What do we mean by first (1st) person, second (2nd) person, third (3rd) person of a verb?

– they refer to the subject of the verb. The person or thing that does the action:

James lives in New York; here “James” is the subject of the verb “lives”

My green trousers look good; here “my green trousers” are the subject of the verb “look”

Why are they necessary?

They are used, along with tense (time), to help us understand which form of a verb is required.

In the English language this is only relevant

– with the verb to be in the present and the past.

– with other verbs in the present.

In other languages they could be considered to be more important

1st person singular “I” this refers to “me”:

Examples: I am a teacher; I come from England; I live in a small town; I like reading; I went to school in England

2nd person singular (you) this refers to “you” the person I am talking to or writing to:

Examples: Do you like apples?; You are reading this; You wrote a comment on my web

3rd (third) person singular (she, he, it, John, Mary, my mother etc) This refers to another person or thing that is not “me” or “you”

Examples: David lives in London; He works in a bank; Maria studies Italian; She likes Italian food. My mother is a retired teacher. That dog can run very fast. The big, brown table looks good next to the window.

1st person plural “we” this refers to “us”, me and at least 1 other person:

2nd person plural (you) this refers to “you” the people (2 or more) that I am talking to or writing to:

3rd (third) person plural (they,  John and Mary, Fred’s children, the football team etc) This refers to other people or things that are not “us” or “you”

If want to do some more English grammar lessons, this is the place to go

1st, 2nd, 3rd person PLURAL first, second, third

Position

1. Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb, they tell us how often something happens

• – I always have cereals for breakfast.
  – She has never been to Paris.
  – The children would often play football together.

2. but after the verb to be

• – He’s usually late to school
  – Mary was often the first to finish her work

! sometimes/ usually/ normally can go at the beginning of the sentence too.

• – Usually, my father works at night.

Adverbs of time usually go at the end of a sentence or a clause, they tell us “when”

• – They’ll start work soon.
  – Duncan finishes his deliveries early
  – It snowed all night
  – My car was repaired last week and then he had an accident.

Introduction to use of Adverbs

Adverbs of manner

Exercise to practise word order with adverbs

Function of adverbs/ adverbial phrases

Function of adverbs
1. Adverbs can describe an action:

• – He drives aggressively

This tells us HOW an action is done. These are Adverbs of manner.

There are also these types:

· Adverbs of manner
· Adverbs of frequency
· Adverbs of time
· Adverbs of degree
· Comment adverbs

2. Adverbs can modify adjectives:

• That car is extremely expensive

Or other adverbs:

• He runs very fast

3. It can be an adverb of one word:

• – often, sometimes, quickly

We often visit our parents at the weekend.

or an adverbial phrase :

• all day tomorrow, a bit

The students are going to be doing exams all day tomorrow.

· Adverbs of manner
· Adverbs of frequency
· Adverbs of time
· Adverbs of degree
· Comment adverbs

Exercise to practise word order with adverbs

We have more grammar lessons in the index

Go to grammar EXERCISE for used to + infinitive here

Used to is a form of English Grammar that we use to talk about an habitual action in the past that we don’t do now. The structure uses the past of the verb “to use”so questions and negatives are formed using “did”

 

• 1-I used to live in London (now I don’t live in London)
• 2-John used to play rugby every weekend (now he doesn’t play because he has serious knee problems)
• 3-Mary didn’t use to speak French (but now she speaks French very well because she has lived in Toulouse for 5 years)
• 4-Did you use to have a lot of homework when you went to Primary school?

The form of this construction is very simple

Affirmative: subject + used to+ verb in the infinitive … see example (1and 2) above

Negative: subject + didn’t +use to+ verb in the infinitive … see example (3) above

Question: did+ subject + use to + verb in the infinitive … see example (4) above

Compare with other uses of “use” in the English language:

use be used to and gerund correctly

Difference between use, used to, be used to

Go to English grammar lessons

Your brain works well with regular habits and with challenges

Your brain needs stimulation – language learning is a fantastic challenge to your brain

Make English a habit by regularly doing

• reading
• listening
• speaking and writing

Your brain is the best tool for learning a new language

But you brain needs to be convinced that you really want to learn English (or any other language)

The ONLY way that you can effectively improve your language learning is by:

• creating a habit of daily contact with the English language

It is essential that your language learning is regular and long lasting. That is only possible if it becomes a “habit”

It can only become a habit when you have done it every day for a minimum of 30 days, 60 is better.

I don’t have enough time!

– Decide what is more important – remember that if you don’t do it, you won’t speak better English

Remember that you learnt your own native language by regular hearing and listening when you were a baby

Why 30 days?

