Interchange Level 2 - Unit 12

12 It Could Happen to You

Past Continuous vs Simple Past

Form

Simple Past	Past Progressive
irregular verbs: see 2nd column of irregular verbs I spoke regular verbs: verb + ed I worked	past form of 'be' + ing form of verb I was speaking you were speaking he / she / it was speaking we were speaking they were speaking
Exceptions
Exceptions when adding 'ed' : when the final letter is e, only add d. Example: love - loved after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: admit - admitted final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelled after a consonant, final y becomes i. (but: not after a vowel) Example: worry - he worried but: play - he played	Exceptions when adding 'ing' : silent e is dropped (but: does not apply for -ee) Example: come - coming but: agree - agreeing after a short, stressed vowel, the final consonant is doubled Example: sit - sitting final l is always doubled in British English (not in American English) Example: travel - travelling final ie becomes y. Example: lie - lying

See also explanations on Simple Past and Past Progressive

Use

After another or at the same time?

Do you want to express that the actions in the past happened one after another or at the same time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
after another She came home, switched on the computer and checked her e-mails.	at the same time Simon was playing on the computer while his brother was watching TV.

New action or already in progress?

If you want to express that a new action happened in the middle of another action, you need both tenses: Simple Past the new action and Past Progressive for the action already in progress.

Simple Past	Past Progressive
new action My mobile rang (when I was sitting in a meeting.)	action already in progress While I was sitting in a meeting, (my mobile suddenly rang.)

Only mentioning or emphasising progress?

Do you just want to mention that an action took place in the past (also used for short actions)? Or do you want to put emphasis on the progress, e.g. that an action was taking place at a certain time?

Simple Past	Past Progressive
just mentioning Colin played football yesterday.	emphasising progress Yesterday at six o'clock, Colin was playing football.

Certain Verbs

The following verbs are usually only used in Simple Past (not in the progressive form).

• state: be, cost, fit, mean, suit
  Example: We were on holiday.
• possession: belong, have
  Example: Sam had a cat.
• senses: feel, hear, see, smell, taste, touch
  Example: He felt the cold.
• feelings: hate, hope, like, love, prefer, regret, want, wish
  Example: Jane loved pizza.
• brain work: believe, know, think, understand
  Example: I did not understand him.
• introductory clauses for direct speech: answer, ask, reply, say
  Example: “I am watching TV,“ he said.

Signal words

Simple Past	Past Progressive
first then If-Satz Typ II (If I talked, …)	when while as long as

The Present Perfect Continuous Tense

The present perfect continuous tense is like the present perfect, but the activity is continuous, while sometimes the present perfect isn't.

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 11

Unit 11 -  It´s really worth seeing!

Interesting Famous Landmarks World Wide

Passive with by

English Grammar - Past Simple & Present Perfect

Passive Voice exercise 1 present simple, past simple passive voice

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 10

10. I don`t like working on weekends.

The top 10 skills that'll get you a job when you graduate

With so many graduates now on the market, employers will look for evidence of skills and work experience which will make you stand out from the crowd. Start gathering them now or work on what you've got so you are ready to impress recruiters.

Graduate employers place a lot of emphasis on finding candidates with the right skills and competencies for their organisations. Depending on the career sector and profession you choose to work in, there could be very specific skills, abilities and knowledge needed to do the job. However, complementing these are general competences and behaviours that are essential for successful working. These are often overlooked by candidates, but they are the things recruitment professionals want to see evidence of.

The top ten skills graduate recruiters want

1. Commercial awareness (or business acumen): This is about knowing how a business or industry works and what makes a company tick. Showing that you have an understanding of what the organisation wants to achieve through its products and services, and how it competes in its marketplace.

• How to show employers your commercial awareness

2. Communication: This covers verbal and written communication, and listening. It's about being clear, concise and focused; being able to tailor your message for the audience and listening to the views of others.

• How to impress graduate recruiters with your communication skills

3. Teamwork: You'll need to prove that you're a team player but also have the ability to manage and delegate to others and take on responsibility. It's about building positive working relationships that help everyone to achieve postive goals and business objectives.

