Unit 1

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There are two ways to

combine verbs:
1 verb + to + infinitive
(want to, need to).
2 verb + -ing (enjoy, mind).
Some can combine using
both (love, like, start).
Try to notice these
combinations and use them.

Be careful with sight and

hearing verbs.
Im not listening to you means
I dont want to hear what you
are saying (or Im ignoring you).
But I cant hear you means its
physically impossible.
Sight verbs are more difficult!
See refers to ability and is
unintentional, look (at) is
intentional and watch is intensive.
Look at the Common Mistakes.

Going to and will are the most common future

forms and are both used to talk about future
plans and predictions.
However, we use will to talk about unplanned
decisions, since Im going to help you sounds
like a plan, not an instant decision, and it
doesnt make clear when = Im going to help
youbut not right now!

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To talk about health problems, you can
say: I have a headache or My head hurts.

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Many students find spoken English difficult. Two reasons for this are:
1silent letters: e.g., the O and L in: should /shud/, could /kud/, would /wud/.
The T in: shouldnt /shudn/, couldnt /kudn/, wouldnt /wudn/.
2linking: many words seem to join together. For example, words ending with a consonant
sound link to words beginning with a vowel sound: not at all, I get up at eight.

Unit 2
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Verbs expressing states (like, hate, know, understand,

etc.) dont appear in continuous forms. A few verbs can be
both states or actions and can be used in both simple and
continuous forms. E.g., be, think, have, see and taste:
She was ridiculous. (= a characteristic, state)
Ana was being ridiculous. (= on a specific occasion)
We thought it was a great party. (= an opinion)
I was thinking about the party. (= actively considering)

You can often express words you

dont know with:
examples: Its a type of (food).
paraphrase: Its like X, but
(smaller).
its opposite: Not (tired).
its use: Its an expression you use
when
miming, making sounds and
drawing.

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The spelling ou is pronounced in many ways, but is always a single sound.
The most common is /au/ as in mouse, cloud, around.
But be careful! There are other pronunciations: country, double, young /^/

and could, would, should / /.

Try to notice the different pronunciations and remember them in groups,
e.g. sentences with the same sound.
I went out of the house for an hour.

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To light a fire is intentional. To catch
fire is accidental. When something
is burning, it is on fire. And, in an
emergency, you shout Fire!

Unit 3
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Be careful with been and gone.

Hes been to L.A.
= He isnt here, hes there.
Hes gone to L.A.
= He was there, but isnt now.

There are very few grammatical

differences between U.S. and UK
English. Heres one of them.
Americans often use the Past Simple
in cases where the Present Perfect is
required in the UK.
For example, in the U.S. its more
common to use the Past Simple with
words like: already, just and recently.
However, even in American English, yet is
more common with the Present Perfect.

Dont panic when you see two forms of have

in the same sentence. One is the auxiliary and
the other is the main verb. Look:
Ive had a headache for two days.
How long have you had your car?
Mom has had the same cell phone for years.

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Over 30 percent of all English words are Latin in origin. So if youre
a native speaker of Spanish, Portuguese, French, etc., you can
understand a lot, even if your English is still limited. The article youve
just read, for example, contains approximately 50 Latin-based words.

Unit 4

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Some languages only have one verb for both make

and do, so the difference can be confusing.
Sadly, there are no rules for when to use one or the
other. So, do the next exercise carefully and make a
big effort to remember the make / do phrases.

You can express approximately in lots of different ways. Look:

about: A Porsche Boxster costs about $400,000.
around: There are around 385 million people in South America.
like (informal): I was like 22 when I bought my first car.
or something: I learned French when I was 14 or something.

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 se verb + -ing after prepositions and certain
U
verbs (enjoy, consider, keep, mind, finish).
My grandma enjoys spending hours on
Facebook.
Thank you for flying with American Airlines.
Im good at playing soccer.

Unit 5
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World of English

The suffix -ology means the study of e.g., technology, theology,

ecology. Stress the first o. The g is pronounced // as in jeans.
Another common suffix is -ics, as in ethics, aerobics, electronics,
statistics. Stress the penultimate syllable (except in politics).

Many students overuse must for obligation.

It isnt used much in American English.
The easiest thing to remember is to
use have to for obligation and cant for
prohibition. Have to / Has to is pronounced
/hft/ (v = /f/) and /hzt/ (s = /z/).
And (Ive) got to is /av/ /gt/.

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Verb and preposition combinations are very

common and their meaning is usually clear:
go to school, sit down, look at the book.
But sometimes their combined meaning is
very different from their literal meaning.
For example, look up a word:

If is in the Top 50 words because its used to express conditions.

Zero = If you dont have photo ID, you cant fly.
First = If we leave now, well arrive on time.
Zero conditionals are generalizations. The speaker thinks its a fact.
First conditionals refer to a specific future event that is probable or
certain.

dictionary

These are called phrasal verbs. Try to

learn them as you come across them.

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Expressions for warnings include:
Be careful!
Look out!
Watch out!
Dont move!
Youd better (not) do that!
Whatever you do, dont (forget to)...

Unit 6
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Verbs like 1-7 in A can be used with or without go:

to climb, or to go climbing; to camp, or to go
camping.
Go + -ing is more common to talk about your
routine, what you did in the past and your future
plans. I always go shopping on Friday; I went
camping last year; Im going swimming tomorrow.
Dont use go + -ing to talk about what youre doing
right now. What are you doing now? Im shopping.
NOT Im going shopping.

