the past perfect tense, we often contract the subject and auxiliary
verb:
I had
I'd
you had
you'd
57
he had
she had
it had
he'd
she'd
it'd
we had
we'd
they had
they'd
englishclub.com Tip
The 'd contraction is also used for the auxiliary verb would. For example, we'd can mean:
We had
or
We would
But usually the main verb is in a different form, for example:
We had arrived (past participle)
We would arrive (base)
It is always clear from the context.
How do we use the Past Perfect Tense?

The past perfect tense expresses action in the past before another action in the past. This
is the past in the past. For example:
The train left at 9am. We arrived at 9.15am. When we arrived, the train had left.
The train had left when we arrived.

past
Train leaves in past at 9am.
9
9.15
We arrive in past at 9.15am.

Look at some more examples:
I wasn't hungry. I had just eaten.
present
future
58
They were hungry. They had not eaten for five hours.
I didn't know who he was. I had never seen him before.
"Mary wasn't at home when I arrived."
"Really? Where had she gone?"
You can sometimes think of the past perfect tense like the present perfect tense, but
instead of the time being now the time is past.
past perfect tense
had |
done |
>|
past
present perfect tense

have |
done |
>|
now
future
past
now
future
For example, imagine that you arrive at the station at 9.15am. The stationmaster says to
you:
"You are too late. The train has left."
Later, you tell your friends:
"We were too late. The train had left."
We often use the past perfect tense in reported speech after verbs like said, told, asked,
thought, wondered:
He told us that the train had left.

I thought I had met her before, but I was wrong.
He explained that he had closed the window because of the rain.
I wondered if I had been there before.
I asked them why they had not finished.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense

I had been singing.
How do we make the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the past perfect continuous tense is:
59
auxiliary verb
HAVE
subject +
auxiliary
verb BE
main
verb
conjugated in simple
past tense
past participle
present
participle
had
been
base + ing
For negative sentences in the past perfect continuous tense, we insert not after the first
auxiliary verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and first auxiliary verb.
Look at these example sentences with the past perfect continuous tense:
subject
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
main verb
had
been
working.
You
had
been
playing
tennis.
It
had
not been
working
well.
We
had
not been
expecting
her.
Had
you
been
drinking?
Had
they
been
waiting
long?
When speaking with the past perfect continuous tense, we often contract the subject and
first auxiliary verb:
I had been
I'd been
you had been
you'd been
he had
she had been
it had been
he'd been
she'd been
it'd been
we had been
we'd been
60
they had been
they'd been
How do we use the Past Perfect Continuous Tense?

The past perfect continuous tense is like the past perfect tense, but it expresses longer
actions in the past before another action in the past. For example:
Ram started waiting at 9am. I arrived at 11am. When I arrived, Ram had been
waiting for two hours.
Ram had been waiting for two hours when I arrived.

past
present
future
Ram starts waiting in past

at 9am.
9
11
I arrive in past at 11am.
John was very tired. He had been running.

I could smell cigarettes. Somebody had been smoking.
Suddenly, my car broke down. I was not surprised. It had not been running well
for a long time.
Had the pilot been drinking before the crash?
You can sometimes think of the past perfect continuous tense like the present perfect
continuous tense, but instead of the time being now the time is past.
past perfect continuous tense
had |
|
been |
|
doing |
|
>>>> |
|
past
now
present perfect continuous tense

|
have |
|
been |
|
doing |
|
>>>> |
future
past
For example, imagine that you meet Ram at 11am. Ram says to you:
now
future
61
"I am angry. I have been waiting for two hours."
Later, you tell your friends:
"Ram was angry. He had been waiting for two hours."
Simple Future Tense

I will sing.
The simple future tense is often called will, because we make the simple future tense
with the modal auxiliary will.
How do we make the Simple Future Tense?

The structure of the simple future tense is:
subject + auxiliary verb WILL + main verb

invariable
base
will
V1
For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we insert not between the auxiliary
verb and main verb. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and auxiliary
verb. Look at these example sentences with the simple future tense:
subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
will
open
the door.
You
will
finish
before me.
She
will
not be
at school tomorrow.
We
will
not leave
yet.
Will
you
arrive
on time?
62
Will
they
want
dinner?
When we use the simple future tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and
auxiliary verb:
I will
I'll
you will
you'll
he will
she will
it will
he'll
she'll
it'll
we will
we'll
they will
they'll
For negative sentences in the simple future tense, we contract with won't, like this:
I will not
I won't
you will not
you won't
he will not
she will not
it will not
he won't
she won't
it won't
we will not
we won't
they will not
they won't
How do we use the Simple Future Tense?

Simple future tense for No Plan
We use the simple future tense when there is no plan or decision to do something before
we speak. We make the decision spontaneously at the time of speaking. Look at these
examples:
Hold on. I'll get a pen.

We will see what we can do to help you.
Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.
63
In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the
time of speaking.
We often use the simple future tense with the verb to think before it:
I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.

I think I will have a holiday next year.
I don't think I'll buy that car.
Simple future tense for Prediction

We often use the simple future tense to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is
no firm plan. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:
It will rain tomorrow.

People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
Who do you think will get the job?
Simple future tense with BE

When the main verb is be, we can use the simple future tense even if we have a firm plan
or decision before speaking. Examples:
I'll be in London tomorrow.

I'm going shopping. I won't be very long.
Will you be at work tomorrow?

Note that when we have a plan or intention to do something in the future, we usually use other
tenses or expressions, such as the present continuous tense or going to.
Future Continuous Tense

I will be singing.
How do we make the Future Continuous Tense?

The structure of the future continuous tense is:
subject +
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
+
+
WILL
BE
main
verb
64
invariable
invariable
present
participle
will
be
base + ing
For negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we insert not between will and be.
For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these example
sentences with the future continuous tense:
subject
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb main verb
will
be
working
at 10am.
You
will
be
lying
on a beach tomorrow.
She
will
not be
using
the car.
We
will
not be
having
dinner at home.
Will
you
be
playing
football?
Will
they
be
watching
TV?
When we use the future continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the subject and
will:
I will
I'll
you will
you'll
he will
she will
it will
he'll
she'll
it'll
we will
we'll
they will
they'll
For spoken negative sentences in the future continuous tense, we contract with won't,
like this:
65
I will not
I won't
you will not
you won't
he will not
she will not
it will not
he won't
she won't
it won't
we will not
we won't
they will not
they won't

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we.
How do we use the Future Continuous Tense?

The future continuous tense expresses action at a particular moment in the future. The
action will start before that moment but it will not have finished at that moment. For
example, tomorrow I will start work at 2pm and stop work at 6pm:
At 4pm tomorrow, I will be working.

past
present
future
4pm
At 4pm, I will be in the
middle of working.
When we use the future continuous tense, our listener usually knows or understands what
time we are talking about. Look at these examples:
I will be playing tennis at 10am tomorrow.

They won't be watching TV at 9pm tonight.
What will you be doing at 10pm tonight?
What will you be doing when I arrive?
She will not be sleeping when you telephone her.
We 'll be having dinner when the film starts.
Take your umbrella. It will be raining when you return.
Future Perfect Tense
66
I will have sung.
The future perfect tense is quite an easy tense to understand and use. The future perfect
tense talks about the past in the future.
How do we make the Future Perfect Tense?

The structure of the future perfect tense is:
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
+
+
WILL
HAVE
subject +
main
verb
invariable
invariable
past
participle
will
have
V3
Look at these example sentences in the future perfect tense:

subject
auxiliary verb
auxiliary verb
main verb
will
have
finished
by 10am.
You
will
have
forgotten
me by then.
She
will
not have
gone
to school.
We
will
not have
left.
Will
you
have
arrived?
Will
they
have
received
it?
In speaking with the future perfect tense, we often contract the subject and will.
Sometimes, we contract the subject, will and have all together:
I will have
I'll have
I'll've
you will have
you'll have
you'll've
67
he will have
she will have
it will have
he'll have
she'll have
it'll have
he'll've
she'll've
it'll've
we will have
we'll have
we'll've
they will have
they'll have
they'll've

We sometimes use shall instead of will,
especially for I and we.
How do we use the Future Perfect Tense?

The future perfect tense expresses action in the future before another action in the future.
This is the past in the future. For example:
The train will leave the station at 9am. You will arrive at the station at 9.15am.
When you arrive, the train will have left.
The train will have left when you arrive.

past
present
future
Train leaves in future at
9am.
9
9.15
You arrive in future at

9.15am.
Look at some more examples:
You can call me at work at 8am. I will have arrived at the office by 8.
They will be tired when they arrive. They will not have slept for a long time.
"Mary won't be at home when you arrive."
"Really? Where will she have gone?"
You can sometimes think of the future perfect tense like the present perfect tense, but
instead of your viewpoint being in the present, it is in the future:
present perfect tense
future perfect tense
68
|
have |
done |
>|
past
will |
have |
done |
>|
now
future
past
now
future
Future Perfect Continuous Tense

I will have been singing.
How do we make the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

The structure of the future perfect continuous tense is:
auxiliary
auxiliary
auxiliary
main
subject +
verb
+
verb
+
+
verb BE
verb
WILL
HAVE
invariable
invariable
past
participle
present
participle
will
have
been
base +
ing
For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we insert not between will
and have. For question sentences, we exchange the subject and will. Look at these
example sentences with the future perfect continuous tense:
subject
auxiliary
verb
auxiliary
verb
auxiliary
verb
main
verb
will
have
been
working
for four
hours.
You
will
have
been
travelling
for two
days.
She
will
not have
been
using
the car.
69
We
will
not have
been
waiting
long.
Will
you
have
been
playing
football?
Will
they
have
been
watching
TV?
When we use the future perfect continuous tense in speaking, we often contract the
subject and auxiliary verb:
I will
I'll
you will
you'll
he will
she will
it will
he'll
she'll
it'll
we will
we'll
they will
they'll
For negative sentences in the future perfect continuous tense, we contract with won't,
like this:
I will not
I won't
you will not
you won't
he will not
she will not
it will not
he won't
she won't
it won't
we will not
we won't
they will not
they won't
How do we use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense?

We use the future perfect continuous tense to talk about a long action before some point
in the future. Look at these examples:
70
I will have been working here for ten years next week.
He will be tired when he arrives. He will have been travelling for 24 hours.
1.4 Phrasal Verbs

and other multi-word verbs
Phrasal verbs are part of a large group of verbs called "multi-word verbs". Phrasal verbs
and other multi-word verbs are an important part of the English language. Multi-word
verbs, including phrasal verbs, are very common, especially in spoken English. A multiword verb is a verb like "pick up", "turn on" or "get on with". For convenience, many
people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. These verbs consist of a basic verb
+ another word or words. The other word(s) can be prepositions and/or adverbs. The
two or three words that make up multi-word verbs form a short "phrase"which is why
these verbs are often all called "phrasal verbs".
The important thing to remember is that a multi-word verb is still a verb. "Get" is a verb.
"Get up", is also a verb, a different verb. "Get" and "get up" are two different verbs. They
do not have the same meaning. So you should treat each multi-word verb as a separate
verb, and learn it like any other verb. Look at these examples. You can see that there are
three types of multi-word verb:
single-word verb
look
direct your eyes in a

certain direction
You must look before

you leap.
71
multiword
verbs
prepositional
verbs
look after
take care of
Who is looking after

the baby?
phrasal verbs
look up
search for and find

information in a
reference book
You can look up my

number in the
telephone directory.
phrasalprepositional
verbs
look
forward
to
anticipate with
pleasure
I look forward to
meeting you.
In this lesson we look at the three types of multi-word verbs, including phrasal verbs,
followed by a quiz to check your understanding:
Phrasal Verbs
Prepositional Verbs
Phrasal-prepositional Verbs
EnglishClub.com Tip
Like many grammar books, we divide multi-word verbs into:
prepositional verbs
phrasal verbs
phrasal-prepositional verbs
Other grammars, however, call all multi-word verbs "phrasal verbs".
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word or
words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we
make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal
verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasal verbs proper.
Phrasal verbs are made of:
verb + adverb
Phrasal verbs can be:
intransitive (no direct object)

transitive (direct object)
Here are some examples of phrasal verbs:
72
examples
intransitive
phrasal
verbs
transitive
phrasal
verbs
phrasal
verbs
meaning
get up
rise from bed
I don't like to get up.
break down
cease to
function
He was late because his car

broke down.
put off
postpone
We will have to put off
the
meeting.
turn down
refuse
They turned down
my offer.
direct
object
Separable Phrasal Verbs

