Word Order in Questions and Past Tenses in English Grammar

Word Order in Questions

YES/NO QUESTIONS

Remember: Use Auxiliary Do / Does / Did + Questions. Usar Auxiliar Do / Dos / Did + Preguntas.

PRESENT QUESTIONS (DO/DOES):

With First Person Singular: Do Do you speak German? (Do + Subject + Verb + Object) With Third Person Singular: Does Does your friend live in Germany? (Does + Subject+ Verb + location) With Plural Forms: Do Do your children go to university? (Do + Subject + Verb + location)

PAST QUESTIONS (DID)

With all forms: Did Did you learn German last year? (2nd Person Singular) Did your friend live in Germany last year? (3rd Person Singular) Did your children go to university last year? (3rd Person Plural) Open question Affirmative Negative Do you speak German? Yes, I do (Singular) No, I don't (Singular) Yes, we do (Plural) No, we don't (Plural) Does your friend live in Yes, he does (Masculine) No, he doesn't (Masculine) Germany? Yes, she does (Femenine) No, she doesn't (Femenine) Yes, I did (Singular) No, I didn't (Singular) Did you live in Germany last year? Yes, we did (Plural) No, I didn't (Plural)

WH-QUESTIONS

PRESENT QUESTIONS (WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, HOW).

• When the question is about the subject: Who Who is your teacher? FULL-ANSWER: (3rd Person Singular) My teacher is Paul.
• When the question is about the object: What What do you study? FULL-ANSWER: (1st Person Singular) I study Modern Languages.
• When the question is about a place: Where Where were you born? FULL-ANSWER: (1st Person Singular) I was born in Valencia.
• When the question is about time: When When did you start school? FULL-ANSWER: (1st Person Singular) I started school when I was three years old.
• When the question is about manner: How How did you learn to ride a bicycle? FULL-ANSWER: (1st Person Singular) I learnt it by my self.

Writing: Coherence and Cohesion (CIRCUMSTANCE)

Another discourse relation that can be found in texts is CIRCUMSTANCE. This relation includes three different circumstances: manner, place and time. For example: Otra relación discursiva que se puede encontrar en los textos es la CIRCUNSTANCIA. Esta relación incluye tres circunstancias diferentes: manera, lugar y tiempo. Por ejemplo: Manner: "John is going to play football, as his parents suggested." Place: "She is always happy, wherever she is." Time: "When I am on holiday, I read a lot of books." These examples could be represented in this way: 1-2 Circunstance Manner John is going to play football, as his parents suggested. 1-2 Circunstance Place She is always happy, wherever she is. 1-2 Circunstance Time When I am on holiday, I read a lot of books.Some connectors show a CIRCUMSTANCE relation. See for example the items in bold in the sentences above. Algunos conectores muestran una relación de CIRCUNSTANCIA. Vea, por ejemplo, los elementos en negrita en las oraciones anteriores.

More connectors of CIRCUMSTANCE:

Pay attention: Usually, the order of the two fragments included in a CIRCUMSTANCE relation can be inverted without changing the meaning of the phrase. Por lo general, el orden de los dos fragmentos incluidos en una relación de CIRCUNSTANCIA se puede invertir sin cambiar el significado de la frase. See for example: Manner: "As his parents suggested, John is going to play football." Place: "Wherever she is, she is always happy." Time: "I read a lot of books when I am on holiday."

Past Tenses

REGULAR PAST

Remember: Add "ed" to the infinitive to form regular past. Añade "ed" al infinitivo para formar el pasado regular Intransitive Verbs: Verb+ed + Prepositional Phrase + Adverbial Phrase Verbos Intransitivos: Verbo +ed + Frase Preposicional + Frase Adverbial I walked to the post office to send my letters yesterday. (walk + ed) He moved to New York last year: (move + d) The water evaporated very quickly. (evaporate + d) Transitive Verbs: Verb+ed + Nominal Phrase + Adverbial Phrase Verbos transitivos: Verb+ed + Frase nominal + Frase adverbial You visited my brother last summer. (visit + ed) She kissed her daughter last night. (kiss + ed) They watched a movie last Saturday. (watch + ed) Pay attention: To the spelling conditions of some regular verbs in the past. A las condiciones ortográficas de algunos verbos regulares en el pasado.

