Wh-words are what, when, where, who, which, why and how. We use clauses with a wh- word: In wh-questions (see Questions and Negatives): What are you doing? Who ate all the pies? Why did you do that? after verbs of thinking: know – understand – suppose – remember – forget – wonder I know where you live. She couldn’t remember who he was. John wondered what was…
Present Perfect
The present perfect tense has a number of uses. 1 We use it to talk about experience. I’ve worked in 6 different countries. Have you ever been to Australia? She’s won many awards for her books. When these things happened is not…
Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous
The present perfect simple suggests completion while the continuous suggests something is unfinished. Present Perfect Simple and Present Perfect Continuous We use the present perfect tense to talk about things where there is a connection between the past and the…
Words that are often confused
Some words are often confused by language learners – because they are similar to another word or because they look like a word in your own language but have a different meaning. Here are some words that often cause confusion.…
Wish and If only
Wish and ‘If only’ are both used to talk about regrets – things that we would like to change either about the past or the present. Talking about the present If only I didn’t have so much homework I could go…
Past ability & possibility
In the present tense we use ‘can’ to talk about a general ability – e.g. I can swim – and also for ability at a particular moment – e.g. I can see you! The rules for talking about past abilities are different. General ability…
(Modals – deduction (present
We use modal verbs to say how sure we are about something. must We use must when we feel sure that something is true because there’s very strong evidence. He must live near here because he comes to work on foot. We don’t…
Modals
Permission, Prohibition, Obligation, No obligation To express permission, prohibition, obligation and no obligation we usually use modal verbs. Permission Can is often used to ask for and give permission. Can I sit here? You can use my car if you like. Can I make a suggestion? We…
’Verbs followed by ‘ing’ or by ‘to + infinitive
When one verb is followed by another, the second verb can either be an infinitive or an –ing form. Some verbs can be followed by only an infinitive , others by only an –ing form and some by both but…
Question forms & subject/object questions
To form yes/no questions where there is an auxiliary verb or a modal verb, we invert the word order of a positive sentence. Question forms & subject/object questions Review of question forms Yes/No questions Is he a teacher? Yes he is. Can…