How English works

Be, do, have

Be: progressive forms; do be

We use am being, are being etc for actions and behaviour, but not feelings.
1. Put in the correct form of be.
1. Is being
2. Am
3. Is being
4. Are being
5. Am
6. Are being
7. Am being
8. Is
Do is used with be to make emphatic imperatives and negative imperatives, but not
usually in other cases.
- The use of be to talk about physical characteristics and conditions (age, height, weight,
size, colour, physical conditions).
1. Complete the sentences
1. 1.80 meters
2. Am … he is
3. Are blue coloured
4. Are … the sky
5. Is longer than all the hair of the boys from class put together

2. The room that I’m in is five meters in height, six meters in length and around six
meters in width.
3. For the instant I’m being pretty well, except the fact that I’m a bit sleepy and I
need something to keep me warm. I’m being ill for a few days and I’m always
hungry.
4. I’m not afraid of being lonely.
I’m afraid of forgetting who I am.
I’m not afraid of not waking up anymore.
Do: emphatic auxiliary
We can use do to make an expression sound stronger
1. I do agree with you
I do apologise for disturbing you
I do feel tired
I do hate cooking
I do like eggs and bacon
I do need a job
Peter did enjoy your party
She does look ill
You do talk a lot
I do wonder if he’s really happy

Contrastive emphasis: we can use do to show a contrast – between false and true,
appearance and reality, or a general statement and an exception.
2. You don’t love me. I do love you
I may not be educated, but I do know something about life.
I’ll be ready in a minute, but I do have to make a phone call
I’m not sure she’ll be there, but if you do see her give her my love.
It’s a small house. Mind you, it does have a nice big kitchen.
My wife does the housework, but I do iron my own trousers.
Although she didn’t say much, she did give me her phone number.
She doesn’t really like sport. She does play a bit a tennis sometimes.
I made her go to the doctor’s, and she did have a broken finger.
There’s nobody at home. They did say eight o’clock, didn’t they?
 3. Scottish people don’t speak Japanese, but they do speak English.
In England it doesn’t snow a lot, but it does rain a lot.
Banks don’t sell beer, but they do lend money.
Cats don’t eat potatoes, but they do eat mice.
Napoleon didn’t fight against China, but he did fight against England.

Do and Make
1. 1. Do
2. make
3. do
4. do
3. make
4. 2. Doing
3. doing
4. making a photocopy
5. make his/the bed
6. made a mistake
7. make a cake
8. making a fire
9. do her hair
10. do 140mph
11.done the washing up
12 to make a phone call

Have: actions
We often use have to talk about actions, especially in an informal style. It has also a
progressive form with do in questions and negatives.
1. s
 1. have a shower
2. have a swim
3. have dinner
4. have a game of cards
5. have a game of tennis
6. have a drink
7. have a rest
8. have tea
9. have a shave

2. s
1. she’s going to have a baby
2. they’re going to have a fight
3. the patient is going to have an operation
4. a nervous breakdown
5. an accident

Have (got): possession etc.

Have can be used to talk about possession, relationships, characteristics and similar ideas.
The short formats I have, have I?, I have not etc. are unusual in an informal style.
Instead, we generally use forms with have got or do … have
1. complete:
1. got
2. have…have
3. got… don’t
4. have
5. have… got
6. didn’t have
2. if you’re…
1. If you’re bald you haven’t got any hair.
2. Penniless you haven’t got any money
3. Childless you haven’t got any children
4. Unemployed you haven’t got a job
5. Toothless you haven’t got any teeth
6. Lonely you haven’t got any friend
7. Starving you haven’t got any food
8. An orphan you haven’t got any parents
 9. Unmarried you haven’t got a wife/husband
Have got – more common in present
Had – commonly used in the past
Do and got are not used together
Progressive forms of have are not possible with this meaning
3. Complete:
1. Have you got… I’ve got… I’ve got… I haven’t got any
2. Have you got
3. Have got… it has got
4. I’ve got
5. Have you got… I’ve got
6. Have I got… you’ve got
7. Has got… he’s got… he’s got
4. The man in the first advertisement has got an athletic build and a Porsche/
The women in the advertisement below has got brown hair, blue eyes and a good
sense of humour.
The lady in the advertisement on the top right has a nice smile and an apartment.
The businessman in the advertisement below has got a nice home, a yacht
5. Complete
1. Homework
2. Car
3. Money
4. Friends
5. Food
6. Enthusiasm
7. Bugs in the room
8. Work to do
9. Time
Have: habitual and repeated actions
Got-forms are not generally used to talk about habits and repeated actions.
1. She has English at two o’clock
She doesn’t have time for games on Tuesday
She has five hours of activity each day
She doesn’t have English on Tuesday
She has English almost every day.
She has Russian twice a week
 She has courses beginning with nine o’clock everyday.
She doesn’t have Maths on Wednesday
She has time for games three times a week
She has history only once a week.
2. I have work on Monday evenings.
I have courses everyday since 8 o’clock.
I have a football match on Wednesday evening.

