Happy New Year to All Chinese Readers!

On behalf of Emperors Antique, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all my Chinese readers a very Happy New Year! May we gallop into another amazing year filled with happiness, health, wealth and prosperity! 

Prior To

Prior to

1.                I always settle my bills prior to going on holiday. (Informal English)

2.                Customers are advised to buy travel insurance prior to travelling.                   (Formal English)

Board v Bored

Board

1. I much prefer writing on a white board (noun) than a black board (noun).
2. The board (=group) of directors were unhappy with the company’s annual profits.
3. Passengers must board (verb) the plane 30 minutes before the departure time.

Bored

1. I’m so bored (adjective)! I have nothing to do.

   2. We’ve bored (verb) holes in the wall to hang some photos up. 

Exercise 13 - Revision (Present Simple, Present Continuous, Past Simple, Past Continuous)

ANSWERS

3. is playing

4. gave

5. doesn’t like

6. did your parents go

7. saw…was driving

8. Do you watch

9. were you doing

10. goes

11. ‘m/am trying

12. didn’t sleep

Exercise 12 - Confusing Words

Tip: This exercise requires you to use the words alley, ally, aptitude, attitude, ballot, ballet. If the word is used correctly in a sentence, write NE in the brackets.

ANSWERS

1.    NE

2.    NE

3.    ally

4.    attitude

5.    NE

6.    NE

7.    ballet

8.    NE

      9. NE

Blew v Blue

Blew

·        The wind blew furiously throughout the night.

Blue

·        Sam’s always wearing something blue because that’s his favourite colour.

Exercise 11 - Future Continuous Tense

ANSWERS

Practice C

1.    A, B

2.    A, B, C

3.    B

4.    C

5.    A, B, C

Practice D

2. witness - witnessed

4. leave - will be leaving

7. chatted - was chatting

8. will be study - will be studying

9. holidaying - will be holidaying

Future Continuous Tense

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The future continuous tense is :

Will be   +   base form of the verb   +   ‘ing’

The rules:

1. Used to refer to actions or situations which will be going on at a certain time in the future.
• Between 7pm and 10pm today, I will be attending a networking event.

2. Used to refer to actions or situations in the future which have already been planned or which take place regularly.
• My company will be organizing a charity run next month. (planned action for the future)
• John will be meeting Peter for a game of tennis on Saturday as usual. (regular action)

Exercise 10 - Simple Future Tense

ANSWERS

Exercise C

2. will give

3. is going to cook

4. will take

5. are going to decorate

6. will be

7. will draw

8. are going to landscape

9. will post

10. will wait

11. is going to attend

Exercise D

1. sprained
2. will hand
3. will see
4. is going to vote/votes
5. will make
6. heard
7. cost
8. leave/will leave
9. talks
10. will get

Grammar - Simple Future Tense

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The future tense is:

                   Will/shall + base form of verb

The rules of the future tense:

1. Used for actions or events that will happen in the future.
• We will have dinner with John today.
• If it rains tonight, we will eat at home.

2. Used with will to refer to something which we decide to do at the time of speaking. 

 A: Can I get you a drink?

 B: Yes, I will have a glass of water, please.

3. The present tense of the verb ‘to be’ + going to + base form of verb is used for actions which we have already planned to do in the future or events that are likely to happen in the future.

Events planned for the future

• I am going to spend Christmas in Rome.
• We are going to see a movie later.
• Sarah is going to attend a party next Saturday.

Event which is likely to happen

·         The price of petrol/fuel is going to rise very soon.

Note:

·         In the past, the simple future tense was formed using shall for I and we, and will for other pronouns and nouns. These days, it is more common to use will for all nouns and pronouns.

Homophones - Bare V Bear

Bare

1.                It’s almost impossible to kill a wild animal with our bare hands.

2.                What is the bare minimum I must have to open a bank account?

3.                When taking passport size photos, we must bare (=show) our ears.

Bear

1. The bear I saw at the zoo yesterday was huge!       

Homophones - Band V Banned

Band

1. Put an elastic band round the container to prevent the lid from falling open.
2. My sister plays the guitar in her band.

Banned - not allowed

1. He was banned from entering the bar after the huge fight.

Exercise 9 - Words from the Same Family

In each of the sentences below, fill in the blanks with a word from the same family as the given word. Be sure to use the correct word form or verb form.

For Questions 1-4, use the word 'happy'

             

1.    When they met, they quarreled and became unhappy at the meeting.

2.    Wealth may not necessarily bring about happiness.

3.    As there has been some unhappiness between the 2 friends, they kept quiet.

4.    You can live happily if your mind is free from unnecessary worries.

For Questions 5-7, use the word 'surprise'

5. We were _____ to see Mary come without her boyfriend.

6.  When attacked, the rascal turned to run away, but _____ he turned around and fought back.

7.  It won’t be _____ to see a hardworking person become a rich man one day.

For Questions 8-9, use the word 'explain'

8.  If you don’t understand, you can ask the speaker to _____ it again.

9.  The technician is giving an ______ as to how the new machine can be used properly.

ANSWERS

5.                surprised

6.                surprisingly

7.                surprising

8.                explain

9.                explanation

              

Exercise 8 - Past Perfect

ANSWERS

Practice A

1. had just qualified
2. struck
3. had surrendered
4. fled
5. had already started
6. had fallen
7. woke up
8. resigned
9. listened
10. had already complained

Practice D

1. (line 3) dressed - had dressed
2. (line 4) have had - had had
3. (line 5) waited - had waited
4. (line 6) had walked - walked
5. (line 7) fall - fell

Grammar - Past Perfect

Compiled from Grammar Builder, Book 3

The past perfect is:

Had   +   past participle

The rules of past perfect:

1. Used to refer to an action or situation that happened earlier, and the past simple for an action or situation that took place later.

