Determiners

Countable and Uncountable
Countable
These can be plural
+ I have got four pounds.
-  He has not got one pen.
? Have you got two chairs? 


Uncountable
These have no singular or plural
   SOME/ANY

+ They have got some money.
-  We have not got any new clothes.
? Has she got any food in the fridge?

Articles

*The use of articles is often determined by the context, and depends on information given earlier in a text or conversation.

A and AN; pronunciation of THE

A before consonants, /i corta+u corta/ and h
a doctor, a university, a housewife

AN before vowels or mute h
an apple, an hour

Before vowels, THE is pronunced  /d vibrante + i corta/
the egg, the Italians

Before consonants, THE is pronuncied /d vibrante + schwa/
the book, the problems


Expressions without articles
at home                    go home               in bed

at school
                                                              
AT versus IN
at university          Está estudiando en la universidad.                (Función)
in the university    Está dentro del edificio de la universidad.    (Físicamente)

at work
in the office 

Impersonal

Impersonal sentences


IT

It+BE+Adjective+Infinitive
It's very important to know...
Es muy importante saber que...

The time
It's half past two.
Son las dos y media.

It was in 1999 (nineteen ninety-nine).
Fue en 1999. 

The weather 
It's raining. 
Está lloviendo.

It's a sunny day.
Hace un día soleado.



GERUND AS INFINITIVE
Smoking is bad for health. 
Fumar es malo para la salud.

 

PASSIVE VOICE*
Active voice: Peter give me the book.
                       Peter me dió el libro.
Passive voice: The book is given by Peter.
                        El libro me lo dió Peter.

"SE"
La ley se aprobó ayer. The bill was passed yesterday.


Causative Structura = Pasiva Refleja with "SE"
Subject+have/get+direct complement or object+past participle
I had my hair cut yesterday.                                                 
Me corté el pelo ayer.                                                           
Let's have our hair cut.
Cortemonos el pelo.
I will get my house painted next summer.
Pintaré mi casa el verano que viene.
Have a good time.
Pásatelo bien.

Have/Get + Something Done  
Have:
Encargar a otros que lo hagan (Profesionales)
I'm having my car repaired
The inspector had him arrested (hizo que lo detuvieran)
Significado pasivo
I had my bag stolen. 
Get:
En el inglés coloquial, el sujeto es más activo pone su parte en ello.
When I've got all the exams checked, I'll tell you the marks.
Finally she got the book published.  

EMPHASIS*
She wrote a crime 
A crime she wrote 
Se ha escrito un crimen.



*New or important information is given behind the setences for emphasizing.

Question tags

Structure: Auxiliary and modal verbs + Personal Pronouns?
                                                   

 Main setence: Affirmative,            Question tag: Negative and vice versa
                        Interrogative              

Informal writing or ends of sentences in speech 
Not a very good film, was it?
No es una buena película, ¿verdad?

That's the postman, isn't it?
Es el cartero, ¿sí? 

Negative
Informal
You do take sugar in tea, don't you?
Te pones azúcar en el té, ¿sí?
 
Formal
They promised to repay us within six months, did they not? 
Prometieron reembolsarnos dentro de seis meses, ¿sí?  

Uses:
1. To check whether something is true 
    
2. To ask for agreement
    
3. Requests: Negative statement + question tag
    You couldn´t lend me a pound, could you?
   ¿Podrías prestarme una libra, no?



Bibliography
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage, 1998. Oxford. Pag.478-479
 

If only

I wish...=   If only...! (more emphatic)
Ojalá    =   Si solo/ Ay, si...
 
Uses:
1. If only + Subject + Past Tense = Present
    If only I knew more people. 
    Si solo conociese/ra a más personas
    If only I was/were better-looking! (were: more formal)
     ¡Ay si fuera más guapo/a!
 
2.  Would + Infinitive = Future 
    If only it would stop raining, we could go out. 
    Solo si parase/ra de llover, nosotros podríamos salir.
    If only somebody would smile!
    ¡Ay si alguien quisiera/ese sonreir!

3. Past Perfect (had + past participle) = Past
    If only she hadn't told the police, everything would have been all right.
    Solamente si ella no se lo hubiera contado a la policia, todo podría haber estado bien.

