When we speak English, there is a grammatical structure consisting of an auxiliary verb that supports the main verb. Auxiliary verbs are used to form negative and interrogative sentences, as well as to form verb tenses.
We can separate modal verbs in English into two different groups:
Modal verbs (have a very specific set of rules and are practically constant)
Verbs that can act as auxiliaries.
Next, we will explain the second group: auxiliary function verbs. These are the three most important verbs we need to construct negative, interrogative and compound verbs:
Tot do
To have
To be
Auxiliaries, as we have indicated above, always accompany a main verb:
Does your brother play the guitar often? – Does your brother play the guitar often?
To do
It is used as an auxiliary in:
Interrogative phrases
Do you love me? – Do you love me?
Negative phrases
I don’t like you – No me gustas
Although the full form is DO NOT and DID NOT, the contraction DON’T and DIDN’T is often used.
Expressions of emphasis.
I do love you. – I do love you
To have
It is used as an auxiliary in:
To form the present perfect tense
I have been in many different cities. – I have been in many different cities.
It can also be used as an auxiliary in the present perfect continuous.
I have been sleeping all day long. – I have been sleeping all day long.
In the past perfect continuous
We had been playing tennis all night. – He had been playing tennis all night
And finally in the past perfect
I hadstarted a new degree when I moved here – Emgué una nueva carrera cuando me mude aquí – I starteda new degree when I movedhere
To be
It is used as an auxiliary in:
Continuous verb forms
Marta is singing – Marta esta cantando – Marta is singing Marta was signing – Mar ta estaba cantando – Mar ta was singing
Also in passive verb forms
Rachel is visiting us – Rachel nos visita
We are being visited by Rachel – Hemos sido visitados por Rachel
Will
Unlike the rest of the verbs, and as with modal verbs, it never adds an s for the third person singular. The contraction of will with the negation is won’t.
The auxiliary verb will is used to form the future tenses: future simple, future perfect, future continuous, and the first conditional.
He will not play tennis – He will not play tennis.
He will have played tennis .
If he plays tennis, he will be tired – Si juega al tenis, estar cansado.
Exceptions:
We find sentences introduced by the interrogative who or what as the subject of the verb and which make the use of the auxiliary unnecessary.
Who called? – Who called?
What is it?– What is it?
In other words, using WHO implies that it is a person, while using WHAT implies that it is an object or impersonal element such as time or an event.
A group of enterprising mothers are organizing the Christmas Solidarity Market together, to be held at the school on Saturday, December 11, from 11am to 4pm. We are part of a network of partners that support local and sustainable small businesses. One of our purposes is also to contribute to an NGO that supports low-income families and children.
In addition to boosting local commerce, we are excited to support the NGO “Mes x Tu”. Mes x Tu fulfills the forgotten work of feeding and covering the most urgent needs of low-income families who have children with chronic illnesses. They receive donations of all kinds such as; cribs, baby strollers, diapers, etc. and, they are in charge of assigning them to the families.
In our flea market you will find:
Handcrafted products
Christmas gifts
Mulled wine
Hot chocolate with marshmallows
Music
The best Christmas atmosphere
Santa Claus visit to deliver the letter and take pictures.
If you want our professional photographer to make a mini photo session with Santa Claus, you have to book an appointment by sending us an e-mail. Santa Claus will be there during the whole market, from 11am to 4pm.
By the way, have you seen our Christmas decorations? We have created them from the heart for this event.
Do you want to participate as a collaborator in the flea market? If you have a small craft business of any kind, or market style food, sweet or savory, this will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase your products.
Telling time in English is easy once you understand how English speakers refer to different parts of the clock at different times of the day. It always follows the same pattern. So, once you know how it works, you can confidently announce the time at any time of the day or night.
You may know numbers in English, but you need more than numbers to tell time. You also need to be able to ask and answer questions about the time and talk about the clock in different life situations.
How do we tell the time?
When you tell the time in English, the hours always come first. If you look at the clock and see that it is three o’clock in the afternoon, then you can say“It’s three o’clock” or “The time is three o’clock“. It is that simple. Remember that when you are talking only about the hour, and not the minutes, then“o’clock” is usually used.
O’clock is an abbreviation of an old phrase meaning of the clock, and is something you can say after telling what time it is. However, it is only used when telling the time. If you need to include the minutes, then you can’t say “o’clock”.
Knowing morning, afternoon, evening, night and day.
In any part of the English-speaking world there are only twelve hours written on a clock. This may also be true in the region where you live. This is a very common system for telling time.
However, that means it will be 6:00 twice each day, once in the morning and once at night! So how do you talk about 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.?
Morning (from 12:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
11:00 a.m. – It is eleven in the morning. It is eleven in the morning.
Afternoon (from 12:00 p.m. to sunset)
4:00 p.m. – It is four in the afternoon. It is four in the afternoon.
Evening (from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.)
6:00 p.m. – It is six in the evening. It is six in the evening.
Night (from 6:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m.)
10 p.m – it is ten in the night. It is 10 o’clock in the night.
As you can see, this differs from Spanish, as we use tarde for both afternoon and evening. However, we also use noon.
When minutes are involved
There are many ways to tell the hour with minutes without saying the exact number, let’s start:
Half and hour – half hour
And hour we know that it is an hour, therefore, half and hour will mean half an hour.
