Grammar Flashcards
Zero conditional
If + present simple, […] present simple.
This conditional is used when the result will always happen
* If people eat too much, they get fat
* If babies are hungry, they cry
* If you touch a fire, you get burned.
First Conditional
if + present simple, […] will + infinitive
It’s used to talk about things which might happen in the future
* If it rains, I won’t go to the park.
* She‘ll be late if the train is delayed.
* If I have enough money, I’ll buy some new shoes.
Second Conditional
if + past simple, […] would + infinitive
We can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true.
* If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house
* She would travel all over the world if she were rich.
We can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it’s not true.
* If I had his number, I would call him.
* f I were you, I wouldn’t go out with that man
Third Conditional
if + past perfect, […] would + have + past participle
It talks about the past. It’s used to describe a situation that didn’t happen, and to imagine the result of this situation.
* If she had studied, she would have passed the exam
* She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university
Used to, Be used to, get used to
Used to + infinitive
We use this expression to talk about habits or repeated actions in the past which we don’t do in the present
* They used to live in India
* Did you use to be a teacher?
be used to + verb-ing or + noun or + pronoun
We use this expression to means ‘be familiar with’ or ‘be accustomed to
* I’m a teacher so I’m used to speaking in public
* She’s used to the city now and doesn’t get lost any more
get used to + verb-ing or + noun or + pronoun
We use get used to to talk about the process of becoming familiar with something.
I’m finding this new job hard but I’m sure I’ll get used to it soon.
You must get used to getting up early
Question tags
We often use question tags when we expect the listener to agree with our statement. In this case, when the statement is positive, we use a negative question tag. If the statement is negative, we use a positive question tag
1) If there is an auxiliary verb in the statement, we use it to form the question tag:
* James is working on that, isn’t he?
* You weren’t sleeping, were you?
* Your mum hadn’t met him before, had she?
* She’ll have been cooking all day, won’t she?
2) Sometimes there is no auxiliary verb already in the statement, because he verb in the statement is present simple or past simple and is positive. Here we use don’t, doesn’t or didn’t:
* Jenni eats cheese, doesn’t she?
* They live in London, don’t they?
* He went to the party last night, didn’t he?
3) Sometimes the verb in the statement is to be in the present simple or past simple. In this case we use to be
* The bus stop’s over there, isn’t it?
* It was cold yesterday, wasn’t it?
4) Sometimes the verb in the statement is a modal verb. Here we use the modal verb:
* They could hear me, couldn’t they?
* They mustn’t come early, must they?
Adjectives ending in ‘-ed’ and ‘-ing’
Adjectives that end in-edgenerally describe emotions – they tell us how people feel. Adjectives that end in-inggenerally describe the thing or the person that causes the emotion.
* Have you seen that film? It’s really frightening.
* The frightened cat hid under a chair
* I can’t sleep! That noise is really annoying!
* She is annoyed that the authorities have not helped her.
* The wine was excellent, but the food was disappointing.
* I was disappointed to see the lack of coverage afforded to this event.
Quantifiers (adverbs)
We use too before an adjective or an adverb to mean ‘more than we need’ or ‘more than is necessary’:
* This coffee is too sweet.
* It happened too quickly, so I just didn’t see it.
* Two hours is too long to wait
When we want to talk about quantities which are more or less than enough, we use too much and too little before an uncountable noun:
* There’s too much salt in this soup
* The trip was cancelled because there was too little interest in it
* I did too much shopping yesterday
We use too many and too few before a countable noun:
* There were too many dogs on the beach
* I don’t like this book because there are too few pictures in it.
Still
The word still is used mainly to refer to something that began in the past and is continuing into the present. We usually put still:
1. between the subject and the main verb, or
2. after the modal verb or first auxiliary verb, or
3. after be as a main verb), or
4. between the subject and the auxiliary/modal verb in the negative sentances
- She still goes to French classes every week
- He’s still studying.
- I still can’t find Kay’s phone number
- I still haven’t found what I’m looking for
Yet
We use yet as an adverb in a negative or interrogative clause, to show that something has not happened by a particular time. Yet refers to things which have not happened, or which people think may not have happened. We don’t use yet to talk about events that are continuing, we use still. It is very often used with the perfect aspect (present perfect, past perfect, future perfect). Yet comes at the end of the sentence or question.
* I haven’t finished my breakfast yet.
* Have you finished your homework yet?
* Have you met Judy yet?
Already
We use already to show that something has happened sooner than it was expected to happen or to emphasise that something was completed before something else happened. It goes:
1. in front of the main verb
2. after the present simple or past simple of be
3. at the end of the sentence for emphasis
- It was early but they were already sleeping.
- The plane had already landed when the pilot announced that there would be a delay in getting to the gate.
- When we got there, most people had arrived already.
Prepositions of time
At
Precise time, Holidays Periods
* at 8PM, at noon, at midnight
* at night, at breakfast time, at bed time
In
Years and months, decades and centuries, seasons
* In 1992, in December
* In the sixties, in the 1790s
* in the morning, in the evening
On
Days and dates
* On Sundays, on Monday morning
* On the 20th of June, on 12 December 2022
* On Christmas Day