Have + object + verb form

1. Complete
1. We have our knives sharpened
2. We have our knives sharpened
3. to have the roof repaired
4. have my jacket cleaned…have my raincoat reproofed
5. have the car serviced…have the oil changed
6. had her jewellery valued
7. Have your tennis racket re-strung
8. Have the kitchen redecorated
9. Have some more electric sockets put in

Basic sentence-structures

Questions
In questions, we normally put an auxiliary verb before the subject.
If there is no other auxiliary, we do use do.
1. Was the train very crowded, dear?
2. Form questions:
1. Where is the small village located?
2. Where do the three families live?
3. How many families live in the old farmhouse?
4. Who has a baby daughter?
5. What does George do?
6. What do Joe and Sue do?
7. What does Alice take care of?
8. Where does Joe work?
 9. What does Joe design?
10. What does Pam do?
11. How many of the children go to school in the village?
12. How do the other children go to school?
13. Where is the secondary school?
14. How far away is it?

We do not use do when the subject is a question word like who or what.
3. Questions
1. Who does the cooking?
2. Who does the housework?
3. Who does the repairs?
4. Who takes care of the garden?
5. What is their biggest worry?
6. What needs replacing?
7. What needs repairing?
What… like, what time, what sort etc
1. Questions
1. What’s your flat like?
2. How’s your mother?
3. How’s work going?
4. How’ business?
5. What’s Anne’s boyfriend like?
6. How’s school?
Other common expressions beginning with what: what time, what sort of, what colour,
what size, what make
2. Suitable
1. What size
2. What colour
3. What sort of
4. What make
5. What time
6. What time
7. What sort of
8. What size
9. What make of
 10. Where ever
11. Who ever
12. What ever
Negative structures
To make negative verb forms we put not after an auxiliary verb or be. If there is no other
auxiliary we use do.
1. Correct
1. Marx didn’t discover America
2. Austrians don’t speak Japanese
3. Roses aren’t green
4. Cats don’t fly
5. Shakespeare wasn’t French
6. Fridges don’t run on petrol
7. The sun doesn’t do round the earth
8. Telescopes don’t make things smaller
9. There aren’t seventeen players in a rugby team
10. Bananas don’t grow in Scotland
Negative questions
1. Questions
1. Isn’t she cold?
2. Why isn’t she eating?
3. Isn’t she speaking French?
4. Aren’t the shops closed?
5. Hasn’t the postman come?
6. Isn’t your mother home?
We often use negative question to confirm that something has happened, is true etc. The
meaning is similar to ‘It’s true that…, isn’t it?’
2. Questions
1. Didn’t you go to Paris last week?
2. Don’t you speak German?
3. Doesn’t that in the green dress look like Pamela?
4. Didn’t you study at Cambridge?
5. Isn’t this your coat?
6. Isn’t your father a doctor?
7. Wasn’t Tony going to come with us?
8. Won’t you be in Edinburgh next week?
 9. Aren’t you making a mistake?
10. Wouldn’t it be better to stop now?
Another use – polite invitations
- To check that something has not happened, is not true, etc. The meaning is ‘It is
true that… not…?’
- Surprise that something has not happened, it may sound critical
3. Questions
1. Can’t she swim?
2. Didn’t she pass the exam?
3. Haven’t you paid for your ticket?
4. Didn’t you lock the door?
5. Can’t you understand English? I said ‘no’
6. Don’t you like my cooking?
7. Didn’t you get the letter I sent?
8. Didn’t you enjoy the movie?
9. Aren’t you and John going to get married?
10. Don’t you want any more potatoes?
4. Add yes/no
1. yes
2. No
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. No
8. No
Not and no
We use not to make a word, expression or clause negative.
We use no with a noun or -ing form to mean ‘not any’ or ‘not a/an’
1. Not/no
1. No
2. Not
3. No
4. Not
5. No
6. Not
7. Not
 8. Not
9. No
10. No
Negatives: I don’t think etc
We usually use I don’t think + affirmative verb, not I think +negative verb.
The same is true with believe, suppose, imagine and similar verbs
1. Change
1. I don’t think you’re right
2. I don’t believe I’ve met you’re sister
3. I don’t suppose you know where Ruth is
4. I don’t imagine we’ll arrive before midnight
5. I don’t think they know what they’re doing
6. I don’t think I made myself clear
7. I don’t suppose you remembered to bring my book back
8. I don’t believe I have got enough money
2. Change
1. He doesn’t seem well
2. I don’t expect to be home late
3. I never want to climb another mountain
4. It doesn’t seem to be raining
5. I don’t expect to pass the exam
6. He never wants to get married
With hope we make the following verb negative

