BRES UI WEB Language Reference

8/3/2019 BRES UI WEB Language Reference

1/16


2/16

Unit 2Language at work | Question form review

Making questions1 With most verbs, make direct or Wh- questions with a

normal auxiliary verb (be, do, have) or a modal auxiliary

(may, will, shall, etc.). The auxiliary comes beore the subject.Do you know many people here?

How longhasshebeen workingor Hertz?

Shouldyou sendthat orm o today?

2 With a prepositional or phrasal verb, the preposition or

particle usually comes ater the verb.

Where do you comerom? (Not: From where do you come?)

Where did you growup?

3 Who and whatcan be the subject or the object o a question,

with a dierence in word order.

Whoorwhatas subject (word order same as in a statement):

Who wants to come(Answer: Somebody wants to )Whoorwhatas object (auxiliary precedes the subject):

Whatdid you say?(Answer: I said something )

4 Make an ordinary statement into a question by using rising

intonation.

A James is away, Im araid hes in Rome.jB Hes in Rome? Whats he doing there?

5 Use negative questions to check that something is true. Put

ntater the auxiliary, and use them when the answeryesis

expected.

A DidntAmelie move to Marseilles a ew months ago?

B Yes, thats right when the new branch was opened.

Question tags

1 I the main verb is positive, the question tag is negative.

With the verb be, repeat the verb in the negative.

Its hot, isntit?

With verbs in the present simple, use dont / doesnt.You work or Siemens, dontyou?

With verbs in the past simple, use didnt.

He let early yesterday, didnthe?

All other tenses that have auxiliaries (continuous tenses,

perect tenses, etc.), reuse the rst auxiliary in thenegative.

Hes been to China, hasnthe?

They would say that, wouldntthey?

You will be there, wontyou?

2 I the main verb is negative, the question tag is positive.

You havent seen my keys anywhere, haveyou?

3 I the subject is a word like someone, no one, everybody,

anyone, use theyin the question tag.

Anyone can use the meeting room, cant they?

Everybody knows that, dont they?


3/16

Unit 3

Present perfectUse the present perect

1 to link a present situation with something that took place at

an unspecied time in the past

Ana has sentthe new brochure to all our clients.

The present situation is that all the clients have the new

brochure. The past event is that Ana sent the new brochure

(we dont know when).2 withyetand alreadyto talk about tasks expected to be done

or which are done earlier than expected

A Haveyoufnishedthat reportyet?

B Yes. AndIve already donemost o the next one as well.

3 with how long, orand sinceto talk about duration o states

and activities (see page 121)

4 withjustto talk about things that have happened very

recently

Ive just seenTom in the caeteria.

5 with unnished time periods: since, so ar this week, up to

now, recently, this month, todayYouve been latethree times this month please be on time or

the rest o the month.

Past simpleUse the past simple

1 when reerring to (or thinking o) a nished time period like

yesterday, last week, at 5.30, on 11 May, at Christmas, in 2002,

etc.

Iwentto the sales conerence last week.

2 or questions like When?What time? How long ago?etc.

because the expected answer is a nished time period

A When didyou seeMr Li? (Not: When have you seen Mr

Li?)

B Isaw him yesterday. (Not: I have seen him yesterday.)

3 with many present time expressions usually used with the

present perect, like this week, today, just, i they reer to atime period that is about to nish or has just nished

Weve madea lot o progress this week. (said on Wednesday

the time period is still in progress)

Wemadea lot o progress this week. (said at 4.30 p.m. on

Friday the time period is about to nish)

Language at work | Present perfect and

past simple


4/16


5/16

Unit 5

Direct and indirect questions1 In a direct question, the normal word order is verbsubject.

In an indirect question, starting with a phrase like Do youknow , the positive orm is used and the order becomes

subjectverb.

Direct: When isMr Patelleaving?

Indirect: Do you know when Mr Patel isleaving?

These dierences are most noticeable in the present simple

and past simple. In the indirect question, the auxiliaries do/

doesor did are not needed.

