Anglistik (Subject) / Grammar 1 (Lesson)

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• Simple present general truths, permanent situations and states regular or habitual actions state verbs verbs with a stative and a non-stative meaning performative verbs (vs. their descriptive sense) in time clauses verbs of feeling sense verbs here come(s) and there go(es) schedules/timetables
• Present progressive activity in progress temporary situations changes, trends,development arrangements in the future
• Simple past Single completed actions in the past Simultaneous actions and sequences of actions in the past Regular or repeated activity in the past that no longer occurs states in the past used to/would
• Past progressive actions in progress at a point in time in the past temporary situations, changes, trends and developments in the past two or more simultaneous actions in progress in the past An ongoing action which forms the background/setting for past events past arrangements (regardless of whether or not they took place)
• Past perfect simple describing an action which is completed before a time in the past The past perfect is used to make a sequence of events clear If a sequence of events is obvious, the past perfect is not usually employed
• Past perfect progressive describing an ongoing situation which continued up to or stopped just before a time in the past The past perfect progressive is not used the indicate the number of times an action was carried out The past perfect progressive is also not employed for completed actions, nor for actions and background situations still continuing at the same time as the narrative in past simple The present perfect continuous can also indicate that the state or action in question is temporary and subject to change emphasis on activity instead of the present result In opposition to the simple form, the present perfect continuous focuses on the activity instead of the result it produces
• Present perfect simple ongoing states and actions The present perfect simple is used to refer to states, activities and situations that started in the past and are still continuing in the present actions which happened in the past but may happen again in the future In these cases, the period of time in which the action unfolded is unfinished, so it may be repeated. The action may have taken place only once, or several times The present perfect simple is also used after superlatives and ordinal numbers and the only, often with the adverbever adverbs used with the present perfect Ever, often, seldom, never, so far, already, yet, and still are all commonly used with the present perfect present relevance of a past action If an action completed in the past possesses some relevance to the present, i.e. if it has a present result, the present perfect simple is used
• Present perfect progressive ongoing states or actions with an emphasis on duration/activity The present perfect progressive is used to talk about an ongoing state or action which began in the past and is still continuing or has just come to an end Note that the present perfect simple often emphasizes that an action is completed, while the progressive form emphasizes that it is still continuing Since the continuous form is used to focus on the duration of an action and not its completion, sentences employing it do not state the number of times an action has been performed; for this the present perfect simple is used
• Future Future time in English is most commonly expressed by using ‘will’ or ‘going to’, or by using the present continuous Decisions/intentions/arrangements Decisions made at the time of speaking are typically expressed with ‘will’ Decisions already made at the time of speaking (i.e. intentions) are typically expressed with ‘going to’ Arrangements in the future are typically expressed with the present continuous (progressive). Such an arrangement usually implies coordination with others as well as commitment (on the part of the person set to perform the action) Both ‘will’ and ‘going to’ can be used to emphasize determination Both ‘will’ and ‘going to’ can be used to predict a future event or situation. ‘Will’ describes predictions based on guesswork, analysis, judgment, or ‘abstract evidence’, and can be based on past experience Predictions expressed with ‘going to’ are often supported by evidence in the present; moreover, they often describe the near future The present continuous can’t be used to describe future events beyond human control, as such descriptions are, by definition, predictions The present continuous also can’t be used to describe permanent future situations Using the present continuous is usually avoided when ‘to be’ is the main verb We also tend to avoid using ‘going to’ when ‘go’ is the main verb In formal English, ‘will’ can be used in some contexts to describe future events that have been arranged to some extent Remember, however, that ‘will’ is typically not usedin time clauses or if-clauses!
• Future 2 The future continuous (will be + -ing) is used:A. to describe an activity or action in progress at a particular point in time in the future B. to describe the results of previous decisions or arrangements If the activity or event is unexpected or surprising, however, we have to use another future form C. to politely ask about someone else’s plans (especially when the speaker wants to know these plans in order to determine whether another activity or action will be possible) D. to describe routine actions E. to make a guess about something happening at the time of speaking The future continuous typically isn’t used to express or emphasize willingness. Likewise, the future continuous can’t be used to issue an invitation The future continuous also can’t be used to express factual statements about the future Generally, “to be” is not used as a main verb in the future continuous Future perfect simple The future perfect simple (will have + past participle) describes future activities and actions that will be completed by a particular point in the future Future perfect continuous The future perfect continuous (will have been + -ing) emphasizes the duration of a future activity by a particular point in the future Note that future perfect continuous sentences typically mention both the reference point in the future and the duration of the activity by this point Also note that state verbs can’t be used with the future perfect continuous if they express stative meaning Using the present simple for the future We use the present simple to describe actions or activities that have been officially arranged, i.e. that are part of a timetable or schedule As already noted, we use the present simple (not ‘will’) in if-clauses and in time clauses We also use the present simple (not ‘will’ or another future form) in that-clauses and wh- clauses when both the main clause and the dependent clause refer to the future
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• Nouns and Determiners 1. Types of determiners A noun or noun phrase is usually preceded by a determiner. Determiners include: 1. Articles 2. Demonstratives (this, that, these, those) 3. Quantifiers (any, some, much, many, little, few, a lot of, no, none, each, every...) 4. Possessive determiners (my, your, her, their...) 2. Types of nouns !  common (university) vs. proper (the University of Wuppertal)!  singular (cloud) vs. plural (clouds)!  countable (bird, truck) vs. uncountable (sadness, equipment)!  concrete (person) vs. abstract (personality)!  collective (the public, the opposition) Plural nouns preceded by no article (i.e. the zero article) normally refer to a general group or class Plural nouns preceded by the definite article refer to a specific example of that noun When referring to an entire class or species, a plural noun or a singular noun (with either an indefinite or definite article) can be used A singular noun with an indefinite article cannot be used, however, when the sentence cannot refer to an individual example of the group/species Uncountable nouns (or nouns used in an uncountable sense) only have one form, and are not used with numbers or the indefinite article Many nouns (like education, religion, time, and tin) can be used in both a countable and an uncountable sense, sometimes with a difference in meaning Other nouns, like money, furniture, relief,independence, patience, luggage, and cotton, are almost always used in an uncountable sense Uncountable nouns can be quantified by using another noun plus of, or by using a quantifier before the uncountable noun Sometimes an uncountable noun can be used in a countable sense when referring to different types or varieties of that noun, or when leaving out a quantifying word Some uncountable nouns (like politics, sports,gymnastics, mathematics, and measles) end in - s, but are treated as singular nouns in terms of subject-verb agreement Many abstract nouns can be used with an article (referring to a specific instance of the noun) or with no article (referring to the idea expressed by the noun in general) Some nouns, like school, church, hospital, theater, film,television, and cinema, can have both an abstract (uncountable; no article) and concrete (countable; definite or indefinite article) meaning Nouns and possessives Generally, possession (or association) is expressed by‘s when the noun is a person or animal, and by ofwhen the noun is not a living thing There are many exceptions to this general rule, including: ! groups or entities composed of people (Britian’s government, the Red Cross’s assistance) ! features or qualities of an object (the car’s design, a computer’s behavior) Parts of the body generally take a possessive determiner rather than the definite article
• Prepositions For and since When used as a preposition of time, for is usually followed by a period of time; the tense used in the sentence often tells us whether the activity is complete or incomplete Since, on the other hand, can only refer to a particular point in time in the past Since is usually used with a perfect tense By and untilBy indicates that something will happen or be achieved before a particular time, or at that time at the very latest Until refers to something that will continue up to a particular time In negative sentences, until means ‘not before’

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