UNIT 7

For and Since with Present Perfect Tense

We often use for and since with perfect tenses:

• We use for to talk about a period of time: five minutes, two weeks, six years
• We use since to talk about a point in past time: 9 o'clock, 1st January, Monday

for	since
a period of time	a point in past time
- - - - - - - - - - - -	- • - - - - - - - - - -
20 minutes	6.15pm
three days	Monday
6 months	January
4 years	1994
2 centuries	1800
a long time	I left school
ever	the beginning of time
etc	etc

Look at these example sentences using for and since with the Present Perfect tense:

• I have been here for twenty minutes.
• I have been here since 9 o'clock.
• John hasn't called for six months.
• John hasn't called since February.
• He has worked in New York for a long time.
• He has worked in New York since he left school.

QUIZ

PRESENT PERFECT + EVER, NEVER, ALREADY, YET

EVER

The adverbs ever and never express the idea of an unidentified time before now(Have you ever visited Berlin?)'Ever' and 'never' are always placedbefore the main verb (past participle). Ever is used:

IN QUESTIONS

EXAMPLES

Have you ever been to England?
Has she ever met the Prime Minister?

IN NEGATIVE QUESTIONS

EXAMPLES

Haven't they ever been to Europe?
Haven't you ever eaten Chinese food?

IN NEGATIVE STATEMENTS USING THE PATTERN NOTHING+EVER OR NOBODY+EVER

EXAMPLES

Nobody has ever said that to me before.
Nothing like this has ever happened to us.

WITH 'THE FIRST TIME'

EXAMPLES

It's the first time that I've ever eaten snails.
This is the first time I've ever been to England.

NEVER

Never means at no time before now, and is the same as not ..... ever:
 (I have never visited Berlin)

BE CAREFUL!You must not use never and not together

I haven't never been to Italy.
I have never been to Italy.

ALREADY

Already refers to an action that has happened at an unspecified time before now. It suggests that there is no need for repetition.

EXAMPLES

I've already drunk three coffees this morning. (= and you're offering me another one!)
Don't write to John, I've already done it.

It is also used in questions:

Have you already written to John?
Has she finished her homework already?

Already can be placed before the main verb (past participle) or at the end of the sentence:

I have already been to Tokyo.
I have been to Tokyo already.

YET

Yet is used in negative statements and questions, to mean (not) in the period of time between before now and now, (not) up to and including the present.Yet is usually placed at the end of the sentence.

EXAMPLES

Have you met Judy yet?
I haven't visited the Tate Gallery yet
Has he arrived yet?
They haven't eaten yet

QUIZ

READING: LIVING HISTORY

welcome	crew	band	Pass down
responsibility	generation	situated	staircase
acre	staff	run	estate
approximately	exhibition	Horse trails	aristocracy
vast	ancestor	impress	persuade
magnificent	influence	huge

 QUESTION TAGS

A tag question is one where a statement is made, but the speaker wants a response from the listener. Like- Today's lesson is hard, isn't it? or The kids can't sing that song, can they?

First of all, to understand tag questions, you need to know about affirmative and negative sentences.

Do you know what an affirmative sentence is? It is like this: Mary is at home. or The studentswork hard.

Do you know what a negative sentence is? It is like this: Mary isn't at home. or The students don't work hard.

Then, you need to know that if the sentence is affirmative, the tag will be negative. And if the sentence is negative, the tag will be positive.

And finally, you need to think about the kind of verb used in the sentence. Does it use a modal, likecan or will or a form of to be? Your tag question will follow the verb in the sentence. If it is a regular verb, don't forget it uses do, don't, does, doesn't when a question is asked.

Examples?

Affirmative Sentence/ Negative Tag

Toshi likes fishing, doesn't he?

Susan is sick today, isn't she?

Mike can play the piano, can't he?

You will go there, won't you?

Negative Sentence/ Affirmative Tag

Andrew doesn't study much, does he?

The dogs aren't hungry, are they?

She can't cook, can she?

You won't see her, will you?

QUIZ

UNIT 6

What are you like?

COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVES

Comparative adjectives are used to compare differences between the two objects they modify (larger, smaller, faster, higher). They are used in sentences where two nouns are compared, in this pattern:

Noun (subject) + verb + comparative adjective + than + noun (object).

The second item of comparison can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).

EXAMPLES

• My house is larger than hers.
• This box is smaller than the one I lost.
• Your dog runs faster than Jim's dog.
• The rock flew higher than the roof.
• Jim and Jack are both my friends, but I like Jack better. ("than Jim" is understood)

SUPERLATIVE ADJECTIVES

Superlative adjectives are used to describe an object which is at the upper or lower limit of a quality (the tallest, the smallest, the fastest, the highest). They are used in sentences where a subject is compared to a group of objects.

Noun (subject) + verb + the + superlative adjective + noun (object).

The group that is being compared with can be omitted if it is clear from the context (final example below).

EXAMPLES

• My house is the largest one in our neighborhood.
• This is the smallest box I've ever seen.
• Your dog ran the fastest of any dog in the race.
• We all threw our rocks at the same time. My rock flew the highest. ("of all the rocks" is understood)

FORMING REGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

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

ONE SYLLABLE ADJECTIVES

Add -er for the comparative and -est for the superlative. If the adjective has a consonant + single vowel + consonant spelling, the final consonant must be doubled before adding the ending.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
tall	taller	tallest
fat	fatter	fattest
big	bigger	biggest
sad	sadder	saddest

TWO SYLLABLES

Adjectives with two syllables can form the comparative either by adding -er or by preceeding the adjective with more. These adjectives form the superlative either by adding -est or by preceeding the adjective with most. In many cases, both forms are used, although one usage will be more common than the other. If you are not sure whether a two-syllable adjective can take a comparative or superlative ending, play it safe and use moreand most instead. For adjectives ending in y, change the y to an i before adding the ending.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
happy	happier	happiest
simple	simpler	simplest
busy	busier	busiest
tilted	more tilted	most tilted
tangled	more tangled	most tangled

THREE OR MORE SYLLABLES

Adjectives with three or more syllables form the comparative by putting more in front of the adjective, and the superlative by putting most in front.

Adjective	Comparative	Superlative
important	more important	most important
expensive	more expensive	most expensive

IRREGULAR COMPARATIVES AND SUPERLATIVES

These very common adjectives have completely irregular comparative and superlative forms.

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

EXAMPLES

• Today is the worst day I've had in a long time.
• You play tennis better than I do.
• This is the least expensive sweater in the store.
• This sweater is less expensive than that one.
• I ran pretty far yesterday, but I ran even farther today.

EXERCISE 

What is a synonym?

Synonyms are words or phrases which have the same or nearly the same meaning as other words or phrases in the same language:
The words 'small' and 'little' are synonyms.
Here is a list of synonyms you can use to describe things, feelings or people:

Adjectives	Synonyms
big	large
blank	empty
broad	wide
center	middle
cunning	clever
dangerous	risky
eatable	edible
false	untrue
fertile	fruitful
gay	cheerful
glad	happy
hard	difficult
high	tall
huge	enormous
intelligent	clever
lazy	indolent
little	small
loving	fond
loyal	faithful
mad	crazy
new	modern
nice	kind
noisy	rowdy
old	ancient
oral	verbal
polite	courteous
poor	destitute
quick	rapid/fast
rare	scarce
ready	alert
real	genuine
rich	wealthy
rude	impolite
sad	unhappy
safe	secure
sleepy	drowsy
slim	slender
thin	lean
usual	normal
vacant	empty
weak	feeble
well-known	famous