Direct: WheredoesMr Elmorework?

Indirect: Could you tell me where Mr Elmoreworks?

Direct: When didCassiecall?

Indirect: Could you tell me when Cassiecalled?2 For Wh-?and How?questions, we repeat the question word.

Direct: Who* is Jan seeing tomorrow?

Indirect: Do you knowwho Jan is seeing tomorrow?

Direct: How much does it cost?

Indirect: Do you knowhowmuch it costs?Direct: Whydid Mr Peters leave?

Indirect: Do you knowwhyMr Peters let?

*When who or whatis the subject o the question (see Unit 2),

there is no dierence in word order.

Direct: Who is comingto the meeting?

Indirect: Do you knowwho is comingto the meeting?

3 For Yes/ No questions, use ior whether(or not).

Direct: Is it going to rain tomorrow?

Indirect: Do you knowiits going to rain tomorrow?

Direct: Have you decided to go ahead?

Indirect: Could you tell mewhetherornotyouve decided togo ahead?

4 The most common phrases to introduce indirect questions

are

Could you tell me / Do you know / Could you let me

know .

Language tipOther common phrases that follow the same pattern are

these reported thought phrases.

I wonder / Ill try and fnd out / I have no idea /

I dont know / Im not sure / I doubt whether I wonderwhenour orderwill arrive.

Language at work | Direct and indirect

questions


6/16

Unit 6

willUse will+ innitive

1 to make predictions or talk about uture acts

It looks as i the economywill slow down next year.

2 to make decisions at the moment o speaking

A Im sorry Im really busy at the moment.

B Dont worry Ill callback later.

For decisions made earlier, when you mean Ive decided to,usegoing to, not will.

I should be back in an hour. Im going to getmy hair cut.

(Not: I will get )

be going toUse be going to + innitive

1 to talk about a plan or intention where the decision has

already been made

A Ive asked the contractors to meet with us.

B I see. Whatareyougoing tosayto them?

2 to make a very denite prediction based on evidence that

you can see or know about

My manager likes to start meetings on time, so hes going to be

annoyed when I arrive late.

Oten either willorgoing to can be used to make predictions.

When interest rates go up, peoplewill/ are going to startspending less.

Present continuousUse the present continuous to talk about arrangements,

appointments, social events and anything you would put

in a diary, particularly when the time, place or purpose is

mentioned.

Im seeingBill in Paris tomorrow to discuss the project.

Going to can almost always be used in these situations, but use

o the present continuous is very common in everyday spoken

English.

Present simpleUse the present simple to reer to uture events that are in a

timetable.

Do you know when the last train leaves?

The verb beis oten used in the present simple when talking

about personal schedules.

Im in Madrid on Friday and Im away or a couple o days

next week as well.

Language at work | Talking about the

future


7/16

Unit 7

Countability

Countable nouns

A countable noun (e.g. chair, cat) can be singular or plural.

a chair, three cats

Single countable nouns have a singular verb.

My ofceisin Manhattan.

Plural countable nouns have a plural verb.

The managersareunhappy about the new proposal.

Some nouns are always plural (scissors, clothes).

The scissorsareon Jamies desk.

Uncountable nouns

An uncountable noun (e.g. advice, equipment) has a singular

verb and has no plural orm.Your advicewasvery useul.

Countable and uncountable nouns

Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable, but there

is a change in meaning.

coee the drink or the croptwo coees two cups o coee

time minutes and hours passing

our times our occasions

Additional words can also be used to reer to parts o a whole.

apieceo inormation, an item o urniture

Expressing quantity1 To talk about something in general, use

a plural countable noun and no quantier

Computers are getting cheaper all the time.

or an uncountable noun and no quantier

Cash is less secure than a cheque.