Imperatives
To tell people what to do, advise them, encourage them. Infinitive without to.
1. Complete
1. Don’t use
2. Add
3. Mix
4. Oil
5. Put in
6. Shape
7. Bake
2.
 3. Always/never
1. Always
2. Always
3. Never
4. Never
5. Always
6. Always
7. Never
8. Never
9. Always
10. Never
4.
1. Don’t be greedy
2. Do be careful
3. Don’t be angry
4. Do be back by midnight
5. Don’t be frightened
6. Don’t be stupid
7. Do be on time
8. Don’t be rude
9. Don’t be jealous
5. Do try to learn the local language
Do keep your wallet in a safe place
Don’t keep the important things at sight
Do carry with you an umbrella
Let’s
We can use let’s (or let us – very formal) + infinitive without to to make suggestions or
give orders to a group that includes the speaker.
1. Let’s swim
a. Let’s not swim
b. Let’s play tennis
c. Let’s go for a walk
d. Let’s not play cards
e. Let’s play chess
f. Let’s go to Paris
g. Let’s go to see a film
h. Let’s not go dancing
i. Let’s go skiing
 j. Let’s do the washing
k. Let’s go to a restaurant
Exclamations
With how (+adjective) and what (+adjective+ noun)
1. The subject comes after the construction and before the verb.
2. Change
1. What a strange picture
2. How interesting
3. What a nuisance
4. What big eyes you have, grandmother
5. How disgusting
6. How noisy those children are
7. How well he cooks
8. How wrong we were
9. What a lot of nonsense he talks
10. What funny clothes she wears
11. How badly she plays
12. What a fool I was
3. Change
1. Isn’t that a strange picture?
2. Isn’t it interesting?
3. Isn’t that a nuisance?
4. Don’t you have big eyes grandmother?
5. Isn’t it disgusting
6. Aren’t those children noisy?
7. Doesn’t he cook well?
8. Weren’t we wrong?
9. Doesn’t he talk a lot of nonsense?
10. Doesn’t she wear funny clothes?
11. Doesn’t she play badly?
12. Weren’t I a fool?
There is
-to say that something exists (or doesn’t) somewhere
1. There is/isn’t
1. There is
2. There were
3. There was
 4. There will be
5. There is
6. Are there
7. There are
8. There are
9. There was
10. There isn’t

