BASIC 1

Be: Affirmative, Yes/No Questions, Contractions, Short Answers, Be: Negative,

Yes/No questions - be (am, are, is)
Subject and verb change their position in statement and question.
statement

You are from Germany.

question

Are you from Germany?

We always use the short answer, not only "Yes" or "No".

NOTE:
If the answer is "Yes", we always use the long form.
Example: Yes, I am.
If the answer is "No", we either use the long or the contracted form (short form).
Example: No, I am not - No, I'm not.
Yes,

am.

No,

am not.
'm not.

Are

you

from Germany?

Is

he

your friend?

Yes,

he

is.

Are

Peter and John

from England?

Yes,

they

are.

Nouns: This/That/These/Those,
This (indicates something close to the speaker)
That (indicates something away from the speaker)
These (indicates some things close to the speaker)
Those (indicates some things away from the speaker

Nouns: Singular/Plural,
Nouns: There is/There are is used to indicate that something "exists"or is in a certain location. The main subject follows the
verb when there is/are is used.
There is an apple on the table.
There are some apples on the table.
Other forms of "be" can also be used with there is/there are.
There will be a party at Bill's house on Saturday.
There were four witnesses at the crime scene.
There have been two robberies in the last five months.

Nouns: Articles
Nouns: Possessive
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

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

Present Progressive: Negative, Wh Questions, Affirmative, Yes/No Questions, Short Answers, Contractions
The present progressive is formed by combining the verb "to be" with the present participle. (The present participle is
merely the "-ing" form of a verb.)
In English, present progressive can be used to describe what is happening now, or what will happen in the future.

1. Forming a negative
Negatives in the present continuous are formed by adding not or n't after the verb BE:

Positive sentence

Negative sentence

Contracted negative

I am eating.

I am not eating.

I'm not eating.

You are working.

You are not working.

You aren't working.

He is driving.

He is not driving.

He isn't driving.

She is teaching.

She is not teaching.

She isn't teaching.

It is raining.

It is not raining.

It isn't raining.

We are reading.

We are not reading.

We aren't reading.

They are writing.

They are not writing.

They aren't writing.

2. Forming a question
Yes/no questions are created by moving the verb BE to the beginning of the sentence. WH-questions are
formed by moving the verb BE, and then adding the WH- word. Here are the rules:

Statement

Yes/no question

WH- question

I am eating.

Am I eating?

What am I eating?

You are crying.

Are you crying?

Why are you crying?

He is going.

Is he going?

Where is he going?

She is arriving.

Is she arriving?

When is she arriving?

It is sleeping.

Is it sleeping?

Why is it sleeping?

We are leaving.

Are we leaving?

When are we leaving?

They are fighting.

Are they fighting?

Why are they fighting

Pronouns: Subject, Object, Possessive

Pronouns are words like I, me (personal pronouns) or my, mine (possessive pronouns).

Personal Pronouns

Possessive Adjectives and Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

subject form object form possessive adjective possessive pronoun

I

Me

my

mine

myself

You

You

your

yours

yourself

He

Him

his

his

himself

She

Her

her

hers

herself

It

It

its

its

itself

We

Us

our

ours

ourselves

You

You

your

yours

yourselves

They

Them

their

theirs

themselves

Subjective Pronouns: A subjective pronoun acts as the subject of a sentenceit performs the action
of the verb. The subjective pronouns are he, I, it, she, they, we, and you.
Objective Pronouns: An objective pronoun acts as the object of a sentenceit receives the action of
the verb. The objective pronouns are her, him, it, me, them, us, and you.
Possessive Pronouns: A possessive pronoun tells you who owns something. The possessive
pronouns are hers, his, its, mine, ours, theirs, andyours.
BASIC 2
Be-Past: Statements, Questions,
To Be - Affirmative
Subject

To Be

Examples

was

I was tired this morning.

You

were

You were very good.

He

was

He was the best in his class.

She

was

She was late for work.

It

was

It was a sunny day.

We

were

We were at home.

You

were

You were on holiday.

They

were

They were happy with their test results.

To Be - Negative Sentences
The negative of To Be can be made by adding not after the verb (was or were).
Subject

To Be

Examples

was not

I was not tired this morning.

You

were not You were not crazy.

He

was not

He was not married.

She

was not

She was not famous.

