Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Unit I - Inglés Intermedio B1

Who am I?
During this unit we will go over grammatical content that is very important in your
English learning process. Each content we will study during this unit is intended to
develop all four macro-skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Every grammar
focus presented will include clear definitions and a variety of examples and exercises to
make sure that you not only understand them but are also able to incorporate them in
real life situations.
You will be provided with all the material and additional resources you will need for each
of the topics and subtopics. The evaluated assessments have been carefully designed to
put to the test every linguistic skill developed during the unit.

Describing my friends

Socializing through hobbies

Who are your favorite artist?

Expressing reasons and results

Take me a picture!

Parties back in time

Glossary

Complementary Resources

Formative Activity
Lección 1 de 9

Describing my friends
Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Simple past and adverbs

To better understand the correlation between simple present and adverbs it is important to
understand each of them.

Simple past
This tense is used when we are talking about an event or something that has already happened. We
can also use the simple past to talk about a past state of being, such as the way someone felt about
something.
How do we formulate the simple past?

This depends on whether the verb that we are using is a regular verb or an irregular verb.

Regular Verbs
If the verb is regular all you must do is add “ed” to the root form of the word. If
the verb happens to end with an “e” all we must do is add a “d” at the end.

Check out of the following examples using regular verbs:

Verb in Infinitive Verb is Past Tense

Play Played

Dance Danced

Walk Walked

Cook Cooked

Laugh Laughed

Tabla 1 Regular verbs.

Irregular verbs
This tend to be a bit trickier to formulate in past tense. Some verbs remain the
same as their root form. Please see example below:
 Verb in Infinitive Verb is Past Tense

Cut Cut

Cost Cost

Hit Hit

Tabla 2 Irregular verbs.

However, other irregular verbs change completely when formulating in past

tense, this includes the verb “to be.”

Please see example below.

Verb in Infinitive Verb is Past Tense

See Saw

Dream Dreamt

Find Found

Am/is/are Was/Were

Tabla 3 Los verbos.

Simple Present in Negative

“did not” + root verb
*This formula does not apply to verb “to be”

You can also use the contraction form: didn´t

*Remember that contractions are only encouraged to be used when writing informally.

Example:

Gris did not play yesterday. → Formal

Gris didn't play yesterday. → Informal

Adverbs
An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Lots of adverb’s end "-ly.”
When an adverb modifies a verb, it tells us how, when, where, why, how often, or how much the action
is performed. It is important to point out that not all adverbs are one word.

Please the following examples of adverbs:

Slowly

Extremely

Daily

Every day

Expressions of frequency

02:38
Expressions of frequency are also known as adverbs of frequency and their
function is to basically describe how frequent and activity is done.

Adverb of
Frequency Example Sentence
Frequency

I always go to bed before 11

100% always
p.m.

I usually have cereal for

90% usually
breakfast.

80% normally / generally I normally go to the gym.

70% often* / frequently I often surf the internet.

I sometimes forget my wife's

50% sometimes
birthday.

30% occasionally I occasionally eat junk food.

10% seldom I seldom read the newspaper.

5% hardly ever / rarely I hardly ever drink alcohol.

0% never I never swim in the sea.

Tabla 4 Adverb of Frequency. Fuente: https://www.grammar.cl/Basic/Adverbs_Frequency.htm

How to structure a sentence using an adverb of frequency?

There is a small difference as to where the adverb goes in a sentence, and it depends on whether we
are using a main verb in a sentence of a verb “to be”. For example, if we are using a main verb the
adverb of frequency would go before the main verb.

Adverb Frequency Structure.

Examples:

When we structure a sentence with a verb “to be” position of the adverb of frequency changes.
 Adverbs of Frequency with "To Be".

Examples:

There is a third scenario, and this is where we use adverbs of frequency with auxiliary verbs. To refresh
your memory auxiliary verbs may be any of the following:

Have

Will.

Must.

Could.

Would.

Might.

In this third scenario the structure would be as presented below:

 Adverbs of Frequency with Auxiliary Verbs.

Examples:

Personality Adjectives
As the page of 7ESL states below:

“A specific set of adjectives is used to describe personality. Personality is a description of how

someone acts, behaves, or reacts. Adjectives that describe personality are often called
personality adjectives. Personality adjectives can be one of the most important types of
adjectives to understand. They can help you know whether someone is happy or sad, tough, or
easy, fast, or slow. They help us know what to expect from the people around us, and that can
be a really great thing to know.”