• How to use your teamwork skills to get a graduate job

4. Negotiation and persuasion: This is about being able to put forward your way, but also being able to understand where the other person is coming from so that you can both get what you want or need and feel positive about it.

5. Problem solving: You need to display an ability to take a logical and analytical approach to solving problems and resolving issues. It's also good to show that you can approach problems from different angles.

• How to show employers your problem solving skills

6. Leadership: You may not be a manager straight away, but graduates need to show potential to motivate teams and other colleagues that may work for them. It's about assigning and delegating tasks well, setting deadlines and leading by good example.

• How to show your leadership potential in job applications

7. Organisation: This is about showing that you can prioritise, work efficiently and productively, and manage your time well. It's also good to be able to show employers how you decide what is important to focus on and get done, and how you go about meeting deadlines.

• How to show that you can manage your time well

8. Perseverance and motivation: Employers want people to have a bit of get-up-and-go. Working life presents many challenges and you need to show employers that you're the kind of person who will find a way through, even when the going gets tough... and stay cheerful-ish.

9. Ability to work under pressure: This is about keeping calm in a crisis and not becoming too overwhelmed or stressed.

10. Confidence: In the workplace you need to strike the balance of being confident in yourself but not arrogant, but also have confidence in your colleagues and the company you work for.

Gerunds; short responses

The Gerund - English Grammar

Use

-ing form used as a noun

Form

infinitive + -ing

Examples

Going to parties is fun.	I enjoy reading.
Gerund is subject	Gerund is object

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 9

Unit 9 - Back to the future.

Verb tenses receive a lot of attention in English instruction—in fact, they receive perhaps more attention than any other aspect of grammar.

And with good cause: there are thirteen verb tenses in English, if you look at tense as ways to discuss time. The English-speaking world is obsessed with time and its passage: clocks of various types are ubiquitous in most English-speaking countries; a watch is still considered a fine gift marking the passage into adulthood; tardiness is frowned on, and so forth. This value of time may be why so much attention is given to verb tense instruction: given our obsession with time, we need a way to talk about it. So the attention to verb tenses is not the problem. The concern is student papers coming in, even after weeks of drill in the simple present and past, missing all of the “-ed” “-s” endings. Teachers often shrug and say “It’s developmental.”

That may be so, but it begs the question of whether drills in verb tense make sense if students aren’t “developmentally ready” for the material anyway. I suspect, however, something else is going on—there is a problem with the sequence of instruction. Rather than plowing through simple present, then simple past, and simple future, because supposedly these are easier to learn, I suggest all of the present tenses be taught together, then all of the past, and then future. Why should the tenses be taught in this manner?

Put the verb tense in context

Language learning, like learning in general, occurs in relation to other learning. The simple present tense is best learned in relation to the present continuous: “I drive a car every day, but I am not driving right now,” demonstrates the contrast between the simple present and present continuous: a habitual activity rather than one engaged in at the moment.

Introduce students to the system

Give students an overview of the entire verb system in the different time frames. The purpose of this is not to get students to learn or memorize the material right away but to get an overview of this variety of tenses and see how they relate to each other. I find it helpful to put the time frame across the top of the board or handout and the aspect down the side:

	Past	Present	Future
simple	I walked.	I walk.	I will walk.
continuous	I was walking.	I am walking.	I will be walking.
perfect	I had walked.	I have walked.	I will have walked.

Students will get an overview of the various tenses with a chart like this. I keep it simple on a chart like this, whose purpose is just to introduce students to this complex system, not addressing for now variations of these basic tenses like the perfect progressive: I have been walking. I also use a regular verb to model the tenses, such as “to walk,” whose variations and inflections are easier to teach and remember: “—ed” for past, for example. I also try to use intransitive verbs, or verbs that don’t require a direct object, like “walk,” when introducing the verb tense system, so focus can stay on the verb. If I used a verb like “to throw” to introduce verb tenses, students would have to focus on the irregular forms of the verb “threw,” “thrown,” and also consider a direct object that makes sense.

watch this video about tenses...

Conditional Sentences with If Clauses.

There are four basic types of conditional sentences in the English language. 

Examples: 

The zero conditional: I take my umbrella if it rains.

The first conditional: I'll call you if I work late.                                 

The second conditional: If the bus didn't arrive on time, I would drive you to the airport.          

