GRAMMAR - THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD

The subjunctive mood is one of the three gramatical modos in English, along with the indicative mood and the imperative mood.

The present subjunctive is used for demands and suggestions. It indicates necessity, urgency or strong recommendation.

The past subjunctive is used for impossible situations and hypothetical wishes. It describes things and situations that are contrary to fact, imaginary or unreal.

 

PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE

FORM:

Bare infinitive (no –s ending for 3^rd p.sg) / “Be” is used for all persons

TRIGGER WORDS:

Adjectives - Essential, important, necessary, urgent, vital.

Nouns – Demand, proposal, recommendation, request.

Verbs - Demand, insist, propose, recommend, request, suggest.

Examples:

It is essential that you be on time. 

I suggest that he visit his family. 

She recommended that she go on holiday.

 

PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

FORM:

Simple past form / “Be”: “Were” is used for all persons

TRIGGER EXPRESSIONS:

As if/as

If clauses (second conditional)

Suppose / Supposing

Wish + clause

Examples:

She acts as if she had a lot of money . 

They wished they could go on holiday.

Suppose you were rich, what would you do?

SPEAKING SKILL - ORAL PRESENTATION OF A CHAPTER OF THE MANDATORY READING

Your talk should be a 1 – 2 minute presentation to your classmates of your favourite chapter of the mandatory reading. Here’s how you can do it – make any necessary changes if you want to:

 

Ø  Begin by telling the name of the author and the title of the book as well as the one of your favourite chapter.

 

Ø  Give a short summary of its contents.  Include the main theme of the chapter and what you learned from reading it. 

 

Ø  Comment on the reasons why you like the chapter. This may be based on the topic it deals with or on your personal experience (hobbies, interests, lifestyle).

 

Ø  To conclude, give the chapter a rating, for example a mark out of ten, and justify it. Also, recommend reading another book on the same topic or on a different one, based on your taste.

 

PRACTICE - PRESENT AND PAST TENSES REVIEW

1. Write PRESENT SIMPLE or PRESENT CONTINUOUS as necessary in each case: 

   1. They _________________ (play) at the park at the moment.

   2. Leslie ____________________ (walk) every morning.

   3. I  ______________________ (study) English on Fridays.

   4. My parents ________________________ (talk) to their best friends right now.

   5. You sometimes ____________________ (meet) your friends.

   6. Listen! She _______________________ (sing) our favourite song.

2. COMPLETE WITH THE PAST SIMPLE OF “TO BE”:

   1.  That student _________________ intelligent.

   2.  ______________ your parents happy with your marks? Yes, _____________________

   3. The dog _________________ (not) ill.

   4. _____________ your grandson at home? No, ______________________

   5. The books ________________________ (not) old.

3.  PAST SIMPLE – Regular verbs - Build sentences in the affirmative form:

   1. They _________________________ (celebrate) a party.

   2. Jill _________________________ (cook) dinner.

   3. The children _______________________ (study) French.

   4. The teacher __________________________ (correct) the activities.

   5. The man _____________________ (dance) very well.

4.  PAST SIMPLE – Irregular verbs -Build sentences in the affirmative form:

   1. They _________________________ (forget) my birthday.

   2. Jill _________________________ (see) the car.

   3. The children _______________________ (go) to school.

   4. The man __________________________ (lose) his luggage.

   5. The boy _____________________ (break) the window.

5.  PAST SIMPLE - Build sentences in the negative form: 

   1. They ___________________________ (not travel) to New York.

   2. Nora and Peter ____________________________ (not drink) any tea.

   3. The students ______________________ (not know) the answer.

   4. Your brother ___________________ (not celebrate) a party.

   5. The boss ______________________ (not write) the e-mails.

6.  PAST SIMPLE. Build sentences in the interrogative form:

   1. _________ she __________________ (read) the book?

   2. __________ you ____________________ (play) the piano?

   3. _____________ the boys _________________ (eat) any chocolate?

   4. ____________ the cat __________________ (jump) from the roof?

GRAMMAR - CONTRAST OF VERB TENSES II

I. PRESENT PERFECT

AFFIRMATIVE:  S+ have/has + Past Participle	NEGATIVE:  S + haven't/hasn't + Past Participle
I have seen  / I’ve  seen	I have not seen / I haven’t seen
You have seen  / You‘ve seen	You have not seen / You haven’t seen
He /She /It has seen – He’s / She’s / It’s seen	He /She /It has not seen – He / She / it hasn’t seen
We have seen  / We‘ve seen	We have not seen / We haven’t seen
You have seen / You’ve seen	You have not seen / You haven’t seen
They have seen / They‘ve seen	They have not seen / They haven’t seen

INTERROGATIVE:  Have/Has + S + Past Participle?

