Topic: Verb

Verb is a word or group of words that express an action ( such as eat) , an event ( such
as happen) or a state ( such as exist).

There are two classes of verbs in English:

1º The auxiliary vebs: to be, to do, to have, to dare, to need , can, may, must, will, shall...
2º All other verbs, which we may call ordinary verbs: to cut, to love,to study, to believe...

Note: that in English verbs are normally known by infinitive; to cut, to put, to see, but
some of the auxiliaries have no infinitive and are known by the form used for their present
tense; may, must, will, shall, can...

Topic: Present Simples

The present simples expresses a fact which is always true, or true for a long time.
E.g .: He comes from New Zealand.
She works with her husband.
The present simples also expresses a habit or, a routine. 1
1. E.g.: we often go to gym.
she walks her dog every day .
I am always at the school Monday to Friday.

The present simple tense is often used with adverbs phrases such as: often, usually,
sometimes, never, occasionally, on Monday, twice in a year, ever week and so on.
E.g.: it rains in winter. I go to church on Sundays.
She goes abroad every years. How often do you wash your hair.
Topic: The third Person ( He,She, It)
Spelling of the third person singular ( he, she, it)

1º Most verbs add – s in the third person.

E.g.: wear-wears , speak-speaks
But go and do are different.
They add es go-goes, do- Does

2º If the verb ends in – s, ch,sh,x, or z, add –es.

E.g.: finish-finishes, watch-watches
buzz-buzzes, kiss-kisses
3º If the verb ends in consonant+y, the y, changes to ies.But if the verb ends in
vowel+y,they y, does not change.
E.g.: fly-flies, study-studies
play-plays, pay-pays, pray-prays
4º Have is irregular have-has.

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Topic: Present continuous
Subject+auxiliary+main verb+ing
Subjet+to be+base form of the verb+ing
Eg.: I am speaking to you
We are playing football

We use the present continuous to talk about an action happening now and future.
Eg.: for action happening right now:
I´m teaching right now.we are reading now
For action happening about this time but not necessarity at the moment of speaking:
He´s teaching English and learning French. Mariana is learning how to play guitar.

Present continuous for future

We can also use the present continuous to talk about the future, if we add a future
word like: tomorrow,new year, in May, at Christmas.

We only use the present continuous to talk about the future when we have planned to 2
do something before we speak. We have already made the decision and a planning before
speaking. Eg.: I´m eating in resturant tonight.
Non-continuous verbs
we are studying math tomorrow.
Some verbs cannot normally be used in the
He´s coming tonight. continuous form, even when they refer to
Spellining of verb+ing the present moment.
Here are some of these verbs:
1º Most verbs adding: ( verbs of liking and disliking- like, love,
Eg.:wear-wearing, go-going, cook-cooking prefer, hate, want, wish, need).
( verbs that describe mental activity- think,
2º If the infinitive ends in e drop the e and add ing: imagine, believe, know, realize)
Eg.:write-writing, smile-smiling (verbs of appearannce- be, seem appear,
look, sound, taste, smell, feel). (verbs that
Except verbs ending in ee, after age,dye,and singe: describe a permanent state- belong to,
include, matter, owe, own.)
Eg.: age-ageing, dye-dyeing, singe-singeing see-seeing,
agree-agreeing
3º When a one-syllble verb has one vowel and ends in a consonant double the consonant
and add ing:
Eg.: sit-sitting get-getting run-running

Topic: Present simples or continuous

The Presents simples describes things that are always true, or true for a Iong time:
I come from Switzerland.
He works in a bank. He wears a suit to work.
Do you watch much TV?
The Present Continuous describes activities happening now, and temporary activities.
Dave's coming to see us now. I'm working very hard this week.
Why are you wearing yellow trousers? Mariana is writing a book about her life.

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Topic: Past Simple
The Past Simple is used:

1º To express a finished action in past.

Eg.:Colombus discovered America in1494

2º To express action which follow each other in a story.

Eg.: I heard voices coming from downstairs, so I put on my dress and went to investigate.

3º To express a past state or habit.

Eg.:When I was a child, we lived in a small house by the sea.Everyday I walked for
mile on the beach with my dog.

NOTE: This use is often expressed with used to:

We used to live... I used to walk... 3
Past simple – spelling of regular verbs
1º The normal rule is to add - ed.
Work- worked, start-started.
2º If the vdrb ends in -e, add -d.
Live-lived, love-loved
3º If the verb has only one syllable and one vowel and one consonant,double the
consonant, and add -ed.
Stop- stopped, plan-planned.
4º Verbs that end in a consonant+ -y, change to-ied.
Study-studied, carry-carried.
But if the verbs ends in y preced by vowel we onley add-ed.
Play-played, betray-betrayed.