2 When talking about quantities, use the ollowing quantiers

with these classes o nouns.

singular, countable: a, an, the, one(You must have a

quantier o some kind.)plural, countable: how many, (too) many, (not) many, more /

ewer, (a) ew, very ewand numbers (1, 2, 3)

uncountable: how much, (too / not) much, more / less,

(a) little, very little

uncountable or plural countable nouns: lots o, plenty o,

masses o, most, most o the, some, some o the, all o the, all

my, (not) enough, hardly any, (not) any, no, none o the

Language at work | Countability

| Expressing quantity


8/16

Unit 8

Passive forms1 Verbs in sentences can either be active or passive. To make

the passive, use the verb bein the appropriate tense and a

past participle.

Tense Active Passive

Present simple Wedo the job. The job isdone.

Present

continuous

Weare doingthe job. The job is being done.

Past simple Wedidthe job. The job was done.

Past continuous Wewere doingthe job. The job was being

done.

Present perect Wehave donethe job. The job has beendone.

Past perect Wehad donethe job. The job had been done.

Modal Wemustdo the job. The job must be done.

Innitive We needto do the job. The job needs to be

done.

-ingorm We object to someone

doingthe job.

We object to the job

being done.

2 Make questions and negatives in the same way as in active

sentences.

Wasthe emailsentto Mr Jordan?

The emailwasnt sentthis morning.

Use1 To change the ocus o a sentence rom who does something

to what happens to something.

My assistanthas preparedthe contract. (The ocus is on my

assistant, the subject o the active sentence.)

The contracthas been prepared. (The ocus is on the

contract and what has happened to it.)

2 To describe processes or how something is done.

When the grapeshave been picked, theyare taken to the

actory.

3 When the person who does the action is unimportant or

unknown or we want to avoid saying who is responsible.My secretaryhas lostthe order orm.

The order orm has been lost.

Use byto say who does the action ollowing a passive verb.

The decision has been made bythe Managing Director.

4 To talk about reputation and with phrases like issaid to be, isbelieved to be. These phrases are oten used in news reports

and make the inormation more impersonal.

Caliornia is said to bewarm and sunny.

The Prime Ministeris believed to bein talks with

Language at work | The passive


9/16

Unit 9

First conditionalFirst conditional sentences have two parts. In the iclause, we

talk about a present or uture situation that is quite likely tohappen; in the other clause, we talk about the result.

Likelysituation Result

I+ present tense will+ innitive

I you order20 units, well giveyou a 15% discount.

I Im not promoted, Ill leavethe company.

Variations

1 Use the present continuous or present perect in the i

clause.I anyoneis waitingor you in reception, Ill let you know.

I hehasntemailed them, Ill call instead.

2 Use other modals in the result clause.

I we hurry, wemay/ might/could/ shouldarrive in time.

Second conditionalSecond conditional sentences have two parts. In the iclause,

we talk about an imaginary present or uture situation that is

not likely; in the other clause, we talk about the result.

Imaginarysituation Result

I+ past tense would+ innitive

Iwe acceptedthe takeover bid, wewould beout o a job.

Variations

1 Use the past continuous in the iclause.I you were applyingor a job, what would you put on your

CV?

2 Use couldor mightin the result clause.

I we got a bit more help, wecould/ mightfnish on time.

Linking words

1 A number o expressions mean iand only i, and

emphasize the condition:provided (that),providing(less

ormal), as long asand on the condition that.

Ill help you todayprovidingyou do my shit on Friday.

2 Supposingmeans just imagine, so it is normally used with

second conditionals.

Supposingthey oered you the job, would you take it?

3 Unlessis similar in meaning to i not.

Ill be home by 5.30unlessthe meeting fnishes late.

4 Use in caseto talk about action taken to avoid something

happening.Ill take a spare batteryin casethe main one runs out.

Language at work | First and second

conditionals


10/16

Unit 10

Talking about duration1 Use the present perect continuous with How long?,orand

sinceto talk about continuous activities or repeated actionsthat started in the past and are still going on now.

How longhaveyou been learningEnglish?

Ive been learningor three years / since I joined ILS.

