extracted_text:
ENGLISH GRAMMAR and Functions

Vladimir
Skenderoff
(by a non-native, for the non-native)

Copyright 2017 Vladimir Skenderoff
If you are reading this book and did not buy it please visit
virtuallynative.com and buy your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard
work of this author.
www.virtuallynative.com

Why this
book, Why listen to me, Who is it for?
There are so many books dealing with English Grammar at
Amazon, there is so much free information about English Grammar on the
Internet, every single grammar-related question has been answered 100 times
over.
So, why this book?
The answer to that question is also the
answer to the question of “Why listen to me?” – virtually all English Grammar
books are written by native speakers of English. The way native and non-native
speakers learn grammar is diametrically opposite – native speakers learn subconsciously,
but on the other hand non-native speakers learn consciously. Most
Grammar books on the market do a good job making the grammar easy to
understand, but not a good job making the grammar easy to remember and we all
know that Understand doesn’t mean Remember.
Non-native speakers understand the rules of
English grammar, but can't use them in a sentence, use quickly and correctly in
a real-life situation. What makes my book different is that it is written by a
non-native speaker of English, from the viewpoint of someone who has
consciously studied English grammar and is very much aware of how non-native
speakers perceive and produce grammar.

BY A NON-NATIVE
My name is Vladimir and I was born and raised in Bulgaria, a
small country in Eastern Europe. Growing up behind the Iron Curtain I had very
limited access to English books, music, movies or western culture of any kind –
think North Korea.
-   I started
learning English seriously at the age of 27.
-   I started
teaching the language 3 years later and so far have taught over 13,000
individual lessons to more than 1,300 people.
I have a unique experience as both an adult
learner and teacher of the English language. Everything in this book
is practical and it is tried and tested. It’s not just about what works in
theory, it’s mainly about what works in practice.
I have a Ph.D. but it’s not in linguistics.
I speak 4 languages but I don’t consider myself a linguist, let alone a
polyglot. I am not a human dictionary either, I don’t claim to know every word
in the Oxford Dictionary. I consider myself a virtually native speaker of the
English language and an expert on how to learn English, able to answer any
grammar-related question. What you are holding in your hands is the proof of
that.

FOR THE NON-NATIVE
This book is for all learners of English –
elementary, intermediate and advanced. The grammar covered accounts for 99% of
all grammar used by non-native speakers of English.
This book is also for language teachers
– non-native and native alike. My unique take on English grammar will most
certainly prove invaluable to fellow English teachers.

Thank you very much for buying
and reading my book and I sincerely hope it will be of value to you.

Using the book
Although this book is sold as a standalone textbook, it is
best used as supplementary material to my first book Virtually Native. Grammar
is not something that should be studied in isolation, grammar is an integral
part of one’s overall approach to language and I've laid out my approach/method
of learning English in my first book.
Unlike most grammar textbooks, this book is
best read in order from beginning to end. The material is ordered according to
difficulty, and should not therefore be worked through randomly.
Like most grammar textbooks, this book
comes with plenty of example sentences to better illustrate the various
grammatical rules. You need to VISUALIZE, PERSONALIZE and HARMONIZE each of
these example sentences (steps 6, 7 +1 of Virtually Native).

n = noun v = verb adj = adjective sb = somebody sth =
something
Table of Contents
Why this book, Why me, Who’s it for?
Using the book
Nouns
A vs THE
Relative Clause
Verbs
Be
Have
Do
Adjectives
ED vs ING
Comparatives & Superlatives
Adverbs
Prepositions
To
On
In
At
Collocation
Grammar tenses
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Future Simple
Going To
Future Continuous
IF & First Conditional
IF & Second Conditional
IF & Third Conditional
Past Simple
Used To
Past Continuous
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect
Future Perfect
There Is / There Are...
Have / Has
Have sth done
Have sth (bad) done
Have sb do sth
Can / Could
Request
Will / Would
Would you mind …?
Would you like / Want
Invite
May / Might
Should with Advice Should have
Reported Speech
Reporting Questions
Questions
Tag questions
Negative questions
Answering questions
Cues and Functions Cues
Functions
Travel English
About the Author

Word classes
One of the most common mistakes people make is to learn
individual words, and then they read grammar textbooks to figure out how to
connect those same words. Language learners have this dualistic approach to
language acquisition – Vocabulary and Grammar as two separate parts of the
language. We should never learn individual words, we should always learn words
in combination with other words and in a sentence.
Never learn individual words!
Having said that, we will kick off with an
overview of the 4 main word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs.

Nouns
All vocabulary learning starts with nouns, they are the
building blocks of any language. The top 20 most common English nouns are:
time, year, people, way, day, thing, man, world, life, hand, part, child, eye,
woman, place, work, week, school, family, country
Nouns are divided into countable and uncountable.
Countable nouns are used with A and with MANY
and FEW (followed by cymbals):
How many times a year do you travel by plane?
Only a few times a year. There is an egg in the fridge.
Get into the habit of saying A/AN
before countable nouns (extra syllable/beat):
a person, a year, a thing, an
egg, etc.

We form the plural by adding S:
a year – years an ear – ears a day – days a thing – things
or es if the noun ends in s,
sh, ch, x:
a bus – buses a dish – dishes a watch –
watches a box – boxes

Cymbals
To me, the added S has
never been about grammar but always about sound (Virtually Native). I don’t
think about grammar, I hear cymbals.

MANY and FEW are followed by
cymbals – S sound:
Many …s – many friends/cars/countries, etc. A few …s
– a few pictures/cities, etc.
For words ending in s, sh,
ch, x there are double cymbals /siz/: Many …es – many
losses/churches/foxes, etc.
But of course there are some
noteworthy exceptions: Many people/children/women/men etc.
a person – people (persons is also correct)
a man – men a woman – women
a child – children
1 tooth – teeth
1 foot – feet

Uncountable nouns
are used without a/an and with MUCH and LITTLE (not followed by cymbals):
How much time do we have before the plane
leaves? We don't have much time.
There is milk in the fridge.

We can use SOME and A LOT OF with both countable and
uncountable nouns when making positive sentences:
There are some/a lot of eggs in the fridge. There is
some/a lot of milk in the fridge.

We can use ANY with both countable and uncountable nouns
when making negative sentences as well as questions:
There aren't any eggs in the fridge.
Is there any milk in the fridge?
A vs THE
A and THE is one of the most difficult aspects of English
grammar and especially for language learners from Asia and Eastern Europe.
A/AN is called the “indefinite article” THE is
called the “definite article”
Most West European languages (German,
French, Spanish, etc.) make a distinction between any one and one
particular. However, Asian and most East European learners of English
struggle to get a good grasp of that concept because Asian and most Slavic
languages, with the exception of Bulgarian, don't make that distinction.
Therefore, we will start by defining that concept. There is a way to explain
the difference between A (any one) and THE (one particular) and it involves
asking for directions.
What is the most common question when you
ask for directions in your native language? Make sure you answer that question
before continuing with the book.

Naturally, the most common way to
ask for directions is with the question word WHERE:
- Where is …?
I believe every language in the world has this question.
What is another common way to ask for directions in your
native language?
… In English the second most
common question about directions is: - Is there … around here?
I believe most languages have the second question too –
please translate it in your native language.
What is the difference between:
-     Where
is …?
-     Is
there … around here?
Translate them into your mother
tongue and try to imagine using them in a reallife situation.
-     Imagine
you are on vacation in New York and you are looking for TimesSquare … which
question would you choose? Which question would you choose in your native
language and why?
-     Next,
imagine you are looking for a McDonald’s restaurant, which questionwould you
choose in your native language and why? Make sure you answer both questions
before proceeding with the book.
In English we say:
Where is Times Square?
Is there a McDonald’s (restaurant) around here?

“Where is …?” is used when asking about one
specific place, only one in the world.
“Is there … around here?” is used when
asking about any place, one of many, not only one in the world.
Is it the same in your native language?

Where is… is never
followed by A, often followed by THE …?
Where is the Empire State Building? Where is the
Eiffel Tower?
Where is Tokyo Tower? (the) Where is
Times Square? (the) Where is the nearest McDonald’s?
Where is the German embassy in Seoul?
Where is the head office of Citibank?
Is there… is never
followed by THE, always followed by A/AN …around/near here?
Is there a restroom around here?
Is there a Starbucks(coffee shop) near here?
Is there an embassy of an EU country nearby?
Is there a Citibank around here? Is there a bank
around here?
A = 1
In English, as well as most other
European languages, we need a number. Fluent speakers of English are obsessed
with counting, we always need to say
How many:
I have 1 car.
There are 2 girls waiting for you. He was 5 minutes
late.
but instead of:
1   we usually say
A
2   we say “a
couple of”3-4-5 we can say “a few”
I have a car.
There are a couple of girls waiting for you. He was a
few minutes late.
The important thing is we need a
number, make sure you answer the How many question, always count but say
A instead of 1:
We waited for (how many: 1 hour) an hour.
There is (how many: 1 park) a park in my neighborhood.
I have (how many: 1 sister) a sister.
Could you give me (how many: 1 cup) a cup of tea? I
saw (how many: 1 movie) a movie yesterday.
I waited for (how many: 2 hours) a couple of hours.
There are (how many: 4 parks) a few parks in my city.

THE best 1
The superlative form of an
adjective is preceded by THE (da …st):
the best the biggest the happiest the most
exciting the least expensive
More about superlatives later in
the book.

Listener and Speaker
Every conversation consists of two parties: a listener and a
speaker (you are the speaker). When choosing between A and THE you should
consider whether the listener knows about the thing you are about to introduce:
-
if the listener hears for the first time, doesn't know, you
should use A: Isaw a movie.
-
if the listener hears for the second time, knows, you should use
THE: I sawthe movie.
In the case of “I saw a movie” you
introduce the thing (movie) for the first time, the listener hears that
information for the first time. You know about the movie you saw, but the
listener doesn't, therefore, you should use A: I saw a movie = I saw one movie
(any movie).
In the case of “I saw the movie” you introduce
the thing (movie) for the second time, the listener knows about the movie you
saw. Maybe the previous day you told the listener that you had a plan to see
that particular movie, therefore, now the listener knows about which movie you
are talking about: I saw the movie = I saw the movie I told you about yesterday
(one particular movie).
Notice the interplay between A and THE when telling a
story:
I met a girl yesterday. The girl was
beautiful. She was wearing a long dress and a pearl necklace. The dress was
black and the necklace was white. I decided to take her to an Italian
restaurant near the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, the restaurant was
closed so we went to the movies instead. We saw an interesting movie. The movie
was about a young couple on their first date. The couple decided to go to an
Italian restaurant near the Empire State Building. Unfortunately, the
restaurant was closed so they went to the movies instead…
You introduce the person (girl, couple) or
thing (dress, necklace, restaurant, movie) with A (listener hears for the first
time) and follow it up with THE (listener hears for the second time).
Relative Clause
Relative Clause is “a part of a sentence which describes a
noun.” It is an important grammar for when we forget a noun – it helps us
REPHRASE (Virtually Native) – but I didn’t know it was called “relative
clause.” I learned this grammar subconsciously by using Monolingual Learner’s
Dictionaries and reading the definition of words like:
Teacher = someone whose job is to teach in a school
or college
Learner = a person who is still learning something
(sth)
Full moon = the moon when it looks like a complete
circle
Cause = the reason why sth, especially sth bad,
happens
Bottleneck = a place where a road becomes narrow
Bottleneck = a problem that delays progress
Sequel = a book, film, play etc. that/which
continues the story of a previous one
Why are both that and which correct? Does it
matter? The dictionary says that they are both correct. Don’t focus too much on
understanding it but rather choose one, and focus on how you can memorize it.
You need to Visualize, Personalize and Harmonize it.
As I said, I learned this grammar subconsciously so I can't
really teach you how to use it – my advice is to keep using Monolingual
Learner’s Dictionaries. Until then, until you learn how to use Relative Clause,
it is perfectly fine to make 2 sentences instead of 1.
-   One (1)
sentence (relative clause): This is the shop where I bought my scooter.
-   Two (2)
sentences: You know my scooter, right? I bought it from this shop.
-   1 sentence: Do
you know the woman, who is talking to John?
-   2 sentences:
John is talking to some woman. Do you know her?
-   1s: Do you see
the cat which is sleeping on the bed?
-   3s: There is a
cat on the bed. It’s sleeping. Do you see it?
Verbs
Nouns are first, next come verbs.
The top 20 most common English verbs are: be, have, do, say, get, go, make,
know, take, see, come, want, use, find, give, tell, work, try, ask, need. Get
into the habit of saying TO before verbs: to be, to have, to do, etc.

