TO IMPROVE YOUR ENGLISH

There are many ways to improve your level of English:

READ IT

Read as many English books, newspapers and magazines as you can find.
We also recommend the English version of the monthly magazine READERS DIGEST. It has short stories and articles. We are offering copies in our competition on the visitor page.

LISTEN TO IT

Try some of the radio stations we recommend on the Worldwide Radio schedules page BBC Overseas Service. They have a very good website designed to help English learners and teachers.

LOOK AT OTHER LEARNING MATERIAL ON THE WEB

VOLTERRE in France has a valuable list of sites for learners and teachers of English and French.Both these sites are highly recommended

TALK IT

Talk to friends who are also learning English. Make a rule that perhaps for an hour, or when you go out together, you will only speak English to each other! Find native English-speaking people who will give you conversation practice.

MORE ABOUT LEARNING ENGLISH
English is an easy language to start learning because:

* it has no genders. Apart from people, all objects are 'neuter', not 'masculine' or 'feminine'. So you say 'it' for such things, and do not need to learn any genders.

* it usually has easy verb endings. Apart from a few 'irregular' verbs, verb endings are easy, and hardly change.

* adjectives remain the same for all words - there are no different endings to learn.

* the singular and plural pronoun 'you' is the same. There is no need to decide whether to use a polite form, or an intimate form, when speaking to someone as in French or German. (English used to have the singular form 'thou', which was often used in the intimate way like 'tu' or 'du'. In fact, in dialects in parts of England, this is still sometimes used. And in the Republic of Ireland, they have a very sensible plural form of 'you', when speaking to several people: 'yous'.)

The difficult parts of English are:

* the spelling of a word may not show what the pronunciation (way of saying) the word is.
This is because English words came from many different sources. It is not a 'pure' language.

* because English came from two main sources - old French, and old Anglo-Saxon, there is a very large vocabulary of words. Words with similar meanings may have come from both sources. For example, START (from Anglo-Saxon) and COMMENCE (from old French). The meaning is similar, but not precisely the same.

* native English speakers use a lot of idioms, that is - words used in a way which is not their obvious meaning. An English speaker may say,

"I do not think much of apples."

This does not mean he doesn't often think about apples. It means that he does not like apples very much!

Yet he might say,

"I think nothing of going for a swim before breakfast."

What this really means is that he actually likes doing this, and that it is no problem to him!

But don't worry. You will find that you can understand and communicate even when you have not been learning English for long!

To assess how easily you will learn, go through our Self-Test on Learning English. This was produced for us by a leading English language school.

Verbs - An Overview

Verbs are a class of words used to show the performance of an action (do, throw, run), existence (be), possession (have), or state (know, love) of a subject. To put it simply a verb shows what something or someone does.

Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb. These verbs are expressed in tenses which place everything in a point in time.

Verbs are conjugated (inflected) to reflect how they are used. There are two general areas in which conjugation occurs; for person and for tense .

Conjugation for tense is carried out on all verbs. All conjugations start with the infinitive form of the verb. The infinitive is simply the to form of the verb For example, to begin. The present participle form (the -ing form), is formed by adding ing to the bare infinitive. For example, the present participle of the verb to begin is beginning. There are two other forms that the verb can take, depending on the tense type and time, the simple past form (began) and the past participle (begun). See here for a list of irregular verbs.

Conjugation for person occurs when the verb changes form, depending on whether it is governed by a first, second, or third person subject. This gives three conjugations for any verb depending on who is acting as the subject of the verb. For example, we have: to begin, you begin , and he begins. Note that only the third conjunction really shows a difference.

While most English verbs simply do not show extensive conjugation forms for person, an exception is the verb to be.

Action Verbs

Action verbs are verbs that show the performance of an action. They are dynamic verbs that show something happening.

For example:

• To walk is a regular action verb
  
• To run is an irregular action verb

Auxiliary Verbs

Auxiliary verbs are used together with a main verb to give grammatical information and therefore add extra meaning to a sentence, which is not given by the main verb.

They are used to form the passive voice.

