English Grammar and Vocabulary Guide: A Comprehensive Resource

Posted on Oct 16, 2024 in Spanish

Phrasal Verbs

Down

Be down to: To say that something caused a situation or something to happen.
Break down: When something breaks and stops working.
Calm down: To become calm.
Fall down: To fall to the ground.
Go down well: When something you do is liked by the people it affects or who are listening/watching.
Pour down: To rain heavily.
Put something down: To place something you were holding onto a surface like a table. E.g., put your phone down and open the book.
Turn down: To reject something. To say no to an offer someone makes you.

Up

Be up to: When you want to find out something by asking someone what they or someone else is or was doing.
Build up: When the size or quantity of something increases gradually.
Break up with: To end a relationship.
Cheer up: To change your mood from sad to happy.
Come up: When something is talked about or mentioned during a conversation.
Come up with: To think of a new idea, a way to improve something, or to propose a solution to a problem.
End up: To finish doing/going something/somewhere that you didn’t expect to do/go in the first place.
Give up: To stop doing something permanently or for a long period of time (also to surrender).
Grown up: A person who grows up and becomes an adult. E.g., He grew up.
Get up: To leave your bed after sleeping.
Keep up with: To keep pace with someone. To move at the same speed as someone or something.
Look something up: To consult a dictionary, for example.
Make up: To invent something.
Mess up: To make a mistake or not do something you should have done, which then causes big problems.
Pick up: To collect someone.
Put up with: To deal with something. To be able to tolerate something/someone which many people find difficult to do.
Set up: To build something from scratch.
Sign up: To register.
Take up: To start something you’ve never done before.
Turn up: To show up at a place. To arrive or go to a place where people are waiting for you or have invited you.

Off

Call off: To cancel a planned event due to problems or because it is no longer necessary.
Get off: To leave a bus or place, to get down or leave.
Get on: To enter a bus or place.
Get on/along: To get along with someone.
Drop off: To take someone somewhere by car (or other means of transport) and then go somewhere else.
Head off: To leave or go away. To go to a place (does not specify the place).
Put off: To discourage someone from doing something. To postpone… To make someone not want to do something they were planning to do.
Set off: To activate something. When something/someone does something that causes an alarm to start making a loud noise.
Switch something off: To stop the electrical current or turn something off.
Take something off: To take off your clothes.
Turn off: To stop the flow of energy or turn something on.

On

Carry on: To continue doing an activity after a break or interruption.
Count on: To be able to trust/depend on someone or something to do something.
Depend on: To say that you can trust/be sure that someone or something will do something.
Move on: To turn the page.
Put something on: To put on clothes or accessories.
Switch something on: To start the flow of electricity or turn something on.
Try something on: To try on clothes (in a shop).
Turn something on: To start the flow of energy or turn something on.

In/Into

Check in: To arrive and register at a hotel or airport.
Come in: To enter.
Fill something in: To complete a form.
Log in: To start a session.
Get into: To enter a closed space or vehicle.
Put into: To invest time or effort in something.

With

Deal with: To cope with something. To be responsible for taking responsibility for things (difficult situations, problems…).

Out

Check out: To leave the hotel.
Fall out: When people stop being friends after having an argument.
Figure out: To try to understand (by thinking or researching) why something is happening or what to do to improve something or solve a problem.
Find out: To discover something (from research).
Go out of: To leave your house and go out into the street.
Get out of: To sneak out or leave. To avoid doing something or going somewhere you were expected to go.
Hang out: To go out with your friends.
Miss out: To miss an opportunity.
Move out: To move house.
Point out: To highlight or point out something.
Rule out: To rule something out. To decide that something is not/was not possible or appropriate to do after investigating it.
Try out: To try something or put it to the test. To see if you like or need something by using it for a short period of time.
Turn out: To discover. To say that you discovered something that was different from what you thought. To discover that something is not as you expected.
Work out: To train.
Ask out: To invite someone on a date.

Around/Round

Get around: To travel or move around a place (e.g., what is the best way to get around the city? Metro or bus?).
Turn around: To turn your head.

