Simple Present

The present tense is the base form of the verb: I work in London.

But the third person (she/he/it) adds an -s: She works in London.

Use

We use the present tense to talk about:

• something that is true in the present:

I’m nineteen years old.
He lives in London.
I’m a student.

• something that happens again and again in the present:

I play football every weekend.

We use words like sometimes, often. always, and never (adverbs of frequency) with the present tense:

I sometimes go to the cinema.
She never plays football.

• something that is always true:

The human body contains 206 bones.
Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.

  

• something that is fixed in the future.

The school terms starts next week.
The train leaves at 1945 this evening.
We fly to Paris next week.

Questions and negatives

Look at these questions:

Do you play the piano?
Where do you live?
Does Jack play football?
Where does he come from?
Do Rita and Angela live in Manchester?
Where do they work?

• With the present tense, we use do and does to make questions. We use does for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do for the others.

 We use do and does with question words like where, what and why:

 But look at these questions with who:

Who lives in London?
Who plays football at the weekend?
Who works at Liverpool City Hospital?

Look at these sentences:

I like tennis, but I don’t like football. (don’t = do not)
I don’t live in London now.
I don’t play the piano, but I play the guitar.
They don’t work at the weekend.
John doesn’t live in Manchester. (doesn’t = does not)
Angela doesn’t drive to work. She goes by bus.

• With the present tense we use do and does to make negatives. We use does not (doesn’t) for the third person (she/he/it) and we use do not (don’t) for the others.

Complete these sentences with don’t or doesn’t:

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Golden Cucumber (Timun Mas)

ONCE upon a time, not far from a jungle, lived husband and a wife. The were farmers. The were diligent farmers and always worked hard on the paddy fields. They had been married for many years and still not have a child yet. Everyday they prayed and prayed for a child.
One night, while they were praying, a giant passed their house. The giant heard they pray. "Don't worry farmers. I can give you a child. But you have to give me that child when she is 17 years old," said the giant.
The farmers were so happy. They did not think about the risk of losing their child later and agree to take the offer. Later, the giant gave them a bunch of cucumber seeds. The farmers planted them carefully. Then the seeds changed into plants.
Not longer after that, a big golden cucumber grew from plants. After it had ripe, the farmers picked and cut it. They were very surprised to see beautiful girl inside the cucumber. They named her Timun Mas or Golden Cucumber. Years passed by and Timun Mas has changed into a beautiful girl.
On her 17th birthday, Timun Mas was very happy. However, the parents were very sad. They knew they had to keep their promise to the giant but they also did not want to lose their beloved daughter. "My daughter, take this bag. It can save you from the giant," said the father. "What do you mean, Father? I don't understand," said Timun Mas.
Right after that, the giant came into their house. "Run Timun Mas. Save your life!" said the mother. The giant was angry. He knew the farmers wanted to break their promise. He chased Timun Mas away. The giant was getting closer and closer.
Timun Mas then opened the bag and threw a handful of salt. It became sea. The giant had to swim to cross the sea. Later, Timun Mas threw some chilly. It became a jungle with trees. The trees had sharp thorns so they hurt the giant.
However, the giant was still able to chase Timun Mas. Timun Mas took her third magic stuff. It was cucumber seeds. She threw them and became cucumber field. But the giant still could escape from the field. Then it was the last magic stuff she had in the bag. It was a shrimp paste, terasi. She threw it and became a big swamp.

The giant was still trying to swim the swamp but he was very tired. Then he was drowning and died. Timun Mas then immediately went home. The farmers were so happy that they finally together again.***

verb phrases

The verb phrase in English has the following forms:

1) a main verb:

	Verb
We I Everybody We	are like saw. laughed.	here. it the accident

The verb may be in the present tense (are, like) or the past tense (saw, laughed). A verb phrase with only a main verb expresses simple aspect

2) an auxiliary verb ("be") and a main verb in –ing form:

	Auxiliary "be"	Verb (-ing)
Everybody We	is were	watching laughing

A verb phrase with "be" and –ing expresses continuous aspect.

3) an auxiliary verb ("have") and a main verb with past participle:

	Auxillary "have"	Verb (past participle)
They Everybody He	have has had	enjoyed worked finished	themselves. hard. work.

