Noun PhrasesOften anoun phraseis just anounor apronoun: Peoplelike to have money.Iam tired.Itis getting late.or adeterminer andanoun: Our friends have bought a house in the village.Those housesare very expensive. perhaps with an adjective: Ourclosestfriends have just bought anewhouse in the village. Sometimes the noun phrase begins with aquantifier: Allthose children go to school here.Both ofmy younger brothers are marriedSomepeople spend a lot of money.Numbers:

Quantifierscomebeforedeterminers, butnumberscomeafterdeterminers: My fourchildren go to school here. (All mychildren go to school here.)Those twosuitcases are mine. (Both thosesuitcases are mine)

So the noun phrase is built up in this way:

Noun:people;money Determiner + noun:the village,a house,our friends;those houses Quantifier + noun:some people;a lot of money Determiner + adjective + noun:our closest friends;a new house. Quantifier + determiner + noun:all those children; Quantifier + determiner + adjective + noun:both of my younger brothers

The noun phrase can be quite complicated: a loaf of nice fresh brown bread the eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob

a sweet shop with a pistol that attractive young woman in the blue dress

sitting over there in the corner

Some words and phrases comeafterthe noun.These are calledpost-modifiers.A noun phrase can be post-modified in several ways:Here are some examples: with a prepositional phrase: a manwith a gun the boyin the blue shirt the houseon the corner with an ing phrase: the manstanding over there the boytalking to Angela with a relative clause: the manwe met yesterday the housethat Jack built the womanwho discovered radium an eight-year-old boywho attempted to rob a sweet shop with a that clause. This is very common with reporting or summarising nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion: Hes still very fit, in spite ofthe fact that hes over eighty. She gotthe idea that people didnt like her. There was a suggestionthat the children should be sent home. with a to-infinitive. This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs: You should takesomething to read. I needsomewhere to sleep. Ive got no decentshoes to wear.

There may bemore than onepostmodifier: an eight-year old boywith a gunwho tried to rob a sweet shop that girlover therein a green dressdrinking a cokeTHE INDEFINITE ARTICLE - AThe indefinite article is theais the same for all genders.a boy, a girl, a cat

The indefinite article has no plural form.a boy - boys

We useanif the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonantthe following word starts with a vowel

aboyanaunt

aschoolanold school

agirlanAmerican girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

aunitanuncle

Thisusounds like a consonant, so we usea.Thisusounds like a vowel, so we usean.

USE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE A/AN- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 timesa week.

I go on holiday twicea year.

Our car can do 220 kilometresan hour.

Tomatoes are $2a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father isa car mechanic.

- with a noun complement

He isa good boy.

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen isan American.

- half/quite

We needhalf a poundof sugar.

This isquite a good story.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE - THE

The definite articletheis the same for all genders in singular and in plural.the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers

If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [], if the following word begins with a consonant, we speak [].

[][]

the following word starts with a spoken consonantthe following word starts with a spoken vowel

thegirltheEnglish girl

thebooktheblue book

theschooltheold school

theunitHere a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.theuncleHere a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.

without the definite articlewith the definite article

general words (indefinite)general words (definite)

Life is too short.I like flowers.I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.I like the flowers in your garden.

names of persons on the singular, relativesfamily names in the plural

Peter and John live in London.Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.The Smiths live in Chicago.

public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite)public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite)

Mandy doesn't like school.We go to school by bus.Some people go to church on Sundays.The school that Mandy goes to is old.The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.The round church in Klingenthal is famous.

names of countries in the singular; summits of mountains; continents; townsnames of countries in the plural; mountain ranges; regions

Germany, France;Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;Africa, Europe;Cairo, New Yorkthe United States of America, the Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the west of Australia

single islandsgroups of islands

Corfu, Bermuda, Sicilythe Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries

parks; lakes; streetsname with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers

Central Park, Hyde Park;Lake Michigan, Loch Ness;42nd Street, Oxford Streetthe Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of Wight;the Atlantic (Ocean);the Mediterranean (Sea);the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal

months, days of the week (indefinite)months, days of the week (definite)

The weekend is over on Monday morning.July and August are the most popular months for holidays.I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.

in summerorin the summer

The American English word for autumn >fall< is always used with the definite article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:

The student goes to school.The mother goes to the school.

