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Estudios de Asia y Africa
Idiomas Modernas I
What you should have learnt
from Face2Face
1A Question Forms
1.1
Yes-No Questions
1. If the first verb is an auxiliary verb, just move it in front of the Subject:
You are coming. -> Are you coming? You will come. -> Will you come?
2. If first verb is the main verb:
a. If the main verb is ‘be’, you can just move it to the front:
You are sick. -> Are you sick?
b. For all other verbs, the main verb cannot be moved in front. Insert ‘do’ first:
He loves you. -> He does love you. -> Does he love you?
c. When you insert ‘do’, it takes on the primary tense of the original sentence:
He loves you. -> Does he love you? He loved you. -> Did he love you?
1.2
Wh- Questions
In a wh-question, the speaker asks the addressee about one of the elements of the clause. The formation of a wh-question can be seen in the following sequence, transforming a statement to a question:
1. If the Wh-element is the Subject, one just replaces it with a wh-word: Statement form John likes ice-cream?
Intermediate forms -
Question form Who likes ice-cream? (Change the subject for a wh-word) 2. If the Wh-element is not Subject, we need to move the wh-word to the front of the
clause. Also, we move the first verb before the Subject (just as with yes-no questions): Statement form He is John.
Intermediate forms He is who (Change one element for a wh-word) Question form Who is he? (Move the wh-word to the front,
2 3. Where the first verb is the main verb (except ‘be’), we need to change to a ‘do’ form
before moving the verb:
Statement form She loves John.
Intermediate forms She loves who (Change one element for a wh-word)
She does love who (insert ‘do’)
Question form Who does she love? (Move the wh-word to the front, inverting the Subject and finite) 4. For questions about distance, instead of a single wh-word, we use a phrase:
How long is the string? (The string is 5 metres long)
5. Where the wh-element is one of the premodifiers of a noun phrase, we move the whole noun phrase forward:
How many apples did you buy? (I bought seven apples) Which car did you buy? (I bought that car)
What color car did you buy? (I bought a green car)
1B Making Negatives
The basic principles her are:1. If the first verb is an auxiliary verb, a. Just add “not” after the auxiliary:
I have been to London -> I have not been to London.
b. In more informal language, you can contract:
I have been to London -> I haven’t been to London.
will not -> won’t am not -> aren’t is not -> isn’t etc.
2. If first verb is the main verb:
d. If the main verb is ‘be’, you can add ‘not’ after it:
You are sick. -> You are not sick.
e. ‘be’ as main verb allows contraction:
You are sick. -> You aren’t sick.
f. For all other verbs, we need to insert a ‘do’ verb first:
He loves you. -> He does not love you.
g. The ‘do’ verb can also be contracted:
He loves you. -> He doesn’t love you.
3. Note the placement of the negation in relation to the adverb in the following:
I often eat out -> I don’t often eat out.
4. Sometime we negate a sentence by negating the Subject:
Everyone here likes me. –> Not everyone here likes me OR No one here likes me.
1D Question Tags
Question Tags (You like ice-cream, don’t you?)
When to use Question Tags: A way of asking a question, by making a statement and asking if the other person agrees.
Form: STATEMENT + “,” + verb + pronoun + “?” Reverse polarity:
If the statement is in the positive, the tag is in the negative: I saw him, didn’t I?
If the statement is in the negative, the tag is in the positive: You haven’t seen him, have you?
3 Only use pronouns: Joan went to Bristol, didn’t she?
The Verb:
If the first verb in the statement is an auxiliary, repeat it:
You haven’t seen him, have you? He is eating well, isn’t he? You will be there, won’t you? It was opened by you, wasn’t it?
If the first verb in the statement is a lexical verb, replace it with “do”:
You like ice-cream, don’t you? He went to Oxford, didn’t he?
With a statement starting with “I think”, often the verb in the projection is used:
I think it is great, isn’t it? I don’t think he will come, will he?
Responding to a question tag:
Respond positively to a question of this kind with the opposite polarity:
A: You went to Oxford, didn’t you? B: Yes, I did. A: John is an idiot, isn’t he? B: Yes, he is.
Respond negatively to a question of this kind with the same polarity:
A: You went to Oxford, didn’t you? B: No, I didn’t. A: John is an idiot, isn’t he? B: No, he isn’t.
2A Modal Verbs
Ability can I can play piano.
be able to I am able to play piano.
Permission can You can leave after lunch.
be allowed to You are allowed to leave after lunch. Obligation (necessary)
- Strong must You must finish your homework.
have to You have to finish your homework.
- Weak be supposed to You are supposed to finish your homework.
Advice (expected) should You should buy a new computer
ought to You ought to check your email more often.
2B, 3A Tenses
1.3
States and events
Before starting on tenses, we should distinguish the following kinds of things that clauses express:
1. Event: something which happens, with a beginning, middle and end (e.g., playing tennis, eating something, bombing a city, etc.). Events can be:
Happening: events that have no agent. E.g., it rained.
Action: An event that has an Agent (someone does something) e.g., I played tennis, John ate an apple.
Habitual action: some agent frequently performs an action: She plays tennis every Monday.
2. State: the continuation of properties of entities over some period of time (e.g., He is five-years old, She is beautiful, She loves John, He owns a car, etc.).