Every verb in the English
language has 3 forms:
Present / Past / Past Participle • Present
is the base form of the verb, the dictionary form.
•   Past is
the second form of the verb.
•   Past
Participle is the third (perfect) form of the verb.
With regular verbs the
second and third forms are made by adding ED:
Want/wanted/wanted
Use/used/used
Work/worked/worked
Try/tried/tried
Unfortunately, most common verbs
in English are irregular:
Be/was or were/been
Have/had/had
Do/did/done
Say/said/said
Get/got/gotten or got
Make/made/made
Go/went/gone
Know/knew/known
Take/took/taken
See/saw/seen
Come/came/come
Think/thought/thought
Give/gave/given
Find/found/found
Tell/told/told
Feel/felt/felt
Leave/left/left
Put/put/put
Mean/meant/meant
Let/let/let
Let us look at the 3 most common English verbs: to Be, to
Have, to Do
Be
“To be, or not to be, that is the question”
To BE is somewhat confusing in that it is rarely used in its
base/dictionary form BE but instead, in its other forms: AM, ARE, IS, WAS, WERE
and BEEN.
Present:
I am …
You are …
He/She/It is …
We/You/They are …
Past:
I was …
You were …
He/She/It was …
We/You/They were …
Past Participle:
I have been …
You have been …
He/She/It has been …
We/You/They have been …

To BE means equal = the
same as:
I am Bulgarian.
My name is Vladimir.
I am an English teacher. These are my students.
Most common structures with the
verb to BE are:
Person + be + job = What do you do? I am a
nurse/teacher/reporter, etc.
Person + be + adjective = She is tall/happy/smart, etc.
Person + be + place = He is in Tokyo. He
was in the kitchen. He will be at work.
Thing + be + adjective = This car is
expensive/cheep/small/big, etc.
Thing + be + place = The car was in the
garage. The computer is on the desk.
Negatives: She is not a doctor. He wasn’t in the
kitchen. Questions: Are you happy? Was the car in the garage?

A very important grammatical structure with BE is: THERE IS
and THERE ARE (more about THERE IS/ARE later in the book)
Have
To HAVE is the second most common English verb, he/she/it
HAS. When not sure about how to collocate your nouns, know that HAVE works 90%
of the time:
to  HAVE        a        car/breakfast/a    sandwich/a
         break/a       lesson/money/an appointment/responsibilities, etc. (more
about HAVE and Collocations later in the book)

Common mistake: “Have” vs “Have Got”
I have a car.
-   I don’t have a
car. (I haven’t a car.)
-   Do you have a
car? (Have you a car?)
This mistake is caused by the difference
between British and American grammar. In the UK, instead of “Have”, people
usually say “Have Got”:
I have got a car.
I haven’t got a car.
Have you got a car?
UK: He has got two sisters. US: He has two sisters.
UK: He hasn’t got two sisters.
US: He doesn’t have two sisters.
UK: Has he got two sisters? How
many sisters has he got?
US: Does he have two sisters? How many sisters does he have?
Choose whichever you find easier but don’t mix them up.

Have To = Must
In spoken English, we usually use Have To (or Have Got To)
rather than Must:
He has to (=must) pay 40% tax on his income.
Do I have to wear a tie in the office? Yes, you have to
wear a tie at work.
Pregnant women must not wear seat belts.
Pregnant women don't have to wear seat belts.
Common mistake: “Don’t Have to” vs “Must Not”
In the positive, “Have to” and “Must” are
very similar, both express strong obligation/advice: Everybody must wear a seat
belt. = Everybody has to wear a seat belt.
In the negative, “Don’t have to” and “Must not” are very
different:
-
Pregnant women don't have to wear seat belts = do whatever you
want –wear if you want to, don't wear if you don't want to (weak
Advice/Obligation).
-
Pregnant women must not wear seat belts = don't wear a seat belt,
it may hurtthe baby (strong Advice/Obligation).
In everyday English, people usually say
“shouldn't" rather than “must not”: Pregnant women shouldn't wear seat
belts (strong Advice).
Finally, we also use HAVE/HAD
with the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect:
I have been to America.
I had been to America by the time I was 30 years old.
More about the Present and the Past Perfect later in the
book.
Do
To DO is the third most common
verb in the English language, he/she/it DOES. We use it with all other English
verbs, with the exception of to BE and MODAL verbs, to form Negatives and
Questions in both the Present (DO/DOES) and the Past (DID) tense:
I like sushi. / I don't like sushi. / Do you like sushi?
She wanted to see him. / She didn't want to
see him. / Did she want to see him?
He plays tennis every day. / He doesn't
play tennis every day. / Does he play tennis every day?
PLAY vs GO vs DO with Sports
We generally use
PLAY with ball sports: Play football, basketball,
tennis, soccer, golf, etc.
GO with ing activities: Go swimming,
skiing, jogging, etc. as well as Go shopping, sightseeing, traveling, etc.
DO with individual sports and
martial arts: Do yoga, aerobics, gymnastics, judo, karate, martial arts, etc.
DO could also be used with ing activities:
Have you done (=tried) skiing?
I did my Christmas shopping yesterday.
Will you do any sightseeing while in Tokyo?

Modal Verbs
A modal is a verb used with
another verb to add more meaning to the verb. The most common modal verbs in
English are can, could, may, might, must, should,
will, and would. More about modal verbs later in the book.
Adjectives
Nouns are first, next come Verbs, followed by adjectives.
The top 20 most English common adjectives are: good, new, first, last, long,
great, little, own, other, old, right, big, high, different, small, large,
next, early, young, important
Most language learners put all their effort
into learning nouns and verbs and kind of neglect their adjectives. Adjectives
make your language more colorful, precise and sophisticated. English is a
language very rich in adjectives, with lots of obscure and subtle synonyms.
Take the ever so popular word Fluent – synonyms of fluent are articulate
and eloquent and even well-spoken. Don't neglect your adjectives,
when learning a noun try to add 1 or 2 adjectives to go with it.

Most common grammatical patterns with adjectives (adj) are
with the verbs BE, GET and LOOK:
Person/Thing + BE(=equal) + adj:
I am happy/tall/angry, etc.
This mountain is high/low/beautiful, etc.
Person/Thing + GET(=become) +
adj:
He got rich/angry/old, etc.
The weather is getting warm/cold/humid, etc.
Person/Thing + LOOK(=appear) +
adj:
You look tired/happy/sad, etc.
This car looks expensive/cool/terrible, etc.

Common mistake: “Look” vs “Look like”
“Look” is followed by an
Adjective:
She looked beautiful/excited/sad, etc. It looks
cold/hot outside.
“Look like” is followed by a Noun
or Pronoun:
He looks like Brad Pitt/me/a banker, etc.
It looks like snow/rain/it is going to rain.

Common mistake: 3 questions
What does he look like (appearance)? He is
tall/fat, etc. (like is not in the answer)
What is he like (personality)? He is
kind/passionate, etc. (like is not in the answer)
What does he like (hobby)? He likes playing golf and
collecting stamps.
(like is usually in the answer)
ED vs ING adj
ED vs ING adjectives are by far the most confusing adjectives
for learners of English. We need to start by reviewing how adjectives are
usually formed in the English language. Two of the most common ways for making
adjectives are with using Suffixes(=word ending) and Prefixes(=word beginning).
Here are some of the most common ones:
Prefix with adjectives: un~ +
happy = unhappy il~ + legal = illegal im~ + possible = impossible in~ + active
= inactive ir~ + regular = irregular
Suffix with nouns(n) and
verbs(v):
~able + comfort (v) = comfortable
~al + music (n) = musical
~ful + beauty (n) = beautiful
~ish + child (n) = childish
~ive + act (v) = active
~less + end (n) = endless
~ous + danger (n) = dangerous
~y + rain (n) = rainy

ED and ING adjectives are formed
from verbs. Let's take the verb confuse:
Confuse + ed = confused
Confuse + ing = confusing
Confuse (v) – sth confuse sb
These grammar rules confuse me (confuse is a verb in
the present simple).
These grammar rules confused me (confused is a verb
in the past simple).
These grammar rules are confusing me (confusing
is a verb in the present continuous).
Confused (adj) – be + confused (be + adj) I am confused by
this grammar rule. be tall/happy/rich/confused – confused is an adj
Confusing (adj) – be + confusing
(be + adj) Some grammar rules are confusing. be easy/difficult/confusing –
confusing is an adj
Here are some of the most common
verbs we use to make ED and ING adj:
Annoy–annoyed-annoying
Bore–bored-boring
Confuse–confused-confusing
Disappoint–disappointed-disappointing
Excite–excited-exciting
Interest–interested-interesting
Move–moved-moving
Relax–relaxed-relaxing
Satisfy–satisfied-satisfying
Shock–shocked-shocking
Surprise–surprised-surprising
Tire–tired-tiring
There are a few ING exceptions
(ED doesn't change):
Impress–impressed-impressive (impressing)
Scare–scared-scary (scaring)
Stress–stressed-stressful (stressing)

First, you need to be able
to tell the difference between:
verbs in the Past Tense vs ED adjectives
verbs in the Continuous vs ING adjectives
Bore (v)
This movie will bore you.
Am I boring you? He bored me.
Bored / Boring (adj)
The movie was boring.
I was bored by the movie.

Interest (v)
This article might interest you.
Golf has never really interested me.
Interested / Interesting (adj) I'm
interested in this article. Golf is not interesting.

Scare (v) Did I scare you?
You scared me.
You are scaring me.
Scared / Scary (adj) I am very
scared.
The movie was very scary.

Secondly, you need to understand the difference
between ED and ING adj.
Let me tell you a story. Imagine this:
It’s a fine summer day. You are on the
beach lying in the sun. The sun is shining, it’s warm, and you are feeling the
sun’s rays on your skin. The sun is shining and you are soaking up the sun, you
feel warm. The sun is shining, therefore you feel warm. You feel warm because
the sun is shining. Keep that image.
-   The sun is the
source of all that warmth, the sun is the reason you feel warm.
-   You react to
the sun, you feel warm as a result of the sun’s shining.
-   The sun is ING-
You are ED
-   ING is the
reason/cause- ED is the result/effect
-   ING is usually
a thing or an event: the movie was boring
-   ED is only a
person or an animal: I was bored

There is a strong correlation
between ING and ED and in order to better understand it you need to put the 2
adjectives in one sentence. How can we combine the following 2 sentences:
The movie was boring.
I was bored. and form 1 sentence?
We connect both sentences with the
conjunction so: The movie was boring, so I was bored (in written
English, people prefer to use therefore, rather than so, because
they sound more formal).
Now, let's change the order of
the two sentences:
I was bored.
The movie was boring.
We connect both sentences with because:
I was bored because the movie was boring.

Think about the sun,
what is the sun, the cause, ~ING. The other side is ~ED. Having both ED and ING
adjectives in a single sentence might not be natural, but it makes for a good
practice and helps you understand the correlation between the 2. Let’s look at
some other examples:
I was disappointed because the exam result was
disappointing (sun).
The news was surprising (sun), so I was surprised.
My dog was scared because the other dog was scary.
Disneyland is exciting, therefore I am excited.
I am stressed because my job is stressful.
My job is tiring, so I am tired.
He is interesting, therefore I am interested in his idea.
Now let's make the above
sentences more natural:
I was disappointed because the exam result was poor.
I'm going to Disneyland tomorrow – I'm very excited.
When I'm stressed out I go for a drive. I find driving very
relaxing.
I’ve had a long and tiring day, I’m exhausted.
He is very experienced, so I would be very interested to
hear his opinion.
Comparatives & Superlatives
Before discussing comparatives
and superlatives we need to talk about Syllables.
Syllable
Melody has rhythm and pitch and language has intonation and
stress. Language too has rhythm but we call it syllable. The official
definition of a syllable is a single unit of speech.
For me, syllable is the beat of the
language. Syllables, intonation and inflection work together to create the
overall harmony of the language.
The easiest way to count syllables is to
say the word with your mouth shut and count the sounds you make with your nose,
in other words, try to hum the word and count the hums. Most dictionaries give
the syllable count in the /pronunciation/ and it is shown by separating each
syllable with a dot positioned either low or in the middle
/prə·nan·si·ei·shən/.

