Grammar ReferenceLevel 2
Unit 1
Simple pastaffirmative statements, regular and irregular forms
Regular verbs
Base form
want, study, chat
Irregular verbs *
Simple past form
wanted, studied, chatted
Base form
read, find, meet
Simple past form
read, found, met
*See past tense endings of other irregular verbs on page 127 of the Students Book.
Simple pastquestions and negative statements
be
The TV show wasnt very good.
Other verbs
The Web site didnt have many games.
Yes/No questions
Was it fun?
Yes, it was./No, it wasnt.
Did you send an e-mail?
Yes, I did./No, I didnt.
Information questions
How was the concert?
What did you watch? Where did you go?
Negative statements
Past progressive
We use the past progressive to describe a longer action in the past.
Affirmative/Negative
statements
I/He/She/It was/was not (wasnt) playing a game.
You/We/They were/were not (werent) playing a game.
Yes/No questions
Was
Were
I/he/she/it
you/we/they
Short answers
Yes, I/he/she/it was. / No, I/he/she/it wasnt.
Yes, you/we/they were. / No, you/we/they werent.
playing a game?
Unit 2
Comparatives with as as/not as as
1 We use as as to say that two things share a similar characteristic, e.g., Swimming is as healthy as tennis.
2 We use not as as to say that two things are different, e.g., Karate is not as difficult as judo.
Superlatives
To form the superlative, we use the + the superlative form of the adjective.
One-syllable adjectives
For most, add est, e.g., oldoldest, newnewest.
For adjectives that end consonant-vowel-consonant,
double the final consonant and add est, e.g., thinthinnest, hothottest.
Two-syllable adjectives ending in y
Adjectives with two or more syllables
Irregular adjectives
Change the y to i and add est, e.g., happyhappiest, easyeasiest
Use most or least, e.g., importantmost important, interestingleast interesting
There are some irregular superlative adjectives, e.g., goodbest, badworst
Exceptions
Some short adjectives, e.g., fun, and real are used with more/most
and not est, e.g., Concerts are the most fun in the summer.
Unit 3
Possessive pronouns
1 Possessive adjectives are used before a noun, e.g., This is my passport.
2 Possessive pronouns do not have nouns following them, e.g., This passport is mine.
Possessive adjectives
Possessive pronouns
my
mine
your
yours
his
his
her
hers
its
its
our
ours
your
yours
their
theirs
Whose ?
We use whose to ask about possession. We often use this/that/these/those with Whose ?,
e.g., A
: Whose suntan lotion is this? B: Its mine.
A: Whose shoes are those? B: Theyre his.
D.R. Macmillan Publishers, S.A. de C.V. 2010
Grammar ReferenceLevel 2
Modals of permission and request
Modals of permission and request (can, could, may) are followed by the base form.
Questions
Affirmative
Short answers
Permission
May, can, and could are all used to
ask for permission. May is more formal,
e.g., May/Can/Could I ask you something?
Only can is used for
the affirmative, e.g., You can
get the bus to the airport.
Only can is used for
short answers, e.g., Yes, you can./
No, you cant.
Request
Only can and could are used for requests,
e.g., Can/Could you turn off the light?
Unit 4
Present perfectever/never
1 We use the present perfect to say that an action happened at some time before now. The exact time the action happened
is not known or is not important.
2 We form the present perfect with the verb have plus the past participle. We use ever to ask about a persons experiences
before now. We use never to give a negative response, e.g., I have never won the lottery.
Affirmative/Negative
statements
Yes/No questions
Have
Has
I/You/We/They have/havent won the lottery.
He/She/It has/hasnt won the lottery.
Short answers
I/you/we/they
Yes, I/you/we/they have. / No, I/you/we/they havent.
(ever) won the lottery?
he/she/it
Yes, he/she/it has. / No, he/she/it hasnt.
To form the past participle of regular verbs, use the simple past form. *
*See past participles of other irregular verbs on page 127 of the Students Book.
Present perfectHow long/for/since
1 We use the present perfect + for + a period of time, e.g., Ive lived here for six months.
2 We use the present perfect + since + a specific date, year, month, day, or time, e.g., Ive lived here since 2005.
Unit 5
Present perfect vs. simple past
1 We use the present perfect to refer to events that happened at a non-specific time in the past, e.g., Ive seen this movie before.
2 We use the simple past to give details about specific events in the past, e.g., I saw this movie last Friday.
Modals of advice and warning
Modal
Use
Affirmative
Negative
Question
should
+ base form
advice/
recommendations
You should explain why
you think the music is good.
You shouldnt buy a CD player.
Theyre out of date.
What kind of MP3 player should
I buy? Should I buy it online?
had/d better
+ base form
warning
You had/Youd better
compare prices online.
You had/Youd better not
buy a CD player.
ought
+ to + verb
advice/
recommendations
You ought to compare
prices online.
Unit 6
Direct and indirect objects
Sentences often have two objects, a direct object and an indirect object. The indirect object usually refers to a person and it usually
comes before the direct object. The indirect object usually comes before the direct object, but it can come after it if we use a particle.
Indirect object
Direct object
our friends/them
a gift
a gift.
We bought
We bought
for them.