They are used to form the continuous tense.

They are used to form the perfect tense.

Be, Do and Have are auxiliary verbs, they are irregular verbs and can be used as main verbs. The verbs 'to be' and 'to have' are the most commonly used auxiliary verbs and work alongside the main verbs in any statement.

Modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs, but will be treated separately, these are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would, they differ from the others in that they can never function as a main verb.

To be

Be is the most common verb in the English language. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is used a lot in its other forms.

Base form = be

Present form = am/is/are

Past form = was/were

Present Participle / Gerund = being

Past Participle = been

To do

The verb do is one of the most common verbs in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is often used in questions.

Base form = do

Present form = do/does

Past form = did

Present Participle / Gerund = doing

Past Participle = done

!Note

The auxiliary verb 'do' is always followed by the base form (infinitive).

To have

Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language.

Base form = have

Present form = have / has

Past form = had

Present Participle / Gerund = having

Past Participle = had

Verbs - Finite / Non Finite

Finite Verbs

A finite verb (sometimes called main verbs) is a verb that has a subject, this means that it can be the main verb in a sentence. It shows tense (past / present etc) or number (singular / plural).

For example:-

I lived in Germay. (I is the subject - lived describes what the subject did - lived is a finite verb).

Non-Finite Verbs

A non-finite verb has no subject, tense or number. The only non-finite verb forms are the infinitive (indicated by to), the gerund or the participle.

For example:-

I lived in Germany to improve my German. (To improve is in the infinitive form - improve is non-finite).

The Main Verb

Sometimes there is more than one kind of verb in a sentence. There are auxiliary verbs , modal verbs. and main verbs (sometimes called full or non-auxiliary verbs).

The main verb expresses the main action or state of being of the subject in the sentence and changes form according to the subject (singular, plural, 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person).

Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb.

The main verb changes its form according to the verb form (perfect tense, past tense, simple tense etc).

For example:

* Dogs usually chase cats.
* But m y cat chases my dog.
* My cat is chasing my dog.
* My dog has sometimes chased my cat.
* But, only because my cat ate my dog's dinner.
* My cat has been eating my dog's dinner a lot.

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs have no rules for conjugation. These can only be learnt in context - sorry!

They all have a base form. e.g. to run

A gerund (ing) form where ing is added to the end of the verb. e.g. running

An -s form where s is added to the end of the verb. e.g. runs

A past tense form which must be learnt. e.g. ran

A past participle form which must be learnt. e.g. run

The Main Verb

Sometimes there is more than one kind of verb in a sentence. There are auxiliary verbs , modal verbs. . and main verbs (sometimes called full or non-auxiliary verbs).

The main verb expresses the main action or state of being of the subject in the sentence and changes form according to the subject (singular, plural, 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person).

Most statements in speech and writing have a main verb.

The main verb changes its form according to the verb form (perfect tense, past tense, simple tense etc).

For example:

• Dogs usually chase cats.
• But m y cat chases my dog.
• My cat is chasing my dog.
• My dog has sometimes chased my cat.
• But, only because my cat ate my dog's dinner.
• My cat has been eating my dog's dinner a lot.

There are regular and irregular verbs.

Modal Verbs

All the auxiliary verbs except be, do and have are called modals. Unlike other auxiliary verbs modals only exist in their helping form; they cannot act alone as the main verb in a sentence.

Be, do, and have also differ from the other auxiliaries in that they can also serve as ordinary verbs in a given sentence.

The Verb To Be

Forms of To Be
	Present	Past
I	am	was
he / she / it	is	was
you / we / they	are	were

Probably the best known verb in the world "To be or not to be..."

Normally we use the verb to be to show the status or characteristics of something or someone (as a static verb ). It says what I am, what you are or what something is.

Present Simple (stative)
I am a teacher.	You are a student.	He /She is a student.	It is a car.	We are all teachers.	They are students.
Past Simple (stative)
I was a student.	You were a student.	He /She was a student.	It was a nice day yesterday.	We were all students once.	They were students.
Future Simple (stative)
I will be a student.	You will be a teacher.	He / She will be a teacher.	It will be nice later.	We will be teachers.	They will be students.