In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.

The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for adifferentreason. That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE - AThe indefinite article is theais the same for all genders.a boy, a girl, a cat

The indefinite article has no plural form.a boy - boys

We useanif the following word starts with a vowel.

the following word starts with a consonantthe following word starts with a vowel

aboyanaunt

aschoolanold school

agirlanAmerican girl

Mind the pronunciation of the following word.

aunitanuncle

Thisusounds like a consonant, so we usea.Thisusounds like a vowel, so we usean.

USE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE A/AN- before phrases of time and measurements (per week/weekly)

We have English 4 timesa week.

I go on holiday twicea year.

Our car can do 220 kilometresan hour.

Tomatoes are $2a kilo.

- before phrases of jobs

My father isa car mechanic.

- with a noun complement

He isa good boy.

- before phrases of nationality

Bruce Springsteen isan American.

- half/quite

We needhalf a poundof sugar.

This isquite a good story.

THE DEFINITE ARTICLE - THE

The definite articletheis the same for all genders in singular and in plural.the boy, the girl, the cat, the computers

If the following word begins with a vowel, we speak [], if the following word begins with a consonant, we speak [].

[][]

the following word starts with a spoken consonantthe following word starts with a spoken vowel

thegirltheEnglish girl

thebooktheblue book

theschooltheold school

theunitHere a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.theuncleHere a [] is pronounced at the beginning of the word.

We have listed some examples in the following table. There you can see when we use the definite article and when we don't.

without the definite articlewith the definite article

general words (indefinite)general words (definite)

Life is too short.I like flowers.I've read a book on the life of Bill Clinton.I like the flowers in your garden.

names of persons on the singular, relativesfamily names in the plural

Peter and John live in London.Aunt Mary lives in Los Angeles.The Smiths live in Chicago.

public buildings, institutions, means of transport (indefinite)public buildings, institutions, means of transport (definite)

Mandy doesn't like school.We go to school by bus.Some people go to church on Sundays.The school that Mandy goes to is old.The bus to Dresden leaves at 7.40.The round church in Klingenthal is famous.

names of countries in the singular; summits of mountains; continents; townsnames of countries in the plural; mountain ranges; regions

Germany, France;Mount Whitney, Mount McKinley;Africa, Europe;Cairo, New Yorkthe United States of America, the Netherlands; the Highlands, the Rocky Mountains, the Alps; the Middle East, the west of Australia

single islandsgroups of islands

Corfu, Bermuda, Sicilythe Bahamas, the British Isles, the Canaries

parks; lakes; streetsname with of-phrase; oceans; seas; rivers

Central Park, Hyde Park;Lake Michigan, Loch Ness;42nd Street, Oxford Streetthe Statue of Liberty, the Tower (of London), the Isle of Wight;the Atlantic (Ocean);the Mediterranean (Sea);the Nile, the Rhine, the Suez Canal

months, days of the week (indefinite)months, days of the week (definite)

The weekend is over on Monday morning.July and August are the most popular months for holidays.I always remember the Monday when I had an accident.The August of 2001 was hot and dry.

We use the seasons of the year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) with or without the definite article.

in summerorin the summer

The American English word for autumn >fall< is always used with the definite article.

Sometimes we use the article and sometimes we do not. It often depends on the context. Watch the following example:

The student goes to school.The mother goes to the school.

In the first sentence we do not use the definite article, in the second we do. The student goes to school for its primary purpose, so we do not use the article.

The mother might talk to a teacher, for example. She visits the school for adifferentreason. That's why we use the definite article in the second sentence.