Separable phrasal verbs with direct objects
Verb + particle + noun
Verb + noun + particle
I put up the shelves.
Particle and indirect object
I put the shelves up.
Verb + pronoun + particle
I put them up.
D.R. Macmillan Publishers, S.A. de C.V. 2010
Grammar ReferenceLevel 2
Unit 7
too/(not) enough/really/very
too/really/very + adjective
(not +) adjective + enough
The beef is too salty. (= more than it should be)
The pie is sweet enough. (= sufficient)
The vegetables are really good.(= extremely)
The potatoes arent soft enough. (= less than they should be)
The soup isnt very hot.
Note: too, really, and very come before the adjective; enough follows the adjective.
How much/How many and quantifiers
With count nouns
With noncount nouns
How many cans of soda do you drink?
I drink a few cans a week.
I drink a lot of/many cans a week.
I need to eat fewer chips.
You should eat more vegetables.
I dont eat many cookies.
How much soda do you drink?
I like a little salt on my food.
I use a lot of sugar in my coffee.
I should eat less junk food.
You ought to eat more protein.
I dont eat much fat.
Unit 8
Phrases of preference
Affirmative
Negative
Question
Short answer
would like + infinitive
Id (I would) like to go dancing.
I wouldnt like to go dancing.
Would you like to go dancing?
would prefer + infinitive
Id prefer to go out to dinner.
I would prefer not to go out to dinner.
Would you prefer to go out to dinner?
Yes, I would./No, I wouldnt.
would rather + base form
Id rather go to a party.
I would rather not go to a party.
Would you rather go to a party?
Negative yes/no questions
The function of a negative question is to check or confirm information.
Negative questions with be
Negative questions with auxiliaries
Isnt Steve going out with Laura?
Doesnt Julia Roberts have twins?
Wasnt that guy in our biology class?
Didnt Lance get married last year?
Werent you at Chips yesterday?
Havent you asked Marcia out yet?
Arent you going to Joes wedding?
Shouldnt we get them a wedding present?
Unit 9
will and going to
1 We use will to make predictions about the future, but not to talk about plans.
2 We use going to to make predictions about the future and also to talk about plans.
3 We use will to volunteer or express willingness.
4 We often use will with words like definitely and probably, e.g., It will probably rain tomorrow.
Modals of possibilitymay, might, will
Form
Use
Example
may (not)/
might (not)
to talk about things that are possible in the present
or the future but which we are not sure about
I may (might) apply to graduate school next year.
will (ll)/
will not (wont)
to talk about things in the future
we are sure or almost sure about
I will/Ill get a part-time job in the summer.
I may not (might not) go on vacation this year.
I will not/wont have time for a vacation.
D.R. Macmillan Publishers, S.A. de C.V. 2010
Grammar ReferenceLevel 2
Unit 10
Present tense with future meaning
1 We use the simple present to refer to the future when we are talking about a definite schedule or timetable.
2 We use the present progressive to refer to the future when we are talking about a plan or intention.
Simple present
Present progressive
It starts at 8.
Im coming by bus.
It doesnt finish until 1 a.m.
He isnt driving tonight.
What time does the party end?
How are you getting to the party on Friday?
Modals of offercan/could/will
We use can, could, and will to offer to do something.
Affirmative
Question
I can make the cake.
Can I do anything?
I could bring my MP3 player.
Could I help with the music?
Ill bring some snacks.
Unit 11
Simple present passive
1 We use the passive when the person who does something is not known or is not important.
2 We also use the passive when the person or thing receiving the action (i.e., the object of the active sentence) is more important
than the thing doing the action.
3 We form the simple present passive using the simple present form of the verb be and the past participle.
Statement
With modals
Question
Active sentence They make the Cookmate from plastic. You can download recipes. Do they produce the Cookmate here?
Are they produced here?
Passive sentence The Cookmate is made of plastic. Recipes can be downloaded.
Note: When we want to say who does/did something, we use by, e.g., The Cookmate is made by KPG Electronics.
Simple past passive
Affirmative
Active sentence
Passive sentence
Question
Two students created Google .
Google was created by two students.
TM
When did they first sell music CDs?
When were music CDs first sold?
Unit 12
Zero and first conditionals
1 We use the zero conditional to talk about things that are generally true.
2 We use the first conditional to talk about real possibilities.
Zero conditional pattern
Example
If + simple present, simple present
If + simple present, may/might/can + base verb
If you go online, you get better prices.
If you go online, you may/might/can get better prices.
First conditional pattern
Example
If + simple present, will + base form
If you ask him, hell help you.
Note: When the if clause comes second in the sentence, dont use a comma, e.g., Hell help you if you ask him.
Review of future forms
Use
Example
Use may, might, and will to make predictions about the future.
Mom might ground me if I dont do some work.
Use going to to make predictions about the future
and to talk about our plans and intentions.
Its going to rain. Were going to play soccer on Saturday.
Use the present progressive to talk about plans and intentions.
Jan is having a party on Friday night.
Use the simple present to talk about things that happen
in the future at a specific time on a schedule.
My plane leaves at 6:30 a.m.
D.R. Macmillan Publishers, S.A. de C.V. 2010
