Essential English Grammar and Vocabulary
Subject Pronouns and the Verb ‘To Be’
We use personal pronouns to refer to the subject of an action. Subject pronouns in English are: I, You, He, She, It, We, They.
The verb ‘to be’ takes these forms next to the subject pronouns:
- I am (I’m)
- You are (You’re)
- He is (He’s)
- She is (She’s)
- It is (It’s)
- We are (We’re)
- They are (They’re)
Both forms mean exactly the same, but the short form is preferred in more colloquial or informal situations.
The negative form of the verb ‘to be’ is:
- I am not (I’m not)
- You are not (You’re not / You aren’t)
- He is not (He’s not / He isn’t)
- She is not (She’s not / She isn’t)
- It is not (It’s not / It isn’t)
- We are not (We’re not / We aren’t)
- They are not (They’re not / They aren’t)
The interrogative form of the verb ‘to be’ is performed by inverting the subject. We don’t use auxiliary verbs with the verb ‘to be’. There are no short forms:
- Am I?
- Are you?
- Is he?
- Is she?
- Is it?
- Are we?
- Are they?
Numbers in English
Non-systematic numbers are those which do not follow a pattern: one, two, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen.
Systematic numbers are those which follow a pattern. Systematic numbers start at twenty and then add a number after a hyphen:
- Twenty-two: 22
- Thirty-four: 34
- Fifty-five: 55
- Sixty-six: 66
- Seventy-seven: 77
- Eighty-eight: 88
- Ninety-nine: 99
- One hundred: 100
- One thousand: 1,000
Sixty-six, not *sixty six.
After the number 100, we use the conjunction ‘and’ before the last part of every number:
- 149: One hundred and forty-nine.
- 104,576: One hundred and four thousand, five hundred and seventy-six.
Use commas to indicate thousands and millions in English, and points to indicate decimals:
- 4,451.87: Four thousand, four hundred and fifty-one point eighty-seven. Not *4.451,87
A billion in English has 9 zeros, not 12 as in Spanish: 1,000,000,000, not *1.000.000.000.000.
Present Simple Tense
Present simple is used to talk about things that happen on a regular basis.
Use the present simple:
- For habits or things that you do every day or week.
- To express universal truths.
With verbs ending in ‘-o’, ‘-sh’, ‘-ch’, ‘-ss’, ‘-x’, ‘-z’, add ‘-es’ instead of ‘-s’. For example: I wish – she wishes.
Verbs that end in a consonant + ‘y’ make the 3rd person with ‘-ies’. For example: I fry – he fries.
For the third person singular (he, she, it), use ‘does’ instead of ‘do’ and don’t add any ‘-s’ or ‘-ies’ to the verb. For example: He does not like ice-cream.
Prepositions of Place and Time
Prepositions of Place
- In: Used to specify that something is inside something, not on the surface.
- On: Used to say that something is on the surface of something, not inside.
- At: Used to refer to a geographical location, but not necessarily meaning inside the place. It can also refer to places that are not closed.
- Under: Used to refer to things that are right under the surface of something.
- Above: Used to refer to an exact location higher than another thing.
- Over: Used to talk about things that are at a higher position than another thing, but not specifically above.
- Below: Used to talk about things that are at a lower position than another thing, but not specifically under.
- Between: Used to talk about things placed among two things.
- Next to: Used to describe things that are beside another thing.
- By: Used to deal with things that are near a place, but not necessarily next to it.
‘On Monday morning’ is an exception; we use ‘on’.
Prepositions of Time
We use prepositions of time to determine when things happen.
- In: Used with months, years, seasons, the morning, the afternoon, and the evening.
- On: Used with days, parts of the days when using the name of the day, and with the weekend.
- At: Used with times, the weekend, and the night.
- By: Expresses the time when something should have finished.
Can / Can’t
We use ‘can’:
- To express ability.
- To talk about permission, possibility, and prohibition.
Use ‘can’ for positive ability in the present, as for example: I can swim or I can play the piano. However, if we are talking about ability in the past, we use ‘could’. For example, I could play the piano when I was five years old.
For the negative, use ‘cannot’, or ‘can’t’ for the present and ‘could not’ or ‘couldn’t’ for the past. For example:
- I can’t open the door. It’s too heavy.
- I couldn’t drive a car when I was 16 years old.
Expressing permission, possibility, and prohibition: The verb ‘can’ also expresses permission in the affirmative form.
Past Simple Tense
We use the past simple to refer to actions and situations that started and finished in the past. We cannot use the past simple to refer to actions from a nonspecific moment in the past. The moment needs to be clear and finished.
Examples:
- I stayed with my friends last night.
- Tom and Dustin went to the cinema last night.
- Mary and John went to the shops in the morning.