Irregular verbs
Base form Past simple Past Participle Base form Past simple Past Participle
Be Was/were Been Know Knew Known
Become Became Become Learn Learnt/learned Iearnt/learned
Begin Began Begun Leave Left Left
Break Broke Broken Lose Iost Lost
Bring Brought Brought Make Made Made
Build Built Built Meet Met Met
Buy Bought Bought Pay Paid Paid
Can Could Been able Put Put Put
Catch Caught Caught Read Read Read
Choose Chose Chosen Ride Rode Ridden
Come Carme Come Run Ran Run
Cost Cost Cost Say Said Said
Cut Cut Cut See Saw Seen
Do Did Done Sell Sold Sold
Draw Drew Drawn Send Sent Sent
Drink Drank Drunk Sing Sang Sung

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Drive Drove Driven Sit Sat Sat
Eat Ate Eaten Sleep Slept Slept
Fall Fell Fallen Speak Spoke Spoken
Feel Felt Felt Spend Spent Spent
Find Found Found Stand Stood Stood
Fly Flew Flown Swim Swam Swum
Forget Forgot Forgotten Take Took Taken
Get Got Got Teach Taught Taught
Give Gave Given Tell Told Told
Go Went Gone/been Think Thought Thought
Grow Grew Grown Understand Understood Understood
Have Had Had Wake Woke Woken
Hear Heard Heard Wear Wore Worn
Keep Kept Kept Win Won Won
Know Knew Known Write Wrote Written
Learn Learnt/learned Iearnt/learned
Leave Left Left

Topic: Have VS Have got

Have and have got (= for possession, relationships, illnesses, appointments etc.).
You can use have or have got. There is no difference in meaning. You can say:
They have a new car. or They’ve got a new car. 4
I have a headache. or I’ve got a headache.
With these meanings (possession etc.), we do not use continuous forms (I’m having
etc.):
We have / We’ve got a nice room in the hotel.
(not We’re having a nice room)

For the past we use had (usually without got):

Lisa had long hair when she was a child.
(not Lisa had got)
In questions and negative sentences there are three possible forms:

Do you have any questions? or I Don’t have any questions. or

Have you got any questions? or I haven’t got any questions. or
Have you any questions? (less usual) I haven’t any questions. (less usual)

In past questions and negative sentences, we use did/didn’t:

Did you have a car when you were living in Paris?
I didn’t have my phone, so I couldn’t call you.
We also use have (but not have got) for things we do or experience. For example:

Breakfast / dinner / a cup of coffee / something to eat etc.

a bath / a shower / a swim / a break / a rest / a party / a Holiday an
accident / an experience / a dream a look (at something)
Have
a chat / a discussion / a conversation (with somebody) trouble / difficulty /
fun / a good time etc.
a baby (= give birth to a baby)
You can use continuous forms (I’m having etc.) with these expressions:

We’re enjoying our holiday. We’re having a great time.

‘Where’s Mark? He’s having a shower.’ we were having good time...

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Topic: There to be
There to be expresses the Idea that something exists.
There's a hole in my sleeve. There’s ice on the lake.

We use there in this way particularly with subjects that have indefinite articles, no
article, or indefinite determiners like some, any, no; and with indefinite pronouns like
somebody, nothing.:
There are some people outside. There were no footsteps to be seen.
Is there anybody at home? There was dancing in the streets.
There's something worrying me.

Topic: Modal auxiliary verbs

These are modal auxiliary verbs:
Can could may might shall
should will would must
They are used with great frequency and with a wide range of meaning. They express
ideas such as willingness and ability, permission and refusal,obrigation and prohibition,
5
suggestion, necessity,promise and intention. All modal auxiliary verbs can express degrees of
certainty, probability, or possibility.

They have several characteristics in common:

1º There is no – s in the third person.

He can swim.
She must go.
2º There is no do/does in the question.
May I ask a question?
Shall we go?
3º There is no don´t/doesn´t in the negative.
You shouldn´t tell lies.
You won´t believe this.

4º They are followed by an infinitives without to.

It might rain.
Could you help?
5º They don´t really have past forms or infinitives or-ing forms. Other verbs are
used instead.

I had to work hard when I was young.

I´d love to be able to ski.
I hate having to get up in the morning
6º They can be used with perfect infinitives to refer to the past.

You should have told me that you can´t swim.

She must have been crazy to marry him.

