A BIT OF GRAMMAR

Positions of Adverbs: - We use adverbs of frequency such us always, often, usually, sometimes, occasionally, hardly ever, seldom, rarely, never:

- After simple tenses of the verb to be: He is usually late
- Before simple tenses of all others verbs: They hardly ever go to the cinema
- After the first auxiliary verb in complex tenses I have always seen really good films
- Adverbs such as: every day, twice a day, now and again, most days go at the beginning or end of the sentence
- We put adverbs of frequency in front of used to but after would I always used to like sweets as a child, didn’t always use to behave well, I would never play with my sister
- We put adverbs like already, just and still between a modal verb (will, may, etc) and present or past participle: I may still be learning English next year
- We put yet at the end of the phrase She will not have read my letter yet

Negative adverbs: Adverbs with a negative meaning are accompanied by a positive verb
Other ways of referring to the future: We can use these verbs or phrases to talk about the future: be likely / unlikely to, be bound to and be due to:
It’s likely to rain (= It will probably rain) He’s unlikely to visit us (= He probably won’t visit us)
They’re bound to enjoy the concert (= They will certainly enjoy the concert)
The train is due to arrive at 8 (= The train is scheduled to arrive at 8)

Linking words and expressions
- Purpose and result:

1. Because / as / since it was raining, the match was canceled

2. The match was cancelled because of / on account of / due to the rain
3. It was raining. Because of that / consequently / as a result, the match was cancelled
- Contrast:

1. Although / though / even though Jack is a good actor, he can’t find a job
2. In spite of / despite being a good actor, Jack can’t find a job
3. Jack is a good actor. Nevertheless / however / Yet he can’t find a job
4. Whereas / while Jack is a good actor, he can’t find a job

Conditional linking words
- We can use as long as, provided (that), or on condition that instead of if to show there is one major condition: I’ll lend you the money as long as / provided (that) / on condition that you pay it back
- We can use unless + present tense instead of if not to talk about the future: Unless we hurry, we’ll miss the bus = If we don’t hurry, we’ll miss the bus
- We can use in case + present simple / past simple to give a reason for an action. If I were you, I’d take an umbrella in case it rains (= because it might rain). We booked our tickets in advance in case they sold out

Forming adjectives:
- Adjectives are often formed with suffixes in this way:
Verb + -able breakable, likeable
Noun + -ful / less hopeful, helpless
Noun + -ic heroic, romantic
Noun + -al sensational, occasional
Noun + -ous dangerous, carnivorous
Noun + -ible terrible, horrible
Noun + -ent intelligent, impatient
Noun + -y rainy, angry

- We can make adjectives negative by adding a prefix:
il- + l illogical, ilegal
ir- + r irresponsible, irregular
im- + m / p immature, impossible
un / in unattractive, incomprehensible

Prefixes: We use prefixes to form the opposite or negative of words like this:
il- + adjective legal - illegal
Im- + adjective perfect - imperfect
Ir- + adjective regular - irregular
In- + adjective dependent - independent
Un- + verb / adjective lock - unlock
Dis- + noun / verb belief - disbelief
Mis- + noun / verb behave – misbehave

Notice that:
· We use il- with many adjectives that begin with l
· We use im-with many adjectives that begin with m/p
· We use ir- with many adjectives that begin with r

Abstract nouns:

We can form many abstract nouns in the following ways:
Adjective + -ness kindness, happiness
Adjectives + - ant / -ent important – importance, patient - patience
Verb + -ment equipment
Verb + -ance or –ence annoyance, existence
Verb + -ion, -sion or –tion promote – promotion, decide - decision
Verb + -al dismissal
Verb + -ing training
Number + -th tenth

Nouns ending in –th: We can form nouns:
- By adding –th to certain verbs / adjectives................... grow – growth, warm – warmth
- By adding –th to adjectives that describe size and measurements, such as long, high, deep, strong, wide
Forming nouns: We can form nouns by adding these suffixes to all or part of an adjective. There may also be some other spelling changes.
adjective + ty cruel - cruelty
adjective + ity stupid – stupidity, curious - curiosity
adjective + ility probable - probability
adjective + ry brave - bravery
adjective + ty cruel - cruelty
adjective + cy private – privacy, fluent - fluency
adjective + y envious – envy
Some nouns are irregular, e.g. poor - poverty