1. If a regular verb ends in a silent e, add /-d/ in the simple past: Si un verbo regular termina en una e silenciosa, agregue /-d/ en el pasado simple: Example: close=closed
2. If a regular verb ends in a vowel + y, add /-ed/ in the simple past: Si un verbo regular termina en una vocal + y, agregue /-ed/ en el pasado simple: Example: play=played
3. If a regular verb ends in a consonant + y, add /-ied/ in the simple past (the y becomes an i followed by /-ed/): Si un verbo regular termina en consonante + y, agregue /- ied/ en pasado simple (la y se convierte en una i seguida de /-ed/): Example: marry=married
4. If a regular verb has a consonant after a stressed vowel at the end, the consonant is doubled: Si un verbo regular tiene una consonante después de una vocal acentuada al final, la consonante se duplica: Examples: stop - stopped ban - banned swap - swapped

IRREGULAR PAST

Remember: Irregular verbs have different patterns such as sing-sang-sung or stand- stood-stood, (Infinitive - Past simple - Past Participle) (see list on pages 311-315). Los verbos irregulares tienen diferentes patrones como sing-sang-sung o stand- stood-stood, (Infinitivo - Pasado simple - Participio pasado) (ver lista en las páginas 311-315). The colonists came to America in the 16th and 17th centuries for several reasons, such as overpopulation, religious persecution and poverty. In those centuries England had an unstable economy and, as inflation and poverty grew, English immigrants chose to seek out new sources of economic prosperity in the New World. Come - came - come Have - had - had Grow - grew - grown Choose - chose - chosen Note: The past simple is the same for all subjects (Singular or Plural), but the verb "to be" is irregular for all singular subjects and there is one form for all the plural subjects: El pasado simple es el mismo para todos los sujetos (singular o plural), pero el verbo "to be" es irregular para todos los sujetos singulares y hay una forma para todos los sujetos plural Singular: I was - you were - he was - she was - it was Plural: we were - you were - they were

ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE PAST

Remember: Use the auxiliary verb did in past tense questions with the main verb in the infinitive form, unless the verb "to be" or other modal verbs are used. Use el verbo auxiliar did en preguntas en tiempo pasado con el verbo principal en forma infinitiva, a menos que se use el verbo "to be" u otros verbos modales.Examples: Why did Europeans come to Europe? Why did so many people move to Colonial America? Why did America expand westwards? Where did English immigrants settle in America? Where did the American Depression take place? Did Abraham Lincoln find the United States of America? Did he win the second presidential election? Did he abolish slavery in America? Verb "to be" and modal verb "can" in the past: Was Lincoln a Puritan? Were his children very famous? Were the Puritans a large group then? Could Lincoln abolish slavery?

Irregular Verbs

Writing: Coherence and Cohesion (CAUSE)

Another discourse relation that can be found in texts is CAUSE. This relation is usually between two fragments in a sentence: one fragment shows the cause of the information included in the other fragment. The fragment that expresses the cause can be placed before or after the other fragment. For example: Otra relación discursiva que se puede encontrar en los textos es CAUSA. Esta relación suele ser entre dos fragmentos en una oración: un fragmento muestra la causa de la información incluida en el otro fragmento. El fragmento que expresa la causa se puede colocar antes o después del otro fragmento. Por ejemplo: "He decided to emigrate to another country because he could not find a job." "As he could not find a job, he decided to emigrate to another country." These examples could be represented in this way: 1-2 Cause He decided to emigrate to another country because he could not find a job. 1-2 Cause As he could not find a job, he decided to emigrate to another country. With connectors, we can link both fragments to show a CAUSE. See for example the items in bold in the previous sentences. Con los conectores, podemos vincular ambos fragmentos para mostrar una CAUSA. Vea, por ejemplo, los elementos en negrita en las oraciones anteriores.

More connectors of CAUSE:

1. As
2. Becouse
3. Becouse of
4. Due do
5. Owing to
6. Since

Pay attention: Some connectors of CAUSE are usually preceded by a comma. Algunos conectores de CAUSE suelen ir precedidos de una coma. Examples: "He developed the software, as his boss had ordered." "They stayed at home yesterday, since it was raining."