2 Useorto talk about amounts o time (or threeweeks,or two

months). Use sinceto talk about points in time (since 10.30,

since Monday, since the end o May).

3 When talking about a state (see Unit 1), use the present

perect simple, because stative verbs are not used in the

continuous orm.

How longhaveyou known Pia?

Ive known her or fve years. (Not: ve been knowing)

Unfinished time periods1 Use the present perect continuous or simple with unnished

time periods like recently, all day, this week.

Ive been tryingto call her all day.

Weve hadsix oers so ar this week.

2 Use the present perect continuous when talking about

activities that are temporary or unnished.

Temporary activity:Ive been stayingwith my brother this

week.(I usually live in my own fat.)

Unnished activity: Ive been talkingto my accountant thisweek. (The discussions are continuing.)

3 Use the present perect simple or stative verbs.

My bosshas been away in London this week. (It is Thursday

and he is still not back.)

4 Use the present perect simple when talking about completed

actions and to give details o quantities.

I have seen my accountantthree timesthis week. (Those three

occasions are in the past.)

No time period

When no time period at all is mentioned, the dierencebetween the present perect simple and continuous depends

on whether the action is nished (and we stress the result) or

unnished (and we stress the action).

Sams readyour report. (Hes nished it.)

Sams been readingyour report. (He hasnt nished it and the

activity is continuing.)

BUT the present perect continuous can be used to talk about

recent activities that are fnished i there is some evidence o

the recent activity.

Its stopped now, but its been snowingand the roads are still

very dangerous.

Language at work | Present perfect simple

and continuous


11/16

Unit 11Language at work | Modals verbs

obligation and prohibition

ObligationUse mustor haveto to talk about an obligation.

1 Mustis more common when the sense o obligation comesrom the speaker (i.e. when the speaker is telling someone

what to do or giving an order / instruction). It is also more

common in ormal language.

You mustget to the meeting on time tomorrow.

Visitorsmustswitch o their mobile phones.

Shouldis also possible, but is not as strong as must(it is

used to suggest something is advisable or preerable).

Its getting late and youve worked hard, so I think you

shouldgo home now.

2 Have to is more common when talking about rules,

regulations, duties and responsibilities.

I we want to smoke, wehave togo out o the ofce.

When people call the helpline, Ihave to put them through

to a suitable adviser.

No obligationUse dont have to, dont needto or needntto talk about a lack oobligation.

1 Needntis more common when the idea o the lack o

obligation is coming rom the speaker (i.e. when the speaker

is giving someone permission not to do something).

You needntdo any more work on this Ill take care o

it mysel.

2 Dont have to and dont need to are more common when the

speaker is talking about a lack o obligation and saying that

something is not necessary.

The ofce is closed or the holidays now and wedont have toreturn until 3 January.

ProhibitionUse mustnt, cantand arent allowed to to talk about prohibition.

1 Mustntis normally used when the idea o prohibition comes

rom the speaker, and is also more common in ormal

language.

Wemustntdisturb him i hes busy.

Passengersmustntleave their luggage unattended at

any time.

2 Cantand arent allowed to are more common when thespeaker is talking about what is permitted and what is not

permitted.

Im sorry, but you cantpark here its an emergency exit.


12/16

Language at work | Future continuous,

future perfect and probability

Unit 12

Future continuousUse the uture continuous (will be+ -ing) to talk about

1 activities that will be in progress (and unnished) at a

certain time in the uture

I cant see you at 11.00 on Monday because Ill be visitingthe

actory.

2 repeated or continuous activities over a period o time, oten

with the prepositionsorand untilIll be meetingMatthew regularlyuntilthe project is fnished.

(repeated many times in the uture)

Well be livingin Osakaor6 months.

(continuous over a period o time)

3 activities that are part o a uture programme

Welcome to the course. Over the next ew weeks, well belookingat methods or making marketing more eective, and

well be discussingnew ways o reaching customers.