When phrasal verbs are transitive (that is, they have a direct object), we can usually
separate the two parts. For example, "turn down" is a separable phrasal verb. We can
say: "turn down my offer" or "turn my offer down". Look at this table:
transitive
phrasal verbs
are
They
turned
separable
They
turned
down
my offer
my offer.
down.
However, if the direct object is a pronoun, we have no choice. We must separate the
phrasal verb and insert the pronoun between the two parts. Look at this example with the
separable phrasal verb "switch on":
direct
object
pronouns
must go
between
the two
parts of
transitive
phrasal
verbs
EnglishClub.com Tip
John
switched
on
John
switched
the radio
on.
John
switched
it
on.
John
switched
on
the radio.
These are all possible.
it.
This is not possible.
73
Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs? Some dictionaries tell you when phrasal verbs are separable. If a
dictionary writes "look (something) up", you know that the phrasal verb "look up" is separable, and you can
say "look something up" and "look up something". It's a good idea to write "something/somebody" as
appropriate in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasal verb, like this:
get up
break down
put something/somebody off
turn sthg/sby down
This tells you whether the verb needs a direct object (and where to put it).
Prepositional Verbs
Prepositional verbs are a group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus another word
or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On these pages we
make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal
verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at prepositional verbs.
Prepositional verbs are made of:
verb + preposition
Because a preposition always has an object, all prepositional verbs have direct objects.
Here are some examples of prepositional verbs:
examples
prepositional verbs
meaning
direct object
believe in
have faith in the existence of
I believe in
God.
look after
take care of
He is looking after
the dog.
talk about
discuss
Did you talk about
me?
wait for
await
John is waiting for
Mary.
Prepositional verbs cannot be separated. That means that we cannot put the direct object
between the two parts. For example, we must say "look after the baby". We cannot say
"look the baby after":
prepositional verbs are
Who is looking after the
This is possible.
74
baby?
inseparable
Who is looking the baby

after?
This is not
possible.
EnglishClub.com Tip
It is a good idea to write "something/somebody" in your vocabulary book when you learn a new prepositional
verb, like this:
believe in something/somebody
look after sthg/sby
This reminds you that this verb needs a direct object (and where to put it).
Phrasal-prepositional Verbs
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are a small group of multi-word verbs made from a verb plus
another word or words. Many people refer to all multi-word verbs as phrasal verbs. On
these pages we make a distinction between three types of multi-word verbs: prepositional
verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional verbs. On this page we look at phrasalprepositional verbs.
Phrasal-prepositional verbs are made of:
verb + adverb + preposition

Look at these examples of phrasal-prepositional verbs:
examples
phrasal-prepositional
verbs
meaning
get on with
have a friendly
relationship with
He doesn't get on
with
his wife.
put up with
tolerate
I won't put up
with
your
attitude.
look forward to
anticipate with pleasure
I look forward to
seeing you.
run out of
use up, exhaust
We have run out

of
eggs.
direct
object
75
Because phrasal-prepositional verbs end with a preposition, there is always a direct
object. And, like prepositional verbs, phrasal-prepositional verbs cannot be separated.
phrasalprepositional
verbs are
We
ran out of
fuel.
inseparable
We
ran out of
it.
EnglishClub.com Tip
It is a good idea to write "something/somebody" in your vocabulary book when you learn a new phrasalprepositional verb, like this:
get on with somebody
put up with sthg/sby
run out of something
This reminds you that this verb needs a direct object (and where to put it).
1.5 English Conditionals

There are several structures in English that are called conditionals.
"Condition" means "situation or circumstance". If a particular condition is true, then a
particular result happens.
If y = 10 then 2y = 20
If y = 3 then 2y = 6
There are three basic conditionals that we use very often. There are some more
conditionals that we do not use so often. In this lesson, we will look at the three basic
conditionals as well as the so-called zero conditional. We'll finish with a quiz to check
your understanding.
Structure of Conditional Sentences
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First Conditional
Second Conditional
Third Conditional
Zero Conditional
Summary
EnglishClub.com Tip
People sometimes call conditionals "IF" structures or sentences, because there is usually (but not always)
the word "if" in a conditional sentence.
Structure of Conditional Sentences

The structure of most conditionals is very simple. There are two basic possibilities. Of
course, we add many words and can use various tenses, but the basic structure is usually
like this:
IF
condition
result
IF y = 10 2y = 20
or like this:
result
IF
condition
2y = 20 IF y = 10
First Conditional:
real possibility
We are talking about the future. We are thinking about a particular condition or situation
in the future, and the result of this condition. There is a real possibility that this condition
will happen. For example, it is morning. You are at home. You plan to play tennis this
afternoon. But there are some clouds in the sky. Imagine that it rains. What will you do?
IF condition
present simple
result
WILL + base verb
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If
it rains
I will stay at home.
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. It is not raining yet. But the sky is
cloudy and you think that it could rain. We use the present simple tense to talk about the
possible future condition. We use WILL + base verb to talk about the possible future
result. The important thing about the first conditional is that there is a real possibility
that the condition will happen. Here are some more examples (do you remember the
two basic structures: IF condition result / result IF condition?):
IF Condition
Result
present simple
WILL + base verb
If
I see Mary
I will tell her.
If
Tara is free tomorrow
he will invite her.
If
they do not pass their exam
their teacher will be sad.
If
it rains tomorrow
will you stay at home?
If
it rains tomorrow
what will you do?
result
IF condition
WILL + base verb
present simple
I will tell Mary
if
I see her.
He will invite Tara
if
she is free tomorrow.
Their teacher will be sad
if
they do not pass their exam.
Will you stay at home
if
it rains tomorrow?
What will you do
if
it rains tomorrow?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Sometimes, we use shall, can, or may instead of will, for example: If you are good today, you can
watch TV tonight.
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Second Conditional:
unreal possibility or dream
The second conditional is like the first conditional. We are still thinking about the future.
We are thinking about a particular condition in the future, and the result of this condition.
But there is not a real possibility that this condition will happen. For example, you do not
have a lottery ticket. Is it possible to win? No! No lottery ticket, no win! But maybe you
will buy a lottery ticket in the future. So you can think about winning in the future, like a
dream. It's not very real, but it's still possible.
IF condition
If
result
past simple
WOULD + base verb
I won the lottery
I would buy a car.
Notice that we are thinking about a future condition. We use the past simple tense to talk
about the future condition. We use WOULD + base verb to talk about the future result.
The important thing about the second conditional is that there is an unreal possibility
that the condition will happen.
IF condition
result
past simple
WOULD + base verb
If
I married Mary
I would be happy.
If
Ram became rich
she would marry him.
If
it snowed next July
would you be surprised?
If
it snowed next July
what would you do?
result
IF condition
WOULD + base verb

I would be happy
past simple
if
I married Mary.
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She would marry Ram
if
he became rich.
Would you be surprised
if
it snowed next July?
What would you do
if
it snowed next July?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Sometimes, we use should, could or might instead of would, for example: If I won a million dollars, I
could stop working.
Third Conditional:
no possibility
The first conditional and second conditionals talk about the future. With the third
conditional we talk about the past. We talk about a condition in the past that did not
happen. That is why there is no possibility for this condition. The third conditional is also
like a dream, but with no possibility of the dream coming true.
Last week you bought a lottery ticket. But you did not win. :-(
If
Condition
Result
Past Perfect
WOULD HAVE + Past Participle
I had won the lottery
I would have bought a car.
Notice that we are thinking about an impossible past condition. You did not win the
lottery. So the condition was not true, and that particular condition can never be true
because it is finished. We use the past perfect tense to talk about the impossible past
condition. We use WOULD HAVE + past participle to talk about the impossible past
result. The important thing about the third conditional is that both the condition and result
are impossible now.
IF condition
If
result
past perfect
WOULD HAVE + past participle
I had seen Mary
I would have told her.
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If
Tara had been free yesterday
I would have invited her.
If
they had not passed their exam
their teacher would have been sad.
If
it had rained yesterday
would you have stayed at home?
If
it had rained yesterday
what would you have done?
result
IF condition
WOULD HAVE + past participle
past perfect
I would have told Mary
if
I had seen her.
I would have invited Tara
if
she had been free yesterday.
Their teacher would have been sad
if
they had not passed their exam.
Would you have stayed at home
if
it had rained yesterday?
What would you have done
if
it had rained yesterday?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Sometimes, we use should have, could have, might have instead of would have, for
example: If you had bought a lottery ticket, you might have won.
Zero Conditional:
certainty
We use the so-called zero conditional when the result of the condition is always true,
like a scientific fact.
Take some ice. Put it in a saucepan. Heat the saucepan. What happens? The ice melts (it
becomes water). You would be surprised if it did not.
IF condition
If
result
present simple
present simple
you heat ice
it melts.
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Notice that we are thinking about a result that is always true for this condition. The result
of the condition is an absolute certainty. We are not thinking about the future or the past,
or even the present. We are thinking about a simple fact. We use the present simple tense
to talk about the condition. We also use the present simple tense to talk about the result.
The important thing about the zero conditional is that the condition always has the same
result.
IF condition
result
present simple
present simple
If
I miss the 8 o'clock bus
I am late for work.
If
I am late for work
my boss gets angry.
If
people don't eat
they get hungry.
If
you heat ice
does it melt?
result
IF condition
present simple
present simple
I am late for work
if
I miss the 8 o'clock bus.
My boss gets angry
if
I am late for work.
People get hungry
if
they don't eat.
Does ice melt
if
you heat it?
EnglishClub.com Tip
We can also use when instead of if, for example: When I get up late I miss my bus.
Conditionals: Summary
Here is a little chart to help you to visualize the basic English conditionals. Do not take
the 50% and 10% figures too literally. They are just to help you.
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probability
conditional
example
time
100%
zero conditional
If you heat ice, it melts.
any
time
50%
first conditional
If it rains, I will stay at home.
future
10%
second
conditional
If I won the lottery, I would buy a

car.
future
0%
third
conditional
If I had won the lottery, I would

have bought a car.
past
1.6 Modal Verbs (modal auxiliaries)

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Shall and Will
EnglishClub.com Tip
Modal auxiliary verbs may sound difficult but in fact they're easy. They are invariable (no conjugation).
And the main verb is always the "bare infinitive" (the infinitive without "to").

Can and could are modal auxiliary verbs. Be able to is not an auxiliary verb (it uses the
verb be as a main verb). We include be able to here for convenience.
In this lesson we look at these three verbs, followed by a quiz to check your
understanding:
Can
Could
Be able to
Can
Can is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use can to:
talk about possibility and ability

make requests
ask for or give permission
Structure of Can
subject + can + main verb

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").
subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
can
play
tennis.
He
play
tennis.
Can
play
tennis?
cannot
can't
you
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Notice that:
Can is invariable. There is only one form of can.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive.
EnglishClub.com Tip
The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"). We cannot say:
Use of Can
can: Possibility and Ability
We use can to talk about what is possible, what we are able or free to do:
She can drive a car.

John can speak Spanish.
I cannot hear you. (I can't hear you.)
Can you hear me?
Normally, we use can for the present. But it is possible to use can when we make present
decisions about future ability.
A. Can you help me with my homework? (present)
B. Sorry. I'm busy today. But I can help you tomorrow. (future)
can: Requests and Orders

We often use can in a question to ask somebody to do something. This is not a real
question - we do not really want to know if the person is able to do something, we want
them to do it! The use of can in this way is informal (mainly between friends and family):
Can you make a cup of coffee, please.

Can you put the TV on.
Can you come here a minute.
Can you be quiet!
can: Permission
We sometimes use can to ask or give permission for something:
A. Can I smoke in this room?
B. You can't smoke here, but you can smoke in the garden.
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(Note that we also use could, may, might for permission. The use of can for permission is
informal.)
Could
Could is an auxiliary verb, a modal auxiliary verb. We use could to:
talk about past possibility or ability

make requests
Structure of Could
subject + could + main verb

The main verb is always the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to").
subject
auxiliary verb
main verb
My grandmother
could
speak
Japanese.
speak
Chinese.
speak
Japanese?
could not
She
Could
couldn't
your grandmother
Notice that:
Could is invariable. There is only one form of could.

The main verb is always the bare infinitive.
EnglishClub.com Tip
The main verb is always the bare infinitive. We cannot say:
Use of Could
could: Past Possibility or Ability
We use could to talk about what was possible in the past, what we were able or free to do:
I could swim when I was 5 years old.
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My grandmother could speak seven languages.

When we arrived home, we could not open the door. (...couldn't open the door.)
Could you understand what he was saying?
We use could (positive) and couldn't (negative) for general ability in the past. But when
we talk about one special occasion in the past, we use be able to (positive) and couldn't
(negative). Look at these examples:
Past
General
Specific Occasion
My grandmother could speak

Spanish.
A man fell into the river yesterday. The police

were able to save him.
My grandmother couldn't speak A man fell into the river yesterday. The police
Spanish.
couldn't save him.
could: Requests
We often use could in a question to ask somebody to do something. The use of could in
this way is fairly polite (formal):
Could you tell me where the bank is, please?

Could you send me a catalogue, please?
Be able to
Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply the verb be plus
an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look at be able to here because we
sometimes use it instead of can and could. We use be able to:
to talk about ability
Structure of Be able to
The structure of be able to is:
subject + be + able + infinitive

subject
be
able
main verb
adjective
infinitive
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She
Are
am
able
to drive.
able
to drive.
able
to drive?
is not
isn't
you
Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:
I was able to drive...