Over

Go over: To explain something to someone so that they understand it or know what to do.
Take over: To take charge or take over.

To

Head to: To say where you are going (to the cinema, market).
Manage to: To manage to do something. To be able to do something which is difficult to do.

Behind

Lie behind: The real reason for the lie. To tell the real reason why someone did something or why a decision was made.

After

Look after: To take care of someone. To be responsible for or take charge of the safety and care of something or someone.
Take after: To resemble a family member.

About

Mess about: To act silly. To act silly or do silly things when you should be doing something important.
Mad about: Angry with.

For/Of

Ask for: To ask for or request something.
Look for: To try to find something.
Look forward to: To be excited about an event.
Pay for: To pay for something.
Take care of: To take care of or be in charge of something. To be responsible for making sure something is done.

Back

Call back: To return a call.
Get back: To return from a place.
Give something back: To return an object to someone.
Pay back: To repay borrowed money.
Take back: To return something.

Part/Apart Of

Take part: (in) To be part of something. To actively participate in something.

Word Derivation

Examples

Ability: able, unable
Access: accessibility, accessible, accessory
Company: accompany
Add: addition, additional, additionally, additive
Benefit: benefactor, beneficial, beneficiary
Choice: choosy, choose
Commit: commitment, committee
Company: companion
Comparative: comparatively, comparably, compare, comparison
Consider: considerable, considerably, considerate, consideration, unconsidered
Create: creative, creatively, creativity, creature
Origin/Day: daily
Depend: dependability, dependency
Develop: developed, developer, development, undeveloped
Discover: discovery, undiscovered
Doubt: doubter, doubtful, doubtfully, doubtless, undoubtedly
Drama: dramatic, dramatically
Effect: effective, effectively, effectiveness, ineffective
Enable
Enthuse: enthusiasm, enthusiast, enthusiastic
Essence: essential, essentially, unessential
Estimate: estimation, underestimate
Expect: expectancy, expectation, expectant, unexpectedly
Expert: expertise, experts, expertly
History: historian, historic, historical, historically
Imaginable: imaginary, imagination, imaginative, unimaginable
Impress: unimpressed, impression, impressive, impressively
Incomparable
Increase: increasingly
Know: knowledge, knowledgeable, known
Like: unlike, unlikely, likelihood, likely, likewise
Mean: meaning, meaningful
Origin: original, originally, originated
Please: pleasant, pleasantly, please, pleasing, pleasure, unpleasing
Practice: practical, practically, practitioner
Recognise: recognisable, recognition, unrecognisable
Reliable: rely, unreliable
Request: require, requirements, requisite
Sight: see
Signify: significance, significant
Stand: standard, standardisation, standardise
Surprise: surprisingly
Vary: various, variety, varied, variation, variable, unvarying, unvaried

Vocabulary

Common Words and Phrases

Can’t stand: To not be able to tolerate.
Where: In which place.
Which/that: That.
When: At what time.
Who: E.g., Who did he marry?
Whose: Possessive pronoun.
Whom: E.g., Whom did he marry?
Myself: Reflexive pronoun.
Would rather: I would prefer.
What (W) would(n’t) you rather do instead?: What would you prefer to do?
Rather: Quite. E.g., He cooks rather well/rather more than.
Though: Although, however.
As: Has multiple meanings (see below).
Apart from: Besides.
So: Has multiple uses (see below).
Such: Has multiple uses (see below).
Even: Inclusive.
Still: Continuing.
Ever: At any time.
In fact: Actually.
Do so: To perform an action previously mentioned. E.g., I did so.
Quite: Fairly.
Over: Above.
Just: Only.