Future perfect1 Use the uture perect (will have+ past participle) to

talk about an action that will be completed beore a point

o time in the uture.

A Hows the report?

B Its going well. Illdefnitelyhave fnishedit by Friday.

2 The prepositions byor beoreare normally used with the

uture perect. The negative uture perect + untilis alsocommon.

Iwont have fnishedthe reportuntilFriday.

Probability1 Use mayand mightto suggest some uncertainty.

Imaycome to the party. Then again, Imightnot. It depends

on how Im eeling.

2 Adverbs likeprobablyand defnitelygive a clear indication

o how probable we think something is.

Illdefnitelycome to the meeting. (certain)

Illprobablycome to the meeting. (very likely)

Inpositive sentences, the adverb usually comes ater

will(Ill defnitely be there). In negative sentences, it usually

comes beore wont(I defnitely wont come).

3 Adjective structures like is certain to, is sure to, is bound to, is

(quite) likely to, is (highly) unlikely to + innitive can also beused to indicate degrees o probability.

We wont wait or John. Hesbound to be late. (very sure)

I think our application isunlikelyto be successul. (unsure)


13/16

Unit 13

Reported speech1 Reporting verbs used to report the exact words said:

reporting speech say, tell, explain, point out, etc.reporting thought think, know, believe, (not) realize, etc.

reporting requests ask, wonder, want to know, etc.

reporting orders tell, order, etc.

2 Main tense changes in standard reported speech, when the

reporting verb is in the past tense:

Actualwords Reportedspeech

present simple past simple

present continuous past continuous

past simple past perect

past continuous past perect continuouspresent perect past perect

present perect continuous past perect continuous

past perect no change

past perect continuous no change

am / is are going to was / were going to

willuture woulduture

imperative innitive

Im driving home. He said (that) he was driving home.

I didnt see her. He said (that) he hadnt seen her.

Its been raining. He said (that) it had been raining.

Im going to resign. He said (that) he was going to resign.

Dont disturb me. He told me not to disturb him.

3 Modal verbs change as ollows: cancould, maymight,

must hadto, need needed, willwould.

4 I the reporting verb is in the present tense and the situation

is still current, there is no need to change the tense.I like working here.He says he really likes working here.

5 To report Wh- questions: repeat the question word, change

the tense (as above) and change the word order.

When is Jane going? He asked me when Jane was going.

6 To report a direct question, use ior whether.Has Bill spoken to you? He asked me i Bill had spoken to

me.

7 Several verbs can be used to summarize what people say.

These can ollow a number o dierent patterns.

verb + that(deny, warn, admit, advise): Hedenied thathe

had disclosed any confdential inormation.

verb + someone + that(warn, advise):Shewarned me that

the company was not a sae investment.

verb + innitive (agree, reuse, oer):She hasagreed to see

me tomorrow.

verb + -ing(advise, admit, deny, apologize or):Theyadmitted leavingthe actory early.

verb + someone + innitive (invite, warn, advise, encourage):

They haveinvited us to visitthe showroom.

Language at work | Reported speech

review


14/16

Unit 14

Past continuous1 The past continuous (was doing, were doing) is oten used

to set the scene and give background inormation at thebeginning o a narrative.

When I got to the trade air, it was still early. Some o the

exhibitorswere setting up their stands and otherswere

unpackingtheir publicity materials.

BUT the past continuous is not used with stative verbs (see

page 103) or when describing permanent eatures.

Our standlookedvery proessional and itwasideally placed

because itwason the aisle that led to the main restaurant.

2 The past continuous is also used or an action in progress

that is interrupted by another shorter action. (Use the past

simple or the action that interrupts.)

Iwas unpackingone o the boxes or our stand when my

mobilerang.

Past simpleThe past simple (did) is used or the main actions and events in

a story that happen one ater the other.

HesaidI was wanted back at the ofce immediately andendedthe call. Itriedto call back, but therewasno reply.

In the end, Ipackedeverything up, lockedit away andlet

the hall.