I will be able to drive...
I have been able to drive...
Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:
I would like to be able to speak Chinese.
Use of Be able to
be able to: ability
We use be able to to express ability. "Able" is an adjective meaning: having the power,
skill or means to do something. If we say "I am able to swim", it is like saying "I can
swim". We sometimes use "be able to" instead of "can" or "could" for ability. "Be able to"
is possible in all tensesbut "can" is possible only in the present and "could" is possible
only in the past for ability. In addition, "can" and "could" have no infinitive form. So we
use "be able to" when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look at these
examples:
I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)

You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)
EnglishClub.com Tip
Be able to is not a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for convenience, because it is often used like
"can" and "could", which are modal auxiliary verbs.

Must is a modal auxiliary verb. Have to is not an auxiliary verb (it uses the verb have as a
main verb). We include have to here for convenience.
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In this lesson we look at these two verbs, followed by a quiz to check your
understanding:
Have to
Must
Must not
Have to (objective obligation)

We often use have to to say that something is obligatory, for example:
Children have to go to school.
Structure of Have to
Have to is often grouped with modal auxiliary verbs for convenience, but in fact it is not
a modal verb. It is not even an auxiliary verb. In the have to structure, "have" is a main
verb. The structure is:
subject + auxiliary verb + have + infinitive (with to)

Look at these examples in the simple tense:
subject
She
Did
auxiliary verb main verb have
infinitive (with to)
has
to work.
do not
have
to see
the doctor.
you
have
to go
to school?
Use of Have to
In general, have to expresses impersonal obligation. The subject of have to is obliged or
forced to act by a separate, external power (for example, the Law or school rules). Have
to is objective. Look at these examples:
In France, you have to drive on the right.

In England, most schoolchildren have to wear a uniform.
John has to wear a tie at work.
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In each of the above cases, the obligation is not the subject's opinion or idea. The
obligation is imposed from outside.
We can use have to in all tenses, and also with modal auxiliaries. We conjugate it just
like any other main verb. Here are some examples:
subject
main verb
auxiliary verb have
infinitive
past simple
had
to work
yesterday.
present simple
have
to work
today.
future simple
will
have
to work
tomorrow.
present continuous She
is
having
to wait.
present perfect
We
have
had
to change
the time.
modal (may)
They
may
have
to do
it again.
Must (subjective obligation)

We often use must to say that something is essential or necessary, for example:
I must go.
Structure of Must
Must is a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb. The structure is:
subject + must + main verb

The main verb is the base verb (infinitive without "to").
subject auxiliary must
I
must
main verb
go
home.
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You
must
visit
us.
We
must
stop
now.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Like all auxiliary verbs, "must" cannot be followed by
to. So, we say:
I must go now. (not *I must to go now.)
Use of Must
In general, must expresses personal obligation. Must expresses what the speaker thinks
is necessary. Must is subjective. Look at these examples:
I must stop smoking.

You must visit us soon.
He must work harder.
In each of the above cases, the "obligation" is the opinion or idea of the person speaking.
In fact, it is not a real obligation. It is not imposed from outside.
EnglishClub.com Tip
It is sometimes possible to use "must" for real obligation, for example a rule or a law. But generally we
use "have to" for this.
We can use must to talk about the present or the future. Look at these examples:
I must go now. (present)

I must call my mother tomorrow. (future)
There is no past tense for must. We use have to to talk about the past.
Must not (prohibition)

We use must not to say that something is not permitted or allowed, for example:
Passengers must not talk to the driver.
Structure of Must not

Must is an auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb. The structure for must not is:
subject + must not + main verb
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The main verb is the base verb (infinitive without "to").
Must not is often contracted to mustn't.
subject
auxiliary must + not
main verb
mustn't
forget
my keys.
You
mustn't
disturb
him.
Students
must not
be
late.
NB: like all auxiliary verbs, must cannot be followed by to. So, we say:
You mustn't arrive late. (not You mustn't to arrive late.)
Use of Must not

Must not expresses prohibition - something that is not permitted, not allowed. The
prohibition can be subjective (the speaker's opinion) or objective (a real law or rule).
I mustn't eat so much sugar. (subjective)

You mustn't watch so much television. (subjective)
Students must not leave bicycles here. (objective)
Policemen must not drink on duty. (objective)
We use must not to talk about the present or the future:
Visitors must not smoke. (present)

I mustn't forget Tara's birthday. (future)
We cannot use must not for the past. We use another structure to talk about the past, for
example:
We were not allowed to enter.

I couldn't park outside the shop.
Shall and Will

People may sometimes tell you that there is no difference between shall and will, or even
that today nobody uses shall (except in offers such as "Shall I call a taxi?"). This is not
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really true. The difference between shall and will is often hidden by the fact that we
usually contract them in speaking with 'll. But the difference does exist.
The truth is that there are two conjugations for the verb will:
1st Conjugation (objective, simple statement of fact)
Singular
Plural
Person
Verb
Example
Contraction
shall
I shall be in London tomorrow.
I'll
you
will
You will see a large building on the left.
You'll
he, she, it
will
He will be wearing blue.
He'll
we
shall
We shall not be there when you arrive.
We shan't
you
will
You will find his office on the 7th floor.
You'll
they
will
They will arrive late.
They'll
2nd Conjugation (subjective, strong assertion, promise or command)
Singular
Plural
Person
Verb
Example
Contraction
will
I will do everything possible to help.
I'll
you
shall
You shall be sorry for this.
You'll
he, she, it
shall
It shall be done.
It'll
we
will
We will not interfere.
We won't
you
shall
You shall do as you're told.
You'll
they
shall
They shall give one month's notice.
They'll
It is true that this difference is not universally recognized. However, let those who make
assertions such as "Americans never use 'shall'" peruse a good American English
dictionary, or many American legal documents, which often contain phrases such as:
Each party shall give one month's notice in writing in the event of termination.
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Note that exactly the same rule applies in the case of should and would. It is perfectly
normal, and somewhat more elegant, to write, for example:
I should be grateful if you would kindly send me your latest catalogue.
1.7 Gerunds (-ing)

EnglishClub.com Tip
Gerunds are sometimes called "verbal nouns".
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When a verb ends in -ing, it may be a gerund or a present participle. It is important to
understand that they are not the same.
When we use a verb in -ing form more like a noun, it is usually a gerund:
Fishing is fun.
When we use a verb in -ing form more like a verb or an adjective, it is usually a present
participle:
Anthony is fishing.
I have a boring teacher.
In this lesson, we look at the different ways in which we use gerunds, followed by a quiz
to check your understanding:
Gerunds as Subject, Object or Complement

Gerunds after Prepositions
Gerunds after Certain Verbs
Gerunds in Passive Sense
EnglishClub.com Tip
Many grammarians do not like to use the expression "gerund". That is because there is sometimes no clear
difference between a gerund and a present participle.
Gerunds as Subject, Object or

Complement
Try to think of gerunds as verbs in noun form.
Like nouns, gerunds can be the subject, object or complement of a sentence:
Smoking costs a lot of money.

I don't like writing.
My favourite occupation is reading.
But, like a verb, a gerund can also have an object itself. In this case, the whole expression
[gerund + object] can be the subject, object or complement of the sentence.
Smoking cigarettes costs a lot of money.

I don't like writing letters.
My favourite occupation is reading detective stories.
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Like nouns, we can use gerunds with adjectives (including articles and other
determiners):
pointless questioning
a settling of debts
the making of "Titanic"
his drinking of alcohol
But when we use a gerund with an article, it does not usually take a direct object:
a settling of debts (not a settling debts)

Making "Titanic" was expensive.
The making of "Titanic" was expensive.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Do you see the difference in these two sentences? In one, "reading" is a gerund (noun). In the other
"reading" is a present participle (verb).
My favourite occupation is reading.
My favourite niece is reading.
Answer
reading as gerund
(noun)
Main Verb
Complement
My favourite occupation
is
reading.
My favourite occupation
is
football.
reading as present participle

(verb)
Auxiliary Verb
Main Verb
My favourite niece
is
reading.
My favourite niece
has
finished.
Gerunds after Prepositions

This is a good rule. It has no exceptions!
If we want to use a verb after a preposition, it must be a gerund. It is impossible to use an
infinitive after a preposition. So for example, we say:
I will call you after arriving at the office.
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Please have a drink before leaving.

I am looking forward to meeting you.
Do you object to working late?
Tara always dreams about going on holiday.
Notice that you could replace all the above gerunds with "real" nouns:
I will call you after my arrival at the office.

Please have a drink before your departure.
I am looking forward to our lunch.
Do you object to this job?
Tara always dreams about holidays.
EnglishClub.com Tip
The above rule has no exceptions! So why is "to" followed by "driving" in 1 and by "drive" in 2?
1. I am used to driving on the left.
2. I used to drive on the left.
Answer
to as preposition
Preposition
I am used
to
driving on the left.
I am used
to
animals.
to as infinitive
Infinitive
I used
to drive
I used
to smoke.
on the left
Gerunds after Certain Verbs

We sometimes use one verb after another verb. Often the second verb is in the infinitive
form, for example:
I want to eat.
But sometimes the second verb must be in gerund form, for example:
I dislike eating.
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This depends on the first verb. Here is a list of verbs that are usually followed by a verb
in gerund form:
admit, appreciate, avoid, carry on, consider, defer, delay, deny, detest, dislike,
endure, enjoy, escape, excuse, face, feel like, finish, forgive, give up, can't help,
imagine, involve, leave off, mention, mind, miss, postpone, practise, put off,
report, resent, risk, can't stand, suggest, understand
She is considering having a holiday.

Do you feel like going out?
I can't help falling in love with you.
I can't stand not seeing you.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Some verbs can be followed by the gerund form or the infinitive form without a big change in meaning:
begin, continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, propose, start
I like to play tennis.
I like playing tennis.
It started to rain.
It started raining.
Gerunds in Passive Sense

We often use a gerund after the verbs need, require and want. In this case, the gerund has
a passive sense.
I have three shirts that need washing. (need to be washed)

This letter requires signing. (needs to be signed)
The house wants repainting. (needs to be repainted)
EnglishClub.com Tip
The expression "something wants doing" is British English.
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1.8 Questions
What is a question?
A statement is a sentence that gives information. A question is a sentence that asks for
information.
Statement: I like EnglishClub.com.
Question: Do you like EnglishClub.com?
A written question in English always ends with a question mark: ?
In this lesson we look at basic questions in English, followed by a quiz to check your
understanding:


The basic structure of a question in English is very simple:
auxiliary verb + subject + main verb

auxiliary verb
subject
main verb
Do
you
like
Mary?
Are
they
playing
football?
Will
Anthony
go
to Tokyo?
Have
you
seen
ET?
Exception! For the verb be in simple present and simple past, we do not use an auxiliary
verb. We simply reverse the positions of be and subject:
Statement:
He is
German.
Question:
Is
German?
he
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There are 3 basic types of question:
1. Yes/No Questions (the answer to the question is "Yes" or "No")
2. Question Word Questions (the answer to the question is "Information")
3. Choice Questions (the answer to the question is "in the question")
1. Yes/No Questions
Answer
Yes or No
auxiliary verb
subject
main verb
Do
you
want
Can
you
drive?
Has
she
finished
her work?
Yes, she has.
Did
they
go
home?
No, they didn't.
dinner?
Yes, I do.
No, I can't.
Exception! verb BE simple present and simple past

Is
Anne
French?
Yes, she is.
Was
Ram
at home?
No, he wasn't.
2. Question Word Questions

question word
auxiliary verb
subject
main verb
Answer
Information
Where
do
you
live?
In Paris.
When
will
we
have
Who
did
she
meet?
Why
hasn't
Tara
done
lunch?
At 1pm.
She met Ram.
it?
Because she can't.