Have I seen?

Have you seen?

Has he /she /it seen?

Have we seen?

Have you seen?

Have they seen?

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, subject pronoun + have / has.

No, subject pronoun + haven’t / hasn’t.

1. THE PRESENT PERFECT DESCRIBES THE INDEFINITE PAST:

I’ve seen this film before. You have worked hard lately. They've met my parents recently.

The past is indefinite because the time it happened is not important or unknown.

PAST SIMPLE → DEFINITE TIME. TIME EXPRESSIONS: last ..., yesterday, ago, in + year/decade/century:

I saw Mike last month. You met Jennifer two weeks ago. He watched TV yesterday.

PRESENT PERFECT →  INDEFINITE TIME. TIME EXPRESSIONS: so far, over the years, lately, recently, in the last ...

I’ve seen Mike in the last months. You’ve met Jennifer recently. He’s watched TV lately.

2. THE PRESENT PERFECT DESCRIBES PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:

I've been to Manchester. She's written three books so far. They have always travelled a lot over the years.

3. ACTIONS BEGINNING IN THE PAST AND CONTINUING UP TO NOW:

I've lived here for several years. He’s always played tennis. You’ve visited me since 1990.

4. ACTIONS IN THE PAST WHICH HAVE CONSEQUENCES IN THE PRESENT TIME:

I’ve lost my keys and I can’t open the door! She has had the flu and she feels weak now.

PRESENT PERFECT PARTICLES

- EVER (“ALGUNA VEZ”) - QUESTIONS. After the subject: Have you (ever) travelled by plane? 

It is also used in AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES for emphasis:

(I) Superlative adjective..... have/has + ever + Past Participle:

It is the best song he has ever composed. 

(II) "It's/This is the first time... have/has + ever + Past Participle:

This is the first time I have ever been to the United States.

(III) Nobody /Nothing has + ever + Past Participle:

Nobody has ever spoken to me so rudely. Nothing like that has ever happened in my city.

- NEVER ("NUNCA") - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES (negative meaning). Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle

I have never eaten snails.

- JUST ("ACABAR DE") - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES. Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle: She has just written the email.

- ALREADY (“YA”) - AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES. Between the auxiliary verb and the past participle: We have already read that novel.

- YET (“YA”, “TODAVÍA”): NEGATIVE AND INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES. At the end of the sentence: Have you bought the book yet? No, I haven’t bought it yet. NEGATIVES: YET = STILL (after the subject). I still haven’t bought it.

DURATION -  FOR (“DURANTE”), SINCE (“DESDE”): At the end of the sentence.

- FOR + period of time: I’ve worked here for two years / He’s lived in NY for a long time.

- SINCE + starting point: I’ve worked here since 2010 / He’s lived here since he left college.

II. PAST PERFECT

AFFIRMATIVE:  S + had+ Past Participle	NEGATIVE:  S + had not (hadn't) + Past Participle
I had seen  / I’d  seen	I had not seen / I hadn’t seen
You had seen  / You‘d seen	You had not seen / You hadn’t seen
He /She /It had seen – He’d / She’d / It’d seen	He /She /It had not seen – He / She / it hadn’t seen
We had seen  / We‘d seen	We had not seen / We hadn’t seen
You had seen / You’d seen	You had not seen / You hadn’t seen
They had seen / They‘d seen	They had not seen / They hadn’t seen

INTERROGATIVE:  Had + S + Past Participle?

Had I seen?

Had you seen?

Had he /she /it seen?

Had we seen?

Had you seen?

Had they seen?

SHORT ANSWERS

Yes, subject pronoun + had.

No, subject pronoun + hadn't.

1.  IT DESCRIBES AN ACTION THAT HAPPENED BEFORE ANOTHER ACTION IN THE PAST.

Before the police arrived, the robber had left the bank.// After I had turned off the computer, I went to bed.

EARLIER ACTION (PAST PERFECT) + LATER ACTION (PAST SIMPLE)

2. TIME EXPRESSIONS:  

BEFORE / BY THE TIME / WHEN + Past Simple

AFTER / AS SOON AS + Past Perfect

UNTIL (both): 

He didn't leave the classroom until he had talked to the teacher. 

She hadn't cooked until she started living on her own.

ATTENTION: 

BECAUSE + Past Perfect - I apologized to Jane on Tuesday because I had been rude to her on Monday.

SO + Past Simple - I had not slept well the previous night, so I felt really tired.