GRAMMAR

Subject questions

March 27, 2023March 27, 2023 teacherjulieta1 Comment

What is a subject question? (This is a subject question by the way)

A subject question is a question that asks about the subject of the sentence. The subject of the sentence is usually a person, a thing, or an idea that performs the action described in the sentence.

Subject questions don’t include an auxiliary verb (do, does, did) because the question word (who?, what?, which?, how many?, etc.) is the subject of the verb in question.

Grammar pattern

“Wh- + verb (+…)?”

Examples:

Who ate the pizza? Answer: I
What caused the accident? Answer: The traffic
Which book is that? Answer: “Harry Potter”
Who is playing the piano? Answer: Maria
Who likes the new teacher? Answer: All the students
Who won the game? Answer: We
What makes you happy? Answer: Traveling
Who cleaned the kitchen? Answer: My husband
Who is going to the party? Answer: Nobody
Who broke the window? Answer: The cat

Learn more about

Object questions

Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty:

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty:

Change the sentence into a subject question

Discuss the question with your group. Give as many details as possible

GRAMMAR

Would rather

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023 teacherjulietaLeave a comment

Rather is an adverb that we can use to express a specific preference. It goes after the modal verb would and before a verb in the base form.

We use would rather with the base form as an alternative to would prefer. Remember that would prefer is followed by a verb in the infinitive form.

Grammar patterns:

would prefer + infinitive

would rather + base form

Examples:

I’d prefer to go on vacation in July instead of August

I‘d rather go on vacation in July than in August.

Would you prefer to stay in or to go out tonight?

Would you rather stay in or go out tonight?

We can use would rather to talk about what we would prefer another person to do. For that case we use the past tense, even though we are talking about a present or future preference.

Grammar pattern:

would rather + someone + simple past

Examples:

I’d rather my students took notes during class.

She‘d rather her boyfriend gave her flowers for her birthday.

I‘d rather my students didn’t use their phones during class.

The students would rather their teacher didn’t give them homework every day.

Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty:

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty:

Let’s sing!

This song is perfect to practice “rather than”

GRAMMAR

Gerunds and Infinitives: Change of meanings

March 1, 2023April 25, 2023 teacherjulieta1 Comment

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There are some verbs that change their meaning if they are followed by a gerund or an infinitive. The best way to learn them is by organizing them in a chart to visualize the differences.

Grammar Practice

Complete the sentences using the correct form of the verb.

You can use the Random Spinner, so the computer will pick a card for you.

Flip the cards to check your answer.

Auxiliary Verbs for Emphasis

February 24, 2023February 25, 2023 teacherjulieta1 Comment

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When we want to add emphasis or make our sentences stronger or disagree in a strong way, we often use auxiliary verbs. In spoken English, a sentence can get greater emphasis if the auxiliary or modal verb is stressed.

Examples:

That will be nice. -> That will be nice!

I can’t go with you. -> I can’t go with you!

It tastes delicious. -> It does taste delicious!

The auxiliary do is a marker of emphasis in affirmative sentences like the above one. Emphatic do is used in different contexts to express at least 5 different meanings.

* Note: After emphatic do we always use the base form of the verb

do + base form

does + base form

did + base form

1. Affirmative emphasis of a whole sentence.

Emphatic do often occurs after emphatic adverbs like certainly or really.

Examples:

I certainly do hope you pass the test.

I really do like that song.

A: Do you remember her name?

B: I certainly do remember her name.

2. Emphasis of a verb used with adverbs of frequency such as never, rarely, seldom, often, always.

Examples:

The student who took extra classes always did pass his exams.

The horse he bet on usually did win.

The classmates we were waiting for never did arrive.

3. Emphasis of a positive result when we don’t know some information or are in doubt

Example:

I’m happy to hear that you do like Mexican food.

(I wasn’t sure if you would like eating Mexican food, but that’s the only food I have and that’s what we’re having for dinner)

I’m glad to hear that you did pass your exam.

(I wasn’t sure you would pass the test because you told me it was going to be very difficult)

4. Affirmative contradiction of a negative statement.

Examples:

My teacher said that I didn’t turn in my homework, but I did turn it in!

My boyfriend broke up with me because he thinks I don’t love him, but I do love him very much!

5. Contrasting

Examples:

Even though I don’t like most classical music, I do like Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

Although I don’t like learning grammar, I do enjoy playing grammar games in class.

I dislike spicy food, but I do like Thai noodles.

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Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty: ⭐

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty: ⭐⭐

Student A: Choose a card and ask the question.

Student B: Answer the question making emphasis (Use emphatic do)

GRAMMAR

Third Conditional

November 3, 2022April 21, 2023 teacherjulietaLeave a comment

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We use third conditional sentences to talk about unreal (imaginary or hypothetical) past situations and their consequences.

