Asking For And Giving Permission

When you ask for permission to use something that belongs to someone else you have to do your best to be polite. It is desirable to use the word "please."

Asking for Permission:

• Can I go out, please?
• May I open the window, please?
• Please, can I have a look at your photo album?
• Please, may I taste that hot spicy couscous dish?
• Do you mind if I smoke?
• Would you mind if I asked you something?
• Is it okay if I sit here?
• Would it be all right if I borrowed your mobile Phone?

Giving Permission:

• Yes, please do.
• Sure, go ahead.
• Sure.
• No problem.
• Please feel free.

Refusing to give permission:

• No, please don’t.
• I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.
• I'm afraid, but you can't.

Talking about ability

How to express ability

To express that someone has the power or skill to do something, can and be able are used.

Examples:

• I can't help you.I am busy.
• I'm unable to help you.
• When I was young I was able to earn my living pretty well; I could work hard. Now I can't. I'm too old.
• I can stand on my head for five minutes.
• Can you speak Arabic?
• Yes, I can.

Expressing ability

In the present:

Express ability in the present as follows:

• I can speak good English.
• I can't stand on my head.

In the past

Express ability in the past as follows

• I was unable to visit him.
• I couldn't eat at all when I was ill.

In the future

Express ability in the future as follows

• I will be able to buy a house when I get a good job.
• The teacher can assist you after class if you have any questions.

Things to remember:

• Can is always followed by an infinitive without "to."
  Examples: 
  I can ride my bike and I can drive a car, but I can't drive a lorry. 

Introducing yourself and other people

There is a range of ways to introduce yourself and people.

Introducing yourself:

Here are expressions to introduce yourself:

• My name is ...
• I'm ....
• Nice to meet you; I'm ...
• Pleased to meet you; I'm ...
• Let me introduce myself; I'm ...
• I'd like to introduce myself; I'm ...

Introducing others:

Here are expressions to introduce others:

• Jack, please meet Nicolas.
• Jack, have you met Nicolas?
• I'd like you to meet Liza.
• I'd like to introduce you to Betty.
• Leila, this is Barbara. Barbara this is Leila.

Useful responses when introducing yourself or other people:

• Nice to meet you.
• Pleased to meet you.
• Happy to meet you.
• How do you do?

Dialogue:

Alex is talking to the new manager and his assistant. Notice how they introduce themselves:

Alex:	Hi! My name is Alex Litterman, the new manager.
William:	Hi! I'm William O'Brian. Nice to meet you, Mr Alex Litterman.
John:	William, please meet Mr Steve Lynch, my assistant
Jack:	How do you do?
Nicolas:	How do you do?

Greeting

There are different ways to greet people:

Greeting means welcoming someone with particular words or a particular action.

When meeting people formally for the first time, we greet by shaking hands and saying "How do you do?" or "Pleased to meet you."

"How do you do?" isn't really a question, it just means "Hello".

When young people meet informally they sometimes greet and say "Give me five!" and slap their hands together (high five).

Generally we do not greet by shaking hands with people we know well. We greet by just saying 'hi' or 'hello'

Here are some expressions you can use to greet people.

Greeting

• Hi, hello.
• Good morning, good afternoon, good evening.
• How are you?
• How are you doing?
• How do you do?

Responding to greeting

• Hi, hello.
• Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening.
• I'm fine thank you (thanks)/Okey! Thank you (thanks)/Can't complain/Not bad.
• How about you?/And you?
• How do you do?

Things to remember about greeting:

When you greet someone and say:

"How do you do?"

this isn't really a question, it just means "Hello".

Examples of English Tenses

Explanations	Present Simple
Action that is repeated every Friday. Habitual action.	I visit my uncle every Friday
Facts that are believed to be true. Generalizations	Cats hate mice. The sun rises in the morning.
Scheduled events in the near future	The plane takes off at 10 o'clock tonight

Explanations	Present Progressive
Action that takes place now / at the moment	I am working on my computer
Near future	I am leaving tomorrow

Explanations	Present Perfect
To talk about experiences	I have been to Italy.
Past action that has the result in the present.	She has read that book.
Action which started in the past and continued up to now.	I have lived in this town for 12 years.