When used with the present participle of other verbs it describes actions that are or were still continuing - auxiliary verb be [+ ing form of the main verb].

Present Continuous (active)
I am being silly.	You are being silly.	He /She is being silly.	It is being silly.	We are being silly.	They are being silly.
Past Continuous (active)
I was being silly.	You were being silly.	He /She was being silly.	It was being silly.	We were being silly.	They were being silly.

Am/Is/Are

Question	Positive Statement	Negative Statement (possible short forms)
Singular
Am I ...?	I am ... (I'm ...)	I am not ... (I'm not ...)
Is he / she / it ...?	He / She / It is ...(He's/She's/It's ...)	He / She / It is not (He / She / It isn't... // He's / She's / It's not ...)
Are you ...?	You are ...(You're...)	You are not (You're not ...// You aren't...)
Am I being ...?	I am being ...	I am not being ... (I'm not being...)
Is he / she / it being...?	He / She / It is being ... (He's/She's/It's being ...)	He / She / It is not being ... (He / She / It isn't being...// He/she/it's not being...)
Are you being ...?	You are being ... (You're being ...)	You are not being ... (You're not being ... // You aren't being...)
Was I ...?	I was ...	I was not. ..
Was he / she / it ...?	He / She / It was ...	He / She / It was not ... (He / She / It wasn't)
Were you ...?	You were ...	You were not ... (You weren't ...)
Was I being ...?	I was being ...	I was not being (I wasn't being...)
Was he / she / it being...?	He / She / It was being ...	He / She / It was not being ... (He / She / It wasn't being... )
Were you being ...?	You were being ...	You were not being ... (You weren't being ...)
Will I be ...?	I will be ... (I'll be ...)	I will not be ... (I'll not be ...)
Will he / she / it be ...?	He / She / It will be ...(He'll / She'll / It'll be ...)	He / She / It will not be (He / She / It won't be ... // He'll not be / She'll not be / It'll not be ...)
Will you be ...?	You will be ...(You'll be ...)	You will not be (You won't be ... // You'll not be ...)
Plural
Are we / you / they?	We / You / They are (We're / You're / They're)	We / You /They are not (We're / You're / They're not // We / You / They aren't)
Are we / you / they being ...?	We / You / They are being ... (We're / You're / They're)	We / You /They are not being (We're / You're / They're not being // We / You / They aren't being)
Were we / you / they ...?	We / You / They were ...	We / You / They were not ... (We / You / They weren't ...)
Were we / you / they being ...?	We / You / They were being ...	We / You / They were not being ... (We / You / They weren't being ...)
Will we / you / they be ...?	We / You / They will be ...(We'll / You'll They'll be ...)	We / You / They will not be (We / You / They won't be ... // We'll / You'll They'll not be ...)

Examples

	Am/Are	Is
Question - ?	"Am I disturbing you?"	"Is this your coat"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes you are."	"Yes it is"
Negative Answer - No	"No you're not."	"No it isn't"
	Was / Were	Was
Question - ?	"Was I disturbing you?"	"Was that your old house?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes you were ."	"Yes it was "
Negative Answer - No	"No you weren't."	"No it wasn't."

The Verb To Do

Forms of Do - Do Did Done Doing
	Present Simple	Past Simple	Perfect	Present Continuous
I / you / we / they	do	did	(have/had) done	(are/were) doing
he / she / it	does	did	(has/had) done	(is/was) doing

The verb to do is one of the most common verbs in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is often used in questions.

As an auxiliary verb do is used with a main verb when forming interrogative or negative sentences, or for adding emphasis. It is also called the dummy operator or dummy auxiliary.

Question	Positive Statement (spoken)	Negative Statement (spoken)
Singular
Do I?	I do	I do not (I don't)
Do you?	You do	You do not (You don't)
Does he/she/it?	He/she/it does	He/she/it does not (He/she/it doesn't)
Plural
Do we?	We do	We do not (We don't)
Do you?	You do	You do not (You don't)
Do they?	They do	They do not (They don't)

Examples

	Do	Does
Question - ?	"Do you always take the bus to work?"	"Does she ever do her homework on time?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I do."	"Yes she does."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't."	"No she doesn't."