When forming comparatives and superlatives we
follow some very simple rules:
We add ~er and ~est
to the end of short (one-syllable) adjectives. By adding ~er and ~est we
automatically add a second syllable/beat. With superlatives we also add the
definite article the which means adding a third syllable/beat:
Short /1syllable/, shorter /2s/, the shortest /3s/
Tall /1s/, taller /2s/, the tallest /3s/
Fat /1s/, fatter /2s/, the fattest /3s/
With two-syllable adjectives
ending in y, we drop the y and add ~ier and the
~iest thus adding a third beat and forth with
superlatives:
Happy /2s/, happier /3s/, the happiest /4s/
Angry /2s/, angrier /3s/, the angriest /4s/
Crazy /2s/, crazier /3s/, the craziest /4s/
With two syllable adjectives not
ending in y as well as long adjectives (=containing three or more
syllables) we simply add more and the most or less
and the least:
Active /2s/, more active /3s/, the most active /4s/
Beautiful /3s/, less beautiful /4s/, the least beautiful
/5s/
Interesting, less interesting, the most interesting
Interesting is an
interesting word. How many syllables does it have?
in·tres·ting: /3s/ in UK English
in·tə·res·ting: /4s/ in US English Collocation:
Beautiful girl /4s/
Interesting story /5s/ Tall building /3s/
A beautiful girl /5s/
An interesting story /6s/
A tall building /4s/
Another way I teach articles, the
indefinite article A in particular, is by using syllables. A/AN should be
thought of as an extra beat:
A tall building /ə·to:l·bil·ding/ 4s
An interesting story /ən·in·tres·ting·sto·ri/ 6s
A beautiful girl /ə·bju:·ti·fəl·gə:l/ 5s

Not all adjectives follow the
normal rules when forming comparatives and superlatives. The most common
exceptions are:
Good, better, the best
Bad, worse, the worst
Far, father, the farthest
Far, further, the furthest

Comparatives + THAN:
My brother is shorter than me.
Japanese cars are better than American cars.
English grammar is easier than German grammar.
My girlfriend is more beautiful than your
girlfriend. Portugal is less populous than Greece.
Comparatives + A BIT / A LITTLE
or MUCH to show degree:
My brother is a little shorter than me.
Japanese cars are a bit better than American cars.
English grammar is much easier than German grammar.
My girlfriend is much more beautiful than your
girlfriend. Portugal is a little bit less populous than Greece.

Superlatives + THE (a superlative
by definition expresses THE highest degree of a particular quality):
Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world.
He won the best actor award.
Toyota Prius is one of the most fuel-efficient cars on the
market today.

Adverbs
Nouns are first, next come Verbs, followed by Adjectives and
finally adverbs. A very easy and quick way to assess a person’s English
language proficiency is to count the number of adverbs – the more adverbs a
person uses the more proficient she or he is. The top 20 most common adverbs
are: up, so, out, just, now, more, also, here, well, very, only, then, there,
back, even, down, still, too, really, most
Adjectives describe Nouns
Adverbs describe Verbs
Adverbs are usually formed by adding LY to the end of
adjectives (adj+ly=adverb):
quick – quickly
(to make) a quick decision to decide quickly slow – slowly
(to buy) a slow car to drive slowly beautiful – beautifully (to hear) a beautiful
song to sing beautifully

However, there are a few
exceptions: good – well
(to speak) good English to speak English well
Hard, Late, Fast don't change: hard – hard (hardly)
(to ask) a hard question to study hard late – late (lately) (to have) a
late breakfast to eat late
fast – fast (fastly) (to buy) a fast car to
drive fast
Lately=recently (not an adverb of
late): Have you seen any good movies lately?
Hardly=barely (not an adverb of hard): She lives in
Canada so I hardly ever see her.
Common mistake: “Hard” vs
“Hardly” Working hard or hardly working?
Hard as an adverb means
using a lot of effort or force and it is usually placed after the verb:
It is raining hard.
He didn't kick the ball hard enough.
She works very hard.
You have to study hard to pass the final exam.
Hardly also an adverb
means almost not, barely, the opposite of Hard, and it is usually
placed before the verb (hardly is often preceded by can or
could and often followed by ever):
It is raining hard, I can hardly see the road.
He was so tired, he could hardly kick the ball.
She works very hard, she hardly ever leaves her office
before 8 pm.
I hardly watch any TV because I have to study for the final
exam.
Prepositions
Prepositions (in, on, at, to, by, with, for, etc.) are
arguably the most difficult aspect of English grammar, but I believe that
prepositions are difficult to master when studying any foreign language, not
just English.
How should you study prepositions?
Prepositions like all other words should be
studied in combination with other words. Don’t focus on individual prepositions
but rather notice how they are used when learning Verbs and Adjectives as well
as Nouns. Monolingual Learner’s Dictionaries indicate prepositions in bold
type making it easy for language learners to notice the most common
combinations:
Verbs: go to
give to borrow from lend to wait for
Phrasal verbs:
get up look forward to made out of make up for pick
up
Adjectives: interested in angry
with bored with crazy about surprised by
Nouns:
in the park at the station on the floor at home
by train/bus
Don't learn individual prepositions! Having said that, let’s
look at some common use of some of the most frequent prepositions.
To
TO is used to show direction with
the verb Go: go to Japan/a party/work/my friend’s house/school/university/the
office/work, etc.
I went to Japan last year. I have been to Japan.
instead of Go we could also use
Walk, Drive, Fly:
Fly to Japan = go to Japan by plane
Drive to work = go to work by car
Walk to school = go to school on foot

Give/Lend/Show/Send sth TO sb:
Give a present to my wife = give my wife a present
Lend money to my friend = lend my friend money
Show my ID to the police = show the police my ID
Send an email to my boss = send my boss an email

Exceptions: we don't use TO with: ing activities – go
shopping/sightseeing/skiing/swimming home – go home, walk home, drive
home, fly home abroad/overseas – go abroad, travel overseas there/here
– go there, come here
Why? Does it matter? Just
HARMONIZE.

To = In order to
He went to America to study English.
To protect against disease, wear a condom.
She married an American to get a green card.
Common mistake: married
to(with) sb
On
ON is used to show that sth is on
top of sth else
(put) on the floor/ground/table … on my
body/head/face/lips sit on/in a chair
ON + business / vacation: go to
New York on business go to Hawaii on vacation
ON + modes of transportation: get on the bike/bus/train/plane
get off the bike/bus/train/plane get in the car/taxi get out of the car/taxi
ON + Days and Dates:
on Monday/Tuesday/a clear day, etc. on 30th May/June 3rd, etc
on weekends – US English at weekends – UK English
We don't use ON before Last, This, Next
In
IN + Months, Seasons, and Years:
In January/February, etc.
In (the) summer/winter, etc.
In 1973/2001, etc.
But, On 2 October 1973 (Days and Dates take
precedence over Months and Years)
IN + Cities and Countries with
the following verbs:
Live in London/France/the countryside, etc.
Be in Paris/England, etc.
Arrive in Tokyo/Japan, etc.
IN + Places and Buildings like:
be in the room/kitchen/restroom/bathroom, etc.
be in (the) hospital … in a restaurant/hotel, etc.
But we could also use AT with Places and Buildings.
At
AT is used to show Place with
buildings: stay at home meet at the station/airport/bus stop be at/in a
restaurant/hotel be at/in school/university/work/the office, etc.
AT with time:
at 5:30/1 o’clock, etc. at noon/midnight, etc.

Collocations
One of the biggest mistakes
people make when studying vocabulary is that they study individual words.
Never study individual words
instead, learn new words in combination with other words. We
call this a collocation. Collocation is “a word or phrase which
is often used with another word or phrase in a way that sounds correct and
natural.” Terms like: word chunking, word web, word association could
also be used to mean collocation.
For instance, you are trying to learn the
noun jacket … when you learn a noun you should always collocate
(=connect) it with a verb:
wear a jacket put on a jacket take off a jacket
2-3 collocations should be enough as long as they are the
most common ones.
Hand:
take his hand hold her hand shake my hand
Bag:
carry a bag hold a bag buy a bag
Computer:
watch a computer? – not really, the verb watch is
not our first choice for the
noun computer: use a
computer switch on/off my computer

When you learn a noun, you could also add an adjective
to the collocation:
buy a waterproof jacket wear a light jacket hold her
beautiful hand have a cheap bag buy a fast computer

When you learn an adjective, you must always link it
to a noun.
When I say beautiful, you say …? Woman,
flower, dress, etc. There are many collocations with the
adjective beautiful but you need at least 1 quick one:
meet a beautiful woman wear a beautiful dress buy
beautiful flowers

Never study individual words but
rather learn verb-noun collocations: drink water, call my friend, watch
a movie, etc. A verb-noun collocation, not a word, should be the smallest
building block of your approach to grammar.

Grammar tenses – Present, Past and Future
Non-native English speakers should feel lucky that the
English language turned out to be the lingua franca of our time, the main
reason being that English grammar is relatively easy to master. Most other
widely spoken languages like Spanish, Russian and German have much more
convoluted grammar rules, and Chinese … well, we all know what the problem with
Chinese is. English spelling does pose a challenge for most non-native as well
as many native speakers, but for the most part, English grammar is pretty
straightforward with just a few complicated grammar rules.
Grammar tenses are all about the verb,
about choosing the appropriate verb form in order to correctly represent the
intended time – Past, Present or Future. However, each verb (usually) comes
with a noun attached to it (collocation), therefore we don't just deal with
individual verbs but rather with verb-noun collocations.

There are 5 major, + 5 additional, ++ 5 extra grammatical
structures and tenses. Each grammar tense is explained with example sentences.
-
The first thing you need to do is place each example sentence in
context byanswering the following 3 questions:
Who are you talking to as you say the sentence?
Where are you as you say the sentence? Why
do you say the sentence?
The answer to the Why question will provide a trigger word –
it is what we call FUNCTION. Function is the Purpose the sentence has, for
example: (ask for) advice, (give) directions, (make a) request, etc. The Function
word is usually not in the sentence.
-
The second thing you should do is associate each Function/grammar
structure with another trigger word – we will call it CUE. Cue words are often
words about time, such as: tomorrow, usually, yesterday, now, recently, etc.
The Cue word is usually in the sentence.
Both sets of trigger words – CUE and
FUNCTION – will hopefully trigger a memory thus help you retrieve the grammar
you need. The main focus is on remembering, and less on explaining –
there are better books on the market explaining the theory of English grammar.
This book is about meaningful encoding for better recall.
-
The third thing you need to do is HARMONIZE, pronounce each
examplesentence as if it were one word.
-
And the last thing you need to do is NOTICE how grammar is used
inMonolingual Learner’s Dictionaries (MLD) definition and example sentences.
MLDs are the most important study tool for language learners of all levels.
MLDs are not just good for learning the meaning of words and phrases but for
learning grammar as well. You need to Notice how grammar is used in the
definition and the example sentences dictionaries provide. Just from the
definition alone, you can learn so much. Most definitions are in the present
simple.

Present Simple
notice = to see or hear
somebody/something; to pay attention to sb/sth
Most definitions are in the Present Simple
Tense because a definition is a Fact. We use the Present Simple to talk about
Facts and things that are USUALLY true:
The Earth revolves around the sun.
Dogs hate cats.
Generally speaking, Japanese cars are better than
American cars. Practice makes perfect.
I believe all languages have
Present Simple tense. We also use it to talk about Habits, Routine and things
we USUALLY do:
What do you usually do on weekday
mornings?
Vladimir: I usually wake up at 6 am, go
jogging, take a shower, have breakfast and head to work. (notice the
collocations)
Since Routine and Habit is
something we do repeatedly, a common question you might ask is HOW OFTEN do you
+ collocation:
How often do you go jogging?
How often do you wash your hair?
How often do you get a chance to practice your English?
We usually use Present Simple
with the word USUALLY as well as adverbs of frequency like OFTEN, SOMETIMES,
RARELY, etc:
My wife usually gets home at about 6 pm.
I often just have a sandwich for lunch.
My dad cooks dinner sometimes, but usually my mom does
it. My mother rarely wears jewelry.

CUEs: Usually, Often, Sometimes,
Rarely, How often do you, Generally speaking
FUNCTION: Routine, Habit,
Usually, Always, Fact, Generalizing…

A note on the Simple Present:
In the third-person singular (he,
she, it) the verb ends in S – cymbals:
My wife (she) usually gets home about 6 o'clock.
The Earth (it) revolves around the Sun.
John (he) plays tennis twice a week. Practice (it)
makes perfect.
As I said, to me the added S, has never been about grammar
but always about sound – I don’t think about grammar, I hear cymbals.
‘He’, ‘She’, ‘It’, as well as names of
people (John, Smith, Vlad, etc.) names of cities (Tokyo, New York, etc.), my
boss/wife/husband/son is often followed by cymbals.
There are… is usually followed by S
(cymbals): There are (2,3) ponds in the park.
There is… is usually followed by A
and never by S: There is a park in my neighborhood.
The negative sentences in Present
Simple usually use Do / Does + not:
I do not wake up at 7 am.
My wife does not get home before 6 pm.
The question form is also with Do
/ Does:
Do you wake up at 6 o’clock?
What time does your wife get home?

Common mistake: people use Simple Present to talk
about actions happening in the present, happening NOW. I guess it’s because of
the name of the grammatical structure Present Simple Tense – a lot of people
take the word present to mean now. However, with NOW we usually
use the present continuous.
+ Present Continuous
to be + ing: You are reading this book now.
Most definitions are in the Present Simple but if you look
closely you will also notice the Present Continuous Tense: habit =
something which you do often and regularly, sometimes without knowing
that you are doing it
-   Present Simple
is about the way things Usually are:
It rarely snows in Tokyo.
The rainy season usually ends in the middle of July.
-   Present
Continuous is usually about things happening Now, as we speak:
Is it snowing outside?
I think it is starting to rain.

