English Vocabulary and Grammar Guide

Unit 1: Accessories

Vocabulary

  • Bracelet
  • Dyed hair
  • Earring
  • Glasses
  • Make-up
  • Necklace
  • Piercings
  • Ring
  • Sunglasses
  • Tattoo

Unit 2: Cityscapes

Vocabulary

  • Bridge
  • Factory
  • Block of flats
  • Motorway
  • Car park
  • Railway
  • Traffic light
  • Street lamp
  • Advertisement
  • Recycling bin
  • Post box
  • Pavement

Adjectives

  • Bad – Terrible
  • Beautiful – Gorgeous
  • Big – Enormous
  • Cold – Freezing
  • Dirty – Filthy
  • Good – Fantastic
  • Hot – Boiling
  • Hungry – Starving
  • Small – Tiny

Unit 3: The Senses

Vocabulary

  • Sight: vista (eyes, sight, look, blind)
  • Hearing: oído (ears, sound, listen, soundless)
  • Smell: olfato (nose, smell)
  • Touch: tacto (skin, touch, feel, cold)
  • Taste: gusto (tongue, flavor, taste, tasteless)

Unit 4: Relationships

Vocabulary

  • Meet somebody: conocer a alguien
  • Fancy somebody: gustarle a alguien
  • Ask somebody out: pedirle salir a alguien
  • Go out with somebody: salir con alguien
  • Fall in love: estar enamorado
  • Have an argument: tener un argumento
  • Split up: separarse
  • Make up: maquillarse
  • Get engaged: pedir matrimonio
  • Get married: casarse
  • Get divorced: divorciarse

Vocabulary

  • Advertisement
  • Announcement
  • Calculation
  • Celebration
  • Collection
  • Embarrassment
  • Invention
  • Pollution

Unit 5: Professions

Vocabulary

  • Architect
  • Cashier: cajero
  • Chef
  • Coach: entrenador
  • Firefighter: bombero
  • Flight attendant: azafata
  • Lawyer: abogado
  • Plumber: fontanero
  • Soldier
  • Surgeon: cirujano
  • Tour guide: guía turístico
  • Vet: veterinario
  • Waiter: camarero
  • Journalist: periodista
  • Chemist: farmacéutico
  • Nurse: enfermera
  • Author: escritor
  • Conductor: director de orquesta
  • Postman: cartero
  • Geologist: arqueólogo
  • Butcher: carnicero
  • Carpenter: carpintero

Vocabulary

  • Building: obra
  • Fire: fuego
  • Judgement: juicio
  • Illness: enfermedad
  • Interview: entrevista

Unit 6: Global Issues

Vocabulary

  • The arms trade: armas
  • Child labour: explotación infantil
  • Disease: enfermedades
  • Endangered animals: animales en peligro de extinción
  • Famine: hambre
  • Global warming: calentamiento global
  • Homelessness: falta de viviendas
  • Pollution: contaminación
  • Poverty: pobreza
  • Racism
  • War: guerra

Actions

  • Make a donation
  • Go on a march
  • Put up a poster
  • Write a letter to the government
  • Sign a petition
  • Organise a protest
  • Give out leaflets

Money

Vocabulary

  • Banknote: billete
  • Cash: dinero
  • Cash machine: cajero automático
  • Cheque book: talonario
  • Coin: moneda
  • Credit card: tarjeta de crédito
  • Currency: unidad de moneda
  • Purse: monedero
  • Receipt: ticket
  • Till: caja
  • Wallet: cartera

Verbs

  • Borrow: tomar prestado
  • Save: ahorrar
  • Spend: gastar
  • Cost: costar
  • Afford: permitirse
  • Pay for: pagar

Adjectives

Positive

  • Careful: cuidadoso
  • Cloudy: nublado
  • Dirty: sucio
  • Healthy: saludable
  • Lucky: suerte
  • Painful: doloroso
  • Successful: éxito
  • Windy: ventoso
  • Wonderful: maravilloso

Materials

Vocabulary

  • Leather: piel de cuero
  • Cotton: algodón
  • Glass: cristal
  • Rubber: goma
  • Carbon fiber
  • Plastic: plástico
  • Aluminium: aluminio
  • Concrete: cemento
  • Wood: madera

Common Adjectives

  • Good: bueno
  • Tired: cansado
  • Worried: preocupado
  • Nice: agradable
  • Different: diferente
  • Interesting: interesante
  • Afraid: miedo
  • Bad: malo

Question Words

  • Who: persona
  • Which: cosa
  • Where: lugar

Body Language

Vocabulary

  • Bite your nails: morderse las uñas
  • Frown: frunciendo el ceño
  • Hug: abrazar
  • Kiss: beso
  • Nod: decir que sí
  • Raise your eyebrows: levantar las cejas
  • Scratch your head: rascarse la cabeza
  • Shake hands: dar la mano
  • Shake your head: decir que no
  • Smile: sonreír
  • Yawn: bostezar

Prepositions

  • For: apologize, ask
  • To: belong, talk
  • At: stare, laugh
  • About: complain, think

Verb Tenses

Present Simple

  • Affirmative: subject + verb
  • Negative: subject + doesn’t/don’t + verb
  • Interrogative: Does/Do + subject + verb?