2. There’s/it’s
1. There is
2. It’s
3. It will be
4. There is
5. It’s
6. There’s somebody
7. There’s
8. It’s
9. There’s
10. It’s
3. According to the forecast, there’s likely to be more snow tonight
I can’t see how to open the door. There must be a keyhole somewhere
I’m looking forward to the party. There are sure to be some nice people there
Ok, children, now I don’t want there to be any noise while I’m on the phone.
That must be Jeff. There can’t be two people who look like that.
There are too many people looking for too few jobs in this country.
There aren’t any tickets now, but there may be some tomorrow.
There’s no need to hurry. We’ve got plenty of time.
There’s no point in going out if you’ve got a headache – you won’t enjoy it.
There’s something the matter with the car – it won’t start.
What did the doctor say? He says there’s nothing wrong with me.
Why have we stopped? There seems to be something lying in the road.
Dropping sentence-beginning
In informal speech we often drop unstressed beginnings of sentences (articles,
possessives, personal pronouns, auxiliary verbs and be, demonstratives and introductory
there is)
1. Put back
1. My
2. I
 3. Have you
4. Be
5. There is
6. I
7. The
8. Do you
9. Have you
10. I
2. Make informal
1. Changed my job
2. Doesn’t know what she’s doing
3. Cost you 10 pounds
4. Careful of the flowers
5. No time to waste
6. Bus is coming
7. Speak English?
8. Haven’t been there
9. Thinks he’s clever
10. Got a light?
We only drop pronouns before stressed words (affirmative auxiliaries are unstressed)

Dropping words after auxiliaries

In informal speech – only the auxiliary verb instead of repeating a longer expression
1. Make natural
1. I can tomorrow
2. Sue have too
3. I would
4. It certainly does
5. I had
6. It is
7. I can
8. Celia doesn’t want either
9. But I do
2. What was dropped
1. Think the whole thing is absurd
2. Thought that
 3. Think that
4. Come round
5. Come round
6. Ready to take offence
7. Ready to take offence
8. Want to quarrel
9. Want to say another thing about it
Question tags: basic rules
+…- -…+
1. Question tags
1. Aren’t I
2. Aren’t we
3. Are they
4. Am I
5. Were they
6. Is she
7. Isn’t is
8. Isn’t he
9. Can’t he
10. Mustn’t it
11. Won’t it
12. Don’t they
13. Will they
14. Isn’t there
15. Hasn’t she
16. Does she
17. Haven’t they
18. Wasn’t I
Question tags: advanced points
We use they to refer to nobody, somebody and everybody (and no one etc.)
We use non-negative tags after never, no, nobody, hardly, scarcely, little.
We use it in question tags to refer to nothing.
1. Complete
1. They
2. Are you
3. Is there
 4. Does it
5. They
6. Did she
7. Haven’t they
8. Is there
9. Did you

