Compare these pairs

Compare these pairs from Ana Arias Castro

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

VIDEO

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 5 (www.itslj.org)
• Passives (easier exercises)
• Passives (more difficult exercises)
• Hot Potatoes ESO-3
• Hot Potatoes ESO-4

First type conditional sentences

The first conditional is also called the "real" conditional because it is used for real, or possible, situations. These situations take place if a certain condition is met.
In the first conditional we can salso use unless, which means "if... not". In other words, "... unless he hurries up" could also be written, "... if he doesn't hurry up."

• If it rains, we will stay at home.
• He will arrive late unless he hurries up.
• Sophie will buy a new car, if he gets his raise.

The first conditional is formed by the use of the present simple in the if clause followed by a comma and a future simple verb (will + infinitive) in the result clause. You can also put the result clause first without using a comma between the clauses.

• If he finishes on time, we will go to the movies.

OR

• We will go to the movies if he finishes on time.

Next year we are going to study the second conditional structure.

If you want to do some more exercises you might try these ones:

• exercise 1
• exercise 2
• exercise 3
• exercise 4
• exercise 5
• exercise 6

These sheet contains a summary of first, second and third type conditional sentences.

Irregular verbs

Here you are some practice of irregular verbs:

• test 1
• test 2

Weather forecast

This activity has been designed for you to get some specific information from the following YouTube video. Click here and get to the activity.

Reading Comprehension exercise: Back Together

Read the text and answer the following questions:

Back Together

Tamara Rabi had no idea Adriana Scott existed until students at a university in Long Island began confusing her with the other girl. The girls were born in Mexico and then adopted by different sets of parents in the US. Tamara grew up with Jewish parents on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Adriana was raised a Catholic in a Long Island suburb of the city. But each girl had no idea she had a twin until Tamara moved to Long Island.  

In 2003 a friend of Adriana's turned up at Tamara's 20th birthday party and could not believe his eyes. Tamara had already noticed how some people on her university campus smiled and said hello, clearly mistaking her for somebody else.

In 2004 they decided to meet so Tamara contacted Adriana by email and soon afterwards they met in a car park. "I didn't know what to say, except hi. I was just in shock to see myself", says Adriana. The funny thing is that they grew up just 20 miles apart.

“We have the same mannerisms, the same interests, the same grades in school," Adriana says.

"We had the same dream when we were younger. It was a nightmare... A really loud noise, followed by a real quiet one," adds Tamara.

Adriana's mother was the only family member on either side who knew she had a twin, but she had no idea where she might be. After agonising over it, she kept it secret to avoid the pain of a possibly fruitless search - a judgement which Adriana agrees with.

"In some ways it's the best of both worlds, as I have a sister but I haven't grown up in a state of sibling rivalry," she says.  

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3343763.stm

1. True or false:
• In 2004, Tamara met Adriana.
• Tamara met Adriana at a party.
• Tamara and Adriana are similar.
• Adriana knew she had a twin even before she met Tamara.
• The two girls grew up in different countries.
• They want to be rivals.
2. Answer the following questions:
• Why did people at university stare at them?
• How did Tamara contact Adriana?
• How are Tamara and Adriana similar? Give two examples.
• Why didn't Adriana's mother tell her about her sister?
• How do the girls feel about each other today?
3. Key to this exercise

Present perfect: form and use

This chart summarises the main aspects about the form and use of present perfect simple tense:



This is the sheet were the image was taken from.

If you want extra revision about how to form or use present perfect, I hope these links will help you:

• Present perfect man (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 1 (www-englisch-hilfen.de)
• Exercise 2 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)
• ever / never / just / already / yet
• Hot Potatoes exercise
• Unit 3 final test

Revision of past simple

In this unit we are going to learn when and how to use the past simple tense in English:

If you need any more revision work here you are some interesting resources:

PRINTABLE MATERIALS

• Tenses: form and use (downloadable pdf)
• Extra practice -Burlington books Spain (downloadable pdf)
• Irregular verbs table

ON-LINE EXERCISES

• Revision of regular verbs -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs1 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs2 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs3 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Revision of irregular verbs4 -englisch-hilfen.de
• Past simple Boy -www.isabelperez.es 
• Questions in the past simple
• Past continuous and past simple exercise -British Council

