UNIT 1

SUBJETC/OBJECT QUESTIONS

Subject Questions

Are questions we ask when we want to know about the subject of the sentence. Begins
with who, what or which. The verb is affirmative.

Object Questions

Are questions we ask when we want to know about the object of the sentence. Begins
with who, whose, what, wich. The verb is interrogative.

Note: in object questions, if a verb is followed by a preoposition, it comes at the end of the
question.

Subject object Subject object

Keith invited Stella Stella invited Fiona

Who invited Stella? Who did Stella invite?

INDIRECT QUESTIONS

Are used when we ask for information politely. They are introduced with Do you know….?
Could you tell me…? Have you any idea…? + question Word or if/wether.

Direct question: Where is the bank? Indirect: Could you tell me where the bank is?

Direct: Has Tom been invited to the party? Indirect: Do you know if/wether Tom
has been invited to the party?

The order is subject + verb. Can you tell me where you saw him? How far did they travel?

NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

 Are formed with not but there is a difference in Word order between the short and
full form.
 Short form: Didn’t they inform you? Haven’t they returned yet? (aux + n’t +
subject + verb)
  Full form: Did they not inform you? Have they not returned yet? (aux + subj + not
+ verb)
 We normally use the short form in everyday speech and the full form only for
emphasis.

Negative questions are used to express:

a) Surprise: Don’t you know who Pelé is?

b) Annoyance/Sarcasm: Can’t you keep quiet for a second?
c) Expectation of a “Yes” answer: Don’t you think she’s rather mean?
d) Wish to persuade sb: Won’t you tell me who did it?

QUESTION TAGS

 Short questions at the end of a statement. They are used when we want to confirm
something or when we want to find out if something is true or not.
They are leaving soon, aren´t they?
 Are formed with an auxiliary verb and the subject pronoun. Do/does/did. She
arrived early, doesn’t she?
 A positive statement is followed by a negative question tag, and a negative
statement is followed by a positive question tag. She is going to apply for that job,
isn’t she? You weren’t listening, were you?
 When we aren’t sure of the answer, our voice goes up in the question tag. He has
been to Paris, hasn’t he?

When we are sure of the answer, our voice goes down. She has got a pet dog,
hasn’t she?

 Question tags can also be affirmative-affirmative. If the voice goes up, we mean
“tell me more”. If the voice goes down, we express negative feelings such as
disappointment or disapproval. We don’t expect an answer. She’s getting married,
is she?
 Echo tags are a response to an affirmative or negative sentence. They are used in
everyday speech to ask for more information, to show interest, concern, anger,
surprise, etc.

Affirmative: He’s leaving- He is, isn’t he? (confirmation) - He is? (surprise)

Negative: He isn’t leaving. – He isn’t, is he? (confirmation). – He isn’t? (surprise)

SHORT ANSWERS

Are used to avoid repetition of the question asked before. Positive short answers are
formed with Yes + personal pronoun + aux verb. “Will she be leaving soon?” “Yes, she
will”.

Negative short answers are formed with No + personal pronoun + negative aux verb. “Did
he arrive on time?” “No, he didn’t”

THE CLAUSE

The clause is a unit made of subject and verb.

 Simple Sentence: only has one clause

The story was made into a film in 1997.

S V

 Compounded Sentence has more than one clause connected but a coordinating
conjunction

They were eventually shot dead by the police in 1934 but their bodies never appeared.

Coordinating conjunctions or clauses could be: but, and, or, yet

 The complex sentence: it has two or more clauses, joined by a subordinating

conjunction.

Altough they looked like an innocent young couple, they were ruthless criminals.

Subordinating conjenctions: after, although, as, because, before, if, however, like, once,
since, that, till, unless, until, whenever, wherever, while.

TENSES: In grammar, tense is a category that expresses time reference with reference to
the moment of speaking.

UNIT 2
ELEMENTS OF A SENTENCE

We have to distinguish the subject-group and the verb-group (or predicate). The
predicate is what is said about the subject, it is all the words in a sentence except the

subject.

 If we can answer the question Who: we have identified the Subject of the
sentence. For example, who wrote a famous book? Mary Shelly wrote a famous
book.
 Question, what, where or when: other elements of the predicate. For example,
the object: What did she write? She wrote a famous book
Or an adverbial: When did she write a famous book? In 1818 Mary Shelly wrote a
famous book.

PARTS OF A SENTENCE

 The Subject:
 Has a close relation to what is being discussed.
 It denotes the actor.
 It precedes the verb
 It changes its position in a question
 It becomes the agent in a passive sentence
 Objects: Direct (DO) and indirect (IO)
o Direct Object: the object of a clause is a NP or NC. Usually refers to the
person, thing, etc affected by the action of the verb. /He did not study
medicine. I saw Peter yesterday./
An object normally follows the verb phrase (SVO order). It comes inmediatly after a
transitive verb.
o Indirect object: usually refers to the person who “benefits” from or receives
the action of the verb. Precedes the DO. If there is an IO, there must be a
DO. The IO is often equivalent to a prepositional phrase with TO/FOR. /I
bought some flowers for Mary/
 Verbs used with TO: bring, feed, give, hand, lend, offer, owe, pass, pay, post,
promise, read, sell, send, show, take, teach, tell, throw, write.