When using the continuous tense do becomes doing and it doesn't change.

	Doing
Question - ?	"Are you doing your homework?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I am ."
Negative Answer - No	"No I'm not."

When using the simple past tense do becomes did and it doesn't change.

	Did
Question - ?	"Did you always take the bus to work?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I did ."
Negative Answer - No	"No I didn't ."

When using the perfect tense do becomes done and it doesn't change.

	Done
Question - ?	"Have you done your homework?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I have ."
Negative Answer - No	"No I haven't."

More functions for the verb “to do”

The verb “to do” works as a main verb.

For example:-

YT - My husband does the dishes.

ST - Gosh! Did he do them yesterday?

YT - Yes he did.

Do is used as an auxiliary verb (dummy auxiliary) in the question form.

For example: I know the way. Do you know the way?

Do is used for emphasis in positive statements.

For example: I do like this beer!

The Verb To Have

Forms of Have - Have Had Having
	Present	Past	Continuous
I / you / we / they	have	had	(are/were) having
he / she / it	has	had	(is/was) having

Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language. It functions in various ways.

To have as a main verb

The verb “to have” implies the meaning of possession.

For example: “I have a job.” “I have a car.“ "I don't have any time."

In this form it does not take the continuous form (for that you have to use the auxiliary verb be).

For example: “I am having a shower.” “Are you having a good time?"

The forms of the verb “to have” are have and has for the present and had for the past.

Question	Positive Statement (spoken)	Negative Statement (spoken)
Singular
Have I?	I have (I've)	I have not (I haven't/I've not)
Has he/she/it?	He/she/it has (He/she/it 's)	He/she/it has not (He/she/it hasn't)
Have you?	You have (You've)	You have not (You haven't/You've not)
Had I / he / she / it / you?	I / He / She / It / You had (I'd / He'd / She'd / You'd)	I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn't)
Plural
Have we / you / they?	We / You / They have (We've)	We / You / They have not (We / You / They haven't // We've / You've not)
Have you?	You have (You've)	You have not (You haven't/You've not)
Have they?	They have (They've)	They have not (They haven't/They've not)
Had I / he / she / it / you?	I / He / She / It / You had (I'd / He'd / She'd / You'd)	I / He / She / It / You had not (I / He / She / It / You hadn't)

Have is often used to indicate possession (I have) or (I have got).

Examples

	Have	Have got
Question - ?	"Do you have a car?" or "Have you a car?"	"Have you got a car?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I have a car."	"Yes I've got a car."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't have a car."	"No I haven't got a car."

To have as an auxiliary verb

The verb “to have ” is used as an auxiliary verb to help other verbs create the perfect tense - auxiliary verb have [+ past participle].

For example, “I have studied English for five years;” or “I have never been to America.” "I have eaten."

Present Perfect
I have been a teacher.	You have been a student.	He / She has been a student.	It has been nice.	We have been students.	They have been students.
Past Perfect
I had been a teacher for several years.	You had been a student for several years.	He / She had been a student for several years.	It had been nice for several hours.	We had been students for several years.	They had been students for several years.
Future Perfect
I will have been a teacher for several years.	You will have been a student for several years.	He / She will have been a student for several years.	It will have been nice for several years.	We will have been students for several years.	They will have been students for several years.

Question	Positive Statement	Negative Statement (possible short forms)
Singular
Have you been ...?	You have been ...(You've been ...)	You have not been ... (You haven't been ... // You've not been ...)
Plural
Have we / you / they been ...?	We / You / They have been ...(We've / You've They've been ...)	We / You / They have not been ... (We / You / They haven't been ... // We've / You've They've not been ...)

For example:

Question - ?	"Have you washed your face today?"
Positive Answer - Yes	" Yes, I have."
Negative Answer - No	" No, I haven't."
Question - ?	"Have you ever had a heart attack?"
Positive Answer - Yes	" Yes, I'm afraid I have."
Negative Answer - No	" No, thank goodness, I haven't."