A verb with "have" and the past participle expresses perfect aspect. A verb with have/has expresses present perfect, and a verb with had expresses past perfect.

4) an auxiliary verb ("have" + "been") and a main verb in the –ing form:

	Auxiliary "have" + "been"	Verb (-ing)
Everybody He	has been had been	working singing	hard

A verb with "have" and "been" and the present participle expresses perfect continuous aspect. A verb with have/hasexpresses present perfect continuous, and a verb with had expresses past perfect continuous.

5) a modal verb (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) and a main verb:

	Modal Verb	Main verb
They He	will might	come. come.

6) We can use modal verbs with the auxiliaries "be", "have", and "have been":

	Modal	Auxiliary	Verb
They He She	will might must	be have have been	listening arrived listening

Activities

Active and passive:

Transitive verbs have a passive form as well as an active form:

The hunter killed the lion. (active) <> The lion was killed by the hunter. (passive)

Someone has cleaned the windows <> The windows have been cleaned.

The passive forms are made up of the verb "be" with a past participle:

	"be"	Past participle
English The windows Lunch The work They	is have been was being will be might have been	spoken cleaned served finished invited	all over the world soon to the part

SOURCE

Noun Phrase

Often a noun phrase is just a noun or a pronoun:

People like to have money.
I am tired.
It is getting late.

or a determiner and a noun …:

Our friends have bought a house in the village.
Those houses are very expensive.

… perhaps with an adjective:

Our closest friends have just bought a new house in the village.

Sometimes the noun phrase begins with a quantifier:

All those children go to school here.
Both of my younger brothers are married
Some people spend a lot of money.

Numbers:

Quantifiers come before determiners, but numbers come after determiners:

My four children go to school here. (All my children go to school here.)
Those two suitcases are mine. (Both those suitcases 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 come after the noun. These are called postmodifiers. A noun phrase can be postmodified in several ways. Here are some examples:

• with a prepositional phrase:

a man with a gun
the boy in the blue shirt
the house on the corner

• with an –ing phrase:

the man standing over there
the boy talking to Angela

• with a relative clause:

the man we met yesterday
the house that Jack built
the woman who discovered radium
an eight-year-old boy who attempted to rob a sweet shop

• with a that clause.
This is very common with reporting or summarising nouns like idea, fact, belief, suggestion:

He’s still very fit, in spite of the fact that he’s over eighty.
She got the idea that people didn’t like her.
There was a suggestion that the children should be sent home.

• with a to-infinitive.
This is very common after indefinite pronouns and adverbs:

You should take something to read.
I need somewhere to sleep.
I’ve got no decent shoes to wear.

There may be more than one postmodifier:

an eight-year old boy with a gun who tried to rob a sweet shop
that girl over there in a green dress drinking a coke

There are four complex noun phrases in this section:

The accident happened at around 3pm on Wednesday. A man climbing nearby who saw the accident said “It wasthe most amazing rescue I have ever seen.” 42-year-old Joe Candler saw Miss Johnson’s fall along with his partner Fay Hamilton. The rescue is the latest in a series of incidents on High Peak. In January last year two men walking on the peakwere killed in a fall when high winds blew them off the mountain.

SOURCE

clause structure

All clauses in English have at least two parts: a noun phrase and a verb phrase:

Noun phrase (subject)	Verb phrase
The children	laughed
All the people in the bus	were watching

But most clauses have more than two parts:

Noun phrase (subject)	Verb phrase
The children	laughed
John	wanted	a new bicycle
All of the girls	are learning	English
This soup	tastes	awful
Mary and the family	were driving	to Madrid
She	put	the flowers	the flowers

The first noun phrase is the subject of the sentence:

The children laughed.
John wanted a new bicycle.
All the girls are learning English.
She put the flowers in the vase.

English clauses always have a subject:

His father has just retired. Was a teacher. He was a teacher.
I’m waiting for my wife. Is late. She is late.

… except for the imperative which is used to give orders:

Stop!
Go away.

… and for "soft imperatives" like invitations and requests:

Please come to dinner tomorrow.
Play it again please.