Where
is
Bombay?
In India.
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How
was
she?
Very well.
3. Choice Questions
auxiliary
verb
subject
main
verb
Answer
In the question
Do
you
want
tea
or
coffee?
Coffee, please.
Will
we
meet
John
or
James?
John.
Did
she
go
to
London
or
New
York?
She went to
London.
OR

Is
your car
white
or
black?
It's black.
Were
they
$15
or
$50?
$15.
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1.9 Tag Questions

A tag question is a special construction in English. It is a statement followed by a miniquestion. The whole sentence is a "tag question", and the mini-question at the end is
called a "question tag".
EnglishClub.com Tip
A "tag" is something small that we add to something larger. For example, the little piece of cloth added to a
shirt showing size or washing instructions is a tag.
We use tag questions at the end of statements to ask for confirmation. They mean
something like: "Am I right?" or "Do you agree?" They are very common in English.
+
Positive statement, negative tag?
+
Negative statement, positive tag?
Look at these examples with positive statements:
positive statement [+]
negative tag [-]
notes:
auxiliary
not
personal
pronoun
subject
auxiliary
main
verb
You
are
coming,
are
n't
you?
We
have
finished,
have
n't
we?
You
do
like
coffee,
do
n't
you?
like
coffee,
do
n't
you?
You (do) like...
wo
n't
they?
won't = will not
You
They
will
help,
(same as
subject)
102
can
come,
can
't
I?
We
must
go,
must
n't
we?
He
should
try
harder,
should
n't
he?
You
are
English,
are
n't
you?
John
was
there,
was
n't
he?
no auxiliary for
main verb be
present & past
Look at these examples with negative statements:

negative statement [-]
subject
auxiliary
positive tag [+]

main verb
auxiliary
personal
pronoun
(same as subject)
It
is
n't
raining,
is
it?
We
have
never
seen
that,
have
we?
You
do
n't
like
coffee,
do
you?
They
will
not
help,
will
they?
They
wo
n't
report
us,
will
they?
can
never
do
it right,
can
I?
We
must
n't
tell
her,
must
we?
He
should
n't
drive
so fast,
should
he?
You
are
n't
English,
are
you?
John
was
not
there,
was
he?
Some special cases:

I am right, aren't I?
aren't I (not amn't I)
You have to go, don't you?
you (do) have to go...
103
I have been answering, haven't

I?
use first auxiliary
Nothing came in the post, did it?
treat statements with nothing, nobody etc like negative

statements
Let's go, shall we?
let's = let us
He'd better do it, hadn't he?
he had better (no auxiliary)
Here are some mixed examples:
But you don't really love her, do you?

This will work, won't it?
Well, I couldn't help it, could I?
But you'll tell me if she calls, won't you?
We'd never have known, would we?
The weather's bad, isn't it?
You won't be late, will you?
Nobody knows, do they?
Notice that we often use tag questions to ask for information or help, starting with a
negative statement. This is quite a friendly/polite way of making a request. For example,
instead of saying "Where is the police station?" (not very polite), or "Do you know where
the police station is?" (slightly more polite), we could say: "You wouldn't know where the
police station is, would you?" Here are some more examples:
You don't know of any good jobs, do you?

You couldn't help me with my homework, could you?
You haven't got $10 to lend me, have you?
Intonation
We can change the meaning of a tag question with the musical pitch of our voice. With
rising intonation, it sounds like a real question. But if our intonation falls, it sounds more
like a statement that doesn't require a real answer:
intonation
You don't know where my wallet is,
do you?
/ rising
real question
It's a beatiful view,
isn't it?
\ falling
not a real question
Answers to tag questions
104
EnglishClub.com Tip
A question tag is the "mini-question" at the end. A tag question is the whole sentence.
How do we answer a tag question? Often, we just say Yes or No. Sometimes we may
repeat the tag and reverse it (..., do they? Yes, they do). Be very careful about answering
tag questions. In some languages, an oposite system of answering is used, and non-native
English speakers sometimes answer in the wrong way. This can lead to a lot of confusion!
EnglishClub.com Tip
Answer a tag question according to the truth of the situation. Your answer reflects the real facts, not
(necessarily) the question.
For example, everyone knows that snow is white. Look at these questions, and the correct
answers:
tag question
correct
answer
Snow is white, isn't it?
Yes (it is).
Snow isn't white, is it?
Yes it is!
Snow is black, isn't it?
No it isn't!
Snow isn't black, is it?
No (it isn't).
the answer is the same in

both cases - because snow
IS WHITE!
the answer is the same in
both cases - because snow
IS NOT BLACK!
but notice the change of stress

when the answerer does not
agree with the questioner
In some languages, people answer a question like "Snow isn't black, is it?" with "Yes"
(meaning "Yes, I agree with you"). This is the wrong answer in English!
Here are some more examples, with correct answers:
The moon goes round the earth, doesn't it? Yes, it does.
The earth is bigger than the moon, isn't it? Yes.
The earth is bigger than the sun, isn't it? No, it isn't!
Asian people don't like rice, do they? Yes, they do!
Elephants live in Europe, don't they? No, they don't!
Men don't have babies, do they? No.
The English alphabet doesn't have 40 letters, does it? No, it doesn't.
Question tags with imperatives

Sometimes we use question tags with imperatives (invitations, orders), but the sentence
remains an imperative and does not require a direct answer. We use won't for invitations.
We use can, can't, will, would for orders.
105
invitation
order
imperative + question tag
notes:
Take a seat, won't you?
polite
Help me, can you?
quite friendly
Help me, can't you?
quite friendly (some irritation?)
Close the door, would you?
quite polite
Do it now, will you?
less polite
Don't forget, will you?
with negative imperatives only will is possible
Same-way question tags

Although the basic structure of tag questions is positive-negative or negative-positive, it
is sometime possible to use a positive-positive or negative-negative structure. We use
same-way question tags to express interest, surprise, anger etc, and not to make real
questions.
So you're having a baby, are you? That's wonderful!

She wants to marry him, does she? Some chance!
So you think that's amusing, do you? Think again.
Negative-negative tag questions usually sound rather hostile:
So you don't like my looks, don't you?
106
1.10 Subjunctive
The subjunctive is a special, relatively rare verb form in English.
Construction of the Subjunctive

The structure of the subjunctive is extremely simple. For all verbs except the past tense of
to be, the subjunctive is the same as the bare infinitive (infinitive without "to"):
to be
everything else, same as bare infinitive
past
present
past and present
I were
you were
he, she, it were
we were
you were
they were
I be
you be
he, she, it be
we be
you be
they be
I work
you work
he, she, it work
we work
you work
they work
EnglishClub.com Tip
The subjunctive does not change according to person (I, you, he etc).
Use of the Subjunctive

We use subjunctives mainly when talking about events that are not certain to happen. For
example, we use the subjunctive when talking about events that somebody:
wants to happen
hopes will happen
imagines happening
The President requests that you be present at the meeting.

It is vital that you be present at the meeting.
If you were at the meeting, the President would be happy.
107
The subjunctive is typically used after two structures:
the verbs: ask, command, demand, insist, propose, recommend, request, suggest
+ that
the expressions: it is desirable, essential, important, necessary, vital + that
Here are some examples with the subjunctive:
The manager insists that the car park be locked at night.

The board of directors recommended that he join the company.
It is essential that we vote as soon as possible.
It was necessary that every student submit his essay by the weekend.
Notice that in these structures the subjunctive is always the same. It does not matter
whether the sentence is past or present. Look at these examples:
Present: The President requests that they stop the occupation.

Past: The President requested that they stop the occupation.
Present: It essential that she be present.

Past: It was essential that she be present.
EnglishClub.com Tip
The use of the subjunctive as above is more common in American English than in British English, where
should + infinitive is often used:
The manager insists that the car park should be locked at night.
It was essential that we should vote as soon as possible.
We usually use the subjunctive were instead of "was" after if (and other words with
similar meaning). Look at these sentences:
If I were you, I would ask her.

Suppose she were here. What would you say?
Why do we say "I were", "he were"?

We sometimes hear things like "if I were you, I would go" or "if he were here, he would
tell you". Normally, the past tense of the verb "to be" is: I was, he was. But the if I were
you structure does not use the past simple tense of the verb "to be". It uses the past
subjunctive of the verb "to be". In the following examples, you can see that we often use
the subjunctive form were instead of "was" after:
if
as if
wish
108
suppose
Formal
Informal
(The were form is correct at all

times.)
(The was form is possible in informal, familiar

conversation.)
If I were younger, I would go.
If I was younger, I would go.
If he weren't so mean, he would

buy one for me.
If he wasn't so mean, he would buy one for me.
I wish I weren't so slow!
I wish I wasn't so slow!
I wish it were longer.
I wish it was longer.
It's not as if I were ugly.
It's not as if I was ugly.
She acts as if she were Queen.
She acts as if she was Queen.
If I were you, I should tell her.
Note: We do not normally say "if I was you", even in

familiar conversation.
Some fixed expressions use the subjunctive. Here are some examples:
Long live the King!

God bless America!
Heaven forbid!
Be that as it may, he still wants to see her.
Come what may, I will never forget you.
We are all citizens of the world, as it were.
109
1.11 Active Voice, Passive Voice

There are two special forms for verbs called voice:
1. Active voice
2. Passive voice
The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that we use most of the time.
You are probably already familiar with the active voice. In the active voice, the object
receives the action of the verb:
subject
verb
object
>>>
active
Cats
eat
fish.
The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the
verb:
subject
verb
object
<<<
passive
Fish
are eaten
by cats.
The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:
subject
verb
object
active
Everybody
drinks
water.
passive
Water
is drunk
by everybody.
110
Passive Voice
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal"
voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to
construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

The main verb is always in its past participle form:
base
past
past participle
regular
work
worked
worked
irregular
sing
sang
sung

subject
auxiliary verb (to be)
main verb (past participle)
Water
is
drunk
by everyone.
100 people
are
employed
by this company.
am
paid
in euro.
We
are
not paid
in dollars.
Are
they
paid
in yen?
Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:
we want to make the active object more important

we do not know the active subject
111
subject
verb
object
give importance to active object

(Kennedy)
President
Kennedy
was killed
by Lee Harvey
Oswald.
active subject unknown
My wallet
has been
stolen.
Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
EnglishClub.com Tip
Look at this sentence:
He was killed with a gun.
Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not
kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him
with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".
Conjugation for the Passive Voice

We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is
rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is
always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
present simple: It is made

present continuous: It is being made
present perfect: It has been made
Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive
to be washed
present
It is washed.
past
It was washed.
future
It will be washed.
conditional
It would be washed.
present
It is being washed.
past
It was being washed.
future
It will be being washed.
simple
continuous
112
conditional
It would be being washed.
present
It has been washed.
past
It had been washed.
future
It will have been washed.
conditional
It would have been washed.
present
It has been being washed.
past
It had been being washed.
future
It will have been being washed.
conditional
It would have been being washed.
perfect simple
perfect continuous
113
1.12 Infinitive or -ing?

Sometimes we need to decide whether to use a verb in its:
-ing form ("doing")

or
infinitive form ("to do").
For example, only one of the following sentences is correct. Which one?
I dislike working late. (???)

I dislike to work late. (???)
When to use the infinitive

The infinitive form is used after certain verbs:
- forget, help, learn, teach, train
- choose, expect, hope, need, offer, want, would like
- agree, encourage, pretend, promise, recommend
- allow, can/can't afford, decide, manage, mean, refuse
I forgot to close the window.

Mary needs to leave early.
Why are they encouraged to learn English?
We can't afford to take a long holiday.
The infinitive form is always used after adjectives, for example:

- disappointed, glad, happy, pleased, relieved, sad, surprised
I was happy to help them.

She will be delighted to see you.
This includes too + adjective:
The water was too cold to swim in.

Is your coffee too hot to drink?
114
The infinitive form is used after adjective + enough:
He was strong enough to lift it.

She is rich enough to buy two.
When to use -ing

The -ing form is used when the word is the subject of a sentence or clause:
Swimming is good exercise.

Doctors say that smoking is bad for you.
The -ing form is used after a preposition:
I look forward to meeting you.

They left without saying "Goodbye."
The -ing form is used after certain verbs:

- avoid, dislike, enjoy, finish, give up, mind/not mind, practise
I dislike getting up early.

Would you mind opening the window?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Some verbs can be followed by the -ing form or the infinitive without a big change in meaning: begin,
continue, hate, intend, like, love, prefer, propose, start.
It started to rain.
It started raining.
I like to play tennis.
I like playing tennis.
115
1.13 Plural Verbs with Singular Subjects

We often use singular nouns that refer to groups of people (eg government, committee,
team) as if they were plural. This is particularly true in British English. This is because
we often think of the group as people, doing things that people do (eating, wanting,
feeling etc). In such cases, we use:
plural verb
plural pronoun (they)
who (not which)
The committee want sandwiches for lunch. They have to leave early.
My family, who don't see me often, have asked me home for Christmas.
The team hope to win next time.
Here are some examples of words and expressions that can be considered singular or
plural:
choir, class, club, committee, company, family, government, jury, school, staff,
team, union, the BBC, board of directors, the Conservative Party, Manchester
United, the Ministry of Health
But when we consider the group as an impersonal unit, we use singular verbs and
pronouns:
The new company is the result of a merger.

An average family consists of four people.
The committee, which was formed in 1999, is made up of four men and four
women.
Notice that this is often a question of style and logic. The important thing is to be
consistent.
englishclub.com Tip
116
Using a plural verb with singular subject is less common in American English.
1.14 Verb Meanings with Continuous

Tenses
There are some verbs that we do not normally use in the continuous tense. And there are
other verbs that we use in the simple tense with one meaning and in the continuous tense
with another meaning.
In this lesson we look at various uses of continuous tenses.


