Grammar Reference

1.1 ■ Present simple and present continuous

Present simple

Affirmative and negative
I We You They	live don't (= do not) live		in a city.
He She It	lives doesn't (= does not) live
Questions and short answers
Do	I we you they	live in a city?	Yes, I do. No, I don't.
Does	he she it		Yes, he does. No, he doesn't.

Spelling rules: third person singular

• Most verbs: add -s
• Verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -o, -x: add -es
• Verbs ending in consonant + -y: change -y to -ies

Use

We use the present simple to talk about:

• habits and everyday routines, normally with adverbs of frequency such as always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely and never. We can also use time expressions such as every evening / Monday / winter or in the morning / evening, etc.
  I sometimes get up late on Sunday.
  Diana travels to Latin America every summer.
  Note that adverbs of frequency go immediately before the main verb, but after the verb be. Longer time expressions usually go at the end of the sentence.
  Do you always do your homework before dinner?
  The school is never open on Sunday.
  The school usually closes in the afternoon.
• facts and general truths.
  Annika and Elly come from the Netherlands.
  December isn't a warm month in Europe.
• states. Some verbs that describe states are believe, hate, know, like, love, need, prefer, understand, want.
  Erdem knows the names of all countries in Africa.
  Do you want to work on one of our projects?

Present continuous

Affirmative and negative
I	'm (= am) 'm not (= am not)		playing tennis.
He She It	's (= is) isn't (= is not)
We You They	're (= are) aren't (= are not)
Questions and short answers
Am	I	playing tennis?	Yes, I am. No, I'm not.
Is	he she it		Yes, he is. No, he isn't.
Are	we you they		Yes, we are. No, we aren't.

Spelling rules: -ing form

• Most verbs: add -ing
• Verbs ending in -e: remove -e and add -ing
• Verbs ending -ie: change -ie to -ying
• Short verbs ending consonant + vowel + consonant: double the final consonant and add -ing

Use

We use the present continuous to talk about:

• actions that are happening at the time of speaking, often with expressions such as at the moment and now.
  Where is Peter? ~ He's having lunch at the moment.
  I can't talk right now. I'm eating dinner.
• actions that are happening around now, but perhaps not at the moment of speaking.
  Paul is teaching English in Africa.(He isn't necessarily teaching English right now.)
  Freya is studying Japanese at university.(She isn't necessarily having lessons right now.)
• planned future arrangements, usually with time expressions such as tomorrow, tonight and this afternoon / week / Friday.
  I'm flying out to Africa tomorrow.

What are you doing tonight?
Sandra isn't going on holiday this summer.

1.2 ■ Articles

a / an

We use a / an before singular countable nouns when:

• we mention something for the first time.
  When they first arrived, they lived above a bakery.
• we describe a person or thing.
  It's a lovely day.
  He's from a poor family.
• we say what someone's job is.
  Her mother is a cleaner.

the

We use the before singular and plural countable nouns, and uncountable nouns when:

• we refer to something that was mentioned before.
  Tomas bought a food stall. The stall did very well.
• there is only one of something, or when it is clear which one we mean because of the context.
  Wait for me at the station. (There is only one station.)

no article

We use no article with:

• plural or uncountable nouns when we talk about something in general.
  Bakers make bread and cakes.
• names of people, streets, cities, mountains, countries, languages and continents (Uncle Peter, Caracas, Everest, Africa). Note that there are exceptions to this rule: we use the before some countries, regions and mountains such as the USA, the UK, the Middle East, the Rocky Mountains. We always use the with rivers, seas and oceans such as the Hudson river, the North Sea, the Pacific Ocean.