Present simple tense

PRESENT SIMPLE

form

• affirmative: subject + infinitive (+3^rd p –(e)s)
• negative: subject + don’t/doesn’t + infinitive
• question: do/does + subject + infinitive

Remember that we only add the –(e)s in the 3^rd person affirmative form and that be is an exception: am / is / are

use

• facts and permanent states.
• habits and routines
• 1^st type conditional sentences
• stative verbs that are not used in the pres. cont. (see, hear, believe, want, know, understand, think, like, love...)

Key words: how often / always / sometimes / often / never / usually / every day / once a week / twice a month... / if (in conditional sentences)

examples

• Snow melts at 0ºC.
• Harry lives in Liverpool.
• My dog plays football with us.
• Daniel washes his jacket every week.
• We don’t like football.
• She doesn’t understand baseball.
• Do you enjoy dining out?
• Does Rafael Nadal train in the morning?
• If you drink too much you’ll have to go to the toilet.

Eso 1 present-simple_review from Ana Arias Castro

Garfield`s routine from karolina cueva

Modal verbs for ESO-3

Modal verbs for ESO-3 students from Ana Arias Castro

MEANING

• CAN/CAN'T: ability, possibility
• MUST/MUSTN'T:: obligation/prohibition
• SHOULD/SHOULDN'T:: advice

EXERCISES

• can/can't 
• can/could/be able to
• have to / has to
• must / mustn't 1
• must / mustn't 2
• mustn't / don't have to
• can / may / must / could / might 
• can / must / should
• deduction: may / might / could / must / can't (British Council)
• musn't / can / can't / have to / don't have to / must (British Council)
• have to / don't have to / must / mustn't (Oxford)
• can / should / must (Learn English Feel Good 1)
• can / should / must (Learn English Feel Good 2)
• can / must / should ( Learn English Feel Good 3)
• can / could / should / might (Learn English Feel Good 4)
• can / should / might (Learn English Feel Good 5)
• can / can't / must / mustn't / needn't /have to / don't have to (Speak Speak)

Modal verbs

Modal verbs for ESO-3 students from Ana Arias Castro

MEANING

• CAN/CAN'T: ability, possibility
• MUST/MUSTN'T:: obligation/prohibition
• SHOULD/SHOULDN'T:: advice

EXERCISES

• can/can't 
• can/could/be able to
• have to / has to
• have to / can / should
• must / mustn't 1
• must / mustn't 2
• mustn't / don't have to
• can / may / must / could / might 
• can / must / should
• musn't / can / can't / have to / don't have to / must
• must / mustn't / have to / don't-doesn't have to (British Council)
• have to / don't have to / must / mustn't (Oxford)

Project about Castros

In our project about Castro Culture we are going to work on this presentation about these people and their houses.

Image by Ángel M. Felicísimo from Mérida, España (Castro de Viladonga)

[CC BY 2.0]

Present continuous for ESO-1

Image from tes.com

Image from Engames.com

GERUND (-ING) EXERCISES:

• crosswords -ing verbs 1 (Englisch Hilfen)
• add the -ing ending 1 (Englisch Hilfen)
• add the -ing ending 2 (Englisch Hilfen)
• add the -ing ending 3 (Englisch Hilfen)

PRESENT CONTINUOUS EXERCISES:

• affirmative sentences (Englisch Hilfen)
• affirmative sentences2 (Englisch HIlfen)
• negatives (Englisch Hilfen)
• questions (Englisch Hilfen)
• affirmatives-negatives-questions (Englisch Hilfen)

How to expand your vocabulary in English

These are some ideas about how to improve and expand your vocabulary in English or in any second language:

1.  Read as much as possible. The more you read, the more words you will be exposed to. You can read anything as long as it is in English: graded books, magazines, websites about any topic that you might be interested in, etc. Wikipedia can be a great source of texts about the most diverse topics. Remember that you have the version in English and also one in Simple English, and also the app for your mobile phone.
2. Keep a dictionary handy. Any dictionary, any format. On paper or online. Wordreference is a common one whose app you can use in your mobile. Thesaurus are an excellent type if you use a dicitonary when writing texts, they help you find similar words or phrases or even opposites.
3. Keep a journal or small notebook to write down words as you come across them. Then revise them regularly to keep them alive.
4. Learn a word every day. You can use your calendar, journal, or any other tool to expand your vocabulary steadily. The service Word of the Day will send you one word every day if you subscribe to it.
5. Play some games. Word games can help you discover many new words and their meanings. You can choose traditional games (crosswords puzzles, anagrams,  word jumble, Scrabble, and Boggle. You can also try some online ones such as Duolingo's Tiny Cards, games1, games 2, British Council activities, Many things flash activities, etc.
6. However remember that listening to and speaking to people who speak English provides lots of exposure and usually results  in a greater vocabulary in the second language.