TOO – ENOUGH:
- Too + adjective / adverb + to -infinitive................................................................. I’m far too tired to go dancing tonight
- Too + adjective / adverb + for me/him/them, etc + to – infinitive................ It was too late for us to go out
- (not) enough (+ noun) + to – infinitive:...................................................... Tom doesn’t earn enough money to buy a car
- (not) adjective / adverb + enough + to –infinitive................................ We’re not hungry enough to eat now
- (not) adjective / adverb + enough + for me/him/them, etc + to –infinitive: They don’t live near enough for us to visit
Do not repeat the subject after too

SO – SUCH
- So + adjective / adverb (+ that clause) I´m so tired – I´ve had a really long journey
We´ve stayed at the beach so long that we got sunburn

- Such (a) (+ adjective) + noun (+ that clause)

It was such a beautiful holiday that (I didn’t want to leave)
There were such high mountains to climb! We had such lovely weather

FEW – LITTLE
- (A) few + countable nouns

1. The sun was shining so there were a few people on the beach
2. It was raining so there were few people on the beach

1. Some people

2. Not many people

- (a) little + uncountable nouns There’s a little hope of finding survivors (some hope)
There’s little hope of finding survivors (not much hope)
MORE GRAMAR
We can use it’s + adjective (+ of someone) + to –infinitive to state an opinion: It’s silly / crazy (of him) to miss schools often
We always use the –ing form after prepositions

Relative pronouns
- We must use a relative pronoun (who, which, that, where, when, etc) when it is the subject of the verb that follows. We can omit the pronoun when it is the object
This is the house which is haunted subject
This is the house I live in object

Prepositions in relative clauses
- We usually put prepositions at the end of the clause except in formal writing
That is the hotel (that) we stayed in informal
We visited the castle in which the king was imprisoned formal

No preposition:

- We don´t use prepositions with where That is the hotel where we stayed in

Must and had to
- In direct speech must becomes had to…………..…..My father said I must have had to save my money

Need with passive meaning:
- Need + to –infinitive................................................................... I need to do some exercise (= It’s necessary)
- Need + -ing...................................................................................... My hair needs cutting (= My hair needs to be cut)

We can put present and past infinitive forms into the passive in the following ways:
ACTIVE PASIVE
Someone ought to congratulate the teacher.................. The teacher ought to be congratulated
Someone ought to have given Harry a price................... Harry ought to have been given a prize

We can use it as a subject:
- to describe a place...........................................It’s a holiday resort
- talk about the weather......................................It’s sunny today
- to give an opinion.............................................It was stupid of you to miss the bus
- to introduce an adjective...................................It is necessary to book tickets in advange

We use there:
- to say that something exist............................... There’s a spider on the table
- to mention an event......................................... There’s been an accident
- with seems and appears + -to infinitive.................There seems to be a problem

- There is no indefinite article (a/an) in front of uncountable nouns
- There is no definitive article (the) in front of generals nouns
- In certain fixed phrases the article is omitted

VERBS
Seem / appear + adjective People seem friendly
Seem / feel / look + like + noun phrase
It seems like a friendly town

Seem / appear + to –infinitive
The shop seem to close early in this town
Seem / feel / look as if + clause
It seems as if everybody has gone out

Phrasal verbs:

They are four main types of phrasal verbs:
Type 1: verb + adverb (no object)...............................................Prices are going up
Type 2: verb + object + adverb / verb + adverb + object................ I looked the world up earlier
I looked up the world earlier
NOTE:

When the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and the adverb I looked it up earlier
Type 3: verb + preposition + object I take after my father
Type 4: verb + adverb +preposition + object We’ve run out of coffee

Modals verbs

We can use the following infinitive forms after modals verbs:
modal + bare infinitive We can / should protect our environment
modal + be + -ing We should be working harder to prevent pollution
modal + past infinitives We could / should have done more in the past
modal + have been + -ing We ought not to have been swimming in that part

Time expressions

+ Future continuous: We often use time expressions like in two week’s / a year’s time or this time next month / year with the future continuous tense:

I’ll be living in France this time next year
+ Future perfect: We often use time expressions like by and by the time (that) + present simple/present perfect with the future perfect tense

By Christmas, I’ll have saved enough money to buy a computer

I’ll have finished my homework by the time you get here