Ingles I

Present continuous

is a tense that is used to talk about actions of the moment which are current, temporary or
incomplete. Typical temporal expressions: now, at present, currently, at this moment. Verb to be
means “ser o estar”.

Affirmative

 Subject + verb to be + verb (ING) + the rest.

E.g., “Now, they are learning the present continuous”. “I am attending English 1”. “At this
moment, Monash University is offering free activities for the whole community: photography and
drawing”. “Now, they are learning the present continuous tense”.

Negative

 Subject + verb to be (not) + verb (ING) + the rest.

E.g., “I am not studying now” “You are not studying now”.

Interrogative

 (Wh word) + verb to be + subject + verb (ING) + the rest?

Wh words: what, where, when, why, how, who, whose, which, how much, how many, how long,
how often, how far. There are information questions.

E.g., “What is a motto?” “Where is Monash University?” “Why are you studying Maths?” “What
are you thinking about?” “Are you buying that?”

Present simple

Is used for express:

-Repeated or habitual actions. E.g., “She attends university three times a week”.

-Feelings, ideas, states. E.g., “Julia likes reading in English” “I think studying at university is very
important” “She seems to be very hard-working”.

-Eternal truths. E.g., “It rains a lot in Britain”.

-Future actions related to a schedule or event in the calendar. E.g., “We leave tomorrow at 7.30
am and arrive at 5 pm”.

I, he, she, it (singular). We, you, they (plural). Know if it is singular or plural. The people: are. This
person: is. Peter: is.

Affirmative
 Subject + verb (infinitive) / verb (‘s’) + the rest.

With the third person singular (he, she, it), the verb adds an ‘s’, ‘es’ or ’ies’ in the following cases:

‘ES’ it is added after: o, x, ch, sh, s. E.g., flash (flashes), watch (watches), tax (taxes), stress
(stresses), go (goes), fix (fixes), wash (washes).

‘IES’ it is added after if the verb finish in consonant + ‘Y’: study (studies), carry (carries).

In the rest of cases, the verb only takes ‘S’. E.g., play (plays), stay (stays). Only in the affirmative.

E.g., “I/We/You/They study at a national university” “He/She studies” “The university (It) covers an
area of 90 acres” “Monash university offers free activities for the whole community”.

Negative

 Subject + do-does (not) + verb (infinite) + the rest.

E.g., “I/We/You/They don’t study at a national university” “I don’t study on weekends” “He/She
doesn’t study” “Jeremy doesn’t like his job because he works during the night” “The university (It)
doesn’t cover an area of 90 acres”.

Interrogative

 (Wh word) + do-does / verb to be / has-have + subject + verb (infinitive) + the rest?

Do/have: I, you, we, they. Does/has: he, she, it. (With verb to be, do not go the verb).

E.g., “Where do you/we/they study?” “How often do you study at university?” “What area does
UNLaM cover?” “Do you/we/they study at a private university? “Does he/she go to the library?”
“Does it cover a big area?”

Answers: yes / no, + subject pronoun + auxiliary (not).

E.g., “No, we don’t” “No, she doesn’t” “Yes, it does. It covers an area of 98.84 acres”.

Expressing existence and possession

To describe facilities, we use verb in the simple present tense such as has/have, there is/are,
occupy/occupies, cover/covers. There is and there are means “hay” in singular and plural.
Have/has means “tener”.

E.g., “UNLaM occupies a large lot of land which covers 98.84 acres in San Justo, Buenos Aires
Province”. “There are 18 latest generation computing labs in the university”. “They have the
newest computers available for students’ use”. “There is also a language lab and an interactive
video lab with technical support”.

Affirmative
 There is-has + singular noun /// There are-have + plural noun.

E.g., “There is one student in the class” “There is a/an apple” “There are many students here”.

 Subject + has-have + the rest. (Only affirmative)

Has: he, she, it. Have: I, you, we, they.

E.g., “The university has a very complete library” “American universities have student
accommodation” “They (the labs) have the newest computers”.

Negative

 There is/has (not) + singular noun /// There are-have (not) + plural noun.

E.g., “There is not any problem” “There are not any problems” “There has not food” “There have
not foods”.

 Subject + do-does (not) + have + the rest.

E.g., “UNLaM doesn’t have student accommodation” “Some American universities don’t have
student accommodation” “They don’t have the newest computers”.

