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Theme 1: Grammar Reference

Grammar: Present Simple Affirmative: Subject You

base verb think.

Negative: Subject He

question word + not does not

base verb think.

Interrogative: Question Word Do

Subject you

base verb think?

PRESENT SIMPLE

PRESENT

FUTURE

Future Timetables “Your bus leaves at 10am.”

Use with: this evening, at … o’clock, tomorrow

Future in Time Clauses “I will go out when it stops raining.” Use with: until, when, as soon as,

after, before

Always True “Two plus two equals four”

Permanent Situations “I live in Vancouver.”

Short Actions (Now) “She takes the pen and throws it.”

Habits “He wakes up at 8am every day.”

Use with: occasionally, sometimes, always, on Mondays, once a week,

twice a month etc.

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Grammar: Present Continuous Affirmative Subject She

to be is

base verb +ing talking

Negative Subject She

to be + not is not (isn’t)

base verb +ing talking

Interrogative to be Is

Subject she

base verb +ing talking?

Definite Future Plans “I am meeting my friend tomorrow.” Use with: tomorrow, later, at 5pm,

on Saturday, tonight etc.

Unfinished Actions (Now) “I am studying at the moment.” Use with: now, at the moment

Temporary Situations “I am staying in Vancouver for two

weeks.” Use with: at the moment, for a

week, for a few months etc.

Habits (Temporary) “She is reading a lot nowadays.” Use with: at the moment, these

days, nowadays

Habits (Annoying) “You are always picking your nose!”

Use with: always, forever, constantly

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

PRESENT

FUTURE

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Grammar: Future Simple Affirmative Subject I

will / be going to will / am going to

base verb go.

Negative Subject She

will +not will not (won’t)

base verb go.

Interrogative Will Will

Subject you

base verb go?

Negative Subject She

be + not going to is not (isn’t) going to

base verb go

Interrogative Be Are

Subject you

going to + base verb going to go?

FUTURE SIMPLE

WILL

BE GOING

TO Future Prediction

“There are lots of clouds in the sky, it is going to rain.”

Future Prediction “I will pass the test tomorrow”

Promises/Requests/ Refusals/Offers

“I will help you with your homework.”

Future Conditionals (if) “If I pass the test, I will be happy.”

Use with: the first conditional

Plans and Intentions A: “We have no more dog food.”

B: “I know, I am going to buy some more today.”

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Grammar: Forming Plurals

Regular Nouns

• Most singular nouns form the plural by adding –s.

Example: dog - dogs

• A singular noun ending in s, x, z, ch, sh makes the plural by adding –es.

Example: fox - foxes wish - wishes

• A singular noun ending in a consonant and then y makes the plural by dropping the y

and adding-ies.

Example: baby - babies family - families

Irregular Nouns

• Some nouns ending in -f, -fe make the plural by changing the f to –ves.

Example: thief - thieves wife - wives

• Some nouns ending in o make the plural by adding –es.

Example: tomato - tomatoes volcano - volcanoes

• Some nouns change vowels

Example: man - men woman - women goose - geese foot - feet

• Some nouns have the same spelling when they are plural.

Example: fish - fish moose - moose sheep - sheep

species - species series - series means - means

• Some nouns don’t follow the normal rules.

Example: mouse - mice child - children person - people

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Theme 2: Grammar Reference

Grammar: Past Simple

Affirmative: Subject You

past form thought

Negative: Subject He

did + not did not

base verb think.

Interrogative: Did/Question word + did What did

Subject you

base verb think?

PAST SIMPLE

PRESENT /

FUTURE

Unreal/Imaginary Things “If I were rich, I would buy a house

in Vancouver.” Use with: wish, second conditional

Finished Time Word “I went to the theatre yesterday.”

Use with: yesterday, last night, 2 months ago

Finished Time Period “She finished her homework.”

Details “I have finished my homework. It

was hard.” Use with: the present perfect

Actions in a Story “We sat down and were ordering coffee when a ghost appeared.” Use with: the past continuous

PAST

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Grammar: Present Perfect Simple

Affirmative: Subject She

to have has

past participle visited.

Negative: Subject She

to have + not has not (hasn’t)

past participle visited.

Interrogative: To have Has

Subject she

past participle visited?

Negative Interrogative: To have +not Hasn’t

Subject she

past participle visited?

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

UNFINISHED

How Long “She has known Jin since 2005.”