Explanations	Present Perfect Progressive
To show that something started in the past and has continued up until now.	He has been sleeping for the last 3 hours
To talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently.	The grass is wet because it has been raining all day long.
To talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now.	I have been watching TV for 2 hours / since you left.

Explanations	Past Simple
Completed action in the past.	She left yesterday.
To talk about an action that started in the past and stopped recently.	She woke up, had a shower and left.
To talk about an action that started in the past and is continuing now.	If I had a million dollar, I would help the poor.
An action taking place in the middle of another action.	She was playing when the accident occurred.

Explanations	Past Progressive
Actions happening at the same time in the past.	He was reading a newspaper while his wife was preparing dinner.
Interrupted action in the past.	Sh was reading a book when the light went off, had a shower and left.

Explanations	Past Perfect Simple
Completed action before another action in the past.	She had left when I arrived.

Explanations	Past Perfect Progressive
To show that something started in the past and continued up until another action stopped it.	They had been playing soccer when the accident occurred
To show that something started in the past and continued up until another time in the past.	I had been living in that town for ten years before I moved to New York.
We use the Past Perfect Continuous before another action in the past to show cause and effect.	I was so tired. I had been working for 6 hours.

Explanations	Future  Simple
Instant decisions	I've left the door open; I'll close it.
We use the simple future , when we predict a future situation	She'll pass the exam. She's hardworking.
We use the simple future with: "I (don't) think...", "I expect...", "I am sure...", "I wonder...", "probably".	It will probably rain tonight
Conditional sentence type one	If I have enough time, I'll watch the film.

Explanations	Future Progressive
Action that will be taking place at some time in the future.	When you arrive, I'll be sleeping .

Explanations	Future Perfect
Completed action before another action in the past	By tomorrow, I will have finished the work.

Explanations	Future Perfect Progressive
It is used to show that an action will continue up until a particular event or time in the future.	She will have been working for over 8 hours by the time her children arrive.

Conditional Simple

Conditional Simple
Affirmative	We would relax.
Negative	We would not relax.
Interrogative	Would we relax ?
Form	would + verb
Uses	action that might take place

Conditional Progressive
Affirmative	He would be writing.
Negative	He would not be writing.
Interrogative	Would he be writing?
Form	would + be + verb + ing
Uses	action that might take place putting emphasis on the course / duration of the action

Conditional Perfect
Affirmative	He would have written.
Negative	He would not have written.
Interrogative	Would he have written?
Form	would + have + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed | Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart This is a list of irregular verbs)
Uses	action that might have taken place in the past

Conditional Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	She would have been sleeping.
Negative	She would not have sleeping speaking.
Interrogative	Would she have been sleeping?
Form	would + have + been + verb + ing
Uses	action that might have taken place in the past puts emphasis on the course / duration of the action

Past Perfect Simple

Past Perfect Simple
Affirmative	She had won.
Negative	She had not won.
Interrogative	Had she won?
Form	had + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed | Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs)
Uses	action taking place before a certain time in the past sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration)

Past Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	He had been waiting.
Negative	He had not been waiting.
Interrogative	Had he been waiting?
Form	had + been + verb + ing
Uses	action taking place before a certain time in the past sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action

Future Simple
Affirmative	I will open the door.
Negative	I will not open the door.
Interrogative	Will you open the door?
Form	will + verb
Uses	We use the simple future for instant decisions. We use the simple future when we predict a future situation We use the simple future in conditional sentences type one. (More on conditional sentences here)

Future Plan (going to)
Affirmative	He is going to clean the car.
Negative	He is not going to clean the car.
Interrogative	Is he going to clean the car?
Form	to be (in the simple present) + going + to + verb
Uses	to express the future when we intend to do something or have decided to do something but did not arrange it. It is just an intention. predictions in the future

Future Plan (Present Progressive)
Affirmative	He is traveling to Egypt next week.
Negative	He is not traveling to Egypt next week.
Interrogative	Is he traveling to Egypt next week?
Form	to be (in the simple present) + verb + ing
Uses	when we say what we have planned and arranged to do at a specific time in the future. These are fixed plans with definite time and/or place.