Interrogative

 (Wh words) + is-are there + the rest?

E.g., “Is there any problem?” “Are there any problems?”

 (Wh words) + do-does + subject + have + the rest?

E.g., “Does the university have a complete library?” “Do American universities have complete
libraries?”

Comparative

To compare differences between two objects, we use adjectives in their comparative forms. They
are used in sentences where two nouns are compared, in this pattern:

 Comparative (more) adjective / comparative adjective (ER) + than + noun (object).

E.g., “This university is more important/interesting than the others” “UNLaM campus is larger than
Morón University campus” “Unlam campus is larger/newer/older/bigger than morón university
campus”.

The second item of comparison can be omitted if it is clear from the context. Examples:

E.g., “This term I’m attending English and Computing, but I like English better” “Some classrooms
are noisier and crowder than others”.

Superlative

Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a
quality. They are used in sentences where a subject is compared to a group of objects:
 The + superlative (most) adjective / superlative adjective (EST) + noun (object).

E.g., “Unlam is the most important university” “Unlam is the newest university”.

The group that is being compared with can be omitted if it is clear from the context. Examples:

E.g., “We sometimes talk in class when the teachers are explaining” “Some students talk the
loudest” “My classroom is the smallest in this sector. In summer it is the hottest”.

Number of syllables Adjective Comparative Superlative

One syllable New Newer (than) the newest (of all)

Hot Hotter the hottest
Two syllables Simple Simpler the simplest
Dirty Dirtier the dirtiest
Three or more Important More important the most important
syllables Expensive More expensive the most expensive

Forming comparatives and superlatives is easy. The form depends on the number of syllables in
the original adjective.

E.g., “Bologna University’s library is more complete than NUL’s” “Harvard University is one of the
most expensive universities in the world”.

There are common adjectives that have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms.

Adjective irregular Comparative Superlative

good better the best
bad worse the worst
little less the least
much more the most
far further/farther the furthest/the farthest

To compare and show equality you use the following structure:

 Noun (subject) + verb + (not) as + adjective + as + noun (object).

E.g., “Harvard University is not as old as Bologna University”.

Adverbios de frecuencia

- Always, often, sometimes, never, usually, frequently, rarely.

They indicate the frequency with which the subject performs the action. They have 2 possible
locations in the present simple: before the main verb of the sentence or after the verb to be.

E.g., “I always study English” “The English course is always at 19:00” “I/You/We/They always use/
never use body language” “He/she often uses/never uses body language” “It (The English course)
sometimes starts at 8.00 o’clock” “It never finishes in November” “It is always popular among
students”.

Verbs of emotion

- Like, love, hate, enjoy, prefer, dislike + ING.

These verbs express how we experience an emotion. Verb with ING is used but they are commonly
used in the Simple Present tense. Always these verbs are used, ing is added to the next one.

E.g., “I love searching the Internet” “Students hate getting low marks in exams but they enjoy
passing difficult subjects” “I hate studying in summer” “I don’t like studying in summer”.

Past simple

The Simple Past is used for an activity or situation that began and ended in the past. It is usually
used with past time expressions such as yesterday, last month/year, a few days ago, and dates
such as: in 1990, in 300 BCE, etc.

There are regular and irregular verbs. Regular verbs add ‘ed’ to the base form. Irregular verbs form
the Simple Past in a variety of different ways.

Affirmative

 Subject + was-were + the rest.

I, he, she, it: was. You, we, they: were.

E.g., “I was popular among women” “You were popular among women” “He was a teacher”.

 Subject + verb irregular or regular (‘ED’) + the rest.

E.g., “I defended the thesis” “You defended the thesis” “she worked here for 12 years”.

Negative

 Subject + was-were (not) + the rest.

E.g., “I was not popular among women” “You were not popular among women”

 Subject + did not + verb (infinitive) + the rest.

E.g., “I did not defend the thesis” “You did not defend the thesis”

Interrogative

 (Wh word) + was-were + subject + the rest?

E.g., “Was I popular among women?” “Were you popular among women?”

 (Wh word) + did + subject + verb (infinitive) + the rest?

E.g., “Did I defend the thesis?” “Did you defend the thesis?”

Affirmative
There was/were a/an one pen.

Negative

There was not/were not

Interrogative

Was/were there + subject + the rest.