We usually use the following verbs with simple tenses only (not continuous tenses):
hate, like, love, need, prefer, want, wish

believe, imagine, know, mean, realize, recognize, remember, suppose, understand
belong, concern, consist, contain, depend, involve, matter, need, owe, own,
possess
appear, resemble, seem,
hear, see

I want a coffee.
not I am wanting a coffee.
I don't believe you are right.
not I am not believing you are right.
Does this pen belong to you?
not Is this pen belonging to you?
It seemed wrong.
not It was seeming wrong.
117
I don't hear anything.
not I am not hearing anything.
Notice that we often use can + see/hear:
I can see someone in the distance. (not I am seeing someone in the distance.)
I can't hear you very well. (not I am not hearing you very well.)
EnglishClub.com Tip
With verbs that we don't use in the continuous tense, there is no real action or activity. Compare "to hear"
and "to listen". "To hear" means "to receive sound in your ears". There is no real action or activity by you.
We use "to hear" with simple tenses only. But "to listen" means "to try to hear". You make an effort to hear.
There is a kind of action or activity. We can use "to listen" with simple or continuous tenses.

Some verbs have two different meanings or senses. For one sense we must use a simple
tense. For the other sense we can use a continuous or simple tense.
For example, the verb to think has two different senses:
1. to believe, to have an opinion (example: I think Ricky Martin is sexy.)
2. to reflect, to use your brain to solve a problem (example: I am thinking about my
homework.)
In sense 1. there is no real action, no activity. This sense is called "stative". In sense 2.
there is a kind of action, a kind of activity. This sense is called "dynamic".
When we use the stative sense, we use a simple tense. When we use the dynamic sense,
we can use a simple or continuous tense, depending on the situation.
Stative sense
(no real action)
Dynamic sense
(a kind of action)
Simple only
Continuous
Simple
I think she is beautiful.
Be quiet. I'm thinking.
I will think about this

problem tomorrow.
I don't consider that he

is the right man for the
job.
We are considering your job

application and will give you our
answer in a few days.
We consider every job

application very
carefully.
118
This table measures 4 x She is measuring the room for a

6 feet.
new carpet.
A good carpenter
measures his wood
carefully.
Does the wine taste

good?
I was tasting the wine when I

dropped the glass.
I always taste wine

before I drink it.
Mary has three

children.
Please phone later. We are having

dinner now.
We have dinner at 8pm

every day.
EnglishClub.com Tip
If you have a doubt about a particular verb, ask yourself the question: "Is there any real action or activity?"

The verb be can be an auxiliary verb (Marie is learning English) or a main verb (Marie is
French). On this page we look at the verb be as a main verb.
Usually we use simple tenses with the verb be as a main verb. For example, we say:
London is the capital of the UK. (not London is being the capital of the UK.)
Is she beautiful? (not Is she being beautiful?)
Were you late? (not Were you being late?)
Sometimes, however, we can use the verb be with a continuous tense. This is when the
real sense of the verb is "to act" or "to behave". Also, of course, the action is temporary.
Compare the following examples:
Mary is a careful person. (Mary is
always careful - it's her nature.)
John is being careful. (John is acting carefully

now, but maybe he is not always careful - we
don't know.)
Is he always so stupid? (Is that his

personality?)
They were being really stupid. (They were

behaving really stupidly at that moment.)
Andrew is not usually selfish. (It is

not Andrew's character to be selfish.)
Why is he being so selfish? (Why is he acting so

selfishly at the moment?)
Notice that we also make a difference between "to be sick" and "to be being sick":
She is sick (= she is not well)

She is being sick (= she is vomiting)
119
EnglishClub.com Tip
Here is the structure of the verb be in the continuous
present tense:
I am being
You are being
He, she, it is being
We are being
You are being
They are being
1.15 Used to do & Be used to

These two expressions look the same, but actually they are completely different.
In this lesson we look at the structure and use of both expressions, followed by a quiz to
Used to do
Be used to
Used to do
We use used to do to talk about the past. It is not a tense but it is like a tense. It is a
special expression. We use the expression used to do for the past only.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Do not confuse used to do with with the expression be used to. They have different meanings.
How do we make used to do?

The structure is:
subject
auxiliary did
did
Did
you
(not)
not
main verb use
infinitive
used
to do.
use
to do.
use
to do?
120
EnglishClub.com Tip
Used or use?
when there is did in the sentence, we say use to (without the d)
when there is no did in the sentence, we say used to (with the d)
How do we use used to do?

We use this expression to talk about:
an activity that we did regularly in the past (like a habit)

a situation that was true in the past
I used to smoke.
//////////////
past
present
Look at these examples.

the past
the present
She used to work in a shop.
Now she works in a bank.
He used to watch a lot of TV.
Now he doesn't watch much TV.
They used to be married.
Now they are divorced.
There used to be a cinema here.
Now there is a supermarket here.
I didn't use to go swimming.
Now I go swimming.
Did you use to smoke?
Be used to
Be used to something
Be used to doing
future
121
Be used to is an expression. It is not a tense. If I say "I am used to Thailand", it is like
saying "I am accustomed to Thailand."
EnglishClub.com Tip
Do not confuse be used to with with the special construction used to do. They have different meanings.
How do we make be used to?

The structure is:
subject + be + used to + object
+
?
subject
main verb be (not)
used to
object
am
used to
horses.
He
is
used to
horses.
We
aren't
used to
horses.
Are
you
used to
horses?
not
If the object is a verb, we use the -ing form:
+
?
subject
main verb be
am
He
is
We
Are
(not)
used to
object verb+ing
used to
cooking.
used to
cooking.
aren't
used to
cooking.
you
used to
cooking.
not
EnglishClub.com Tip
Why do we use -ing for a verb after be used to? Because we always use -ing for a verb after a preposition and the to is a preposition!
How do we use be used to?

The be used to expression is for talking about something that is familiar to us or easy for
us. For example:
122
I am used to driving on the left.
It means that it is not a problem for me to drive on the left of the road. I am Japanese. In
Japan, people drive on the left. Now I am living in the USA where people drive on the
right. Of course, I drive on the right in the USA, but when I go to Japan it is easy for me
to drive on the left because "I am used to it".
Look at these examples.
I am used to hard work.

I am used to working hard.
He is not used to New York.
He isn't used to living in New York.
Are you used to fast food?
Are you used to eating quickly?
Be used to with other tenses

We can use be used to in any tense. We just conjugate the verb be in the tense that we
need. Look at these examples:
When we lived in Bangkok, we were used to hot weather.

I have been used to snakes for a long time.
You will soon be used to living alone.
123
1.16 going to
going to is not a tense. It is a special expression to talk about the future.
How do we make a sentence with "going to"?

The structure is:
subject + be + going + infinitive

The verb "be" is conjugated (past, present or future).
subject
be
am
I'm
He
is
It
Are
(not)
going
infinitive
going
to buy
a new car.
going
to go
swimming.
going
to take
the exam.
isn't
going
to rain.
you
going
to paint
not
the house?
124
How do we use "going to"?

going to (for intention)
We use going to when we have the intention to do something before we speak. We have
already made a decision before speaking. Look at these examples:
Jo has won the lottery. He says he's going to buy a Porsche.

We're not going to paint our bedroom tomorrow.
When are you going to go on holiday?
In these examples, we had an intention or plan before speaking. The decision was
made before speaking.
going to (for prediction)

We often use going to to make a prediction about the future. Our prediction is based on
present evidence. We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:
The sky is very black. It's going to snow.

It's 8.30! You're going to miss the train!
I crashed the company car. My boss isn't going to be very happy!
In these examples, the present situation (black sky, the time, damaged car) gives us a
good idea of what is going to happen.
125
1.17 Future Time

The future is uncertain. We know the past. We know the present. We do not know the
future. We can be 100% sure or certain about the past and the present. But we can never
be 100% certain about the future. In English there are several structures and tenses to talk
about the future. It is usually the degree of certainty about the future that decides our
choice of structure or tense.
In this lesson we look at four of the most common ways to talk about the future, followed
by a quiz to check your understanding:
Will: for no prior plan and prediction

Going to: for intention and prediction
Present Continuous: for prior plan
Present Simple: for schedule
Summary
EnglishClub.com Tip
Although we often talk about "future tenses", technically there are no future tenses in Englishonly
different ways of talking about the future, using special constructions, other tenses or modal verbs.
Will
126
One of the most common ways to talk about the future is with will, for example: I will
call you tonight. We often call this the "future simple tense", but technically there are no
future tenses in English. In this construction, the word will is a modal auxiliary verb.
Will: no prior plan

We use will when there is no prior plan or decision to do something before we speak. We
make the decision at the time of speaking. Look at these examples:
Hold on. I'll get a pen.

We will see what we can do to help you.
Maybe we'll stay in and watch television tonight.
In these examples, we had no firm plan before speaking. The decision is made at the
time of speaking.
We often use "will" with the verb "to think":
I think I'll go to the gym tomorrow.

I think I'll have a holiday next year.
I don't think I'll buy that car.
Will: prediction
We often use "will" to make a prediction about the future. Again, there is no firm plan.
We are saying what we think will happen. Here are some examples:
It will rain tomorrow.

People won't go to Jupiter before the 22nd century.
Who do you think will get the job?
Will + to be
The verb "to be" is an exception with "will". Even when we have a very firm plan, and
we are not speaking spontaneously, we can use "will" with "to be". Look at these
examples:
I will be in London tomorrow.

There will be 50 people at the party.
The meeting will be at 9.30 am.
EnglishClub.com Tip
The verb to be is always exceptional!
Going to
127
Going to: intention

We use the special "going to" construction when we have the intention to do something
before we speak. We have already made a decision before speaking. Look at these
examples:
I have won $1,000. I am going to buy a new TV.

We're not going to see my mother tomorrow.
When are you going to go on holiday?
In these examples, we had an intention or plan before speaking. The decision was
made before we spoke.
Going to: prediction

We often use "going to" to make a prediction about the future. Our prediction is based on
evidence. We are saying what seems sure to happen. Here are some examples:
The sky is very black. It is going to snow.

It's 8.30! You're going to miss the train!
I crashed the company car. My boss isn't going to be very happy!
In these examples, the present situation (black sky/the time/damaged car) gives us a good
idea of what is going to happen.
EnglishClub.com Tip
We use will for prediction when we have no real evidence: "It will rain tomorrow." (It's my feeling
but I can't be sure.)
We use going to for prediction when there is some real evidence: "It's going to rain." (There's a big,
black cloud in the sky and if it doesn't rain I'll be very surprised.)
Present Continuous:
for prior plan
We often use the present continuous tense to talk about the future. Of course, we
normally use the present continuous to talk about action happening in the present, but if
we add a future word, we can use it to talk about the future. (By "future word" we mean
words like "tomorrow", "next week", "in June" etc. The future word may be clearly
expressed or understood from the context.)
We use the present continuous only when a plan exists before we speak. Look at these
examples:
128
Mary is taking her music exam next year.

They cant play tennis with you tomorrow. They 're working.
Were going to the theatre on Friday.
EnglishClub.com Tip
Sometimes there is no real difference between an intention ("Going To") and a plan (Continuous Present).
In this case, it doen't matter which we use.
We're going to paint the bedroom tomorrow.
We're painting the bedroom tomorrow.
Present Simple:
for schedule
When an event is on a schedule or timetable (for example, the take-off time for a plane),
we often use the present simple to express the future. We usually also use a future word
(expressed or understood) like "tomorrow", "at 6.30pm", "next week".
Only a few verbs are used in this way, for example:
be, open, close, begin, start, end, finish, arrive, come, leave, return
Look at these sentences:
The train leaves Detroit at 9pm tonight.

John starts work next week.
Tomorrow is Thursday.
Future Time: Summary

When we speak, we choose the tense that we use. This is important in English, because
the tense we choose expresses more than just a simple fact. When we speak about the
future, the tense we choose can express how we "see" the future, even our personal
feelings about the future. It certainly expresses what we believe to be the probability (the
chance, the reality) of something happening or whether we have already decided to do it.
This table gives a simple scale of probability for each structure. It is not exact because
language is not a science, and there are many variables. This table should help you to
think about the "concept" of the future in English. This concept does not exist in all
languages, but it is rather important in English.
% probability before speaker structure
used for
example
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speaks of event happening

0%
will
no plan
Don't get up. I'll answer the

phone.
70%
going to
intention
We're going to watch TV

tonight.
90%
present
continuous
plan
I'm taking my exam in June.
99.999%
present simple
schedule
My plane takes off at 6.00am

tomorrow.
EnglishClub.com Tip
It is impossible in English to express the future with 100% certainty. (The speakers of any language that can
do this must all be millionaires!)
1.18 For & Since for Time

We often use for and since when talking about time.
for + period
A period is a duration of time, for example: 5 minutes, 2 weeks, 6 years. For means
"from the beginning of the period until the end of the period." For can be used with all
tenses.
since + point
A point is a precise moment in time, for example: 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday. Since
means "from a point in the past until now." Since is normally used with perfect tenses.
for
since
a period
(from start to end)
a point
(up to now)
130
>===< ===>|
all tenses
perfect tenses
for...
20 minutes
three days
6 months
4 years
2 centuries
a long time
ever
etc
since...
9am
Monday
January
1997
1500
I left school
etc
For can be used with all tenses. Here are a few examples:
They study for two hours every day.

