Grammar

Present Simple Tense

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  • I speak English.

“I” is a subject. In general, a person.

“Speak” is a verb. In general, an action.

You can change the subject. For example:

  • You speak English.

BUT, sometimes the verb changes. We say:

  • I speak …
  • You speak …
  • We speak …
  • They speak …

BUT, For He / She / It we use SPEAKS with an S at the end.
The S is necessary at the end of a verb when the subject is HE, SHE, or IT.

  • He speaks…
  • She speaks…
  • It speaks…

Look at these examples:

  • I speak Spanish.
  • You speak Portuguese.

But…

  • He speaks Italian.

Sometimes the verb changes a little for HE, SHE and IT (third person).
Look at this verb: HAVE
We say:

  • I have a good idea.
  • You have black hair.

BUT, for He / She / It we use HAS.
We do NOT say Haves… because the verb is irregular.
Look at these examples:

  • She has a dictionary.
  • John has blue eyes.

Negative Sentences – Present Simple Tense

Look at this sentence:

  • They speak English.

This is an affirmative sentence.
How can I make this a NEGATIVE sentence?

In English, we use don’t and doesn’t to make a negative sentence in present simple tense.*

  • They speak English. … becomes …
  • They don’t speak English.

* Exceptions: Negative sentences that use To Be or Modal Verbs (can, might, must, etc.)

When the subject is I, YOU, WE or THEY … we use don’t before the verb.
When the subject is HE, SHE or IT … we use doesn’t before the verb.
DON’T is a contraction of DO NOT.
DOESN’T is a contraction of DOES NOT.

After don’t and doesn’t we have a VERB.
This verb is the base form of the infinitive.
The infinitive is the original form of the verb before it is conjugated or changed.
The infinitive is to go, to need, to speak, to live.
But we want the BASE form of the infinitive… this is without the TO at the beginning.

  • Instead of TO GO, only GO.
  • instead of TO NEED, only NEED.
  • Instead of TO SPEAK, only SPEAK.
  • Instead of TO LIVE, only LIVE.

Let’s look at the example of the verb SPEAK. We say:

  • I don’t speak …
  • You don’t speak …
  • We don’t speak …
  • They don’t speak …

BUT, look at this affirmative sentence:

  • He speaks Spanish.

What is the negative form of this sentence?

  • He doesn’t speak Spanish.

Questions – Present Simple Tense

Look at this sentence.

  • You speak English.

This is an affirmative sentence. What is the question?

  • DO you speak English?

In English, we use DO and DOES to make questions in present simple tense.*

* Exceptions: Questions that have To Be or Modal Verbs (can, might, must, etc.)

  • You speak English. (Affirmative sentence)
  • Do you speak English? (Question)

The word DO at the beginning tells us it is a question.

Do is used for questions with I, you, we, and they.
Does is used for questions with he, she, and it.

Also the same rules apply to the verb in questions.
We use the base form of the infinitive.
For example, the affirmative sentence:

  • He speaks German.

There is an S at the end of speaks because the subject is HE and it is an affirmative sentence.
What is the question?

  • Does he speak German?

Exercises – Present Simple Tense

My daughter and “I” or “me”?

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It depends.

  • MY DAUGHTER AND I had a great time together.
  • THEY PREPARED A NICE DINNER FOR MY DAUGHTER AND ME.

A SUBJECT PRONOUN is the PERFORMER of the action in a sentence.

The OBJECT PRONOUN is the RECEIVER of the action in a sentence.

“I” is a Subject Pronoun, and “ME” is an Object Pronoun. 

  • I like chocolate.
  • The call is for me.

ONE SUBJECT OR OBJECT:

  • I called Steve.
  • I talked to Mary.
  • Steve called me.
  • Mary talked to me.
  • These shoes are too big for me.

CLUE 1  AFTER A PREPOSITION, use an OBJECT PRONOUN

We get confused when we use a PRONOUN IN A PAIR, which it’s called:

MULTIPLE OR COMPOUND SUBJECTS AND OBJECTS:

  • Sarah and I are friends.
  • The gift is from Sarah and me.

CLUE 1 after a preposition, use an object pronoun

CLUE 2 REMOVE the OTHER PERSON

  • The gift is from me.

IMPORTANT: IT IS CONSIDERED POLITE TO MENTION ONESELF LAST IN DOUBLE SUBJECTS OR OBJECTS

  • Bob and I had lunch.
  • They promoted Bob and me.

NOTICE that it is possible that the object comes in the beginning of the sentence.

It is me who proofread the content before it was submitted.

CLUE 3 very often, AFTER THE VERB TO BE WE USE THE OBJECT PRONOUN

  • It is you and me in this old photo.
  • I am me, and you are you.
  • That person over there is me in the photo.

LISTENING AND PRACTICE 1

PRACTICE 2  https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-27939.php

PRACTICE 3  https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/i_vs_me.asp

DIVIDED USAGE Some forms have always existed in the language, but have been eradicated by eighteenth and nineteenth century British grammarians, often because they thought that English grammar should imitate Latin, which was considered a superior language. Examples:

  • John and me went to the cinema.
  • between you and I

People are now more tolerant of such forms, so they are becoming more common.

They are, however, restricted to a very informal style. They are not correct in formal speech or writing.

