STAGE 3&4

We use AN before a word beginning with a vowel, and A before a word beginning with a consonant. an ash-tray a book

The pronunciation of the word THE changes before a word beginning with a vowel.

the pen the apple

We us ANY in interrogative and negative sentences, and SOME in positive sentences.

We use the PERSENT PROGRESSIVE for an action we are doing now, whilst the PRESENT SIMPLE for an action we do generally.

The PREPOSITION generally comes in an English sentence with an interrogative pronoun. Who are you speaking to?

We use INTO for a thing that moves from one place to another, and IN for a thing that remains in one place. I'm putting my hand into my pocket. My hand is in my pocket.

We use MANY and FEW for things we can count, whilst MUCH and LITTLE for things we can't count. many, few books much, little water

We form the PAST Tense of REGULAR VERBS by putting the letters “-ed” at the end.

We say OVER when there is no contact between two objects, or when one object covers the other completely, whilst we use ON when there is contact, or when one object doesn't cover the other completely. My right hand is over the pen.

My left hand is on the table.

A POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE we put in front of a noun, whilst

a POSSESSIVE PRONOUN we put after it, or use without a noun.

This is my book. This book is mine.

There are three ways of asking a question the verb to HAVE:

in the Past

Have you a pen? Had you a pen last lesson? Have you got a pen? Had you got a pen last lesson? Do you have a pen? Did you have a pen last lesson?

To form a NOUN from a verb we sometimes add the letters “-er” to the verb.

beginner worker driver

We use the PAST SIMPLE when the action is finished and the time is finished, whilst we use the PESENT PERFECT when the action is finished but the time is not finished. I spoke English yesterday. I have spoken English today.

The four kinds of verbs PARADIMES are:

1) Those that have all three parts different. see - saw - seen give - gave - given

2) Those that have two parts different. say - said - said buy - bought - bought

3) Those that have all their parts the same. cut - cut - cut put - put - put

4) The regular verbs that add the letters “-ed” to form their Past and Past Participles. live - lived - lived want - wanted - wanted

We can use the PRESENT PERFECT in three kinds of sentences:

1. Where the action is finished but the time is not finished. I have seen him today.

2. Where the time is indefinite (with ever, never). I have never seen him.

3. When we don't say the time. I have seen him.

●
Mr. Brown HAS BEEN to Scotland

means that Mr. Brown has been to Scotland and returned, and is perhaps here now.

● Mr. Brown HAS GONE to Scotland

means that he is not here, he has gone.

For the FUTURE INTENTION we use the words “going to”. We use it when we have the intention of doing sth in the future; usually in the near future.

	Past	Perfect	Future
MUST (have to)	had to	have had to	will have to
CAN (to be able)	could was able	have been able	will be able

The construction that follows a word like SUCCEED is the word IN and a gerund. succeed in doing sth

name	COSTRUCTION	express
OPEN CONDITIONAL	if + present + future If I go to London, I will see the Thames.	probability
Present SUBJUNCTIVE Conditional	if + past(subjunctive) + conditional If I went to London, I would see the Thames.	(present) supposition
PAST SUBJUNCTIVE CONDITIONAL	if + past perfect + past conditional If I had seen Mr. Brown yesterday, I would have given him your letter.	past supposition

STAGE 5

STILL we use for sth that is in progress at the moment; whilst we use YET for sth that hasn't begun or happened.

It is still winter, it isn't spring yet.

We use the PRESENT PROGRESSIVE for a continuous action that we are doing now. We use the PAST PROGRESSIVE for a continuous action that we were doing in the past.

The three uses of the PAST PROGRESSIVE are :

1) When there are two actions in the past, both in progress at the same time.

I was watching TV yesterday, whilst my brother was reading a newspaper.

2) For two actions in the past where the second action happens whilst first one is in progress.

I was watching TV yesterday, when my brother entered the room.

3) When it isn't followed by another verb.

We were speaking English during the last lesson.

We form the PASSIVE VOICE by using the verb “to be” and a Past Participle.