2. Do have some more tea, won’t you?

Don’t drive too fast, will you?
Let’s start again, shall we?
Pass me the newspaper, could/will/would you?
You couldn’t tell me the time, could you?
Short answers and attention signals
1. Short answers
1. Yes I am
2. Yes I do
3. Yes it is
4. No I won’t
5. Yes I will
6. Yes I have
7. Yes I can
8. Yes he does
9. Yes she did
10. Yes I will
I (don’t) think so etc.
1. Exchanges
1. I think so
2. I’m afraid so
3. I suppose so
4. I think so
5. I hope so
6. I think so
7. I think so
8. I’m afraid so
9. I hope so
10. I suppose so
2. Complete
 1. I’m afraid not
2. I don’t think so
3. I hope not
4. I suppose not
5. I’m afraid not
6. I hope not
7. I suppose not
8. I don’t think so
So am I etc
1. Complete
1. So is his sister
2. Nor have I
3. Nor can penguins
4. So do I
5. So did Nicola
6. Nor do my friends
7. So was the wine
8. Nor will her mother
9. So do you
10. Nor was I
2. The car runs on petrol, so does the motorbike.
The parrot can fly, so does the butterfly.
The baby carriage has wheels, so do the car and the motorbike.
The cat is an animal, so is the dog.
It: preparatory subject and object
When the subject of a sentence is an infinitive or a clause, we generally use it as a
preparatory subject, and put the infinitive or clause later
1. Rewrite
1. It is important to book early
2. It annoys me to hear her talk like that.
3. It takes for hours to get to York from here.
4. It’s silly to get upset…
5. It’s nice to get up in the morning, but it’s nicer to stay in bed
6. It makes me tired to watch him
7. It upsets me to hear her complaining
8. It’s hard to say no to people
2. Combine
 1. It surprised me that he wasn’t there
2. It’s a good thing that she’s got some money saved
3. It doesn’t bother me that he’s got long hair
4. It worried her that john never talked to her
5. It is essential that she should be told immediately
6. It was strange that he didn’t remember my name
7. It’s a pity that he can’t come
8. It is important that the children should get to bed early
9. It is not true that wolves attack people.
10. It shocked me that she stole money
3. Match
It doesn’t interest me what you think
It looks as if we’re going to have trouble with Ann Again
It seems that he forgot to buy the tickets.
It will be a pity if we have to ask her leave.
It’s exciting when a baby starts talking
It’s important that everybody should have a chance to speak.
It’s probable that we’ll be a little late.
It’s surprising hwo many unhappy marriages there are.
4. (5)
He made it difficult to like him
His bad leg made it a problem to walk
I thought it strange that she hadn’t written
He made it clear what he wanted
I find it interesting to hear her stories.
Emphasis with it, what etc.
1. Sa
1. It was the baby who put marmalade
It was the marmalade that the baby put
It was dad’s trousers that the baby put marmalade on
It was this morning that the baby put
2. It was Maria who gave
It was her old bicycle that Maria gave
It was Pat that Maria gave her old bicycle to
It was las week that Maria gave
2. (3)
1. What he wants is a motorbike
2. What I need is a drink.
3. What I like is her sense of humour.
4. What I hate is his jealousy.
5. What keeps me fit is cycling.
6. What makes the job interesting is the traveling.
7. All I want is five minutes’ rest.
8. What I found was something strange.
9. What stopped us was the weather.
10. What I don’t understand is why she stays with him.
Grammar practice for upper intermediate students – Powel

Statements and questions

Basic sentence types
- In English a sentence must have a subject and a verb (the verb may be followed by an
object, a complement and/or an adverbial).
- Intransitive vbs don’t have an object but can be followed by an adverb or a prep. Phrase.
- Some transitive verbs can have two objects
- Verbs like be become, feel get, look, seem and smell are followed by a complement not
an object

36a.
1. Subject complement
2. Adverbial
3. Indirect object
4. Direct object
5. Direct object
6. Adverbial
7. Subject complement
8. Subject complement
36b.
1. Although they disliked one another, they soon started to work together.
2. Page and Brin started the Google business in a friend’s garage in 1998
3. They had been working on a search engine called ‘Backrub’ since 1996
4. When Page and Brin started to work together, they weren’t interested in making
money.
5. They wanted to share their ideas with the world.
6. Millions of people use Google today and the company is worth several billion
dollars.
Question forms
Yes/no questions
Auxiliary + subject + verb + completion + short answers

Wh- questions
Question word + auxiliary + subject + verb + completion

Subject/object questions

Negative questions
- To ask for confirmation/surprise or annoyance
- To ask for information/suggestion/criticize past actions
37a
1. Should he fix the car this morning?
2. Has she looked everywhere for her keys?
3. Does Conrad want to borrow this book?
4. Had they given the money to Vince?
5. Were you watching a play last night?
6. Will she have finished the book by then?
37b
1. What colour is your new carpet?
2. Which subject did you enjoy the most?
3. How often do they play
 4. How many eggs did he buy?
5. Who met Keith at the cinema?
6. Who did Eva meet at the cinema?
7. Whose electric guitar did you borrow?
8. What did Paul leave on the sofa?