We use personality adjectives when we want to describe what some is like, for example if we were to list
the characteristics of our favorite teacher and why we like them also if we were to list the sets of
characteristics as to why we do not like our current boss. Basically, we use these types of adjectives to
(as the name says) describe personality traits.
Here are a list of very well used personality adjectives and their meaning which I have divided into
positive, negative and neutral:

PO S IT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E GAT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E U T R A L A DJE CT IV E S

Adjective Meaning

Brave Someone who is not afraid of danger.

Clever Good at learning things.

Friendly Someone who is nice to other people.

Funny Used to describe someone who is amusing.

Someone who shares their things and or

Generous
time with others.

Tabla 5 Positive Adjectives

PO S IT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E GAT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E U T R A L A DJE CT IV E S

Adjective Meaning
 Adjective Meaning

Vain Someone who is a bit too fond of their looks.

Rude Bad mannered, impolite.

Nasty A mean, unpleasant person.

Lazy An inactive person who usually avoids work.

Cowardly Someone who is afraid of things.

Negative Adjectives

PO S IT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E GAT IV E A DJE CT IV E S N E U T R A L A DJE CT IV E S

Adjective Meaning

Emotional Characterized by intense feeling.

Treating all rivals or disputants equally; fair

Impartial
and just.

Loud Strong or emphatic in expression

 Adjective Meaning

With no special or distinctive features;

Ordinary
normal.

Showing a desire to resist authority, control,

Rebellious
or convention.

Tabla 6 Neutral Adjectives

Bibliographic References

Grammarly. (2021). Pasado simple. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.grammarly.com/blog/simple-past/

Library, E. (2 de 09 de 2020). Simple Present. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvVdIJ0las0

School, S. T. (19 de 03 de 2019). Cytss. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

http://www.cytss.edu.hk/cytss97pyl/car/testimonial%20reference.pdf

Lingolex. (2020). Learn Spanish. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.lingolex.com/personalidad.htm

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond.

Lección 2 de 9

Socializing through hobbies

Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Listening for the main idea

As we all know by now, Listening can be one of the most difficult skills to master. However, with
practice it becomes a lot easier, for this lesson we will go over different techniques and tips that we can
put into practice to help us get the gist of the message or in other words the main idea of the
conversation that we are trying to understand.

To start out we must define what the main idea is. The main idea is the most important part of the
message that the speaker is trying to convey. Usually, the main idea is in the beginning of the
conversation, and it is followed by supporting detail, these will be additional information that is
supporting and giving depth to the message.
There are some key phrases that we can look for to better understand the main idea of a spoken
message, here are some that you should listen out for:

The point I want to make is…

The important thing here is…

What I am trying to show/say…

What I am going to talk about is…

In conclusion…

Overall…

Other cues are nonverbal, and they can include any of the following:

1 Speed of the message: The speaker can speak at a determined tone but will usually slow
down when mentioning the most important parts or main idea of a message.

2 Repetition: It is very common for the speaker to repeat constantly the main idea at least
twice in a message, this is usually done by stating the main point in different ways.

3 Visual aids: These are not so common in everyday conversations however, if you are
assisting a conference or watching a movie/series in English watching out for any visual
aids is very helpful. Many times, this can help you decode the message by just noticing the
key words or the context itself.

Contractions
A contraction is a word made by shortening and combining two words.
Words like:

Structure of contractions

In most of the contracted word the missing letter is represented by an

apostrophe. The most common contractions are made up of verbs, auxiliars
and modals that are attached to another word (like the example presented
above).

Contraction Uncontracted

-n't Not

-'re Are
 Contraction Uncontracted

-´d Had, would

Contractions and their uncontracted form

Contraction Uncontracted

-'ll Will

-'s Is

- I'm I am

- Let's Let us

Contractions and their uncontracted

It is important to consider that although contractions are very often used when speaking and can be
found in books and even newspapers, they are considered informal and there for should not be used
when writing any kind of academic papers.

Hobbies and socializing

What are hobbies?

Hobbies are considered regular activities that are done for fun.

Read the following article about the strangest hobbies in the world.
“Top 10 Hobbies You've Never Heard Of”

CLICK HERE

After reading the article answer the following questions:

1 Which of the hobbies listed would you like to try? Why?

2 What are your hobbies?

3 Which of the hobbies listed would you never try? Why not?

4 Why do you think you have the hobbies you have?

5 Which of the hobbies listed do you consider the most dangerous?

Hobbies are a great way of meeting new friends with whom you share the same interest with. For
example, you like soccer and you start to play as a hobby in your local park, chances are that you will
make friends who also share your passion for soccer. If you are into books maybe joining a book club
might be the best idea for you, and all though these types of clubs are not that common (yet) in our
country try being a trend starter and not follower.

