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so
such
Before an adjective or
adverb ( without a noun)
Before a / an
e.g. Last year she had such a terrible flu.
So and such can be used with that, but that is often omitted in speech or
informal writing .
e.g. The coffee was so hot ( that ) I could not drink it before going out .
Harry Potter is such an interesting book (that) I cannot put it down.
So and Because
When and how do we use 'because'?
1. We use 'because' to express a reason for doing something. It can come in the
middle or at the beginning of a sentence, e.g.
He was shouting, not because he was angry, but because she can't hear
very well.
3. After a 'because-clause' we must use a subject and verb, but after 'because of' we
just use a noun, e.g.
tell
a lie
the truth
the time
a joke/story
the difference between two things
someone what to do
say
your name
sorry
a prayer
something
thank you/hello/goodbye
yes /no
Say doesnt need a personal object, but to + personal object can be added at the end of
necessary:
He said sorry (to me).
Compare these two sentences (which both mean the same):
He told me something.
He said something (to me).
We use say in direct speech:
He said, Hello.
When we use need as an ordinary verb we add s to the third person singular in the
simple present, e.g.
And we use the auxiliary verb do to form questions and negatives in the present simple,
e.g.
As an ordinary verb, need is regular so in the past simple it takes ed, e.g.
I need to go to the dentist soon. This means I have to go to the dentist soon.
You neednt tell Jane. She already knows. This means you dont have to tell Jane.
You can say neednt or dont need to. There is no difference in meaning in the
present tense.
But in the past there is a slight difference in meaning between neednt have and
didnt need to, e.g.
He needn't have gone to work today. The office was closed. This means it was not
necessary for him to go, but he did anyway.
He didnt need to go to work today. The office was closed. This means it was not
necessary for him to go, but its not certain if he actually went or not
Prepositions of time
at, in and on are all common prepositions for talking about time.
at comes before
a time e.g. The bus leaves at 4.15. / I often get up at half-past seven.
(Note: This use of at includes meal times e.g. I saw him at lunchtime.)
the weekend e.g. They play football together at the weekend. / Did you do
anything nice at the weekend?
a public holiday e.g. I see my family at New Year. / What are you doing at Eid?
in comes before
a part of a day e.g. The library closes in the evening. He usually walks his dog in
the morning.
(Note: This doesnt include night. With night use at e.g. There are lots of events
you can go to at night.)
a long period of time ( - weeks, months, seasons, years, decades, centuries). e.g.
They moved here in December. / He was very popular in the 1990s.
on comes before
a specific day or date e.g. Ill give you a ring on Monday. / He was born on 4 July
1970.
part of a specific day e.g. Ill see you on Wednesday afternoon. / Theyre going out
together on Saturday night.
Common time expressions with every, last, next and this do not need a
preposition.
e.g. I go swimming every Sunday. (NOT I go swimming on every Sunday.)
They started the business last April. (NOT They started the business in last April.)
Ill see you again next Tuesday. (NOT Ill see you again on next Tuesday.)
Saying dates
Learners can have difficulty with dates as there is a big difference between their
written and spoken forms.
Written form
Spoken form
1997
nineteen ninety-seven
2000
two thousand
2004
18.4.07 or 18/04/07 or
18(th) April (20)07 or
April 18(th) (20)07
To , with and on
When you learn English, its important to learn words that go together. For example, we normally
say
listen to' someone or something. Today we will look at to', 'with' and 'on'
Sometimes there are no words
We say meet someone, not meet with someone (Meet with is used to talk about having
problems)
Sometimes there are many possibilities
talk to somebody: One person is talking, the other is listening
talk with somebody: Two people (or more) are talking AND listening
Sometimes there is only one possibility
fall in love is always followed by 'with'. We can not fall in love to someone
That is because in English we believe that falling in love in something that you cant do alone.
There must be somebody else, even if they dont love you.