Question tags and reply questions

Question tags
-the question tag with imperatives is will you
-the question tag with let’s is shall we?
Reply questions
-to show that we are interested in or surprised by what someone is saying
-we use a positive question after a positive statement and a negative question after a
negative statement
38a
1. Aren’t I
2. Have we
3. Shall we
4. Will you
5. Didn’t she
6. Aren’t they
7. Do you
8. Didn’t it
38b
1. Won’t there
2. Did I
3. Couldn’t you
4. Isn’t he
5. Does she
6. Have they
7. Aren’t there
8. Can you
Avoiding repetition: so, neither, too, etc
-to answer question beginning with ‘shall’ we use ‘yes let’s’ or no let’s not
39a
1. So
2. Not
3. Nor
4. So
5. Do
6. Does
7. Think
8. Either
9. Have
Exclamation and emphatic forms
-strong feelings: that + verb + adj (that’s amazing)
-----adj+noun/pronoun
-----how+adj (+subj+vb)

-----what (+adj)(+a/an)+noun+(subject+vb)

-----so+adj

-----such(+adj)+noun

40a

1. How
2. That
3. Lucky you
4. What
5. Why on earth
6. Didn’t
7. However
8. Do

Check 7

1. Although the meal didn’t look very good, it was quite tasty
2. Why didn’t you call me as soon as you arrived at the hotel?
 3. Have you been waiting here for a long time?
4. Sylvia is leaving next month an so am I
5. Lance left his briefcase on the bus yesterday
6. Haven’t you
7. The letter to her
8. Don’t you
9. Will you
10. Such an
11. What
12. Neither
13. So
14. Such
15. Her
16. Could
17. Will
18. Do
19. Shall
20. Do

Changing sentence structure

Changing word order

-for emphasis

-spoken language: can begin a sentence with an adverbial, an object or a complement

72a

1. Seldom have I heard such an inspiring speech

2. No sooner had I started my lunch that a client arrived to see me
3. Only later did her words seem important
4. Never have I been so confused by a lecture before
5. Not once
6. Under no circumstances should you sign those papers.
7. Little did I know that I would be facing such big changes at work.
8. Rarely do my parents argue about anything
The passive (1)

-in the active sentences: S = the doer

-in the passive sentences: S = the object of the active

-to mention the agent we use ‘by’

-be + participles

73a

1. The windows haven’t been cleaned for weeks

2. He was made redundant a year ago
3. Her health was being affected by the pressure of work
4. The fire was put out before it did much damage
5. If it hadn’t rain so much, the job would have been finished on time.
6. Our car is being repaired
7. He was hit on the head with a heavy instrument
8. I hope I’ll be chosen for the basketball team.

The passive (3)

-with verbs such as: believe, claim, expect, know, repot, say, think, understand – to report
an event, to talk about an opinion held by some people

75a

1. is thought to be living
2. is expected that
3. is said to have left
 4. is tough that
5. is believed to have been
6. that the accident was caused

The causative: have/get something done

-when we don’t do something ourselves

-have smth done ~ get smth done

-all tenses and modal vbs compatible

76

1. that
2. what
3. is
4. it
5. that
6. was
7. that
8. what
9. was

There is/are or it is/they are

-there/it + be = preparatory subject in a sentence

-we can use it + be to avoid long and complex subjects

77a

1. it
2. it
3. there
4. it
5. there
6. there
7. it

Check 14

1. I was made to wait for hours at the hospital

2. Rene was helped to finish the report by a/his colleague
3. I am never allowed to leave work early
4. The police should have been called when the accident happened
5. He is believed to have lied about the scandal
6. No sooner had she left than I realized she had taken my car keys by mistake
7. Never have I felt so confused
8. Gulay is thought to be selling the company
9. What disappointed us was the result of the match
10. The new plane is said to be fuel-efficient
11. The butler is believed to have inherited her money
12. There must be someone at the door
13. What we’ll do is leave them a note so they don’t worry
14. It takes twenty hours for us to fly to New Zealand
15. It was a few minutes ago that I heard the news report
16. Is Franco whom you should
17. They need to be cleaned
18. Is believed to have made
19. Is considered to be
20. Does Renata eat
21. No circumstances are you to
22. That matters to me is
23. Haven’t had my teeth
24. Being
25. Are
26. There
27. Be
28. Was
29. Been
30. Be
31. Not
32. But
33. Are
34. It
35. What
36. Get it finished
37. Were having your hair cut
38. Have just had my wallet stolen
39. Should get a new engine put in
40. Have you had your eyes tested