Chapter 7: the past continuous

The past continuous

• Statements

subject Past of to be

Verb + ing

Affirmative He, she, it, I

was working

Negative You, we, they

were not working

The past continuous

• Yes/ no questions

Past of to be

subject Verb + ing

affirmative negative

Was He, she, it, I

working? Yes, she… was

No, she..

wasn’t

Were We, you, they

working? Yes, they were

No, they weren’t

The past continuous

• Wh-questionWhat was she saying?When was he running?

Wh-word + past of to be (was, were) + subject + base verb-ing

The past continuous

• We use the past continuous for an action that was already happening at a particular time in the past.

He was sleeping at 10.00 yesterday.

While & when with past time clauses

• Time clauses can go at the beginning or at the end of a sentence. If it is at the beginning we use a comma after it.

• A time clause alone is not a complete sentence. We must use it with a main clause to form a complete sentence.

When Tony called, jenny was working at the office.

Incomplete sentence: when Tony called.

While & when with past time clauses

• The verb in a while clause is always in the past continuous

A man crossed the street while he was driving. OR While he was driving, a man crossed the street.

Main clause Time clause

A man crossed the street while he was driving.

Time clause Main clause

While he was driving, a man crossed the street

While & when with past time clauses

• The verb in a when clause is often in the simple past.

Main clause Time clause

Jenny was working at the office

when Tony called.

Time clause Main clause

When Tony called, Jenny was working at the office.

Section 8: the future tense

• To be going to:

• We use to be + going to + base verb :to make predictions about the future.

to talk about our plans for the future.

We are going to buy a house next year.

8.1 To be going to

• Affirmative: I am going to eat.• Negative: I am not going to eat.

• I am / he, she, it is / we, you, they are

• Yes/ no question: Are we going to eat? Is he going to eat?

• Wh-question: When are you going to eat? What is she going to eat?

8.2 Future time expressions• We use future time expressions at the beginning

or at the end of the sentence. We use a comma (,) after time expression when it is at the beginning of the sentence.

next tomorrow in Other expression

Week

Month

Weekend

Summer

Friday

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

night

Ten: minutes

hours

Weeks

Months

years

Soon

tonight

The day after tomorrow

A week from today / now

8.3 The present continuous as a future tense

• We use the present continuous to talk about future plans.

• We often use a time expression with the present continuous.

• We use the present continuous with verbs of movement like come, go, fly, travel, leave.

• we can use to be going to for future plans. Steve is going to leave New York in two hours. Steve is flying to New York in two hours.

The present continuous as a future tense

• We cannot use the present continuous for future predictions.

Correct: Look at those clouds. It is going to rain soon.

Incorrect: Look at those clouds. It is raining soon.

8.4 Will

Subject Will (not) Base verb

I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they

will

will not

won’t

go

Wh-word will subject Base verb

What, where, when….

will you, I, he, they, ….

Stay?

8.4 Will

• Yes / no question:Will he go? Yes, he will. No, he won’t

• We use will for the future to make predictions about what we think will happen or when we decide to do something at the moment of speaking.

8.5 May, might and will

• Possibility: we use may or might to talk about something that it is possible now or in the future.

I may / might go to Mexico next year. You may / might not have a problem with your computer.

• May & might have the same meaning. They both express a possibility.

• • We use may & might when we are not certain about

something. I may arrive late. (it is possible)

8.5 May, might and will

• We use will, to be going to, or the present continuous when we are certain about something.

I will be late. (certain) He is not coming tonight. (we know that he won’t

come).

• Permission: we can use may to give refuse or ask for permission.

May I use your phone? You may not go early.

8.6 Future time clauses with before, after, & when

• A future time clause can begin with before, after& when.

Time clause (simple present)

Main clause (future)

Before I go to bed,

When she goes to the interview,

After we finish the test,

I will do my homework

she will wear her new suit.

we will go home.

8.6 Future time clauses with before, after, & when

• We can put the time clause before or after the main clause. They both have the same meaning.

She will wear her new suit when she goes to the interview.

When she goes to the interview, she will wear her new suit.

8.7 Future conditional sentences• We use future conditional sentences to say that one situation in the future depends on another one. If I have time, I will visit you.