Example:
When he arrives?
In half an hour he should arrive. It should arrive in half an hour.
Quarter of an Hour – un quarto de hora
If half an hour means thirty minutes, a quarter of and hour will be 15 minutes.
You can use the term quarter of an hour in two different situations. For example, 7:45 is “a quarter to eight” and 8:15 is “a quarter past/after eight.
You can still say “quarter” if the number of minutes you have is between 12 and 17.
Example:
How much longer until 6?
About a quarter of an hour. About fifteen minutes.
What time is it right now?
A quarter to eleven. It is 10:45 am.
Past and till
You can use them together with any combination of words about the weather. Which one you use depends on whether you are counting forward or backward.
6:30 can be 6:30 or you can also say it’s thirty minutes to 7. (Till is the more informal way of saying until, you can use either depending on the situation).
Example:
10:30 p.m. – Half past ten. / Thirty minutes till 11. Half past ten. / Half an hour to eleven o’clock.
11:30 a.m. – Half past eleven. / Thirty minutes to 12. Half past eleven. / It’s half an hour to noon.
I hope this helps you. Timing is very important and we hope you will feel more confident and comfortable applying these easy tips in English. What time is it?
Quantifiers are one of those parts of English grammar that is most difficult for Spaniards. However, we assure you that after reading this article you will find it much easier to understand them. Shall we start?
What are quantifiers?
Quantifiers are words that are used to say how much of something there is. In other words, they provide an answer to the question “how many”.
We must always place them before nouns for sentences to make full grammatical sense. However, using one quantifier or another will depend on whether it is a countable or uncountable noun.
Some – Any
Some and any are used to express indeterminate quantities of a noun, since we do not know or do not want to specify an exact number. Both quantifiers are used to refer to “some“, but not excessive.
We use them for plural and uncountable countable nouns.
Some: we use it in interrogatives and affirmations.
I have some apples.
Would you like some milk?
Any: we use it in negative and interrogative sentences.
I haven’t received any letters.
Are there any changes?
Much – Many
We use both quantifiers to express a large quantity. We usually use them for negations and interrogatives. However, they can be used in affirmative sentences when there is a formal context.
Much: we use it with uncountable nouns.
I don’t have much time.
How much money do you have?
Many: we use it for plural countable nouns.
How many cats do you have?
There are not many tourists.
A lot – Lots of
Both quantifiers refer to the word “many” in affirmative sentences. They can be used with both countable and uncountable nouns, although lots of is more informal.
A lot of:
I have a lot of books.
I have a lot of work.
Lots of:
Lots of people came to my house.
I have lots of money.
Little – A little
These quantifiers are used to express a small quantity of something, as long as they are uncountable nouns:
Little: used to express little quantity, indicating that it is not enough:
We have little time to prepare the exam.
A little: used when a small amount, however small, is sufficient:
Do you have a little money?
No – None
We use no and none to indicate the absence of something. We can use these quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns. In the case of none, we can use it with a noun, as an answer to a question.
No:
There are no pencils.
None:
How many pens are there? None.
Few – A few
Both quantifiers are used to express little quantity, just like little and a little. However, they can only be used with countable nouns. Few reflects quantity negatively, while a few reflects quantity positively.
Few:
There are few tourists in there.
A few:
We stayed a few days in London visiting some friends.
Previously we had talked about conditionals, but this time we are going to go deeper and buy the Zero Conditional and First Conditional and see in which situations we can make use of one or the other.
Zero conditional
We use the zero conditional to speak of situations involving universal truths or general facts. We will use the Present simple in the conditional sentence as well as in the triggering sentence. You can also substitute If by When :
If you mix red and white, you get pink. If you mix red with white you get pink.
Plants die if they don’t get enough water. Plants die if they have no water.
If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils. If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
My teacher gets angry if I don’t study. My teacher gets mad if I don’t study.
If she sleeps well, she rests. If she sleeps well, she rests.
If you want to come, call me before 3:00. If you want to come, call me before 3:00.
Let’s see how to do it with the following conditional and understand the differences between them.
First conditional
We will use the first conditional to talk about particular situations that can happen in a safe way. We also use it when we talk about future plans, threats, warnings and promises or to convince someone of something. To do so, we will use Present Simple y Future Simple. Its structure is also divided into two sentences, with the condition that the first one occurs, the next one can follow:
IF + subject + PRESENT SIMPLE,+ subject + FUTURE SIMPLE
I will help you get ready for the party if I get there on time.-I’ll help you get ready for the party if I’m on time.
If it gets cold you can use my coat.
If you train you will have a better performance.
If you feel hungry you can take food from the fridge.
I will make dinner for you if you come tonight .
If you come tonight I will make dinner for you. If you come tonight, I will make dinner for you.
We see that as we increase the number of conditionals, the probability that the event to be determined will happen is lower. When using the zero conditional we speak of truths, facts with total certainty. General truths. However, when we talk about the first conditional We do this to express a certain degree of doubt, and with future intentionality. Also to make warnings and to speak on more particular topics than in the first conditional.
With this comparison you will be able to better understand the uses of conditionals in English, keep practicing and exploring the different articles we have published to improve your English. You can also tell us different examples that you like or the doubts you have about it, maybe someone else has them and we will solve them in another article.
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