Don't stop me now

The Simple Past Tense

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The past tense of "be"

Adjectives for mood

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Lemon Tree - Fools Garden

The Simple Present Tense

The verb "be"

Subject and object pronouns in English

Object pronouns

What are object pronouns?

An object pronoun functions as the object of a verb or preposition, as distinguished from a subject pronoun, which is the subject of a verb.

Examples:

• He asked her to live with him. (her is the object of the verb asked and him is the object of the preposition with)
• She told them the truth. (them is the object of the verb told)

Object pronouns substitute object nouns, usually because we already know what the object is.

• She's my friend. I really enjoy being with her.
• I like this film. I saw it last week.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns in English are the following:

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Object pronouns come after either a verb (e.g "like") or a preposition (e.g "to").
Examples:

• I like you but you don't like me.
• Do you really like her?
• She loves sitting next to him.
• She always writes e-mails to us.
• He's talking to her about it.

Common verbs + ing

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (Official Music Video)

The Weather

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Present Simple & Present Continuous

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We use the present simple when we want to talk about fixed habits or routines.

We use the present continuous to talk about actions which are happening at the present moment, but will soon finish.

Compare these two statements:

• (present simple) I play tennis.
• (present continuous) I am playing tennis.

(present simple) I play tennis tells us that playing tennis is something the speaker always does. It is part of a routine or habit. We can call this a permanent situation.

(present continuous) I am playing tennis tells us that the speaker is playing tennis right now. Soon the game will be over. We call this a temporary situation.

With the present simple we say:

• I play tennis
• You play tennis
• We play tennis
• They play tennis
•  She plays tennis

With the present continuous we say:

• I'm playing tennis
• You're playing tennis
• We're playing tennis
• They're playing tennis
• He's playing tennis

Frequency Adverbs we use with the Present Simple (notice that the adverb comes before the main verb in the sentence)

Always: ‘I always read before I go to bed.’

Often: ‘Her sister often comes shopping with us.’

Frequently:‘ Michael frequently visits his family.’

Sometimes: ‘You sometimes go to the gym, don’t you?’

Occasionally: ‘It occasionally rains in summer.’

Seldom: ‘They seldom ask for help.’

Rarely:  ‘He rarely goes out without his backpack.’

Hardly ever: ‘I hardly ever eat pizza.’

Never: ‘Japanese people never wear shoes inside.’

Time Expressions we use with the Present Continuous (notice that the time expression can come at the start or at the end of the sentence)

At the moment: ‘I’m watching TV, at the moment.’

These days: ‘Paul’s living in Cardiff, these days.’

Now: ‘What are you doing, now?’

Nowadays: ‘I think you are smoking too much, nowadays.’

The use of CAN and CAN'T

This defective verb “Can” corresponds to the Spanish "Poder", and is used to express the following:

1. Permission, possibility 

2. Ability 

3. To ask for permission / to give permission

4. To ask for things / to offer things

Affirmative

The basic structure is:

Pronoun  or name + can + action verb + complement

*Note: the verb doesn’t change in the 3rd person singular (He, She, It):

He can work today. He can works today.

She can wash the dishes. She can washes the dishes.

It can play videos It can plays videos.

Negative

 

Structure:

Pronoun or name + can't + action verb + complement

Note*: It is common to use "Can't" instead of "Cannot".

Questions

Structure:

Can + Pronoun or name + action verb + Complement?

Examples of questions and answers:

- Can you dance? - No, I can't.

- Can you work with the computer? - Yes, I can.

- Can he swim? - Yes, he can.

- Can she cook a pizza? - No, she can't.

- Can we understand the lesson? - Yes, we can.

- Can they speak French?- No, they can't.

There are also the WH- questions, as for example:

- Where can I go in Bilbao? - You can go to the Guggenheim Museum

- How can I go there? – You can go by tram    

- What can I do there? – You can visit the new exhibition                            

- What else can I do there? – You can have a walk in Abandoibarra                    

- When can I go there?  -  You can go there every day

                

EXAMPLES OF USES OF CAN & CAN’T

1.- Permission, possibility 

a) You can’t smoke here

b) We can park the car here

c) It can be rainy tomorrow.

d) She can't come to the party tonight.

e) Can you arrive early today?

2.- The ability to do something

a) Laura can swim very well.

b) They can play the piano.

c) This computer can run desktop software and modern apps.

d) He can't cook. He always burns the food.

e) Can she drive a standard car?

3.- To ask for permission / to give permission

3.1.- To ask for permission

a) Can she come with me?

b) Can I come in?

3.2.- To give permission

a) You can stay here if you want.

b) They can use the dictionary in the English exam, but you can’t use the laptop.

4.- To ask for something / to offer something

4.1- To ask for something

a) Can you help me, please?

b) Can you work in our team?

4.2- To offer something

a) Can I help you?

b) Can I take your order?

Aretha Franklin - I say a little prayer

This song is dedicated to Txaro, who left us last Tuesday. 
She'll be forever in our hearts.

How to tell the time in English

Word order in questions

The word order for present simple questions with do and does is:

• ASI (Auxiliary + Subject + Ïnfinitive), as in Do you live near here?

                       or

• QUASI (Question word/phrase + Auxiliary + Subject + Infinitive), as in Where does he live? 

We often use question phrases beginning with What, as for example What colour...? What size....?, etc.

Also, question phrases beginning with How are used frequently: How much.....? How many.....? How often....?, etc. 

What is Brexit?