Verbs used with FOR: book, bring, build, buy, change, choose, cook, cut, fetch, find,
fix, get, leave, make, order, pick, prepare, reserve, save, sing.

 The Complement: Subject Complement (SC) and Object Complement (OC)

It’s a constituent necessary to complete a grammatical construction. Has a

straightforward relation to the subject.

o The subject and the complement refer to the same person or thing. It’s an
adjective phrase or a noun phrase.

Tim is a ten-year old boy. His report didn´t look good.

V C V C

o The object complement follow the object and characteries it.

The report made Tim’s parents upset Tim finds Science classes dull.
S V O C S V O C
 The adverbial:
 Its a constituent thay may be optional
 It tipically answers the question when, where, how, why, etc.
 It may be an adverb phrase, a prepositional phrase or a noun
phrase.

You must try harder. AP

I was born in Mendoza in 2001. PP

Your report will be ready next week. NP

THE VERB PHRASE

 It could be Simple or Complex.

 It consists of one or more verbs.
 Only one verb: the main. /Janet likes England. (Simple VP)/
 More than one: auxiliaries + main. /He is studying in Japan. (Complex VP)/
The Verb: categories on function

 Lexical/Full: like, sleep, walk, help (Main)

 Auxiliary:
o Primary: be, have, do (main or aux.)
o Modal: can, may, shall, will, could, would, must, etc. (aux.)
 Semi-auxiliary/quasi-modals: have to, be about to, be to, have got to, had better,
had rather.

Morphology. Full Verbs: verb forms

 The base: live- find- be

 Te –s form: lives- finds- is
 The past: lived- found- was/were
 The ing-participle: living- finding- being
 The –ed participle: lived- found- been

Morphology of lexical verbs

 Irregular: not predictable from the base. Change of vowel to form Past and Past
Participle.

Choose Chose Chosen

Types of irregular verbs

1. Past, past participle = as base

Put put put

2. Past, past participle. The same but ≠ from base.

Hear Heard Heard

 3. Past, past part. ≠ from each other

Write Wrote Written

The functions of verb forms. Finite, non finite verb phrases

 Finite:
o A finite verb as first element in the verb phrase.
o Tense distinction: -s form and past form
o Person and number concord between subject and verb
o Base form: mood
o Modal aux.
I live in Mendoza. Listen to me! He smokes heavily.
 Non-finite:
o Lack tense markers
 A-To infinitive: It’s useful to have studied English. To smoke like
that must be dangerous.
 B-Bare infinitive: They made her pay for the damage. All I did
was hit him on the head.
 C- -ing participle: After having left the office, he went home by car.
 D- -ed participle: The class finished, we went home. Covered with
confussion, they left the room.

AUXILIARY VERBS

PRIMARY AUXILIARY VERBS MODAL VERBS

Be Have Do

 BE:
1. Auxiliary: - Aspect auxiliary: John is walking now.
- Passive auxiliary: Houses were destroyed by the storm yesterday.
 2. Lexical Verbs: eight forms: to be, am, is, are, was, were, being, been.
a. Existence: I´m a student. Mendoza is in Argentina.
b. Physical-mental condition: She´s pretty. He was nervous.
c. Age. The castle is 800 years old.
d. Size and weight. I’m 1.70 metres. My sister is 55 kilos.
e. Price. How much are these chocolates?
f. DO constructions + be in imperative sentences. Do be nice!
Don’t be silly!
 HAVE:
1. Auxiliary:
a. With past participles: perfect tenses.
I have been to Mexico once.
b. With infinitive: obligation – necessity.
I have to wear the uniform.
c. Causative use of have/get: have + obj + past part.
We have just had our car washed.
d. Suffer something: have + obj + past part.
I had my car stolen last weekend.
2. Lexical Verbs: forms: to have- have, has – had – having – had.
a. Possesion: I haven’t any books. I don’t have any books.
Have you a new car? Yes, I have. Do you have..? No, I
don’t.
b. Other meanings: Do – construction
Have: “take” a meal, “give” a party, “encounter” difficulties,
“experience”, “enjoy”, “take” a bath.
I didn’t have any breakfast this morning. (Take)
I don´t have much difficulty with this. (Find)
  DO
1. Auxiliary: no individual meaning - operator. Forms: do, does, don’t, doesn’t,
did, didn’t.
a. Used to form the negative and interrogative: simple present – simple
past.
I like chocolates. I don´t like chocolates. Do you like chocolates?
b. Used in emphatic constructions: I do love you. She did call you.
c. Used in tag question – short answers – substitute clauses: simple
present – simple past.
She lives with her family, doesn’t she? Did you arrive early? Yes,
I did.
2. Lexical Verbs: forms: to do, do, does, did, doing, done.
Meaning: perform, carry out, produce, make
Interrogative – negative: do, does, did.
She does the washing every Monday. The children do their homework
everyday.

CATEGORIES OF VERBS

Linking verbs: The complement is referred to the subject. Normally, after the verb it
comes an adjective.

Martin is a pilot. He remained calm. No one was injured.

Intransitive verbs: They don’t need a complement except some adverbials or prepositional
phrases for place or manner.

When he was flying to London. He landed safely.

Transitive verbs: They need an object

He flies commercial airplanes. He pulled the plane up. He sent a mayday

IMPORTANT TO KNOW!

