Good Morning to all my students!!!

As I told you in previous messages, next week you will have the first exams of this semester. 

It is important for you to study. 

The topics that will be included in the grammar exam (40%) are:

1.- Simple past tense. Affirmative, negative and interrogative.

• She went to the cinema last night.
• She didn't go to the cinema last night.
• Did she go to the cinema last night?  Yes, she did.

2.- Comparatives and superlatives.

Jack is taller than Sam.

Karla is more interesting than Carol.

Kim is stronger than me.

I am worse in maths than in history.

The chocolate cake is better than the strawberry cake.

She is the tallest in the class.

She is the worst person I have known.

The U.K is the most interesting place I have visited.

3.-  Verbs conjugation (The list of regular and irregular verbs that are in the blog you have to know their meaning in Spanish, there are 46 verbs) Los verbos que están en el blog.

You will have to complete the table with the missing verb, and you will have to write the meaning in Spanish.

INFINITIVE	SIMPLE PAST	PAST PERFECT	SPANISH
drink	drank	drunk	beber
begin	began	begun	comenzar
	came	come	venir
take	took		tomar
play	played		jugar

4.- And  Present perfect tense.

Example:

Fill in the gaps with the right forms of the verbs in brackets to complete the following English sentences in Present Perfect Tense.

1.-They have lived in London for six years.  (Live)
2.- He has read a lot of  History books. (read)
3.- She has told me about it. (tell)

You will also have reading (20 %), listening (20%) and writing (20%)  exams.  = 90%

I will also take into account  the evidences that you have sent to me via email, the activities that you had to complete at Jetstream platform and if you have worked in English Discoveries platform. (10%)

There are some students that haven't sent to me anything and that have not been working at all.  I hope you have taken advantage of the time in class for studying and doing your activities.

See you soon and study hard !!!!

" The moment you accept responsibility for everything in your life is the moment you gain the power to change anything in your life ".

 Writing exam example.

Describe the place and write what these people are doing.

In the photograph there are four people. They are in the living room.  In the living room there is a green sofa and an armchair. There is a big T.V. and a chimney. There are some bookshelves on the wall and a lot of books. 

The mother and the father are reading the newspaper. They are sitting on a green sofa. The girl is listening to music and the boy is watching T.V.   The boy is wearing a white t-shirt and blue trousers. His sister is wearing a purple blouse and red pants.  The mom is wearing a blue dress and the father is wearing grey trousers. The two of them are wearing glasses.

There are two pets in the room, one cat and one dog. The cat is sleeping and the dog is eating the father's sandwich.  On the sofa there is a toy, it is a cat.

To have a little bit of more practice I will send via email a pdf.  that I found in internet if you want you can attach it to the other pdf's. Copy the link print it and answer it.

Exercise Click here.

                                                  
                     

Let's start with a new tense!!!

Present Perfect

We use this tense for unfinished and finished actions.

Unfinished Actions

1.  We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say 'how long' and we need 'since' or 'for'. We often use stative verbs.

• I've known Luisa since 2001.
• I've worked in that company for nine months.
• She's lived in Australia for three years.

'Since' and 'For'

We use 'since' with a fixed time in the past (1994, last year, March 3rd). The fixed time can be another action, which is in the past simple (since I was at school, since I arrived).

• I've known Sam since 2005.
• I've liked milk since I was a child.
• She's been here since 4pm.

We use 'for' with a period of time (3 hours, four years, ten months).

• I've known Julie for ten years.
• I've been hungry for hours.
• She's had a cold for a week.

Finished Actions

2.  Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person's life. We don't say when the experience happened, and the person needs to be alive now. We often use the words 'ever' and 'never' here.

• I have been to Tokyo.
• They have visited Paris three times.
• We have never seen that film.

3.  With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still continuing.

• I haven't seen her this month.
• She's drunk three cups of coffee today.
• I've already moved house twice this year!

We CAN'T use the present perfect with a finished time word.

• NOT:I've seen him yesterday.

4. A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result). We often use the present perfect to talk about something that happened in the recent past, but that is still true or important now. Sometimes we can use the past simple here, especially in US English.

• I've lost my keys (so I can't get into my house).
• She's hurt her leg (so she can't play tennis today).
• They've missed the bus (so they will be late).

5.  We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently, even if there isn't a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to introduce news and we often use the words 'just / yet / already / recently'. However, the past simple is also correct in these cases, especially in US English.

• The Queen has given a speech.
• I've just seen Lucy.
• The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.

