vocabulary

1. Andrea
Castañeda O.
902 J.T.
2013

2. FORM
[am/is/are + present participle]
Examples:
You are watching TV.
Are you watching TV?
You are not watching TV.
Complete List of Present Continuous Forms
USE 1 Now
Use the Present Continuous with Normal Verbs to express the idea that
Present something is happening now, at this very moment. It can also be used to show
that something is not happening now.
Examples:
Continuou You are learning English now.
You are not swimming now.
s
Are you sleeping?
I am sitting.
I am not standing.
Is he sitting or standing?
They are reading their books.
They are not watching television.
What are you doing?
Why aren't you doing your homework?
USE 2 Longer Actions in Progress Now

3. In English, "now" can mean: this second, today, this month, this year, this
century, and so on. Sometimes, we use the Present Continuous to say
that we are in the process of doing a longer action which is in progress;
however, we might not be doing it at this exact second.
Examples: (All of these sentences can be said while eating dinner in a
restaurant.)
I am studying to become a doctor.
I am not studying to become a dentist.
I am reading the book Tom Sawyer.
I am not reading any books right now.
Are you working on any special projects at work?
Aren't you teaching at the university now?
USE 3 Near Future
Sometimes, speakers use the Present Continuous to indicate that
something will or will not happen in the near future.
Examples:
I am meeting some friends after work.
I am not going to the party tonight.
Is he visiting his parents next weekend?
Isn't he coming with us tonight

4. Past Continuous
FORM
[was/were + present participle]
Examples:
You were studying when she called.
Were you studying when she called?
Past You were not studying when she called.
Complete List of Past Continuous Forms
Continuou USE 1 Interrupted Action in the Past
s Use the Past Continuous to indicate that a longer
action in the past was interrupted. The interruption
is usually a shorter action in the Simple Past.
Remember this can be a real interruption or just an
interruption in time.

5. Examples:
I was watching TV when she called.
When the phone rang, she was writing a letter.
While we were having the picnic, it started to rain.
What were you doing when the earthquake started?
I was listening to my iPod, so I didn't hear the fire alarm.
You were not listening to me when I told you to turn the oven off.
While John was sleeping last night, someone stole his car.
Sammy was waiting for us when we got off the plane.
While I was writing the email, the computer suddenly went off.
A: What were you doing when you broke your leg?
B: I was snowboarding.
USE 2 Specific Time as an Interruption
In USE 1, described above, the Past Continuous is interrupted by a shorter
action in the Simple Past. However, you can also use a specific time as an
interruption.
Examples:
Last night at 6 PM, I was eating dinner.
At midnight, we were still driving through the desert.
Yesterday at this time, I was sitting at my desk at work.

6. In grammar, the comparative is the form of an adjective or adverb which
denotes the degree or grade by which a person, thing, or other entity has a
property or quality greater or less in extent than that of another, and is
used in this context with a subordinating conjunction, such as than.[1] The
comparative is one of the degrees of comparison, along with the positive and
the superlative.
Contents [hide]
1 Structure
2 Two-clause sentences
3 Adverbs
4 Absolute comparative
4.1 Null comparative
4.2 Greater/lesser
5 References
Comparat 6 See also
Two-clause sentences
For sentences with the two clauses other two-part comparative
ives subordinating conjunctions may be used:[2][3]
as...as "The house was as large as two put together."
not so / not as ...as "The coat of paint is not as [not so] fresh as it used to
be."
the same ... as "This car is the same size as the old one."
less / more ... than "It cost me more to rent than I had hoped."
less / more ... than "His house is better than mine"
[edit]Adverbs

7. In English, adverbs are usually formed by adding -ly to the
end of an adjective. In the comparative, more (or less) is
added before the adverb, as in "This sofa seats three people
more comfortably than the other one." Some irregular
adverbs such as fast or hard do not use more, but add an -er
suffix, as the adjectives do. Thus: "My new car starts faster
than the old one" or "She studies harder than her sister
does."
For some one-syllable adjectives, the comparative of
adjectives may be used interchangeably with the comparative
of adverbs, with no change in meaning: "My new car starts
more quickly than the old one" or "My new car starts quicker
than the old one".
However, if the adjective has an irregular comparative, then
the adverb must use it: "She writes better than I do" or "He
threw the ball farther than his brother did."
[edit]Absolute comparative
A number of fixed expressions use a comparative form where
no comparison is being asserted, such as higher education or
younger generation.

8. In grammar, the superlative is the form of an adverb or adjective that
expresses a degree of the adverb or adjective being used that is greater
than any other possible degree of the given descriptor. English
superlatives are typically formed with the suffix -est (e.g.
healthiest, weakest) or the word most (most recent, most interesting).
Example of superlative: "she is [the] most beautiful [of all the women here
tonight]"
Simply put the word 'superlative' is defined as
(a noun) an exaggerated mode of expression (usually of praise): "the critics
lavished superlatives on it";
(an adjective) the greatest: the highest in quality;
the superlative form of an adjective: "best" is the superlative form of
"good", "most" when used together with an adjective or adverb.
[edit]Superlatives with absolutes
Superlati
Some grammarians object to the use of the superlative or comparative
with words such as full, complete, unique, or empty, which by definition
already denote either a totality, an absence, or an absolute.[1]
However, such words are routinely and frequently qualified in
ves contemporary speech and writing. This type of usage conveys more of a
figurative than a literal meaning, since in a strictly literal sense, something
cannot be more or less unique or empty to a greater or lesser degree. For
example, in the phrase "most complete selection of wines in the Midwest,"
"most complete" doesn't mean "closest to having all elements
represented", it merely connotes a well-rounded, relatively extensive
selection. Internet searches for "more complete" or "most complete"
establish the frequency of this usage with millions of examples.
Nonetheless, usage by millions of people does not mean that the usage is
correct or incorrect. Writers tend to avoid this usage in formal
writing, particularly in the scientific and legal fields.

9. The absolute superlative is normally formed by
modifying the adjective by adding -ísimo, -ísima, -
ísimos or -ísimas, depending on the gender or
number. Thus, "¡Los chihuahuas son perros
pequeñísimos!" is "Chihuahuas are such tiny dogs!"
Some irregular superlatives are "máximo" for
"grande", "pésimo" for "malo", "ínfimo" for "bajo",
"óptimo" for "bueno", "acérrimo" for "acre",
"paupérrimo" for "pobre", "celebérrimo" for
"célebre".

10. Pasado Simple – (Simple Past Tense)
El Pasado Simple es un tiempo verbal que se utiliza para describir
acciones que han sucedido en un tiempo anterior y que ya han
finalizado, por ejemplo:
She cleaned her house. Ella limpió su casa.
I broke the window. Yo rompí la ventana.
Aquí vemos su conjugación que en el español equivale al Pretérito
Indefinido. Observa que la estructura de la oración es similar a la del
Presente Simple:
Past
Simple