Present perfect

FORM & USE

1. Present Perfect is used for actions in the past which have a connection to the present. The time when these actions happened is not relevant so there is often no time complement.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Present Perfect is used for recently completed actions. Actions that take place in a recent past. 
   
3. Present Perfect is also used for actions beginning in the past that continue up to the present.

EXERCISES

• BBC
• Present perfect man (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 1 (www-englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 2 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• English at home: grammar and exercises
• Hot Potatoes exercise
• Unit 3 final test
• Affirmative senteces in present perfect
• Negative sentences in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Sentences with "never" in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Questions in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Exercise: affirmative, negative or question (Perfect English Grammar)
• Exercise 2 : affirmative, negative or question (Perfect English Grammar)
• Choose the right verb form (Using English)
• Choose the right verb (British Council)
• Put the sentences in order

TYPICAL ADVERBS

• ever / never / just / already / yet
• exercise from Grammar Bank
• exercise from Baladre Info

PAST SIMPLE & PRESENT PERFECT - CONTRAST

• past simple or present perfect (English Hilfen)
• past simple or present perfect (Study Zone)
• ESL lounge
• English Grammar Secrets
• Perfect English Grammar
• Perfect English Grammar 2
• Isabel Pérez -exercise 1
• Isabel Pérez -exercise 2

TEXTS

• Loch Ness

Free graded readers for EFL students

These websites have free graded readers for EFL students:

• Teaching English. This website has a collection of stories and books for different levels, from 326 to 4200 words. The stories can be read online or be downloaded in a .mobi format for Kindle ebook readers.
• English Books has a collection of adapted works. The page has a summary of each of the works included, a list with the main difficult words and a list of formats for students to choose from.
• Lit2Go lets you choose by author, title or genre. The works are mostly adapted classical works that can be read online, downloaded and it also includes downloadable audio files.
• The British Council also has a page for Graded Reading. The page contains A2, B1 and B2 stories and articles to be read online.

Some and any compounds

FORMS OF THE SOME & ANY COMPOUNDS:

USES:

EXERCISES:

• Englisch Hilfen - choose the right compound
• Ego4you
• Ego4you-2
• Ego4you-3
• English4you
• Better English
• ELS Blues Apps

Quantifiers in English

This is a chart with the main quantifiers in English. Pay attention to which ones are used in affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences:

FURTHER READING:

• My English pages
• English EFL

SOME EXERCISES:

• Bristish Council (exercise at the bottom of the page)
• To learn English: some, any, no
• To learn English: much, many
• To learn English: a few, a little, few, little
• Englisch Hilfen:
• exercise 1: a / an / some
• exercise 2 : how much / how many
• exercise 3 : much / many
• exercise 4: much / many 2
• exercise 5 : much / many in questions
• exercise 6: some / any
• exercise 7: some / any 2
• exercise 8 : some / any statements and questions

Be and have got

"BE" EXERCISES

• be (forms)
• be: negatives

• Be / have got
• Present tense of be: am / is / are
• Be / have / there is / present simple

"HAVE GOT" EXERCISES

• have got (forms)
• exercise 0 - have or has
• exercise 1 -Isabel Pérez
• exercise 2- negatives - Isabel Pérez
• exercise 3 - (have got or has got) Englisch Hilfen
• exercise 4 - (have got or has got) Englisch Hilfen
• exercise 5 - (haven't got or hasn't got) - Englisch Hilfen
• exercise 6 - (haven't got or hasn't got: correct spelling) - Englisch Hilfen

"BE" OR "HAVE GOT"

• English exercises 1
• English exercises 2
• To Learn English
• Learn English Feel Good
• Montse Morales

The family

EXERCISES:

• Draw your family tree with the names of your family members.
• Exercise: Spell these words correctly.
• Match the text to the picture.
• Who's who? Write the family member each person is.
• Read the text (on the left) and complete the blanks.
• The Simpsons' family tree

"Be" in the present: am / is / are

EXERCISES:

• BASIC:
• exercise 1: pronoun + am / is / are
• exercise 2: pronoun + am / is / are
• exercise 3: pronoun + am / is / are
• exercise 4: drag am / is /are
• EASY:
• exercise 5: choose the right verb
• exercise 6: choose the right verb
• exercise 7: choose the right verb
• exercise 8: choose the right verb
• MORE DIFFICULT:
• exercise 9: questions: click to put the sentences in order
• exercise 10: questions: click to put the sentences in order
• exercise 11: short answers with am / is / are
• exercise 12: short answers with am / is / are
• exercise 13: am / is / are in a text
• CONTRACTIONS:
• exercise 14: basic contractions

Vocabulary about health

VOCABULARY

• My English Teacher
• Your Dictionary

EXERCISES

• British Council
• Health Games
• Learning English Feel Good
• ESL Lab - listening exercise

Present pefect

FORM & USE

1. Present Perfect is used for actions in the past which have a connection to the present. The time when these actions happened is not relevant so there is often no time complement.
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Present Perfect is used for recently completed actions. Actions that take place in a recent past. 
   
