English Grammar Notes for University Students by E-campus

Appunti Inglese

Design e Discipline della moda (Università telematica e-Campus) Scan to open on Studocu Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)TO BE PART OF SPEECH

We use the verb "to be" to talk about physical characteristics and conditions.

AFFERMATIVA

I Am ('m) You Are ('re) He Is ('s) She Is ('s) It Is ('s) We Are ('re) You Are ('re) They Are ('re)

NEGATIVA

I Am not ('m not) You Are not ('re not/ aren't) He Is not ('s not/isn't) She Is not ('s not/isn't) It Is not ('s not/isn't) We Are not ('re not/ aren't) You Are not ('re not/ aren't) They Are not ('re not/ aren't)

INTERROGATIVA

Am L ...? Are You ...? Is He ...? Is She ...? Is It ...? Are We ...? Are You ...? Are They ...?

* Note that you can use the contraction (short form) only in spoken English and in informal letters or e-mails: These English expressions do not use the auxiliary verb to have but the auxiliary verb to be. Per esprimere fame, sete, caldo, freddo e altre condizioni fisiche e mentali comuni non si usa Have+aggettivo ma Be+aggettivo.

• To be hungry (avere fame)
• to be thirsty (avere sete)
• to be right (avere ragione)
• to be wrong (avere torto)
• to be in a hurry ( avere fretta)
• to be cold/ to be hot ( avere freddo/caldo
• to be afraid/be scared ( avere paura)
• To be right/wrong (avere ragione/torto)
• To be late/early (essere in ritardo/anticipo)

Remember that in English we use the verb "to be" also to express the age: The affirmative form of the verb is the same except for he/she/it. For he/she/it, add:

• For most verbs: - s - work>works
• For verbs ending in consonant + y: - ies - cry>cries
• For verbs ending in -ch, -sh, o: - es-+ go>goes . Make the negative with don't + infinitive (without to) or doesn't (for he/she/it) + infinitive (without to) . . For questions, put do/does before the subject and the infinitive after the subject.

PART OF SPEECH

• Adjective: an adjective is a word that describes a noun Ex: small, big, bad, good, red, beautiful, important, rich
• Pronoun: a pronoun, as in Italian, is used instead of a noun Ex: I, you, he, they This document is available free of charge on studocu Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)
• Preposition. A prepositions is a word which usually goes before a noun/pronoun or noun-phrase. It basically joins the noun to some other parts of the sentence Ex: by, with, at, through, in, on ...
• Interjection: an intejection is an unusual kind of word. It usually stands alone and expresses emotion or suprise. Interjections are usually followed by exclamation marks Ex: hello!, ouch !, Oh no ! ...
• Article: an article is used to introduce a noun. It can be definite or indefinite Ex: the, a, an
• Conjunction: is a word that connects words, phrases or clauses. There are three types: - Coordinating: join single words or groups of words. They must always join similar elements. (Ex: subject+subject; sentence+sentence; ... )
• Correlative: also correlative conjunctions join sentences of the same kind BUT are always used in pairs.
• Subirdinating: which is the largest class of conjunctions, connect subordinate clauses to a main clause. These conjunctions are adverbs used as conjunctions.
• Coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (FANBOYS). Remember to use a comma before a conjunction when you use a conjunction to join two sentences.
• Correlative conjunctions: "both ... and", "not only ... but also", "either ... so", "neither ... nor", "whether ... or". They are always used in pairs !!
• Subirdinating conjunctions: they act like conjunctions and are placed at the front of the clause. The adverbial clause can come either before or after the main clause. Remember: a comma must be put at the end of the adverbial phrase when it precedes the main clause.

TIME

After Before While Until When Now that Since While

CAUSE+EFFECT

Because Since As So In order that

OPPOSITION

Although Though Whereas Even if Even though Whether or not

CONDITION

Only if If Unless

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Present continuous ( sometimes called "the present progressive)

We use the present continuous to talk about something which is happening at the time of speaking. We make it using the present simple of "be" + verb-ing:

SUBJECT

I Am (not) You Are (not) He-She-It Is (not) We Are (not) You Are (not) They Are (not)

verb+ing form

We make the negative form by adding "NOT". Note that some verbs like " to ride" , "to run" and many others - do not follow this general rule: Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)

• I verbi monosillabi terminanti in consonante-vocale-consonante (cvc) raddoppiano la consonante finale (ex: run - running; stop - stopping; sit - sitting)
• Raddoppiano la consonante finale anche i verbi bisillabi terminanti in cvc, a condizione che l'ultima sillaba sia accentata (ex: begin - beginning)
• I verbi terminanti in -e eliminano la -e aggiungono -ing (ex: smoke - smoking; have - having; leave - leaving)
• I verbi terminanti in -ie trasformano -ie in -ying (ex: die - dying; lie - lying)
• I verbi terminanti in -y seguono la regola generale aggiungono sempre -ing alla forma base, senza nessuna modificazione (ex: study - studying; enjoy - engoying; carry - carrying)

When do we use it ?

