Presentación de gramática: Los adjetivos posesivos (5 /12)

Introduction

Possessive adjectives show who owns an object. They agree with the person or thing that
has an object. Possessive adjectives do NOT agree with the object.

I like my shoes.
Her house is very big.

Form

Subject pronoun Possessive adjective

I my

you your

he/she/it his/her/its

we our

you your

they their

Use

When the possessor is masculine:

his
 He broke his computer.
 Will likes his car.

When the possessor is feminine:

her
 Kate bought her apartment last year.
 The woman lost her glasses.

When the possessor is an object or an animal:

its
 The cat hurt its leg.
 A tree loses its leaves in the winter.

When the possessor is 'you':

your
 You lost your book yesterday.

When there are two or more possessors:

their
 Our boss and our colleagues gave us good advice. We
took their advice.
 Cathy and Rick lost their map to the city.

The possessive adjective do NOT change if the object is singular or plural.

I like my shirt. - I like my shirts.
They read their book. - They read their books.
She sings her song. - She sings her songs.

Presentación de gramática: El genitivo sajón (7 /12)

Introduction

Possessive nouns show that we own something.

Formation

-'s

Normally added -'s to singular nouns and irregular plurals that

don't end in -s:
 Singular:
 a man's job
 the girl's book
 Mary and Tom's children (1 set of children: Mary and Tom are
their parents)
 Mary's and Tom's children (2 sets of children: Mary has
children, and Tom has different children.)
Plural:
 the men's changing room
 the children's toys

Add an apostrophe (') to regular plurals that end in -s:

 The students have books. = the students' books ( two or more)

 The friends have a car. = my friends' car (two or more)

of something
 The roof of the house is old.
 The door of the building is broken.
 I didn't see the beginning of the movie.

Uses

-'s

Most often used with a person, animal, country, organization, or

group of living things:

 The dog's collar is too tight.

 Germany's economy is doing very well.
 Jane's brother is a doctor.
 The company's annual report is late.
 James's car is red.

of something

Used mostly with things and sometimes with places:

 The back seat of the car is very dirty.
 We don't know the cause of the fire.
 We looked at the top of the page.
Presentación de gramática: El comparativo (5 /12)

Introduction

We use the comparative form of adjectives to say if an object or a person has more or less
of a quality than the other object or person.

long = longer
interesting = more interesting

Form

One syllable adjectives

To form the comparative of one syllable adjectives, add -er.

 tall - taller
 small - smaller
 long - longer
 short - shorter
 light - lighter
 black - blacker

Two or more syllable adjectives

To form the comparative of adjectives with more than one

syllable, add 'more' or 'less' before the adjective. More is
positive (+) and less is negative (-).

 more intelligent
 less generous
 more beautiful
 less difficult
 more interesting
 less amazing

Exceptions

One syllable adjectives ending in -e

We add -r.

 wide - wider
 nice - nicer
 simple - simpler
 large - larger

One syllable adjectives ending with one vowel and one

consonant

We double the consonant and add -er.

 big - bigger
 flat - flatter
 wet - wetter
 sad - sadder

One syllable adjectives ending in -y

We replace the -y with an -i and add -er.

 happy - happier
 itchy - itchier
 funny - funnier
 dirty - dirtier

Irregular adjectives
 good - better
 bad - worse
 far - farther/further
 Use

Use 'than' when we directly compare two objects or people.

 John is taller than Mark.

 An elephant is bigger than a mouse.
 Sarah is more intelligent than Jade.
 Helen is funnier than Tom.
 This movie is shorter than the last one we watched.
 He is nicer than you.
 This car is less expensive than the red one.

Use to describe a person or thing when compared to something

else:

 New York is old, but Paris is older.

 This restaurant has delicious food, but the food at the other
restaurant is more delicious.
 Is it cheaper to go by plane or by train?

Presentación de gramática: El superlativo (7 /12)

Introduction

We use superlative adjectives to say if an object or a person has the most or the least of a
quality than all other objects or people.

long = longest
interesting = most interesting

Form
 All superlative adjective have 'the' before them.