Is it difficult!!!!!!

                                               

                                                               

Take it easy and continue !!!!

                    

To have a better understanding !!!!

  

https://www.lewolang.com/gramatica-inglesa/45/present-perfect-simple

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vJOJrVIgek

Present Perfect Exercise 1

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-perfect-exercise-1.html

Present Perfect Exercise 2

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-perfect-exercise-2.html

Present Perfect Exercise 3

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/present-perfect-exercise-3.html

THIRD WEEK (First class)

HI EVERYBODY!!!!

This week we have to start with a new grammar structure but first it is necessary to remember some verbs that we have been studying along these year an a half.

I need you to remember what  regular and irregular verbs are so please read the following information.

In order to use many verb tenses in English, you need to know the past forms of the verbs (Past simple and past participle).

All verbs have a base form or "infinitive" ( for example, look, make , play).

The majority of verbs, called "Regular verbs", follow the same pattern and create the past simple and the past participle using the same word ending, -ed.

There are, however, verbs that have different endings, and these are called "irregular verbs".

What are Regular Verbs?

Regular verbs in English create the past simple and past participle by adding -ed to the base form.

If the verb ends in a consonant and -y, we change the -y to -i and added -ed. For example:

If a verb ends in -e we simply add -d. For example: 

Here are some examples of regular verbs:

1. “Yesterday Jack studied all day.”
2. “Raul has accepted the job offer.”
3. “Have you finished yet?”
4. “We really liked the film we watched last night.”

There are three ways to pronounce -ed, depending on the last letter of the verb.

                                          

Do you want to practice your pronunciation?

Go to this link and watch the video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghXsfYoKw0c


What are Irregular Verbs?

There are about 200 irregular verbs in English. We can divide these into four types:

• Verbs which have the same base forme, past simple and past participle.
• Verbs which have the same past simple and past participle.
• Verbs which have the same base form and past participle.
• Verbs which have a different base form, past simple and past participle.

 A good way to learn irregular verbs is to study them in these groups because as they are similar they’re easier to remember. Here are the most common irregular verbs in these groups.

 
For example:

• “Our car cost a lot of money but it’s always breaking down.”
• “Pasha hurt himself in a soccer match last weekend.”
• “My parents have let me stay out late tonight.”
• “They put on their jackets because it was very cold.”

For example:

• “They had lunch at a Thai restaurant on Monday.”
• “Have you heard the news about the train strike?”
• “Tim has sent an email to all the suppliers.”
• “Who won the match?” – “The Giants.”

For example:

• “He came back home at 4 a.m. on Saturday.”
• “Suzi has become the Managing Director.”
• “The dog ran into the garden after Lee opened the door.”
• “Has Mrs. O’Connor come back from lunch yet?”

As Irregular verbs are a little bit more difficult to learn here you have a video to practice conjugation and pronunciation.

Click on the following link:

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/irregular-verbs.html

This first class you will have to practice your regular and irregular verbs in base form, simple past and past participle you have to be sure to know their meaning in Spanish.

Then you will have to practice with them on the following exercises. Take a photograph or screen shot as evidence of your work.

Exercise 1.

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/irregular-verbs-exercise-1.html

Exercise 2.

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/irregular-verbs-exercise-2.html

Exercise 3. Now try to remember how to use simple past in affirmative, negative and questions !!!!

https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/exercises/tenses/simple_past_mix.htm

                                                          

IMPORTANT: You need to start learning by heart these verbs as you will have a dictation exam in 3 weeks.

                                                      

READING ACTIVITIES

Read the following textbook article. Pay special attention to simple past tense verbs. Read the following textbook article. Pay special attention to past-tense verbs. 

                                                         

Over 100 years ago, people only dreamed about flying. The Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville, were dreamers who changed the world. Wilbur Wright was born in 1867 and Orville was born in 1871. In 1878, they received a paper flying toy from their father. They played with kites and started to think about the possibility of flight. When they were older, they started a bicycle business. They used the bicycle shop to design their airplanes. They studied three aspects of flying: lift, control, and power. In 1899, they constructed their first flying machine—a kite made of wood, wire, and cloth. It had no pilot. Because of wind, it was difficult to control. They continued to study aerodynamics. Finally Wilbur designed a small machine with a gasoline engine. Wilbur tried to fly the machine, but it crashed. They fixed it and flew it for the first time on December 17, 1903, with Orville as the pilot. The airplane remained in the air for twelve seconds. It traveled a distance of 120 feet. This historic flight changed the world. However, only four newspapers in the U.S. reported this historic moment. The Wright brothers offered their invention to the U.S. government, but the government rejected their offer at first. The government didn’t believe that these men invented a flying machine. Finally, President Theodore Roosevelt investigated their claims and offered the inventors a contract to build airplanes for the U.S. Army. December 17, 2003, marked 100 years of flight. There was a six-day celebration at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the location of the first flight. A crowd of 35,000 people gathered to see a replica  of the first plane fly. The cost to re-create the plane was $1.2 million. However, it rained hard that day and the plane failed to get off the ground. You can now see the Wright brothers’ original airplane in the Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