The teacher speaks to the pupil. ← act.

The teacher is the subject and does the action.

The teacher is spoken to by the pupil. ← pass.

The teacher is still the subject, but this time he receives the action, which puts the verb into the Passive Voice.

The seven different uses of the FUTURE TENSE are:

1) Pure future. Tomorrow will be Tuesday.

2) Promise. If you are a good boy, I will give you sth.

3) Determination. My mother says I mustn't go to the cinema this evening,

but I WILL go.

4) Polite request. Will you open the window, please?

5) Willingness. Will you open the window, please? Yes, I will.

6) Offer of service. Shall I open the window for you?

7) Suggestion. Shall we go for a walk this afternoon?

The REFLEXIVE PRONOUN are:

John washed the car.

subject object

The action is done by the subject and goes from the subject through the verb to the object.

John washed himself.

subject object

The doer of the action is also the receiver of the action.

To form a NOUN from an adjective, we sometimes add the letters “-ness” to the adjective. illness, tiredness, darkness

After LET we don't use “to” with the following verb.

Let children do sth

We use the PAST PERFECT TENSE when there are two actions that are both in the past, but one action is before the other.

I had studied English before I went to England.

Past Perfect Past Simple

We use the FUTURE PROGRESSIVE TENSE for a continuous action in the future. I shall be working all day tomorrow.

We generally use TO when we are moving in the direction of sth, or somewhere,

and AT when we are there.

I'm going to the table. I'm at the table.

I'm going TO London

means that I have the intention of arriving in London; whereas

I'm going TOWARDS London

means I have the intention of going somewhere between here and London,

but not necessarily to London.

A COMPOSITE WORD is a word composed of the two words connected

with a hyphen. sitting-room, ash-tray, walking-stick

One very common way of forming ADVERBS is by adding the letters “-ly” to the adjective. quickly, uselessly, carefully

We form the POSSESIVE CASE of nouns by adding an apostrophe and a letter “s”.

girl's coat, women's clothes, children's toy

When a plural noun already ends in “ s “, we form its possessive case just by adding the apostrophe, but not the “ s “.

girls' coats, workers' clothes, ladies' dresses

STAGE 6

After the verb SUPPOSE, we use the Subjunctive Conditional Tense because the sentence expresses a supposition.

Supposing today were Sunday, where'd you be?

The word ALSO usually goes between the subject and the verb , whilst the words

AS WELL and TOO usually go at the end of a sentence.

The word WHO is the subject of the verb, whilst for the object of a verb,

we use the word WHOM. Whom is very little used in conversation.

Instead of saying To whom are you speaking ?,

we nearly always say Who are you speaking to?

After a PREPOSITION in English we use the gerund and not the infinitive.

before going, on speaking, after eating

A GERUND is a Verbal Noun and ends in -ing.

When we wish to be EMPHATIC about sth, we can use DO in the positive and say

I do speak English.

We usually use it when we someone denies sth we say and which we know to be true. Another use of the emphatic “do” is in an exclamation.

She does write beautifully! I did read this book!

We use the FUTURE PERFECT TENSE for an action that will be finished BEFORE or AT a certain time in the future.

All shops will have shut by nine o'clock this evening.

At two o'clock tomorrow, I shall have finished my lunch.

We form the kind of EXCLAMATION by using the word “HERE” plus the Present Simple of the verb “to BE”.

Here I am!, Here he is!

When the subject is not “I, you, he,…”, we put it after a verb and not before it.

Here he is! - Here is John!

Here they are! - Here are the boys!

When we ask a question with the auxiliary verb, we can use a SHORT ANSWER without repeating the main verb. Auxiliary verbs are: to do, to be, to have, will, would, can, must, …

Have you got a pen? No, I haven't.

Do you walk to school? Yes, I do.

There are two ways in which we can repeat what someone has said. We can either give the exact words of the speaker and say

Mr. Brown said “The room is large”.

This is called DIRECT SPEECH.

Or, we can report what Mr. Brown said like this:

Mr. Brown said (that) the room was large.