If we have no other subject we use "there" or "it" as subject. We call this a ‘dummy subject’:

There were twenty people at the meeting..
There will be an eclipse of the moon tonight.

It’s a lovely day.
It’s nearly one o’clock.
I have toothache. It hurts a lot.

SOURCE

Clause, phrase and sentence

The basic unit of English grammar is the clause:

[An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000]

[when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother]

[and had just had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.]

Clauses are made up of phrases:

[An unlucky student] + [almost lost] + [a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000]

[when] + [he] + [left] + [it] + [in the waiting room of a London station.]

[William Brown] + [inherited] + [the 1698 Stradivarius violin] + [from his mother]

[and] [had just had it valued] + [by a London dealer] + [at £180,000.]

We can join two or more clauses together to make sentences.

An unlucky student almost lost a 17th century violin worth almost £200,000 when he left it in the waiting room of a London station.

William Brown inherited the 1698 Stradivarius violin from his mother and had just had it valued by a London dealer at £180,000.

Source

Note-Taking Tips

Carlos and Cecilia were both straight-A students in middle school. But now that they're in high school, Carlos finds himself relying on Cecilia's notes to do well on tests. He also fin

ds himself wondering how Cecilia manages to take such good notes.

Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well on all your schoolwork — everything from taking tests to researching a paper. But unfortunately, most schools don't have classes that teach you how to take notes. So here are some tips.

Write down key facts. If you have a teacher who writes notes on the board, that's a bonus: You can copy them down. If not, write down the most important points from class. Does your history teacher mention the date of a key Civil War battle? Does your English teacher give examples of Shakespeare's use of dramatic irony? Does your math teacher go over a particular formula? Write it down!

It can take some experimenting to figure out what information really is helpful, so keep trying and don't give up. Different teachers do things differently. For example, some teachers may mention lots of dates and facts in class but only write the key ones on the board. Other teachers may not write anything down, but they may repeat a certain date or piece of information. That's a clue that it's probably important. After a while, you'll get to know a teacher's style.

Don't overdo it. Don't go crazy taking notes, though: You'll be frantic if you try to write down every word that's said in class. And if you focus too much on getting your notes right, you might miss important points. Some people actually learn better by listening, writing down a few key points, and then going over the material after class when they have more time.

Ask. Don't be afraid to ask the teacher to repeat something you miss. If the teacher's going too fast, chances are your classmates will also be relieved to hear the information again. If you don't want to ask in class, see your teacher afterwards. It's much easier than wondering if you got the notes right as you study.

Compare. Keep your notes handy when you're doing your reading assignments. Compare what you wrote with what the readings say — you may even want to add to your notes as you read.

Going over your notes with a friend and comparing what the two of you put down can help reinforce what you're learning. It also can help you remember information when it's time for the test. And going over your notes will alert you and your friend to any errors.

Copy. Depending on how neat your handwriting is, you may want to recopy your notes when you get home. If you've taken notes in a hurry, you're more likely to figure out an unreadable word or sentence on the day of the lesson than you are weeks later when you look back over your notes in preparation for a test.

Organize. Keep notes for each subject in one place so you can find everything easily when it comes time for a test. That may mean keeping a notebook or section of a notebook for each subject as you take notes in class.

Some people combine the copying technique with organization by using just one notebook for class notes and then copying these notes into a notebook for each subject when they get back home. The trick to making this technique work is to be sure you actually do it regularly. If you don't, your notes will be all over the place and things will get totally crazed when it's time to study for the test.

Good note-taking requires extra time and organization. It may help if you think of the time you spend reviewing notes as an investment. For example, if you decide to recopy your notes each evening, you'll probably have less time to watch TV or IM friends. But you'll save time later when it comes to studying for the actual test.

Note-taking gives your mind a chance to absorb the material it needs to learn. Not only can this help you to do better on a test, it's also a great confidence booster when you're studying and find yourself saying, "Hey, I remember that!"

Reviewed by: Eric J. Gabor, JD
Date reviewed: November 2008
Originally reviewed by: Chris Cortellessa, M.Ed, NCC

Sourcehttp://teenshealth.org