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Topic: Auxiliary verbs
List of auxiliary verbs with their principal parts

Infinitive Present tense Past tense Past participle

Be To be Am, is, are Was,were Been
Have To have Have, has Had Had
Do To do Do, does Did Done
Can (To be able to) Can (am/is/are able to) Could (Was/were able) Been able
May _ May Might _
Must ( to have to) Must Had to Had to
Need To need Need Needed Needed
Will _ Will Would _
Shall _ Shall Should _
Ought _ Ought Ought _
Dare To dare Dare Dared Dered
Used _ _ Used _
There are called auxiliary verbs because:
 They help to form tenses, being combined with the present, the past participle or 6
infinitive. I am waiting. They will be there.

 They are used with infinitives to indicates possibility, permission, ability, obrigation,
deduction etc. He may come tomorrow (possibility). I can type (ability).

 All auxiliaries except be, have and do are unifletected, all persons have the same form:
I can you can he can we can I must you must they must.
 The negative is formed by putting not after the auxiliary:
I must not he has not they do not
 The interrogative is formed by inverting subject and verb:
can he? may she? must I?
 Auxiliaries are not normally used in the continuous tenses except for certain uses of be
and have:
He is being carried You are being stupid While I was having my hair done the police towed
away my car He says that the house is too small and that he is having a room built on.

 Auxiliaries are followed by infinitives (be and have can also be followed by other parts of
the verbs.) be, have, ought and used are followed by the infinitive with to:
He is to go I have to work Tom ought to write to her she used to know Greek.

 Do, can, may, must, will, shall are followed by the infinitive without to:
He doesn´t read I must see it. Need and dare take the infinitive without to except when
they are conjugated with do: he need not go but he doesn´t need to go
how dare you borrow it without my permission!
 Auxiliaries are usually contracted in conversation: be, have, woul and will can be
contracted in the afirmative: I´m here we´ve seen it they´ll be

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Had and would have the same contraction ´d: I´d seen it= I had seen it I´d go= I should or
would go. Is and has have the same contraction ´s.
 Affirmative contractions cannot be used at the end of a sentence:
I´m not French but he is.( he is here could not be contracted.)
All auxiliaries can be contracted in the negative.

Topic: Possessive case (´s)

We use (´s) with person to talk about relatives and possessions.

John´s mother not the mother of John

To form a possessive case we use: noun+object.

Teacher´s friend. This is my mother´s key. This my mother´s mother.

Here are the basic rules of creating a possessive with an apostrophe.

Type Example Possessive case Be carefull with ´s.

Singular
Dog
John
Dog´s dinner
John´s sister is pretty Maria´s mother- ´s= of Maria
7
Dogs Dogs´dinner Maria´s spanish-´s= is
Plural
John and Sunday Jonh and Sunday´s mother is rich
Maria´s been in China- ´s= has
Chris Chris´car
Singular
Parents The´re my parents´ friends
People People´s right
Plural
Children Children´s book

Topic: Math expressios

Plus , Minus ,Multiplied by or time , Divided by , Equals or is , Percent % ,
3 4
Less than , Greater than , Square root √ , Cube Root √ , Fouth Root √ , Is less
2 3 10
than or Equal to ,Is greater than or equal to a = a squared, a = a cubed a =a to the
power of ten or a to the ten power ( American English).
Common ways of saying calculations in British Example of a spoken calculation
English are: 146
𝑥 281
29200 A hundred and forty-six times two hundred and
2 + 2 = 4 Two and two is/are four, (informal) Two plus two 11680
equals/is four, (formal) 146
7 - 4 = 3 Four from seven is/leaves three, (informal) Seven 41026
eighty-one:
take away four is/leaves three, (informal) Seven minus
four equals/is three, (formal)
Beginning: Put down two noughts. Two sixes are twelve; put
3 x 4 = 12 Three fours are twelve, (informal) Three times
down two and carry one; two fours are eight and one are nine;
four is twelve, (informal) Three multiplied by four
two ones are two.
equals/is twelve, (formal)
9 3 = 3 Three(s) into nine goes three (times), (informal, Next line: Put down one nought. Eight sixes are forty-eight; put
especially BrE) Nine divided by three equals/is three, down eight and carry four; eight fours are thirty-two and four is
(formal) thirty-six; put down six and carry three; eight ones are eight and
three is eleven.

Next line: One times 146 is 146.

Addition: Six and nought and nought is six; eight and four and
nought is twelve; put down two and carry one; six and two are
eight and one is nine and one is ten; put down nought and carry
one; nine and one are ten and one is eleven; put down one and
Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba
Topic: Reflexive pronoun
We use myself/yourself/himself etc. When the subject and object are the same
person. I cut myself He shaved himself. Tom and Anna blamed themselves
for the accident.