TEXTS IN THE PAST SIMPLE TENSE

• Fernando Alonso (fill the gaps) -www.isabelperez.com
• Shakira (fill the gaps) -www.isabelperez.com
• Thanksgiving day (fill the gaps) -www.isabelperez.es
• New Year's Eve (fill the gaps) -www.isabelperez.es

READING TEXTS

• News in Levels: choose level 2 of each text

The best websites for EFL learners

• News in levels will help you read news in English at your own level. Once you've understood it you might try a higher level, or the other way round, try the most difficult level and then an easier one.
• Activities for Esl/EFL students offers a wide range of activities, particularly quizzes, which are always fun.
• The English Page focuses on grammar points that you may study in class.
• Isabel Pérez is probably one of the most interesting Spanish websites. You'll find all sorts of grammar and vocabulary exercises but also interesting texts on a variety of topics. It is also a good website for ESL teachers.
• Lyrics Training will let you listen to your favourite songs and learn English at the same time. Our former assistant, Sam, recommended it.
• Five minute English has short articles on different topics that will be useful for language learners, such as the difference between hear and listen to.
• ESL America has lots of activities with audio files so that you can focus on difficult aspects of pronunciation.

Present simple and present continuous

In this unit we are revising the form and uses of two very common tenses: present simple and present continuous. These links will lead you to useful materials for you:

• Summary of tenses
• Tenses in detail
• Worksheet: unit 1
• Revision test for unit 1: Unit 1

Present simple and present continuous from Cynthia Maurizzio

present simple and present continuous from jesusmarcos42

Comparatives and superlatives

These last weeks we have been studying comparative and superlative structures in our classes.  This chart summarizes the main points that you have to keep in mind:

If you want to download the worksheet used in class, click here and if you want to check if you already know this grammar structure, you may try:

• more detailed grammar rules 
• written exercise (printable sheet)
• exercise sheet
• this Hot Potatoes exercise.
• geography quizz
• crosswords from the BBC Learning English website

Prepositions of time

On, in and at are the three most common prepostions of time. These are the rules for using them correctly:

ON

• days of the week: Sunday, Wednesday
• dates : 5th October 2015
• specific dates: Christmas day
• parts of a day: Sunday morning, Wednesday evening

IN

• months: July, December
• the four seasons: (the) spring, summer, autumn, winter
• years: 2014, 2053, 1833
• parts of the day: the morning, the afternoon, the evening

AT

• night
• the weekend
• Christmas, Easter
• times: 5 o'clock, 9:45
• the moment
• present

MORE PRACTICE:

• Grammar sheet
• Exercise 1
• Exercise 2

Passive sentences

WHAT IS A PASSIVE STRUCTURE?
Active sentences usually focus on who did the action:

• My sister broke the window.

Whereas passive sentences usually focus on who or what suffered the effects of the action:

• The window was broken.

On most occassions the agent (who did the action) is not mentioned but, if relevant, it can be mentioned after the preposition by.

• The window was broken by my sister.
• Don Quixote was written by Cervantes.

HOW IS IT MADE?
Passive structures have these elements:

1. the passive subject (my sister)
2. verb be in the right tense (the same tense that would be used in the corresponding active structure)
3. the past participle of the lexical verb
4. only if necessary, the agent (by + ______)

CHANGING ACTIVE SENTENCES  INTO THE PASSIVE

1. the object of the active sentence becomes the subject in the passive structure
2. verb be in the same tense as the active verb in the active structure
3. past participle of the main verb
4. the subjet of the active sentence becames the object in the passive structure (by + agent)
• Peter builds a house. -> A house is built by Peter.
• They were cooking dinner when we arrived. -> Dinner was being cooked when we arrived.
• I will finish it tomorrow. -> It will be finished tomorrow.

PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH TWO SUBJECTS (ONLY ESO-4)
Some active sentences have both a direct and an indirect object. In English both can be the subject in a passive structure. The indirect object is introduced by to in the passive sentence.

• ACTIVE: My sister asked me a question.
• PASSIVE 1: A question was asked to me.
• PASSIVE 2: I was asked a question.

• ACTIVE. The teacher explained the exercise to the students.
• PASSIVE 1: The exercise was explained to the students.
• PASSIVE 2: The studens were explained the exercise.