Socializing can be a bit intimidating at the beginning but once you get the hang of it, it becomes
natural. Here are some tips that can you become a social butterfly:
 1

SAY YES!

When asked to go out even if you tempted to say “No” because maybe you don’t enjoy
being outside of you comfort zone, say “Yes”. Go anyways and try to keep an open mind.
 2

Conversation Starters

It would not take you more than 5 minutes to google possible conversation starters that
suit the event you are going to and it will possibly safe you that uncomfortable silence
that sometimes comes up.
 3

Be yourself!

This is possibly the best tip anyone can give you, and to this point it is even a cliché, but
when you are truly yourself you will become more likeable and approachable. In most
cases social anxiety comes from the fear of not being liked, but if you are yourself I
assure that you will be liked by your type of people.

Bibliographic References

Trice, L. (Februrary de 2008). Remember to say thank you. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_trice_remember_to_say_thank_you?language=en

Gebru, Y. (20 de 11 de 2020). Los 10 pasatiempos principales de los que nunca has oído hablar.
Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de https://www.internations.org/magazine/top-10-hobbies-you-
ve-never-heard-of-39784

Hanafusa, S. (25 de August de 2020). Best New Artists of the Month (August). Recuperado el 17 de
06 de 2021, de https://www.complex.com/pigeons-and-planes/2020/08/best-new-artists-august/

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond.

Lección 3 de 9

Who are your favorite artist?

Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Present continuous and simple present

The present continuous is made from the present tense of the verb be and the
–I “ing” form of a verb like the examples presented below

I am Playing

You are Singing

She is Dancing
 He is Praying

It is Sharing

We are Hoping

They are Enjoying

Present Continuous and Simple Present Structure.

Present continuous can be used for the following purposes:

Activities we are doing in the moment we express them.

Example:

I am just waking up, I'll be late for work.

Future plans or arrangements.

Example:

I am planning to go to Cancun next month.

Present Continuous Questions

When structuring a question in present continuous we must keep the following formula in mind:
 Present Continuous Questions Structure.

Examples:

1. Are you going to the park?

2. Were they dancing?

3. Was she crying?

4. Were we cooking?

5. Was he walking?

Present Continuous in Negative Form

When structuring the negative form of present continuous we must keep the following formula in
mind:

Present Continuous in Negative Form Structure

Examples:
 1. You aren't helping.

2. We are not joking.

3. She is not laughing.

4. He is not enjoying.

5. They are not driving.

Present Continuous vs. Simple Present

These two tenses are easily confused when we are first English however, to avoid this confusing it is
good to remember that simple present is used mainly to express routines, these are actions that we do
a regular, weekly, or monthly basis. On the other hand, we use Present Continuous to express an
action we are doing in the moment. Check out the following sentences and identify whether they are in
Simple Present or Present Continuous.

1. I am doing a grammar test right now. PC

2. My sister gets up early every morning. SP

3. They don't like watching movies. PC

4. We walk our down every night. SP

Useful verbs
Memorizing verbs is a very important part of learning English. The more verbs
you know the better you become in structuring sentences in the different time
tenses. With this in mind let´s go over some very common and important
verbs, most of which you have most likely seen (it is always good to go over
them) and others which might be new to you.
Verb (infinitive) Past simple form Past participle

become became become

begin began begun

break broke broken

bring brought brought

build built built

buy bought bought

catch caught caught

choose chose chosen

come came come

cost cost cost

cut cut cut

do did done

draw drew drawn

drink drank drunk

Verb (infinitive) Past simple form Past participle

drive drove driven

eat ate eaten

fall fell fallen

feed fed fed

feel felt felt

fight fought fought

find found found

fly flew flown

forget forgot forgotten

forgive forgave forgiven

got (BrE) / gotten

get got
(AmE)

give gave given

go went gone
 Verb (infinitive) Past simple form Past participle

grow grew grown

70 verbos irregulares comunes: estudiantes pre-intermedios. Fuente: https://speakspeak.com/

Bibliographic References

Council, B. (31 de 05 de 2019). Present continuous. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/present-continuous

Speakspeak. (03 de 11 de 2011). 70 common irregular verbs: pre-intermediate learners.

Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de https://speakspeak.com/resources/vocabulary-elementary-
pre-intermediate/70-common-irregular-verbs

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond.

