USES of the present continuous tense
1 For an action happening at the time of speaking. It is raining outside. I’m not wearing a coat as it is not cold. Why are you sitting at my desk? What’s the baby doing? He’s tearing a 5 pound note. 2 For an action happening about this time but not necessarily at the moment […]
List of irregular verbs
364 Irregular verbs The verbs in roman type are verbs which are not very common in modern English but may be found in literature. When a verb has two possible forms and one is less usual than the other, the less usual one wiD be printed in roman. Compounds of irregular verbs form their past […]
Phrasal verbs
362 Introduction In modern English it is very usual to place prepositions or adverbs after certain verbs so as to obtain a variety of meanings: givt away – give to someone/anyone give up – abandon (a habit or attempt) look after – take care of look for « search for, seek look out – beware […]
Spelling rules
For noun plurals, see also 12. For verb forms, see also 165,172, 175. 354 Introduction Vowels are: a e i o u Consonants are: bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz A suffix is a group of letters added to the end of a word: btauty, beautiful (ful is the suffix.) 355 Doubling the consonant A Words of one syllable having […]
Numerals, dates and weights and measures
348 Cardinal numbers (adjectives and pronouns) 1 one 11 eleven 21 twenty-one 31 thirty-one etc. 2 two 12 twelve 22 twenty-two 40 forty 3 three 13 thirteen 23 twenty-three 50 /j/ty 4 /our 14 fourteen 24 twenty-four 60 sixty 5 /it* 15 /i/leen 25 twenty-five 70 seventy 6 six 16 sixteen 26 twenty-six 80 eigfcty […]
Noun clauses
Noun clauses are very often introduced by that and are therefore often called that-clauses. However, not all noun clauses are thai-clauses 343. Noun clauses (that-clauses) as subject of a sentence A Sentences with noun clause subjects usually begin with it (see 67 D): It is disappointing that Tom can’t come, ’that Tom can’t come’ is […]
Clauses of reason, result, concession, comparison, time
34 Reason, result, concern, compuuon, tu* 338 Clauses of reason and result/cause Except for the type shown in A2 and A3 below, both these clauses can be introduced by as or because. But as is safer for clauses of reason (see A below) and because is safer for clauses of result/cause (see B). A Clauses […]
Purpose
334 Purpose is normally expressed by the infinitive ri^^^^^B Purpose can be expressed by: ’P’^^W A The infinitive alone: He went to France to learn French. They stopped to a&k the way. When there is a personal object of the main verb, the infinitive may refer to this and not to the subject: He sent […]
Conjunctions
326 Co-ordinating conjunctions: and, but, both . . . and, or, either … or, neither . . . nor, not only . . . but also These join pairs of nouns/adjectives/adverbs/verbs/phrases/clauses: He plays squash and rugby. I make the payments and keep the accounts. He works quickly and/but accurately. He is, small but strong. She […]
Indirect speech
307 Direct and indirect (or reported) speech There are two ways of relating what a person has said: direct and indirect. In direct speech we repeat the original speaker’s exact words: He said, ’I have lost my umbrella.’ Remarks thus repeated are placed between inverted commas, and a comma or colon is placed immediately before […]