They are studying for three hours today.
He has lived in Bangkok for a long time.
He has been living in Paris for three months.
I worked at that bank for five years.
Will the universe continue for ever?
For is not used with "all day", "all the time" etc.
I was there all day. (not *for all day)
Since is normally used with perfect tenses:
He has been here since 9am.

He has been working since he arrived.
I had lived in New York since my childhood.
Since can also be used in the structure "It is [period] since...":
It is a year since I saw her.

How long is it since you got married?
EnglishClub.com Tip
Both for and since also have different meanings, with no reference to time. Here are some examples:
This is for you.
Is this the train for London?
131
Since you ask, I'll say yes.
Since he didn't study he didn't pass the exam.
2 English Nouns
It's not easy to describe a noun. In simple terms, nouns are "things" (and verbs are
"actions"). Like food. Food (noun) is something you eat (verb). Or happiness. Happiness
(noun) is something you want (verb). Or human being. A human being (noun) is
something you are (verb).
2.1 What are Nouns?
What do nouns do? What's their job? Why are they important? How can I recognize a
noun?
2.2 Countable Nouns, Uncountable Nouns
Why is this important? Why do some nouns have no plural?
2.3 Proper Nouns (Names)
Do we say "Atlantic Ocean" or "the Atlantic Ocean"? Should I
write "february" or "February"?
dog/dogs, rice, hair(s)
Shirley, Mr Jeckyll,
Thailand, Sony
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2.4 Possessive 's

Adding 's or ' to show possession.
John's car, my parents'

house
2.1 What are Nouns?

It is not easy to define a noun.
The simple definition is: "a person, place or thing". Here are some examples:
Person: man, woman, teacher, John, Mary

Place: home, office, town, countryside, America
Thing: table, car, banana, money, music, love, dog, monkey
The problem with this definition is that it does not explain why "love" is a noun but can
also be a verb.
Another (more complicated) way of recognizing a noun is by its:
1. Ending
2. Position
3. Function
1) Noun Ending
There are certain word endings that show that a word is a noun, for example:
-ity > nationality

-ment > appointment
-ness > happiness
-ation > relation
-hood > childhood
But this is not is not true for the word endings of all nouns. For example, the noun
"spoonful" ends in -ful, but the adjective "careful" also ends in -ful.
2) Position in Sentence
We can often recognise a noun by its position in the sentence.
Nouns often come after a determiner. (A "determiner" is a word like a, an, the, this, my,
such.)
a relief
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an afternoon
the doctor
this word
my house
such stupidity
Nouns often come after one or more adjectives.
a great relief
a peaceful afternoon
the tall, Indian doctor
this difficult word
my brown and white house
such crass stupidity
3) Function in a Sentence
Nouns have certain functions (jobs) in a sentence, for example:
subject of verb > Doctors work hard.

object of verb > He likes coffee.
subject and object of verb > Teachers teach students.
But the subject or object of a sentence is not always a noun. It could be a pronoun or a
phrase. In the sentence "My doctor works hard", the noun is "doctor" but the subject is
"My doctor".
2.2 Countable and Uncountable Nouns

English nouns are often described as "countable" or "uncountable".
Countable nouns
Uncountable nouns
Nouns that can be countable and uncountable
Countable Nouns
134
Countable nouns are easy to recognize. They are things that we can count. For example:
"pen". We can count pens. We can have one, two, three or more pens. Here are some
more countable nouns:
dog, cat, animal, man, person

bottle, box, litre
coin, note, dollar
cup, plate, fork
table, chair, suitcase, bag
Countable nouns can be singular or plural:
My dog is playing.
My dogs are hungry.
We can use the indefinite article a/an with countable nouns:
A dog is an animal.
When a countable noun is singular, we must use a word like a/the/my/this with it:
I want an orange. (not I want orange.)

Where is my bottle? (not Where is bottle?)
When a countable noun is plural, we can use it alone:
I like oranges.
Bottles can break.
We can use some and any with countable nouns:
I've got some dollars.

Have you got any pens?
We can use a few and many with countable nouns:
I've got a few dollars.

I haven't got many pens.
englishclub.com Tip
"People" is countable. "People" is the plural of "person". We can count people. There is
one person here. There are three people here.
Uncountable Nouns
135
Uncountable nouns are substances, concepts etc that we cannot divide into separate
elements. We cannot "count" them. For example, we cannot count "milk". We can count
"bottles of milk" or "litres of milk", but we cannot count "milk" itself. Here are some
more uncountable nouns:
music, art, love, happiness

advice, information, news
furniture, luggage
rice, sugar, butter, water
electricity, gas, power
money, currency
We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular. We use a singular verb. For example:
This news is very important.

Your luggage looks heavy.
We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with uncountable nouns. We cannot say
"an information" or "a music". But we can say a something of:
a piece of news
a bottle of water
a grain of rice
We can use some and any with uncountable nouns:
I've got some money.

Have you got any rice?
We can use a little and much with uncountable nouns:
I've got a little money.

I haven't got much rice.
englishclub.com Tip
Uncountable nouns are also called "mass nouns".
When you learn a new word, it's a good idea to learn whether it's countable or
uncountable.
Nouns that can be Countable and

Uncountable
136
Sometimes, the same noun can be countable and uncountable, often with a change of
meaning.
Countable
Uncountable
There are two hairs in my coffee!
hair
I don't have much hair.
There are two lights in our bedroom.
light
Close the curtain. There's too much

light!
Shhhhh! I thought I heard a noise.
noise
It's difficult to work when there is too

much noise.
Have you got a paper to read? (=

newspaper)
paper
I want to draw a picture. Have you got

some paper?
Our house has seven rooms.
room
Is there room for me to sit here?
We had a great time at the party.
time
Have you got time for a coffee?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's

greatest works.
work
I have no money. I need work!
englishclub.com Tip
Drinks (coffee, water, orange juice) are usually uncountable. But if we are thinking of a cup or a
glass, we can say (in a restaurant, for example):
Two teas and one coffee please.
2.3 Proper Nouns (Names)

A proper noun is the special word (or name) that we use for a person, place or
organization, like John, Marie, London, France or Sony. A name is a noun, but a very
special nouna proper noun. Proper nouns have special rules.
common noun
proper noun
man, boy
John
woman, girl
Mary
country, town
England, London
company
Ford, Sony
137
shop, restaurant
Maceys, McDonalds
month, day of the week
January, Sunday
book, film
War & Peace, Titanic
In this lesson we look at the uses of proper nouns, followed by a quiz to check your
understanding:
Using Capital Letters with Proper Nouns

Proper Nouns without THE
Proper Nouns with THE
Using Capital Letters with Proper Nouns

We always use a Capital Letter for the first letter of a proper noun (name). This
includes names of people, places, companies, days of the week and months. For example:
They like John. (not *They like john.)

I live in England.
She works for Sony.
The last day in January is a Monday.
We saw Titanic in the Odeon Cinema.
Proper Nouns without THE

We do not use the with names of people. For example:
Bill (not *the Bill)
first names
Hilary
Clinton
surnames
Gates
full names
Hilary Gates
We do not normally use the with names of companies. For example:
Renault, Ford, Sony, EnglishCLUB.net
138
General Motors, Air France, British Airways

Warner Brothers, Brown & Son Ltd
We do not normally use the for shops, banks, hotels etc named after a founder or other
person (with -s or -s). For example:
shops
Harrods, Marks & Spencer, Maceys
banks
Barclays Bank
hotels, restaurants
Steves Hotel, Joes Caf, McDonalds
churches, cathedrals
St Johns Church, St Peters Cathedral
We do not normally use the with names of places. For example:

towns
Washington (not *the Washington), Paris, Tokyo
states, regions
Texas, Kent, Eastern Europe
countries
England, Italy, Brazil
continents
Asia, Europe, North America
islands
Corsica
mountains
Everest
Exception! If a country name includes States, Kingdom, Republic etc, we use

the:
states
the United States, the US, the United States of America, the USA
kingdom
the United Kingdom, the UK
republic
the French Republic
We do not use the with President/Doctor/Mr etc + Name:

the president, the king
President Bush (not *the President Bush)
the captain, the detective
Captain Kirk, Detective Colombo
139
the doctor, the professor
Doctor Well, Dr Well, Professor Dolittle
my uncle, your aunt
Uncle Jack, Aunt Jill

Mr Gates (not *the Mr Gates), Mrs Clinton, Miss Black
Look at these example sentences:
I wanted to speak to the doctor.

I wanted to speak to Doctor Brown.
Who was the president before President Kennedy?
We do not use the with Lake/Mount + Name:

the lake
Lake Victoria
the mount
Mount Everest
Look at this example sentence:
We live beside Lake Victoria. We have a fantastic view across the lake.
We do not normally use the for roads, streets, squares, parks etc:
streets etc
Oxford Street, Trenholme Road, Fifth Avenue
squares etc
Trafalgar Square, Oundle Place, Piccadilly Circus
parks etc
Central Park, Kew Gardens
Many big, important buildings have names made of two words (for example, Kennedy
Airport). If the first word is the name of a person or place, we do not normally use the:
people
Kennedy Airport, Alexander Palace, St Pauls Cathedral
places
Heathrow Airport, Waterloo Station, Edinburgh Castle
Proper Nouns with THE
140
We normally use "the" for country names that include States, Kingdom, Republic
etc:
States
the United States of America/the USA
Kingdom
the United Kingdom/the UK
Republic
the French Republic
We normally use the for names of canals, rivers, seas and oceans:
canals
the Suez Canal
rivers
the River Nile, the Nile
seas
the Mediterranean Sea, the Mediterranean
oceans
the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific
We normally use the for plural names of people and places:

people (families, for example)
the Clintons
countries
the Philippines, the United States
island groups
the Virgin Islands, the British Isles
mountain ranges
the Himalayas, the Alps
Look at these sentences:
I saw the Clintons today. It was Bills birthday.

Trinidad is the largest island in the West Indies.
Mount Everest is in the Himalayas.
We normally use the with the following sorts of names:

hotels, restaurants
the Ritz Hotel, the Peking Restaurant
banks
the National Westminster Bank
cinemas, theatres
the Royal Theatre, the ABC Cinema
141
museums
the British Museum, the National Gallery
buildings
the White House, the Crystal Palace
newspapers
the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Post
organisations
the United Nations, the BBC, the European Union
We normally use the for names made with of:
the Tower of London

the Gulf of Siam
the Tropic of Cancer
the London School of Economics
the Bank of France
the Statue of Liberty
2.4 Possessive 's

When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually
add 's to a singular noun and an apostrophe (') to a plural noun, for example:
the boy's ball (one boy)

the boys' ball (two or more boys)
Notice that the number of balls does not matter. The structure is influenced by the
possessor and not the possessed.
one ball
more than one ball
one boy
the boy's ball
the boy's balls
more than one boy
the boys' ball
the boys' balls
ENGLISH CLUB TIP

Although we can use "of" to show possession, it is more usual to use possessive 's. The following
phrases have the same meaning, but #2 is more usual and natural:
1. the boyfriend of my sister
2. my sister's boyfriend
142
The structure can be used for a whole phrase:
the man next door's mother (the mother of the man next door)
the Queen of England's poodles (the poodles of the Queen of England)
the President of the USA's secretary (the secretary of the President of the USA)
Proper Nouns (Names)

We very often use possessive 's with names:
This is Mary's car.

Where is Ram's telephone?
Who took Anthony's pen?
I like Tara's hair.
When a name ends in "s", we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add 's:
This is Charles's chair.
But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add the apostrophe ('):
Who was Jesus' father?
Irregular Plurals
Some nouns have irregular plural forms without "s" (man > men). To show possession, we
usually add 's to the plural form of these nouns:
singular noun
plural noun
my child's dog
my children's dog
the man's work
the men's work
the mouse's cage
the mice's cage
a person's clothes
people's clothes
143
3 English Adjectives
It is said that the adjective is the enemy of the noun. That may be true, but adjectives are
still very useful words. They add information to a sentence, and tell us more about nouns
and pronouns.
3.1 Determiners
3.2 Adjective Order
3.3 Comparative Adjectives
3.4 Superlative Adjectives
the, a/an, this, some, any

beautiful, long, dark brown
richer, more exciting
the richest, the most exciting
3.1 Determiners
The or A/An?
Each and Every
Some and Any
Determiners: A, An or The?
When do we say "the dog" and when do we say "a dog"? (On this page we talk only
about singular, countable nouns.)
The and A/An are called "articles". We divide them into "definite" and "indefinite" like
this:
Articles
Definite
Indefinite
The
A, An
We use "definite" to mean sure, certain. "Definite" is particular.

We use "indefinite" to mean not sure, not certain. "Indefinite" is general.
When we are talking about one thing in particular, we use the. When we are talking about
one thing in general, we use a or an.
144
Think of the sky at night. In the sky there is 1 moon and millions of stars. So normally we
could say:
I saw the moon last night.

I saw a star last night.

The
A, An
The capital of France is Paris.

I have found the book that I lost.
Have you cleaned the car?
There are six eggs in the fridge.
Please switch off the TV when you

finish.
I was born in a town.