It

was not

It was not hot yesterday.

We

were not We were not invited.

You

were not You were not at the party.

They

were not They were not friends.

To Be - Negative Contractions
The can make negative contractions of the verb To Be in the Past tense by joining the verb (was or were)
and n't (e.g. were not = weren't). We don't make a contraction of the subject and the verb (e.g. I was).

To Be - Questions
To create questions with To Be, you put the Verb before the Subject.

Affirmative

You

were happy.

Question

Were you

happy?

To Be - Short Answers
In spoken English, we usually give short answers in response to questions.
Was he from Japan? - Yes, he was (from Japan). The last part (from Japan) is not necessary. We use shorts
answers to avoid repetition, when the meaning is clear.

Question

Short Answers**

Short Answers

Was I late?

Yes, you were.

No, you weren't.

Were you sick?

Yes, I was.

No, I wasn't.

Was he surprised?

Yes, he was.

No, he wasn't.

Was she from Italy? Yes, she was.

No, she wasn't.

Was it a big house? Yes, it was.

No, it wasn't.

Were we ready?

Yes, we were.

No, we weren't.

Were you early?

Yes, we were.

No, we weren't.

Were they busy?

Yes, they were.

No, they weren't.

Nouns: Non-Count and Quantifiers/ Count Nouns and Quantifiers,

Quantifiers are words that come before nouns in order to indicate the amount or how much of a non-count noun is
being stated, or the number or how many of a count noun is being stated. Remember that amount and how much refer
to non-count nouns while number and how many refer tocount nouns. Let's look at a few examples.
Non-count nouns
"The students have a tremendous amount of work to complete before the end of the year."
"His fuel gauge was not working, so he didn't know how much gas was left."
Count nouns
"The number of people in the club exceeded the maximum occupancy."
"I don't remember how many times I have been to New York."
There are some quantifiers which are used only with non-count nouns. Here are a few examples: a little, not
much, little, or too much.
There are some quantifiers which are used only with count nouns. Here are a few examples: few,many, several, or a
couple of.
There are some quantifiers which are used with both non-count and count nouns. Here are a few examples: some, a lot
of, plenty of, or enough.

Present Simple: Statements, Yes/No Questions, Wh-Questions,

Forming a negative

Negatives in the simple past are formed by adding didn't (informal) or did not (formal) before the simple form of the
verb. The verb BE is an exception to this; in the case of BE, we just add n't (informal) or not (formal) after "was" or
"were":
Simple past statement

Informal negative

Formal negative

I had a car.

I didn't have a car.

I did not have a car.

You ate my toast.

You didn't eat my toast.

You did not eat my toast.

He was here yesterday.

He wasn't here yesterday.

He was not here yesterday.

They were in the park.

They weren't in the park.

They were not in the park.

Forming a yes/no question

Yes/no questions are also created using the auxiliary did. This time, the auxiliary is placed before the subject. The verb
BE is an exception; in this case, we move BE before the subject. Here are the rules:
Simple past statement

Yes/no question

He brought his friend.

Did he bring his friend?

They had a party.

Did they have a party?

You were here.

Were you here?

She was sick.

Was she sick?

3. Forming a WH- question

WH- questions (using words such as "what", "when", and "where") are also created by putting the auxiliary did before
the subject (or moving BE, as explained above). Then, you add the WH- word at the beginning. Here are some examples:
Statement

Yes/no question

WH- question

The building fell down.

Did the building fall down?

Why did the building fall down?

They lived in Vancouver.

Did they live in Vancouver?

Where did they live?

The store was closed.

Was the store closed?

Why was the store closed?

They were wolves.

Were they wolves?

What were they?

Comparison of Adjectives: Equality, Comparatives, Superlatives,

MAIN USE

COMPARATIVES

SUPERLATIVES

Comparatives are used to compare two things

and to highlight the superiority, inferiority, or
equality of one term compared to another.

For comparisons in larger groups, you

must use the superlative.
Thesuperlative designates extremes: the
best, the first, the worst, the last, etc.

a) Short adjectives: adj + -ER THAN

Peter is taller than Sandra.
SUPERIORITY

a) Short adjectives: THE + adj -EST

Tom is the tallest boy of the school.

b) Long adjectives: MORE + adj + THAN

A Ferrari is more expensive than a Mini.

b) Long adjectives:
THE MOST + adjective
This is the most pleasant place on Earth!