Clauses types:

 SV: The sun is shining

 SVO: The lecture bored me
 SVC: Your dinner seems ready
 SVA: My office is in the next building
 SVOO: I must send my parents an anniversary card.
 SVOC: Students have found her helpful
 SVOA: You can put the dish on the table.

1) Intensive linking verbs: SVC-SVA. They have a subject complement.

a. Current linking verbs (SVC): be, look, feel, appear, remain, seem, stay, smell,
sound, taste.
This is a really good book. (SVC)
The garden looks really nice. (Adj.) (SVC)
My office is on the second floor. (adv.) (SVA)
2) Resulting linking verbs: the complement is a result of the verb process. Become,
get, grow, fall, run, turn.
He became very sick.
She suddenly turned pale.
The children fell asleep.
3) Extensive-intransitive verbs: SV. No object or complement. Don’t admit passive.
The water boiled.
John smokes (understood object)
Don’t give up. (phrasal verb)
4) Extensive- transitive verbs:
a. Monotransitive: SVO (DO). Take one object, the action affects the object, and
admit passive.
We discussed the problem.
The police caught the thief.
She read his note.
b. Distransitive: SVOO. Take two objects (DO-IO). If we change the position, we
must put a preposition (to-for). Bring, lend, offer, read, sell, show, buy,
teach, tell, write.
I’ll send you a postcard. I’ll send a postcard to you.
She bought him a tie. She bought a tie for him.

5) Complex transitive verbs: SVOC. (DO-OC). Make, name, elect, appoint, call,
declare, announce, consider, think, imagine, paint.
The parents named the baby Susan.
They considered him the best player.
They painted the door blue.
VERB TENSES

Tense is a relationship between the form of the verb and the time of the action or state it
describes. (George Yule)

THE SEMANTICS OF THE VERB PHRASE: Time, Tense, Verb: dynamic/ non-progressive,
Aspect.

 Time: ……past…..x……..future
now
 Tense: realized by the verb inflection: the present- the past tense. Stative and
dynamic senses of verbs.
 Aspect: reflects the way in which the action of the verb is viewed with respect to
time. The Perfect (idea of completeness of the action described) and the
Progressive (limited duration – not complete).
 Mood: the choice between Indicative-Imperative-Subjunctive.

NON – PROGRESSIVE VERBS OR STATIVE VERBS:

 BE-HAVE: state verbs

o Examples: I’m nearly thirty, the children are very intelligent, my brother has a
house in the country.
IMPORTANT!!

USE IN PROGRESSIVE FORMS:

 Be: act. You are being obstinate. Type of behaviour/act in a certain way.
 Have: process-activity. She is having a shower. We were having a good time.

 VERBS OF PERCEPTION: involuntary actions. Ache, feel, hear, hurt, notice,

observe, perceive, see, sense, smell, taste.
o Examples: I taste garlic and mint in the sauce, I hear someone talking, The
flowers smell lovely (linking).
o If we want to continue perception, we can use Can – Could, for example: I
can taste garlic and mint in the sauce, I can see Sue coming down the road.
 Or we can use Sound – Look, for ex. He looks/sounds as if he’s enjoying
himself.
IMPORTANT!!

USE IN PROGRESSIVE FORMS: Verbs of perception: feel, taste, smell. Voluntary actions.

Why are you smelling the meat? I’m just tasting the cake. I’m seeing the manager at 10 am.

 VERBS REFERRING TO MENTAL STATES: agree, annoy, assume, astonish, believe,

ore, care, consider, deny, disagree, estimate, except, fancy, favour, forget, guess,
hesitate, hope, imagine, imply, infer, know, mean, presume, realize, recognize,
recollect, remember, suppose, think, understand, wonder.
o For example: we expect him to leave soon, I believe that you were wrong,
What do you think of the government? (opinion).
 VERBS REFERING TO EMOTIONAL STATES: abhor, admire, adore, appreciate, care,
desire, detest, dislike, doubt, empathize, envy, fear, hate, hope, like, love, prefer,
regret, sympathize, trust, want wish.
o For example: I like this music, I don´t enjoy looking after small children, I
imagine his reaction.

IMPORTANT!!

USE IN PROGRESSIVE FORMS: Verbs referring to mental or emotional states.

 I’m thinking about what you said. (considering).

 I’m forgetting dates nowadays. (beginning to forget)
 You are imagining things. (having hallucinations)

 VERBS OF BEING AND HAVING- POSSESSION: belong to, contain, have, own,
pertain, possess, cost, depend on, deserve, matter.
o For example: This carpet belongs to me, I’m hungry, My father has a very
good job.
 PROGRESSIVE OR NON – PROGRESSIVE FORMS. (TEMPORARY STATE): Verbs of
bodily sensation: ache, feel, hurt, inch, tickle, etc.
 o For example: I don´t feel well today, I am not feeling well today. My foot
hurts, My foot is hurting.

DYNAMIC VERBS:

Refer to actions which are deliberate or voluntary. I’m making a cake.

Refer to changing situations. He’s growing old.

Activities with a beginning and an end.

 Can be used in progressive as well as simple forms.

o I’m looking at you. / I often look at you. I’m listening to music. / I often
listen to music.
 Introduce events. They refer to something that happens.
o Her books sell well. The children play in the yard. We talked about you last
night.
 Occur quite normally with the –ing form.
o Her books are selling well. The children have been playing in the yard. We
were talking about you last night.