Meanings of “As”

As…as: To indicate equality. E.g., as big as/as many as.
As: In the role of. E.g., He works as a waiter (if it were “like”, it would be comparing, like a donkey)/Can I give you some advice as a friend?/As I was saying.
As: In the way that. E.g., Our society, as we know it, is changing/Do it as I showed you.
As: Such as, for example. E.g., Maria would like to visit European cities such as London.
As if: As though. E.g., He looked at me as if I were a stranger.
Seeing as: Because. E.g., Seeing as you’re going to the kitchen, could you bring me a beer please?
As: While, as. E.g., As time goes by.
As: Because. E.g., I’d like to grab a bite to eat now as I’m hungry.
As: While, when. E.g., As she was driving to work, she realized that she’d left her jacket at home.
As: In fixed phrases. E.g., As long as – provided that/as far as I know – as far as I’m aware/as far as I remember – to the best of my recollection/as soon as possible – at the earliest opportunity/as far as I’m concerned – in my opinion.

Uses of “So”

Quantity: E.g., I have so much to do/There are so many great companies.
Emphasis: E.g., This cake is so cheap/She was so glad you came.
Agreement: E.g., I hope so.
Consequence: E.g., He thought the party was next month so he didn’t buy any costume.
So + that (so…that): E.g., The music was so loud that I…

Uses of “Such”

Such + adjective + noun: E.g., Such wonderful friends.
Such + that (so…that): E.g., It was such a beautiful day that we decided to go there.

Synonyms

Also: in addition to, besides, as well as.
Although: despite the fact that, in spite of the fact that, even though.
Because: due to the fact that, as, because of.
Believe/think: consider, it is my opinion, doubt, feel.
But: however, even so, yet.
But (alternative): whereas, while.
For example: such as, like.
Say: mention, talk about, discuss.
Seem: appear, look like.
So: therefore, as a consequence.

Verb Tenses

Present

Present Simple: I (don’t) eat – Do I eat?
Present Continuous: I (am/am not) eating – Am I eating?
Present Perfect Simple: I have(n’t) eaten – Have you eaten?
Present Perfect Continuous: I have(n’t) been eating – Have you been eating?

Past

Past Simple: I ate/I didn’t eat/Did you eat?
Past Continuous: I was(n’t) eating – Were you eating?
Past Perfect Simple: I had(n’t) eaten – Had you eaten?
Past Perfect Continuous: I had(n’t) been eating – Had you been eating?

Future

Future Simple: I will(won’t) eat/Will you eat?
Future Continuous: I will(won’t) be eating – Will you be eating?
Future Perfect Simple: I will have eaten – I won’t have eaten – Will you have eaten?
Future Perfect Continuous: I will have been eating – I will have not been eating – Will you have been eating?
Going to: I am (not) going to Barcelona/Are you going to Barcelona?

Modal Verbs

Ability

Can (present)/Could (past): To express ability.

Permission

Can/Could/May/Might: To ask for or give permission (Might is used to suggest an idea).

Advice/Conclusion

Should/Ought to: To give advice or express a conclusion.

Obligation

Must/Have to: To express obligation (Must have been is used to express a past deduction).

Possibility

Might/May/Can/Could: To express possibility.

Prediction/Request

Would/Will: To make a prediction or request.

Passive Voice

Formation

Do + verb “to be” conjugated according to the tense of the sentence + past participle of the main verb.

Examples

Present Simple: I make a cake -> A cake is made.
Present Continuous: I’m making a cake -> A cake is being made.
Past Simple: I made a cake -> A cake was made.
Past Continuous: I was making a cake -> A cake was being made.
Present Perfect: I have made a cake -> A cake has been made.
Past Perfect Simple: I had made a cake -> A cake had been made.
Future Simple: I will make a cake -> A cake will be made.
Future Be Going To: I’m going to make a cake -> A cake is going to be made.
Modals (Must): I must make a cake -> A cake must be made.
Modal Perfect (Should): I should have made a cake -> A cake should have been made.

Conditionals

Zero Conditional

If + present simple, + present simple (general truths, scientific facts, the condition always gives the same result).

First Conditional

If + present simple, + (will + verb) (possible situations in the future – predicting a probable result).

Second Conditional

If + past simple, + (would + verb) (hypothetical and probable situations in the present or future).

Third Conditional

If + past perfect, + would have + past participle (e.g., would have passed) (imaginary situation that has not happened).