CUE: ing, Now
FUNCTION: happening Now, as we
speak, etc. My native Bulgarian doesn’t have the Present Continuous tense (we
use the Present Simple) but it is quite easy for me to imagine it.

Future Simple
prediction = a statement about what you think will
happen in the future (Cambridge Dictionary)
The second major grammar structure is
Simple Future Tense. Not all languages have Future tense. The Japanese language
for instance doesn’t and that’s perfectly fine – it doesn’t prevent Japanese
people from developing futuristic technology. Just look at their space-age
toilets (washlet). Some languages don’t have future tenses but English does and
the first word that comes to mind when talking about the future is WILL.
Remember the WILL, don’t forget the WILL.
What will you do TOMORROW/NEXT
week?
I will see my friend tomorrow.
I will go to England next week.
To make the future less certain
you can add the word probably:
I will probably see my friend tomorrow.
I will probably go to England next week.

CUEs: Will, Tomorrow, Next
week/month
FUNCTION: Future, from now on

Another way to express future
actions is using Present Continuous:
What are you doing tomorrow/next
week?
I am seeing my friend tomorrow.
I am going to
England next week. and yet another common way to talk about the Future is using
“be going to”:
+ Going To
prediction = a statement about what you think is
going to happen (Longman Dictionary)
The weather forecast said it was going to rain tomorrow.
Are you going to go to his party?
I'm going to be a famous movie star when I'm older.
++ Future Continuous
will be + ing: I will be seeing him tomorrow.
As you can see, there are many
ways to express future actions, and the difference is in how certain the future
event is. Be Going To and Present Continuous usually denote higher certainty:
I am going to see him tomorrow. I am seeing him
tomorrow.
However, that’s not something you
should be overly concerned about. Future Simple and Future Continuous are
perfectly fine too:
I will see him tomorrow.
I will be seeing him tomorrow.
In a real face-to-face conversation, you won’t have time to
choose among the 4 therefore, the first grammar you need to master is Future
Simple with WILL.
Remember the WILL.
The negative form of Will is Will
not. In spoken English, will not often contracts to won’t
/wount/:
I won’t see him tomorrow.
Question:
Will you see him tomorrow?
+ IF & First Conditional
numb = If a part of your body is numb, you are
unable to feel it, usually for a short time
Something related to Will, the Future and
making Plans is a grammatical structure called First Conditional and the CUE
word here is IF. I believe most languages have IF in their grammar.

Conditional (=if) sentences are made up of 2 parts:
1st part is IF, also called the condition
2nd part is Will, also called result
IF + present simple (condition),
Will + base verb (result) we could change their places:
Will + base verb (result) IF + present simple (condition)
If it rains tomorrow (condition), we will stay home
(result).
We will stay home if it rains tomorrow.
If it rains tomorrow, we won’t go to the beach.
Will we stay home if it rains tomorrow?
If it rains tomorrow, will we stay home?
Depending on the FUNCTION, you
could replace Will with Should, May, Can, etc.
If the pain persists, you should consult your doctor. (advice)
If it rains tomorrow, we may stay home. (possibility)
If you need money, I can lend you some. (possibility)

CUEs: If
FUNCTION: If, Future, 2
sentences, etc.

Common mistake: 2 will in
1 sentence:
If it will rain tomorrow, we will stay home.
People make this mistake because the IF
(condition) part of the sentence is in the future ‘tomorrow’. Just think in
terms of sound and melody: If you Will, If it Will, If I Will, If she Will do
not sound well together … IF and WILL don’t like to be too close one another.
They like to keep a bit of distance … at least 3, 4 words apart:
If it rains tomorrow, we will stay home.

Besides the First Conditional, we also have the Second and
Third Conditional. What all grammatical forms have in common is that they all
consist of 2 parts:
1st part called the condition with IF
2nd part called result with WILL or WOULD
They differ in that:
First Conditional is about possible events in the Future
Second Conditional is about impossible events in the
Present
Third Conditional is usually about regrets in the Past
++ IF & Second Conditional
The classic example sentence
with the Second Conditional is: If I were a bird, I would fly.
I’m not a bird, it’s impossible for me to
be a bird, therefore I imagine being a bird. It’s a form of daydreaming and
it’s daydreaming about the Present. It’s not about the Future (if I were a
bird, I would fly tomorrow), nor it’s about the Past (if I were a bird, I would
fly yesterday); it’s about Now: If I were a bird, I would fly (now). It’s about
the Present but since it is all imaginary/impossible we use the Past Tense:
If I were (am) a bird, I would (will) fly.
Other common examples are:
If I were younger, I would exercise more.
If I had a million dollars, I’d buy a house for my mother.
What would you do if you were me?
If I were you, I wouldn’t buy that house.

CUEs: If, Would
FUNCTION: If, Present, Impossible, daydreaming, 2 sentences,
etc.
+ IF & Third Conditional
If + past perfect, would + present perfect
The third conditional is unquestionably the most difficult
to master. You need to feel really comfortable with the First and Second
Conditional in order to learn the third. The Third conditional is about events
that could have happened but did not happen in the Past and it usually conveys
a sense of Regret and more rarely Appreciation:
If you had worked harder, you would have passed your exam.
(regret)
If you hadn’t worked harder, you wouldn’t
have passed your exam. (appreciation)
If I had known you were coming, I would have cooked a meal
for you.
(regret)
If I hadn’t known you were coming, I wouldn’t have cooked a
meal for you. (appreciation)
If you had stayed, this would never have happened.
(regret/appreciation)

CUEs: If, If I had, Would have
FUNCTION: If, Past, Regret,
appreciation, 2 sentences

Needless to say, you have to feel very comfortable with the
Present Perfect and Past Perfect in order the use the third conditional – more
about Present and Past Perfect later on in the book.
As you start to form a conditional sentence
with IF, you need to quickly figure out whether it is about the Future, Present
or Past. Having decided among the 3 you should be able to produce the
corresponding grammar. Right after you say the IF, pause for 2 seconds
and do all the mental work:
If … (Future, possible) …the weather is
sunny tomorrow, I will + collocation (go to the beach)
If … (Present, impossible) … the weather
was sunny (is cloudy now), I would go to the beach.
If … (Past, regret) … the weather had been
sunny yesterday (was cloudy yesterday), I would have gone to the beach.
Something similar to Second and Third conditional is Wish:
++ Wish
to Wish sth = to Want sth impossible
Wish + Past Simple = impossible desire about the
Present (similar to Second Conditional):
I wish I were younger. (impossible)
If I were younger I would exercise more. (second
conditional)
I wish I didn’t have to go to work today. (I have to
go to work today) If I didn't have to go to work today, I would go to the
beach.

Wish + Past Perfect = desire about the Past, regret
about something that didn’t happen (similar to Third Conditional)
I wish I had studied English at university. (regret)
If I had studied English at university, I
would have found a better job. (third conditional)
I wish I had known you were coming.
If I’d known you were coming, I would have cooked a meal
for you.

CUEs: Wish, I wish, I wish I had
FUNCTION: Regret, Impossible
+ When vs If
Call me if you need money.
Call me when you need money.
I will phone you if I get home.
I will phone you when I get home.
IF is about things that might
happen:
If I go to India, I will visit the Taj Mahal.
Call me if you need money.
If it stops raining, I will show you the garden.
WHEN is about things that will
certainly happen:
When I go to India I will visit the Taj Mahal.
Call me when you need money.
When it stops raining, I will show you the garden.
When and If can be
used interchangeably as well:
Call me if you need money.
Call me when you need money.
If I go skiing, I always wear a helmet.
When I go skiing, I always wear a helmet.
If you don’t add enough wood, the fire goes out.
When you don’t add enough wood, the fire goes out.

WHEN is also a question word
about time and therefore we often use it as a CUE word about the Past meaning
“at the time that”:
When I was a child,
When I was young,
When I was in college,
When I was 15 years old,
When I moved to Japan,
When the earthquake hit,
When I lived in America,
The “when-sentence” is
subordinate and it needs a main sentence which is usually in the Past Simple or
Used to:
When I was a child, there were no buildings here.
When I was young, I used to play football.
I played football when I was in college.
I got my driver's license when I was 18 years old.
The first time I ate raw fish was 10 years ago, when I
moved to Japan.
When the earthquake hit, I was on the 23rd floor of my
office building.
When I lived in America, I used to go to
McDonald’s almost every weekend.

Past Simple
ancestor = a member of your family who lived a
long time ago
The third major grammar structure is the
Past Simple Tense. I believe most languages have this verb tense.
Did you do anything interesting
YESTERDAY / LAST summer / 3 days AGO?
I went shopping yesterday.
I got married last summer.
I saw my friend 3 days ago.

CUEs: Yesterday, Ago, Last, When
I …
FUNCTION: Past, tell a particular
story

The difficulty with Simple Past
is the irregular verbs and unfortunately, most common English verbs are
irregular.
I saw my friend yesterday.
Last month I went to Hawaii with my family.
He left the office 2 hours ago. She kissed me on the
mouth.
The negative sentences in Past
Simple take Did + not (Didn’t):
I did not see my friend yesterday.
I didn’t go abroad last month.
She didn’t kiss me on the mouth, she kissed me on the
cheek.
The question form is also with
Did:
Did you see your friend yesterday?
Who did you see yesterday?
Did you go to Hawaii last month?
When did you leave the office last night? Did she
kiss you?
Don’t forget that after Did the
verb goes back to its first/base form, to its dictionary form. We don’t say:
Did she kissed you?
I didn’t go (went) to Hawaii last month.
Did you see (saw) your friend yesterday?
+ Used To
Another common grammatical structure for expressing Past
action is USED TO + base verb. USED TO + base verb is so easy because we don’t
have to use the second form of the verb – we always use the first/base form.
USED TO is about the Past but we never use
it with ‘yesterday’, ‘ago’, ‘last’ – those CUEs are for the Past Simple.
USED TO is similar to the Present Simple in
that it is about a ‘habit’ and ‘routine’ but in the Past, and we don’t
have that ‘habit’ Now – the Present is different from the Past
I used to play tennis twice a week (now I don’t).
I used to be lazy (now I’m not).
My friend used to live in France (now he doesn’t). My
sister used to love cats (now she doesn’t).

CUEs: Used to, When I was …
FUNCTION: Past habit, Past
≠ Present

Common mistake: USED TO vs
be used to. They are very different, but more importantly, they sound
different:
I used to eat sushi. /aiju:stui:t/
I’m used to eating sushi. /amju:stui:ting/
/ai/ vs /am + ~ing/
USED TO is a modal verb
and is always followed by the base form of the main verb and never by ING:
Used to drink/smoke/play/live, etc.
Didn't use to drink/smoke = Never used to drink/smoke, etc.
be USED TO is an adjective
and is usually followed by ING:
be/get used to + ~ing = be/get accustomed to + ~ing
I eat with chopsticks every day, so I am
used to it. I am used to eating with chopsticks, but when I first moved to
Japan I used to eat with forks and knives.
++ Was Supposed To & Used to
A very unlikely grammatical pair, but I like to teach them
together. What do “was supposed to” and “used to” have in common? There is a
similar level of contrast that both convey:
-
Used to expresses contrast between Past and Present(Past
≠ Present): I used to smoke = I smoked regularly before, but I don't
smoke now.
-
Was supposed to expresses contrast between Plan and
Reality(Plan ≠ Reality), between what was planned and what actually
happened: I was supposed to have lunch with my friend = I had a plan to meet my
friend but we didn't meet (the plan fell through).
My boss wasn't supposed to know about the
party = We had a plan to keep the party secret from our boss, but he found out
(somebody told him).
The meeting was supposed to take place on
Thursday, but we've had to postpone it.

CUEs: Was supposed to
FUNCTION: Plan fell through, Plan ≠ Reality
++ Past Continuous
The Past Continuous is a
relatively less common grammatical tense. We often use it in conjunction with
the Past Simple and good CUEs are the words WHEN and WHILE:
I was doing the dishes when the phone rang.
What were you doing when the earthquake struck?
While he was sleeping, thieves broke in and stole his
suitcase. The phone rang while you were drying your hair.

