Inglese I-Grammatica

Inglese I – Grammar

Present simple rules

Affirmative:

• General rule: SUBJECT + VERB (-S 3rd person singular)
• I/we/you/they drive, work, sleep, eat
• He/she/it drives, works, sleeps, eats
• After a consonant, the final consonant y becomes ie (but not after a vowel)
• ES: worry-> worries, play-> plays

Negative:

I/we/you/they DON’T drive, work... he/she/it DOESN’T drive, work...

Questions:

DO I/we/you/they drive, work... DOES he/she/it drive, work...

Situations

• To talk about things in general, to say that something happens all the time or repeatedly, or that something is true in general:
  • The earth goes around the sun
  • Bus drivers drive buses
  • My teacher is a teacher. She teaches
• To say how often we do things:
  • I always go to the cinema on Sundays
  • She doesn’t often eat pizza
  • I usually go to the doctor twice a year

Quindi: azioni con una certa frequenza, abituali (avverbi di frequenza), succede sempre

Adverbs of frequency

• Always, usually, regularly, normally, often, sometimes, occasionally, rarely, seldom, never...
• Gli avverbi si mettono PRIMA DEI VERBI
• Gli avverbi si mettono DOPO LA FORMA TO BE: am, are, is, was, were
• Esempio: Susan is NEVER late
• Gli avverbi si mettono TRA IL SOGGETTO E IL VERBO nelle interrogative
• Alcuni avverbi possono essere messi all’inizio della frase: sometimes, often
• Alcuni avverbi possono essere messi alla fine della frase: occasionally

Exercises

Affirmative:

• I usually collect stamps (francobolli)
• We always play card games
• He always reads comics
• Sometimes they like cola
• She is usually nice (con verbo essere, avverbio di frequenza dopo)
• I usually buy a newspaper every Sunday

Negative:

• I don’t watch tv
• We don’t play football
• It doesn’t boring
• She doesn’t clean her room
• You don’t ride your bike every weekend
• Sandy doesn’t take nice photos
• They don’t open the windows
• I am not late
• She doesn’t have a cat

Domande:

• Does she collect stickers?
• Do they play a game?
• Does the cat sleep in the cat’s bed?
• Does she often dream? (avverbio tra soggetto e verbo)
• Does he play streetball?
• Are you from Paris?
• Do the pupils wear school uniforms?
• Do you go to the cinema?
• Does she have friends?
• Does he read books?

Domande con interrogative:

• What kind of music does Julia like? She likes pop music
• Where does Maria come from? She comes from Spain
• Where do they play? They play in the garden
• What does Rick ride? He rides his bike
• Where do you go to the cinema? I go to the cinema on Saturdays
• Why do you go to Mallorca? Because it’s warm there (fa caldo)
• What does Joe repair? He repairs his bike
• How does Robin drive his car? He drives his car carefully
• How often does Peter run with his dog? He runs with his dog every day
• Where does Eric go for a holiday? He goes to Italy for a holiday

Present continuous or progressive

Affirmative:

• General rule: SUBJECT + VERB TO BE + -ING FORM
• I AM driving, working, helping
• You ARE driving, working, helping
• He/she/it IS driving, working, helping
• We/you/they ARE driving, working, helping
• Silent e is dropped. (but: does not apply for -ee)
• ES: come-> coming, agree-> agreeing, die-> dying

Negative:

I AM NOT driving, working, helping. You AREN’T driving, working, helping. He/she/it ISN’T driving, working, helping. We/you/they AREN’T driving, working, helping.

Questions:

AM I driving, working, helping. ARE you driving, working, helping. IS he/she/it driving, working, helping. ARE we/you/they driving, working, helping.

Situations

• Actions happening at the time of speaking: I am looking outside the window at the moment
• The action is not necessarily happening at the time of speaking: I am playing tennis a lot in this period
• With "today, this week, this year...": Sarah is working hard this week
• With verbs conveying the idea of change: get, change, become, increase, rise.. : Lucy is getting bored. She would like to go home!

Quindi: qualcosa che si sta facendo ora, quando parli, forma progressiva, in un periodo limitato quindi nel presente. Con “think” la forma in -ing significa CONSIDERARE.

Present simple vs present continuous

• Always, every, often, normally, usually, at the moment, at this moment, today, now, right, sometimes, seldom, never, first, then now, Listen!, Look!
• The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Present: be, have, hear, know, like, love, see, smell, think, want

Daily routine

• Only for a LIMITED PERIOD OF TIME (does not have to happen directly at the moment of speaking)
• ES: Bob works in a restaurant
• ES: Jenny is working in a restaurant this week

Exercises

Domande con interrogative:

• Where is Ashley going? She is going to a restaurant
• Who is reading the paper? James is reading the paper
• Where is Stacey playing? She is playing in the garden
• Who is wearing a red dress? She is wearing a red dress
• What is Britney doing? She is doing her homework
• At what time is Mandy leaving? She is leaving at 9pm
• What is Joe repairing? He is repairing his bike
• Who is Sandy looking for? She is looking for Phil

Present simple or present continuous?

• You won’t find Jerry at home right now. He is studying in the library
• Once a week, I go to an art class
• Don’t give Jan any cheese. She hates it
• Look! Junko is jumping into the water
• It is snowing quite hard. Perhaps we shouldn’t go out tonight
• Salman is rich. He drives a Mercedes
• I think you’re crazy!
• I have lunch in the cafeteria every day
• Maria isn’t a Canadian. I believe she comes from France
• NB Everybody è SINGOLARE!

Present simple or present continuous?

• Every Monday, Sally drives her kids to football practice
• Usually, I work as a secretary at ABT, but this summer I am studying French at a language school in Paris. That is why I am in Paris
• Shhhhh! Be quiet! John is sleeping
• Don’t forget to take your umbrella. It is raining
• I hate living in Seattle because it always rains
• I’m sorry, I can’t hear what you are saying because everybody is talking so loudly
• Justin is currently writing a book about his adventures in Tibet. I hope he can find a good publisher when he has finished. (currently = attualmente)
• The business cards are normally printed by a company in New York. Their prices are inexpensive, yet the quality of their work is quite good
• This delicious chocolate is made by a small chocolatier in Zurich, Switzerland
• NB Everybody è SINGOLARE!

Traduzioni

• C’è sempre molto testo sulle copertine delle riviste -> There is always a lot of copy on magazine covers (NB con il genitivo sassone mi devo chiedere se c’è una relazione di appartenenza)
• Cosa state facendo? Stiamo preparando il prossimo numero di Vogue -> What are you doing? We are preparing the next issue of Vogue
• Sto imparando a guidare. Di solito prendo il pullman o il treno -> I’m learning to drive. I usually catch the bus or take the train. / I’m having driving lessons/classes
• Il giornalista è sempre obiettivo, ma in questo articolo è molto parziale -> The journalist is always objective, but in this article/news article/ news story is very/extremely unbiased. / bias / biased
• Dove vai? Al supermercato e poi dal giornalaio -> Where are you going? I’m going to the supermarket and then (to) the newsagent’s (shop) / at the hairdresser’s (shop)

A trekking journal

Today is the second day of my trek around mount Annapurna. I am exhausted and my legs are shaking; I just hope I am able to complete the trek. My feet are really killing me and my toes are bleeding (sanguinando), but I still want to continue.

Right now Liam is sitting with the owner of the inn. They are discussing the differences between life in England and life in Nepal. I don’t know the real name of the owner, but everybody just calls him Tam. Tam speaks English very well and he is trying to teach Liam some words in Nepali. Every time Tam says a new word, Liam tries to repeat it. Unfortunately, Liam also seems to have difficulty learning foreign languages. I just hope we don’t get lost and have to ask for directions. Nepal is a fascinating country, but I have a great deal to learn. Everything is so different, and I am trying to adapt to the new way of life here. I am learning a little bit of the language to make communication easier; unfortunately, I don’t learn foreign languages quickly. Although I don’t understand much yet, I believe that I will improve.

I am travelling with Liam, a student from Leeds University in England. He is a nice guy, but impatient. He always walks ahead of me and complains that I am too slow. I am doing my best to keep up with him, but he is younger and stronger than I am. Maybe, I am just feeling sorry for myself because I am getting old.

Past simple rules

Affirmative:

• Regular verbs: VERB + -ED -> helped; lived; started...
• Irregular verbs: NOT ENDING IN -ED -> became, wrote, was...
• ES: Luciano Pavarotti was a famous Italian opera singer. He lived from 1935 to 5th Sept 2007.
• The past of TO BE (=essere) is WAS/WERE
• I/he/she/it WAS/WASN’T
• You/we/they WERE/WEREN’T
• ES. I was very interested in your activity. I think you were extremely diligent

Negative:

I/You/She/he/It/We/You/They + DIDN’T + INFINITIVE (live, drink, go...)

Questions:

DID + I/You/She/he/It/We/You/They + INFINITIVE (live, drink, go...)

Situations

• To express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past:
  • I saw a movie yesterday
  • I didn't see a play yesterday
  • Last year, I traveled to Japan
  • Last year, I didn't travel to Korea
• To list a series of completed actions in the past. These actions happen 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on:
  • I finished work, walked to the beach, and found a nice place to swim
  • He arrived from the airport at 8, checked into the hotel at 9, and met the others at 10

Quindi: Si usa per azioni iniziate e finite nel passato, come passato remoto in italiano. The past simple can be used to describe repeated actions and past states, BUT alone it does not tell us that something happened repeatedly or is no longer true. You need extra info: I often went to the theatre when I was young.

Irregular verbs

Base - Past Simple - Past Participle

Exercises

Past simple:

• Last year I spent my holiday in Ireland. It was great
• I travelled around by car with two friends and we visited lots of interesting places
• In the evenings we usually went to a pub. One night we even learnt some Irish dances
• We were very lucky with the weather. It didn’t rain a lot. But we saw some beautiful rainbows
• Where did you spend your last holiday?

Domande con Past simple:

• Did John collect stamps?
• Did they run races?
• Did his head ache?
• Did the policeman arrest the thief?
• Did they notice the mistake?
• Did I early get up?
• Did he criticise you?

Was or Were?

• It was the right thing to do
• The shop was open
• The men were very strong
• The weather was good
• My father and I were in the car

Domande:

• He clicked the mouse button. - What did he click?
• Robby Robber robbed a bank. - Who robbed the bank? NB Quando non c’è il soggetto (cioè il soggetto compie l’azione) non metto did
• The house burnt down. - What burnt down?
• The children respected their teacher. - Who did the children respect?
• They welcomed the new pupil warmly. - How did they welcome..

Traduzioni

• Ho steso sul pavimento il mio foulard ieri in aula. Gli studenti non sono riusciti a vederlo bene -> I laid (irregolare) down my foulard in the classroom yesterday. Students couldn’t see it well.
• La prima pagina del Sun è uscita stamattina con un titolo sullo sciopero dei camionisti -> The front page of the Sun came out this morning. It had a headline on the trucker strike.
• Chi ha scritto quel titoletto su Bella? John ha ideato il contenuto e Mary ha scritto il titoletto -> Who wrote that coverline on Bella? John developed the content (came up with the content) and Mary wrote the coverline.
• Sto concludendo l’articolo per il Times. Ieri sera ho chiamato il direttore capo e gli ho spiegato la mia idea -> I am concluding the article for the Times. Yesterday evening I called the editor-in-chief and I explained to him my idea.

Used to and would

Affirmative:

I/you/she/he/it/we/you/they + USED TO / WOULD + INFINITIVE go/be/play...

Negative:

I/you/she/he/it/we/you/they + DID NOT + USE TO + INFINITIVE go/be/play...

Questions:

DID + I/you/she/he/it/we/you/they + USE TO + INFINITIVE go/be/play...

Situations

• To talk about something that was true in the past:
• A repeated past action that no longer happens: I used to go to park every day
• A past state (a situation/feeling) that lasted a long time but that is no longer true: I used to be very happy

Più usato è Used to

WOULD + VERB - It is only used with repeated past actions:

• He would often go to the cinema on Saturdays (=in the past but NOT now)

WOULD + VERB is NOT used for past states (stati d’animo): I would like playing tennis -> We say: I liked playing tennis; I used to like playing tennis. SOLO per azioni!

Would is preferred to describe more than one past actions: I would come home late and my mother would worry about...

Quindi: Would è il condizionale, qualcosa che si racconta nel passato che si era soliti fare, abituale nel passato. Con would non si usa nelle frasi negative.

Exercises

• I didn’t USE TO / USED TO live in this city (non possono esserci 2 passati)
• We WOULDN’T / DIDN’T USED TO often go on holiday
• When I was a child, we USED TO / WOULD have a dog
• She USED TO WORK / WORKED as a teacher for many years
• As a student, he never USED TO / WOULD have any money
• Did you USE TO / USED TO like playing football at school?
• There never USE TO BE / USED TO BE a coffee shop here

Traduzioni

• I used to go to the university at 10.00 am when I lived in Boston
• I used to swim, while now I work out a lot at the gym
• Nuotavi una volta? Did you use to swim?

Past continuous

Affirmative:

• I/he/she/it + WAS + playing/skiing/ helping..
• You/we/they + WERE + playing/skiing/ helping..
• ES: Yesterday Jane and Lucy went skiing. They began at 11.00 o'clock in the morning and