Lección 4 de 9

Expressing reasons and results

Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Making notes
Taking notes is an essential part of leaning and according to Oxford learning center there are 5 very
effective note-taking methods. Below I will give a brief description of each.

1 The Coronel.
This note taking method helps organize class notes into shorter summaries.
Summarizing the most important parts of the topic and including the supporting
details make this method very effective and time efficient mainly because all the
before mentioned elements are all in the same place.

Coronel Note Taking Structure

2 The Mapping Taking Notes

The Mapping note taking method is a more visual way to organize your class notes.
This technique is useful when learning about relationships between topics. The page is
organized by topic having the main idea of the topic on the top and the subtopic and
supporting ideas of these in the branches.

Main Topic
 3 The Outlining Method

The Outlining note taking method uses headings and bullet points to organize topics.
This method is most useful when learning about topics that include a lot of detail.
Each of the sections will start with a heading in which the main topic is introduced, and
the supporting ideas will follow.

The Outlining Method

Like in every other aspect in learning you must choose a method based on which of them works better
for you. Most of the time you will find that you can take ideas from different methods and merge them
to your advantage.

Expressing reasons and results

When we want to express the reason and result a determined event and or
situation, we use linking words. Here are some of the most well-known and
examples:
 Reason

Because We canceled the trip because it snowed.

Because of We canceled the trip because of the snow.

Due to We canceled the trip due to the snow.

The after-school program was canceled owing to

Owing to
lack of interest from the students.

Many people left the company due to the fact that

Due to the fact
there was something shady was happening.

Many people left the company owing to the fact

Owing to the fact
that there was something shady was happening

Many people left the company since there was

Since
something shady was happening

I didn’t go to the market today, as I had a lot of work

As
to do.

Result

Therefore He is crying; therefore, he must be hurting.

She didn't like the pudding; consequently, she

Consequently
threw it all away.
 Reason

She didn't like the pudding; consequently, she

As a result
threw it all away.

We were hungry, so we stopped at a cafe for a

So
snack.

Expressing reasons and results

Bibliographic References

Learning, O. (03 de May de 2017). Cómo tomar notas de estudio: 5 métodos efectivos para tomar
notas. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de https://www.oxfordlearning.com/5-effective-note-
taking-methods/

English, E. (2021). Vincular Palabras En Inglés: Razones Y Resultados. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de

2021, de https://www.espressoenglish.net/linking-words-in-english-reasons-and-results/

Grammar, E. (2013). Expressing the reason. Recuperado el 17 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.englishgrammar.org/expressing-reason/

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond.

Lección 5 de 9

Take me a picture!
Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Simple Past and time expressions

In English, the simple past tense is used for finished actions or situations that began and ended before
now. There are two main ways to make simple past tense:

1 To show an action or situation that happened in the past.

2 Particular words and phrases, these are known as time adverbials. Below we will now go
over some of the most common of them.
 Time Adverbials 1

Time Adverbials 2

-ed, -ing adjectives

An adjective is a word that is used to describe, and they modify the most
common words in the English languages, nouns. To refresh your memory,
nouns, are words (other than a pronoun) used to identify any of a class of
people, places, or things. We will go over some very common adjectives with
“-ed” and “-ing” suffixes.
Adjective with “-ed” Adjective with “-ing”
ending ending

Amazed Amazing

Annoyed Annoying

Bored Boring

Confused Confusing

Disappointed Disappointing

Embarrassed Embarrassing

Excited Exciting

Frightened Frighting

Interested Interesting

Relax Relaxing

Surprise Surprising

Tired Tiring

Tabla 7 ed, -ing adjectives

Practice: Write a sentence each of the adjectives given.

Bibliographic References

Oliver, D. (2021). Dave´s ESL Cafe. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de 2021, de Simple Past Tense:
https://www.eslcafe.com/resources/grammar-lessons/simple-past-tense/simple-past-tense-4

Isme. (2013). Wallpapaerscraft. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de 2021, de

https://wallpaperscraft.com/download/camera_smoke_photographer_142409/2848x4272

Studies, C. (2021). Continuing Studies. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de 2021, de

https://continuingstudies.uvic.ca/

Kittelstad, K. (2021). Lista de 228 adjetivos comunes. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de 2021, de

https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/parts-of-speech/adjectives/list-of-adjective-words.html

Monster, G. (2021). ¿Qué son los adjetivos? Recuperado el 28 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.grammar-monster.com/lessons/adjectives.htm

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de
2021
Lección 6 de 9

Parties back in time

Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Approaching a text
When approaching a text it is easy to become overwhelemed specially when it is long and you start to
detect words that you do not understand. When faced with this situations the best thing you can do is
to try to infer or predict what the text is about. To make sure that you have made the most educated
guess as possible follow these 3 steps:
 02:50

Approaching a Text

Another very common situation that appears when you are reading a text in a foregin language is that
you will most likely find words that you do not know yet. In this case what you must try to do is to
make an educated guess on what this word means, to do so pay attention to the context, what is
happening in the sentence? Based on this try finding a synonm to the word.