The Present Continuous

1. How to form the Present Continuous Tense?

The Present Continuousis made with the present form of the verb "to be" (I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, you are, they are) + the '-ing' form of the main verb. The '-ing' form of the verb is called thePresent Participle.Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense

Affirmative (Positive) FormNegative FormQuestion FormIamreadingIamnotreadingAmIreading?YouarereadingYouarenotreadingAreyoureading?HeisreadingHeisnotreadingIshereading?SheisreadingSheisnotreadingIsshereading?ItisreadingItisnotreadingIsitreading?WearereadingWearenotreadingArewereading?YouarereadingYouarenotreadingAreyoureading?TheyarereadingTheyarenotreadingAretheyreading?

Contracted forms: I am = I'mhe/she/it is= he's/she's/it's you are = you're I am not = I'm not he/she/it is not = he isn't/she isn't/it isn't you are not = you aren't we are = we're they are = they're we are not = we aren't they are not = they aren't

Examples: 1. Whatareyoudoing?3. Heis readinga newspaper.2. I'm havinga bath.4.Aretheyworking?

2. Using the Present Continuous Tense

We most often use thePresent Continuouswhen we talk about something which is happening at the time of speaking (now,at the moment):

Examples:

Pamelais sleepingin the bedroom.

1. The telephoneis ringing!

2. Theyare doingtheir homework.

3. I'm waitingfor my girlfriend in front of the cinema.

Present Continuousis also used when we talk about something which is happening at present, but not necessarily at the moment of speaking:

Examples:

1. I'm readingan interesting book.

2. Tomis lookingfor a new job.

3. Weare studyingEnglish and Spanish.

We can use thePresent Continuouswhen we talk about temporary actions taking place only for a period of time (today,this week,this semester,this year):

Examples:

1. My husbandis workinghard today.

2. Theyare spendingthis week in Paris.

3. Sheis teachingEnglish this semester.

4. Weare stayingat the Bristol Hotel tonight.

5. I'm livingwith my parents at the moment but soon I'll buy my own house.

Present Continuousis also used to express current trends:

Examples:

1. Fuel pricesare risingconstantly because of strong demand.

2. On-line shoppingis growingrapidly nowdays.

We can use thePresent Continuouswhen we talk about repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (always,constantly):

Examples:

1. Heisalwayscomplainingfrom his colleagues.

2. My sonisalwaysgettinginto trouble in school.

Sometimes we use thePresent Continuousto describe a planned action in the near future:

Examples:

1. I'm leavingfor Vienna tomorrow morning.

2. Weare havinglunch at 12.30 o'clock.

Present Simple Tense

IsingHOW DO WE MAKE THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE?

subject

+

auxiliary verb

+

main verb

do

base

There are three importantexceptions:

1. For positive sentences,we do not normally use the auxiliary.

2. For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we addsto the main verb oresto the auxiliary.

3. For the verbto be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verblike:

subjectauxiliary verb

main verb

+

I, you, we, they

like

coffee.

He, she, it

likescoffee.

-

I, you, we, they

do

not

like

coffee.

He, she, it

doesnot

like

coffee.

?

Do

I, you, we, they

like

coffee?

Doeshe, she, it

like

coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verbbe. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

subjectmain verb

+

I

am

French.

You, we, they

are

French.

He, she, it

is

French.

-

I

am

not

old.

You, we, they

are

not

old.

He, she, it

is

not

old.

?

Am

I

late?

Are

you, we, they

late?

Is

he, she, it

late?

HOW DO WE USE THE PRESENT SIMPLE TENSE?

We use the present simple tense when:

the action is general

the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future

the action is not only happening now

the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.

pastpresentfuture

It is John's job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

I live in New York.

The Moon goes round the Earth.

John drives a taxi.

He does not drive a bus.

We meet every Thursday.

We do not work at night.

Do you play football?

Note that with the verbto be, we can also use the present simple tense for situations that are not general. We can use the present simple tense to talk aboutnow. Look at these examples of the verb "to be" in the present simple tense - some of them aregeneral, some of them arenow:

Am I right?Tara is not at home.You are happy.

pastpresentfuture

The situation is now.