Reported Speech

Direct/Indirect Speech

Present Simple: (e.g., “I always drink tea,” he said) -> Simple Past (He said that he always drank tea).
Present Continuous: (e.g., “I’m looking for my keys,” he said) -> Past Continuous (He said that he was looking for his keys).
Past Simple: -> Past Perfect.
Present Perfect: -> Past Perfect.
Past Perfect: -> Past Perfect.
Present Perfect Continuous: -> Past Perfect Continuous.
Past Continuous: -> Past Perfect Continuous.
Future Simple: -> Present Conditional (e.g., He said that he would be in Menorca on Tuesday).
Future Continuous: (e.g., “I’ll be using the car next day,”) -> Conditional Continuous (She said that she would be using the car next Sunday).

Linking Words

Common Linking Words

Despite: In spite of.
Due to: Because of.
In order to: So as to.
In order to succeed: To achieve success.
In order to continue: To carry on.
However: Nevertheless.
As long as: Provided that.
Such as: For example.
Besides: In addition to.
Therefore: Consequently.
Despite the fact that: Although.
Since: Because.
Whereas: While.
Unless: If not.
For instance: For example.
Due to the fact that: Because.
Yet: However.
In order that: So that.

Writing Structures

Essay

Useful Expressions (Sample 1)

One of the things that…
In the last few decades…
For this reason…
First/Second/Third…
Finally…
By doing so…
For example…
In conclusion…

Useful Expressions (Sample 2)

Nowadays…
Otherwise…
On the other hand…
On one side…
For instance…
Finally…
Take into account…
On the whole…
I am of the opinion…
In order to…

Useful Expressions (Sample 3)

Nowadays…
However…
However you want…
However difficult life may seem…
However much…
Finally…
As a result…
To sum up…

Linking Devices

On the one hand/on the other hand…
Nevertheless…
Even so…
Even though…
In spite of/despite…
Although…
Because of this/that…
Therefore…
It is therefore…
Thus…
As a result (of this)…
For this…
Consequently/as a consequence…

Giving Someone Else’s Opinion

Some people say…
Many experts claim…
According to…
It is said/believed/a fact that…
The truth is that…

Concluding

In conclusion, I am of the opinion that…
On the whole, I would say that…
In my view…
The way I see it…
To sum up, if you ask me…

Providing Examples

Such as…
For example…
For instance…
Like…

Useful Language

Some people claim that…
It is often said that…
However, in my view/opinion…
However, on balance…
Firstly, it is clear that…
There is a strong argument for…
While it is true/Although it may be said that…
To clarify the point…
From my point of view…
In my view…
It seems clear to me that…
Finally, it is important to remember/Must be remembered that…
Lastly, I feel that…
To sum up…
In conclusion, it seems to me that…

Email/Informal

Template

Introduction

Hi [Name],

[First paragraph] Thanks for your email. It was great to hear from you. I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while, but I’ve been really busy preparing for my exams. It’s good news that you’ve passed your driving test. Congrats!

[Second paragraph] Say something about yourself, for example, if you have to ask for a recommendation: “I’m really looking forward to my visit.” Explain some details of the topic to be discussed.

[Third paragraph] Say “I have a couple of questions” about the topic to be discussed -> I have a couple of questions. What…?

[Fourth paragraph] Say goodbye, trying to find an excuse to end the email. “I’d better stop now and get on with my studying.” I hope you’re enjoying your things… and I can’t wait to meet up very soon!/All the best, [Your Name]

Useful Language

Beginning the Letter or Email

Many thanks for your letter/email – it was great to hear from you again.
I thought I’d better write and tell you more about…
It’s been such a long time since we contacted each other.
How are things with you?
How was your holiday?
Hope all’s well with you.

Introducing the Topic

I know you’re keen to hear all about my holiday.
You remember that I told you I was going to…

Ending the Letter or Email

Give my love/regards to your family.
Write soon!
I’m really looking forward to meeting up again soon.
Take care!