If you are placed with comprenshion questions it is a good idea to read them prior so that you make
sure that you know what information you will be needing from the text.

Skimming and Scanning Technique

 Skimming and scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement and keywords to
move quickly through text for slightly different purposes. Skimming is reading rapidly in order to
get a general overview of the material. Scanning is reading rapidly in order to find specific facts.

Skimming and Scanning

Sequencers
Sequencers or sequence adverbs are words that organize ideas, events and instructions. They help as
render these in a logical time sequence and therefore make our message understandable. Here are
some of the most common sequencers in their suggested order:
 1

First

Marks the beginning an idea event, process or instructions.

 2

Next

Used to follow up an idea event, process, or instructions.

 3

Then

Used to follow up an idea event, process, or instructions.

 4

Finally

Marks the end an idea event, process, or instructions.

 Sequencers

Bibliographic References

College, B. (19 de 12 de 2019). Butte College . Obtenido de

http://www.butte.edu/departments/cas/tipsheets/readingstrategies/skimming_scanning.html

Emma. (27 de March de 2019). engVid. Recuperado el 27 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.engvid.com/english-writing-sequencing-first-next-finally/

English, B. (07 de 05 de 2021). Bussiness English. Recuperado el 27 de 06 de 2021, de

https://www.businessenglish.com/grammar/sequence-adverbs.html?lang=eng

Walter R & Woodford, K. (2017). Personal Best B1. Oxforf: Richmond. Recuperado el 28 de 06 de
2021
Lección 7 de 9

Glossary
Universidad Gerardo Barrios

1. Aid: Help, typically of a practical nature. 11. Expressions: A word or phrase, especially an
idiomatic one, used to convey an idea.

2. Arrangements: The action, process, or result

of arranging or being arranged. 12. Extremely: To a very great degree; very.

3. Auxiliary: Providing supplementary or 13. Hobbies: An activity done regularly in one's

additional help and support. leisure time for pleasure.

4. Characteristics: A feature or quality 14. Identify: Establish or indicate who or what

belonging typically to a person, place, or thing (someone or something) is.
and serving to identify it.
5. Common: Occurring, found, or done often; 15. Neutral: Not helping or supporting either side
prevalent. in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartial.

6. Conference: A formal meeting for 16. Outlining: Draw, trace, or define the outer
discussion. edge or shape of (something).

7. Contractions: The process of shortening a 17. Personality: the combination of characteristics

word by combination or elision. or qualities that form an individual's distinctive
character.

8. Convention: a way in which something is

usually done, especially within a particular area 18. Socializing: The action or practice of
or activity. participating in social activities or mixing socially
with others.

9. Desire: A strong feeling of wanting to have

something or wishing for something to happen. 19. Tense: Tense in grammar is the form of a verb
that shows the time something happened and or is
going to happen.
10. Distinctive: characteristic of one person or
thing, and so serving to distinguish it from
others.
Lección 8 de 9

Complementary Resources
Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Type of
Title Referential Citation
resource

Video Simple Present (Library, 2020)

Video What is an adverb? (English 7. L., 2018)

Video Contractions! (Garden, 2015)

Video What are they doing? (English E. , 2019)

Lección 9 de 9

Formative Activity
Universidad Gerardo Barrios

Directions: With the objective to confirm what you have been studied this unit, solve the following quiz. It will
not be graded but it is a requirement.
Pregunta

01/10

En la oración: “She works in San Salvador”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

02/10

En la oración: “I play basketball every Friday night”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

03/10

En la oración : “He is reading different types of books”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

04/10

En la oración: “We are going shopping in this market”

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

05/10

En la oración “I am 22 years old”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

06/10

En la oración “They are looking for a gift”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

07/10

En la oración: “She only eats cheese pizza”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

08/10

En la oración “I drive to work every day”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

09/10

En la oración “Are you coming to the party”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.

Pregunta

10/10

En la oración “I am helping her out”, el tiempo verbal es:

Present Continuous.

Simple Present.

None of the above.