One syllable adjectives

To form the comparative of one syllable adjectives, add 'the'

before the adjective and -est at the end.

 tall - the tallest

 small - the smallest
 long - the longest
 short - the shortest
 light - the lightest
 black - the blackest

Two or more syllable adjectives

To form the superlative of adjectives with more than one

syllable, add 'the' and 'most' or 'least' before the
adjective. Most is positive (+) and least is negative (-).

 the most intelligent

 the least generous
 the most beautiful
 the least difficult
 the most interesting
 the least amazing

Exceptions

Superlative adjectives have the same exceptions as comparative adjectives.

One syllable adjectives ending in -e

We add -st.
 wide - the widest
 nice - the nicest
 simple - the simplest
 large - largest

One syllable adjectives ending with one vowel and one

consonant

We double the consonant and add -est.

 big - the biggest

 flat - the flattest
 wet - the wettest
 sad - the saddest

One syllable adjectives ending in -y

We replace the -y with an -i and add -est.

 happy - the happiest

 itchy - the itchiest
 funny - the funniest
 dirty - the dirtiest

Irregular Adjectives
 good - the best
 bad - the worst
 far - the farthest/the furthest

Use

Use to describe a person or thing when compared to several

other things:

 Joe is the nicest colleague in the office.

 This is the best coffee in Italy.
 What is the longest river in theworld?
 China has the largest population in the world.
 Where is the closest subway station?

Presentación de gramática: El presente continuo (5 /12)

Introduction

In English, the present continuous tense describes temporary situations and actions that are
happening now (the moment of speaking).

The present continuous: I am reading.

Form

Present continuous - affirmative

Verb "to be" in the present tense + base form of the verb '-ing':

Singular Plural

I am reading we are reading

you are reading you are reading

she/he/it is reading they are reading

 I am painting.
 He is playing the piano.
 They are reading.
For base forms that end with 'e', remove the 'e' before adding '-
ing':

 write = I am writing
 take = she is taking
To make sentences less formal, we use contractions:

 I am reading = I'm reading

 you are reading = you're walking
 he/she/it is reading = he/she/it's working
 we are talking = we're talking
 they are watching = they're watching

Present continuous - negative

Verb "to be" in the present tense + not + base form of the verb
'-ing':

Singular Plural

I am not reading we are not reading

you are not reading you are not reading

she/he/it is not reading they are not reading

 I am not eating.
 Jerry is not talking on the telephone.
 Laura and I are not taking the afternoon train.
To make negative sentences less formal, we use contractions:

 I am not reading = I'm not reading

 you are not walking = you aren't walking or you're not walking
 he/she/it is working = he/she/it isn't working or he/she/it's
not working
 we are not talking = we aren't talking or we're not talking
 they are not watching = they aren't watching or they're
not watching

Use

Use to talk about an action happening at the moment of

speaking:

 I'm playing tennis.

 Jessica and Mark aren't coming to the meeting.
 It is raining outside.

Use for an action happening in the present but not at the

moment of speaking:

 He's taking Spanish classes in the evening.

 I'm reading Moby Dick.

Presentación de gramática: El presente continuo en preguntas (7 /12)

Introduction

In English the present continuous tense describes temporary situations and actions that take
place at the moment of speaking.

Present continuous : Are you reading?

Form

Present continuous affirmative questions = verb "to be"

in the present tense + subject + verb '-ing':

SINGULAR ( 1 person) PLURAL (2 people)

Am I working? Are we working?

 Are you working? Are you working?

Is he/she/it working? Are they working?

 Am I doing this right?

 Is John playing the trumpet?
 Are they coming to dinner?

Contractions are not possible.

Present continuous negative questions = verb "to be" in

the present tense + subject + not + verb '-ing':

 Are you not eating in the canteen?

 Is she not buying a laptop?

Contractions are possible in present continuous negative questions, but their use changes
the order of the sentence:
- Aren't you writing the memo?
- Isn't she buying a laptop?

Use

Used to ask about an action happening at the moment of

speaking or a temporary situation:

 What are you doing?

 Are you watching the news?
 Are you living with your sister?
 Aren't you arriving later than usual?