CUE: was/were ~ing, When, While
FUNCTION: a continuous action in
the past is interrupted by another (WHEN) or is happening at the same time as
(WHILE)
Present Perfect
Past Simple & Present Perfect: ancestor
= an animal that lived in the past, that modern animals have
developed from
Present Simple & Present Perfect: kickoff
= the time when a game of football starts, or it begins again
after it has stopped because of a goal, etc. Have + Past Participle
The Present Perfect Tense, the
fourth major grammatical structure, is the most complex one:
I have lived in America. (live/lived/lived)
My mother has never been to Japan. (be/was/been)
Have you run a full marathon? (run/ran/run)
Wikipedia says that analogous forms are found in some
European languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, etc. My
native Bulgarian has something similar to Present Perfect, but Russian, as far
as I know, doesn’t. Japanese has something similar to Present Perfect but not
quite the same and according to Google University, Korean doesn’t have that
grammatical structure.
The main Function of Present Perfect is when you talk about
Experience. Some languages use Past Simple to talk about Experience so it is
very important to explain the difference between Present Perfect and Past
Simple:
- Past Simple often focuses on the
exact time of the experience and it is used with more specific words of time
like: YESTERDAY, 2/3 days AGO, LAST week/summer, etc.
I went to Australia last year.
I saw a movie yesterday. I ate sashimi last night.
- Present Perfect doesn’t focus on
the exact time of the experience and it is used with more unspecific words of
time like: ALREADY, not …YET, Have you EVER, I have NEVER, RECENTLY, etc.
I’ve already been to Australia.
I haven’t seen any movies recently.
Have you ever eaten sashimi?
With Present Perfect the exact time is not important. If you
want to specify the exact time you have to switch to Past Simple and make a
second sentence:
I have already been to Australia. I went
there last year.
I haven’t been to Australia yet. I will
go there next year.
Have you ever been to Australia? Yes, I have.
I went there 3 years ago.
Have you seen any films recently? Yes, I
have. I saw a movie yesterday.
+ Present Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect has a very close relative in the Present
Perfect Continuous Tense.
Present Simple & Present Perfect
Continuous: dump = to suddenly end a romantic relationship you have
been having with someone. Have + been + ing
It is much easier to make – you don’t need to remember the
third form of the verb:
I have lived in Japan for 10 years.
I have been living in Japan for 10 years.
I have lived in Japan since 2001.
I have been living in Japan since 2001.
Present Perfect and Present
Perfect Continuous are often used with SINCE and FOR to indicate duration
of time from the ‘past’…‘until now’ and answering the question
HOW LONG?
FOR + duration
SINCE = from
How long have you had a cold?
I have had a cold for 2 days.
I have had a cold since the day before yesterday.
How long have you been playing
football for?
I’ve been playing football since I was a child.
I’ve been playing football since 1989.
I’ve been playing football for many years.
SINCE and FOR with HOW LONG is a very common grammar
structure about duration (however the trigger word during is usually
used with Past Simple). Other Cue words about duration from ‘past’ ‘until now’
are RECENTLY and LATELY:
Have you been doing anything interesting lately?
What have you been up to recently?
Have you seen any good movies recently? Lately, I've
been feeling a bit sad.

CUEs: Already, Yet, Since, For, How long, Recently
FUNCTION: Experience, until now, so far, etc.
+ Past Perfect
Had + Past Participle
The movie had already begun by the time we arrived.
He had been at work for 20 minutes when the plane
hit the north tower. I had not studied Japanese before I moved to Tokyo.
We need to start by saying that in order to learn the Past
Perfect you need to feel very comfortable with the Present Perfect – you need
to be able to use the Present Perfect tense quickly and effortlessly:
-
Present perfect is about an Experience you have had until Now.
We might say so far to mark the present moment (but we don’t have to).
-
Past perfect is about an Experience you had had until Then,
until a particular point in the Past. With the Past Perfect we have to mark
that point in the past and we usually do that with the preposition by
as well as before and when:
I have already been to America. (until Now)
By the time I was 27 I had already been to America. (before
Then)
The train has already gone. (until Now)
By the time we got to the station the train had already
gone. (before Then)
We’ve sold over 1,000 tickets. (until Now)
By the end of the day she had sold over 1,000 tickets.
(before Then)
Have you ever studied Japanese? (until Now)
Had you studied Japanese before you moved to Tokyo? (before
Then)
I have already started learning Japanese.
I had already started learning Japanese when I moved to
Tokyo.
“Past in the past” is another
name for the Past Perfect:
I had already been to America (past) by the time I was 27
(in the past).
Had you studied Japanese (past) before you moved to Tokyo
(in the past)?
I had already started learning Japanese
(past) when I moved to Tokyo (in the past).
We use the Past Perfect with IF
& Third Conditional:
If he hadn't called, I wouldn't have known.
I wouldn’t have met you if I had gone to another school.
As well as in Reported Speech
with said, told, asked:
He said he had never eaten raw fish before.
I asked her if she had been to Bulgaria.
She told me she had never been to Bulgaria.
To reiterate: in order to master
the Past Perfect, your Present Perfect has to be very quick and effortless. As
you make a sentence in the Past Perfect, your effort should go into defining
and marking the point in the past by simultaneously replacing Have with
Had.

CUEs: By, By the time, Had, If I
had…, Before, When
FUNCTION: Past in the past, until then, If, Reported speech,
etc.
++ Future Perfect
Will Have + Past Participle
The Future Perfect is much less common than the Past Perfect
(I myself virtually never use it). As with the Past Perfect, in order to master
the Future Perfect, you need to be very handy with the Present Perfect.
-     Present
perfect is about an Experience you have had until Now.
-     Future
perfect is about an Experience you will have had by a particular time in the
Future. We usually mark the future point in time with the preposition by:
By the time a child is five, he will have watched hundreds
of hours of television.
I will have lived in Japan for 17 years by 2020.
By the end of this book, you will have learned all English
grammar basics.
“Past in the future” is another
name for the Future Perfect:
I will have lived in Japan for 17 years (past) by 2020 (in
the future).

CUEs: By, By the time, Will have FUNCTION: Past in
the future

What we have covered so far is
about 90% of all the grammar you are likely to use in a face-to-face
conversation. You need to quickly figure out whether the sentence you are about
to make is about
- something you USUALLY do,
- sth you WILL do tomorrow,
- sth you did YESTERDAY, or
LAST week, or 2, 3 months AGO,
- your Experience so far, sth
you have ALREADY done, or haven't doneYET.
You need to choose quickly between the 4
grammar tenses, before you even open your mouth. THERE ARE a few more
grammatical structures in the English language, English HAS a few more
grammatical forms like:
There Is /
There Are...
is the fifth major grammatical structure, a structure I like
very much. THERE + BE(is/are) is very basic yet extremely common:
There are many high mountains in Switzerland.
There are a lot of French words in the English language.
There is a big park near my house.
There is a new movie on at our local movie theater.
There was a big earthquake last night.
There were many people at the concert last night.
There will be rain tomorrow.
There aren’t many tourists at this time of year.
There isn’t a McDonald’s restaurant in my neighborhood.
There won't be enough snow to go skiing next week.
There weren’t many people at the party yesterday.
There wasn’t a single person at the party yesterday.
Is there a movie theater in your neighborhood?
Are there any Micheline star restaurants in Sofia?
Was there a lot of food at the wedding?
Were there many people at the party yesterday? Will
there be enough snow to go skiing?
There is/isn’t, There are/aren’t, (present)
There were/weren’t, There was/wasn’t, (past)
There will/won’t be, (future)
CUEs: There is a,
There are …s
FUNCTION: Exist, Describe things

Instead of THERE IS / THERE ARE we could also use the second
most common verb HAVE / HAS – not exactly the same, but close enough:
+ Have / Has
Switzerland has many high mountains.
The English language has a lot of French words.
We had a big earthquake last night. We will have
rain tomorrow.
We don’t have many tourists at this time of year.
My neighborhood doesn’t have a McDonald’s restaurant.
We didn’t have many people at the party yesterday.
We won’t have many people at the party tomorrow.
Does your neighborhood have a movie theater?
Does Sofia have any Micheline star restaurants?
Did they have enough food at the wedding? Will we have
enough drinks for all guests?

CUEs: I have
FUNCTION: Possessions

There are a few more additional grammar structures with
HAVE:
+ Have sth done
I call this grammatical structure “rich people’s grammar”.
The idea is that you don’t do the action but instead somebody else is doing it
for you. This somebody is usually a professional person (hairdresser, dentist,
mechanic, etc.) whom you pay to do the action (hence, rich people use this
grammar).
HAVE + object + Past Participle (don’t confuse
with Present Perfect)
I had my hair cut yesterday (cut/cut/cut).
(by somebody else) I cut my hair yesterday (cut/cut/cut). (by myself)
I had my nails done (do/did/done)? (by sb
else) I did my nails (do/did/done)? (by myself)
I had my car fixed (fix/fixed/fixed). (by sb
else) I fixed my car (fix/fixed/fixed). (by myself)
Did you have your nails done? (by sb else) Did you
do your nails (by yourself)?
You have to have your teeth cleaned.
You have to clean your teeth.
John will have his house painted. John will paint
his house.
The person doing the action is
not important, the focus is on the action. If you want to say who is doing the
action then you add by:
Queen Elizabeth II had her portrait painted by Pietro
Annigoni.
You should have your teeth checked by a dentist at
least once a year. It is advisable to have your website designed by a
professional.
I called it “rich people’s
grammar” to better illustrate its function, but of course, it is not just used
by rich people. We use it when talking about our:
Hair with verbs like cut, washed, done,
dyed
Tooth/Teeth with pulled out, cleaned,
checked
Car, House, Computer with repaired, fixed

In informal spoken English, you
can replace have with get:
You need to have your hair cut. = You need to get your hair
cut.
I’m going to have my car repaired. = I’m going to get my
car repaired.

CUEs: Have sth done, I had my
hair cut
FUNCTION: I didn't do it, Rich people's grammar, I paid sb
to do sth.
++ Have sth (bad) done
I had my money stolen. (always in the Past tense)
This grammar could be quite confusing at first – it is
exactly the same as have sth done (focus is on the action) but with a
diametrically opposite meaning:
-
With have sth done you request (and pay) a professional
person to do a job that affects you in a good way: I had my hair dyed blond = I
paid a hairdresser to dye my hair blond (I asked for it, I paid for it and I
enjoyed it).
-
With have sth (bad) done you didn't ask a person to
do the job because the job affects you in a bad way: I had my wallet stolen =
Somebody stole my wallet = My wallet was stolen (I didn't ask for it, I didn't
cause it, but I suffered the consequences of the action).
It does sound confusing when you first hear
it because of the idea of asking and paying somebody to do something, but the
clarity is in the CUE words that come with that variation of have sth done,
and the most common cue word is stolen:
She had her car stolen.
Other cue words are broken,
taken, destroyed, etc. but stolen is the first you need to
learn – had sth stolen – always in the past tense:
I had my bag/wallet/car stolen.
Tyson had his nose broken in a fight.
Thousands of people had their homes destroyed by the
tsunami.

CUEs: Stolen, I had my … stolen,
Money, Wallet, etc.
FUNCTION: stolen property, focus on the action, bad action.
++ Have sb do sth
This is yet another pattern with
the verb Have which can be quite confusing. The focus is on the person doing
the action more than on the action. Here have means tell or instruct
or even order:
I’ll have the porter show you to your room.
I'll have the bellboy take up your luggage.
He had his secretary make us coffee.
My father had me clean his car. I will have her give
you a call.
Have sb do sth, carries a certain sense of authority,
therefore the person doing the action is usually a person we have some kind of
authority over – bellboy, secretary, child, etc. Have sb do sth is a
weaker, more polite form of Make sb do sth. A close cousin of have sb
do sth is get sb to do sth
++ Get sb to do sth
Get means persuade
and convince as well as make and even trick:
I’ll get him to give you a call.
She finally got her son to tidy up his room.
He got his sister to help him with his homework.
It’s very hard to tell the
difference between have sb do sth and get sb to do sth. The
obvious difference is the preposition to:
Have is without to: I will have him give you
a call. Get is with to: I will get him to give you a call.
They both could mean tell
and persuade as well as ask:
I’ll tell him to give you a call.
He asked his sister to help him with his homework.

CUEs: Have sb do sth, Get sb to
do sth
FUNCTION: I will have him call you, … It all depends on the
context but my advice is to think of them as a softer, more polite version of Make
sb do sth. Longman Dictionary defines both grammatical structures as make
sb do sth.
++ Make sb do sth
This structure suggests strong authority and force = force
sb to do sth. The idea is that the person doesn’t want to do the action but
he is forced to do it. Think of a police or an army officer giving orders. Or a
parent or your boss at work. They have the authority, therefore you have no
choice but to obey their orders:
The police officer told me to get out of
the car and made me walk a straight line.
My parents always make me do my homework before I go out.
They made us work for 12 hours a day. She made her
son tidy up his room.
Make sb do sth is stronger
than have sb do sth and the emphasis is on the unwillingness of the
person to do the action. With have sb do sth the focus is on who is
doing the action.