This is called INDIRECT SPEECH or REPORTED SPEECH.

When we change DIRECT SPEECH into INDIRECT SPEECH we must

change the verbs from the PRESENT Tense into the PAST Tense.

The Present Perfect is also put into the Past Perfect.

“He is speaking” → I said he was speaking

“I have taken” → She said I had taken

Verbs that are already in the PAST Tense sometimes remain unchanged or we change into tenses that put them even further into the past.

“She had a book” → You said she had a book

→ You said she had had a book

Notice that inverted commas are not used for Indirect Speech, and when we use it, we need not use the word “THAT” if we don't wish to.

She said the book was heavy.

The past of “shall” is “should”, whilst the past of “will” is “would”. This use of “should” and “would” is called the FUTURE IN THE PAST, and is use for sth said in the past which refers to a future action.

“John will go to London next week” [direct]

I said John would go to London next week. [indirect]

We can sometimes form VERBS from certain adjectives or nouns by adding the letters “-en”.

short - shorten length - lengthen strength - strengthen

We form these verbs only from adjectives or nouns of one syllable, and not always then. to make smaller

Go! is the second person singular and plural of the IMPERATIVE meaning

“you go!” For all the other persons, we add the word “LET”

The negative of the imperative we form by using “DO NOT”.

don't go don't let him go

We form the PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE Tenses by using the verb “to HAVE” with the word “BEEN” and Present Participle of the main verb. Another name of these tenses is the DURATION FORM.

I have been studying for two hours until now.

We use the ordinary PROGRESSIVE Tenses when we only wish to express

a continuous action; whilst we use the PERFECT PROGRESSIVE Tenses for

an action that began in the past and is still in progress, and when we wish to say how long the action has been in progress.

I was working when he came.

● I had been working for two hours when he came.

● I have been working for two hours - and I am still working.

● I shall have been working for two hours when he comes tomorrow.

A TAIL QUESTION is formed by repeating the auxiliary verb in the main part of the sentence. If the main part of the sentence is positive, the TAIL QUESTION must be negative and inversely.

He's a young man, isn't he?

You haven't got a very nice kitchen, have you?

They come every Sunday, don't they?

When a Tail Question is in the negative, we expect a positive answer, etc.

You drank coffee, didn't you? Yes, I did.

She doesn't eat a lot , does she? No, she doesn't.

When an ADJECTIVE ENDS in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, the consonant is doubled when we form the comparative and superlative.

big - bigger than - the biggest

thin - thinner than - the thinnest

when an adjective ends in a consonant plus “Y”, the “Y” is changed it “I”.

happy - happier than - the happiest

lucky - luckier than - the luckiest

STAGE 7

The ED is only pronounced “id” after a T or a D.

depended, divided, included, consisted

After all other letters, it is pronounced “t”.

commenced, brushed, typed, reached, touched

We use the word USED TO for a repeated action in the past, and it generally means that the action is now finished.

I used to go to the cinema every Saturday afternoon (but I don't now).

There's no difference between the words ON and UPON except that the word UPON is older than ON.

The word ALL is followed by the Definite Article, whilst the word WHOLE is preceded by it.

all the chicken, the whole chicken

I bought my suit from SIMPSON's.

It is not necessary to use the word “shop” in such sentences: it is enough just to put an apostrophe and an “s” after the name of the shop.

There are twelve verbs in the English language which we call SPECIAL VERBS.

BE HAVE OUGHT CAN MAY SHALL DARE MUST USED TO DO NEED WILL

They are different in NINE ways from other verbs. Three of the ways are as follows:

1) They form their interrogatives by putting the verb before the subject.

DARE you hit that big man?

2) They form their negatives just by adding NOT.

He OUGHT not to smoke so much.

3) They are the only verbs that can be used in TAIL QUESTIONS.

He won't come, will he?

A SENTENCE is a group of words that makes complete sense by itself.

I am going to Scotland tomorrow.

A FINITE VERB is a verb that is limited by person, number, tense or mood.