PERFECT TENSES AND SEQUENCES OF TENSES

In extended speech or writing, we usually select a governing tense which affects all the
other tense forms. Our choice may be influenced by the following factors:

 Consistency in the use of tenses:

1. if we start a narrative from the point of view of “now”, we usually maintain
the “now” as our point of view. This result in the following combination:

Present (simple/progressive) accords with Present

Perfect/Future. Our postman usually delivers our mail at 7 every morning. It is
nearly lunch time and the mail hasn’t arrived! We suppose the postman is ill.
 2. If we start a narrative from the point of view of “then”, we usually maintains
it. The result is this combination:

Past (simple/progressive) according to Past Perfect.

When I lived in London, the postman usually arrived at 7 every morning. Usually no one in
our house got had got up when the mail arrived.

THE SEQUENCE OF TENSES

 The proximity rule

A present tense in the main clause (for example in a reporting web) normally attracts a
present tense in the subordinate clause: He tells me he is a good tennis-player.

A past tense normally attracts another past: He told me he was a good tennis-player.

A writer or speaker can ignore this rule and use a present tense after a past or a past
after a present in order to be more precise. He told me he is a good… / He tells me he
used to be a good tennis-player.

THE PRESENT PERFECT

 Past situation relevant to the present. I have lived in Spain and the trains are so
much reliable there.
 Recent action with consequences for the present. I have just sold my car and
so now I go to work by bus.
 Situations continuing up to the present. I have enjoyed travelling by train ever
since I was young.
Important!! It goes with non-progressive verbs like have.

Some typical time expressions: just, recently, lately, already, before, so far, still,
ever/never, today, this morning, for weeks, since…

Present Perfect and Past Simple

_We use the Present Perfect to talk about a situation that existed in the past and still
exists now, and the Past Simple when the situation no longer exists.

I’ve commuted to London every weekday for over ten years, and I actually enjoy it.

I commuted to London for over ten years before I started working at home.

_We use the Present Perfect to talk about a repeatedly action that might happen again,
and the Past Simple for a repeated action that won’t happen again.

I have arrived late for work twice this week so far.

I arrived late for work twice this week.

_When we give news or information, we often introduce a topic with the Present Perfect
and then give details with other past tenses.

The new high speed hall link between the north of England and the Channel Tunnel
has opened.

THE PAST PERFECT

 Past event before another past event. This morning I had read a couple of
reports before I got off the train.
 We use the Past Perfect when we say how many times something happened in
a period up to a particular past time. I had spoken to her only a couple of times
before then.

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

 To talk about an action in progress in the past for a period until now, and which
is either still in progress or recently finished. I have been working at home for
the last five years.
 To say how long an action has been in progress. I have been trying to phone
into your programme for the last half hour.
 PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

 To talk about an action in progress over a period to a particular past point in

time. I had been waiting over an hour when they announced that the train had
been cancelled.
 If we are not interested in how long the action went on. I had been waiting on
the platform when…
Important!! This time need a verb in simple past.

Differences between Present Perfect Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous: the
Present is progressive until now. The Past is progressive until a moment of the
past.

GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTIONS THAT EXPRESS FUTURE TIME

 Will/Shall + infinitive A
 Simple Present C
 Present Progressive C
 Be going to + infinitive A
 Will/Shall + be + v-ing. (Future Progressive) B
 Will/Shall + have + past participle (Future Perfect) B

WILL/SHALL + INFINITIVE

 Will: all persons

 Shall: 1st person singular (I) and with the 1st person plural (we).
 For predictions: Will/shall expresses what the speaker thinks, believes, hopes,
assumes, etc. will happen. Tomorrow’s weather will be cold and cloudy.
 For future habitual actions which we assume will take place. Spring will come
again.
 In clauses of condition and time, clauses of time / purpose. If I drop this glass, it
will break.
  To express intention on the moment of decision. Give me your bags, I’ll help you to
carry them.
 In newspaper and in new broadcasts, for formal announcements or future plans
and for the weather forecasts. The president will open the new heliport tomorrow.

BE GOING TO + INFINITIVE

 Future fulfilment of the present intention. The intention is always premeditated.

I’m going to get married next August!
 Future result of a present cause (prediction). The factors giving rise to the future
happening are already present. Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain.
It can be used in this way after verbs as be sure/afraid, believe, think. How pale
that girl is! I am sure/believe/I think she is going to faint.
 There are signs that something will happen. (≠ from will which implies that the
speaker thinks or believes that it will happen) He is going to get better.
 With time clauses when we wish to emphasize the subject’s intention. He is going
to be a dentist when he grows up.

THE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE. Be + present participle

 To refer to the future: transitional dynamic verbs

 For travel arrangements. I’m travelling to London next Saturday.
 For appointments or social programmes. Lucy is coming for a drink this evening.

THE SIMPLE PRESENT

 Independent clauses introduced by: if, unless, when, etc. I’ll lend you the money if
you need it.
 Fixed arrangements, scheduled events. The plane flies to London every Monday.
 For statements about the calendar. Tomorrow is Monday.
THE FUTURE PERFECT. Will + have + past participle

 It refers to an action that will be completed at a definitive time in the future. By

this time next year we will have been married for 30 years. / If all goes well, by June
2020, I will have finished my university degree.