EQUALITY

Short & long adjectives:

AS... adjective... AS
English is as easy as German.

Doesn't exist

INFERIORITY

Short & long adjectives:

LESS + adjectif + THAN
July is less cold than January.

Short & long adjectives:

THE LEAST + adjective
This is the least interesting movie of the
year!

Present Simple: Tag Questions

Postive sentences, with negative tags
Present simple 'be'

She's Italian, isn't she?

Present simple other verbs

They live in London, don't they?

Present continuous

We're working tomorrow, aren't we?

Past simple 'be'

It was cold yesterday, wasn't it?

Past simple other verbs

He went to the party last night, didn't he?

Past continuous

We were waiting at the station, weren't we?

Present perfect

They've been to Japan, haven't they?

Present perfect continuous

She's been studying a lot recently, hasn't she?

Past perfect

He had forgotten his wallet, hadn't he?

Past perfect continuous

We'd been working, hadn't we?

Future simple

She'll come at six, won't she?

Future continuous

They'll be arriving soon, won't they?

Future perfect

They'll have finished before nine, won't they?

Future perfect continuous

She'll have been cooking all day, won't she?

Modals

He can help, can't he?

Modals

John must stay, mustn't he?

Negative sentences, with positive tags

Present simple 'be'

We aren't late, are we?

Present simple other verbs

She doesn't have any children, does she?

Present continuous

The bus isn't coming, is it?

Past simple 'be'

She wasn't at home yesterday, was she?

Past simple other verbs

They didn't go out last Sunday, did they?

Past continuous

You weren't sleeping, were you?

Present perfect

She hasn't eaten all the cake, has she?

Present perfect continuous

He hasn't been running in this weather, has he?

Past perfect

We hadn't been to London before, had we?

Past perfect continuous

You hadn't been sleeping, had you?

Future simple

They won't be late, will they?

Future continuous

He'll be studying tonight, won't he?

Future perfect

She won't have left work before six, will she?

Future perfect continuous

He won't have been travelling all day, will he?

Modals

She can't speak Arabic, can she?

Modals

They mustn't come early, must they?

Modals: Can, Have To, May.

The modal verbs are:CAN / COULD / MAY / MIGHT / MUST / SHALL / SHOULD / OUGHT TO / WILL / WOULD
Modal

Example

Uses

Can (podes)

They can control their own budgets.

We cant fix it.
Can I smoke here?
Can you help me?
Could (podrias) Could I borrow your dictionary?
Could you say it again more slowly?
We could try to fix it ourselves.
I think we could have another Gulf War.
He gave up his old job so he could work for us.
May
May I have another cup of coffee?
China may become a major economic power.
Might
We'd better phone tomorrow, they might be eating their dinner
now.
They might give us a 10% discount.
Must (debe)
We must say good-bye now.
They mustnt disrupt the work more than necessary.
Ought to
We ought to employ a professional writer.
Shall
Shall I help you with your luggage?
Shall we say 2.30 then?
Shall I do that or will you?
Should
We should sort out this problem at once.
(debera)
I think we should check everything again.
Profits should increase next year.
Will
I cant see any taxis so Ill walk.
I'll do that for you if you like.
Ill get back to you first thing on Monday.
Profits will increase next year.
Would
Would you mind if I brought a colleague with me?
Would you pass the salt please?
Would you mind waiting a moment?
"Would three o`clock suit you?" - "Thatd be fine."
Would you like to play golf this Friday?
"Would you prefer tea or coffee?" - "Id like tea please."

BASIC 3
Adverbs: Frequency,
Frequency

Adverb of Frequency

Example Sentence

100%

always

I always go to bed before 11pm.

90%

usually

I usually have cereal for breakfast.

80%

normally / generally

I normally go to the gym.

70%

often* / frequently

I often surf the internet.

Ability / Possibility
Inability / Impossibility
Asking for permission
Request
Asking for permission.
Request
Suggestion
Future possibility
Ability in the past
Asking for permission
Future possibility
Present possibility
Future possibility
Necessity / Obligation
Prohibition
Saying whats right or correct
Offer
Suggestion
Asking what to do
Saying whats right or correct
Recommending action
Uncertain prediction
Instant decisions
Offer
Promise
Certain prediction
Asking for permission
Request
Request
Making arrangements
Invitation
Preferences

50%

sometimes

I sometimes forget my wife's birthday.