• An if clause can come before or after the main clause. The meaning is the same. If the weather is nice tomorrow, we will go fishing. We will go fishing if the weather is nice tomorrow.

If clause (present) Main clause (future)

If I have time,

If it is sunny,

I will see you.

we will go fishing.

8.8 the simple present with time & if clauses

• We use the simple present in both the dependent clause and the main clause when:

The action is habitual.

When I go to Mexico, I usually stay with my grandmother.

We are expressing something which is always true.

If the temperature falls bellow zero, water turns to ice.

13. Adjectives & adverbs

• Adjectives: Adjectives always come before nouns.It is a beautiful day.

Adjectives can also come after the verb to be.The sky is blue. The air is clean.

Adjectives have the same form for singular & plural nouns

The white mountains are beautiful.

• Nouns:Nouns can also be used to describe other

nouns.The noun that describes another noun is

always singular, just like an adjective.

She is holding a coffee cup.

She is in the computer room.

13.2Word order of adjectives

1

opinion

2

size

3 age

4 colour

5 material

6 nationality

It is a

She has

beautiful large

long

old red

brown

wooden

curly

Chinese box

hair

13.3 the same (as), similar (to), different (from)

• A and B are the same. • A is the same as B.

• A and B are similar.• A is similar to B.

• A and B are different.• A is different from B.

13.4 like & alike

• Like & alike have the same meaning.• Like is a preposition The daughter is like the mother.

• Alike is an adjective. The mother and daughter are alike.

The daughter’s nose is like her mother’s nose. The daughter’s and mother’s noses are alike.

13.5 Comparative form of adjectives

• When we compare things we use comparative adjective + than• One syllable add –er: Long / longer than Hot / hotter than Happy / happier than

• Two syllables: Difficult / more difficult than Expensive / more expensive than

• Irregular adjectives: Good / better than Bad / worse than Far / farther than

As..as, not as..as, less than• We use as…as to show that 2 things or people are the same

in some way. Mark is as tall as Joe.

• We use not as…as to show that 2 things or people are different in some way.

Mark is not as tall as Joe. Mark is not as casual as Joe.

• We use less than with a long adjective. More than 2 syllables. Mark is less casual / intelligent than Joe.

• We don’t use less than with short adjectives or adjectives ending in – y.

Superlative form of adjectives• Vatican City is the smallest county in the world.• Sue is the most intelligent of the three sisters.

adjective comparative superlative

1 syllable Long

cheap

Longer than

Cheaper than

The longest

The cheapest

2 syllable+-y Happy

heavy

Happier than

Heavier than

The happiest

The heaviest

2 or more syllable Famous

difficult

More famous

More difficult

The most famous

The most difficult

Irregular adj. Good

Bad

far

Better than

Worse than

Farther / further than

The best

The worst

The farthest / furthest

13.8 One of the most

• The Mona Lisa is one of the most famous paintings in the world.

• One of the + superlative + plural noun

• It is one of the biggest shops in the city.

• He is one of the richest men in the world.

Adjectives & Adverbs

• An adjective describes a noun and can usually answer the question What?

The car is red. What colour is the car?

• Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. An adverb usually answers the question How?

He paints beautifully. How does he paint?

Rules to form adverbs adjectives adverb

For most adverbs, we add –ly to the adj.

Slow / quick

Beautiful

bad

Slowly / quickly

Beautifully

badly

If the adj. end with –y change y to i then add -ly

Happy / easy Happily

easily

Adverbs = adj Hard / fast / late / early Hard / fast / late / early

Irregular adverbs good well

Comparative & superlative of adverbs

• A snail moves more slowly than a tortoise.

Adverb comparative superlative

Ending in –ly with more / most

easily

slowly

carefully

more easily

more slowly

more carefully

The most easily

The most slowly

The most carefully

Adverbs = adj. Fast / hard

early

Faster / harder

earlier

The fastest

The hardest

The earliest

irregular Well / bad Better

worse

The best

The worst

13.11 As..as with adverbs

• When things are the same, we put as/as before and after the adverb.

She works as fast as a machine.

• We can also follow as + adverb + as + subject + verb to do OR models like can/ could

He worked as fast as I did. He worked as fast as he could.

• We use the negative form not as..as to show things are not the same.

Alex doesn't study as hard as Mike does.