Mastering English: Verbs, Office Supplies, and Email Etiquette
Mastering Irregular Verbs in English
Here’s a list of common irregular verbs in English:
- be / was, were / been
- become / became / become
- begin / began / begun
- bite / bit / bitten
- blow / blew / blown
- break / broke / broken
- bring / brought / brought
- build / built / built
- buy / bought / bought
- can / could / been able to
- catch / caught / caught
- choose / chose / chosen
- come / came / come
- cost / cost / cost
- cut / cut / cut
- do / did / done
- draw / drew / drawn
- drink / drank / drunk
- drive / drove / driven
- eat / ate / eaten
- fall / fell / fallen
- feed / fed / fed
- feel / felt / felt
- find / found / found
- fly / flew / flown
- forget / forgot / forgotten
- freeze / froze / frozen
- get / got / got (or gotten in American English)
- give / gave / given
- go / went / gone
- have / had / had
- hear / heard / heard
- hit / hit / hit
- hold / held / held
- hurt / hurt / hurt
- keep / kept / kept
- know / knew / known
- leave / left / left
- lose / lost / lost
- make / made / made
- meet / met / met
- pay / paid / paid
- put / put / put
- read / read / read (pronunciation changes)
- ride / rode / ridden
- run / ran / run
- say / said / said
- see / saw / seen
- sell / sold / sold
- sing / sang / sung
- sit / sat / sat
- spend / spent / spent
- stand / stood / stood
- steal / stole / stolen
- swim / swam / swum
- take / took / taken
- teach / taught / taught
- tell / told / told
- think / thought / thought
- throw / threw / thrown
- understand / understood / understood
- wear / wore / worn
- win / won / won
- write / wrote / written
- wake / woke / woken
Examples in sentences:
- What did he get up yesterday? He got up at 7 a.m. yesterday.
- They lived in Paris.
- We woke up very late.
- Why did you come? I came to visit a friend.
Understanding the Past Simple Tense
Let’s look at some examples using the past simple tense:
- Mammoths were big animals, bigger than elephants.
- Mammoths lived a long time ago.
- Mammoths did not eat meat. They ate grass.
- They had two large tusks about three meters long.
- I paid by credit card. I did not pay cash.
- He drank some milk. He did not drink any water.
- She only spent a pound. She did not spend 3 pounds.
- I saw some elephants. I did not see any lions.
- They swam in the sea, but they did not swim in the lake.
Past simple: I talked, played, studied.
Negative: did not. Question: Did I talk?
Using ‘Was’ and ‘Were’
Was and were are the past tense forms of the verb “to be.”
- Were you at home at 9 last night?
- Was your father in a meeting yesterday?
- Was your family at a restaurant last week?
- Were your parents on holiday last month?
‘There Was’ and ‘There Were’
There was and there were indicate the existence of something in the past.
- There weren’t any computers.
- There was a lift.
- There were chairs and desks.
Using ‘There Is’ and ‘There Are’
There is and there are indicate the existence of something in the present.
- Are there any staple boxes?
- There isn’t a pen on my desk.
- There are many staples in the box.
- There is a lot of coffee in the cup.
- There isn’t much space on the desk.
- There aren’t many paper clips in the box.
- How much tea is there in the cup?
- There are a lot of things to do, but I haven’t got much time to do them.
- What is the date today?
- I’ll have some tea.
- I’ve got a printer at home.
- There isn’t any paper.
- Is there a lot of money?
Essential Office Supplies and Terminology
- A pair of = a pair of
- A roll of = a roll of
- Envelope = envelope
- Folder = folder
- Hole punch = hole punch
- Ring binder = ring binder
- Stapler = stapler
- Sticky tape = sticky tape
- Give a reduction = to give a discount
- Invoice = invoice
- Payment = payment
- Run out of = to run out of
Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Months: May, June.
Email and Hardware Terminology
Common Issues and Actions
- Paper jam = paper jam
- Remove = remove
- Side = side
- Size = size
- Chart = chart
- Label = label
- Magazine = magazine
- Narrow = narrow
- Wide = wide
Email Terms
- Attachment = attachment
- Crash = crash
- Drafts = drafts
- Forward = forward
- Inbox = inbox
- Junk = junk
- Paste = paste
- Recipient = recipient
- Reply all = reply all
- Sent = sent
- Thread = thread
Hardware Terms
- Headset = headset
- Keyboard = keyboard
- Power cable = power cable
- Speakers = speakers
Mail Procedures and Documents
Types of Documents
- Bank statement = bank statement
- Bill = bill
- Brochure = brochure
- Contract = contract
- Junk mail = junk mail
- Mail log = mail log
Incoming Mail
- Adjust = adjust
- Complete = complete
- Deliver = deliver
- Procedure = procedure
- Sender = sender
- Sort = sort
- Stamp = stamp
Outgoing Mail
- Bubble wrap = bubble wrap
- Country = country
- Courier = courier
- Pick up = pick up
- Post office = post office
- Pre-paid envelope = pre-paid envelope
- Reach their destination = reach their destination
- Registered post = registered post
- Ship = ship
- Track = track
- Weigh = weigh
- Wrap = wrap