John had an omelette for
lunch.
James Bond ordered a drink.
We want to buy an umbrella.
Have you got a pen?
Of course, often we can use The or A/An for the same word. It depends on the situation.
We want to buy an umbrella. (Any umbrella, not a particular umbrella.)

Where is the umbrella? (We already have an umbrella. We are looking for our
umbrella, a particular umbrella.)
This little story should help you understand the difference between The and A, An:
A man and a woman were walking in Oxford Street. The woman saw a dress that
she liked in a shop. She asked the man if he could buy the dress for her. He said:
"Do you think the shop will accept a cheque? I don't have a credit card."
Determiners: Each, Every

Each and every have similar but not always identical meanings. Verbs with each and
every are always conjugated in the singular.
Each = every one separately.
Every = each, all.
Sometimes, each and every have the same meaning:
145
Prices go up each year.

Prices go up every year.
But often they are not exactly the same.

Each expresses the idea of 'one by one'. It emphasizes individuality.
Every is half-way between each and all. It sees things or people as singular, but in a group
or in general.
Consider the following:
Every artist is sensitive.

Each artist sees things differently.
Every soldier saluted as the President arrived.
The President gave each soldier a medal.
Each soldier received a medal from the President.
Each can be used in front of the verb:
The soldiers each received a medal.
Each can be followed by 'of':
The President spoke to each of the soldiers.

He gave a medal to each of them.
Every cannot be used for 2 things. For 2 things, each can be used:
He was carrying a suitcase in each hand.
Every is used to say how often something happens:
There is a plane to Bangkok every day.
The bus leaves every hour.
146
Determiners: Some and Any
Some = a little, a few or a small number or amount
Any = one, some or all
Usually, we use some in positive (+) sentences and any in negative (-) and question (?)
sentences.
some
any
I have some
money.
example
I have $10.
I don't have any

money.
I don't have $1 and I don't have $10 and I

don't have $1,000,000. I have $0.
Do you have any

money?
Do you have $1 or $10 or $1,000,000?
In general, we use something/anything and somebody/anybody in the same way as

some/any.
He needs some stamps.
I must go. I have some homework to do.
I'm thirsty. I want something to drink.
I can see somebody coming.
He doesn't need any stamps.

I can stay. I don't have any homework to do.
I'm not thirsty. I don't want anything to drink.
I can't see anybody coming.
Does he need any stamps?

Do you have any homework to do?
Do you want anything to drink?
Can you see anybody coming?
We use any in a positive sentence when the real sense is negative.

I refused to give them any money. (= I did not give them any money)
She finished the test without any difficulty. (= she did not have any difficulty)
Sometimes we use some in a question, when we expect a positive YES answer. (We could
say that it is not a real question, because we think we know the answer already.)
Would you like some more tea?
Could I have some sugar, please?
3.2 Adjective Order
147
There are 2 basic positions for adjectives:
1. before the noun
2. after certain verbs (be, become, get, seem, look, feel, sound, smell, taste)
I like
adjective
noun
big
cars.
My car
verb
adjective
is
big.
In this lesson we look at the position of adjectives in a sentence, followed by a quiz to

Adjective before noun

Adjective after certain verbs
Adjective Before Noun

We sometimes use more than one adjective before the noun:
I like big black dogs.

She was wearing a beautiful long red dress.
What is the correct order for two or more adjectives?

1 The general order is: opinion, fact:
a nice French car (not 'a French nice car')
('Opinion' is what you think about something. 'Fact' is what is definitely true about
something.)
2 The normal order for fact adjectives is size, age, shape, colour, material, origin:
a big, old, square, black, wooden Chinese table
3 Determiners usually come first, even though they are fact adjectives:
articles (a, the)

possessives (my, your...)
demonstratives (this, that...)
quantifiers (some, any, few, many...)
numbers (one, two, three)
148
Here is an example with opinion and fact adjectives:
adjectives
determiner
Two
noun
opinion
nice
fact
age
shape
colour
old
round
red
candles.
When we want to use two colour adjectives, we join them with 'and':
Newspapers are usually black and white.

She was wearing a long, blue and yellow dress.
These rules are not always rigid. Consider the following conversations:
Conversation 1
A 'I want to buy a round table.'
B 'Do you want a new round table or an old round table?'
Conversation 2
A 'I want to buy an old table'.
B 'Do you want a round old table or a square old table?'
Adjective After Verb

We can use an adjective after certain verbs. Even though the adjective is after the verb, it
does not describe the verb. It describes the subject of the verb (usually a noun or
pronoun). For example:
subject verb adjective
Ram is English.
Because she had to wait, she became impatient.
Is it getting dark?
The examination did not seem difficult.
Your friend looks nice.
This towel feels damp.
That new film doesn't sound very interesting.
Dinner smells good tonight.
This milk tastes sour.
149
3.3 Comparative Adjectives

When we talk about 2 things, we can "compare" them. We can see if they are the same or
different. Perhaps they are the same in some ways and different in other ways.
We can use comparative adjectives to describe the differences. "A is bigger than B."
Formation of Comparative Adjectives

There are two ways to form a comparative adjective:
short adjectives: add '-er'

long adjectives: use 'more'
Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectives
old, fast
2-syllable adjectives ending in -y
happy, easy
Normal rule: add '-er'
old > older
Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -r
late > later
Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel, consonant,

double the last consonant
big > bigger
Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the -y to -i
happy > happier
Long adjectives
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y
modern, pleasant
all adjectives of 3 or more syllables
expensive, intellectual
Normal rule: use 'more'
modern > more

modern
expensive > more
expensive
150
Tip With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-er' or 'more':
quiet > quieter/more quiet

clever > cleverer/more clever
narrow > narrower/more narrow
simple > simpler/more simple
Exception! The following adjectives have irregular forms:
good > better

well (healthy) > better
bad > worse
far > farther/further
Use of Comparative Adjectives

We use comparative adjectives when talking about 2 things (not 3 or 10 or 1,000,000
things, only 2 things).
Often, the comparative adjective is followed by 'than'.
John is 1m80. He is tall. But Chris is 1m85. He is taller than John.

America is big. But Russia is bigger.
I want to have a more powerful computer.
Is French more difficult than English?
If we talk about the two planets Earth and Mars, we can compare them like this:
Earth
Mars
Diameter (km)
12,760
6,790
Mars is smaller than Earth.
Distance from Sun

(million km)
150
228
Mars is more distant from the Sun.
Length of day (hours)
24
25
A day on Mars is slightly longer than a

day on Earth.
Moons
Mars has more moons than Earth.
Surface temperature (C)
22
-23
Mars is colder than Earth.
151
3.4 Superlative Adjectives

Comparison is between 2 things: "A is bigger than B."
But the superlative is the extreme between 3 or more things. "A is the biggest."
Formation of Superlative Adjectives

As with comparative adjectives, there are two ways to form a superlative adjective:
short adjectives: add '-est'

long adjectives: use 'most'
We also usually add 'the' at the beginning.

Short adjectives
1-syllable adjectives
old, fast
2-syllable adjectives ending in -y
happy, easy
Normal rule: add '-est'
old > the oldest
Variation: if the adjective ends in -e, just add -st
late > the latest
Variation: if the adjective ends in consonant, vowel,

consonant, double the last consonant
big > the biggest
Variation: if the adjective ends in -y, change the -y to -i
happy > the happiest
Long adjectives
2-syllable adjectives not ending in -y
modern, pleasant
all adjectives of 3 or more syllables
expensive, intellectual
152
modern > the most

modern
expensive > the most
expensive
Normal rule: use 'most'
Tip With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can use '-est' or 'most':
quiet > the quietest/most quiet

clever > the cleverest/most clever
narrow > the narrowest/most narrow
simple > the simplest/most simple
Exception! The following adjectives have irregular forms:
good > the best

bad > the worst
far > the furthest
Use of Superlative Adjectives

We use a superlative adjective to describe 1 thing in a group of 3 or more things.
John is 1m75. David is 1m80. Chris is 1m85. Chris is the tallest.

America, China and Russia are big countries. But Russia is the biggest.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.
If we talk about the three planets Earth, Mars and Jupiter, we can use superlatives like
this:
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Diameter (km)
12,760
6,790
142,800
Jupiter is the biggest.
Distance from Sun

(million km)
150
228
778
Jupiter is the most distant from

the Sun.
Length of day (hours)
24
25
10
Jupiter has the shortest day.
Moons
16
Jupiter has the most moons.
Surface temperature (C)
22
-23
-150
Jupiter is the coldest.
153
When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use "the":
England is coldest in winter. (not the coldest)

My boss is most generous when we get a big order. (not the most generous)
4 Adverbs
An adverb is a word that tells us more about a verb. An adverb "qualifies" or "modifies"
a verb (The man ran quickly). But adverbs can also modify adjectives (Tara is really
beautiful), or even other adverbs (It works very well).
4.1 What are Adverbs?
154
4.2 Adverbs of Frequency
4.1 What are Adverbs?

Many different kinds of word are called adverbs. We can usually recognize an adverb by
its:
1. Function (Job)
2. Form
3. Position
1. Function
The principal job of an adverb is to modify (give more information about) verbs,
adjectives and other adverbs. In the following examples, the adverb is in bold and the
word that it modifies is in italics.
Modify a verb:
- John speaks loudly. (How does John speak?)
- Mary lives locally. (Where does Mary live?)
- She never smokes. (When does she smoke?)
Modify an adjective:
- He is really handsome.
Modify another adverb:
- She drives incredibly slowly.
But adverbs have other functions, too. They can:
Modify a whole sentence:

- Obviously, I can't know everything.
Modify a prepositional phrase:

- It's immediately inside the door.
2. Form
Many adverbs end in -ly. We form such adverbs by adding -ly to the adjective. Here are
some examples:
quickly, softly, strongly, honestly, interestingly
But not all words that end in -ly are adverbs. "Friendly", for example, is an adjective.
155
Some adverbs have no particular form, for example:
well, fast, very, never, always, often, still
3. Position
Adverbs have three main positions in the sentence:
Front (before the subject):

- Now we will study adverbs.
Middle (between the subject and the main verb):

- We often study adverbs.
End (after the verb or object):
- We study adverbs carefully.
4.2 Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of Frequency answer the question "How often?" or "How frequently?" They tell
us how often somebody does something.
Adverbs of frequency come before the main verb (except the main verb "to be"):
We usually go shopping on Saturday.

I have often done that.
She is always late.
Occasionally, sometimes, often, frequently and usually can also go at the beginning or
end of a sentence:
Sometimes they come and stay with us.

I play tennis occasionally.
Rarely and seldom can also go at the end of a sentence (often with "very"):
We see them rarely.
John eats meat very seldom.
156
5 Pronouns
Pronouns are small words that take the place of a noun. Like: he, you, ours, themselves,
some, each... If we didn't have pronouns, we would have to repeat a lot of nouns.
Do you like the President? I don't like the President. The President is pompous.
With pronouns, we can say- Do you like the President? I don't like her. She is pompous.
157
Personal pronouns list includes possessive adjectives for convenience and comparison.
Pronouns
number
person
gender*
subject
object
possessive
reflexive
Possessive
adjectives
1st
m/f
me
Mine
myself
My
2nd
m/f
you
you
Yours
yourself
Your
he
him
His
himself
His
she
her
Hers
herself
Her
it
it
Its
itself
Its
1st
m/f
we
us
Ours
ourselves
Our
2nd
m/f
you
you
Yours
yourselves
Your
3rd
m/f/n
they
them
Theirs
themselves
Their
singular
3rd
plural
* m=male f=female n=neuter

pronoun
Examples-
subject
She likes homework.
object
The teacher gave me some homework.
possessive
This homework is yours.
reflexive
John did the homework himself.
possessive adjective
The teacher corrected our homework.
6 English Prepositions
A preposition is a word governing, and usually coming in front of, a noun or pronoun
and expressing a relation to another word or element, as in:
She left before breakfast
158
What did you come for?
6.1 List of English Prepositions

6.2 A Simple Rule for Prepositions in English
6.3 Prepositions of Place: at, in, on
6.4 Prepositions of Time: at, in, on
at the bus stop, in the box, on the wall

at Christmas, in May, on Friday
6.1 List of English Prepositions

There are more than 100 prepositions in English. Yet this is a very small number when
you think of the thousands of other words (nouns, verbs etc). Prepositions are important
words. We use individual prepositions more frequently than other individual words. In
fact, the prepositions of, to and in are among the ten most frequent words in English.
Here is a short list of 70 of the more common one-word prepositions. Many of these
prepositions have more than one meaning. Please refer to a dictionary for precise
meaning and usage. A full list of 150 prepositions (including one-word and complex
prepositions with 370 example sentences) is English Prepositions Listed.(separate doc)
6.2 English Preposition Rule

There is one very simple rule about prepositions. And, unlike most rules, this rule has no
exceptions.
Rule- A preposition is followed by a "noun". It is never followed by a verb.
By "noun" we include:
noun (dog, money, love)

proper noun (name) (Bangkok, Mary)
pronoun (you, him, us)
noun group (my first job)
gerund (swimming)
A preposition cannot be followed by a verb. If we want to follow a preposition by a verb,

we must use the "-ing" form which is really a gerund or verb in noun form.
Subject + verb
preposition
"noun"
The food is
On
the table.
She lives
In
Japan.
159
Tara is looking
For
you.
The letter is
Under
your blue book.
Pascal is used
To
English people.
She isn't used
To
working.
I ate
before
coming.
Question:
In the following sentences, why is "to" followed by a verb? That should be impossible,
according to the rule:
I would like to go now.