We use the past perfect or the past perfect continuous in the if- clause (condition)

We use would have + past participle or could have + past participle or might have + past participle in the other clause (consequence/ result)

Difference between “Would have” and “Could have” – Third Conditional

Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty:

Put the words in the correct order.

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty:

Student A:

Choose one box
Open the box
Read the sentence out loud

Student B:

Close your eyes
Listen to your partner
Make a sentence using the third conditional.

Student C:

Write the sentence on a piece of paper

Switch roles <>

Writing Practice

Choose a card. Write a comment (reply) below with your opinion.

GRAMMAR

Second Conditional

November 1, 2022April 20, 2023 teacherjulieta16 Comments

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We use the second conditional to talk about hypothetical or imaginary situations in the present or future.

In the if-clause we use simple past or past continuous.

In the other clause (consequence/result), we can use would, could or might.

For the verb be we usually start our sentence with If + subject + were

For examples:

If I were rich, I’d buy a Ferrari

If he were/ was rich, he’d buy a Porsche.

When we want to give advice, we always use If I were …

Examples:

If I were you, I wouldn’t go there.

If I were you, I’d travel to Brazil instead of Australia.

More information about If I was and if I were 👇

Difference between if I was and if I were

If you are still confused, you can find an easy explanation in your first language in the link below 👇:

🇪🇸 Spanish / 🇵🇹 Portuguese/ 🇨🇳 Chinese/ 🇷🇺 Russian/ 🇺🇦 Ukrainian/ 🇹🇷 Turkish/ 🇯🇵 Japanese

Second conditional

Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty:

Put the words in the correct order.

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty:

Spin the wheel
Complete the sentence about your partner.
Read the complete sentence to your partner.
Explain to your partner why?
Were your guesses right or wrong?
Switch roles <>

✍️ Writing Practice

Choose 5 cards.

Write 5 sentences using the second conditional.

Share your sentences below 👇 (reply)

GRAMMAR

Future Perfect vs. Future Continuous

October 27, 2022April 16, 2023 teacherjulieta2 Comments

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Future Perfect

We use the future perfect (will have + past participle) to say something that will be finished before a certain time in the future.

This tense is frequently used with the time expressions by + day/time or in + time expression
by + a time expression = at the latest
We form the negative form with won’t have+ past participle
We make questions by inverting the subject and will (Will you have + past participle …?)

Future Continuous

We use the future continuous (will + be + verb+ing) to say that an action will be in progress at a certain time in the future.

Let’s compare it with the simple future:

We‘ll have dinner at 8 o’clock (= we will start dinner at 8 o’ clock)

We‘ll be having dinner at 8 o’clock (= we will start dinner before 8 o’clock/ at 8 o’clock we will already have started eating)

We sometimes use the future continuous, like the present continuous, to talk about things that are already planned or decided
We form the negative with won’t be + verb+ ing
We make questions by inverting the subject and will (Will you be + verb+ing…?)

Drag the arrows <> to compare the future perfect and the future continuous

If you are still confused, you can find an easy explanation in your first language in the link below 👇 :

Future Continous and Future Perfect

Grammar Practice

Level of difficulty:

Complete the sentences using the future continuous or the future perfect.
Flip the tile to check your answer
Write down the sentences in your notebook

Speaking Practice

Level of difficulty:

Discuss each prediction with your group. Decide:

a) if you think it will happen

b) if you think it will be a good thing

Give as many details as possible

✍️ Writing Practice

Choose a card. Write a comment (reply) below 👇 with your opinion.

a) Do you think it will happen?

b) Do you think it will be a good thing?

GRAMMAR

Tag questions

July 9, 2022March 30, 2023 teacherjulieta2 Comments

Tag questions are indirect questions that we often use to check something that we think is true.

Example:

Tag question: Your name is Mike, isn’t it?

Direct question: Is your name Mike?

How to form a tag question

Add a comma (,) after the information you want to confirm or make emphasis
Use the correct auxiliary verb or modal verb.

Auxiliary verbs	Positive	Negative
be	am, is, are was, were	am not, isn’t, aren’t wasn’t, weren’t
do	do, does did	don’t, doesn’t didn’t
have	have, has had	haven’t, hasn’t hadn’t

Common modal verbs used in tag questions

can—can’t
could—couldn’t
will—won’t
would—wouldn’t
should—shouldn’t

Note: Use a negative auxiliary/modal verb if the sentence is affirmative and an affirmative auxiliary/ modal verb if the sentence is negative.

3. Add a pronoun

Examples: you, he, she, it, we, they

4. Add a question mark (?)