Manuel Daza English Blog COPY

lunes, 16 de mayo de 2011

PRESENT SIMPLE CONTINUOUS

PRESENT SIMPLE CONTINUOUS

SUBJECT + AM / ARE / IS + VERB-ing + (Complements)

STATEMENT
You are listening to the radio
He is coming from school by car
You are being an animal

NEGATION
You are not listening to the radio
He is not coming from school by car
You are not being an animal

INTERROGATION
Are you listening to the radio?
Is he coming from school by car?
Are you being an animal?

TIME EXPRESSIONS: (If placed at the beginning, separated by commas)

• NOW / RIGHT NOW
• AT THE MOMENT
• TODAY
• THIS DAY, WEEK, MONTH, YEAR, … CENTURY
• THESE DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS, YEARS, … CENTURIES

USES:

• An action happening now: I am phoning from a call-box
• A temporary activity: She is watching a movie on TV
• Future arrangement: Peter is leaving tomorrow
• Simultaneous actions in the present: I am listening to the radio while I am having a bath
• With ALWAYS to show annoyance (irritation) or surprise: She is always laughing

STATIVE VERBS:

• They cannot be used in the progressive form
• They are used to express feelings, likes and dislikes, possession and mental activities:

- LOVE, HATE, WANT
- LIKE, DISLIKE
- OWN, HAVE GOT
- THINK, REMEMBER, KNOW, UNDERSTAND, BELIEVE

MODAL AUXILIARIES: SHOULD

MODAL AUXILIARIES

SHOULD

• To give advice:
You shouldn’t go out. It’s raining

• To express obligation:
Everyone should see a dentist regularly

• To express criticism:
He shouldn’t have said such nonsense

• In questions, to know if it is compulsory (If we are obliged or not):
Should we pay now?
When should we leave?
What should I wear?

MODAL AUXILIARIES: MUST

MODAL AUXILIARIES

MUST

• To express obligation or strong necessity (as well as HAVE TO or NEED TO):
We must take the bus now. We must use the computer for the project

• To give advice:
You mustn’t give up. She must take an umbrella because it is raining

• To make deductions (HIGH PROBABILITY):
He must be my father. They must be home by now

* The NEGATIVE of Must is constructed with:

DON’T HAVE TO (haven’t is NOT employed) She doesn’t have to study. I didn’t have to tidy my room up yesterday
DON’T NEED TO / NEEDN’T (TO is not employed) He doesn’t need to stay longer. On Sundays, I don’t need to get up early. It needn’t be big but has a garden (not ‘s’ required)

MUSTN’T

• To express strong prohibition (it doesn’t mean lack of obligation or necessity):
We mustn’t use the station all day. You mustn’t smoke in class. Under 18 mustn’t drink spirits

MUST versus HAVE TO

There is a slight difference when employing Must and HAVE TO:

- MUST is employed by authorities (Teachers, Parents, Doctors, Police…):
You must study. You must clean your room. You must stay in bed. You must tell us the truth

- HAVE TO is employed by everybody:
I have to study now. She has to give up her boyfriend. They have to sell the house

MODAL AUXILIARIES: CHARACTERISTICS

MODAL AUXILIARIES

• No “s” ending in the 3rd singular present person: She can go
• Questions and negations without DO: Can she go? She cannot go
• Always followed by infinitive WITHOUT to: We can sleep now
• Never two modals together
• No infinitive
• No participle, neither present participle or past participle
• No imperative

MODAL:
CAN / COULD
SHALL / SHOULD
WILL / WOULD
MUST / MAY / MIGHT / OUGHT TO

SEMI-MODAL:
USED TO / NEED TO / HAVE TO / DARE TO

MARGINAL:
HAD BETTER / WOULD RATHER / TEND TO

LESS Formal.............................................................MORE Formal
HIGH Possibility........................................................LOW Possibility

MUST–WILL–WOULD–OUGHT TO–SHOULD–CAN–COULD–MAY-MIGHT

MODAL AUXILIARIES: CAN / COULD / (TO BE ABLE TO)

MODAL AUXILIARIES: CAN / COULD / (TO BE ABLE TO)

1) CAN

ABILITY
- PRESENT or GENERAL (To be able to, To know how to):
I can swim / dance / cook
She can play tennis / the guitar / the hero

MODALITY
- PERMISSION (To be allowed to) (LESS FORMAL):
Can I take any photos? No, you cannot
You can watch TV now

- OFFERS (LESS FORMAL):
Can I buy you a drink? No, thanks
Can I help you? Yes, thanks

- REQUESTS (LESS FORMAL):
Can you tell me the time? Four o’clock

- PROBABILITY or DEDUCTIONS (MORE LIKELY):
He can be my father
He can be married

2) COULD

ABILITY
- PAST (Was / Were able to, knew how to):
I could swim / dance / cook (three years ago / last summer / this morning)
She could play tennis / the guitar / the hero (when she was young / in 2009 / yesterday)

MODALITY
- PERMISSION (To be allowed to) (MORE FORMAL):
Could I take any photos, please? No, I’m terribly sorry
You could go out for a walk now before the meeting

- OFFERS (MORE FORMAL):
Could I show you the way out? Yes, thank you very much
Could I help you? Yes, thank you very much

- REQUESTS (MORE FORMAL):
Could you tell me what time it is? Of course, it is four o’clock

- PROBABILITY or DEDUCTIONS (LESS LIKELY):
He could be my father
He could be married

3) TO ABLE TO

ABILITY
- PAST, PRESENT or FUTURE:
Was / Were able to: I was able, when young, to run five miles in one hour
Am / Are / Is able to: I am able, now that I have finished my career, to read French
Shall / Will be able to: I will be able, in two years’ time, to play the guitar perfectly

TO BE ABLE TO versus CAN / COULD:

TO BE ABLE TO is preferred to CAN or COULD:

- In FORMAL contexts: I am able to give a proper answer

- When the action is OCCASIONAL or PARTICULAR. In this case, To be able to is similar to To manage to: She was able to / managed to solve the problem at last

- When we give EMPHASIS to the action: They will be able to lift the stone