The aims and objectives of PET

Candidates who are successful in PET should be able to communicate satisfactorily in most everyday situations with both native and non-native speakers of English. The following information provides an outline of the four skills covered in PET and a list of the language specifications that the PET examination is based on. Reading Using the structures and topics listed in this handbook,candidates should be able to understand public notices and signs; read short texts of a factual nature and show understanding of the content; demonstrate understanding of the structure of the language as it is used to express notions of relative time, space, possession, etc.; scan factual material for information in order to perform relevant tasks, disregarding redundant or irrelevant material; read texts of an imaginative or emotional character and appreciate the central sense of the text, the attitude of the writer to the material and the effect it is intended to have on the reader. Writing Candidates should be able to give information, report events,and describe people, objects and places as well as convey reactions to situations, express hopes, regrets, pleasure, etc. They should also be able to use the words they know appropriately and accurately in different written contexts, and be capable of producing variations on simple sentences. Listening Candidates should be able to understand and respond to public announcements; to show precise understanding of short factual utterances and to make identifications on the basis of these; to extract information of a factual nature (times, dates, etc.) from speech which will contain redundancies and language outside the defined limits of PET;to understand the sense of a dialogue and show appreciation of the attitudes and intentions of the speakers. Speaking Candidates should be able to express themselves in order to fulfil the functions listed in the Syllabus in situations which simulate real-life communication. They should be able to ask and to understand questions and make appropriate responses, and should be able to talk freely in order to express emotions, reactions, etc. Language specifications Inventory of functions, notions and communicative tasks Note that talking is used below to refer to BOTH speaking and writing.

greeting people and responding to greetings (in person and on the phone) introducing oneself and other people asking for and giving personal details: (full) name, age, address, names of relatives and friends, etc. understanding and completing forms giving personal details understanding and writing letters, giving personal details describing education, qualifications and skills describing people (personal appearance, qualities) asking and answering questions about personal possessions asking for repetition and clarification re-stating what has been said checking on meaning and intention helping others to express their ideas interrupting a conversation starting a new topic changing the topic resuming or continuing the topic asking for and giving the spelling and meaning of words counting and using numbers asking and telling people the time, day and/or date asking for and giving information about routines and habits understanding and writing diaries and letters giving information about everyday activities talking about what people are doing at the moment talking about past events and states in the past, recent activities and completed actions understanding and producing simple narratives reporting what people say talking about future or imaginary situations talking about future plans or intentions making predictions rooms, furniture, etc.) buying and selling things (costs, measurements and amounts) talking about food and meals talking about the weather talking about ones health following and giving simple instructions understanding simple signs and notices asking the way and giving directions asking for and giving travel information asking for and giving simple information about places identifying and describing simple objects (shape, size, weight, colour, purpose or use, etc.) talking about how to operate things describing simple processes expressing purpose, cause and result, and giving reasons drawing simple conclusions and making recommendations making and granting/refusing simple requests making and responding to offers and suggestions expressing and responding to thanks

giving and responding to invitations giving advice giving warnings and prohibitions persuading and asking/telling people to do something expressing obligation and lack of obligation asking and giving/refusing permission to do something making and responding to apologies and excuses expressing agreement and disagreement, and contradicting people paying compliments criticising and complaining sympathising expressing preferences, likes and dislikes (especially about hobbies and leisure activities) talking about physical and emotional feelings expressing opinions and making choices expressing needs and wants expressing (in)ability in the present and in the past talking about (im)probability and (im)possibility expressing degrees of certainty and doubt

Inventory of grammatical areas Verbs Regular and irregular forms Modals can (ability; requests; permission) could (ability; possibility; polite requests) would (polite requests) will (offer) shall (suggestion; offer) should (advice) may (possibility) might (possibility) have (got) to (obligation) ought to (obligation) must (obligation) mustnt (prohibition) need (necessity) neednt (lack of necessity) used to + infinitive (past habits) Tenses Present simple: states, habits, systems and processes (and verbs not used in the continuous form) Present continuous: future plans and activities, present actions Present perfect simple: recent past with just, indefinite past with yet, already, never, ever; unfinished past with for and since Past simple: past events Past continuous: parallel past actions, continuous actions interrupted by the past simple tense

