تبیان، دستیار زندگی

Expressing Age

We use the verb "to be" to express age in English. There are two possibilities: He is eight. OR He is eight years old.

Example Sentences

Tom is twenty-two.
My brother is thirty-six years old.

Since

Use the present perfect (continuous) with the time expression "since" when using a specific date or time.

Example Sentences

He"s lived in that house since 1998.
They"ve been playing golf since ten this morning.

On

Use "on" with days of the week. However, in British English use "at the weekend".

Example Sentences

I"ll see you on Tuesday.
Let"s meet on Sunday.

hi medman

with a direct question the person being questioned has two options: answer the question or ignore it (ignoring it would be impolite)
- with indirect questions the person being questioned is presented with two parts :
Can I ask (permission)
The question
They have the choice of saying "no you cannot ask" or answering the question - both are polite.
I use very direct questions when expanding this idea in front of a group.
How much do you earn ?
Are you looking for a new job ?
Who are you dating at the moment ?
With these questions the student would rather not answer them in front of a group - so has to choose the "no you can"t ask" variation.
Works for me :-) "

Look Like

Use "look like" to ask for a physical description.

Example Sentences

What does your brother look like?
He looks like Brad Pitt.

Interested or Interesting?

Remember to use the "-ed" form of the adjective to describe how people are affected. In this case, "bored by" is the only correct combination of adjective and preposition.

Example Sentences

That documentary was very interesting.
Tim was interested in the project.

Put Off

The phrasal verb "to put off" means "to postpone". "Put off" is a separable phrasal verb.

Example Sentences

He put the meeting off until tomorrow.
Can I put that off until next week?

Past Perfect - Had Done

Use the past perfect - had + participle - to express an action finished before another action in the past.

Example Sentences

He had finished his homework by the time she arrived.
I had spoken with Peter before I talked to Bob about the deal.

How do you do?

Use the question "How do you do?" when meeting a person for the first time. Use "How are you?" after that.

Example Sentences

How do you do? - It"s a pleasure to meet you.
How are you today Tom? - I"m fine.

Have to or Must?

Use "must" for strong obligations at the moment of speaking. Use "have to" for daily responsibilities.

Example Sentences

I have to catch a train for work every morning.
I must get going. It"s late!

Had to

Past obligation is always "had to". There is no "must" in the past.

Example Sentences

I had to leave the meeting early to catch my train.
They had to invest over 5 million dollars in updates.