THE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE. Will + Be + Verb + -ing

 To refer to an action that will be in progress at same time in the future or to

describe something that has been pre-arranged. You can take my car tomorrow, I
won’t be using it. / This time next year, we will be living in our new house.

THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE. Will + have + been + verb + -ing

 To talk about an action that will already have started and will still be happening by
a certain time in the future. By the time you get here, we will have been building
the house for a year.

MODAL VERBS

Modals are special verbs which behave very irregularly in English. Main features:

 They contribute modality

 They are followed by bare infinitive
 They have no 3° p.sing.inflection, -ing forms or –ed participles.
 They don’t have imperative forms
 There is only one Modal verb phrase and it appears as the first element.

Inside this we have the PRIMARY AUXILIARS: Be-Have-Do. They are auxiliary verbs-full
verbs.

 CAN:
 ABILITY: (Be able to / be capable / know how to). He can speak English
fluently but He can´t speak German very well.
  PERMISSION: (Be allowed to / be permitted to). CAN is less formal than MAY.
The teacher says we can leave now.
 POSSIBILITY: (It is possible that / it is possible to). To describe things which
are generally possible. The railways can be improved. / It can be very cold
here in winter.
To talk about specific possibilities, we use may / might / could, but not can.
There may be life on Mars. (NOT : there can be life on Mars.)

 COULD
 ABILITY (= be able to) for a general ability in the past. He could play the piano
when he was five.
To talk about a specific occasion in the affirmative use we use BE ABLE TO
not could. Fireman were able to bring the blaze under control.
To emphasize difficulty or to suggest effort, we use MANAGE TO or
SUCCEED IN + ING. I managed to escape by diving into the river. (NOT: I
could escape.)
 PERMISSION (be allowed to / be permitted to). As a child he could do
whatever he wanted. (in general / as a rule)
Negative: We couldn´t bring the dog into the restaurant. (a specific past
occasion).
Affirmative: the dissident was allowed to leave the country. (a specific past
action done with permission).
 POSSIBILITY (it is possible that / to) alternative to MAY / MIGHT. This could
be the last time we ever see you.
We can use it to refer to past possible situations in general. He could be
very unreasonable sometimes.
 PERMISSION AND REQUESTS: COULD is generally considered to be more
polite than can. Could you carry this for me?
 MAY:
 PERMISSION (be allowed to / be permitted to) (in this sense, may = more
formal than can). You may borrow my car if you like.
 POSSIBILITY (it is possible that / to). May is replaced by CAN in questions and
negative sentences. That may be the boy./Can that be the boy?/That can´t
be the boy.
Rare use: to express wishes. May your dreams come true.

 MIGHT:
 PERMISSION: rare use (=be allowed to / be permitted to). Might I some in
here?
 POSSIBILITY (it is possible that / to). Might increases the doubt. We might go
to the concert.
Normally, may or might can be used to express possibility, but might
slightly increases the doubt.

 SHALL: infrequent auxiliary with restricted use, particularly in BE. We use SHALL in
questions to make more tentative offers than with WILL in the affirmative. (The
word shall is now seldom used in any normal context in AmE).
 SUGGESTIONS / OFFERS. Shall we meet at the theatre?

 SHOULD:
 ADVICE AND LOGICAL NECESSITY (=ought to). You should do as he says. /
They should be home by now.
 “PUTATIVE” USE: After a certain expressions of emotion. (it is a pity that / I
am surprised that / It is sad… / It is strange…) I’m sorry that this should have
happened.
  TENTATIVE CONDITIONS IN CONDITIONAL CLAUSES (to talk about something
that might possibly happen). If you should change your mind, please let us
know.

 WILL:
 WILLIGNES (weak volition). Unstressed, especially 2° person-used in requests.
Who will lend me a cigarette?
 INTENTION (intermediate volition) usually contracted ‘ll- mainly 1° person. I’ll
write you as soon as I can.
 INSISTENCE (strong volition = insists on) stressed so no contraction. He will
do it, whatever you say.
 AN ORDER. You will do exactly what I say.
 PREDICTION (similar meanings of other expressions for logical necessity and
habitual present). The contracted form ‘ll is common.
a. Specific prediction. The game will (must, should) be finished by now.
b. Timeless prediction. Oil will float on water.
c. Habitual prediction. He will (always) talk for hours if you give him the
chance.
 WOULD:
 WILLINGNESS (weak volition – request). Would you excuse me? / Would you
mind moving your car?
 INVITATION. Would you like another drink?
 INSISTENCE (strong volition). It’s your own fault, you would take the baby
with you.
 CHARACTERISTIC ACTIVITY IN THE PAST (customary) narrative style. Every
morning he would go for a long walk.
 PROBABILITY. The man on the phone had a thick Yorkshire accent.
 HYPOTHETICAL MEANING IN MAIN CLAUSES. He would smoke too much if I
didn’t stop him.
  MUST:
 INESCAPABLE OBLIGATION: obligation or compulsion in the present tense
(=BE OBLIGED TO / HAVE TO) expect in reported speech (=HAD TO in the
past)
Must: internal obligation – obligation imposed by the speaker.
Have to: external obligation. You must be back by ten.
Needn’t / don’t have to: lack of necessity – not obligated to. You needn’t be
back by ten.
Mustn’t: be obligated NOT TO.
Must not: prohibition. You must not turn on the TV till you have done your
homework.
 LOGICAL NECESSITY / DEDUCTION (Must is not used with negative or
interrogative meanings, CAN is used instead). There must be a mistake. /
There cannot be a mistake.