The third conditional: She wouldn't have come if I hadn't invited her. 

Grammar rules with examples

►The zero conditional describes situations that are always true. If has the same meaning as when orwhenever.

If I go to school, I get up at seven. (Whenever I go to school I get up at the same time.)

If you park your car on double yellow lines, you pay a fine. (Whenever you park illegally, you pay a fine.)

We use the present simple tense in both the main clauses and the if clauses.

► The first conditional sentences are used to speculate about possible situations that can really happen at present or in future.

We do not use will in an if clause to describe future activities (compare it to time clauses).

If he studies hard, he'll pass the exams. If we catch the 10.15 train, we will arrive on time. If you don't get the ticket, what will you do?

We make if clauses with if + present tense and main clauses with will + bare infinitive. 

► In the second conditional sentences we speculate about situations that will probably never happen at present or in future.

If I had more time, I would help you. (But I am not free at the moment. I can't help you).

If I won a million dollars, I would start a business of my own. (But I know that it is not realistic.)

We make if clauses with if + past tense and main clauses with would + bare infinitive.

Note: the verb to be can be specific in the if clause.

If I were rich, I wouldn't work. If he were younger, he would marry her.

(But was is also possible: If I was rich, I wouldn't work. If he was younger, he would marry her.)

But: If I were you, I wouldn't do it. (In this expression, were is much more usual than was.)

► The third conditional sentences always refer to the past. We speculate about situations that happened or did not happen in the past.

If I had won a million, I would have started a business of my own. (But I didn't win anything.)

If he had met her, he would have told her. (Unfortunately, he didn't meet her.)

If we hadn't practised, we wouldn't have won the match. (But we practised and won.) 

We make if clauses with if + past perfect and main clauses with would + perfect infinitive (have + past participle).

Songs using conditionals (If clauses).

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 8

8 Let´s celebrate!

 

Major holydays in America

click to this link to see these holydays

http://www.immihelp.com/newcomer/major-holidays-festivals-america.html

Relative clauses of time.

 

 

What is a relative clause?

 

'It's my brother who lives in Brighton.'

We use relative clauses to give extra information about something. We can get more information into a sentence without the need to start a new one.
There are two types of relative clauses: defining and non-defining:
'Saris which are made of silk are expensive.' = defining relative clause
'Saris, which are made of silk, are expensive.' = non-defining relative clause
The first sentence tells us that silk saris are expensive (we can guess there are other saris made of cheaper materials). This is a defining relative clause.>
The second sentence tells us that saris are expensive and that they are ALL made of silk. The information between the two commas ",which are made of silk," is extra information and can be taken out and the sentence meaning remains the same 'Saris are expensive'. This is a non-defining relative clause. This type of clause is common in written English. In spoken English a pause is used instead of a comma.

Relative Pronouns

In both defining and non-defining relative clauses we us the following relative pronouns:
Who = is for people: 'The person who lives next door is a doctor.'
Whose = is used to show ownership/possession 'The woman whose son you met.'
Whom = object pronoun, although 'who' can be used in informal English. 'I saw the man whom you saw at the party.'
Which = is used for things: 'The car which you bought is cool.'
That = Can be used informally instead of ‘who’ and ‘which’.

Relative Adverbs

Relative adverbs are used like relative pronouns:
When = is used for a time. 'The time when I last saw you.'
Where = is used for a place 'The place where I used to live.'

Why = is used for a reason 'The reason why I am late.'

Reducing Relative Clauses

If the pronoun ("that", "who", "which") is the object of the verb, it can be omitted.
pIn defining relative clauses, when the pronouns 'that', 'who' and 'which' are the objects of the verb they can be taken out and the meaning of the sentence stays the same. Look:

'The man (that) I work with collects snakes.'
'The person (who) I spoke to knows you.'
'The shop (which) she likes has closed down.'

When the pronoun is the subject of the sentence it must be used:

'The shop which hired her has closed down.'

 

Interchange level 2 - Unit 7

Unit 7 - What´s this for

The infinitive of purpose

A to-infinitive can be used to express purpose:

I'm calling to place an order for delivery.
John went to the door to open it.
To pass this test, you need to achieve a score of 60% or more.