CUEs: Make sb do sth, Force sb to
do sth
FUNCTION: Unwillingness, Authority, Police, Force
++ Let sb do sth
Allow sb to do sth = Let sb do
sth = Give sb Permission to do sth.
She wanted to go but her parents wouldn’t let her.
I can’t come out tonight – my dad won’t let me.
I’m letting you stay up late, just this once.
Her mom won’t let her come with us.
My boss lets me take a day off whenever I want.
The person doing the action needs
permission to do that action. If there is no need for permission we
don’t use that grammar:
My mother lets me tidy up my room.
This sentence doesn’t make much sense because you don’t need your mother’s
permission to tidy up your room.
The police officer let me wear a seat
belt. You don’t need the police officer’s permission.

CUEs: Let sb do sth, Allow sb to
do sth,
FUNCTION: Permission, Can I  …?,
Boss, Parents, etc.

Modal Verbs
A modal is a verb used with
another verb to add more meaning to the verb. The most common modal verbs in
English are "can," "could," "may,"
"might," "must," "should," "will," and
“would." Let's go through each one and look at how they change the meaning
of the verb.

Can / Could
“Can” is mainly about Ability = “be able to”
I can cook.
I can’t cook.
Can you cook?
I can read and write about 500 Chinese characters.
It is so noisy in this room, I can’t hear anything.
Can you hear me?
“Could” is the past tense of
“Can”:
I could read and write at a very young age.
It was so noisy that we couldn’t hear anything.
Could you hear what he said?
The question form is usually used to make Requests.
Request
Can/Could I + collocation (borrow
a pen)
Can I borrow your pen? (casual)
Could I borrow your pen? (polite)
Can/Could you + collocation (lend a pen) Can you lend me your
pen? (casual) Could you lend me your pen? (polite)
“Can” is more casual than
“Could”:
Can I see your new dictionary?
Can you show me your new pen?
“Could” is a more polite form of
“Can”:
Could I see your new pen?
Could you show me your new pen?

“Can/Could you …?” and “Can/Could
I …?” basically mean the same thing, accomplish the same goal:
you show me the pen = I see the pen
The difference is in the direction of the
verb, how you match the verb (borrow, lend, show, see, etc.) with the pronoun
(I, You). Remember the following most common pairs:
Can/Could I borrow …?
Can/Could you lend (me) …?
Can/Could I see …?
Can/Could you show (me) …?
Can/Could I get …?
Can/Could you give (me) …?
Could I get a discount?
Could you give me a discount?

CUEs: Can I …?, Could I …?, Can
you …?, Could you …? FUNCTION: Request, ability

Will / Would
We already talked about “Will” with Future and First
Conditionals. “Will” changes to “Would” in Second and Third Conditionals as
well as in Reported Speech (see Reported Speech).
Would you – polite Requests
Would you + collocation Would you
lend me your pen?
Would you show me your new car? Would you give me a
discount?
“Would you” is more formal and polite than “Could you”.
We don’t use Would with “I”: Would I …?
++ Would you
mind …?
“Would you mind” is a very polite
way to make Requests:
Would you mind lending me your pen?
Would you mind if I borrowed your pen?
“You” is with “ing” = Would you mind doing sth
“I” is with “if” + past tense (second
conditional) = Would you mind if I did sth
Would you mind giving me a discount?
Would you mind if I asked for a discount?

Common mistake: “would you mind” = “would you
disagree” or “would you be annoyed if I” so the answer is reversed:
“Yes” = “No” and “No” = “Yes”
Would you mind if I borrowed your
pen? = Would you be annoyed if I borrowed your pen?
Yes, I would mind = Yes, I would be
annoyed = No, you cannot borrow my pen.
No, I wouldn’t mind = No, I wouldn't
be annoyed = Yes, you can borrow my pen.
To avoid mistakes, instead of
“Yes” or “No”, you can say:
Positive: Sure, no problem.
Negative: I’m sorry, but … (give a reason)
Would you mind if I used the
restroom?
+ Sure, no problem.
–   I’m sorry, but
it’s clogged.
Would you mind driving me to the
station?
+ Sure, no problem.
–   I’m sorry, but
I am busy right now.

You can also use these two responses to answer requests with
Can and Could:
Can I use the restroom?
Could you drive me to the
station?
+ Sure, no problem.
–   I’m sorry, but
...
Would you like / Want
“Want” is one of the most common verbs in the English
language so you need to know how to use it quickly and effortlessly: want +
noun: I want + a new car want + to verb: I want + to buy a new car want sb to
do sth: I want + my husband + to buy me a new car
Negative: I don’t want … Question: Do you want …?

“Would like” is the polite version of “Want”: would like +
noun: I would like + a new car would like + to verb: I’d like + to buy a new
car would like sb to do sth: I’d like + my husband + to buy me a new car
Negative: I wouldn’t like … Question: Would you like
…?

The question forms are used to Offer something or Invite
somebody:
Offer:
Do you want a cup of tea? (casual)
Would you like a cup of tea? (formal)
Invite:
Do you want do see a movie with me? (casual)
Would you like to see a movie with me? (formal)

CUEs: Want, want to, I wanna,
want you to, Would like, I’d like to
FUNCTION: Want, Offer, Invite
Invite
When Inviting, I usually use the 2-step invitation:
1st step is the occasion with “will” or
“going to” (future): I will go to see a movie tomorrow.
2nd step is the invitation:
Do you want to come with me? (casual)
Would you like to come with me? (formal)

1st step:
My friends and I will play football after work?
2nd step:
Do you want to come with me/us?
Would you like to come with me/us?

I’m going to my friend’s birthday
party. Would you like to come with me?
I am going to the beach on
Sunday. Do you want to come with me?
We will have a picnic this
weekend. Would you like to come with us?

CUEs: Do you want (to) …?, Would
you like (to) …?
FUNCTION: Invite
++ Would = Used to
“Would”, like “Used to”, can be used about Past Habits. I
usually start my story with “used to” and then follow it up with “would”:
When I started learning English, I used
to read out loud and record my voice on my old stereo. Then I would
play it back, listen carefully and write everything down.
Mixing “used to” with “would”
makes your English less repetitive.

May / Might
Oxford Dictionaries say that “the two words (may & might)
are generally interchangeable”, mean the same thing, which is a 50%
Possibility/Certainty of sth happening or being true:
You are wrong. = I am 100% sure that you are wrong.
You might be wrong. = You may be wrong. = I
am about 50% sure that you are wrong.
It will rain tomorrow. (100%)
It might/may rain tomorrow. (about 50%)
First conditional:
If it rains tomorrow, I will stay home.
If it rains tomorrow, I might/may stay home.
Third conditional:
If you had studied harder, you would have passed the
exam. If you had studied harder, you might have passed the exam.

You could also use “Could” to
express Possibility:
You could stay home if it rains tomorrow. (first
conditional)
If you had studied harder, you could have
passed the exam. (third conditional)

Many people disagree on which one
(may, might, could) expresses more or less certainty. Don’t worry too much
about it, the three words are generally interchangeable.

CUEs: May, Might
FUNCTION: 50%
Possibility/Certainty

May I – polite Requests
May I borrow your pen?
May I see your new car? May I get a discount?
“May I” is more formal and polite
than “Could I”
We don’t use May with “you”: May you …?

Request summarized
Requests with I (casual to
polite):
Can I borrow your pen?
Could I borrow your pen?
May I borrow your pen?
Would you mind if I borrowed your pen?
Requests with You (casual to
polite):
Can you lend me your pen?
Could you lend me your pen?
Would you lend me your pen?
Would you mind lending me your pen?
In order to be even more polite, you could add Please to the
request. You can place Please at the beginning, before the verb, or at the end:
Please, can you show me your new camera?
Could you please show me your new camera?
Would you show me your new camera, please?
Please, can I see your new camera?
Could I please see your new camera? May I see your
new camera, please?
Response:
+ Sure, no problem.
– I’m sorry, but …(I don’t have it on me).
Should with Advice
We use “should” to give and ask for
Advice/Opinion:
You should use monolingual dictionaries as much as you can.
You shouldn’t use Oxford Dictionary if you are a
beginner. What should I do? Should I buy this car?

Advice with “Want to”
Native speakers often use “want to” instead of “should” to give
Advice:
You want to use Longman Dictionary if you are a beginner.
Do I want to buy this car? Should I
buy this car?
You don’t wanna buy this car. It has rust under the paint.

Advice with “Could”
You could also use “could” to give
weak Advice:
You could buy that car instead.
You could also use Cambridge Dictionary.

Advice with “Have to”
If you want to give a strong
Advice/Opinion you could use “have to”
You have to buy Toyota Prius. It’s one of
the most fuel-efficient cars on the market.
You have to exercise more if you want to lose weight.
“Have to” is stronger than
“should”. The opposite of “have to” is “shouldn’t”:
You shouldn’t buy this car.
You shouldn’t exercise if you have heart problems.
Common mistake: “don’t have to” or “shouldn’t”
In the positive, “Have to” and
“Should” are very similar, both express strong Advice/Opinion (“have to” is a
bit stronger than “should”):
You should take this medicine after meals = take it after
meals (strong).
You have to take this medicine after meals = take it after
meals (stronger).
In the negative, “Don’t have to”
and “Shouldn’t” are very different:
You shouldn't take this medicine after meals = don't take
it after meals (strong).
You don't have to take this medicine after
meals = take it whenever you want (very weak).
“Should” is similar to “Have to” is similar to “Must” = do
it = 1 choice
“Shouldn’t” is similar to “Must not” = don't do it = 1
choice
“Don’t have to” = “don’t need to” = do it
if you want, don't do it if you don't want = 2 choices

CUEs: Should, shouldn’t, Should I
…?
FUNCTION: Advice, Opinion
++ Should have
We often use “should + present perfect” to talk about
regrets and past mistakes – it is similar to “wish + past perfect”. “Should
have” means that something did not happen, but we wish it had happened:
I should have studied harder (=I didn't
study hard enough and so I failed the test. I regret it now.). I wish I had
studied harder.
I shouldn't have drunk so much (=I drank
too much and now I am hungover. I regret it now.). I wish I hadn't drunk so
much.

CUEs: I Should have …
FUNCTION: Regret
Reported Speech
Reported, also Indirect speech is something we use all the
time. As the name suggests, reported speech is used when reporting something
that was said, but not using the exact same words. What we do is transform
Direct speech into Reported speech. The CUEs are:
she said (that) … he told me (that) … I asked …
This so very common grammar comes with two sets of rules –
the first is for language tests and is very strict, and the other one is for
daily conversations and is much laxer.
Pronouns. Changing the pronouns is
important for both a language test and casual conversation. In reported speech,
you need to change the pronoun depending on who says what:
“I like my new car.”
He said that he liked his new car.
(language test)
He said that he likes his new car. (daily
conversation)
“I” changes to “he”
“my” changes to “his”
It’s very important to change the
pronouns, failing to do so may cause a lot of communication problems. Failing
to make the necessary changes in tense will have little impact on the
communication process, however, it will lower your test score.

Backshift. When taking a language
test you have to change the tense by moving it back one tense – shift one back:
Present Simple changes to Past
Simple “I love you.” She told me she loved me.
Past Simple – Past Perfect
“I went shopping on Monday.” He said he had gone shopping on
Monday.
Present Perfect – Past Perfect
“I have never been to Thailand.”
He said he had never been to Thailand.
Past Perfect stays Past Perfect
“By the time I got to the station the train had already
left.” She told me that by the time she had gotten to the station the train had
already left.
Will – Would
“I will go to America.” He said that he would go to America.
Can – Could
“You can do it.” She told me I
could do it.

Common mistake: said me
It is either “he said to me” or “he told me”
Reporting Questions
There are 2 main types of questions: Yes/No & Wh
With Yes/No-questions we use if or whether:
“Do you like sushi?” He asked me
if I liked sushi.
“Have you been to Cuba?” I asked
her if she had been to Cuba.
“Did you work yesterday?” She
asked me whether I had worked the day before.
“Will you work tomorrow?” He asked her if she would work the
next day.
With Wh-questions we keep the question word (When, Why,
etc.):
“Where are you from?” She asked
me where I was from.
“When did you arrive?” He asked
her when she had arrived.
“Why do you want to learn
English?” I asked him why he wanted to learn English.

In a regular face-to-face conversation, very few native
speakers use backshift but most of them change the pronouns – changing Pronouns
is more important than changing the Tenses. On the other hand, instead of he
said, she told me, I asked, a lot of young people simply say:
and he was like, and she was like, and I was like, etc.
and sb was like + direct speech
Direct speech:
Matt: “What did you do yesterday?”
I: “I went to the beach.”
Matt: “Did you have a good time?”
I: “Yeah, it was awesome.”
Reported speech:
I saw Matt the other day and he was like what did you do
yesterday.
And I was like I went to the beach.
And Matt was like did you have a good time. And I
was like yeah, it was awesome.
It’s a very casual yet very
common way of doing indirect reports among young people.