“They have lived in Vancouver for two years.”

Use with: since, for

Life Experience “I have never been to Tokyo.”

Use with: ever, never

News/Recent Events “The Prime Minister has just made

an important announcement.” Use with: just, yet, already,

recently

Results (Present) “We have failed the class.”

(because we did not study)

Time Word “I have been in class all week.”

Use with: this week/month/year, today

FINISHED

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Grammar: Past Continuous Affirmative: Subject She

was/were was

base verb +ing reading.

Negative: Subject She

was/were + not was not (wasn’t)

base verb +ing reading.

Interrogative: To have Was

Subject she

base verb +ing reading?

Negative Interrogative: To have +not Wasn’t

Subject she

base verb +ing reading?

PAST CONTINUOUS

Story Background “It was raining hard and we were walking to school. Then suddenly a man jumped out of

his car!”

Overlapping Action “I was walking to school when I met

Adrian.”

Use with: when + past simple

Habits (Past) “He was always singing in the shower.”

Use with: always, forever, constantly, at

that time, in those days

Emphasis (Length of Action) “I was studying all day.”

Use with: all day, all evening, for hours

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Grammar: Prefixes and Suffixes

Common Prefixes

Prefix Definition Examples

anti- against anticlimax

de- opposite deactivate

dis- not; opposite of disapprove

en-, em- cause to enact, empower

fore- before; front of foreshadow, forearm

in-, im- in income, impulse

in-, im-, il-, ir- not indirect, immoral, illiterate, irreverent

inter- between; among international

mid- middle midfield

mis- wrongly misspell

non- not nonviolent

over- over; too much overeat

pre- before preview

re- again rewrite

semi- half; partly; not fully semifinal

sub- under subway

super- above; beyond superhuman

trans- across transmit

un- not; opposite of unusual

under- under; too little underestimate

Common Suffixes

Suffix Definition Examples

-able, -ible is; can be affordable, sensible

-al, -ial having characteristics of universal, facial

-ed past tense verbs; adjectives walked; interested

-en made of golden

-er, -or one who; person connected with teacher, professor

-er more taller

-est the most tallest

-ful full of helpful

-ic having characteristics of poetic

-ing verb forms; present participles sleeping

-ion, -sion, -ation, -tion

act; process submission, motion,

relation, edition

-ity, -ty state of activity, society

-ive, -ative, -itive adjective form of noun active, comparative, sensitive

-less without hopeless

-ly how something is lovely

-ment state of being; act of contentment

-ness state of; condition of openness

-ous, -eous, -ious having qualities of riotous, courageous, gracious

-s, -es more than one trains, trenches

-y characterized by gloomy

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Theme 3: Grammar Reference

Grammar: Relative Pronouns

General information Relative pronouns are used to join two sentences. For example, the following two sentences,

I found an apartment. This apartment has three rooms.

I found an apartment which has three rooms. Relative pronouns have many different forms: who, whom, whose, that, which, that which, what.

Specific Person Specific Thing Unspecified Thing

Subject who that / which that / which

Direct Object who / whom that / which that / which

Object of a Preposition

preposition + whom preposition + which preposition + that /

which

Special Rules

Possession Time Space

whose when where

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Subject Example sentences:

• There's the man who stole my wallet! • I read a book that entertained me a lot. • He made a mistake which embarrassed him.

Object Example Sentences:

• She is a person whom I respect a great deal. • He ordered a lemonade which he didn't drink. • She is talking about the trip that we're going to take.

Note: Use of the relative pronoun is optional (except in the case of "that” or “which" when referring to specific antecedents); the same sentences as above may be written correctly without the pronoun:

• She is talking about the trip we're going to take.

Possession: "whose"

The pronoun "whose" indicates possession by people, animals and things.

• The tourist whose jacket was yellow, got lost yesterday. • Here is the book whose author I couldn’t remember.

Prepositional objects (not as commonly used)

The preposition generally goes before the pronoun:

• Here's the tree next to which I proposed to my wife.

Time

The pronoun "when" is used with nouns indicating time. However, it is rarely necessary to include this pronoun:

• I remember the day when we met. • I remember the day we met.

Space

When more specific prepositions (such as "on," "under,", etc.) are not necessary, the general pronoun "where" will suffice:

• Here's the house where my parents were born.