Eg         Past Simple       +       Past Perfect

• When we arrived,               Peter had left. (= We did not meet Peter.)
• When we reached the theatre, the concert had begun. (= We were late for the concert.)

    Past Perfect       +       Past Simple

·         Peter had left            when we arrived.

·         The concert had begun when we reached the theatre.

2. Used with words like already, before and just to refer to actions that were completed before a specific time in the past.
• By the time I got to the bus stop yesterday, the bus had already left.
• The bus had left before I got to the bus stop yesterday.
• The bus had just left when I got to the bus stop yesterday.

Important!

Verbs in the past perfect are formed in this way:

Regular verb

• We had discussed with our friends about our travel plans before we booked our tickets.

Irregular verb

• The thief had stolen the necklace before anyone noticed it was missing.

Verb ‘to be’

• When I arrived at the restaurant yesterday, I knew I had been there before.

Verb ‘to have’

• We had had our dinner when John invited us over to his house.

Exercise 7 - Words From the Same Family

 Many common English words come from the same root. They are called derivative words or family words. They can exist as nouns, verbs, adjectives     and adverbs. 

   Fill in each blank with an agent noun (i.e. verb + -er/-or etc.) related to     the underlined word.

1. William sails (verb) 20 days a month. He is an experienced sailor. (noun)
2. Susan is able to organize (verb) things well. She is really a good organizer. (noun)

ANSWERS

3. reporter

4. adviser

5. actors/actresses

6. teacher

7. driver

8. farmers

9. musician

10. singer

11. librarian

12. politician

Exercise 6 - Converted Words

Complete each of the sentences with a suitable word from the list.

fall   touch   guess   help   kick   knock   cut   drop   drink   escape   

ANSWERS

11. drink

12. cut

13. kick

14. guess

15. fall

16. touch

17. help

18. knock

19. drop

20. escape

Allowed v Aloud

Allowed

• You aren’t allowed to eat or drink in the library.

Aloud

• Please read the passage aloud for everyone to hear.

Exercise 5 - Present Simple, Past Simple and Present Perfect

Answers

Practice B

2.                was

3.                cut

4.                widened

5.                built

6.                has increased

7.                have replaced

8.                has become

9.                is

10.           long

11.           has not talked

Practice C

1.                A, D

2.                B, D

3.                A, D

4.                B, C

Grammar - Present Perfect

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The present perfect tense is:

                Has/have + past participle of verb

The rules of the Present Perfect:

1. Used to refer to a past action without stating the exact time of the action.
• I have visited Europe before.
• We’ve already seen this movie.
• The children have just gone to bed.
• My aunt has just arrived from Australia.
• My cousins have already arrived from Australia.

In some cases, it is also used to refer to an action in the past with a result now:

• I’ve lost my house keys. (=I can’t find my keys now)
• We’ve bought a new house. (=we have a new house now)
• ‘Rachael is on holiday.’    ‘Oh, where has she gone?’

2. Used with words like since and for to refer to an action that began in the past and is still going on at the time of speaking. Since is used to refer to the start of a period of time and for is used to refer to the entire period of time.

·         Mike has been waiting at the bus stop since 8 o’clock. (He is still there)

·         Mike has been waiting at the bus stop for 10 minutes. (He is still there)

3. Used with adverbs of indefinite time such as already and just to show completed actions.

·         Your letter has already arrived. (the letter arrived earlier than expected)

·         My parents have just come home. (they came home a few minutes ago)

4. Used with never and yet to show that an action has not taken place up to the point of speaking.

·   They have never been to the US. (they did not go there at any time in the past)

Yet in negative sentences:

• The guests haven’t arrived yet.
• I haven’t told my parents about the fight at school yet.
• Shane hasn’t worn his new shoes yet.
• They haven’t moved into their new house yet.

Yet in questions:

• Have the guests arrived yet?
• Have you started packing for your trip yet?
• Has Keith met your new neighbour yet?
• Has your mother worn her new shoes yet?

Note:

Positive & Negative Sentences

·         I/we/you/they + have (‘ve)/have not (haven’t) + past participle

·         He/she/it + has (‘s)/has not (hasn’t) + past participle

    Questions

• Have + I/we/you/they + past participle
• Has + he/she/it + past participle

* For a list of words in the Present Perfect, please refer to my Past Simple post.

  

Exercise 4 - Past Continuous

ANSWERS

Past Continuous

Compiled from Grammar Builder Book 3

The past continuous is:

Was/were        +       -ing

The rules of the Past Continuous:

1.    Used to show that an action was being carried out in the past.

• It was raining, so we didn’t go swimming.
• In 2008, I was working in Beijing.
• We were having dinner when my uncle called.
• Sam was playing computer games for more than 2 hours before dinner last night.
• It wasn’t raining this morning, so we went swimming.
• They weren’t watching television, so I turned it off.
• Kate wasn’t reading the papers, so Margaret borrowed it.

2. Used to show that two actions were going on at the same time in the past.
• While my brother was vacuuming the floor, I was tidying up the rooms.

3. To show that something happened while a longer action was going on:

    Longer action – use the past continuous

    Second action – use past simple

• I was taking a shower this morning when the phone rang.

The past continuous question is:

Was/were +      subject +   -ing

                Was                  James        working     yesterday?

Why          were                 they          shouting?

What         were                 you           doing         last night?

                Was                  Anna         crying        earlier on?

Important!

He/she/it/I         +      was           +      -ing

We/you/they      +      were         +      -ing