CUEs: he said, she told me, I
asked her
FUNCTION: Reported speech

Questions
As we already said, there are two main types of questions:
1.   Yes/No
questions:
Do you speak English?
Can you speak English?
Did you speak English yesterday? etc.
2.   Open-ended (WH)
questions:
What languages do you speak?
How many languages do you speak? etc.

In most languages around the world, making questions is very
easy:
-
For Yes/No-questions, some languages have question words which
are inserted in certain places in a positive or negative sentence and transform
it into a Yes/No question, while others use intonation: Japanese has か(ka), Chinese has 吗(ma), Bulgarian has ли(li), Spanish
and Russian use intonation, etc.
-
For Open-ended questions, most languages add a question word
(What,When, Why, Who, Where, Which, How) at the beginning of a positive
sentence and transform it into a question. Unfortunately, English questions are
not that easy to make, they are grammatically more difficult to structure.

Going back to the original question: How do we ask questions
in English? The answer is hiding in plain sight. The answer is in the word answer:
Don’t ask a question you don’t know the answer to.

There are 3+1 steps of making a question:
1.   Give a positive
(Yes) answer
2.   Give a negative
(No) answer
3.   Ask a
Yes/No-question
4.   Ask a
Wh-question
Before you ask a question you need to know its answer.
It sounds so counter-intuitive. You might ask: “How can I
know the answer?
If I knew the answer there would be no point of asking the
question.” I know it sounds counter-intuitive but it works 90% of the time. You
want to ask a question but before you do that you need to imagine its
answer.
Let me explain and let me start with Yes/No questions.
English questions are grammatically more
difficult to structure than answers, but every Yes/No question already contains
the answer. That’s why they are called Yes/No questions because the answer is
usually Yes or No. Therefore, before you ask somebody a Yes/No question imagine
the same question directed at YOU, imagine being asked the same question.
What would your answer be?
How would you answer your own question?
But, don’t give a short Yes or No answer but rather a full one.
Actually, it doesn’t matter whether your answer is Yes or No, positive or
negative, what matters is you give a full answer to your own question. Positive
answers are easier than negative so it’s much better to start with giving a
full positive (Yes) answer to your own question.
For example, you want to ask a woman called
Elena about her abilities. Something about her skills at playing sports, or
musical instrument, or cooking, or programming, or painting, etc.…Now, imagine
that Elena is asking you the exact same question, about your
abilities, how would you answer her question?
1.   Make your
answer positive starting with Yes:
Yes, I can play the piano.
Yes, I am good at cooking.
Yes, I speak English well.
Yes, my child has good mathematical ability.
Yes, I have the ability to communicate with other cultures.
2.   Let’s follow it
up with a negative ‘No’ answer.
No, I cannot play the piano.
No, I am not good at cooking.
No, I do not speak English well.
No, my child does not have good mathematical ability.
No, I do not have the ability to communicate with other
cultures.
3.   Now it is much,
much easier to structure a question. Just move the wordpreceding “not” in front
of the sentence and you have a Yes/No question:
Can you play the piano?
Are you good at cooking?
Do you speak English (well)?
Does your child have good mathematical ability?
Do you have the ability to communicate with other cultures?

Now you want to ask Elena about her home country.
1.   The first thing
you need to do is imagine Elena asking you about your home country…what
would your answers be?
Yes, my country is mountainous.
Yes, there are many mountains in my country. Yes, my
country has high mountains.
You need the structure of
the answer, not the exact word/answer:
My country has … mountains (high or low is
not important).
There are … mountains in my country (many or
a few is not important). My country is … (flat or mountainous
is not important).
2.   Let’s give the
negative answers:
No, my country is not mountainous, my country is flat.
No, there are not many mountains in my country. No,
my country does not have high mountains.
3.   And now the
Yes/No questions:
Is your country mountainous/flat?
Are there many mountains in your country? Does your
country have high mountains?
And don’t worry about response time, the
human brain has awesome computing power and as long as you waste no time and
quickly follow the 3 steps you are guaranteed to save time and avoid stutter.

Once you master the
Yes/No-questions, open-ended ‘Wh’ questions will be easier to learn. Wh-questions
have the basic structure of Yes/No question plus a question word (Wh). You
still need to give a Yes or No answer to your question first.

Let’s imagine that Elena is your new
coworker and you want to get to know her better by asking her a few questions
(imagine she is asking you those questions):
Step 1: Yes answers (your
answers):
Yes, I joined ABC company because the money is better here.
Yes, I am married.
Yes, I have a child.
Yes, I have been married for 5 years.
Yes, I like to play tennis in my free time.
Yes, I am interested in rugby.
Yes, I will meet our CEO tomorrow.
Step 2: No answers:
No, I did not join ABC because the money is better here.
No, I am not married.
No, I do not have a child.
No, I have not been married for 5 years.
No, I do not like to play tennis in my free time.
No, I am not interested in rugby.
No, I will not meet our CEO tomorrow.
Step 3: Yes/No question.
Did you join ABC because the money is better here?
Are you married/single?
Do you have a child (children)?
Have you been married for 5 years?
Do you like to play tennis in your free time?
Are you interested in rugby?
Will you meet our CEO tomorrow?
Step 4: Open-ended ‘Wh’
questions:
Why did you join ABC company?
Do you have children? How many children do you have?
How long have you been married for?
What do you like to do in your free time?
What are you interested in?
When will you meet our CEO?
Once you figure out when to use DO, when to use HAVE, and
when to use BE, you can merge steps 1 and 2.
Step 1: Answer your own question
Step 2: Make a Yes/No question
Step 3: Make an open-ended question
Step 1: I went to America with my friend / I did not go …
Step 2: Did you go to America with your friend? Step 3: Who did you go to
America with?
1: My husband wants a cup of coffee. / does not want 2: Does
your husband want a cup of coffee? 3: What does your husband want to drink?
1: I would like to order a sandwich./ would not like 2: Would
you like to order a sandwich? 3: What would you like to order?
1: My favorite movie is … / is not 2: Is … your
favorite movie?
3: What is your favorite movie?
1: We should meet in Times Square. / should not 2: Should we meet
in Times Square? 3: Where should we meet?
1: I usually go surfing on weekends. / do not go 2: Do
you usually … on weekends?
3: What do you usually do on weekends?
1: I have been to America. / have not been to 2: Have
you been to America?
3: Which countries have you been to? How
many countries have you been to already?
1: I will go shopping tomorrow. / will not 2: Will you
go shopping tomorrow?
3: What will you do tomorrow?

And again, don’t worry about slow response time. Trust that
your brain will go through the steps fast enough and with just a bit of
practice it will take no more than a few seconds to formulate a sentence or
question.
++ Tag questions
Yes/No-questions and Wh-questions are when we don't know the
answer, but Tag questions are when we have an inkling of what the answer might
be. We make a statement/sentence and we add a question tag to the end of
it.
The easiest way to form a tag question is
by adding right to both positive and negative sentences: It is hot,
right?
You like sushi, right?
You have never tried raw fish before, right?
We are meeting at the pub, right?
You didn’t forget to renew your passport, right?
The boss will come back tomorrow, right?
There were so many beautiful flowers in the park
yesterday, right? Your wife can speak English, right?
But we usually add a question tag.
If the sentence is positive, the
question tag is negative:
It is hot today, isn't it?
You like sushi, don’t you?
You have tried raw fish before, haven’t you?
We are meeting at the pub, aren't we?
You renewed your passport, didn't you?
The boss will come back tomorrow, won't he?
There were so many beautiful flowers in the park yesterday,
weren’t there? Your wife can speak English, can't she?
If the sentence is negative, the
question tag is positive:
It isn’t that hot today, is it?
You don’t like sushi, do you?
You have never tried raw fish before, have you?
We aren’t meeting at the pub, are we?
You didn’t forget to renew your passport, did you?
The boss won’t come back tomorrow, will he?
There weren’t that many beautiful flowers in the park
yesterday, were there?
Your wife can’t speak English, can she?
++ Negative questions
Negative questions are less about
asking and more about expressing surprise:
Aren't you hot wearing this sweater? = Don’t you feel hot?
Don't you like sushi?
Haven't you tried raw fish before?
Aren’t we meeting at the pub?
Didn’t you renew your passport?
Isn't the boss supposed to come back tomorrow?
Weren’t there any beautiful flowers in the park
yesterday? Can't your wife speak English?

Questions and Intonation
-   Yes/No-questions
are pronounced with rising intonation.
-   Wh-questions
are pronounced with either flat or falling intonation.
-   Negative
questions are usually pronounced with rising intonation.
-   Tag questions
are usually pronounced with falling intonation, pronouncingthem with rising
intonation turns them into Yes/No questions – it all depends on how certain you
are about your statement:
more certain – falling intonation less certain –
rising intonation
Tag questions with right are pronounced with rising
intonation.
Answering questions
Responding to Yes/No is pretty straightforward:
Is it hot today?
Yes, it is.
No, it is (it’s) not.
Do you like sushi?
Yes, I do.
No, I do not (don’t).
Have you tried raw fish before?
Yes, I have.
No, I have not (haven’t).
Are we meeting at the pub?
Yes, we are.
No, we are not (aren’t).
Did you renew your passport?
Yes, I did.
No, I did not (didn’t).
Will the boss come back tomorrow?
Yes, he will.
No, he will not (won’t).
Were there any beautiful flowers
in the park yesterday?
Yes, there were.
No, there were not (weren’t).
Can your wife speak English?
Yes, she can.
No, she cannot (can’t).
Most people make mistakes when answering Negative questions
and Negative tags: is it Yes or No? There are 2 rules that will help you answer
those questions correctly:
1st rule:
NO is followed by Negative: No, I’m not / No, I haven’t /
No, I won’t / etc. YES is followed by Positive: Yes, I am / Yes, I have / Yes,
I will / etc.
DON’T say: Yes, I’m not / No, I am / No, it is / Yes, I
didn’t / Yes, I haven’t …
2nd rule:
Give FULL answers to tag &
negative questions.

You need to treat every Negative
question like a regular Yes/No question and focus on the collocation at
the core of the question and give your answer by following the aforementioned 2
rules

Don’t you like sushi?
(collocation: like sushi) Yes, I like sushi.
No, I don’t like sushi.
answers: "Yes, I don't …” & "No, I like …”
break the 1st rule
You don’t like sushi, right? (like
sushi) Yes, I like sushi.
No, I don’t like sushi.
You don’t like sushi, do you?
(like sushi) Yes, I like sushi.
No, I don’t like sushi.
You like sushi, don’t you? (like
sushi) Yes, I like sushi.
No, I don’t like sushi.
Do you like sushi? (like sushi)
Yes, I like sushi.
No, I don’t like sushi.

You have never tried raw fish before,
have you? (collocation: try raw fish) Yes, I have tried raw fish.
No, I haven't tried raw fish.
answers: "Yes, I haven't …” & "No, I have …”
break the 1st rule
You have tried raw fish before,
right? (try raw fish) Yes, I have tried raw fish.
No, I haven't tried raw fish.
Haven’t you tried raw fish before?
(try raw fish) Yes, I have tried raw fish.
No, I haven't tried raw fish.
Have you tried raw fish before?
(try raw fish) Yes, I have tried raw fish.
No, I haven't tried raw fish.

Aren't you hot wearing this
sweater? (collocation: be hot) Yes, I am hot.
No, I’m not hot.
Aren’t we meeting at the pub?
(collocation: meet at the pub) Yes, we are meeting at the pub.
No, we aren't meeting at the pub.