Email/Formal

Structure

Salutation
Opening paragraph
Body
Closing paragraphs
Valediction
Signature

Salutation

Dear Sir/Mr/Madam/Ms + Surname

Opening Paragraph

Job Application

I’m writing to apply for one of the positions helping in the local tourist office which were advertised in “[website name]”.
I have seen your advertisement in last week’s edition of “[publication name]” and would like to apply for the position of [job title] this summer.

Scholarship Application

I am writing to apply for a study grant in one of your centres in the UK as advertised in “[website name]”.

Project Participation

I saw your advertisement on “[website name]” and would like to join you and your team on “[project name]”.

Body

My main reason for applying is that…
Regarding the skills I would like to focus on…

Closing Paragraphs (Conclusion)

Scholarship Application

For these reasons, I consider I am an ideal candidate for the grant and thus hope you will consider my application favourably.

Job Application (Informal)

Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Job Application (Formal)

Thank you for considering me as a candidate for this position. I look forward to speaking with you about this employment opportunity.

Valediction

Yours faithfully (if you don’t know the recipient’s name)
Yours sincerely (if you know the recipient’s name)

Signature

Your name

Useful Language

I have always been interested in…
One of the main reasons I am applying for this job is that (e.g., I want to work in England).
I have a lot of experience of (e.g., dealing with the public).
I am available to start work any time/from the end of the month.
Thank you for considering my application.
I would be grateful if you would send me further details of the job.
I can be contacted on [phone number] at any time.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Review (Film/Book)

Structure

Introduction
Summary
Opinion
Recommendation

Introduction

The last film I saw/I’ve seen is practically new, in fact, it was “Encanto” from Disney.

The film I would like to review is…

Summary

It is based on the well-known book…

It’s about…

The main theme of the film is…

There are many memorable characters including…

What the film is saying is…

The key moments are…

The main character is…

It tells the story of…

The plot/dialogue/acting/characterisation is…

Opinion

In my opinion/view…

For me…

I believe/feel that…

What I disliked the most was…

This well-written book…

What I really loved about…is…

Recommendation

I would highly/strongly recommend…

I certainly wouldn’t recommend…

I strongly advise you (not) to…

Everyone should see/do/read this…

You might want to…

You should…

I wouldn’t read the novel again because…

I would recommend this film to anyone…

Although I enjoyed it, I would not recommend it for…

It’s one of the best…

Although I am not normally keen on musicals, I’m glad that I decided to go.

Example: Lore Olympus (184 words)

Lore Olympus is a semi-modern spin on traditional Greek mythology, specifically the story of Persephone and Hades. Hades, the King of the Underworld, has to deal with being feared and compared to his father Chronos, which gives him rather low self-esteem; while Persephone, previously overprotected by her mother, is beginning to understand what an independent life is and face a world that she does not know.

The author does take some liberties and makes some changes, which I have seen some fans get annoyed by, but they genuinely all make sense for the story as she tells it, and for putting a modern, empowering spin on a story that involves sexual assault. As someone who was sexually assaulted, the author’s portrayal of how Persephone experiences the situation was so relatable and movingly done. (I do want to note that Hades is not the rapist in this story – that’s another character.)

I personally highly recommend the book because what I found in the story surprised and amazed me, it made me laugh and some shed tears because of the serious issues it deals with.

Example: Encanto (187 words)

The last movie I saw had practically just been released; in fact, it’s Disney’s “Encanto”.

This animated film tells the story of the Madrigal family, who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house located in a wonderful place called Encanto. Although Encanto’s magic has endowed all the children in the family with a unique gift, it has forgotten a member of the family: Mirabel, who discovers that the magic that surrounds the place is in danger and is the last hope of the family to get the magic back.

There is a message that is present throughout the film, and it is the importance of being faithful to our essence and not succumbing to what others expect of us. In “Encanto”, it is shown how all the characters are worn out by wanting to meet the expectations of the grandmother of the Madrigal family.

I would recommend this movie to anyone as it is very good and full of colorful moments that make you feel alive. It has a story that identifies us, that makes us say that having imperfections is not bad.