OUGHT TO:
 OBLIGATION (escapable) You ought to start at once.
 LOGICAL NECESSITY (deduction) They ought to be here by now.

Ought to and SHOULD both denote obligation and logical necessity, but
are less categorical than must and have to. Ought to is awkward in
questions with inversion and should is preferred.

USED TO: (a state or habit that existed in the past but has ceased = was
formerly / once). He used to fish four hours.

DEGREES OF CERTAINTY

100%= TENSE Your father is outside. He was sick yesterday.

97% MUST- CAN`T John is always punctual, so the one ringing the bell must be John. It
can't be Tim. He is always late.
90% SHOULD - SHOULDN'T You have everything you need. Everything should be fine. You
shouldn't have any problem.

85% COULD The motorway could be busy tomorrow. The restaurant could close. (It is less
likely that the restaurant will close.)

70% MAY- MAY NOT There are problems at the airport, he may have to wait for a few
hours. He may not arrive on time.

60% MIGHT - MIGHT NOT The restaurant might close. (There is only a possibility that the
restaurant will close but no one is very sure.)

MORE MODALS…

 NEED AND DARE (marginal modals: they can be used with DO. construction: main
verbs)

Dare and need can be constructed either as main verbs (with to- infinitive and with
inflected –s, -ing and past forms), or as model auxiliaries (with the bare infinitive and
without the inflected forms)
Main verb: Modal Auxiliary:
He needed / dared to escape He needn’t / daren´t escape
He doesn´t need / dare to escape
Do we need / dare to escape Need / Dare we escape?
Doesn´t he need to escape after all? Needn’t he escape after all?
Doesn´t he dare to escape? Dare he not escape?

The modal construction is restricted to negative and interrogative sentences,

whereas the main verb construction can almost always be used, and is more common.
The use of dare and need as auxiliaries is rarer in AmE. than in BrE, where it is also quite
rare.

 As a modal DARE can be used, without inflection, for past and present time.

The king was so hot-tempered that no one dare tell him the bad news.
 dare not tell
(main verb might also occur)

 Blends between the auxiliary construction and the main verb construction
occur and seem to be widely acceptable (more in the case of dare than in
that of need.)

They do not dare ask for more. Do they dare ask for more?

They dared not carry out their threat. (blend - -ed past inflection is not
characteristic of modal verbs)
do-construction followed by the bare infinitive

 Blends with need are usually of the type with –s inflection and bare
infinitive.
One needs only reflect for a second

 Dare occurs (with nuclear stress) in the following idiomatic constructions

expressing threatening rebuke:
How 'dare you do such a thing?
Don’t you 'dare speak to me like that! (blend, do-construction and bare inf.)

 Formulaic construction: I dare say followed by a that – clause. Often written

as a single word
I daresay she’s right. (the normal sense of dare is lost here)

 As a modal aux. need has no tense contrast. To express past time we can
place need before the perfective aspect:
You need not have done it
You did not need to do it (main verb)
There is no semantic equivalence between the active and the passive.
The boy daren’t contact her She daren´t be contacted by him

There is a higher acceptance for blends with AmE than with BrE speakers because dare and
need are such unusual verbs in AmE in these constructions that people display passive
acceptance of them.
Needn’t he go?
Doesn’t he have to go?
 Does he have to go? Proposed lexical changes.
Shouldn’t he go?

USED TO: (marginal modal) denotes a habit or a state that existed in the past.
It always takes the to –inf. and only occurs in the past tense.

It is pronounced /ju:stu:/ or /ju:stu/ before vowels or ellipsis

/ju:stə / before consonants
Used to occurs both as an operator and with DO-construction (spellings use to and used to
occur)

He usen´t to smoke BrE He didn’t use to smoke (1) BrE and AmE)
He used not to smoke He didn’t used to smoke (2)

(1) preferred in AmE and BrE

(2) regarded as non-standard

Used he to smoke? Rare, both in AmE and BrE.

Did he use to smoke?
He used to smoke, didn’t he? Tag questions have DO – construction

Used to + inf. Should be distinguished from used to + noun phrase or

used to + -ing participle clause.
She is used to life in the country
living in the country

Participial adjective followed by the preposition to. Meaning: accustomed to.

There is a tendency for speakers to avoid the problem of negative used to by employing the
negative adverbs never: I never used to watch television.

 HAD BETTER, WOULD RATHER / SOONER, BE TO, HAVE GOT TO

They begin with an auxiliary verb, and are followed by an infinitive (sometimes preceded
by to)

had had
We better leave soon. Yes, we
 ’d ’d better (´d better had)

I’d rather not say anything.

They ´ve got to leave immediately.
The conference is to take place in Athens.

o They are not entirely like auxiliaries, since they do not behave as operators. The 1st
word alone acts as operator in neg. and interrog. sentences.
Hadn’t we better lock the door?
Would you rather eat in a hotel?
We haven’t got to pay already, have we?
I wasn’t to know that you were waiting.

o Had better and would rather have two kinds of negation:

I’d rather not stay here alone. not follows the whole expression
You’d better not lock the door.