I am not fat.Why are you so beautiful?Ram is tall.

pastpresentfuture

The situation is general. Past, present and future.

SIMPLE Simple Present Tense.

Simple Past Tense.

Simple Future Tense.

CONTINUOUS Present Continuous Tense.

Past Continuous Tense.

Future Continuous Tense.

PERFECT Present Perfect Tense.

Past Perfect Tense

Future Prefect Tense.

PERFECT CONTINUE Present Perfect Continuous Tense

Past Perfect Continuous Tense

Future Perfect Continuous Tense

1. Simple Present Tense

a)Almost all sentences that make use of one of the following words or phrases take this tense:usually, generally, regularly, often, daily, everyday, (morning, evening), now-a-day, seldom, rarely, always, nearly, frequently, hardly ever, scarcely ever, once a weeketc.

b)Do not use Future Tense after the following adverbs of time and some expressions, but Simple Present Tense can be used to express the Future action:if, unless, until, till, as, as soon as, when, shile, after, before, as long asetc. When he arrives, the band will play the National Anthem. What shall I do if it rains? Until you learn to obey you will not know how to command. Unless you work hard, you will not succeed.

c)It is used to describe Universal Truth and Proverbs. The Sun rises in the East. Health is wealth. Salt dissolves in water. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

2. Simple Past Tense

Iwatchtelevision every evening. (Present Simple)Iwathedtelevision yesterday evening. (Past Simple)Watchedis the past simple.

Noun / Subject

Past Tense Verb

I / We / You / They / He / She / It / Antony

watched

a)The following are the adverbs of time showing this tense:yesterday, last year, a few minutes ago, in 1982, once etc. Last weekI bought a pen.

Yesterdaymy father came.

Kamal met his frienda few days ago.

Anna diedin 1969.

b)Simple Past Tense is used in Conditional Sentences:

If Imetyour father, I would tell the news.

If hehadmoney, he would help me.

If sheworkedhard, she would come off with flying colours.

c)Past Tense can be used after the following expressions:as if, as through, it is time, wish, would rather, would sooner etc. Kamal talksas ifhe knew all things.

John behavedas thoughhe owned the house.

IwishI knew. (Im sorry that I do not know)

Iwould ratherhe went.

3. Simple Future Tense

a)The words showing the future tense are:tomorrow, next week (year, month), later, soon, shortly, in a little time, in this years to come etc.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Verb

I / We

shall

go

You / He / She / It/ They

will

go

I shall arrive tomorrow.

Go on now and I shall follow you later.

She will probably send her application next week.

4. Present Continuous tenseThis tense can be used to describe the actions that are incomplete, still going on at the moment of speaking or writing.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Verb + ing

Person

I

am

going

First Person Singular

He / She / It

is

going

Third Person Singular

We / You / They

are

going

Plural

a)The following are the important adverbs of time showing Present Continuous Tense:now, always, at present, at this moment, all the time, continuously, continually etc.

She is always talking in the class.

Im reading a novel at present.

They are going to church now.

5. Past Continuous tenseNow it is 7 Oclock Kapil is at home.He iswatchingtelevision.At 4 Oclock hewasntat home.Hewasat the sports club.Hewas playingtennis.Hewasnt watchingtelevision.

3.00

3.30

4.00

4.15

4.30

He began playing

He was playing

He stopped playing

a)This tense is used to express an action that was going on when another action happened.Adverbs of time while, whenSubject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Verb + ing

Person

I

was

going

First Person Singular

He / She / It

was

going

Third Person Singular

We / You / They

were

going

Plural

While she was writing, the phone rang.

While she was crossing the bridge, she met with an accident.

When he was sleeping, his friend came.

6. Future Continuous Tensea)This tense is used to indicate a future activity that will begin before a point of time in future and continue after it.Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Verb + ing

Person

I / We

shall be

going

First Person

You / He / She / It / They

will be

going

Second / Third Person

She will be singing songs then.

They will be holding a meeting at 5 p.m. tomorrow.