(as opposed to the infinitive, gerund, participle)

A SIMPLE SENTENCE contains only one finite verb.

I always go home at eight.

He does not understand her.

A COMPOUND SENTENCE consists of two or more sentences joined together

by a conjunction such as the words AND or BUT.

[Open your book, please] but [don't read until I tell you to].

Some sentences contain the construction VERB + OBJECT + ADJECTIVE.

Work makes us tired.

Milk will make you strong.

The wind keeps me cool.

We use TO INFINITIVE “to go, to come”

1) After an adjective. She was glad to see him.

2) After a past participle.

He will be very interested to know what you have told me.

3)After a noun.

There are no goods films to go and see this evening.

4) After a pronoun.

We have had nothing to eat all day.

A CLAUSE is a group of words which doesn't make complete sense by itself.

when I am very tired

which I told you about

that he could not swim

In order for a clause to make a sense, we must put another clause together with it.

John said ║ that he could not do it.

That is the car ║ which I like.

I sleep deeply ║ when I am very tired.

PRINCIPAL CLAUSE SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

A Subordinate Clause is joined to the Principal Clause by a conjunction or relative pronoun. [which, that, when, where, etc.]

In conversation we nearly always use CONTRACTIONS but not in writing, except when we are repeating exactly what someone has said. We can, of course, also use them in a letter to a friend.

“I'm the only one who'd know” he said.

A PHRASE is part of a sentence. It is a collection of words that does not make complete sense by itself. A phrase has no finite verb in it.

on the floor, over a high building, at high speed

By a PREPARATORY IT we mean that the word it is used to prepare ourselves

for a phrase which is going to follow.

It is very difficult to understand what he says.

Was it usual for him to come here every Sunday ?

Is it common to find that kind of bird in this part of the country?

Second three ways in which the SPECIAL VERBS differ from the other verbs are

as follows:

4) They are used as auxiliaries.

He IS eating. She HAS taken. The boy IS taught by Mr. Green.

5) They are used for short answers.

Oughtn't you to be careful when you cross the road? Yes, I OUGHT to.

Dare you hit a bigger man than yourself? No, I DAREN'T.

6) They are used in END CONSTRUCTIONS:

they add sth to the end of a sentence with the words SO, NEITHER or NOR.

John said “I don't speak Chinese”. Mary “and neither DO I.

I have to go to the hairdresser's, and so HAS my sister.

He is not very nice person, and neither IS his wife.

Instead of saying: neither do I, neither has she

we can say: I don't either, she hasn't either

We use the words SO and NOT to repeat a whole sentence that someone

has just said.

Did you remember to shut the door? No, I don't think so.

Is that right what James said? I hope not. I suppose so. I'm afraid so.

We can also use the word SO at the beginning of a sentence.

[we already know this fact]

Peter has passed his exams. - So I have heard.

Mr. Jones has gone to Australia. - So we've been told.

The last three ways in which the SPECIAL VERBS differ from other verbs

are as follows:

7) They are used when we wish to be emphatic about sth.

I MIGHT go, but I'm not sure.

I DAREN'T ask him again.

If the sentence is in the negative, we emphasize the word NOT.

He OUGHT NOT to study hard.

8) They are often followed by certain adverbs instead of being preceded by them.

I HAVE always kept my promises.

It IS seldom happened twice. [sometimes, never]

We CAN often make a mistake.

9) They don't take “S” in the third person singular of the Present Simple.

He can, she might ←→ he takes

The only exception to all this is the verb DO which changes to “does” for the third person. NEED and DARE are sometimes used as defective verbs and sometimes as normal verbs.

BRIEFLY the nine ways in which the SPECIAL VERBS differ from the normal verbs:

1) They form their interrogatives by putting the verb before the subject.

2) They form their negatives just by adding NOT.

3) They are the only verbs that can be used in TAIL QUESTIONS.

4) They are used as auxiliaries.

5) They are used for short answers.

6) They are used in END CONSTRUCTIONS.

7) They are used when we wish to be emphatic.

8) They are often followed by certain adverbs.

9) They don't take “S” in the third person singular.