The use of have to

In addition to the two forms, there is another use for have as a modal verb; have to or have got to. This, of course, must be followed by another verb "We have to do something".

	Have to	Have got to
Question - ?	"Do you have to leave early?"	"Have you got to leave early?"
Positive Answer - Yes	"Yes I have to." or "Yes I do"	"Yes I've got to."
Negative Answer - No	"No I don't have to."	"No I haven't got to."

'Used to' or 'use to' vs would

I was asked on Pal Talk recently how to use used to and would.

If we say something used to happen we are talking about repeated events and actions in the past, usually things that happened a long time ago and are now finished.

To express this we can use either used to or would.

• When I was young I used to play with my dolls. = When I was young I would play with my dolls.

Of course I no longer play with dolls!

• We used to go out a lot in the summer.

Implies that we no longer go out much.

If you want to talk about repeated states or habits in the past, you must use used to, you cannot use would : :

• My dog used to bark at cats.
• I used to smoke.
• I used to be an administrative assistant.
• I used to live in England.

You should use 'use to' without a d in sentences when it follows 'did' or 'didn't' (don't worry too much about this because lots of people get it wrong).

The question form is ‘Did you use to…?'. When asking a closed question you put did/didn't in front of the subject followed by use to, you cannot use would.

• Did you use to go out with my sister?
• Did they use to own the company?
• Didn't we use to go to the same school?

Also when asking questions about states in the past you cannot use would.

• What sort of things did you use to like when you were young?

. In the negative you cannot use would without a change in meaning.

• I didn't use to play with my dolls.

If I said I wouldn't play with my dolls. It would mean I refused to play with my dolls.

• We didn't use to go out much in the winter months.

If I said we wouldn't go out much. It would mean we refused to go out much.

!Note - The general rule is when there is did or didn't in the sentence, we say use to (without d) when there is no did or didn't in the sentence, we say used to (with d).

Phrasal Verb:

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and preposition, a verb and an adverb, or a verb with both an adverb and a preposition.

A phrasal verb has a meaning which is different from the original verb. That's what makes them fun, but confusing. You may need to try to guess the meaning from the context, or, failing that, look it up in a dictionary.

The adverb or preposition that follows the verb are sometimes called a particle. The particle changes the meaning of the phrasal verb in idiomatic ways.

They are also known as ‘compound verbs’, ‘verb-adverb combinations’, ‘verb-particle constructions", “two-part words/verbs’ and ‘three-part words/verbs’ (depending on the number of words).

Phrasal verbs are usually used informally in everyday speech as opposed to the more formal Latinate verbs, such as “to get together” rather than “to congregate”, “to put off” rather than “to postpone”, or “to get out” rather than “to exit”. They should be avoided in academic writing.

!Note - Some linguists differentiate between phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs, while others assume them to be part of one and the same construction, as both types are phrasal in nature. So, unless you want to become a linguist, don't worry about it.

Literal usage

Many verbs in English can be combined with an adverb or a preposition, a phrasal verb used in a literal sense with a preposition is easy to understand.

• "He walked across the square.

Verb and adverb constructions are also easy to understand when used literally.

• "She opened the shutters and looked outside."
• "When he heard the crash, he looked up."

An adverb in a literal phrasal verb modifies the verb it is attached to, and a preposition links the subject to the verb.

Idiomatic usage

It is, however, the figurative or idiomatic application in everyday speech which makes phrasal verbs so important:

• "I hope you will get over your operation quickly."

The literal meaning of “to get over”, in the sense of “to climb over something to get to the other side”, is not relevant here. Here "get over" means "recover from" or "feel better".

Transitive and intransitive phrasal verbs

Phrasal verbs also differ in their transitivity or intransitivity in the same way as normal verbs do. A transitive verb always has an object.

For example:-

• “Many people walked across the bridge.”

"Across" in this sentence is the preposition to "the bridge".

An intransitive verb does not have an object.