You have to convince your brain that you really want to change what you normally do.

Put an English language habit in your life >>

Use the Rule of 5 to activate your English language

Check out our video lessons >>>

The Past Perfect tells us about something that happened before another time in the past

     When I arrived at the cinema the film had already started

There are two events, here in chronological order:

     The film started (at 8.00 pm)

     I arrived at the cinema (at 8.10 pm)

If we focus our attention on: I arrived at the cinema this will mean that The film started is an action or event anterior to that

Another example would be:

     John first met Lucy at a conference in 1998

     John saw her again at Heathrow airport in London last August

If we focus our attention on last August we would get the following sentence:

     When John saw the tall, elegant woman at Heathrow airport last August, he remembered that he had met her some years before.

Basics of good language learning ….

Past perfect or Past Continuous -Grammar Exercise

See more English grammar lessons >>>>

Ask us your English Grammar questions and doubts >>>>

Here’s a list of Videos that we have produced for you

• Subject or Object questions?
• Passives – an introduction
• English Alphabet by sound groups: B, C, D, E, P, T
• B;V;H;X;I;Y;D;T; often confused letters in English Alphabet
• Practise English vowel sounds – video
• Pronounce and practise English numbers 1 to 10
• Practise 1 – 10 with maths exercises
• Pronunciation difference between 13 and 30, or 17 and 70
• More pronunciation practice of 17 or 70, 15 or 50, 19 or 90 etc

lie in wait

hide, waiting to attack or surprise

• – the thieves were lying in wait for the rich man to open the house door before they attacked him.

wait one’s turn

not act until the right or assigned moment

• – I’m sorry Johnny but you have to wait your turn. I promised Max that he would be the first to play the new computer game.

Waiting list

list of people who want something (tickets, jobs)

• – I’m the first on the waiting list for the new flats when they are finished
• – We’re sorry sir but we don’t have any more i-phones in stock. Do you want us to put you on the waiting list?

Wait up

delay going to bed

• – Even though it was 11 o’clock, my wife let my children wait up for me when I returned from the convention.

waiting room

a room for people waiting (for a train, to see a Dr. etc)

• – The receptionist told me to sit in the waiting room until I was called into the doctor’s consulting room

There are also lessons with idioms using LOVE  as well as many other lessons and exercises with phrasal verbs and English Idioms  One example is Book which is used in a number  of well-known English expressions such as closed book and throw the book at someone  There are more free lessons with other verbs in the Phrasal Verb Index   it includes run and  think. If you want, you can  practise by doing these exercises Check out other English Language and Grammar lessons and exercises here

Expressions:MAN, man of the world, man in the street, man and boy,man of one’s word, as one man

as one man

– with the agreement of everybody

• – After the convincing speech of the President, they voted as one man for the new reform

man and boy

– all one’s life

• – He was born in Cambridge and lived there man and boy until his death.

The man in the street

– idea of the average person who represents the opinion of the majority

• – Many politicians are out of touch with the man in the street

man of one’s word

– person who keeps promises

• – James told me he’d help, I believe him because he is a man of his word

man of the world

– person with experience who knows how people behave

• – Colin is much more a man of the world now than when he was 10 years ago

Languagewell also bring you lessons with idioms using LOVE  and FALL  as well as many other lessons and exercises with phrasal verbs and English Idioms  One vocabulary example is Book which is used in a number  of well-known English expressions such as closed book and throw the book at someone  There are more lessons with other verbs in the Phrasal Verb Index   it includes run and  think. If you want, you can  practise by doing these exercises Check out other English Language and Grammar lessons and exercises here

 < FALL 1 >  < FALL 2 > < FALL 3 > < FALL 4 >

fall-out

– the number of people who give up an activity

• – The fall-out rate in the first year at university is higher than subsequent years.

Fall out

1 to leave proper formation or lines (esp.military)

• – Fall out, men!

2 to quarrel, argue and end good relationship

• – I fell out with my best friend when he insulted my girlfriend. We haven’t spoken for two months

fall through

– fail to be completed

• – The plans to build a new leisure centre fell through because the City hall couldn’t raise the finance

There are also lessons with idioms using LOVE  as well as many other lessons and exercises with phrasal verbs and English Idioms  One vocabulary example is Book which is used in a number  of well-known English expressions such as closed book and throw the book at someone  There are more lessons with other verbs in the Phrasal Verb Index   it includes run and  think. If you want, you can  practise by doing these exercises Check out other English Language and Grammar lessons and exercises here