Present Continuous

  • Affirmative: subject + verb -ing
  • Negative: subject + aren’t/isn’t + verb -ing
  • Interrogative: Are/Is + subject + verb -ing?

Past Simple

  • Affirmative: subject + past tense verb
  • Negative: subject + didn’t + base form verb
  • Interrogative: Did + subject + base form verb?

Past Continuous

  • Affirmative: subject + was/were + verb -ing
  • Negative: subject + wasn’t/weren’t + verb -ing
  • Interrogative: Was/Were + subject + verb -ing?

Used to

Used to describe actions that were habitual in the past. E.g., He didn’t use to go…

Present Perfect

  • Affirmative: subject + have/has + past participle
  • Negative: subject + haven’t/hasn’t + past participle
  • Interrogative: Have/Has + subject + past participle?

Present Perfect with Already and Yet

  • We’ve already done it.
  • They haven’t seen Pablo yet.
  • Have they been to the cinema yet?

Present Perfect with Just

  • Affirmative only: I have just eaten my breakfast.

Present Perfect with For and Since

  • For (duration): Dan and Rachel have been together for a year.
  • Since (starting point): Rachel has known Abby since September.

Present Perfect: Experiences

Past experiences without specifying when they occurred. Expressions like: already, ever, never, yet, since, for, just.

Past Simple with Ago

Used to specify the duration of an action. Always placed after the verb. Abby started at this school three weeks ago.

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Short Adjectives

  • I’m taller than my sister.
  • Paco is the tallest boy in the class.

Long Adjectives

  • Nike trainers are more expensive than Adidas.
  • The Ritz is the most expensive hotel in London.

Irregular Adjectives

  • Good – Better – Best
  • Bad – Worse – Worst
  • Far – Further – Furthest

Not as + Adjective + As

Used for comparison: Adults aren’t as happy as children.

So and Such

Reinforce the meaning of an adjective:

  • So: adjective only (I was so worried that I rang the police)
  • Such: adjective + noun (It was such a long film that I fell asleep before the end)

Future Tenses

Will (Certainty)

  • Affirmative: subject + will + base form verb (We’ll help you give out the leaflets)
  • Negative: subject + won’t + base form verb (I promise I won’t tell Bea what you’ve just said)
  • I think I’ll go out tonight.

Going to (Possibility)

  • Affirmative: subject + am/is/are + going to + base form verb (We’re going to see a film on Saturday night)
  • Negative: subject + ‘m not/isn’t/aren’t + going to + base form verb (She isn’t going to study at university next year)
  • Interrogative: Am/Is/Are + subject + going to + base form verb? (Are you going to see your parents at the weekend?)

First Conditional

  • Affirmative: If + subject + present simple, subject + will + base form verb
  • Negative: If + subject + present simple, subject + won’t + base form verb

Second Conditional

If + subject + past simple, subject + would + base form verb

Irregular Verbs

  • Be/Was, Were/Been: ser, estar
  • Become/Became/Become: llegar a ser
  • Begin/Began/Begun: empezar
  • Break/Broke/Broken: romper
  • Bring/Brought/Brought: traer
  • Buy/Bought/Bought: comprar
  • Come/Came/Come: venir
  • Do/Did/Done: hacer
  • Dream/Dreamt/Dreamt: soñar
  • Drink/Drank/Drunk: beber
  • Drive/Drove/Driven: llevar
  • Eat/Ate/Eaten: comer
  • Feel/Felt/Felt: sentir
  • Find/Found/Found: encontrar
  • Get/Got/Got: conseguir
  • Give/Gave/Given: dar
  • Go/Went/Gone: ir
  • Have/Had/Had: tener
  • Hear/Heard/Heard: oír
  • Hold/Held/Held: sostener
  • Keep/Kept/Kept: guardar
  • Know/Knew/Known: saber
  • Learn/Learnt/Learned: aprender
  • Leave/Left/Left: dejar
  • Lend/Lent/Lent: prestar
  • Make/Made/Made: hacer
  • Meet/Met/Met: encontrar
  • Ride/Rode/Ridden: conducir
  • Say/Said/Said: decir
  • See/Saw/Seen: ver
  • Send/Sent/Sent: enviar
  • Sing/Sang/Sung: cantar
  • Sleep/Slept/Slept: dormir
  • Speak/Spoke/Spoken: hablar
  • Swim/Swam/Swum: nadar
  • Take/Took/Taken: tomar
  • Think/Thought/Thought: pensar
  • Wake/Woke/Woken: despertarse
  • Wear/Wore/Worn: llevar
  • Win/Won/Won: ganar
  • Write/Wrote/Written: escribir