Grammar Unit Present Continuous

PRESENT CONTINUOUS for activities happening now.

• We use it for actions that are happening now or around the time of speaking.

           Ex: My brothers are watching a video at the moment

                 It´s raining now

• It is formed with the present simple of be + verb + ing

          Ex: I´m enjoying this book

               You aren´t working very hard

               Alison isn´t listening to the radio

• The question is formed with the present simple of be + subject + verb + ing

          Ex: Is Carlos reading? Yes, he is/ No he isn´t

               Are the girls having lunch? Yes, they are/ No, they aren´t

Order of adjectives

Sometimes we use more than one adjective in front of a noun:

          He was a nice intelligent young man.
          She had a small round black wooden box.

Opinion adjectives:

Some adjectives give a general opinion. We can use these adjectives to describe almost any noun:

good	bad	lovely	strange
beautiful	nice	brilliant	excellent
awful	important	wonderful	nasty

   

Some adjectives give a specific opinion. We only use these adjectives to describe particular kinds of noun:

          Food: tasty; delicious

          Furniture, buildings: comfortable; uncomfortable

          People, animals: clever; intelligent; friendly

Conditional sentences

There are three types of the if-clauses.

type	condition
I	condition possible to fulfill
II	condition in theory possible to fulfill
III	condition not possible to fulfill (too late)

Form

type	if clause	main clause
I	Simple Present	will-future (or Modal + infinitive)
II	Simple Past	would + infinitive *
III	Past Perfect	would + have + past participle *

So, such, too, enough

So + Adjective

USE

"So" can be combined with adjectives to show extremes. This form is often used in exclamations.

Examples:

• The music is so loud! I wish they would turn it down.
• The meal was so good! It was worth the money.

USE with "That"

The above form can be combined with "that" to show extremes which lead to certain results. The "that" is usually optional.

Examples:

• The music is so loud that I can't sleep.
• The music is so loud I can't sleep.
• The meal was so good that we decided to have dinner at the same restaurant again tonight.
• The meal was so good we decided to have dinner at the same restaurant again tonight.

Grammar Unit Comparative - Superlative

	Adjectives	Comparative form	Superlative form
Short adjectives (one syllable)	Long Short Small	Longer than Shorter than Smaller than	The longest The shortest The smallest
Short adjectives ending in one vowel + one consonant	Fat Big Sad Thin	Fatter than Bigger than Sadder than Thinner than	The fattest The biggest The saddest The thinnest
Adjectives ending in –y	Easy Early Happy	Easier than Earlier than Happier than	The easiest The earliest The happiest
Longer adjectives (two or more syllables)	Frequent Expensive Difficult Interesting	More frequent than More expensive than  More difficult than More interesting than	The most frequent The most expensive The most difficult The most interesting
Irregular adjectives	Bad Good Many Far	Worse than Better than More than Further than	The worst The best The most The furthest

Collocations Lists

On this page you can find a few short lists of collocations to give you more of an idea about them.

Some common verbs

have	do	make
have a bath have a drink have a good time have a haircut have a holiday have a problem have a relationship have a rest have lunch have sympathy	do business do nothing do someone a favour do the cooking do the housework do the shopping do the washing up do your best do your hair do your homework	make a difference make a mess make a mistake make a noise make an effort make furniture make money make progress make room make trouble
take	break	catch
take a break take a chance take a look take a rest take a seat take a taxi take an exam take notes take someone's place take someone's temperature	break a habit break a leg break a promise break a record break a window break someone's heart break the ice break the law break the news to someone break the rules	catch a ball catch a bus catch a chill catch a cold catch a thief catch fire catch sight of catch someone's attention catch someone's eye catch the flu
pay	save	keep
pay save keep pay a fine pay attention pay by credit card pay cash pay interest pay someone a compliment pay someone a visit pay the bill pay the price pay your respects	save electricity save energy save money save one's strength save someone a seat save someone's life save something to a disk save space save time save yourself the trouble	keep a diary keep a promise keep a secret keep an appointment keep calm keep control keep in touch keep quiet keep someone's place keep the change
come	go	get
come close come complete with come direct come early come first come into view come last come late come on time come prepared come right back come second come to a compromise come to a decision come to an agreement come to an end come to a standstill come to terms with come to a total of come under attack	go abroad go astray go bad go bald go bankrupt go blind go crazy go dark go deaf go fishing go mad go missing go on foot go online go out of business go overseas go quiet go sailing go to war go yellow	get a job get a shock get angry get divorced get drunk get frightened get home get lost get married get nowhere get permission get pregnant get ready get started get the impression get the message get the sack get upset get wet get worried

Collocation

What is a collocation?

A collocation is two or more words that often go together. These combinations just sound "right" to native English speakers, who use them all the time. On the other hand, other combinations may be unnatural and just sound "wrong". Look at these examples:

Natural English...	Unnatural English...
the fast train   fast food	the quick train   quick food
a quick shower   a quick meal	a fast shower   a fast meal

Why learn collocations?

• Your language will be more natural and more easily understood.
• You will have alternative and richer ways of expressing yourself.
• It is easier for our brains to remember and use language in chunks or blocks rather than as single words.