Past Continuous

Past continuous We use the past continuous to talk about background details to events, e.g. I was looking at some old letters yesterday. I found one from my old girl friend, Lucy. We also use it to talk about interrupted events in the past e.g. They were playing cards when the lights suddenly went out. It is also used to talk about events which were in progress in the past when another event occurred, e.g. We were sitting in our tent one evening when Sheila told us about the ghost. Time clauses in the past continuous are often introduced by when , while and as, e.g. A bird flew in through the window while I was watching TV. The time clause and the main clause can be reversed. If the time clause begins the sentence, the clause must be followed by a comma, e.g. While I was watching TV, a bird flew in through the window. S+

Present simple We use the P.s. to talk about routines and permanent situations. E.g. He plays the guitar in a band.She sometimes rides her bike to school. We also use the P.s. to talk about general statements of truth.E.g. the sun rises in the east, and about schedules , e.g The bus leaves at 7 p.m. Adverb phrases of frequency come before the main verb except if the main verb is to be , e.g. I always get up late on Saturdays. He’s often late for school. Adverbial phrases of frequency come after the verb and the object , e.g. She washes her hair twice a week. To form the third person singular positive, we usually add –s to the infinitive, e.g. wants , makes, drops. When the infinive ends in ch, sh, ss or x we add –es, e.g. watches, wishes,When the infinive ends in a consonant +y, we delete the y and add –ies, e.g. worries, cries, fillies.The third person singular of do and go is does and goes.

 Aff. S + V1 (s / es III sg) Neg. S + don’t/doesn’t + V1  Int. Do / Doesn’t +S + V 1 Time expressions: Always Never Usually Sometimes Often Rarely Generally In the morning / afternoon / evening Every day / month Once / twice a week

Gerunds and infinitives -Here are some common verbs which are followed by the gerung : avoid ,  give up, can’t stand ,  imagine , consider ,  involve, dislike, mind , understand, practise, enjoy, suggest. E.g. The project involved using the Internet. -Here are some common verbs which are followed by an infinitive whith to : afford agree appear arrange ask choose decide expect hesitate hope learn manage offer plan promise refuse want E.g. She managed to swim 25 metres under water.

Past simple We use the past simple to talk about complete actions or events in the past , e.g. The Egyptians built the Pyramids. We often use it with past time adverbials such as ago , yesterday, last month,in 1997, to talk about events which occurred at a definite point of time in the past , e.g. He bought his motorbike last week. We also use the past simple to narrate past events, e.g. She packed her bag, walked to the station and got on the train. To form the positive past simple of regular verbs, we often add –ed to the infinitive, e.g. walk/walked. If the verb ends in e , we add –d , e.g. love/loved. If the infinitive ends in e , we add –d e.g.love/loved. If the infinitive ends in a consonant +y , we delete the y and add – ied, e.g.: study/studied.If the infinitive

and one consonant (not y or w), we double the consonant, e.g. clap/clapped.

Aff. S+ V2 Neg . S +didn’t + V1 Int: Present Did +continous S + V1 We use the P.c. to talk about activities which are happening at the time of speaking or in the current period, e.g. He’s sitting in the garden right now. She’s living in Ireland for six months. The following verbs are not normally used in the present continous : agree , be, belive, belong, contain, cost, depend, expect, feel, forget, hate, hear, hope, imagine, know, like, look, love, matter, mean, need, notice, own, prefer, realize, recognise, remember, seem, smell, suppose, taste, understand, want, wish. Have, see, think can be used in the P.c. but the meaning is not the same as the P.s. Having can mean eating, drinking, taking, giving, e.g. He’s having lunch / a dink/ a shower/ a party .Seeing means going out with or meeting , e.g. I’m thinking about the holidays. There are certain rules for spelling the – ing form. In many cases, we add –ing to the infinitive, e.g. go/going , work/working. In the infinitive ends in one e , we delete the e , and add – ing, e.g. make/making, write/writing. If the infinitive ends in a a strered consonant (not y or w), we double stressed syllable of the one vowel and one consonant , e.g. begin/beginning , get/getting, stop/stopping , but say/saying , grow/growing.

Aff. S + to be + Ving Int. To be +S + Ving Neg. S + isn’t / aren’t + Ving