INSTITUTO SARMIENTO ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES

INGLÉS TÉCNICO

UNIT 2

IMPERATIVE SENTENCES
Las frases imperativas
En inglés no se usa el imperativo tanto como en el español. En general, se usa para dar órdenes,
instrucciones o advertencias. Las frases imperativas se construyen de manera diferente a las
afirmativas: no se utiliza un sujeto porque se supone que el sujeto es siempre “you” y el verbo
principal va en la forma infinitiva.

1. El imperativo afirmativo
Verbo + nombre, adjetivo…
Ejemplos:
Do your homework!(¡Haga los deberes!)
Wash your hands!(¡Lavase las manos!)
Tell me the truth!(¡Dime la verdad!)

2. El imperativo negativo
Verbo auxiliar (to do) + auxiliar negativo (not) + verbo + nombre, adjetivo…
Ejemplos:
Do not lie to me!(¡No me mientas!)
Do not wash in the washing machine.(No lo lave en la lavadora.)
Don’t hit your sister!(¡No le pegues a tu hermana!)

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (DETERMINERS)

Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners. It is useful to learn them at the
same time as pronouns, however, because they are similar in form to the possessive pronouns.
Possessive adjectives function as adjectives, so they appear before the noun they modify. They do
not replace a noun as pronouns do.

EXAMPLES

 Did mother find my shoes?

 Mrs. Baker wants to see your homework.
 Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
 Samantha will fix her bike tomorrow.
 The cat broke its leg.
 This is our house.
 Where is their school?

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 Subject Pronoun Possessive Adjective (Determiner)

1st person singular I my

2nd person singular you your

3rd person singular, male he his

3rd person singular, female she her

3rd person singular, neutral it its

1st person plural we our

2nd person plural you your

3rd person plural they their

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to
describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple
present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they
take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes)
THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:
 To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and
wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general
truth)
 To give instructions or directions:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
 To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
 To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
EXAMPLES
 For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly.
 For repeated actions or events
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Monaco every summer.
 For general truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.

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 The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
 For instructions or directions
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford.
 For fixed arrangements
His mother arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 26th March
 With future constructions
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.

FORMING THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE: TO THINK

Affirmative Interrogative Negative

I think Do I think? I do not think

You think Do you think? You do not think

He thinks Does he think? He does not think

She thinks Does she think? She does not think

It thinks Does it think? It does not think

We think Do we think? We do not think.

They think Do they think? They do not think.

NOTES ON THE SIMPLE PRESENT, THIRD PERSON SINGULAR
 In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
 Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary 'DO') + the
infinitive of the verb.
He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla.
 Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
fly --> flies, cry --> cries
Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
play --> plays, pray --> prays
 Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
EXAMPLES
 He goes to school every morning.
 She understands English.
 It mixes the sand and the water.

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  He tries very hard.
 She enjoys playing the piano.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS
FORMING THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS
The present continuous of any verb is composed of two parts - the present tense of the verb to be
+ the present participle of the main verb.
(The form of the present participle is: base+ing, e.g. talking, playing, moving, smiling)
Affirmative

Subject + to be + base + ing

She is talking.

Negative

Subject + to be + not + base + ing

She is not (isn't) talking

Interrogative

to be + subject + base + ing

Is she talking?
EXAMPLES: TO GO, PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I am going I am not going Am I going?

You are going You aren't going. Are you going?

He, she, it is going He, she, it isn't going Is he, she, it going?

We are going We aren't going Are we going?

You are going You aren't going Are you going?

They are going They aren't going Are they going?

FUNCTIONS OF THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS
As with all tenses in English, the speaker's attitude is as important as the time of the action or
event. When someone uses the present continuous, they are thinking about something that
is unfinished or incomplete

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THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS IS USED:
 to describe an action that is going on at this moment: You are using the Internet. You are
studying English grammar.
 to describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend: Are you still
working for the same company? More and more people are becoming vegetarian.
 to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or
prepared: We're going on holiday tomorrow. I'm meeting my boyfriend tonight. Are they
visiting you next winter?
 to describe a temporary event or situation: He usually plays the drums, but he's
playing bass guitar tonight. The weather forecast was good, but it's raining at the
moment.
 with "always, forever, constantly", to describe and emphasise a continuing series of
repeated actions: Harry and Sally are always arguing! You're constantly
complaining about your mother-in-law!

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past tense of the verb to be:

The affirmative form:
I, he, she, it was.

you, we, they were.

Examples:

 I was in London in 1999.

 Pam was in London in 1999, too.
 We were together.
 She was my girlfriend.

The interrogative form:

Was I, he, she, it?

Were you, we, they?

Examples:

 Were you in London last year?

 Was Pam with you?
 Were you together?

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The negative form:
was not.
I, he, she, it
wasn't.

were not.
You, we, they
weren't.

Examples:

 I wasn't in Paris in 1999.