For example:-

• “When I entered the room he looked up.”

"Up" here is an adverb, and does not have an object.

Separable or inseparable phrasal verbs

A further way of considering phrasal verbs is whether they are separable or inseparable. In inseparable verbs, the object comes after the particle.

For example:-

• "She got on the bus ."
• "On weekdays, we look after our grandchildren."

Separable verbs have several ways of separating verb, particle and object. Usually, the object comes between verb and particle.

For example:-

• "She looked up the word in her dictionary."
• "She looked it up in her dictionary."

However, with some separable verbs, the object can come before or after the particle.

For example:-

• "Switch the light off."
• "Switch off the light."
• "Switch it off."

!Note - There is usually no way of telling whether they are separable, inseparable, transitive or intransitive. In most cases you have to get a feel for them.

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Regular Verbs

Regular verbs are conjugated to easy to learn rules.

They all have a base form. e.g. to look

A gerund (ing) form where ing is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looking

An -s form where s is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looks

A past tense form where ed is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looked .

A past participle form where ed is added to the end of the verb. e.g. looked (Here the spelling rules)

Regular Verbs Simple Past / Past Participle Spelling Rules

The simple past tense is formed by adding -ed to the end of the verb. However there are several rules depending on the spelling of the verb, these are:-

If the base of the verb ends in:-

• -e only add -d (raid - raided)
• a consonant plus -y the y is turned into -ied (study - studied / try - tried)
• -c add -ked (panic - panicked)
• a single vowel plus a consonant and is stressed on its final syllable the consonant is usually doubled and -ed added (plan - planned)
• -p, g or -m the consonant is usually doubled and -ed added (ram - rammed / tap - tapped / gag - gagged)
• -l the consonant is usually doubled (travel - travelled)

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Regular Verbs

Base Form	To walk
Present Simple	I walk every day.
Present Progressive/Continuous	I am walking. (now)
Present Perfect Simple	I have walked twice so far today.
Present Perfect Progressive/Continuous	I have been walking for 2 hours.
Past Simple	I walked yesterday.
Past Progressive/Continuous	I was walking yesterday when I saw a bear.
Past Perfect Simple	I had walked for five miles by the time I got home.
Past Perfect Progressive/Continuous	I had been walking for 2 hours when I saw the bear.
Future Simple	I will go for a walk tomorrow.
Future Progressive/Continuous	I am walking tomorrow.
Future Perfect Simple	I will have already gone for a walk by the time I meet my friends.
Future Perfect Progressive	I will have been walking for 2 hours by the time I meet my friends.

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Irregular Verbs

There are no rules for the spelling of irregular verbs, for example:-

Base Form	To run
Present Simple	I run every day.
Present Progressive/Continuous	I am running. (now)
Present Perfect Simple	I have run twice so far today.
Present Perfect Progressive/Continuous	I have been running for 2 hours.
Past Simple	I ran yesterday.
Past Progressive/Continuous	I was running yesterday when I saw a bear.
Past Perfect Simple	I had run for five miles by the time I got home.
Past Perfect Progressive/Continuous	I had been running for 2 hours when I saw the bear.
Future Simple	I will go for a run tomorrow.
Future Progressive/Continuous	I am running tomorrow.
Future Perfect Simple	I will have already gone for a run by the time I meet my friends.
Future Perfect Progressive	I will have been running for 2 hours by the time I meet my friends.

Stative Verbs:

Stative verbs are verbs that show a state and not an action.

You can group verbs that show a state in the following ways:-

Verbs that show thought - know, believe, undertand etc.
Verbs that show possession - have, own, want, contain etc.
Verbs that show senses - hear, see, smell etc.
Verbs that show emotion - love, hate, want, need etc.

There are regular and irregular stative verbs. But when they are used to show a state they do not take the -ing form.

For Example:

• I like ice cream. (Never "I am liking...")
• I know a lot of English words. (Never "I am knowing...")

However, some verbs can be used to show an action or a state.

For Example:

• I think English is easy. = It is my opinion.
• I'm thinking of joining a new course. = I am considering it.