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36 viewsGrammar Reference For First
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© © All Rights Reserved
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/ 11
Grammar folder
Unit1
Comparison
‘There are various ways of making comparisons in English.
1. Comparative and superlative adjectives
Regular adjectives of one sylable have forms like thes:
Adjective Comparative Superlative
young yrunger (the) youngest
large (the) largest
slim (ih) slstmest
Not tat if an adjective ends in a single vowel and
consonant (not w), the fnal ltr ts doubled, as tn stm
hove, Some common examples ae:
sad, big, thin, fat, hot, wet.
‘wo syllable adjectives ending in a consonant followed by
the letter y are formed like this
Adjective Comparative ‘Superlative
airy diner (the) dictiest
Some common examples are:
angry ey. ay, ft, hep, heavy sl thy.
Most other two-syllable adjectives and all longer adjectives
form their comparative and superative form ike this:
Adjective Comparative Superlative
careful more care (ase) most careful
casual tore caso (the) most casual
Courageous more outrageous (the) most
futrageous
Some common two-sylabe adjectives have both forms
Adjective Comparative Superlative
simple Simpler OR (he) simplet OF
mote simple (the) most simple
Other examples ae
clever, common, crcl, gentle likely, narrow, pleasant, polit
Irregular adjectives have the following forms
Adjective Comparative Superlative
good bet (the) best
fad worse (the) worst
far farther further (the) farthest?
furthest
old ‘lder/ elder (the) oldest eldest
2 Adverbs of degroe
These adverbs of degree can be used in front of comparative
adjectives:
a bit, a good deal, a great deal, litle, alot, much, rather,
slightly.
This T-shirt isa bit cheaper than the others because it last
year’ design,
Hele is much more intelligent than the rest ofthe group.
‘These adverbs of degree can be used in front of superlative
adjectives:
by far, easly, much, quite
You're easily the cleverest person 1 know!
GRAMMAR FOLDER
2 notas... a8
‘This structure is used to compare two things or people. A
ese common form is nat sn ae
Sally is not as tall as her brother
4 Comparative and superlative adverbs
Comparative adverbs are usually formed by adding more to
the existing adverb:
commonly > more commonly
readily > — more readily
Superlative adverbs are usually formed by adding (the) mest
to the existing adverb
3 (the) moet commonly
(the) most readily
A few adverbs are not formed with more / most and consist
‘of a single word for both the comparative and superlative
Tornis, Flere ate sone conuion exaniples
badly > + worst
close > closest
early earliest
far > fartherifurther > —farthest/furthest
fot faster fastest
hard > “harder > hardest
well > better > best
Unit 2
Adverbs
Most regular adverbs are formed by adding -I to a related
adjective
{quick > quickly, endless —> endlessly
Adjectives ending in double Iljust addy:
full — fully
However, there are sometimes spelling changes when an adverb
is formed in this way:
Je becomes -y: gentle -> gently, remarkable —>
remarkably
‘ybecomes iy: easy —» encily cosy» cosy
fe becomes -ically: tragic ~» tragically,
automatic > automatically
tue becomes -uly: true -> truly
Some iregular adverbs do sn ead it ly
fast, hard, late, wel,
The adverbs hardly and lately have different meanings from hard
and late
worked hard on the project all day
hardly had time to stop fr a coffe all day.
1 finished the work late in the evening
ve putin some long hours at work lately. Review of present tenses
Uses of the present simple tense
Permanent situations
‘Most people access the Internet for information.
© Habitual situations
check my emails twice a day.
© Intime causes
nce ou fn your work ive me a ng.
ve usually play tennis until a gets dar
© In zero conditionals
If you use all seven Tetters in the hoard gaye Scrabble, you get
{fifty extra points
‘Steam forms when water boils.
Uses of the present continuous tense
© “Temporary situations
{im leving at home until | find my own flat.
© Developing situations
‘Traffic is becoming heavier and heavier
Events happening now
Si sul wile In talking 10 yout
Events in the near future
Tin leaving for Hanover next week
See Unit 10, Review of furure tenses (page 192), for further
information about the present simple and present continuous
Stative verbs are not normally used in continuous tenses. The
‘commonest ofthese are:
admire" be believe belong consist dike doubt
fit forget guess hate hear imagine —inchde
Jeep nic Hix) ve whan uct tell
recognise remember seem smell sound
topos tse adenine wih
She keeps talking when In trying to watch TV.
We wish we could be with you right now
Unit 3
Modals 1: Obligation, necessity and
permission
Strong obligation: must and have to, have got to
{informal
Prevent and fuwure mist ve co have got
Past had to
1 must
‘Must is used to talk about strong obligations in the present
and future that are imposed by the speaker.
You must brush your teeth before you eo to bed.
J must arrange to have my windows cleaned.