• to describe an action that is going on at this moment (=now)
• to describe an action that is going on during this period of time or a trend:
• to describe an action or event in the future, which has already been planned or prepared:
• to describe a temporary event or situation:
• to describe and emphasise a continuing series of repeated actions (usually with "always, forever, constantly) :

Some verbs that refer to states rather than actions are not usually used in the continuous form.

• to feel*
• to consider
• to imagine
• to hear
• to doubt
• to know
• to feel (= to think)
• to mean
• to find (= to consider)
• to notice
• to taste
• to suppose
• to recognise
• to remember
• to understand

Exceptions

Some perception verbs (like : see, hear, feel, taste, smell ) may be used in the continuous form but with a different meaning

• This coat feels nice and warm. (your perception of the coat's qualities)
• John's feeling much better now (his health is improving)
• She has three dogs and a cat. (possession)
• She's having supper. (She's eating)
• I can see Anthony in the garden (perception)
• I'm seeing Anthony later (We are planning to meet)

FREQUENCY ADVERBS

Use frequency adverbs to say how often you do something. They are:

• always (sempre)
• often (spesso)
• usually (di solito)
• sometimes (qualche volta)
• hardly (difficilmente)
• ever/never (mai)
• rarely (raramente)

Frequency adverbs: 1) go before the verb (except to be); This document is available free of charge on studocu Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)

• to see*
• to smell
• to assume
• to think*
• to believe
• to forget

2) go after the verb to be. You can use phrases like every day/month/year or once a week/month/year. These phrases go at the beginning or end of a sentence.

WH-WORDS

Wh-words such as what, who, where, why, when, how many, how much ... are question words. Put them at the beginning of the questions.

• What: che cosa
• Which: quale
• Who: chi
• Where: dove
• When: quando
• What time: a che ora
• Why: perchè

PRESENT SIMPLE VS PRESENT CONTINUOUS

A. Use present simple to say what you usually do and with the expressions like once a week/month/year (=una volta alla settimana/al mese/all'anno) and the frequency adverbs; with questions and negatives, the auxiliary verb is DO/DOES. B. Use present continuous to say what you are doing now and with expressions like: at the moment, now, right now, today ; with affirmatives, questions and negatives, the auxiliary verb is to BE.

Have is used in several different ways:

• As an auxiliary verb;
• To talk about possession, relationships, illnesses, characteristics of people and other states: have (got). Got-forms of have are informal and most common in the present. 'Do' is not used in questions and negatives with got. I have not (haven't) got I don't have A pen = non ho una penna I haven't Have + subject + got + object? Have you got a pen? Do + subject + have + object? Do you have a pen? Hai una penna? Have + subject + object? (Less usual) Have you a pen?

Note : In the past we do not normally use "got" To talk about actions and experiences: have + object

PAST TENSES

The past of the verb "to be" (am/is/are) is was/were:

• I/she/it/he + was
• we/you/they + were

We use the Past Simple to talk about actions or situations in the past. Use it to express the idea that an action started and finished at a specific time in the past.

• Most verbs conjugate by adding -ed: work - worked
• Verbs ending in -e add -d: hope - hoped Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)
• verbs ending in one stressed vowel + one consonant (except w or y), double the consonant and add - ed: stop - stopped
• verbs ending in consonant + -y, change y to i and add -ed: cry - cried

Both regular and irregular verbs follow the same rules.

• For negatives, use the auxiliary did and did not (didn't) and the infinitive.
• For questions, use the auxiliary did .

REMEMBER: put the auxiliary before the subject and the base form after the subject.

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE

To form it, use the auxiliary verb to be in the simple past with the -ing form of the main verb. Ex ."To read"

POSITIVE

Subject To be -ing form I Was You Were He Was She Was It Was read -ing We Were You Were They Were

NEGATIVE

Subject To be + not -ing form I Was + not You Were + not He Was + not She Was + not It Was + not read -ing We Were + not You Were + not They Were + not

QUESTION

To be Subject -ing form Was I Were You Was He Was She Was It Were We Were You Were They

We use the Past Continuous to say that someone was in the middle of doing something at a certain time. Note that the past continuous doesn't tell us whether an action was finished or not. Perhaps was finished, perhaps not. We often use the past continuous together with a simple past tense. The past continuous refers to a longer "background" action or situation; the simple past refers to a shorter action or event that happened in the middle of the longer action, or that interrupted it. The past continuous, like other progressive forms, is used for temporary actions and situations. When we talk about longer situations we use simple past.

SIMPLE PRESENT PERFECT

The new tense is the simple present perfect and it is formed with the auxiliary have/has followed by the past participle. There are two kinds of past participle in English:

• Regular (ends in -ed ) such as, visited, received, opened
• Irregular (different form) such as spoken, eaten, met

As it happened with the irregular simple past, you have to control the same list of irregular verbs at the end of the book, and consider the last column of the paradigm (the first one gives you the infinite, the second one the past simple and the third one the past participle). While in Italian the auxiliary verb for the tense can be also the verb to be, in English we must use only the verb to have. We use the present perfect to talk about an action happened in the past which has a connection with the present. This document is available free of charge on studocu Downloaded by Giuls Carter (giulzcarterink@gmail.com)