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Grammar: Adjectives vs Adverbs

An adjective is a word or set of words

that modifies (i.e., describes) a noun or

pronoun. Adjectives may come before the

word they modify.

Examples:

That is a cute puppy.

She likes a high school senior.

Adjectives may also follow the word they

modify:

Examples:

That puppy looks cute.

The technology is state-of-the-art.

An adverb is a word or set of words that

modifies verbs, adjectives, or other

adverbs.

Examples:

He speaks slowly

I run quickly

Some adverbs are used to modify an adjective.

Adverbs that do this are: very, extremely, really, totally, absolutely, quite, fairly, well. These are normally placed before the adjective.

Examples:

He speaks very slowly

He is very rich.

They are extremely happy.

She was totally crazy.

My dog is well trained.

25 Most Common Adjectives:

good new first last long great little own other old

right big

high

different small large next early

young important

few public bad

same able

25 Most Common Adverbs:

up so out just now how then more also here well only very

even back there down still in as too

when never really most

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Grammar: Comparatives and Superlatives Comparative Adjectives: Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster, higher). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared, in this pattern: Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object). Example: My sister is taller than me. The cake is more delicious than the cookie. Superlative Adjectives: Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a quality (the tallest, the smallest, the fastest, the highest). They are used in sentences where a subject is compared to a group of objects. Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object). Example: My sister is the tallest person in my family. This is the most delicious cake I have ever had.

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Grammar: Forming Comparatives and Superlatives Forming comparatives and superlatives is easy. The form depends on the number of syllables

in the original adjective.

One Syllable Adjectives: Add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. If the adjective has a consonant +

single vowel + consonant spelling, the final consonant must be doubled before adding the

ending.

Adjective

cleaner big

Comparative cleaner bigger

Superlative cleanest biggest

Two Syllable Adjectives: Adjectives with two syllables can form the comparative either by adding -er or by preceding

the adjective with more. These adjectives form the superlative either by adding -est or by

preceding the adjective with most. In many cases, both forms are used, although one usage

will be more common than the other. If you are not sure whether a two-syllable adjective can

take a comparative or superlative ending, play it safe and use more and most instead. For

adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i before adding the ending.

Adjective

simple happy

crowded

Comparative simpler happier

more crowded

Superlative simplest happiest

most crowded exciting more honest most honest Three or More Syllable Adjectives: Adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative by putting more in front of the

adjective, and the superlative by putting most in front

Adjective beautiful

important

Comparative more beautiful more important

Superlative most beautiful

most important

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Grammar: Forming Equatives Equatives: Equatives are used to compare equal or unequal attributes (as tall as, as peaceful as, not as large as, not as comfortable as). Comparing Equal Attributes:

To compare the attributes of two things that are equal, we use:

as + adjective + as

Example: Ken is as tall as his brother.

Comparing Unequal Attributes:

When the two attributes are not equal, we commonly use one of these methods:

A. not as + adjective + as

Example: Ben is not as tall as James.

B. comparative adjective + than:

Example: James is taller than Ben. or Ben is shorter than James.

This construction may require changing the order of the phrase or using the opposing adjective.

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Grammar: Conditionals

In conditional sentences, the order of the clauses is not fixed. You may have to

rearrange the pronouns and adjust punctuation when you change the order of the

clauses, but the meaning is identical. Normally when the ‘if clause’ is first, you need to

include a comma, when it is second, there is no comma between the clauses.

• First Conditional

Used to discuss things which might happen in the future.

Describes possible things, which could easily come true.

If Clause (condition) Main Clause (result)

If + present simple, future simple.

Example: If it snows, I will go skiing.

Example: I will go skiing if it snows.

Example: If the traffic is good, we will arrive early.

• Second Conditional

Used to discuss things in the future that are unlikely to happen.

(We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal

writing.)

If Clause (condition) Main Clause (result)

If + past simple, would/might/could + base verb.

Example: If I were rich, I would buy a house in downtown Vancouver.

Example: If you studied harder, you would get better grades.

Example: You would get better grades if you studied harder.

Also used to discuss something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true

Example: If I were you, I would change job.

• Third Conditional

Used to talk about the past. It's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to

imagine the result of this situation.

If Clause (condition) Main Clause (result)

If + past perfect, would/might/could + have + past participle.

Example: If I had woken up earlier, I wouldn’t have missed the bus.

Example: She would have become a teacher if she had gone to university.

Example: If he had stayed at home, he would have been happier.