 Pam wasn't in Paris in 1999.
 We weren't in Paris.

Use of the simple past

The simple past is used principally to describe events in the past.

Remember:

1. wasn't is the short form of was not. You can say either:

 I was not in Paris, or

 I wasn't in Paris.

2. weren't is the short form of were not. You can say either:

 we were not in Paris, or

 we weren't in Paris.

SIMPLE PAST OF REGULAR VERBS.

DEFINITION OF THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in
a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the
action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.
EXAMPLES
 John Cabot sailed to America in 1498.
 My father died last year.
 He lived in Fiji in 1976.
 We crossed the Channel yesterday.
You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with
certain past time expressions

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  frequency: often, sometimes, always
I sometimes walked home at lunchtime.
I often brought my lunch to school.
 a definite point in time: last week, when I was a child, yesterday, six weeks ago
We saw a good film last week.
Yesterday, I arrived in Geneva.
She finished her work atseven o'clock
I went to the theatre last night
 an indefinite point in time: the other day, ages ago, a long time ago
People lived in caves a long time ago.
She played the piano when she was a child.

FORMING THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

PATTERNS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE FOR REGULAR VERBS
Affirmative

Subject + verb + ed

I skipped.

Negative

Subject + did not + infinitive without to

They didn't go.

Interrogative

Did + subject + infinitive without to

Did she arrive?

Interrogative negative

Did not + subject + infinitive without to

Didn't you play?

TO WALK

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I walked I didn't walk Did I walk?

You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?

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Affirmative Negative Interrogative

He walked He didn't walk Did he walk?

We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?

They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?

NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE

For the negative and interrogative simple past form of "to do" as an ordinary verb, use the
auxiliary "did", e.g. We didn't do our homework last night.
The negative of "have" in the simple past is usually formed using the auxiliary "did", but
sometimes by simply adding not or the contraction "n't".
The interrogative form of "have" in the simple past normally uses the auxiliary "did".
EXAMPLES
 They weren't in Rio last summer.
 We didn't have any money.
 We didn't have time to visit the Eiffel Tower.
 We didn't do our exercises this morning.
 Were they in Iceland last January?
 Did you have a bicycle when you were young?
 Did you do much climbing in Switzerland?

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST CONTINUOUS

The past continuous describes actions or events in a time before now, which began in the past and
is still going on at the time of speaking. In other words, it expresses an unfinished or incomplete
action in the past.
It is used:
 Often, to describe the background in a story written in the past tense, e.g. "The sun was
shining and the birds were singing as the elephant came out of the jungle. The other
animals were relaxing in the shade of the trees, but the elephant moved very quickly.
She was looking for her baby, and she didn't notice the hunter who was watching her
through his binoculars. When the shot rang out, she was running towards the river..."
 to describe an unfinished action that was interrupted by another event or action, e.g.
"I was having a beautiful dream when the alarm clock rang."
 to express a change of mind: e.g. "I was going to spend the day at the beach but I've
decided to get my homework done instead."
 with 'wonder', to make a very polite request: e.g. "I was wondering if you could baby-sit
for me tonight."
EXAMPLES
 They were waiting for the bus when the accident happened.
 Caroline was skiing when she broke her leg.
 When we arrived he was having a bath.

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  When the fire started I was watching television.

FORMING THE PAST CONTINUOUS

The past continuous of any verb is composed of two parts : the past tense of the verb "to be"
(was/were), and the base of the main verb +ing.

Subject was/were base + ing

They were watching

Affirmative

She was reading

Negative

She wasn't reading

Interrogative

Was she reading?

Interrogative negative

Wasn't she reading?

TO PLAY, PAST CONTINUOUS
Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I was playing I was not playing Was I playing?

You were playing You were not playing Were you playing?

He was playing He wasn't playing Was he playing?

We were playing We weren't playing Were we playing?

They were playing They weren't playing Were they playing?

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PRESENT PERFECT
DEFINITION OF THE PRESENT PERFECT TENSE
The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the
action is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the
action itself.
THE PRESENT PERFECT IS USED TO DESCRIBE
 An action or situation that started in the past and continues in the present. I have lived in
Bristol since 1984 (= and I still do.)
 An action performed during a period that has not yet finished. She has been to the cinema
twice this week (= and the week isn't over yet.)
 A repeated action in an unspecified period between the past and now. We have
visited Portugal several times.
 An action that was completed in the very recent past, expressed by 'just'. I have just
finished my work.
 An action when the time is not important. He has read 'War and Peace'. (= the result of his
reading is important)
.
ACTIONS STARTED IN THE PAST AND CONTINUING IN THE PRESENT
 They haven't lived here for years.
 She has worked in the bank for five years.
 We have had the same car for ten years.
 Have you played the piano since you were a child?
WHEN THE TIME PERIOD REFERRED TO HAS NOT FINISHED
 I have worked hard this week.
 It has rained a lot this year.
 We haven't seen her today.
ACTIONS REPEATED IN AN UNSPECIFIED PERIOD BETWEEN THE PAST AND NOW.
 They have seen that film six times
 It has happened several times already.
 She has visited them frequently.
 We have eaten at that restaurant many times.
ACTIONS COMPLETED IN THE VERY RECENT PAST (+JUST)
 Have you just finished work?
 I have just eaten.
 We have just seen her.
 Has he just left?
WHEN THE PRECISE TIME OF THE ACTION IS NOT IMPORTANT OR NOT KNOWN
 Someone has eaten my soup!
 Have you seen 'Gone with the Wind'?
 She's studied Japanese, Russian, and English.