Regular verbs form the past simple by adding ‘-ed’ at the end of the infinitive form. For example: Stay – stayed.
Negative form: didn’t + infinitive.
Questions: Did you go to the cinema on Saturday?
Present Perfect Tense
Use present perfect:
- To describe a recent past without specifying the exact moment it happened.
- To talk about a situation that started in the past and has a continuation in the present moment.
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
- Countable nouns: laptop, lamp, mouse, telephone, keyboard.
- Uncountable nouns: water, rain, advice.
- Use ‘a/an’ for countable singular things:
- I have bought a house.
- I have eaten an apple.
- Use ‘a lot of’ for countable plural nouns:
- There are a lot of people in this place.
- Use ‘some’ for countable and uncountable things to refer to an undetermined quantity:
- I need some sugar for the cake.
- There were some people at the party.
- Use ‘much’ with uncountable nouns to refer to a large amount in negatives and questions, but not in affirmatives:
- I can’t make a cake because I don’t have much sugar.
- Use ‘many’ with countable nouns in negatives and questions:
- Are there many people in Asia?
- Use ‘how much’ to ask about uncountable nouns:
- How much water is there in the jug?
- Use ‘how many’ to ask about countable things:
- How many kids are there in the garden?
Comparatives and Superlatives
- Comparatives: add ‘-er’. For example, ‘hotter than’.
- For other adjectives: use ‘more + adjective + than’. For example: comfortable – more comfortable than.
- Superlatives: Add ‘the’ and ‘-est’. For example: fast – the fastest.
- For other adjectives: use ‘the most + adjective’. For example: comfortable – the most comfortable.
Future Tense: ‘Be Going To’
Use ‘be going to + infinitive’:
- To express future plans and intentions.
- To make a prediction about a near future based on the observation of present evidence.
Structure: subject + be going to + verb in infinitive.
Example Vocabulary
Countable Nouns
Dog, cat, bottle, table, chair, cup, window, door, person, car.
Uncountable Nouns
Sugar, floor, water, wine, tea, rain, milk, advice, news, rice.
Business and Commerce
- Cheap: Barato
- Expensive: Caro
- Price: Precio
- To buy: Comprar
- To sell: Vender
- To order: Hacer un pedido
- Stockroom: Almacén
- Refund: Reembolso
- Complaint: Queja
- ATM: Cajero automático
- Credit card: Tarjeta de crédito
- In stock: En stock
- Out of stock: Agotado
- Receipt: Recibo
- Invoice: Factura
- Delivery note: Albarán
- Fee: Cuota
- Wire transfer: Transferencia bancaria
- Budget: Presupuesto
- Accounting: Contabilidad
- Cash: Efectivo
- Discount: Descuento
- Seller: Vendedor
- Buyer: Comprador
Workplace and Legal
- To hire: Contratar
- To fire: Despedir
- Contract: Contrato
- Laws: Leyes
- Lawyer: Abogado
- Work council: Comité de empresa
- License: Licencia
- Notification: Notificación
- Inspection: Inspección
- Rights: Derechos
- Duty: Obligación/Deber
- Notary: Notario
- Procedure: Procedimiento
- Collective agreement: Acuerdo colectivo
- Self-employed: Trabajador por cuenta propia
- Company: Empresa
Computer Vocabulary
- Type texts: Escribir textos
- Visit a web: Visitar una web
- Chat: Conversación online
- Operating system: Sistema operativo
- Mouse: Ratón
- Keyboard: Teclado
- Screen: Pantalla
- Tower: Torre
- Laptop: Ordenador
- Printer: Impresora
- Hard drive: Disco duro
- Font: Fuente
- Delete: Eliminar
- Text: Texto
- Save as: Guardar como
- Cut: Cortar
- Copy: Copiar
- Paste: Pegar
- Undo: Deshacer
- Redo: Rehacer
- Bold: Negrita
- Italics: Cursiva
- Underlined: Subrayada
Customer Service Phrases
- Do you need anything else? – ¿Necesitas alguna cosa más?
- Feel free to contact me if you need more information. – Contacte conmigo si necesita más información.
- I will do everything I can to help. – Haré todo lo que pueda para ayudar.
- Is there anything else I can do for you? – ¿Puedo hacer algo más por usted?
- It has been a pleasure to help you. – Ha sido un placer ayudarle.
- Please, feel free to ask any question. – Por favor, siéntase libre de realizar cualquier pregunta.
- See you soon! – ¡Hasta pronto!
- This is our service catalog. – Este es nuestro catálogo de servicios.
- We hope to see you again soon. – Esperamos verle de nuevo pronto.
- We would be happy to offer a free demonstration. – Estaremos encantados de ofrecerle una demostración gratuita.
- Would you like more information about the product? – ¿Desea más información sobre el producto?