When will you be putting on another performance?

b)This tense can be used when an action starts before the time mentioned and will probably continue after it.

Hell be finishing his work tomorrow by this time.

Shell be travelling to England by the end of next week

7. Present Perfect TenseThis tense is used to describe a past event the effect of which is not in the past but in the present.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Past Participle Verb

I / We / You / They / any Plural

have

gone

He / She / It / any Singular

has

gone

His shoes are dirty

He is cleaning his shoes

He has cleaned his shoes

a)It is used to describe an action which was completed in the very recent past just a while ago.

George has just gone out.

I have finished my supper.

b)The following adverbs of time take the Present Perfect Tense:already, just now, ever, never, today, recently, so far, up to now, upto the moment, yet, lately, during the last week, during the last few days, this morning year, month, for a long time since monday, since 1947 etc. I have never seen anyone like her.

He hasnt eaten anything since Monday.

I have posted a letter this morning.

Sheela has been ill since last Friday.

8. Past Perfect TenseSarah went to a party last week. Paul went to the party too but they didnt see each other. Paul went home at 10:30 and Sarah arrived at 11 Oclock So:

When Sarah arrived at the party. Paul wasnt there. Hehad gonehome.Hadgoneis the past perfect. (Simple)

a)This tense is used whenever we wish to say that some action had been completed before another was commenced. That is, when there are two past actions, we use the Past Perfect to refer to the earlier action.

Adverbs of time:when, after before, as soon asSubject

Auxiliary Verb

Past Participle Verb

I / We / You / They / any Plural / He / She / It / any Singular

had

gone

I had reached the station before the train left.

When I met him, John had lived in England for two years.

He went home after he had finished his work.

b)This tense can be used in the conditional sentences.

If I had met you, I would have told the news.

If Anand had had money, he would have helped me

9. Future Perfect Tense:a)It is used to indicte that certain action will be completed into future time. The following are the adverbs of time:by the end of nex week (year, month), tomorrow, by this time, by 1980, by noon, by tomorrow evening (morning), by June etc.Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Past Participle Verb

I / We

shall have

finished

You / He / She / It / They

will have

finished

I shall have finished this work by the end of next week.

He will have learnt to swim next month.

10. Present Perfect Continuous Tensea)This tense is used to refer to an action which began indefinitely in the Past and is still continuing at the present moment.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Participle Verb

I / We / You / They / any Plural

have been

finishing

He / She / It / any Singular

has been

finishing

It has been raining for two hours

The following adverbs of time taken this tense:since then, since 1947, all the years, since two years, for two years, since early in the morning etc. My uncle has been living in England since 1990.

We have been learning English for three years.

It has been raining since early in the morning.

Note:for refers to a period of time.Since refers to a definite point of time.

11. Past Perfect Continuous Tense:This tense is used in the reported speech or indirect speech.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Participle Verb

I / We / You / They / any Plural / He / She / It / any Singular

had been

working

He had been working hard since early in the morning.

He said that he had been studying his lessons for three hours.

12. Future Perfect Continuous Tense:This tense indicates an action represented as being in progress over a period of time that will end in the future.

Subject

Auxiliary Verb

Present Participle Verb

Person

I / We

shall have been

going

First Person

You / He / She / It / They

will have been

going

Second / Third Person

By next December we shall have been living here for five years.

When she gets her degree, she will have been studying at London.

First Conditional (Probable)

Condition

Result

If, unless + Present tense form1. If you practise regularly.2. Unless you work hard.

Future tense form [will, shall, may, might, can]you will improve your bowling,youll not make it.

Second Conditional (Improbable)

Condition

Result

If + Past simple / continuous1. If they won the match.2. If you were really concentrating.

would, couldI would be very happyyou would not be disturbed by the noise.

Third Conditional (Impossible)

Condition

Result

If + Past Perfect1. If India had won.2. If she had fallen.

would / should / could / might + have + ppit would have gone up in ranking.would / should / could / might + have been + ppshe would have been hurt seriously.