(tis also used to talk about laws. Drivers must obey tuffic
signals)
2 have to/have got
ve to/have got to are used to talk about strong obligations in
the present and future that are not umposed by the speaker.
ve got to do some homework tonight, (My teacher says so.)
If in doubt whether to use must or have fo, use have fo. Do
not use I’ve fo, which is incorrect.
3 had to
Had to is used to talk about past and reported obligations:
Taal o help on the farm when Twas your
We were tld we aa nget a visa before wt lf on holiday.
“There arc also other ways to express obligation:
to make someone do something
to be compulsory
Weak obligation: should ought to
Present and future should do ought to do
Past should have done
cought a have dome
‘There is no difference in meaning between should and ought to
You ought to/should write home more frequently.
In the past should have done and ought to have done are often
used for criticism or regret, Because an action didnt happen:
We should have bought/ought to have bought your sister a card for
her birthday.
Asking for and giving permission: can could may
(Can ia the more usual way of asking for and giving pesuissin.
Could isa bit more polite and may is quite formal:
Can/may/could I borrow your bike?
Yes, you can/may:
‘Other ways of asking for and giving permission are:
tallow someone to do
to permit someone to do
t0 lt someone do
Prohibition: mustn't can't
Present and future smusinit can't
Past ts not to cou
‘Mustrt and cari are used when something is forbidden
You must eross the road without looking.
Elizabeth cant go out this evening ~ her father says so
Other verbs which can be used are:
to forbid someone to do something
to ban someone from doing something
to not allow someone to do something
to not permit someone todo something
to not let someone do something
Itis also possible to use an imperative:
Doni cyl on the pavement!
Unit 4
as and like
(Sec ls grammar sumsiary ia Unit 4)
Like canbe used asa preposition andisfllowed bya noun like
‘howe a pronoun ie i), ona gerund (Bike swimming is
toed to gic computor
Tow hots ke ur house/ous (1s snilar ours)
My bed isso hand ie sleeping onthe round
‘scan be used as a preposition tol you what job or Function
a person or thing hs
At chek have cook one hundred meal dey
Td te naa cap to drink cat of
Please note these ther wes of as ad ke
ts like living in a palace, living in your house. (It's not a palace.)
As apakion Wincor srry prone. (isaac)
GRAMMAR FOLDER 189 Asis used in prepositional phrases:
‘At my schoo, as at mest schools, pupils were expected to respect
thee teachers.
Some verbs can be followed by an object and as:
“He's known as a generous person.
eon’ regard learning w language as optional
Like and such as can be used to mean ‘for example:
enjoy fle likeuch ae thriller.
Laislke sports such as/likesking
‘Asan bea conjunction and is followed by a subject and verb:
‘Sho cut up the vegetables ae I had taught her (inthe way Thad
taught her)
In British English it is becoming more common to hear like
followed by a subject and verb. Like followed by a subject and
verb i acceptable in American English:
1 dont speak ike he does
Unit 5
Table of common irregular verbs
INFINITIVE PAST TENSE PAST PARTICIPLE,
become became (las/had) become
bet bet bet
burst burst burst
bay bought bought
cut cut eat
draw drew drawn,
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
feel felt felt
find found found
pet pot got
hear heard heard
bit hit hit
hold held held
keep kept Kept
know knew known
Wave loft of
lose lest last
pu put put
sy said said
send sent sent
set set set
shake shook shaken
shut shut shut
sink sank sunk
speak spoke spoken
spend spent spent
take took taken
tell told told
think thought thought
190\\ GRAMMAR FOLDER
Review of past tenses
Past simple
‘This use toa abou events in the past whieh
occured at a particular time
‘The Tunic sunk tn 1912
I drove back from London las nigh
‘Things completed action in he pst with ied
happened regulrly
Matthew spent most weekends a tennis tournaments.
‘She burst into tears every te she heard his name.
Note that would and used fo are also used totale about the
pastin thie way thie ie dealt with ia Unit 8 (page 191),
Past continuous
‘This is used to talk about events in the past which:
© had a longer duration than another action
Twas cutting up vegetables tn the kitchen when
Theardit on the six oclock news.
were temporary.
Norwich were losing two-nil, with ony five minutes to g0.
Its also used to set the scene in a story: The sun was shining
‘when the old mar set off from the cottage.
Present perfect
This is used to tlk about events ora period of time which
‘© started in the past but are still true or are still continuing
Wee live hete for eight yes
Ellen has eaten no meat since she was six.
© happened in the past but have an effect inthe present
‘Theyve cancelled tonights concert so wl have to da something
else.
ve heard from lain again.