Bibliography
Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage, 1998. Oxford. Page.253 
  

Pronouns versus Adjectives

PRONOUNS
E.g. I love you/ I love U
        All by myself 

    

Personal Pronouns

Subject Pronouns + Verb + Object, Accusative or 

                                                 Complement Pronouns

                                       I           love       me                                       

                                      You      love       you                                     
                                      He       loves      him                                    

                                      She     loves      her                                      

                                       It        loves       it                                            
                                      We      love        us                                   

                                      You     love        you                               

                                      They   love       them                             

Reflexive or Emphatic Pronouns

myself                                     

yourself

himself

herself 

itself  

ourselves

yourselves

themselves 

For example: I hurt myself.  Reflexive (The subject and the object are the same.)

                      She herself opened the bottle. (This pronoun emphasizes the subject, it could be removed.)

Possessive  
E.g. He's broken his leg.
 
ADJECTIVE OR DETERMINER                                    PRONOUN
Possessive Adjectives          +  Noun                                           Possessive Pronouns
or Possessive Determiner
                              my       car                                        mine
                            your       chair                                     yours
                              his       house                                   his
                             her        job                                       hers
                                it        grass                                   its (not used)
                             our        son                                      ours
                           your        daughter                             yours
                           their        way                                     theirs
E.g. My car is mine, not yours.     
       Mine replaces my car and yours replaces your car.

a+noun+of mine/your/his,etc...      

E.g. Peter is a friend of mine.

       Penny is a colleague of his. 

     

Demonstrative Adjectives and Pronouns

Singular                                         Plural

THIS                                           THESE

THAT                                          THOSE 

E.g. This leg belong to that chair. This is its leg.

         Adjectives or determiners     This replaces chair

Indefine Adjectives                       Indefine Pronouns    
Another+Singular noun                                             Others and The others              
Other+few/or numeral+Plural nouns                                  Plural
The other+Singular noun                                     

Grammar_Auxiliary Verbs versus Regular and Irregular Verbs

Auxiliary Verbs

DO=se traduce por "hacer"cuando es un verbo principal, es decir, no funciona como auxiliar, o no se traduce cuando actua como auxiliar. Sirve para enfatizar el verbo principal.                   

BE=ser o estar.  "I am twenty years old"= Yo tengo veinte años.               

HAVE=haber

Non auxiliary Verbs
HAVE+GOT tener y HAVE+A+(Food), (drink), shower or bath=tomar.

No Personal Forms

Infinitive               to do                        to be                                  to have
                              hacer                       estar o ser                          haber, tener o tomar
      
Gerund                 doing                       being                                 having
                              haciendo                  estando o siendo               habiendo, teniendo o tomando

Participle              done                        been                                   had
                              hecho                       estado o sido                     habido, tenido o tomado
-ING RULES

consonant+vowel+consonant = C+V+CC run - running  
 
Personal Forms

Moods 
Imperative: Orders
     Present   +        Do it!                       Be quiet!                           Have a good day!
                              ¡Hazlo!                    ¡Cállate!                            ¡que tengas un buen día!

                    -        Don't do it!

Subjunctive: Advices, Desires        
     Present   +      I did                            I were                                  I had
                            Yo hiciera o hiciese    Yo fuera o fuese                  Yo hubiera o hubiese

                              You did                     You were                             You had
                               He did                      He were                               He had
                               She did                     She were                             She had
                               It did                         It were                                 It had
                               We did                      We were                              We had
                               You did                     You were                            You had
                               They did                   They were                           They had

                    -      I did not/I didn't         I were not/I weren't             I had not/I hadn't
  
    Past   +  I had done                     I had been                            I had had
                Yo hubiera/ese hecho    Yo hubiera/ese sido/estado  Yo hubiera/ese habido/tenido/tomado
                            ...

              -  I had not done/I hadn't done

If were you...
Unless...

I wish...

Indicative: Actions, Facts,...

Forms =                                 Auxiliary verb+Main verb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simple                                          do+infinitive
Continuous or Progressive           be+gerund
Perfect                                          have+perfect


    Present + - ?
    Past      + - ?
    Future  + - ?


Short answers

PRESENT

3rd person/singular -S work- works -Y Before vowel: play plays 

  -O, -S, -H, -X      -ES

go goes

kiss kisses

wash washes

relax relaxes
-Y.                         -IES

Before consonant: study studies

PAST
Regular        and       Irregular verbs  
-ED  RULES               (See the irregular verbs list)

TO PLAY                      TO GO              
TO STUDY                   TO COME
TO LOOK                     TO SEE                                       
TO WATCH

-Y RULES

Before vowel: Play - played

Before consonant: Study - studied