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1.4
Talking about the past
1.4.1 Talking about past events
When talking about an event that happened before the time of speaking/writing:
Context Tense to use Example
By default: simple past I spilt my coffee.
If you want to specify that the event still affects you at the time of speaking
present perfect I have spilt my coffee (so could you clean it up)
I have eaten breakfast (I am still full) If you want to specify that the event
was in progress when another event took place
past-continuous I was spilling my coffee (when she walked in)
While playing tennis, I broke my arm.
You can also use the Present Perfect Simple to say how often someone has done something so far in their lives (with the implication that they have not finished doing it):
Scott has written 3 books (so far) We have built three houses this year.
Where the period of time is closes, use the simple past:
We built three houses last year. I wrote three books before I came here. 1.4.2 Talking about past states
When talking about a state that existed in the past:
Context Tense to use Example
By default: simple past I was sick, I loved John, I knew that. If you want to specify that the state still
affects you at the time of speaking
present perfect I have been sick (so am still weak)
I have been to London (it’s one of my life experiences)
Note: Past-continuous tense cannot be used with states (NOT: I was wanting to eat)
1.4.3 Talking about past habitual actions
For activities that you performed habitually (frequently) in the past (Spanish: solia) 1. Use the simple past with some indicator of repetition:
I always ate in that restaurant (where “always” is an adjunct indicating repetition)
2. You can use the following adjuncts to indicate repettion:
always/often/sometimes/frequently/on Mondays, every day, etc.
3. Alternatively, you can use the “used to” form.
I used to eat in that restaurant.
You do not need to provide an indication of repetition, but you can.
I often used to eat in that bar.
The negative is formed as follows: I didn’t used to ...
1.5
Talking about the present
1.5.1 Talking about present events
When talking about an event that is happening now.
As the default, use the present continuous to talk about current happenings. This includes:
5 Something happening around now, but not
just at the moment
John is writing a book.
Something changing over time Sales are growing quickly
Use the present simple to talk about:
Habits, daily routines I play tennis on Mondays.
General statements that we think are true Water boils at 100 degrees. Americans eat more sugar.
1.5.2 Talking about present states
When talking about a state that exists at the time of speaking:
As the default, use the simple present, e.g, I have a car, I am sick, I love Mary.
If you use the present continuous, it forces the state to be interpreted as activity, e.g., The kids are being good (they are behaving well); She is being sick (she is vomiting), etc.
1.6
Use of the Present Perfect for ongoing events
As stated above, the Present perfect can be used to talk about a past event/state that still affects the present. This tense can also be used for current activities, as explained below:
1.6.1 Specifying how long a current activity has been going on
If talking about current events, states, habits, etc., and you want to specify for how long the activity/state has been going on, then we add the perfect tense:
Type Normal Specifying how long
Current event I am playing tennis. I have been playing tennis for 30 minutes.
Current habit I play tennis on Mondays. I have played tennis on Mondays for 5 years.
Current state I have a car I am sick.
I know you are good.
I have had a car since 1983. I have been sick for 3 weeks.
I have known you are good for a long time.
Note the two ways to specify the duration: I have lived here since 2005
I have lived here for 6 years.
The combination of perfect tense with the Present Simple is called the Present Perfect Simple.
The combination of perfect tense with the Present Continuous is called the Present Perfect Continuous.
1.6.2 Specifying that this is the first/second etc. time
Use the Present Perfect Simple in sentences like the following: This is the first time that I have been here.
This is the third time that I have eaten sushi.
2C Gradable and Strong Adjectives
We can talk about two types of adjectives: Gradable adjectives tend to be on a continuum, so we can add intensifiers such as “very”, “fairly”, “extremely” or “incredibly” before them.
Strong adjectives already represent an extreme, so they should not be intensified with words such as “very” (e.g., ‘very dead’ does not make sense). These adjectives can be intensified by adverbs which are themselves extreme: ‘completely’, ‘absolutely’, ‘utterly’, and ‘totally’. ‘really’ also works here.
6 Answers to exercise 8
exhausted: strong adjective so use ‘absolutely’ or ‘really’
difficult: gradable adjective so use ‘very’ , etc.
awful: strong adjective so use ‘absolutely’ or ‘really’
interested: gradable adjective so use ‘very’ , etc.
gorgeous: strong adjective so use ‘absolutely’ or ‘really’
cold: gradable adjective so use ‘very’ , etc.
3B Comments on Exercise 6
1. The question says to use either the Present Perfect Continuous (have been running) or the Present Perfect Simple (have run). Any other tenses (e.g., simple present) are thus wrong. 2. The question also says to use the Present Perfect Continuous wherever possible. Thus,
question five could have been: “They have not played tennis for very long”, but is wrong as you were asked to use the continuous if possible.
3. The main trick in this question is that activities can be in the continuous tense, but states cannot. Thus:
I have been knowing my best friend ...
I have known my best friend ...
How long has your sister been being an actress.
How long has your sister been an actress.
4. The other trick here is that when counting past achievements, use the present perfect simple:
He has been writing 3 books so far.
He has written 3 books so far.
5. Note that “had” is past tense, so is wrong in any of the questions.
6. Note the agreements between Subject and the Finite (first verb):
I/you/they/we have he/she has
This is true even when the Subject and Finite are in a different order:
How long HAS your sister been ... How long HAVE you been ...
7. The correct spelling of write is as follows:
