CURS PRACTIC LIMBA ENGLEZA:

PRESENT SIMPLE/ PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PRESENT SIMPLE:

We use it for:

-facts and permanent states:

Ralph works for a plumbing company.

-general truths and laws of nature:

The sun rises in the East.

-habits and routines (with always, usually, often, every..)

We usually rent films at the weekends.

-timetables and programmes (in the future):

My plane lands at 6PM exactly.

-likes and dislikes:

I love Italy; it’s a beautiful country.

PRESENT CONTINUOUS:

We use the present continuous for:

-for actions taking place at or around the moment of speaking:

He is washing his car now.

-for temporary situations:

We are replacing the carpets in the bedrooms this weekend.

-for fixed arrangements in the near future

We’re signing up for a yoga class tomorrow.

-for currently changing and developing situations:

The days are becoming shorter and shorter.

-with adverbs such as ALWAYS to express anger or irritation at a repeated

action:

You are always blaming others for your mistakes.

Time expressions with present simple:

Usually, often, always, every day/week/month/year, in the morning, at night, on

Fridays

Time expression with present continuous:

Now, at the moment, at present, these days, nowadays, still, today, tonight

PAST SIMPLE/PAST CONTINUOUS

PAST SIMPLE:

-for an action that occurred at a definite time (stated or implied) in the past:

The football organization fired the team’s coach yesterday.

-for actions that happened immediately after one another in the past:

He opened the window and shouted to his friend.

-for habits and states which are now finished:

My uncle worked in a supermarket when he was younger.

Time expressions with past simple:

Yesterday, then, How long ago…?, last night/week/month/year/Friday/October,

three days/weeks ago, in 1999
PAST CONTINUOUS:

We use the past continuous:

-for an action which was in progress when another action interrupted it; we use
the past continuous for the action in progress (longer action) and the past simple
for the action which interrupted it (shorter action):

We were watching the tennis match when there was an electricity black-out.

-for two or more simultaneous actions in the past:

I was writing out the invitations while Philip was addressing the envelopes.

-for an action which was in progress at a stated time in the past; there is no
mentioning when the action started or finished

At 7 o’clock last night, I was working out at the gym.

-to describe the atmosphere, setting and to give background information to a

story:

A light breeze was blowing and the sun was shining. I was reading by the pool
when I heard a scream.

Time expressions with past continuous:

While, when, as, all morning/evening/day/week

EXERCISES:

Put the verb in the correct form, present continuous or present simple:

1. Let’s go out. It………(not/rain) now.

2. Julia is very good at languages. She ……….(speak) four languages very
well.
3. Hurry up! Everybody ……….(wait) for you.
4. ‘…………(you/listen) to the radio?’ ‘No, you can turn it off.’
5. ‘………….(you/ listen) to the radio every day?’ No, just occasionally.
6. The River Nile……….(flow) into the Mediterranean.
7. Look at the river. It……….(flow) very fast today-much faster than usual.
8. We usually ……….(grow) vegetables in our garden but this year
we…….(not/grow) any.
 9. ‘How is your English?’ ‘Not bad. It ……….(improve) slowly.’
10.Ron is in London at the moment. He……….(stay) at the Park Hotel.
He…….(always/stay) there when he’s in London.
11.Can we stop walking soon? I……….(start) to feel tired.
12.‘Can you drive?’ ‘I……….(learn). My father……..(teach) me’.
13.Normally I ………(finish) work at 5.00, but this week I………(work)
until 6.00 to earn a bit more money.
14.My parents……….(live) in Bristol. They were born there and have never
lived anywhere else. Where ……..(your parents/live)?
15.Sonia…………(look) for a place to live. She ………..(stay) with her
sister until she finds somewhere.
16.‘What ………..(your father/do)?’ ‘He’s an architect but he…….
(not/work) at the moment.’
17.(at a party) Usually I……..(enjoy) parties but I………..(not/enjoy) this
one very much.
18.The train is never late. It…….(always/leave) on time.
19.Jim is very untidy. He……….(always/leave) his things all over the place.

Put the verbs into the correct form, past continuous or past simple:

1. Jane……..(wait) for me when I……..(arrive).

2. ‘What……..(you/do) this time yesterday?’ ‘I was asleep’.
3. ‘………….(you/go) out last night?’ ‘No, I was too tired.’
4. ‘Was Carol at the party last night?’ ‘Yes, she……(wear) a really nice
dress.’
5. John……..(take) a photograph of me while I …….(not/look).
6. How fast………(you/drive) when the accident ……..(happen)?
7. We were in a very difficult position. We……….(not/know) what to do.
8. I haven’t seen Alan for ages. When I last ………(see) him, he …….(try)
to find a new job in London.
9. I……….9walk) along the street when suddenly I……..(hear) footsteps
behind me. Somebody……..(follow) me. I was frightened and I……….
(start) to run.
10.10. When I was young, I………(want) to be a bus driver.

STATIVE VERBS
Stative verbs are those verbs describing a state rather than an action and
usually the do not have a continuous tense. They are:
-verbs of the senses (to see, to hear, to smell, to taste, to feel, to look, to sound,
to seem, to appear):
This fabric feels luxurious.
-verbs of perception (to know, to believe, to understand, to realize, to
remember, to forget)
I realize this is difficult for you.
-verbs which express feelings and emotions (to like, to love, to hate, to enjoy, to
prefer, to desire, to want)
Helena enjoys old black and white films.
Some of these verbs can be used in continuous tenses, but with a difference in
meaning.
TO THINK
I think she’s a very good listener. (believe)
She is thinking about selling her computer. (is considering)
TO HAVE
She has a large collection of Elvis memorabilia. (owns, possesses).
She is having a shower. (is taking)
I am having a fantastic time. ( am experiencing)
TO SEE
I can see my home from up here. (it is visible)
My mother is seeing an ear specialist next week.
TO TASTE
The chocolate tastes bitter. (it has the flavor of..)
Connie is tasting the soup to see if it is spicy. (is testing)
TO SMELL
Your breath smells of cigarettes. ( has the aroma)
I am smelling my roses. (am sniffing)
TO APPEAR

He appears to be a gentleman. (seems to be)

I am appearing in a new Broadway play. (performing)
TO FIT
My dress fits her perfectly. (it’s the right size)
Frank is fitting an extra lock at the front door. (is attaching)

FUTURE SIMPLE/FUTURE WITH GOING TO

FUTURE SIMPLE:

We use it for:

-decisions made at the moment of speaking:

This room’s a mess, I’ll tidy it later.

-predictions about the future, based on what we think, believe or imagine, using
the verbs TO THINK, TO BELIEVE, TO EXPECT, the expressions BE SURE,
BE AFRAID and the adverbs PROBABLY, CERTAINLY, PERHAPS:

She will probably accept the job offer.

-promises, threats, warnings, requests, hopes and offers

Will you lend me some money till next weekend?

-actions, events, situations which will definitely happen in the future and which
we cannot control

Our oldest son will be thirty next May.

FUTURE WITH GOING TO

We use this tense for:

-plans, intentions or ambitions for the future:

He’s going to be a vet when he graduates

-actions we have already decided to do in the near future

We are going to buy that antique mirror we saw.

-predictions based on what we can see or what we know, especially when there
is evidence that something will happen

He feels very guilty; he’s going to tell her the truth.

Time expression with these tenses:

Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, tonight, soon, next

week/month/year/summer, in a week/month

EXERCISES:

Where ( we spend)…………….the night?

Cardiff. I’ve booked us in at the Angel Hotel. Why do you ask?

That’s another thirty miles away. We (run)……………….out of petrol before

we get there. I (stop)…………….at the next filling-station.

Half an hour later

This road goes on forever.

We (get) ……………….stuck. The car’s stopping. We (have to)

……………..walk.

Come on then. Perhaps someone (give)…………………..us a lift.

Not a filling-station in sight and look at those black clouds. It (rain)…………

Look! A car’s coming. I (wave)…………………to the driver.

Oh good! He’s slowing down. He (stop)……………………….

GENDER IN ENGLISH
In English there are four genders:
-masculine: man, actor, he-goat
-feminine: woman, actress, hen, she-goat
-common: cousin, child, turkey
-neuter: book, pride, bay, dog
 Gender through suffixes:
actor-actress
author-authoress
count-countess
duke-duchess
master-mistress
prince-princess
god-goddess
Gender through different words:
Boy - girl - baby, child, infant
Brother - sister
Husband - wife - spouse
Son - daughter - child
Gender through words indicating sex (masculine, feminine, common):
Bridegroom - bride - spouse
Boyfriend - girlfriend - friend
Grandson - grand-daughter- grandchild

NOUNS AND ARTICLES

COUNTABLE AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS:

We use uncountable nouns to talk about things we think as a mass, rather

than countable individual things. We use them with singular verbs.

- It may not be immediately obvious whether nouns are countable or

uncountable and some uncountable nouns in English are countable in
 other languages. Logic and grammar seem to produce contradictions.
Here are a few examples:

Uncountable:

rice, bread, macaroni, advice, knowledge, news/information, hair, money,

marketing, luggage, flu, cancer, measles

Countable:

lentils, four potatoes, ideas, dollar, an advertisement, a cold, a headache,

a traffic jam

Many nouns can be countable or uncountable according to the context:

Uncountable:
He’s a danger to society.
I never eat lunch.
Work is starting to take over my life.
Countable:
Britain is multiracial society.
He’s grown fat through eating so many business lunch.
Beethoven’s later works are startlingly original.

A/AN, THE or ZERO ARTICLE?

The articles A/AN and THE are determiners. Determiners are words we
use before a noun to show whether the noun is specific or general, singular or
plural.
A/AN
We use A or AN with singular countable nouns only.
-A and AN are indefinite articles. We use them to talk about one of something
when we assume that the listener/reader doesn’t know with specific thing:
A car drove past.
THE
We use THE with countable nouns (singular or plural) and uncountable nouns:
A man is coming round to fix the television.
Let’s sit on the grass over here.
THE is the definite article. We use it to talk about a specific example of
something we think is known to both ourselves and the listener/reader:
The cars were parked illegally in the city center.
ZERO ARTICLE:
To talk about things generally, we use uncountable or plural nouns without
A/AN or THE:
Money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness. It’s easy to blame minorities for all
the problems of society.
Paper clips were a brilliant invention.
THE WITH NOUNS THAT ARE ALWAYS SINGULAR:
We nearly always use THE with some singular nouns because we
consider there is only one in existence:
the sun, the moon, the Earth, the countryside, the EU, the UN, the seaside, the
world, the Vietnam War, the presidency, the Government
-This category also includes superlatives because there is usually only one thing
or group that is superlative:
He’s the best accountant in town.
It’s one of the noisiest bars in the city.

NOUNS WITHOUT ARTICLES

We use uncountable and plural nouns without articles to refer to general ideas
and categories:
Cars and buses are a major source of pollution in cities.
We use many uncountable abstract nouns in this way:
Intelligence is something you are born with, not something you learn.
Laughter is good for you.
Here are more example of abstract nouns we can use like this:
advice, anger, beauty, courage, education, excitement, fun, happiness,
information, knowledge, music, patience, progress, violence.

GENERAL OR SPECIFIC –ADDING “THE”

We can use THE with uncountable and countable nouns to refer to a specific
example of something. To make clear which specific example we are referring
to, we may have to add a qualifying clause with OF, a relative clause or an
adjective:
General: I like all kinds of music.
Specific: The music of Skalkottas is virtually unknown outside Greece.

NOUNS THAT ARE ALWAYS PLURAL

Some nouns are always plural, often because they are made up of two parts.
This is especially true of some clothes and tools: trousers, pyjamas, scissors,
tweezers, glasses
-to make them singular, we usually use “a pair of”:
These scissors are broken. This pair of scissors is broken.
-some nouns are always plural because they are made up of many “parts”:
Belongings, goods, people
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS ENDING IN -S
Some uncountable nouns that end with –S look like plural countable
nouns but are not. We use a singular verb:
What’s the news today?
News, maths, economics, genetics, politics, aerobics
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
Some nouns referring to groups can be either singular or plural. We often
use THE with some of these collective nouns:
The media is/are interested in this story.
army, jury, family, press, union, audience, staff, committee, cast

SINGULAR AND PLURAL:

Some nouns are commonly singular but we use them as plurals in
common phrases:
-with THE:
I’m sorry, I’ll have to report you to the authorities.
He looked at the mess and raised his eyes to the heavens.
-with possessives such as MY, HIS, etc..
We’ll need to keep a close eye on their activities.
What do you know about his likes and dislikes?
-without an article:
She puts on ridiculous airs and graces.
Do you need to claim travel expenses?

EXERCISES:

Put in A/AN/THE:

This morning I bought …..newspaper and …..magazine. ……newspaper is

in my bag but I don’t know where I put……magazine.
I saw……accident this morning. ….car crashed into….tree. …..driver
of…..car wasn’t hurt but….car was badly damaged.
There are two cars parked outside: …..blue one and …..grey one. …..blue
one belongs to my neighbours; I don’t know who…..owner of….grey one is.
My friends live in…..old house in…..small village. There is …..beautiful
garden behind …..house. I would like to have ……garden like that.

Put in THE where necessary. If you don’t need THE, leave the space empty
(-)

I haven’t been to …..cinema for ages.

I lay down on……ground and looked up at…..sky.
Sheila spends most of her free time watching …….television.
 ……..television was on but nobody was watching it.
Have you had……dinner yet?
Mary and I arrived at……same time.
You’ll find…..information you need at…..top of…..page 15.
Peru is ……country in South America…..capital is Lima.

Complete the sentences using a word from Sections A or B. Sometimes you

need A or SOME:

My eyes aren’t very good. I need……

This plant is….very rare…..
Footballers don’t wear trousers when they play. They wear…..
The bicycle is……of transport.
The bicycle and the car are……of transport.
I want to cut this piece of material. I need …….
Ann is going to write………of articles for her local newspaper.
There are a lot of American TV……..shown on British television.
While we were out walking, we saw 25 different ……..of bird.

Most of these sentences are wrong. Correct them where necessary; put
‘RIGHT’ if the sentence is already correct:

The government want to increase taxes…..

Susan was wearing a black jeans. ……
Brazil are playing Italy in a football match next Wednesday……
I like Martin and Jill. They’re very nice persons. ………
I need more money than that. Ten pounds are not enough. …….
I’m going to buy a new pyjama. ……..
The committee haven’t made a decision yet. …….
Many people has given up smoking. ……..
There was a police standing at the corner of the street. ……
Has the police arrived yet? ……
This scissors is not very sharp. …….

IF CLAUSES TYPE 1
Type 1 conditionals are used to express a real or very probable situation
in the present or future; to talk about conditions in the present or future that we
think are likely to happen , we use present tenses or modals.
If he comes into the room, don’t mention the party this evening. Can I leave
early today? If you must.
-to talk about the future, we can also use BE GOING TO in the If-clause
Even if we’re not going to go swimming, we’d still better take a towel.
-CAN for ability is also common in If-Clauses:
Assuming you can leave work early, we’ll be able to make the 6.30
performance.

VERB FORMS IN THE MAIN CLAUSE

Verb forms in the main clause follow the normal rules for tense and
modal use. Some of the most common are:
Present Simple: to indicate certainty of the result
If you mix blue and red, you get purple.
Will: to predict future events, make promises
Provide I see him, I’ll tell him.
Will have: to predict what will have already happened
The train will have left if we don’t hurry.
Can: to express ability, permission
You can do it that way if you like, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
Be going to: for prediction or intentions
If you do that again, I’m going to leave.

EXERCISES:
1.If it …………(be) fine tomorrow, we……….(go) for a picnic.
2.If I………………(have) time tonight, I…………(finish) the novel I’m
reading.
3.If it……………..(rain) next weekend, we …………..(not be able to) plant the
vegetables.
4.If he……………(be leaving) at 6 o’clock, I ………..(ask) him to give me a
lift.
5.If she…………..(have drive) all that way since this morning, ……………(be)
tired and hungry.
6.If they………..(work) late tonight, the boss……..(pay) you well.
7.I…………(be) surprised if they………….(get not) married one day.
8.She………..(choose) another dress if she…………(earns) more money.
9.They……….(leave) the country if they…………..(save) enough.
10. Tom………(learn) Japanese if he………….(have) time to attend those
courses.

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

We use this tense for:
-an action that happened at an unstated time in the past; the emphasis is upon
the action and not on the time when it occurred
I have seen the film.
Tina has visited Rome twice.
-an action which started in the past and continues up to the present, especially
with stative verbs such as BE, HAVE, LIKE, KNOW
He has been a teacher for seven years.
-a recently completed action
I have completed the tax form.
-personal experiences and changes
She has dyed her hair pink.

Time expressions with this tense:

For, since, already, always, just, ever, never, so far, today, this week/ month,
how long, lately, recently, still, yet

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

We use this tense for:
-emphasizing the duration of an action which started in the past and
continues up to the present:
You have been reading that book all day.
-an action which started in the past and lasted for some time; it may still
be continuing or has finished already, with the result visible in the present:
My eyes are teary because I have been chopping onions.
-to express anger, irritation or annoyance:
She has been using my perfume without asking me.
-for repeated actions in the past continuing to the present:
I have learned the piano piece because I have been practicing every day.
Time expressions used with this tense:
For, since, how long…?, all day/morning/month, lately, recently

EXERCISES:
THE AUSTRALIAN SALUTE
Before I (visit)………………….Australia, an Australian friend in
London (tell)……………..me I’d learn ‘The Australian Salute’. What’s that? I
(ask)………………….’You’ll find out when you get there’, he (say)
……………..I (arrive)………………in Perth last week. Since then, I (stay)
……………..at a nice hotel near a beautiful beach. I (never visit)
………..Australia before and I am enjoying my stay. I (swim)
………………..every day from time to time I (arrive)…………….Yesterday,
an Australian friend (suggest)………………a tour into “the bush”. I (agree)
……………at once. The first thing I (notice)………..when we (be)
…………………..in the bush (be)…………….the flies. After a while I
(remember)………………the conversation I had had in London before I (come)
……………………….here.
‘What’s the Australian salute?’ I (ask)……………………..suddenly, as I
waved my right arm to keep the flies away. ‘That’s it!’ my friend said as he
(wave)…………………………….back!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Vasiliu, Anamaria, Vasiliu, Porfira, Gramatica lb. engleze, Carminis,
Pitesti, 2009