In order and so as can be used before a to-infinitive for emphasis in more formal styles:

He took a book with him in order to have something to read on the train.
The parties started negotiations so as to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
In order to attract a wider audience, we need to rethink our marketing strategy.

The negative is always in order not + to-infinitive or so as not + to-infinitive:

He tiptoed through the hall so as not to be heard.
In order not to lose time, we must act at once.

The infinitive of purpose can only be used if the doer of the action expressed by the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main clause. If the subjects are different, we can use in order + that-clause or so + that-clause with the present simple tense or with the modal verbs may, can, will, could or would:

Jerry works hard so that his family has everything they need.
I'll leave the door open so that you can come in.
Tina gave me a shopping list so that I wouldn't forget anything.

In order + that-clause is more formal and it is less common:

Our company does everything in order that all complaints are dealt with fairly and effectively.

With the verbs come and go we can use the infinitive of purpose in any present or past tense or if these verbs are used as gerunds:

I'm just coming to help.
We went to talk to a lawyer.
Have you thought of going to see a doctor?

But if come and go are used as infinitives or as imperatives, instead of to we use and:

I must go and check the heater.
He will come and dance with you.
Go and fetch a glass.

English Grammar - Gerund or Infinitive? ('I like swimming' or 'I like to swim'?)

 

"imperatives and infinitives for giving suggestions" 

 

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 6

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 6

Common complaints: quejas comunes

Nag: fastidiar

Bother: molestar

NOTE: This essay was posted long before EssayJudge offered free expert reviews. The essay has, however, been edited for grammar, syntax, and layout

INTRODUCTION

Every teenager has a problem. There is no doubt about it. As any parent of a teenager knows that discipline can be a difficult and confusing issue, of course a teenager also knows what good behavior is and which is the right way to comfort and make their parents happy. Discipline isn’t about punishment; it’s about helping people in developing responsibility. This may be one of the common problems of a teenager, in which the teenager thinks that the punishment is for something else. Here they start disobeying their parents, which creates problems.

 It's really a shame on us to lie to ourselves and not to care about anything in life and consider our parents like a machine with no time to do their own business. Let's ask ourselves, Why do teenagers feel anger when their family punishes them? In other words, What is going on in the world to see that huge gap between family and their teenagers? In this essay, I’ll try to fish out some of the problems between teenagers and parents and find reasons for this bad behavior in which teenagers treat their parents and also provide some possible solutions for them.

kjc 

Two and Three - Part Verbs

Two-Word Verbs 

 

Requests with modals

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 5

Interchange Level 2 - Unit 5 (Going Places)

Foreing: Extranjero

Through: A través de

Catch up: Póngase al día

Hiking: Senderismo/excursionismo

Going to or will

When we want to talk about future facts or things we believe to be true about the future, we use 'will'.

• The President will serve for four years.
• The boss won't be very happy.
• I'm sure you'll like her.
• I'm certain he'll do a good job.

If we are not so certain about the future, we use 'will' with expressions such as 'probably', 'possibly', 'I think', 'I hope'.

• I hope you'll visit me in my home one day.
• She'll probably be a great success.
• I'll possibly come but I may not get back in time.
• I think we'll get on well.

If you are making a future prediction based on evidence in the present situation, use 'going to'.

• Not a cloud in the sky. It's going to be another warm day.
• Look at the queue. We're not going to get in for hours.
• The traffic is terrible. We're going to miss our flight.
• Be careful! You're going to spill your coffee.

At the moment of making a decision, use 'will'. Once you have made the decision, talk about it using 'going to'.

• I'll call Jenny to let her know. Sarah, I need Jenny's number. I'm going to call her about the meeting.
• I'll come and have a drink with you but I must let Harry know. Harry, I'm going to have a drink with Simon.

Hi students here are some links to practice modals for necessity and suggestion.

http://www.ompersonal.com.ar/INTERMEDIATE/unit6/page5.htm

http://www.1-language.com/englishcoursenew/unit44_grammar.htm

http://www.1-language.com/englishcoursenew/unit43_grammar_exs.htm


This is an excellent website to practice listening, build vocabulary and check your reading comprehension skills:

http://www.cdlponline.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=homepage