Inglés Transversal IV

¿Qué debo saber?

La siguiente guía contiene los temas que usted debe saber para dar inicio a
Inglés transversal IV. Estos temas corresponden a los niveles de inglés 1, 2 y
3, al final de la guía podrá encontrar páginas sugeridas para reforzar los
contenidos que crea necesarios.

HOW TO STUDY A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

 What should I know?

THE SIMPLE PRESENT OF THE VERB TO BE

The verb to be is the most important verb in the English language. In the simple present tense, to be is
conjugated as follows:

Affirmative forms of the verb to be

Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form
I am 'm
you are 're
he/she/it is 's
we are 're
you are 're
they are 're

Interrogative forms of the verb to be:

Am I?
Are you?
Is he/she/it?
Are we?
Are you?
Are they?

Negative Forms of the verb to be:

Subject Pronouns Full Form Contracted Form
I am not 'm not
you are not aren't
he/she/it is not isn't
we are not aren't
you are not aren't
they are not aren't

Examples:
 Is Brad Pitt French?
 No, he isn't. He's American.
 What about Angelina Joli? Is she American, too?
 Yes, she is. She is American.
 Are brad Pitt and Angelina Joli French?
No, they aren't. They are American.

Use of the simple present of to be

The principal use of the simple present is to refer to an action or event that takes place habitually, but
with the verb "to be" the simple present tense also refers to a present or general state, whether
temporary, permanent or habitual.
 I am happy.
 She is helpful.
The verb to be in the simple present can be also used to refer to something that is true at the present
moment.
 She is 20 years old.
 He is a student.
Remember:
 I, you, he, she, it, you, they are subject pronouns
 am, are, is are forms of the verb to be in the simple present.
 'm, 're, 's are short (contracted) forms of am, are, is
 'm not, aren't, isn't are short (contracted forms) of am not, are not, is not.
 POSSESSIVES

Possessive adjectives - my, your, his, her, its, our, your, their - modify the noun following it in
order to show possession.
Examples:
 I'll get my bag.  Is this your luggage?
Examples
Subject Pronouns I you he she it we you they
Possessive Adjectives my your his her its our your their

Examples:
 John is happy with his new car  Mary doesn't like her dress.


POSSESSIVE 'S
When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something, we usually add an
apostrophe + s ('s) to a singular noun and an apostrophe (') to a plural noun, for example:

 the boy's ball (one boy)  the boys' ball (two or more boys)
Notice that the number of balls does not matter. The structure is influenced by the possessor and not
the possessed.

one ball more than one ball

one boy

the boy's ball the boy's balls

more than one boy

the boys' ball the boys' balls

The structure can be used for a whole phrase:

 the man next door's mother (the mother of the man next door)
 the Queen of England's poodles (the poodles of the Queen of England)

Although we can use of to show possession, it is more usual to use possessive 's. The following
phrases have the same meaning, but #2 is more usual and natural:

1. the boyfriend of my sister 2. my sister's boyfriend

Proper Nouns (Names)

We very often use possessive’s with names:
 This is Mary's car.  Who took Anthony's pen?
 Where is Ram's telephone?  I like Tara's hair.

When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular noun, and add 's:
 This is Charles's chair.
 DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

We use this (singular) and these (plural) to refer to something that is here / near.
Examples:

 This is my car. (singular)

 These are our children. (plural)

We use that (singular) and those (plural) to refer to something that is there / far.

Examples:

 That is our house. (singular)

 Those are my shoes. (plural)

 THERE IS - THERE ARE

1. Use of there is, there are in sentences and questions

Singular Plural
Affirmative sentences There is a cat in the room. There are two cats in the room.

Negative sentences There is not a cat in the room There are not two cats in the room.
There is no cat in the room. There are no cats in the room.
Questions Is there a cat in the room? Are there two cats in the room?

3. Contracted forms of there is, there are

 Contactions are only possibe from there is – there's

 The form there're is not used.
 Do not form contracted forms in questions with is there/are there.

