Tips for the First certificate

1. Use of tenses
Present
Present simple
S+ V1+ C

Natural actions
A:Always
Adverbs of frequency

I eat pizza
everyday.

Present continuous
S+ am/is/are + Ving +
C

Now, at this moment

A: Now

I am eating pizza
right now.

Past simple
S+V2+C
Past continuous

The action is finished

Ago
S+ was/were + Ving
+C

I ate pizza
yesterday.
I was eating
pizza when you
arrived.
I had eaten all of
the pizza when
you arrived.
I had been
eating pizza for
2 hours when
you arrived.
I have eaten all
of the pizza.

Past

Past perfect
S+ had+ V2 + C

Hubiera/Hubiese

Past perfect continuous

S+ had been + Ving +
C

Haba estado
comiendo (traduccion
literal)

Present perfect
S +have/has+ V2 + C

The action started in

the past but still
havent finished.
Since-for
Still/ already, just,
ever/ yet
Yo he comido
He estado comiendo
(traduccin literal)

Present perfect
continuos
S + have/has been +
Ving + C

I have been
eating pizza for
2 hours.

Future
Present continuos
To be going to +
infinive
Will/Shall

Appointment/meeting
(we know the time
and the date)
Something that it is
planned but we dont
know when.
Long time in
the future
(uncertain).
A promise.
A prediction.
Impulse

I have a meeting
tomorrow at 9.
I am going to
travel to
America.
I will get
married.
I will do it
tomorrow.
Its cold, it will
snow.

I will go to bed.
Future perfect

Future perfect
continuous

Habremos
llegado By the
time, By
Monday, etc
Traduccion
literal
gual
Estaremos llegando

By this time
tomorrow we will
have arrived at
London.
By this time
tomorrow we will
be arriving at
London.

Legend: S= Subject C= Complement A= Answer

V= Verb (V1= Present / V2= Past / V3=past participle Ving = gerundio)

1. Grammar as tool.

-ing

As a noun or object:

As an adjective:

I love swimming. (-ing nouns are

nearly always uncount nouns)
( I like playing tennis)
(learning English is not easy)
We enjoy learning English)
As the object of a preposition
(some people are not interested in
learning English)

As an adjective: The main problem today

is rising prices.

or a clause ( I hear someone

saying that)

As an Adverb:

.an adverbial ( You can earn a lot

money by working hard)

The ing adjective can

come:

In front of a noun: I read an

interesting article in the
newspaper today. (Amusing, boring,

tiring, interesting, surprising,

annoying, worrying, exciting, shocking,
terrifying, disappointing, frightening).

After a noun: Who is that man

standing over there?
And especially after verbs like see,
watch, hear, smell, etc. I heard
someone playing the piano.

Modal
verbs

Informal:

Formal:

Can
May
Shall
Will

Could
Might
Should
Would

Indirect/
report
speech

Direct speech `` I am teacher or reported speech (She said she is

teacher).
If we want to convert a direct speech sentence to Reported speech
we have to write it using the previous tense.
DS: I travel a lot in my job
RS: He said that he travelled a lot in his job.
DS: ``Be quiet. The baby is sleeping.
RS: She told me to be quiet because the baby was sleeping.
DS: ``They had already eaten when I arrived.
RS: He said they had already eaten when he had arrived.
We have to follow the opposite step in case that we need to rewrite
a report speech in to a Direct speech.

RS: He told me he had been walking down the road when he had
seen the accident.
DS: ``I was walking down the road when I saw the accident.

Passive
voice

The active voice makes up when the action is doing by somebody.

However in the passive voice the subject is the object of the active
voice.
Passive voice: To be + past participle.
Active: Argentinians speak Spanish.
Passive: Spanish is spoken in Argentina.

Conditio
nal

0
(The result is always true)
1
(It is used for future and
actions that probably will
happen)
2
(Unreal possibility, a wish, a
dream or a future action)
3
(past condition that did not
happen)

If+ Present simple + present

simple.
If you heat water to 100C, it boils.
If + Present simple + future
simple (will)*
If she studies, she will pass the
exam.
If +Past simple + would* +
infinitive.
If I won the lottery, I would travel
around the world.
If + Past perfect + Would* have
+ past participle.
If I had known then what I Know
now, I would have done things
differently.
*= or modal
verbs

1. Special particles.
Enough Too
Neither nor
Either or
I used to

Infinitive without to
Gossip verbs
To + ing
Wish