Brexit is the term used to refer to the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union (EU) and is a shortened version of British Exit. On June 23, 2016, the UK decided to officially sever ties with the EU. This monumental decision came as the result of a referendum—or public vote of nearly all citizens of voting age—in which more than 30 million people voted (continue reading)

Vocabulary: Jobs

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picture taken from http://sites.cssmi.qc.ca/nkeeley/spip.php?article1122

Radio.Garden: an interactive map of radio stations across the globe

Do you want to know what’s being played on the radio in Argentina right now? Well, thanks to a website called Radio Garden you can hear radio from there, and almost everywhere else in the world. (continue reading)

Frank & Nancy Sinatra - Something stupid

The Simple Present

Uses of imperatives

Please don´t go, by KC & the Sunshine Band

Leonard Cohen ~ Dance Me To The End Of Love

Macmillan Dictionary online

Here you are an interesting online dictionary of Englishh which gives you the word's definition, its phonetic transcription and its pronunciation. 

 http://www.macmillandictionary.com/ 

Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy

Biography: William Shakespeare

Bob Marley: Three Little Birds

FUTURE: Be going to (plans)

We use the future with “BE GOING TO” to talk about plans

POSITIVE FORM

Subject	Verb To be	Going to	Infinitive
I	Am	Going to	Dance
He / She / It	Is		Study
We / You / They	Are		Go shopping

Examples:
– Maria’s going to travel this holiday.
– They’re going to go to a very expensive restaurant.
– I’m going to come home late.

NEGATIVE FORM

Subject	Verb To be + not	Going to	Infinitive
I	Am not	Going to	Clean
He / She / It	Is not (isn’t)		Cook
We / You / They	Are not (aren’t)		Travel

Examples:

– I’m not going to go to the party.
– John isn’t going to work today.
– They aren’t going to stay at that hotel.

QUESTIONS 

Question Word	Verb To Be	Subject	Going to	Infinitive
What	Am	I	Going to	Do
Where	Is	He / She / It		Go
—————–	Are	We / You / They		Have lunch

Examples: 
– What are you going to do later?
– What is she going to cook?
– Are they going to attend the meeting?
– Where is Maria going to study?

Short answers

– Yes, I am – Yes, you are – No, he isn’t – No, they aren’t ETC

Iggy Pop - Candy

Biography: Guillermo Larregui "El vasco de la carretilla", by Jesus Mari Ugarte

Biography: Angelina Jolie, by Eveling García

Biography: Mikel Laboa, by Txaro Bolinaga

Mikel Laboa was born on 15th June 1934 in Donostia, Gipuzkoa.

He was one of the most important songwriters in Basque language of the XX. Century, he was considered the patriarch of Basque music. And his music has influenced young people.

In the 1950s he studied medicine and psychiatry in Pamplona-Iruña. During his student years he became interested in music and he always balances his artistic career with his medical career.

Laboa would identify himself as a “political artist” and he play music for the first time in Gayarre theatre in Pamplona in 1958.

He worked as a doctor in the unit of child neuropsychiatry of the Patronato San Miguel in Donostia.

During the 1960s he, with other Basque artist, founded the cultural group “Ez dok Amairu. They dedicated their focus on the revival and social status of the Basque language.

Laboa´s music can be described as a combination of tradition, poetry and experimentalism, with a strong personal touch and unique voice.

 

One of his most well-known song, “Txoriak txori”, has been sung by other famous singers.

Laboa was creative force for 35 years, continuing well into his old age, until his fragile health kept him away from the stage.

Mikel Laboa died on 1 December 2008 at the hospital in Donostia-San Sebastian at the age of 74.

In 2009, the gipuzkoan town of Usurbil dedicated a square and one of the squares in the Leioa campus also has his name. 

My favourite song is Bi Kate

TINA TURNER - SIMPLY THE BEST (Lyrics)

Subject Pronouns & Object Pronouns

What are object pronouns?

An object pronoun functions as the object of a verb or preposition, as distinguished from a subject pronoun, which is the subject of a verb.

Examples:

• He asked her to live with him. (her is the object of the verb asked and him is the object of the preposition with)
• She told them the truth. (them is the object of the verb told)

Object pronouns substitute object nouns, usually because we already know what the object is.

• She's my friend. I really enjoy being with her.
• I like this film. I saw it last week.

Object Pronouns

Object pronouns in English are the following:

me, you, him, her, it, us, them

Object pronouns come after either a verb (e.g "like") or a preposition (e.g "to").
Examples:

• I like you but you don't like me.
• Do you really like her?
• She loves sitting next to him.
• She always writes e-mails to us.
• He's talking to her about it.

Biography: Indira Gandhi, by Bakarne Galdos

Biography: Audrey Hepburn, by Mirari Guridi

Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her mother, Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness, and her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was born in Úzice, Bohemia. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girl’s school. While she was on holiday with her mother in Arnhem, Netherlands, Hitler's army took over the city. Audrey suffered malnutrition

After the liberation, she went to a ballet school in London and later began a modelling career. In 1953 make the role in the film of “ Rome vacations” (1957)”. This film turned out to be a smashing success, and she won an Oscar as Best Actress.

On 25 September 1954, she married in Bürgenstock (Switzerland) while she was preparing to record together in the film “War and Peace (1955)”. Hepburn had two children, Sean, with Mel Ferrer, born on 17 July of 1960 and Luca, with Andrea Dotti, born on 8 February of 1970.

The famous movies of Audrey were “Rome vacations” (1957)”, “One side of Angel (1957)”, “Ariane (1954)”, “Sabrina breakfast with diamonds (1989)”      

 

In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. After returning from Somalia in 1992 Audrey Hepburn developed cancer of the colon. The disease proved to be untreatable in January 1993 she died in Switzerland at the aged of 63.