Past perfectThe past perect (had done) is used when we are already talking

about the past and want to reer to an earlier action, event or

state.

When Igotto the station, I realized Id letmy briecase at the

exhibition.

Language at work | Narrative tenses past

continuous, past simple and past perfect

I was unpacking boxes

now

mobile rang

left briefcase nowgot to station


15/16

Unit 15

Third conditional1 Use the third conditional to talk about things that did

not happen in the past (imagining what would havehappened i things had been dierent). It is oten used to

criticize past actions or to express regrets. In the iclause we

talk about the imagined past situation; in the other clause

we talk about the imagined past result.

Pastsituation Pastresult

I+ past perect would(nt) have+ past participle

I youd concentrated you wouldnt have madethe error.

I Id studiedharder, Iwould havepassed my exam.

2 Notice how negative changes to positive and positive

changes to negative.

Real past: You didnt giveme the inormation. (negative)

Imagined past: I youd given me the inormation. (positive)

Real result: Imadethe error. (positive)

Imagined result: Iwouldnt have madethe error. (negative)3 In the result clause, use might haveor couldhaveto talk

about a less certain result.

I youd helped me, wemight / could havefnished on time.

Mixed conditionalChange the verb orms in conditional sentences to talk aboutan imagined past situation and an imagined present result.

Pastsituation Presentresult

I+ past perect would(nt) + present

innitive

I youd donewhat I advised, wewouldntbein trouble now.

I Ihadnt won the money, I wouldstillbe workingin a

supermarket.

Perfect modals1 Use could have, might haveand would haveto talk about

something that was possible in the past but didnt happen.

Its a good thing you didnt invest in that company

you could/ might/ wouldhavelost everything.

2 Could haveand occasionally might havecan be used to

express irritation and criticism.

I was expecting you at the meeting you reallycould/ might

havetold me you werent going to come.

3 Use should haveto criticize what people have or havent

done.You should haveasked me or authorization

you shouldnt havemade the decision yoursel.

Language at work | Third and mixed

conditionals | Perfect modals


16/16

Unit 16

-ingform1 A number o verbs are ollowed by the -ingorm. Many o

these verbs are connected with likes and dislikes. Common

examples are like, dislike, enjoy, love, hate, cantstand, lookorward to, avoid, miss, and others such as consider, delay,

deny,fnish, involve, mean, risk, suggest.

I really enjoyed seeingMartha again.

2 A number o expressions are ollowed by the -ingorm.

Common examples are its not worth, theres no point, its no

use.

Its no usecomplaining youll never get your money back.

3 When a verb ollows a preposition it is connected with, it

always takes the -ingorm.

Im keen on travelling, but Id beworried abouttaking a whole

year o.

Infinitive1 A number o verbs are ollowed by the innitive. Many o

these verbs are connected with making plans and decisions.

Common examples are agree, arrange, decide, expect,ail,

hope, manage, oer,plan,prepare,promise, reuseand others

such as aord, deserve, learn, seem, want, wouldlike.

Wearranged to meetthe ollowing week.

2 The pattern subject (or It) + be+ adjective + innitive is

oten used.

Chinese is hard to learn. / Its hard to learn Chinese.

3 The innitive can be used to express purpose.

A Why are you taking a year o?

B To travelround the world.

A preposition (like or) to express purpose isnt needed.

The innitive alone is enough.I called them to arrangea meeting. (Not: or to arrange)

Changes in meaning

Some verbs can be ollowed by either the -ingorm or innitive

and change their meaning.

Istopped goingto the gym months ago. (I gave up the activity.)Istopped to go to the gym. (I was driving and stopped in order

to go to the gym.)

Iremember seeingKen at the party. (I saw him, and I have a

clear memory o it.)

Iremembered to seeKen at the party. (I knew he wanted to

speak to me, so I went over to him.)

Other verbs like this include try,orget, regret, like, hate.

Language at work | -ingform and infinitive

BRES UI WEB Language Reference

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