We do other things 'with' people:
'to go out with' someone
'to have a relationship with' someone
'to agree or disagree with' someone
to be angry with someone (not 'to')
'to break up with' someone (to stop loving)
'to be honest or dishonest' with someone
But we use 'to' with some verbs:
'get engaged to' someone (not 'with')
'get married to' someone (not 'with')
We hope this helps. Remember, when you learn new words, look for other words that can go with
them!
too
enough
Before nouns.
Used to
Form
Meaning
Used To
In affirmative sentences:
I used to smoke.
subject pronoun + used to + infinitive
In negatives and questions:
subject pronoun + didnt + use to +
infinitive
did + subject pronoun + use to +
infinitive
In affirmative sentences:
Subject pronoun + am/is/are + used to
+ noun
+ v-ing
Get Used To
In affirmative sentences:
Zero in English
Zero is not the only way that we can say nothing when we are talking about
numbers in English.
Here are some of the ways we say zero and when we say them:
How we say it When we say it
zero
temperatures
US telephone number
nil
Example
-50 C - 5 degrees below zero
623 0340 six two three zero three four zero
oh
Years
In phone numbers
Tennis scores
40 0 forty love
Zilch
zip
Informal / slang
I was paid zip / zilch for all the extra work I did.
While or Whereas
Generally, use 'while' to introduce a time clause when talking about things that
happen simultaneously. In this sense, it is similar to 'as' and 'when'. All of these
conjunctions can serve to introduce a longer background situation which started
before the shorter action, e.g.:
'While' is particularly useful if we are discussing long actions and wish to draw
attention to the duration of the activities, e.g.:
Note that if the subject is the same in both clauses, a participial construction may
be used, particularly in written English, e.g.:
She completed her first novel while working for the local newspaper.
Use either 'while' or 'whereas' to link two ideas that contrast with - but do not
contradict each other, e.g.:
I prefer fish, while my friend always chooses meat dishes when we go out to eat.
Some married couples argue all the time, whereas others never do.
Note that whilst we would use 'while' or 'whereas' within sentences to contrast
two ideas, across sentences we would need to use 'however' or 'on the other hand'.
Compare the following:
In the UK the hottest month of the year is usually July, whereas in southern Europe the
hottest period is usually in August.
In the UK the hottest month of the year is usually July. On the other hand, in southern
Europe the hottest period is usually in August.
Glossary:
simultaneously (adv.)
draw attention (exp.)
duration (n.)
contrast (v.)
contradict (v.)
Structure
Meaning
Example
Will + infinitive
Facts
(negative wont)
Be + going to +
infinitive
Plans *
Wish
Wish + infinitive
We can use wish to mean want. Wish is very formal if used this way.
Wish can be used here to mean regret. In informal language we can omit the
that:
This is a very commonly used form. Would is used as a soft meaning of will.
Using wish + past simple gives the same meaning as wish would:
Wish or Hope
Wish:
We use wish when we express the hope that someone will be happy, lucky, successful,
etc. in the future,
I wish you were here. (I miss you because you're not here = regret)
He wished he hadn't said that. (He knows it was wrong to say that = regret)
I wish you'd be quiet for two minutes! (I'm tired of your noise = criticism)
I wish my teachers hadn't been so strict. (I didn't like their attitude = criticism)
Notice that if you wish something about the present time, the second verb is in the
Simple Past tense, but if you wish something about the past, the second verb is often
in the Past Perfect (had + past participle).
3. Generally, wish (to) is a more formal way of saying want (to), e.g.
They were very much in love and wished to get married as soon as possible.
I don't wish to see him ever again,' she wrote.
Wish is followed by the preposition to when we use it in a relative clause with who, e.g.
People who wish (or People wishing) to attend the end of year party should buy
tickets in advance.
Hope:
Generally, hope means you want something to be true and you believe that is possible.
1. We often use hope with the second verb in the present tense to talk about the future,
e.g.
To make a negative sentence, we don't change hope but we make the second verb
negative, e.g.
2. We can use hope in short answers without another verb, by adding so or not, e.g.
3. We can also use hope with the second verb in the infinitive, e.g. to spend, to have.
This way, you believe quite strongly that something will happen in the future, e.g.