A second type of negation is in which not follows the 1st word, is typically used in “second
instance” contexts (especially neg. questions) where an earlier statement or assumption is
being challenged.

A: Wouldn’t you rather live in the country? (Yes, I would)

B: No, I would not. I’d rather live here.
Had we better not go? (Would it be advisable if we didn’t go?)
Hadn’t we better go? (I think we had better go; don’t you agree?)

 WOULD RATHER differs from central modals and marginal modals in that it is
incapable of showing active-passive synonymy.

I’d rather rent the cottage. * The cottage would rather be rented by me.

 HAVE GOT TO and BE TO are more like main verbs in that they have an –s form
and normal present and past tense contrast.

The committee is to meet today

was to meet yesterday
 She has got to leave by tomorrow.
had got to leave by the next day BrE

Had got to does not occur in Am.E and is rare in BrE esp. in questions.

 LESS COMMON IDIOMS. (might be placed in the same category)

I would sooner leave the decision to you. expresses preference  would rather.
I would (just) as soon eat at home.
We may / might (just) as well pay at once.
You had best forget this incident.

Sometimes in AmE ´d rather is realized as had rather instead of would rather.

Would rather / sooner express preference (would prefer to…) may be followed by a
comparative construction beginning with than.
I’d rather / sooner live in the county than in the city.

In informal speech, the 1st word of have got to and had better is often elided. The
pronunciation is reduced to /´got /, /betə / making it resemble a single modal aux.
Represented in very informal written style, omission of ´ve and ´d and sometimes by the
nonstandard spelling gotta:
´ve
You got to be careful these days.
gotta
´d
They better go home.

 MEANINGS OF THE MODAL IDIOMS.

Had better  “advisability”, similar to ought to and should

Would rather  volitional meaning “would prefer to”
Have got to  “obligation” and “logical necessity”. Considered a variant of have to
Be to  expressing futurity, with connotations of “compulsion”, “plan”, “destiny”
 in the past: was to, were to  futurity from the standpoint of past time
orientation.
in conditional clauses, the subjunctive were  hypothetical future meaning.
Be to must not be confused with an apparently identical construction in which the copula
BE is followed by a nominal or adverbial infinitive clause:
The committee is to find a solution (modal idiom)
The problem is to find a solution (nominal infinitive clause - SC)

Semi Auxiliaries: be going to, be able to, be about to, be apt to, be due to, be bound to, be
likely to, be meant to, be obliged to, be supposed to, be willing to, have
to..

They consist of a set of verb idioms which express modal or aspectual meaning and which
are introduced by one of the primary aux. have and be.
The semi aux. introduced by be satisfy the seven criteria for aux. verbs

1- Operator in negation with not: in forming finite neg. clauses, the 1st aux. is placed
before the neg. word not.

She can do it. She cannot do it.

2- Negative and verb contractions: The neg. word not can be contracted and attached to
the aux.

isn’t, hadn’t, didn’t, wouldn’t, won’t, couldn’t, etc.

She is not studying

She’s not studying
She isn’t studying

3- Inversion of subject and operator: aux. as operators admit inversion, esp. in interrog.
clauses.

She will come. Will she come?

4- Emphatic positive: aux. as operators can carry nuclear stress to mark a finite clause as
positive rather than neg.
 - the function is to deny a neg. which has been stated or implied.

A: You must speak to the teacher. B: I ’have spoken to her.

A: Won’t you try again? B: I ’will try again.

5- Operator in reduced clauses: where the main verb is omitted either by ellipsis or by
pro-form substitution.

a- Ann will stay and so will Barbara. So / neither / nor + operator

Bill stayed and so did Henry

Ann won’t stay and neither will Barbara,

Bill didn’t stay, nor did Henry

b- Ann will stay late and Barbara will too. Operator + too / either
Bill broke his promise, and Henry did too.
Ann won’t eat much and Barbara won’t either.

6- Pre-Adverb position: frequency words: always or never and disjuncts like certainly or
probably, follow aux. as operators and precede main verbs.

She never believed his story.

probably

She would never believe his story.

probably

7- Quantifier position: quantifiers like all, both, each, may occur after the operator as an
alternative to the pre determiner position.

All the boys will be there. The boys will all be there.
Both my parents are working. My parents are both working.

8- Independence of subject: aux. are semantically independent of the subject. There is

lack of semantic restrictions between the subject and the aux.

The man ought to be here at five.

The bus

The bus hopes to be here at five.

The man
 There used to be a school on the island. Possibility of construction with
existential there
*There hoped

Thousands of people will meet the president. aux. admit the change from
active
The president will be met by thousands of people to passive voice without
change of meaning

Semi Auxiliaries:

They resemble aux. in permitting synonymous passives and there – constructions.

Brazil is going to win the World Cup

The World Cup is going to be won by Brazil.
Several home teams are going to be beaten tomorrow.
There are going to be several home teams beaten tomorrow.

Have to : occurrence in the full range of nonfinite forms (different from have got to)

I may have to leave early

People are having to boil their drinking water during this emergency.
The administration has had to make unpopular decisions.

It may occur in modal, progressive, and perfective construction.

In these cases it is impossible to substitute it for have got to.
In meaning have to is similar to must. It stands for must in past constructions where must
cannot occur.

These days you must work hard if you want to succeed. have to = obligation
In those days you had to work hard if you wanted to succeed.