As you begin to feel more
comfortable and confident answering negative questions you can start giving
shorter answers as you complete your answer silently, in your head:
Didn’t you renew your passport?
(collocation: renew my passport) Yes, I did (renew my passport). Here it is.
No, I didn't (renew my passport). I forgot.

and with time even single Yes/No answers:
The boss won’t come back
tomorrow, will he? (collocation: come back tomorrow)
Yes (he will come back tomorrow), at 2:30 I believe. Why?
No, (he won't come back tomorrow). He will
come back the day after tomorrow.
Can't your wife speak English?
(collocation: speak English)
Yes, (she can speak English) and she also speaks Korean.
No, (she can't speak English) but she can speak Korean.
How about you? Me too vs Me neither
How about you? (=What about you?) is a very natural
follow-up question and a good way to carry on a conversation:
Do you like sushi?
Yes, I do (positive answer). How about you?
-   Me too (= also
true about me/we are same).
-   I don't (= not
true about me/we are different).
Do you like sushi?
No, I don't (negative answer). How about you?
-   Me neither (=
also true about me/we are same). - I do (= not true about me/we are different).
Me too is used to show
that a positive statement is also true about me.
Me neither is used to show that a negative
statement is also true about me.
You haven't tried raw fish before, have you?
Yes, I have. How about you?
-   Me too (= also
true about me/same)
-   I haven't (=
not true about me/different)
You haven't tried raw fish before, have you?
No, I haven’t. What about you?
-   Me neither (=
also true about me/same) - I have (= not true about me/different)
Didn’t you renew your passport?
Yes, I did. How about you?
-   Me too (= also
true about me/same) - I didn't (= not true about me/different)
Didn’t you renew your passport?
No, I didn't. What about you?
-   Me neither (=
also true about me/same) - I did (= not true about me/different)
Will you attend the meeting?
Yes, I will. How about you?
-   Me too (= also
true about me/same) - I won’t (= not true about me/different)
Will you attend the meeting?
No, I won’t. How about you?
-   Me neither (=
also true about me/same) - I will (= not true about me/different)
Greetings
There are 2 main ways native English speakers greet each
other – one is using the question word How and the other is using the question
word What.
-     Greetings
with How are answered with “Good” and followed up with “yourself” (rising
intonation): How … Good
-     Greetings
with What are answered with “Not Much” and followed up with
“yourself” (rising intonation): What … Not much
How is it going?
How have you been?
How are you (doing)? Good.
Yourself?
What's up?
What's new?
What have you been up to?
Not much. Yourself?
Confirm and Clarify
All this talk about questions, we almost forgot the few
questions every language learners must learn first:
Sorry? / I’m sorry?
Pardon me? / I beg your pardon?
Could you repeat that? = Could you say that again?
Could you speak more slowly?
Could you speak more loudly? = Could you speak up?
Could you write that down?
What do you mean?
What do you mean by …? Did you say (16) or (60)?
These are the few questions every
language learner must learn first. There is nothing wrong with not being able
to hear or understand what other people say, but there is plenty wrong not
being able to ask, confirm and clarify.
Cues and Functions
Every grammar structure came with
2 sets of trigger words – CUE and FUNCTION – in the hope that at least one of
those keywords will trigger a memory that will help you retrieve the grammar
you need.
Cues are usually words of time as well as modal verbs.
Functions are usually words of purpose.
Cues
Complete the sentences and assign Function to each one.
Use the following collocations: borrow a pen, lend money,
watch a movie, play tennis, meet a celebrity, go to America, collect stamps,
show my collection, study hard, take a bath, see a friend, read books, drink
sheep milk, live in Japan, work for ABC company, be young, be a driver, be
busy, wear a tie, have a meeting, and/or come up with collocations of your own.
VISUALIZE, PERSONALIZE and HARMONIZE each sentence (steps 6,
7 +1 of Virtually Native).
Yesterday, … Usually … How long …? He asked me … Will
you …?
I’ve … recently.
Is there a … in …?
What do you do? I …
What do you do for fun? I …
You should …
Generally speaking, …
If … will …
I rarely …
I wish I had …
Last …
Lately …
Me neither.
I’ve … for …
I usually …
I was supposed to …
Is there a … around here?
How long does …?
Have you ever …? Can you …?
I used to … Should I …?
Could you please …?
I haven't … yet.
I like … on weekends.
I’d like … next weekend.
I’ve … since …
Tomorrow …
If I had …, I would have … Would you like to …?
I’m not going to … I often … Me too.
Would you mind if I …?
I think you should …
She told me …
There was a … in …
There is a … on … I sometimes … How long
have …?
How often do you …? If … would … … ago.
When I was … I used to …
I’ve never … I have to …
Have you …?
Do I have to …?
I wish I …
Would you like me to …?
Are there …s in …?
May I …?
I’m going to … Would you like to …?
You could …
You don't wanna … I should’ve … … my hair cut.
I've already … Would you … please?
Would you like …?
Would you mind …?
I didn't use to …
You don't have to …
He said …
I've always …
Do you want me to …?
Could I …? I could have … if … … money
stolen.
There are …s … at …
There were …s … in …
I want you to …

Example 1:
I've … since …
I've been living in Japan since 2001.
Function: Duration until now
Cues: How long have you … (Cue is in the question),
Since, Collocation: live in Japan
Visualize and Personalize: Who: my
student S
Where: at my school
Why/Function: answer
a HOW LONG question Mini dialogue:
S: How long have been living in Japan? V: I’ve been
living in Japan since 2001.
Harmonize:
How long have you (been) [haulong həvju] and
[haulong həvjubin] I've (been) … since [aiv … sins] and [aivbin … sins]

Example 2:
Can you …?
Can you lend me $20 until tomorrow?
Function: Request
Cues: Could you, lend
Collocation: lend me money, have money
Visualize and Personalize: Who: my
friend F
Where: at a coffee shop
Why/Function: Request
Mini dialogue:
V: Can you lend me $20 until tomorrow?
F: I’m sorry, but I don't have that kind of money on me.
Harmonize:
Can you (lend me) [kænju] and [kænjulendmi]
I’m sorry but [aimsoribat]
Functions
Assign Cue(s) to each Function and write a sentence.
VISUALIZE, PERSONALIZE and HARMONIZE each sentence (steps 6, 7 +1 of Virtually
Native):
Experience
Request
Future
Advice
Now (rain)
Rich people's grammar
Job
Hobby
Past
Reported speech
Routine
Past habit: past ≠ present
Plan ≠ Reality
Invite sb
Directions
Offer sth to sb
Regret
Opinion
Stolen (money/wallet, etc.)

Example 1:
Advice:
Cue: should
Collocations: take aspirin, have a headache Sentence:
You should take some aspirin.
Function: give Advice
Visualize and Personalize: Who: my
coworker C
Where: at my office
Why/Function: give Advice
Mini dialogue:
C: I have a slight headache.
V: You should take some aspirin.
Harmonize:
You should [jushud] … take aspirin [teikasprin]
Have a headache [hevəhedeik] … Have a slight headache
[hevəslaithedeik]

Example 2:
Regret:
Cue: should have
Collocations: follow/take advice, take aspirin, have a
headache
Sentences: You should have followed my
advice. You should have taken aspirin.
Function: Regret
Visualize and Personalize: Who: my
coworker C
Where: at my office
Why/Function: Regret
Mini dialogue:
C: I have a terrible headache.
V: You should have followed my advice. You
should have taken aspirin. If you had taken aspirin you would have felt better.
C: I wish I had taken your advice.
Harmonize:
You should have (taken) [jushudav] and [jushudavteikan]
If you had (taken) [ifjuhəd] and [ifjuhədteikan]
I wish I had (followed) [aiwishaihəd] and
[aiwishaihədfoloud]
CUEs: Should have, I wish, I wish
I had
FUNCTION: Regret

Example 3:
Job:
Cue: What do you do? How long have you …?
Visualize and Personalize:
Who: a stranger at a party S
Where: at a party
Why/Function: asking about Job
Mini dialogue:
V: What do you do (for a living)?
S: I am an accountant. How about you?
V: I am an English teacher. How long have you been
an accountant for? S: I've been an accountant for 4 years.
Harmonize:
What do you do (for a living) [watdujudu] and
[watdujudufoəlivin]
I’m a/an [aimə] and [aimən]
How about you [hauəbauchu]
How long have you (been) [haulonghəvju] and
[haulonghəvjubi:n]
I've (been) … for … [aiv … fo:] and [aivbi:n … fo:]
CUEs: What do you do? (set
question), How about you? (follow-up), For, Since, How long have you …?
FUNCTION: Job, Duration (until
now)

Travel
English
Every overseas travel starts and ends with the ability to
Confirm and Clarify
Can you repeat that?
Could you speak more slowly?
Would you speak more loudly, please?
Would you mind writing that down, please?
Directions
are the single most common source
of frustration when traveling abroad.
Asking for directions is easy:
Where is (the) …?
Is there a … around here?
Is there a … near here? Is there a … nearby?
Giving directions is difficult even in our native
language, therefore, before you go about explaining, you have to figure out the
easiest route to the place in question. Keep your directions simple yet
precise. The key to giving good directions is choosing the best landmark(s)
– a LandMark (LM) is something that is easy to see and recognize:
-
Buildings are the best LMs: church, gas station, police
station, flower shop, bank, bakery, McDonald’s, Starbucks, supermarket, etc.
-
Parks and car parking lots make good LMs too; - Intersections
and traffic lights are also good LMs; - Street names should be avoided.
We usually say:
At (the) + LM, turn
left/right or you can change the order:
Turn left/right, at (the) + LM
We usually say THE before the landmark (one specific),
except for brand names like McDonald’s, Starbucks, 7/11, GAP, Citibank, etc.
Other useful expressions:
Go straight go across the street = cross the street
go past (the) + LM = pass (the) + LM
It is next to (the) + LM
It is behind (the) + LM
It is in front of (the) + LM
It’s between (the) + LM 1 and (the) + LM 2
It’s across (the street) from (the) + LM = It’s opposite
(the) + LM
It’s on the left/right (-hand side)

-   Excuse me, is
there a post office around here?
Yes, there is. Go straight, go past the
flower shop and turn left at the 2nd intersection. It is on the
left, across from McDonald’s.
-   Excuse me,
where is the nearest convenience store?
Go straight and at the bakery turn right.
Go past the post office and the church and turn left at the 1st
traffic lights. It is on the left, between the bank and the parking lot.
-   Excuse me, is
there an ATM near here?
Sure. Cross the street and turn left. Go
straight and at the 3rd intersection turn right. It is on the
right-hand side, next to the pharmacy.

Restaurant
At restaurants, we usually make requests or just say
what we want/would like:
I would like + food/drink name
I would like a cup of tea, please.
I’d like the roast lamb and spinach salad.
Can I have/get + food/drink name
Can I have a cup of coffee?
Could I get a double cheeseburger?
Can I get the check/bill, please?

Making requests with “Can/Could I” and “Can/Could
you” is something we do all the time when traveling overseas.
Hotel
Can I order room service?
Can I use the hotel pool?
Can I get a wake-up call?
Can you call me a taxi?
Can I have my room cleaned?

Shopping
Can I try it on?
Can I get it in a smaller/bigger size?
Can I get it in black/pink/blue?
Can I pay by credit card?
Could you gift-wrap it, please?

We might also ask for Advice
Should I … or …?
Should I take the bus or take a taxi?
Should I go in the morning or in the afternoon?
Should I exchange money at the airport or the bank?
How should I (get there)?
When should I (go there)?
Where should I (exchange my money)?
and give Advice:
You should take the bus. It is cheaper.
You don’t want to go in the morning. It’s too
crowded. You could exchange money at the hotel.

That’s all, my dear reader. Thank you for taking that
journey with me. I wish you a pleasant road ahead and never forget that it’s
not about the destination but all about the journey.

The End…

About the Author

Vladimir Skenderoff is an English teacher and the author of
“by a non-native, for the non-native” series of books on how to learn English:
-   Virtually
Native
-   English Grammar
and Functions
-   Almost All
People

www.virtuallynative.com
Table of
Contents
Why this book, Why me, Who’s it for?
Using the book
Nouns
A vs THE
Relative Clause
Verbs
Be
Have
Do
Adjectives
ED vs ING
Comparatives & Superlatives
Adverbs
Prepositions
To
On
In
At Collocation
Grammar tenses
Present Simple
Present Continuous
Future Simple
Going To
Future Continuous
IF & First Conditional
IF & Second Conditional
IF & Third Conditional
Past Simple
Used To
Past Continuous
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect
Future Perfect There Is / There Are...
Have / Has
Have sth
done
Have sth (bad) done
Have sb do
sth
Can / Could
Request
Will / Would Would you mind …?
Would you like / Want
Invite May / Might
Should with Advice
Should have
Reported Speech
Reporting Questions
Questions
Tag
questions
Negative questions
Answering questions
Cues and Functions Cues
Functions Travel English
About the Author

file_name: English grammar-1.pdf

alt: ENGLISH GRAMMAR and Functions

alt: Why this book, Why listen to me,

alt: I don’t claim to know every word in the

alt: ED vs ING Comparatives & Superlatives

alt: Have sb do sth Can / Could

alt: Word classes One of the most common mistakes people make is to learn individual words, and then they read grammar textbooks to figure out how…

alt: MANY and FEW are followed by cymbals –

alt: Where is the Empire State Building?

alt: Get/got/gotten or got Make/made/made

alt: Past Participle: I have been …

alt: Common mistake : “Have” vs “Have

alt: Look like” is followed by a Noun or

alt: First , you need to be able to tell the difference between: verbs in the

alt: My job is tiring, so I am tired

alt: With two-syllable adjectives ending in y , we drop the y and add ~ ier and the ~ iest thus adding a third beat and…

alt: Adverbs Nouns are first, next come

alt: Lately=recently (not an adverb of late ):

alt: Give/Lend/Show/Send sth TO sb:

alt: When you learn an adjective , you must always link it to a noun

alt: Grammar tenses – Present, Past and

alt: Are you going to go to his party?

alt: Conditional (=if) sentences are made up of 2 parts: 1 st part is

alt: If I were younger I would exercise more

alt: If I go skiing, I always wear a helmet

alt: Did you see ( saw ) your friend yesterday? +

title: English grammar