‘Home’, ‘at home’ and ‘from home’

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A student said: “I’ve just arrived at home.”

Home or at home?

His sentence isn’t fine. It should be:

“I’VE JUST ARRIVED HOME.”

Home in this example is behaving like an adverb expressing direction. We do not need a preposition with home when it is used with any verb referring to direction:

  • I will ARRIVE / GO / COME / LEAVE home late this evening.

Note that most verbs expressing direction require the preposition to before the noun:

  • I ran to the theatre so that I wouldn’t be late.
  • I’m going to walk to work from now on. It’s healthier.

Now, once you arrive home, then you are at home, and no more direction is suggested, so at is then the appropriate preposition to use with home:

  • Will you be at home tonight, or are you going out? ~ No, I’ll be at home.

However, even here, at is often omitted, especially in American English.

So AT HOME / FROM HOME / GO HOME / LEAVE HOME are common fixed expressions with prepositions where no article is required:

  • Working from home continues to be a popular choice among employees, even after the pandemic.

PRACTICE 1 – LISTENING: Listen to vocabulary related to working from home, from announcements to buying and setting up computers to work from home.

PRACTICE 2 – SPEAKING: answer the questions

  1. Three years later, what’s the future of remote work?
  2. What kind of work environment do you think employees expect in 2023?
  3. Do you think remote workers are more productive than the ones working in an office?

Studies show promising results for hybrid work, especially for those who enjoy face-to-face interactions and the excitement of office environments.

What’s the difference between near and close?

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When you are talking about PHYSICAL DISTANCES, you can use either word:

  • The hospital is near.
  • The hospital is close.

Both these sentences are correct and mean the same thing, a SHORT DISTANCE.

NEAR and CLOSE have also this same meaning when referring to TIME:

  • Summer is near.
  • Summer is close.

When close has this meaning, it is pronounced /kləʊs/.

And notice that close is often followed by the preposition to:

  • The hospital is close to the park.
  • The hospital is near the park.

Be Careful! Don’t confuse the adjective close with the verb close /kləʊz/. If you close something, you move it so that it fills a hole or gap.

Close near

Now, when you are talking about something that deals with ABSTRACT IDEAS OR QUALITIES, like RELATIONSHIPS, you use CLOSE instead of near:

  • My friend and I live in different countries, but we are very close.

Here, I am saying that my friend and I are not in the same physical area, but we are emotionally connected. We are good friends.

However, if I say, “My neighbor and I live in the same apartment building, but we are not close,” I mean we occupy the same physical area, but we are not emotionally connected. My dog tried to bite his dog once, and he has never spoken to me again!

You can refer to someone you know well as a close friend.

  • Mike and I are very close friends.
  • His father was a close friend of my father.

You can refer to someone who is directly related to you as a `close relative.

  • She had no very close relatives.

You can also refer to someone as a `near relative, but this is less common. 

You can say:

  • They’re a close family.
  • My dad was closer to his brother than to his sister.

Close is also used in the following collocations:

  • a close encounter
    The mountaineer Joe Simpson has had several close encounters with death.
  • a close race
    After a close race, Obama won the election.
  • a close finish
    It was a close finish – only a tenth of a second separated the two runners.

Near close

  • a near miss
    The asteroid passed 27,700 km from the surface of Earth – a near miss.
  • in the near future
    The volcano could erupt in the near future, according to scientists.
  • in the near distance
    We could see someone in the near distance.

https://grammar.collinsdictionary.com/english-usage/what-is-the-difference-between-near-and-close

Near vs. Nearby

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Near and nearby both mean close. They are just used differently in the sentence.

Here are some guidelines:

Use NEAR as a preposition that states the proximity of something to something else – where something or someone is in relation to another thing or person.

It is what a PREPOSITION does. A preposition is a word that shows the relation of one word in a sentence to another word.

  • There is a beach near my house.  (this means that there is a beach close to my house)
  • He worked in a restaurant near the station. Not: He worked in a restaurant nearby the station.

NEARBY can never be properly used as a preposition, although you may hear someone say it occasionally:

  • The book is nearby the table. (it is not considered correct)
  • The book is near the table. (near means close to the table)

Use NEARBY before a noun, as an ADJECTIVE, meaning ‘not far away’:

  • We can meet at a nearby beach.
  • Luckily, the nearby buildings weren’t damaged by the fire.

Or use NEARBY, meaning ‘not far away’, near whatever is being mentioned, as an ADVERB, to say that something is close wherever what or who is being mentioned is:

  • The beach is nearby.
  • Does Paul live nearby? 

Remember that an ADVERB is a word that tells us more about a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It describes or modifies these words.

So, note that NEARBY can appear either before or after a noun that it describes, but NEAR can normally appear only before the noun, and even then, only when referring to time:

  • We slept at a nearby motel. (nearby + noun)
  • We slept at a motel nearby. (noun + nearby)
  • I hope to visit you in the near future. (near + noun, and near=close in time)

So, NEAR can mean close in time (=soon), as well as close in distance, but nearby cannot, as shown below:

  • Summer is near. [near=close in time]
  • May is nearby.  [nearby cannot mean close in time]

According to Practical English Usage by Michael Swan, near to is also possible with the same meaning as near, but it is less common.

  • There is a beach near (to) my house.
  • I came near (to) hitting him. (prep + verb + ing)