There must be some solution to the problem. Have to = logical necessity

There had to be some solution to the problem.

Have to patterns either as a main verb or as an auxiliary with respect to operator

constructions.

Do we have to get up early tomorrow? AmE and BrE

Have we to get up early tomorrow? BrE (old-fashioned)
Have got to has the same meanings of obligation and logical necessity as have to, but it
tends not to have habitual meaning.

Jim’s got to check the temperature every 12 hours. Directive – duties in the future
Jim has to check the temperature every 12 hours. Habitual action

Modal Auxiliaries: are closely associated with speech acts such as giving advice, orders,
making promises or threats, etc.

Characteristics of Modal Auxiliaries:

1- They are followed by the bare infinitive.

I can go

2- They do not have non finite forms: to infinitive, -ing forms, -ed particle

3- They do not take –s form for the 3rd person singular.

I can come
She can come.

4- Both present and past forms can be used with present or future time reference.
(abnormal time reference)
He can leave now / tomorrow.
He could leave now / tomorrow.

Active: They built this house in 1486.

(object)

Passive: This house was built in 1486.

(subject)

STRUCTURE: be + Past participle

  Only verbs used transitively
 Focus on person/thing affected by an action
 The subject becomes the agent
 The object becomes the subject
 Preposition by inserted before the agent.

USES:

 Spontaneous, deliberate use – no commitment

-English is spoken in many countries.

-A mistake has been made in calculating your change / -Sometimes our efforts are not fully
appreciated

 The passive for focus

-The new swimming pool has just been opened.

 Avoiding vague words as subject

-My bag was stolen / -The form has to be signed

REASONS FOR NOT MENTIONING THE AGENT

o You don’t know who the agent is. -Three millions were stolen from the bank.
o It is not important -The match has been cancelled.
o It is obvious -Sleeping sickness can be cured if it is detected
early enough.
o It has already been mentioned -The government responded quickly and new
measures were passed.
o People in general are the agents. -Tea is drunk all over the world.
o Wish to conceal the agent’s identity – distance. -The workers have been told
that the factory will close next week.
o In accounts of processes – scientific experiments. -The red wine are left to
mature… are fermented and matured for three months.

MENTIONING THE AGENT WITH “BY”

  Emphasis (at the end of clause). -All the trouble was caused by your mother. /
Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare. / Instrument: He was shot with a
rifle.

CONTEXT OF THE PASSIVE

 Formal notices and announcements. The new hospital will be opened by

the Queen on May 15th.
 Press reports. The escaped men are believed to be wearing prison
clothes.
 Headlines, advertisements, notices… Family rescued from burning house
last night.
 Scientific writing. Our environment has been greatly damaged due
to pollution.

Transitive verbs are not used in the passive. Have – fit - suit – resemble

SPECIAL USES

 Transitive verbs are not used in passive. Have – fit – suit – resemble.
 Verbs with two objects. Bring – tell – send – show – teach – promise – buy – take

AV. –Patrick gave Laura some flowers.

PV. – Laura was given some flowers by Patrick. / Some flowers were given to Laura by
Patrick.

 Personal – impersonal constructions. Think – believe – say – report – know –

understand

AC. –People believed that he lied on court.

PV. –It is believed (that) he lied on court. / He is believed to have lied on court.

THE PASSIVE WITH GET (informal)

-Four people got hurt in the car crash. (accidental)

-We are having our flat decorated / We are getting our flat decorated. (+informal)
-I got my work finished in the end. (manage)

 Idiomatic expressions: get married – get divorced – get dressed – get lost
We got married ten years ago.

 Modal verbs in Passive: modal + be + past participle

AV. He must deliver the parcels.
PV. The parcels must be delivered.

PATTERNS WITH HAVE AND GET

1. The active: have/get + object + infinitive

This pattern means “cause someone to do something”. Have takes a bare infinitive and
get a to-infinitive.

I had the garage service my car.

I got the garage to service my car.

2. The passive: have/get + object + passive participle

This pattern means “cause something to be done”.

I had my car serviced. This means that I arranged for someone, for example a garage, to
I got my car serviced. service my car.

You should have/get the job done professionally.

I had/got the machine repaired only last week.

We’re having/getting a new kitchen fitted.

Where did you have/get your hair cut?

3. Have meaning “experience”.

“Experience something”, often something unpleasant. The subject is the person to whom
something happens.

-We had a window broken in the storm.

-My sister has had some money stolen.

THE PASSIVE TO- INFINITIVE AND GERUND

Patterns
The passive to-infinitive can come in the same patterns as the active (after some verbs or
adjectives)

A. To-infinitive

I expect to be invited to the wedding. It’s awful to be criticized in public.

I’d like this rubbish to be cleared away as soon as possible.

B. Perfect to-infinitive

I’d like this rubbish to have been cleared away when I get back.

C. Gerund

Being searched by customs officers is unpleasant.

Let’s not risk being caught in a traffic jam. I was afraid of being laughed at.

The government tried to stop the book being published.

To-infinitive

-I wanted them to play the match.

-I wanted the match to be played.

Perfect to-infinitive

-They expect to have played the match by then.

-They expect the match to have been played by then.

Gerund

-They left without playing the match.

-They left without the match being played.

Perfect gerund

-They left without having played the match.

-They left without the match having been played.