Past parfoct
This is used to talk about events which:
© happened earlier than something else
Ken sat in the dark miserably and thought about what he had
said 0 his galfriend
Once I had finished my exams, started clubbing again
‘Note that the past perfect needs to be used when it is
important to show a time difference,
Unit 14 deals with the perfect tenses in more detail (page 194)
Unit 6
Conditionals with if and unless
“These ate uoxinaly used w tlh about possible events and dhe
gffets of them. There are four main types
© "Zero conditional
Nota true conditional asthe evens described both happen.
IL stay up late 1 fel afi the next day.
Wen he moon pases beeen te earth and the sur tees
an eclipse.
When « present tence | present tense
First conditional
‘Used o talk aout likely events in the future if something
happens.
If pass Cambridge First PU have a big party!
Ifyou dont stop talking, I'l send you tothe head teacher
IF > present tense | Future tense will a
Second conditional
Used to talk about unlikely or impossible situations
If won the lottery, I give all the money to Oxfam
People might behave differently if they had the chance to repeat
thelr ives
If past tense | would, could, might
© ‘Third conditional
Used to speculate about the pas.
If we'd had more money, wed have gone to the States last year.
If yout told me the truth inthe fst place, I wouldn't have
fed the teacher.
If Tom had taken his guitar, he could have played with the
band that night.
f+ past periect | would have, could have, might have + past
participle
(init 21 deals with mixed conditionals)
Unless is a conjunction meaning ‘if not, so the clause following
unless never contains a negative verb form:
TT see you at the station at 7.00 unless I hear from you.
Unless we book train tickets in advance, we won't gta discount
Unit 7
Gerunds and infinitives 1
The gerund
The gerund isa verb which i used a «noun Ican be the
subject af clase orsentenc: Climbing he il ok them ll
Adgror te obj I consider ernng to sar: tobe an esa
par of growing up
You use the gerund
1 ster certain verbs and expressions, especially those
expressing liking/disliking:
nt mind getting up ety tn the morning.
Common examples
Mn low key Slice fancy fod
detest hate “oathe "cart stand. dishike
finish avoud give up keep miss
Suggest consier imagine
iteot worth theres no se
© sera prepostions except ro
(Some exceptions to this rule are: to look forward to doing, to
eljet te dmg to get used to dng)
Cn hearing he news she burt in tar
dont mind
there's no point (in)
after adjective and preposition combinations
‘Steven is fantastic at cooking The food.
‘Common examples:
sgood/wonderful/fantasticlbad/avful/ terrible at
happy/pleased/glad/ansious/sad/ worried about
afraid/frightenedi/scared/terrified of
interested in
Keea on
capable of|
proud of
Another common use is with the noun difieuty (ta have
dlificulty in).
* alter verb and preposition combinations
1 dort approve of people drinking and diving.
‘Common examples:
insist on appenve of
consist of believe in
sxcuse somieune of
© alter phrasal verbs
1 gave up playing tennis when I hurt my knee.
apologise far
succeed in
‘vougtatulate someone ost
The infinitive
‘The infinitive is used:
© after certain verbs
learnt to speak Spanish in Valencia.
‘Common examples:
afford agree ask choose help hope want
itond pretend promise expect profor used
© after certain adjectives
1 was surprise ose hi atthe purty.
Common examples:
dificult” possible happy certain. simple
© after verbs which follow the pattern verb + someone
+ to do + something
asked her to open the window.
Common examples.
‘encourage permit
© to express purpose
went fo the shops to get some bread.
‘The infinitive without to.
‘This ic also used after modal ausiliaries (car, mut), ator lt had
better and would rather.
‘Make has no to inthe actve, but adds fon the passive:
{made him go to school /He was made to goto school
allow persuade teach force
Unit 8
used to and would
Used to and would express habitual actions in the past.
© Used ois followed by the infinitive and is used for actions
‘hich no longer happen. It is used lor permanent situations
as well as habitual ations.
used to have a tricycle when I was five years old
John used to have long hair before he joined the army.
"The negative is didi used to, though sometimes didn’ se to
is used.
1 did't used to go abroad for my holidays before I won the ote.
© Would is used for past habitual actions which were repeated
‘Would takes an infinitive without to
would get up for work at seven, then get the bus at seven-thirty.
© GouBo used to doing means to get or to be accustomed to. I
can be used with all tenses and is always followed by a gerund
(an -ing word)
GRAMMAR FOLDER on Unit 9
Modals 2: Speculation and deduction
{© could, might, may are used to speculate about something the
speaker or writer is unsure about:
T could be a sea engle, though the feathers look too dark.
‘That star you're looking at might infact be Jupiter.
‘The answer may be ro readverdise te fob.
12 nue ie used to indicate certainty
‘That car must be doing over 50 mph at least!
Ie must be possible 10 make a booking on the Duernet.
‘© canvearnot and couldnit/could not are also used to indicate
‘certainty, in ‘elation to impossible ideas and situations.
It cant be her birthday - she had a party in August
You cannot be serious!
They couldn't possibly be here before lunchtime.