Past perfect simple: narrative, reported speech Future with going to Future with present continuous and present simple Future with will and shall: offers, promises, predictions, etc. Verb Forms Affirmative, interrogative, negative Imperatives Infinitives (with and without to) after verbs and adjectives Gerunds (-ing form) after verbs and prepositions Gerunds as subjects and objects Passive forms: present and past simple Verb + object + infinitive give/take/send/bring/show + direct/indirect object Causative have/get So/nor with auxiliaries Compound Verb Patterns Phrasal verbs/verbs with prepositions Comparative and superlative forms (regular and irregular): (not) as . . . as, not . . . enough to, too . . . to Order of adjectives Participles as adjectives Compound adjectives Conditional Sentences Type 0: An iron bar expands if/when you heat it. Type 1: If you do that again, Ill leave. Type 2: I would tell you the answer if I knew it. If I were you, I wouldnt do that again. Simple Reported Speech Statements, questions and commands: say, ask, tell He said that he felt ill. I asked her if I could leave. No one told me what to do. Indirect and embedded questions: know, wonder Do you know what he said? I wondered what he would do next. Interrogatives What, What (+ noun) Where; When Who; Whose; Which

How; How much; How many; How often; How long; etc. Why (including the interrogative forms of all tenses and modals listed Nouns Singular and plural (regular and irregular forms) Countable and uncountable nouns with some and any Abstract nouns Compound nouns Complex noun phrases Genitive: s & s Double genitive: a friend of theirs Pronouns Personal (subject, object, possessive) Reflexive and emphatic: myself, etc. Impersonal: it, there Demonstrative: this, that, these, those Quantitative: one, something, everybody, etc. Indefinite: some, any, something, one, etc. Relative: who, which, that, whom, whose Determiners a + countable nouns the + countable/uncountable nouns Adjectives Colour, size, shape, quality, nationality Predicative and attributive Cardinal and ordinal numbers Possessive: my, your, his, her, etc. Demonstrative: this, that, these, those Quantitative: some, any, many, much, a few, a lot of, all, other, every, etc. Comparative and superlative forms (regular and irregular): (not) as . . . as, not . . . enough to, too . . . to Order of adjectives Participles as adjectives Compound adjectives Adverbs Regular and irregular forms Manner: quickly, carefully, etc. Frequency: often, never, twice a day, etc. Definite time: now, last week, etc. Indefinite time: already, just, yet, etc. Degree: very, too, rather, etc. Place: here, there, etc.

Direction: left, right, along, etc. Sequence: first, next, etc. Sentence adverbs: too, either, etc. Pre-verbal, post-verbal and end-position adverbs Comparative and superlative forms (regular and irregular) Prepositions Location: to, on, inside, next to, at (home), etc. Time: at, on, in, during, etc. Direction: to, into out of, from, etc. Instrument: by, with Miscellaneous: like, as, due to, owing to, etc. Prepositional phrases: at the beginning of, by means of, etc. Prepositions preceding nouns and adjectives: by car, for sale, at last, etc. Prepositions following (i) nouns and adjectives: advice on, afraid of, etc. (ii) verbs: laugh at, ask for, etc. Connectives and, but, or, either . . . or when, while, until, before, after, as soon as where because, since, as, for so that, (in order) to so, so . . . that, such . . . that if, unless although, while Note that students will meet forms other than those listed above in PET, on which they will not be directly tested. Topics Clothes Personal identification Daily life Places and buildings Education Relations with other people Entertainment and media Transport Environment Services Food and drink Shopping Free time Social interaction Health, medicine and Sport exercise The natural world Hobbies and leisure Travel and holidays House and home Weather Language Work and Jobs People Personal feelings, opinions and experience Lexis

The PET examination includes items which normally occur in the everyday vocabulary of native-speakers using English today. Candidates should know the lexis appropriate to their personal requirements, for example, nationalities, hobbies, likes and dislikes. Note that the consistent use of American pronunciation, spelling and lexis is acceptable in PET.

Materie parcursa: TOPICS: Clothes Personal identification Daily life Places and buildings Education Relations with other people Entertainment and media Transport Environment Services Food and drink Shopping Hobbies and leisure Travel and holidays House and home Weather Language Work and Jobs Personal feelings, opinions and experiences ADVERBS INTERROGATIVES ADJECTIVES PREPOSITIONS CONNECTIVES VERB FORMS: Affirmative, interrogative, negative Imperatives Infinitives (with and without to) after verbs and adjectives Passive forms: present and past simple Verb + object + infinitive give/take/send/bring/show + direct/indirect object Causative have/get So/nor with auxiliaries COMPOUND VERB PATTERNS: Phrasal verbs/verbs with prepositions Comparative and superlative forms (regular and irregular): (not) as . . . as, not . . . enough to, too . . . to

Order of adjectives Compound adjectives ADJECTIVES TENSES: Present simple Present continuous Present perfect simple Past simple Past continuous Future with going to Future with present continuous and present simple Future with will and shall NOUNS PRONOUNS DETERMINERS MODALS