After a verb, a prepositional phrase (preposition + noun)

expresses the relationship between the verb and the object.
I walked to school. (preposition + noun)
An adverb adds information about the verb.
I walked away. (adverb, theres no noun)
Whether theyre adverbs or prepositions, whats important
is to learn their meaning. Try to imagine or mime phrases
like walk / run up or down the stairs.

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Compound words are combinations: two words

combine to make a new one, e.g. hair + brush =
hairbrush, boyfriend, mailbox. Usually the
second word says what it is and the first word
describes it.
Theres no strict pronunciation rule, but the
main stress is usually on the part that describes
the word, e.g. hairbrush, ex-boyfriend, mailbox.

Phrasal verbs can be separable and

inseparable.
Separable: She looked the word up.
/ She looked up the word.
Inseparable: Im looking for my keys.
When you arent sure, dont use
a pronoun. Use a noun or noun
phrase and dont separate. Good
dictionaries tell you when phrasal
verbs are separable.

Id like to means I want to, but

its more polite. Its difficult to
hear the d, but context usually
helps.
Use would + like to / rather for
desires or preferences.
Id like to dance. (desire)
Id rather go now. (preference)
I like to dance. (generally)

Unit 7
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Watching movies and TV with subtitles

is a great way to learn.
1 Turn on the English subtitles to
help you make sound / spelling
connections. E.g., you hear
shoulda, you read should have.
2 Turn off the subtitles to improve
your listening skills.

People dont always mean what they say. When the man
said: So, let me guess, Oh, scary! and Yeah, right!,
he was making fun of the womans tastes. His tone in
sentences like Isnt that nice? also shows sarcasm.

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Most verbs are regular (verb + -ed). There are about 150
common irregular verbs. Around 80 have the same forms for
the Past Simple and Past Participle. Only about 70 irregular
verbs have three different forms.

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Remember, possession is shown with s or s
Britneys hair. The fans obsessions.
Without the s, the name becomes an adjective.
Im not a Coldplay fan.
Dr. House posters.
A Rihanna-style haircut.

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To improve your fluency in a
monologue, you can:
1 Pause between ideas, or use
phrases like yeah or you know.
2 Repeat words and phrases from
time to time.
3 Use words like anyway to help
you change subject.

Unit 8
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Household equipment such as

fridges, washing machines and
toasters are appliances.
A device is more technologically
advanced: iPads, cell phones
and GPSs.

To express yourself more naturally and

understand native speakers better, you need
to know the most common phrasal verbs.
Try to learn and practice them like any other
vocabulary: in context, little by little, with
lots of personally relevant examples.

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Most Latin-based words have similar meanings in many

European languages. However, there are a few exceptions
(often referred to as false cognates or false friends).

Ads often omit auxiliary verbs, articles, prepositions

and the beginning of questions. For example:
Fees [are] negotiable.
[An] Experienced cook [is] urgently needed.
[Have you] Been working too hard?

Unit 9
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Be + adjective is a state; get + adjective means become and is

very common. For example, get tired (of ), get annoyed (with). To talk
about relationships, use get for the different stages: get together,
get engaged, get (re)married, get pregnantand get divorced!

Most English adverbs are

easy to recognize and form.
Look!
briefly, frequently, rarely
especially, finally, usually
happily

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Using the wrong -ing or -ed adjective can confuse people: Hes boring
is very different from Hes bored!
-ed adjectives describe how you feel about somethingyour state:
Im tired.
-ing adjectives describe the cause of how you feel: Swimming is tiring.

Choosing the right conditional for

the present or future depends on
probability. If its...
a fact, use zero conditional (p. 54);
probable, use 1st conditional (p. 54);
improbable (or impossible), use
2nd conditional: If I had three
wishes, Id wish for health, money
and love.

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In many languages the
subjunctive is very difficult.
In English its almost invisible
because it doesnt have
special verb forms! You
only notice it in expressions
like If I were you, Id but
increasingly people now say
If I was you, Id

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Modal verbs express different degrees of certainty. For example, if you feel:
very sure, use must: She must be tiredshe just ran a marathon.
unsure, use could, may or might: She might be tiredshe was working all day.
something is definitely not true, use cant: She cant be tiredshe slept all day.
To ask for a deduction, must and cant are rarely used. Ask: Do you think?

Unit 10
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You can form new adjectives by adding under

(not enough) or over (too much) to a Past
Participle.
Im underpaid = I dont earn enough money;
Im overworked = I have too much work.
They can also be used to form verbs
to oversleep, to overeat, to underachieve.
Another way to say you dont have enough of
something is (a) lack of (respect, interest, ideas).

You can omit the relative pronoun when

it refers to the object of the relative
clause.
Shes the lady (who) I met yesterday.
But you cant omit it when its the
subject of the clause.
Thats the guy who sold me my car.
So, if youre not sure, use a relative
pronoun!

Listening is difficult in
any language. We only
remember between 25-50%
of what we hear, and when
its a foreign language,
understanding 10% is a
success. So when youre
listening, try to concentrate
on general meaning, not
specific words.

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Here are a few tips to help you to read in English.

1 Try to read things youre interested in and you know something
about already. If you dont enjoy reading, you wont do it.
2 Read something in your language and then try to read it in English.
3 Make sure longer texts arent too difficult. If you dont
understand more than about eight words per paragraph, choose
another text before you get frustrated.
4 Use English subtitles when you watch movies in English. This
helps your listening, pronunciation and spelling too.

To avoid repetition, use one and ones.

Which one is your sister?
Shes the one wearing red.
Which ones are your glasses?
Those ones, over there.