The reflexive pronouns are:

Singular (-self) myself yourself (one person) plural (-selves) ourselves yourselves (more than
himself/herself/itself one) themselves

 I don’t want you to pay for me. I’ll pay for myself. (not I’ll pay for me)
 Do you talk to yourself sometimes? (said to one person)
 If you want more to eat, help yourselves. (said to more than one person.)

We do not use myself etc. after feel/relax/concentrate/meet:

 I feel nervous. I can’t relax.
 You need to concentrate. (not concentrate yourself).
 What time shall we meet tomorrow? 8
Normally we do not use myself etc. after wash/shave/dress:
 He got up, washed, shaved and dressed. (not washed himself etc.).
 You can also say get dressed (He got dressed).
We also use myself/yourself etc. in another way. For example: ‘Who repaired
your bike?’ ‘I repaired it by myself ’. I repaired it myself = I repaired it, not another person.
Here, myself is used to emphasise ‘I’ (= it makes it stronger). Some more examples
 I’m not going to do your work for you. You can do it yourself. (= you, not me)
 Let’s paint the house ourselves. It will be much cheaper.
 The film itself wasn’t very good, but I loved the music.

Topic: Full list of the personal Pronouns

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba

Topic: 'social' language
Introductions Greetings

Common ways of introducing strangers to each other are: When getting together with people (formal):
(Good) morning/afternoon/evening.
Jack, do you know Ella? Ella, this is m y friend Jack. When getting together with people (informal): Hello. Hi. (very
Sophie, I don't think you’ve met Laura. informal)
I don’t think you two know each other, do you? When leaving people: Goodnight. Goodbye. Bye. (informal)
Can/May I introduce Ben Willis? (more formal) Bye-bye. (often used to and by children) Cheers (informal -
When people are introduced, they may say Pleased/Nice to meet British only) Take care, (informal) See you. (informal) See you
you. (formal), Hello/Hi (informal). Americans often say How are later / tomorrow / next week, etc (informa), It was nice to
you? People who are introduced often shake hands. meet / meeting you.
Note that Good day is very unusual (except in Australian
English in its colloquial form G’day), and Goodnight is used
Asking about health, etc.
only when leaving people, not when get with together with
When we meet people we know, we often ask politely about them.
their health or their general situation.
How´s it going? (informal) , How are you? , How ‘are things? /
How's things? (informal) How (are) you doing?
Apologies 9
Formal answers: Very well, thank you. And you? Fine, thank British people say Excuse me before interrupting or
you. disturbing somebody, and Sorry after doing so.
Informal answers: Fine/Great, thanks, All right, (It) could be Compare: Excuse me. Could I get past? Oh, sorry, did I
worse ,0K Not too bad, Mustnt grumble(BrE), So-so, (I’m) step on your foot?
good,Can’t complain. Excuse me, could you tell me the way to the station?
British people do not usually ask How are you? When they are Americans also use Excuse me to apologise after
introduced to people. disturbing somebody. I beg your pardon is a more
formal way of saying ‘Sorry’. I beg your pardon. I
didn't realise this was your seat.
Asking people to repeat
Thanks
If people do not hear or understand what is said, they may say
Sorry? (BrE). Common ways of thanking people are:
What? (informal, not very polite), (I beg your) pardon? or Pardon Thank you. Thanks very much / a lot. (not Thank you a lot.)
me? (AmE). Thank you very much. Cheers, (informal BrE) Thanks,(informal)
'Mike’s on the phone. ’ ‘Sorry?’ ‘I said Mike’s on the phone.' ‘See Thank you so much.
you tomorrow.’ ‘What?‘Seeyou tomorrow. ’ ‘ You’re going deaf Possible replies to thanks are:
I beg your pardon?’ Not at all. (formal) You're welcome. Don't mention it. That's
(quite) all right. That’s OK. (informal) No problem, (informal)
Note that British people do not always reply to thanks,
Drinking especially thanks for small things.

When people begin drinking alcoholic drinks socially, they often

raise their glasses and say something. Common expressions are Holidays
Cheers! (BrE) and Your health! (AmE also To your health).
Before somebody starts a holiday, we may say:
When we drink to celebrate an occasion (such as a birthday, a
Have a good/nice holiday (AmE . . . vacation), or Have a
wedding or a promotion), we often say Here’s to...! Here’s to
good/nice time.
Lily! Here’s to the new job! Here’s to the happy couple!
When the holiday is over, we may say: Did you have a
good/nice holiday/vacation?

Written: by Estefânio Paulo Bumba