Singular Plural
Affirmative sentences There's a cat in the room. There are two cats in the room.
Negative sentences There's not a cat in the room. There are not two cats in the room.
There isn't a cat in the room.
There's no cat in the room. There are no cats in the room.
Questions Is there a cat in the room? Are there two cats in the room?
 THE FORMS OF THE SIMPLE PRESENT

The affirmative form of the simple present:

I, you, we, they play.

He, she, it plays.

Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he, she and it) always take an "s". For example,
"he plays, she sings, it works..."

Examples:
 Nancy and James speak good German.
 Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.
 The children play in the garden every weekend.

The interrogative form of the simple present:

Do I, you, we, they play?

Does he, she, it

Examples:
 Do you speak good German?
 Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?

The negative form of the simple present:

I, you, we, they do not play.

don't
He, she, it does not
doesn't

Examples:
 No, I don't speak German.
 No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

The use of the simple present:

The simple present is used:

 to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.
 to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't open at 7.
 to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day.
She doesn't eat cereal.
 to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't circle the sun.

The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:
All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person singular (he, she, it)
form:
 Examples:
 I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.
 My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.

There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules:
Silent e Vowel + y Consonant + y Verbs ending in o Verbs ending
in s, z, sh, tch, ch
close = closes play = plays study = studies go = goes miss = misses
note = notes say = says marry = marries do = does buzz = buzzes
hatch = hatches
finish = finishes
teach = teaches

Examples:
 She drives to work every morning.
 He says he plays football on the weekends

Exception:
 The verb to have changes its forms as follows:
I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.

I have = he / she / it has

Things to remember about the simple present:

1. In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does".

 "Do you like the house?"
 "Does she go to school?"

2. Verbs never take an "s" in the negative and interrogative forms.

 "Does he speak German?"
 "Do they play soccer?"
 She doesn't like ice cream.

3. Don’t is the short form of "do not". You can say either:
 I do not speak Italian, or
 I don't speak Italian.

4. Doesn’t is the short form of "does not". You can say either:
 He does not listen to jazz music, or
 He doesn't listen to jazz music.
 CAN

Affirmative Negative Interrogative

Long Form Short form
I can go to a What can we do in
museum. I cannot take a I can’t take a subway Bogota?
subway
We can take pictures He can’t see the sea Can we take a
He cannot see the walking tour?
She can walk around sea
Can you help me?
They cannot see real
castles.

Yes, I can No, I can’t Short Answer

Uses: We use can to talk about things we can do.

We use the verb can to ask for things. Example: I can drive and I can ride a
Example: Can I use your computer, please? bicycle

We use can to ask for permission to do things. We use can't to talk about things we are unable
Example: Can I leave early the class, to do.
please? I have to go to the doctor. Example: You can't smoke inside the
restaurant.

EXAMPLES:

Questions and answers about Bogota and Toronto

What can you do in Bogota?

You can go to the top of Monserrate, it is Bogota’s most famous
mountaintop.
You can walk around Candelaria neighborhood. It is the first stop
for visitors.
You can spend a day at the Gold Museum is the largest and best
gold museum in Colombia.
Can I eat Ajiaco for Lunch? Yes, you can.
I can Eat Ajiaco for Lunch.

What can you do in Toronto?

You can visit Niagara Falls, it is the major tourist attraction.
Where can I get a good view of the city? You can go to The CN
Tower is Toronto’s tallest and the most defining landmark.
What can I eat in Toronto? Toronto in the world's most diverse
cities, you can find a huge variety of food from all the world.
 RECURSOS PARA REFORZAR TEMÁTICAS ANTERIORES

 https://www.ego4u.com/ : En esta página podrá encontrar explicaciones

gramaticales de cualquier tiempo verbal más ejercicios de práctica.

 www.learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/ : Este sitio web cuenta con

actividades para reforzar Reading, writing, listening y grammar en diferentes
niveles.

 http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/ : En esta página podrá encontrar

explicaciones gramaticales de cualquier tiempo verbal más ejercicios de
práctica.

 http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/index.html : En esta página

podrá encontrar explicaciones gramaticales de cualquier tiempo verbal más
ejercicios de práctica.