FORMING THE PRESENT PERFECT

The present perfect of any verb is composed of two elements : the appropriate form of the
auxiliary verb to have (present tense), plus the past participle of the main verb. The past participle
of a regular verb is base+ed, e.g. played, arrived, looked. For irregular verbs, see the Table of
irregular verbs in the section called 'Verbs'.
Affirmative

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Subject to have past participle

She has visited.

Negative

Subject to have + not past participle

She has not (hasn't) visited.

Interrogative

to have subject past participle

Has she visited?

TO WALK, PRESENT PERFECT

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I have walked I haven't walked Have I walked?

You have walked You haven't walked. Have you walked?

He, she, it has walked He, she, hasn't walked Has he, she, it walked?

We have walked We haven't walked Have we walked?

You have walked You haven't walked Have you walked?

They have walked They haven't walked Have they walked?

PAST PERFECT TENSE

FUNCTIONS OF THE PAST PERFECT
The past perfect refers to a time earlier than before now. It is used to make it clear that one event
happened before another in the past. It does not matter which event is mentioned first - the
tense makes it clear which one happened first.
In these examples, Event A is the event that happened first and Event B is the second or more
recent event:
Event A Event B

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John had gone out when I arrived in the office.

Event A Event B

I had saved my document before the computer crashed.

Event B Event A

When they arrived we had already started cooking.

Event B Event A

He was very tired because he hadn't slept well.

FORMING THE PAST PERFECT

The Past Perfect tense in English is composed of two parts: the past tense of the verb to have
(had) + the past participle of the main verb.
Subject had past participle

Affirmative

She had given

Negative

She hadn't asked.

Interrogative

Had they arrived?

Interrogative Negative

Hadn't you finished?

TO DECIDE, PAST PERFECT

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

I had decided I hadn't decided Had I decided?

You had decided You hadn't decided Had you decided?

She had decided She hadn't decided Had she decided?

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Affirmative Negative Interrogative

We had decided We hadn't decided Had we decided?

They had decided They hadn't decided Had they decided?

SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE

FUNCTIONS OF THE SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
The simple future refers to a time later than now, and expresses facts or certainty. In this case
there is no 'attitude'.
The simple future is used:
 To predict a future event:
It will rain tomorrow.
 With I or We, to express a spontaneous decision:
I'll pay for the tickets by credit card.
 To express willingness:
I'll do the washing-up.
He'll carry your bag for you.
 In the negative form, to express unwillingness:
The baby won't eat his soup.
I won't leave until I've seen the manager!
 With I in the interrogative form using "shall", to make an offer:
Shall I open the window?
 With we in the interrogative form using "shall", to make a suggestion:
Shall we go to the cinema tonight?
 With I in the interrogative form using "shall", to ask for advice or instructions:
What shall I tell the boss about this money?
 With you, to give orders:
You will do exactly as I say.
 With you in the interrogative form, to give an invitation:
Will you come to the dance with me?
Will you marry me?
Note:In modern English will is preferred to shall. Shall is mainly used with I and we to make an
offer or suggestion, or to ask for advice (see examples above). With the other persons (you, he,
she, they) shall is only used in literary or poetic situations, e.g. "With rings on her fingers and bells
on her toes, She shall have music wherever she goes."

FORMING THE SIMPLE FUTURE

The simple future tense is composed of two parts: will / shall + the infinitive without to

Subject will infinitive without to

Affirmative

I will go

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Subject will infinitive without to

I shall go

Negative

They will not see

They won't see

Interrogative

Will she ask?

Interrogative negative

Won't they try?

CONTRACTIONS
I will = I'll
We will = we'll
You will = you'll
He will = he'll
She will = she'll
They will = they'll
Will not = won't
The form "it will" is not normally shortened.
TO SEE: SIMPLE FUTURE TENSE
Affirmative Negative Interrogative Interrogative Negative

I will see I won't see Will I see? Won't I see?

*I shall see *Shall I see?

You will see You won't see Will you see? Won't you see?

He will see He won't see Will he see? Won't he see?

We will see We won't see Will we see? Won't we see?

*We shall see *Shall we see?

They will see They won't see Will they see? Won't they see?

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