She used to smoke.
Answer: In these sentences, "to" is not a preposition. It is part of the infinitive ("to go",
"to smoke").
6.3 Prepositions of Place: at, in, on

In general, we use:
at for a POINT
in for an ENCLOSED SPACE
on for a SURFACE
At
in
on
POINT
ENCLOSED SPACE
SURFACE
at the corner
in the garden
on the wall
at the bus stop
in London
on the ceiling
at the door
in France
on the door
at the top of the page
in a box
on the cover
at the end of the road
in my pocket
on the floor
at the entrance
in my wallet
on the carpet
160
at the crossroads
in a building
on the menu
at the entrance
in a car
on a page
Jane is waiting for you at the bus stop.

The shop is at the end of the street.
My plane stopped at Dubai and Hanoi and arrived in Bangkok two hours late.
When will you arrive at the office?
Do you work in an office?
I have a meeting in New York.
Do you live in Japan?
Jupiter is in the Solar System.
The author's name is on the cover of the book.
There are no prices on this menu.
You are standing on my foot.
There was a "no smoking" sign on the wall.
I live on the 7th floor at 21 Oxford Street in London.
Notice the use of the prepositions of place at, in and on in these standard expressions:
At
in
On
at home
in a car
on a bus
at work
in a taxi
on a train
at school
in a helicopter
on a plane
at university
in a boat
on a ship
at college
in a lift (elevator)
on a bicycle, on a motorbike
at the top
in the newspaper
on a horse, on an elephant
at the bottom
in the sky
on the radio, on television
at the side
in a row
on the left, on the right
at reception
in Oxford Street
on the way
161
6.4 Prepositions of Time: at, in, on

We use:
at for a PRECISE TIME

in for MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES and LONG PERIODS
on for DAYS and DATES
At
in
On
PRECISE
TIME
MONTHS, YEARS, CENTURIES

and LONG PERIODS
DAYS and DATES
at 3 o'clock
in May
on Sunday
in summer
on Tuesdays
at noon
in the summer
on 6 March
at dinnertime
in 1990
on 25 Dec. 2010
at bedtime
in the 1990s
on Christmas Day
at sunrise
in the next century
on Independence Day
at sunset
in the Ice Age
on my birthday
at the moment
in the past/future
on New Year's Eve
at 10.30am
I have a meeting at 9am.

The shop closes at midnight.
Jane went home at lunchtime.
In England, it often snows in December.
Do you think we will go to Jupiter in the future?
There should be a lot of progress in the next century.
Do you work on Mondays?
Her birthday is on 20 November.
Where will you be on New Year's Day?
162
Notice the use of the preposition of time at in the following standard expressions:
Expression
Example
at night
The stars shine at night.
at the weekend
I don't usually work at the weekend.
at Christmas/Easter
I stay with my family at Christmas.
at the same time
We finished the test at the same time.
at present
He's not home at present. Try later.
Notice the use of the prepositions of time in and on in these common expressions:
in
on
in the morning
on Tuesday morning
in the mornings
on Saturday mornings
in the afternoon(s)
on Sunday afternoons
in the evening(s)
on Monday evening
When we say last, next, every, this we do not also use at, in, on.
I went to London last June. (not in last June)

He's coming back next Tuesday. (not on next Tuesday)
I go home every Easter. (not at every Easter)
We'll call you this evening. (not in this evening)
7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions are words that join. A conjunction joins two parts of a sentence.
163
7.1 What are Conjunctions?
7.2 Coordinating Conjunctions
7.3 Subordinating Conjunctions
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so

although, because, since, unless
7.1 What are Conjunctions?

Conjunctions are words that "join". Conjunctions join two parts of a sentence.
1. Form
Conjunctions have three basic forms:
Single Word
for example: and, but, because, although)
Compound (often ending with as or that)
(for example: provided that, as long as, in order that)
Correlative (which surround an adverb or adjective)
(for example: so...that)
2. Function (Job)
Conjunctions are divided into two basic types.
Coordinating Conjunctions are used to join two parts of a sentence that are
grammatically equal. The two parts may be single words or clauses, for example:
- Jack and Jill went up the hill.
- The water was warm but I didn't go swimming.
Subordinating Conjunctions are used to join a subordinate dependent clause to a
main clause, for example:
- I went swimming, although it was cold.
3. Position
Coordinating Conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they
join.
Subordinating Conjunctions usually come at the beginning of the subordinate
clause.
7.2 Coordinating Conjunctions

The short, simple conjunctions are called "coordinating conjunctions":
and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so
164
A coordinating conjunction joins parts of a sentence (for example words or independent
clauses) that are grammatically equal or similar. A coordinating conjunction shows that
the elements it joins are similar in importance and structure:
+
Look at these examples - the two elements that the coordinating conjunction joins are
shown in square brackets [ ]:
I like [tea] and [coffee].

[Ram likes tea], but [Anthony likes coffee].
Coordinating conjunctions always come between the words or clauses that they join.
When a coordinating conjunction joins independent clauses, it is always correct to place a
comma before the conjunction:
I want to work as an interpreter in the future, so I am studying Russian at

university.
However, if the independent clauses are short and well-balanced, a comma is not really
essential:
She is kind so she helps people.
When "and" is used with the last word of a list, a comma is optional:
He drinks beer, whisky, wine, and rum.

He drinks beer, whisky, wine and rum.
englishclub.com Tip
The 7 coordinating conjunctions are short, simple words. They have only two or three letters.
There's an easy way to remember them - their initials spell:
F A N B O Y S
For And Nor But Or Yet So
7.3 Subordinating Conjunctions

The majority of conjunctions are "subordinating conjunctions". Common subordinating
conjunctions are:
after, although, as, because, before, how, if, once, since, than, that, though, till,
until, when, where, whether, while
165
A subordinating conjunction joins a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main
(independent) clause:
+
Look at this example:
main or independent clause
subordinate or dependent clause
Ram went swimming
Although
it was raining.
subordinating conjunction
englishclub.com Tip
A subordinate or dependent clause "depends" on a main or independent clause. It cannot exist
alone. Imagine that somebody says to you: "Hello! Although it was raining." What do you
understand? Nothing! But a main or independent clause can exist alone. You will understand
very well if somebody says to you: "Hello! Ram went swimming."
A subordinating conjunction always comes at the beginning of a subordinate clause. It

"introduces" a subordinate clause. However, a subordinate clause can sometimes come
after and sometimes before a main clause. Thus, two structures are possible:
+
Ram went swimming although it was raining.
+
Although it was raining, Ram went swimming.
8 Interjections
Hi! That's an interjection. :-)
166
Interjection is a big name for a little word. Interjections are short exclamations like Oh!,
Um or Ah! They have no real grammatical value but we use them quite often, usually
more in speaking than in writing. When interjections are inserted into a sentence, they
have no grammatical connection to the sentence. An interjection is sometimes followed
by an exclamation mark (!) when written.
Here are some interjections with examples:
interjection
meaning
example
expressing pleasure
"Ah, that feels good."
expressing realization
"Ah, now I understand."
expressing resignation
"Ah well, it can't be heped."
expressing surprise
"Ah! I've won!"
expressing grief or pity
"Alas, she's dead now."
expressing pity
"Oh dear! Does it hurt?"
expressing surprise
"Dear me! That's a surprise!"
asking for repetition
"It's hot today." "Eh?" "I said it's hot

today."
expressing enquiry
"What do you think of that, eh?"
expressing surprise
"Eh! Really?"
inviting agreement
"Let's go, eh?"
expressing hesitation
"Lima is the capital of...er...Peru."
expressing greeting
"Hello John. How are you today?"
expressing surprise
"Hello! My car's gone!"
calling attention
"Hey! look at that!"
expressing surprise, joy etc
"Hey! What a good idea!"
expressing greeting
"Hi! What's new?"
Ah
Alas
Dear
Eh
Er
hello, hullo
hey
Hi
167
expressing hesitation, doubt or

disagreement
"Hmm. I'm not so sure."
expressing surprise
"Oh! You're here!"
expressing pain
"Oh! I've got a toothache."
expressing pleading
"Oh, please say 'yes'!"
ouch
expressing pain
"Ouch! That hurts!"
Uh
"Uh...I don't know the answer to

that."
Uh-huh
expressing agreement
"Shall we go?" "Uh-huh."
Um, umm
"85 divided by 5 is...um...17."
expressing surprise
"Well I never!"
introducing a remark
"Well, what did he say?"
hmm
Oh, o
well
iii Revision: English Parts of Speech
168
There are thousands of words in any language. But not all words have the same job. For
example, some words express "action". Other words express a "thing". Other words
"join" one word to another word. These are the "building blocks" of the language. Think
of them like the parts of a house. When we want to build a house, we use concrete to
make the foundations or base. We use bricks to make the walls. We use window frames to
make the windows, and door frames to make the doorways. And we use cement to join
them all together. Each part of the house has its own job. And when we want to build a
sentence, we use the different types of word. Each type of word has its own job.
We can categorize English words into 8 basic types or classes. These classes are called
"parts of speech".
EnglishClub.com Tip
Some grammar books categorize English into 9 or 10 parts of speech. At EnglishClub.com, we use the
traditional categorization of 8 parts of speech.
It's quite important to recognize parts of speech. This helps you to analyze sentences and
understand them. It also helps you to construct good sentences.
In this lesson, we have an overview of the eight parts of speech, followed by a quiz to
Parts of Speech Table

Parts of Speech Examples
Words with More than One Job
Parts of Speech Table

This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech. You can find more detail if you click on each
part of speech.
part of
speech
function or "job"
example words
example sentences
Verb
action or state
(to) be, have, do,

like, work, sing,
can, must
EnglishClub.com is a web
site. I like EnglishClub.com.
Noun
thing or person
pen, dog, work,

music, town,
London, teacher,
John
This is my dog. He lives in

my house. We live in
London.
Adjective
describes a noun
a/an, the, 69,
My dog is big. I like big dogs.
169
some, good, big,

red, well,
interesting
Adverb
describes a verb,
adjective or adverb
quickly, silently,
well, badly, very,
really
My dog eats quickly. When

he is very hungry, he eats
really quickly.
Pronoun
replaces a noun
I, you, he, she,

some
Tara is Indian. She is

beautiful.
Preposition
links a noun to
another word
to, at, after, on, but We went to school on

Monday.
Conjunction
joins clauses or
sentences or words
and, but, when
I like dogs and I like cats. I

like cats and dogs. I like dogs
but I don't like cats.
Interjection
short exclamation,
sometimes inserted
into a sentence
oh!, ouch!, hi!,

well
Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How

are you? Well, I don't know.

What Are Verbs

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English Grammar from EnglishClub.

i- English Grammar Terms

be, have, do, work

man, town, music

a, the, 69, big

and, but, though

ah, dear, er, um

i Glossary of English Grammar Terms

ii Parts of Speech Examples

Here is a sentence that contains every part of speech:

Words with More than One Job

nouns can act as adjectives.

John came but Mary didn't come.

Everyone came but Mary.

Are you well?

She speaks well.

Well! That's expensive!

We ate in the afternoon.

noun acting as adjective

We had afternoon tea.

verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjuction!

Forms of Helping Verbs

Future Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple, Perfect

1.4- Phrasal Verbs

Basic Question Types

Do you like me or him?

1.9- Tag Questions

1.12- Infinitive or -ing?

He insists that he come

Be and Continuous Tenses

1.15- Used to do & Be used to

1.17- Future Time

for two days

1.1 What are Verbs?

action (Ram plays football.)

to work, work, works, worked, working

Primary helping verbs (3 verbs)

to make continuous tenses (He is watching TV.)

to make perfect tenses (I have finished my homework.)

to make negatives (I do not like you.)

Modal helping verbs (10 verbs)

Here are examples using modal verbs:

I can't speak Chinese.

I really must go now.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

Mary is a teacher. (mary = teacher)

Tara is beautiful. (tara = beautiful)

Dynamic and stative verbs

hit, explode, fight, run, go

stative verbs (examples):

Regular and irregular verbs

look, looked, looked

irregular verbs: base, past tense, past participle

buy, bought, bought

Here are lists of regular verbs and irregular verbs.

to kill or die, by dropping with a rope around the

to fix something (for example, a picture) at the top

found founded founded

find found found

the past simple and past participle always end

sometimes the verb changes completely:

sometimes there is "half" a change:

sometimes there is no change: