English Language Breakdown

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GRAMMAR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Subject Pronouns Demonstrative Pronouns Question Words Possessive Adjectives Singular and Plural Nouns Expletives TO BE - Positive, negative and question form Basic verbs in the present simple positive, negative and question forms: I live, I dont live, do I live? Simple adverbs of frequency: usually, sometimes. Quantities: How much, how many? Some, any Showing ability: using can/cant The past simple tense with to be: was/were Future simple tense: I will go Past simple tense with regular verbs: I looked, I listened Modal verbs: These give more meaning to the main verb in a sentence. Two examples are: can/cant and must/mustnt. I cant wait any more because I must get to the shops. Possessive pronouns: mine, yours and so on. To be going to: This isnt a tense but you use this structure to talk about plans. I am going to study medicine at university. Present perfect tense: Ive eaten. Past simple tense with irregular verbs: I ate, I thought. Past continuous tense: I was eating. Adverbs: slowly, well. More modal verbs: (should, may, might). Too many modal verbs exist to teach at once so you teach a few at a time. Zero conditional: If it rains, I use my umbrella. First conditional: If it rains, Ill use my umbrella. Second conditional: If it rained, Id use my umbrella. Non-defining relative clauses: The man, who I thought looked great, was at the office. Gerunds and infinitives: going and to go. The verb will for spontaneous decisions: Ill pay! Present perfect continuous tense: I have been singing, he has been dancing. Past perfect tense: They had seen it, you had not watched it. To have something done: students are used to speaking about actions they do themselves. With this grammatical structure they can express the idea of paying or instructing other people to do things. For example, I had my house painted. Third conditional: If I had known, I wouldnt have done it. Reported speech: She said that she . . . Defining relative clauses: The man who is standing over there is nervous. Modal verbs in the past: I could have come. Passive verb forms: The room was cleaned. The verb to wish: I wish I could go, you wish you were me (after wish you use a verb in one of the past tenses, so students have to learn this verb separately) To be used to/ to get used to: Im used to London now but Im still getting used to my new job. Students easily confuse these two grammatical struc- tures for familiar activities and activities that are becoming familiar . Past perfect continuous tense: I had been working. Future perfect: I will have written it.

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Prefixes and suffixes: unlike, likeable. Compound nouns: tooth + paste = toothpaste. Ellipsis and substitutions (words you can leave out or replace with something else): This one is bigger. One represents another noun so its a substitution. Sometimes you leave words out completely because the meaning is clear. For example: This one is bigger (than the other thing). When I leave out the words in brackets its an example of ellipsis. Question tags: You like that, dont you? Active and stative verbs (actions and conditions): She bought (active) a motorbike and also owns (stative) a car. Future perfect continuous tense: I will have been working. Detailed rules on phrasal verbs: Phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a preposition or two that together make a new meaning. For example: to get on with someone, to put up with something.

ADVANCED

VOCABULARY
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Alphabet Numbers Jobs Countries and Nationalities Basic Food Days of the Week Everyday Objects Immediate Family Rooms in the House Simple adjectives: opposites, colours Language for telling the time: hat time is it? Its half past three. Language for shopping: types of shops, asking for what you want. Asking for directions: straight ahead, turn left/right. Months and years. Weather: Whats the weather like? Its raining. Comparative adjectives: bigger, nicer, and so on (superlatives wait until the next level). Types of films: comedy, western, thriller. Clothes: trousers, shirt, coat. Hobbies and interests: jogging, eating out, reading. Language for booking hotels and restaurants: Can I book a single room please? Landscape words: mountain, river, field. Parts of the body: shoulder, knee. Superlatives: the best, the most wonderful. Comparing and contrasting: both, neither, whereas. Polite forms: Would you mind? Im afraid I cant. Expressions for generalising: On the whole, in general. Stages of life: infancy, childhood. Reviewing films, books and so on: describing the plot, characters, strengths and weaknesses. Adjectives of personality: generous, manipulative. Medical problems: ache, bruise, sprain. Crime words: to arrest, fraud, mugging. Feelings: hurt, fascinated, relieved. Science and technology words: software, appliance. Media and communications words: broadcasting, the press. General idioms. An idiom is a phrase that has a meaning quite different from the individual words within it. For example, students may under- stand all the words: it + is + a + pain + in + the + neck. However they wont get the point unless you explain what the whole expression means. Newspaper headlines. There are a number of words that are favourites for newspapers but hardly used elsewhere, for example, Minister Rapped After Expenses Probe. Journalists also like to be very playful with the language. They use nicknames, rhymes, and slang and students want to be in on the joke so that they can understand the press for themselves. However, it sometimes takes a great deal of explaining and a detailed analysis of the language for students to get the point. Words with different connotations. Old and elderly have basically the same meaning. However, elderly is more polite than old when referring to people, so the connotation (attitude behind the word) is different. When students understand that words have similar meanings they also need to know the subtle but important differences between them.

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Metaphors and similes. You use metaphors when you say that one thing is another because theyre somehow similar. There was a storm of pro- test. Storm is a word that describes violent weather conditions but here it means a violent outburst.

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