Level 19

Unit 12

1. TENSES REVIEW

TENSE	AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE QUESTION	USE	SIGNAL WORDS
Simple Present	A: He speaks. N: He does not speak. Q: Does he speak?	■action in the present taking place once, never or several times ■facts ■actions taking place one after another ■action set by a timetable or schedule	always, every …, never, normally, often, seldom, sometimes, usually if sentences type I (If I talk, …)
Present Progressive	A: He is speaking. N: He is not speaking. Q: Is he speaking?	■action taking place in the moment of speaking ■action taking place only for a limited period of time ■action arranged for the future	at the moment, just, just now, Listen!, Look!, now, right now
Simple Past	A: He spoke. N: He did not speak. Q: Did he speak?	■action in the past taking place once, never or several times ■actions taking place one after another ■action taking place in the middle of another action	yesterday, 2 minutes ago, in 1990, the other day, last Friday if sentence type II (If I talked, …)
Past Progressive	A: He was speaking. N: He was not speaking. Q: Was he speaking?	■action going on at a certain time in the past ■actions taking place at the same time ■action in the past that is interrupted by another action	when, while, as long as
Present Perfect Simple	A: He has spoken. N: He has not spoken. Q: Has he spoken?	■putting emphasis on the result ■action that is still going on ■action that stopped recently ■finished action that has an influence on the present ■action that has taken place once, never or several times before the moment of speaking	already, ever, just, never, not yet, so far, till now, up to now
Present Perfect Progressive	A: He has been speaking. N: He has not been speaking. Q: Has he been speaking?	■putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result) ■action that recently stopped or is still going on ■finished action that influenced the present	all day, for 4 years, since 1993, how long?, the whole week
Past Perfect Simple	A: He had spoken. N: He had not spoken. Q: Had he spoken?	■action taking place before a certain time in the past ■sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive ■putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration)	already, just, never, not yet, once, until that day if sentence type III (If I had talked, …)
Past Perfect Progressive	A: He had been speaking. N: He had not been speaking. Q: Had he been speaking?	■action taking place before a certain time in the past ■sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple ■putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action	for, since, the whole day, all day
Future I Simple	A: He will speak. N: He will not speak. Q: Will he speak?	■action in the future that cannot be influenced ■spontaneous decision ■assumption with regard to the future	in a year, next …, tomorrow If- (If you ask her, she will help you.) assumption: I think, probably, perhaps
Future I Simple (going to)	A: He is going to speak. N: He is not going to speak. Q: Is he going to speak?	■decision made for the future ■conclusion with regard to the future	in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future I Progressive	A: He will be speaking. N: He will not be speaking. Q: Will he be speaking?	■action that is going on at a certain time in the future ■action that is sure to happen in the near future	in one year, next week, tomorrow
Future II Simple	A: He will have spoken. N: He will not have spoken. Q: Will he have spoken?	■action that will be finished at a certain time in the future	by Monday, in a week
Future II Progressive	A: He will have been speaking. N: He will not have been speaking. Q: Will he have been speaking?	■action taking place before a certain time in the future ■putting emphasis on the course of an action	for …, the last couple of hours, all day long
Conditional I Simple	A: He would speak. N: He would not speak. Q: Would he speak?	■action that might take place	if sentences type II (If I were you, I would go home.)
Conditional I Progressive	A: He would be speaking. N: He would not be speaking. Q: Would he be speaking?	■action that might take place ■putting emphasis on the course / duration of the action
Conditional II Simple	A: He would have spoken. N: He would not have spoken. Q: Would he have spoken?	■action that might have taken place in the past	if sentences type III (If I had seen that, I would have helped.)
Conditional II Progressive	A: He would have been speaking. N: He would not have been speaking. Q: Would he have been speaking?	■action that might have taken place in the past ■puts emphasis on the course / duration of the action

Online Practice

This link will take you to a pool of links for all the above tenses

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/exercises

2. PHRASAL & PREPOSITIONAL VERBS

A. PHRASAL VERBS OR PARTICLE VERBS

► Phrasal verbs can be either transitive or intransitive.

► Phrasal verbs" or "particle verbs" are composed of a verb + a particle (preposition or adverb). Sometimes, there may be two particles.

► These elements together have a single meaning, and frequently are synonymous with a single word verb, as in the table below.

► They are usually formed using a transitive* root verb + a particle. This is the most common type of phrasal verb or particle verb.

Examples: break up / shut out / put off / fill up / give up / set up / etc.