EXERCISES

• Exercise 1 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 2 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercise 3 (www.isabelperez.com)
• Exercises 4 (www.englisch-hilfen.de)

ESL / EFL Reported Speech

GENERAL RULES FOR REPORTED SPEECH

• Tenses change from present to past (if we are talking about what somebody said in the past):
  • “I am 15.” - He said he was 15.
  • “We have a problem.” - They said they had a problem.
  • “I can swim.” - She said that she could swim.
  • “She comes by bus.” - He said that she came by bus.
  • “Your sister doesn’t like pizza.” - She said that my sister didn’t like pizza.
  • “You are looking through the window.” - He said that I was looking through the window.
  • “They will probably fail.” - She said that they would probably fail.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” - She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
• Personal pronouns change (if somebody is telling
  what somebody else has said before):
  
  • “I am 15.” - He said he was 15.
  • “My mother saw a mouse.” - She said that her mother had seen a mouse.
  • “We saw you at the cinema.” - They said that they had seen me at the cinema.
• Place and time complements have to be adapted to the new context:
• He came here.” - They said that he had gone there. 
• “It’s raining today” - Jake said that it was raining then / yesterday.
• “I saw you last week.” - She said that she had seen me the week before.

STATEMENTS

• Tell and say are common reporting verbs. (Tell is used before an indirect object.):
• She said that she liked pizza.
• My mother told me to go with her.
• Everyone said that the lesson was very difficult.
• He told his friends about my illness.

• Other verbs can be used: know, promise, insist, warn...
• That can be omitted after say:
• She said that she liked pizza. - She said she liked pizza.
• They knew that he liked her. - They knew she liked her.

QUESTIONS

• Typical reporting verbs are: ask, wonder, want to know.
• He wanted to know the opening times of the museum.
• She wondered how old my mother was.
• If the question is answered with yes or no, if should be introduced before the indirect question:
• My sister asked if you wanted to come with us.
• I wondered if she was watching the programme on TV.
• Subject always comes before the verb:
• She asked me how old I was.

IMPERATIVES

• We use ask / tell + object + (not) + to + infinitive to say what people want(ed) us to do:

• “Please, open the window.” - She asked us to open the window.

• “Tidy your room.” - My father told me to tidy my room.

• “Don’t smoke here.” - My aunt asked me not to smoke in her car.

DOWNLOAD THIS SHEET AND  EXERCISES

ONLINE EXERCISES

Comparatives and superlatives

These last weeks we have been studying comparative and superlative structures in our classes.  This chart summarizes the main points that you have to keep in mind:

If you want to download the worksheet used in class, click here and if you want to check if you already know this grammar structure, you may try this Hot Potatoes exercise.

Past simple tense

When is the past simple tense used?

• For completed action in the past (We saw your sister yesterday.)
• For a series of completed actions (I woke up, had a shower, had breakfast and went to school.)
• For longer actions that start and stop in the past; time expressions usually go with it (My sister lived in London for years.)
• For talking about habits which stopped in the past (She studied Japanese when she was in high school.)
• For past facts or generalizations (Old people never played football.)

How is it made?

• Positive sentence → Subject + verb+ ed or irregular form (I played with her.- She came with us.)
• Questions → Auxiliary verb + subject +verb (Did they read the story?)
• Negative sentence → Subject + auxiliary verb + verb ( I didn’t like it.) 

 More practice

•  Irregular verb forms (translations are in French)
• Isabel Perez - grammar and practice
• Verb tense quizz
• Writing sentences in order (Isabel Pérez)
• Fernando Alonso text (Isabel Pérez)
• Shakira's life (Isabel Pérez)
• Thanksgiving day (Isabel Pérez)

ESL / EFL irregular verbs in English

If you have to study the list of irregular verbs in English, here you are some good resources for you to download ans practise:

• the list of the 100 most common irregular verbs
• the mp3 audio file for the list above
• some exercises for further practice
• a list of 211 irregular verbs

And remember that learning the full list will help you increase your vocabulary and avoid grammar errors.

ESL / EFL prepositions of time: on, in, at

On, in and at are the most important prepositions of time as they are frquently used in every day communication.
This chart contains the most common cases that you should learn:

If you want to download it, here you are the link.
An this is the Hot Potatoes exercise that you may try in order to check if you know how to use them.

Revision of BE: am / is / are

This Hot Potatoes exercise at an A1 level is for you to practise the form and use of the present tense forms of verb be: am, is, are.

Prepositions of time: ON-IN-AT - Hot Potatoes exercise

This is a new Hot Potatoes exercise for you to text if you have already learnt how to use these commonly used prepositions.