When we change a QUESTION from DIRECT into INDIRECT SPEECH we use

a verb like “ask” instead of “say”; we don't use a question mark; and we put the subject before the verb.

John: “What are you doing Charles?”

John asked Charles what he was doing.

Pupils to teacher: “Do you want us to mark our dictations ourselves?”

The pupils asked the teacher if he wanted them to mark their dictations themselves.

When we change a COMMAND from DIRECT into INDIRECT SPEECH we use

words like “told, commanded, ordered”; we change the Imperative into the Infinitive; and in the case of negative command, the “do not” becomes simply “not”.

“Don't walk so fast.” → I told you not to walk so fast.

Mother to her child: “Stop making so much noise!”.

Mother ordered her child to stop making so much noise.

When we change a REQUESTS from DIRECT into INDIRECT SPEECH we use words like “ask or request” and we use the Infinitive (or NOT + Infinitive).

Mary to her brother: “Please don't tell father how much it costs”.

Mary requested her brother not to tell their father how much it costs.

“Would you pass the salt, please?” → I asked you if you would pass the salt.

I shall come UNLESS it rains means the same as I shall come IF it does NOT rain.

In the sentence John washed the car himself. the word himself is not a Reflexive Pronoun, because it is not the receiver of the action. It could be left out and the sentence would still make sense. It is put in to make what is said stronger and so it is called an EMPHASISING PRONOUN.

They are the same as the Reflexive Pronouns.

She always drove the car herself.

I remember it very clearly, because I gave him the money myself.

We have two kind of clauses.

A DEFINING CLAUSE is essential to the meaning of a sentence.

The book which I gave you was not mine.

The man who lives next door is no friend of mine.

Here is the pupil whose book I borrowed.

A NON - DEFINING CLAUSE is not essential to the meaning of a sentence.

Richard, who is my best friend, went to Ireland last year.

Miss Jones, whose car was stolen last week, works in the same office as myself.

With a DEFINING CLAUSE we don't use any commas, whereas

a NON - DEFINING CLAUSE we put between two commas as it is additional information. Commas are very important.

Defining:

She has two brothers who are farmers. - she has other brothers who are not farmers

Non - Defining:

She has two brothers, who are farmers. - she has only two brothers

We use a CAPITAL LETTER ▪ at the beginning of a sentence,

▪ for the pronoun “ I ”,

▪ for the first letter of the name of a person or place.

STAGE 8

We generally form the PLURAL of NOUNS ending in -F or -FE by changing the endings to -VES. knife - knives the exceptions: life - lives chef - chefs loaf - loaves cliff - cliffs wolf - wolves

With a TRANSITIVE VERB the action passes from the subject, through the verb, to the object.

I am raising the book.

The boy cut his thumb.

They pushed the table against the wall.

With a INTRANSITIVE VERB the action of the verb finishes with itself and doesn't pass to the object.

I am rising (from the chair).

He worked very hard.

People walk very quickly in winter.

A RELATIVE PRONOUN is a word we use instead of a noun and which we use to join sentences together. The noun for which the Relative Pronoun stands is called the ANTECEDENT; meaning “going before”.

That is the man who gave me the book.

They should always be put as near as possible.

The Relative Pronouns are: ▪ that [people, things, animals]

▪ what [antecedent]

▪ which [animal, things] ▪ who, whom [people] ▪ whose [people, animals]

We can drop them, if it were used, it would be the object of the verb in the clause.

This is the car that took me to London. [subject]

This is the car (that) I took to London. [object]

When a Relative Pronoun follows a prepositions it can be dropped and the preposition put at the end of the sentence. [which → that]

[whom → who]

(wrong) This is the man to whom I spoke.

(right) This is the man I spoke to.

The Grammar - Callan Method

21

possessive pronouns

mine ours

yours yours his theirs hers its

possessive adjectives

my our

your your his their her its

myself ourselves

yourself yourselves himself themselves herself

itself oneself

1 let me go let us go

2. go go

3. let him go let them go

let her go

let it go

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