► Others are formed from an intransitive root verb + a particle:

Examples: go out / come across / sleep off / lie down / stand out etc.

Many English root verbs can combine with particles to create an idiomatic phrasal verb: but the most common ones are: break, make, take, set, put, get.

► Transitive phrasal verbs are usually separable, meaning that the direct object can - or with pronouns, must - come between the verb and the particle.

However adverbs do not usually come between the verb and the particle - though there are exceptions.

Transitive phrasal verbs: examples

USING NOUNS	USING PRONOUN OBJECTS	(PASSIVE )
The referee broke up (=stopped) the fight immediately. Or: The referee broke the fight up immediately.	He broke it up immediately.	The fight was immediately broken up by the referee.
The old lady made out (=wrote) the check very slowly. or: The old lady made the check out very slowly.	She made it out very slowly	The check was made out by the old lady very slowly.
He took up (=started) golf when he retired. or: He took golf up when he retired.	He took it up when he retired	improbable
The robbers set off (=started) the alarm as they entered the bank. or: The robbers set the alarm off as they entered the bank.	They set it off as they entered the bank	The alarm was set off as the robbers entered the bank.
The men managed to put out (=extinguish) the fire by themselves. or: The men managed to put the fire out by themselves	They managed to put it out by themselves.	The fire was put out by the men, by themselves.
The soldiers got up (=erected) their tents in two minutes. or: The soldiers got their tents up in two minutes.	They got them up in two minutes.	The tents were got up in two minutes.
I put down (= attribute) your success to hard work or: I put your success down to hard work.	I put it down to hard work.	His success was put down to hard work.

► Intransitive phrasal verbs:

Since intransitive verbs have no direct object, and cannot be put into the passive, their usage is simple: they are by definition inseparable.

However adverbs can occasionally come between the verb and the particle if the adverb serves to describe the action.

► In intransitive phrasal verbs, the particle is either narrows the sense of the verb (as in sit down), or else creates an idiomatic meaning which is different from that of the root verb (as in shut up). Here are a few examples of intransitive phrasal verbs:

Flight BA04 to New York will take off at 12.33.

Several students showed up late

Bird flu first broke out in China in 1996

Tomorrow morning, we all have to get up at 5.30.

Once the Queen had taken her place, the guests all sat quietly down.

The alarm went off just as the bank was shutting.

B. PREPOSITIONAL VERBS

► Prepositional verbs are transitive: they require an object. This object is generally stated, but sometimes just implied or inferred.

► Most prepositional verbs consist or an intransitive root verb + a particle.

► Some prepositional verbs are formed using a transitive verb and a particle.

► Often, the particle transforms an intransitive verb into a transitive verb:

Examples : look / look at / look for - wait / wait for - come / come through.

► The particle is not really part of the verb, but an essential link between the verb and its stated or implied object.

► These verbs are usually inseparable, meaning that the verb and particle generally stand together.

However short adverbs or adverb phrases can come between the verb and the particle in transitive statements, particularly when the object is a noun.

If in doubt, do not place the adverb between the verb and the particle.

USING NOUNS	USING PRONOUN	OBJECTS PASSIVE
The climbers went up (=ascended) the mountain very slowly. or The climbers went very slowly up (=ascended) the mountain.	They went up it very slowly	Improbable
They came through (=passed) their exam very well.	They came through it very well	Improbable
We're depending on your support, totally.	We're depending on you totally.	You're being depended on.
The students were looking intently at (= studying) the notice board. or The students were looking at the notice board intently.	They were looking intently at it , or They were looking at it intently.

C. PHRASAL-PREPOSITIONAL VERBS.

English has a good number of verbs that appear to be formed on the structure:

verb + particle + particle

In most cases, these are prepositional verbs in which the root verb is actually a phrasal verb.

Like simple prepositional verbs, phrasal prepositional verbs are transitive.

So in reality, the structure of these verbs is actually phrasal-verb + particle.

Once this is understood, usage should not be hard to follow. They behave in the same way as ordinary prepositional verbs.

USING NOUNS	USING PRONOUN OBJECTS	(PASSIVE )
Everyone looked forward to the event.	Everyone looked forward to it.	It was looked forward to by everyone.
The prisoners broke out of their cells.	They broke out of them.	The cells were broken out of.
The airline did away with tickets	The airline did away with them	Tickets were done away with.
The builders got on with the work	They got on with it.	The work was got on with by the builders.