30%

occasionally

I occasionally eat junk food.

10%

seldom

I seldom read the newspaper.

5%

hardly ever / rarely

I hardly ever drink alcohol.

0%

never

I never swim in the sea.

Gerund or Infinitive,
Gerunds are often used when actions are real, fixed, or completed. "I enjoy cooking."
Infinitives are often used when actions are unreal, abstract, or future: "He wants to swim

1. I often go (dance) ___ on a Saturday night.

Dancing

2. When I finish (write) ___ this letter, I'll come and help you.

Writing

3. I am planning (buy) ___ a new laptop soon.

To buy

4. I need (sleep) ___ at least eight hours a night.

To sleep

5. I want (move) ___ to London next year.

To move

INTERMEDIATE 1
Passive Voice: With or Without Agent,
EstructuraSujeto + verbo auxiliar ("to be") + participio pasado.

Ejemplos:
The speech is written for the president. (El discurso est escrito para el presidente.)
The house was built in 1975. (La casa fue construida en 1975.)
My wallet has been stolen. (Ha sido robada mi cartera.)
The room will be cleaned while we are out. (Se limpiar la habitacin mientras estemos fuera.)

Relative Clauses: Object Clauses, Subject Clauses, With or Without

A relative clause is one kind of dependent clause. It has a subject and verb, but cant stand alone as a sentence. It is sometimes
called an adjective clause because it functions like an adjectiveit gives more information about a noun. A relative clause always
begins with a relative pronoun, which substitutes for a noun, a noun phrase, or a pronoun when sentences are combined.
The relative pronouns are:
who

for people

can substitute for subject nouns/pronouns (he, she, we, they)

whom

for people

can substitute for object nouns/pronouns (him, her, us, them)

whose

for people

can substitute for possessive nouns/pronouns (his, hers, our, their)

that

for people or things

can be either subject or object

can only be used in restrictive relative clauses (see below)

which

for things

can be either subject or object

can be used in non-restrictive relative clauses
can also be used in restrictive relative clauses, though some people dont like this use

Relative pronoun as subject (in red):

I like the person. The person was nice to me.
I like the person who was nice to me.
I hate the dog. The dog bit me.
I hate the dog that bit me.
I am moving to Louisville, KY. It is home to the Muhammad Ali Museum.
I am moving to Louisville, KY, which is home to the Muhammad Ali Museum.
Relative pronoun as object (in red):
I like the bike. My father gave me the bike.
I like the bike that my father gave me.

Passive Voice: Modals,

Este tiempo gramatical tiene tres frmulas (o estructuras) bsicas:
Afirmativa
The tickets could be bought online. (Los boletos podran ser comprados en lnea)
Sujeto + modal + be + verbo (pasado participio) + complemento.
Negativa
The tickets could not be bought online. (Los boletos no podran ser comprados en lnea)
Sujeto + modal + not + be + verbo (pasado participio) + complemento.
Interrogativa
Could the tickets be bought online? (Podran los boletos ser comprados en lnea?)
Modal + sujeto + be + verbo (pasado participio) + complemento + ? (question mark)

INTERMEDIATE 2
Conditionals: Real, Unreal
The present conditional also known as the "real" conditional because it is generally used with situations that are very
likely (probable). For example, in the sentence below, rain is a definite possibility.
If it rains, I will use an umbrella.
I will use an umbrella if it rains.

If the part of the sentence with "if" goes first, use a comma. These sentences are known as "unreal" conditional because
they contain conditions that are not likely (probable). For example, in the sentence below, winning the lottery is not
very likely.
If I won the lottery, I would buy a new car.
I would buy a new car if I won the lottery.
Past Perfect: Progressive, Past Perfect Simple
Causatives/Permissives: Active, Passive

Causative Verbs

We can use the verb have as a causative verb in both the active and passive forms. In this case
the subject of the sentence forces or causes an action from another person.
Active forms:
Bill had the mechanic fix the car.
He had the secretary call the customer.
The doctor had the nurse take the temperature.

Passive forms:
He had the computer fixed.
Mary had her jacket cleaned.
John had his hair cut.