3. Present Perfect is also used for actions beginning in the past that continue up to the present.

EXERCISES

• BBC
• Present perfect man (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 1 (www-englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 2 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• English at home: grammar and exercises
• Hot Potatoes exercise
• Unit 3 final test
• Affirmative senteces in present perfect
• Negative sentences in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Sentences with "never" in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Questions in present perfect (www.ego4u.com)
• Exercise: affirmative, negative or question (Perfect English Grammar)
• Exercise 2 : affirmative, negative or question (Perfect English Grammar)
• Choose the right verb form (Using English)
• Choose the right verb (British Council)
• Put the sentences in order

TYPICAL ADVERBS

• ever / never / just / already / yet
• exercise from Grammar Bank
• exercise from Baladre Info

PAST SIMPLE & PRESENT PERFECT - CONTRAST

• past simple or present perfect (English Hilfen)
• past simple or present perfect (Study Zone)
• ESL lounge
• English Grammar Secrets
• Perfect English Grammar
• Perfect English Grammar 2
• Isabel Pérez -exercise 1
• Isabel Pérez -exercise 2

TEXTS

• Loch Ness

Learn one word a day

Are you interested in learning some new vocabulary in English every day? 

If so, Wordreference will send you a new word to your post every morning. If you are interested, click here to go The Word of the Day section of Wordreference, which is on the right side of the screen. You will be able to subscribe to one of the two different levels they have (or to both if you prefer): 

• Basic +
• Intermediate +

New Revision Tests for 4º ESO

NEW ENGLISH IN USE - REVISION TESTS

• Unit 1
• Unit 2
• Unit 3

More at the English Language 4 page in this blog.

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

Eso 3 passives from Ana Arias Castro

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 5 (www.itslj.org)
• Exercise 5 (http://a4esl.org)
• Exercise 6 passives in the present simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 7 Passives in the past simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 8 passives in the present perfect (Perfect English)
• Exercise 9 passives in the future simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 10 mixed passive tenses (Perfect English)
• Exercise 11 passives with two objects (Perfect English) ONLY 4ºESO STUDENTS
• Exercise 12 (English Current)
• Passives (easier exercises)
• Passives (more difficult exercises)
• Hot Potatoes ESO-3
• Hot Potatoes ESO-4
• Passives Game (1 or 2 players)
• ESL library-correct verb form NEW
• Digital Campus-conversion exercise NEW
• ESL Lounge: active to passive exercise NEW

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

Eso 3 passives from Ana Arias Castro

VIDEO

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 5 (www.itslj.org)
• Exercise 5 (http://a4esl.org)
• Exercise 6 passives in the present simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 7 Passives in the past simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 8 passives in the present perfect (Perfect English)
• Exercise 9 passives in the future simple (Perfect English)
• Exercise 10 mixed passive tenses (Perfect English)
• Exercise 11 passives with two objects (Perfect English) ONLY 4ºESO STUDENTS
• Exercise 12 (English Current)
• Passives (easier exercises)
• Passives (more difficult exercises)
• Hot Potatoes ESO-3
• Hot Potatoes ESO-4
• Passives Game (1 or 2 players)
• ESL library-correct verb form NEW
• Digital Campus-conversion exercise NEW
• ESL Lounge: active to passive exercise NEW

Revision for 4ºESO exam

EXAM

1. Choose the correct tense of the verbs in each of the sentences given:
1. present simple
2. present continuous
3. past simple
4. past continuous
5. present perfect
6. future simple (will)
7. going to
8. conditional (would)
2. Use the right conditional form
3. Compare elements from a group of elements given
4. Writing topics (choose 2 out of 4 or 5)
1. used to
2. modal verbs
3. conditionals
4. tenses (present, past and future)

GRAMMAR

1. Tenses
1. Revision
2. Revision 2
2. Conditional structures
3. Modals
4. Used to
5. Comparatives and superlatives
6. Connectors
7. Dialogues
1. Restaurant