INSTRUCTIONS. Fill in the blanks with the past tense of the verb in parentheses ( ). Use the correct spelling.  Write the sentences on a separate sheet of paper as you will give them to me.

 EXAMPLE: The Wright brothers received a flying toy from their father. (receive) 

 1. They ______________ with kites. (play) 

 2. They _____________ about flying. (dream) 

 3. They ______________ everything they could about flying. (study) 

 4. They ____________ a bicycle business. (start) 

 5. They _____________ The bicycle shop to design airplanes. (use) 

 6. They _____________ to fly their first plane in 1899. (try) 

 7. Their first plane ______________. (crash) 

 8. They ___________ it. (fix) 

 9. In 1903, their plane _____________ in the air for 12 seconds. (stay) 

 10. They ______________ their invention to the U.S. government. (offer) 

 11. The government ___________ to offer them a contract. (decide)

 12. Wilbur Wright __________ in 1912. (die) 

 13. Orville Wright ___________ for many more years. (live) 

 14. Their invention ___________ the world. (changed)

                                                

 Robert Goddard was born in 1882. When he was a child, he became interested in firecrackers and thought about the possibility of space travel. He later became a physics professor at a university. In his free time, he built rockets and took them to a field, but they didn’t fly. When he went back to his university after his failed attempts, the other professors laughed at him. In 1920, Goddard wrote an article about rocket travel. He believed that one day it would be possible to go to the moon. When The New York Times saw his article, a reporter wrote that Goddard had less knowledge about science than a high school student. Goddard wanted to prove that The New York Times was wrong. In 1926, he built a ten-foot rocket, put it into an open car, and drove to his aunt’s nearby farm. He put the rocket in a field and lit the fuse. Suddenly the rocket went into the sky. It traveled at 60 miles per hour (mph) to an altitude of 41 feet. Then it fell into the field. The flight lasted 2½ seconds, but Goddard was happy about his achievement. Over the years, his rockets grew to 18 feet and flew to 9,000 feet in the air. No one made fun of him after he was successful. When Goddard died in 1945, his work did not stop. Scientists continued to build bigger and better rockets. In 1969, when the American rocket Apollo 11 took the first men to the moon, The New York Times wrote: “The Times regrets the error.”

Instructions: Read the following facts about the history of rockets. Underline the verbs. Write R for a regular verb. Write I for an irregular verb.  Copy the sentences on a sheet of paper from your block and do the exercise.

EXAMPLE: Goddard published a paper on rockets in 1920. R 

1. Goddard built and flew rockets from 1926 to 1939. 

2. Germany used the first rockets in World War II in 1944. 

3. The Russians launched their first satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957. 

4. The Americans sent up their first satellite, Explorer 1, in 1958. 

5. Yuri Gagarin, a Russian, became the first person in space in 1961. 

6. Alan Shepard, an American, went into space in 1961. 

7. The United States put the first men on the moon in 1969. 

8. A spacecraft on Mars transmitted color photos to Earth in 2004.

                                                       

To finish here are the lists of verbs that you will have to study for dictation you will have 2 weeks to learn them by heart.

Irregular verbs for dictation

Base form (infinitive)               Simple past            Past participle

1. be

2. become

3. begin

4. bring

5. buy

6. choose

7. come

8. do

9. drink

10. drive

11. eat

12. fall

13. fly

14. send

15. feel

16. see

17. speak

18. swim

19. take

20. teach

21. think

22. understand

23. wear

Regular Verbs for dictation

1. Try

2. Play

3. Enjoy

4. Like

5. study

6. carry

7. plan

8. stop

9. arrive

10. fail

11. pass

12. happen

13. touch

14.pull

15. push

16. clean

15. brush

16. wash

17. climb

18. cry

19. start

20. finish

21. continue

22. smoke

23. smile