Future  Progressive
Affirmative	She will be listening to music.
Negative	She will not be listening to music.
Interrogative	Will she be listening to music?
Form	will + be + verb + ing
Uses	action that is going on at a certain time in the future action that is sure to happen in the near future

Future Perfect
Affirmative	He will have spoken.
Negative	He will not have spoken.
Interrogative	Will he have spoken?
Form	will + have + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed | Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs)
Uses	action that will be finished at a certain time in the future

Future Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	You will have been studying.
Negative	You will not have been studying.
Interrogative	Will you have been studying?
Form	will + have + been + verb + ing
Uses	action taking place before a certain time in the future putting emphasis on the course of an action

Review of English tenses

Simple Present
Affirmative	She drinks.
Negative	She does not drink.
Interrogative	Does she drink?
Form	I, you we they play | he, she, it plays
Uses	action in the present taking place once, never or several times facts actions taking place one after another action set by a timetable or schedule

Present Progressive
Affirmative	He is reading.
Negative	He is not reading.
Interrogative	Is he reading?
Form	To be (in the simple present) + verb + ing
Uses	action taking place at the moment of speaking action arranged for the future

Simple Past
Affirmative	I cried.
Negative	I did not cry
Interrogative	Did I cry?
Form	Regular verbs: Verb + ed | Irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs
Uses	action in the past taking place once, never or several times actions taking place one after another

Past Progressive
Affirmative	He was driving.
Negative	He was not driving.
Interrogative	Was he driving?
Form	to be (in the simple past) + verb + ing
Uses	action going on at a certain time in the past actions taking place at the same time action in the past that is interrupted by another action

Present Perfect Simple
Affirmative	They have slept.
Negative	They have not slept.
Interrogative	Have they slept?
Form	Have / has + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed | Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs)
Uses	emphasis is on the result (not the duration) action that started in the past & is still going on action that stopped recently finished action that has an influence on the present

Present Perfect Progressive
Affirmative	He has been thinking.
Negative	He has not been thinking.
Interrogative	Has he been thinking?
Form	have or has + been + verb + ing
Uses	putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result) action that recently stopped or is still going on finished action that influenced the present

Misrelated Modifier

All modifiers should connect clearly and immediately with the words you want them to modify. The reader shouldn't have to guess what you're trying to say.

Change:	Louisa saw some strange mushrooms playing in the park.
to:	While playing in the park, Louisa saw some strange mushrooms.

Probably it wasn't the mushrooms but Louisa playing in the park. By placing the modifying phrase right next to the word it modifies, we eliminate the confusion. Sometimes careless modifier placement can create several possible meanings.

Change:	All afternoon I reminisced about friends I had known with my sister.
to:	All afternoon I reminisced with my sister about friends I had known.
or:	All afternoon I reminisced about friends my sister and I had known.
or:	All afternoon my sister and I reminisced about friends we had known.

In the first example "with my sister" is confusing because it could modify either "reminisced" or "had known" or both. The writer has a responsibility to make such relationships clear.

A Note on Spelling

There's no quick, easy way to overcome spelling problems. This is true partly because our English spelling system is complex and difficult to explain logically.

Even computer spell-checkers can cause problems for unwary users.

Also, most spelling habits are formed early when we're learning to read. As we grow older, those habits, good or bad, become almost automatic, and often we spell without thinking about whether we're right or wrong. Even computer spell-checkers can cause problems for unwary users.

If you have trouble with spelling, then, you need to do more than learn a few words. You need to form new spelling habits, and the most important is to make spelling a conscious activity. This can be frustrating if you interrupt your writing to look up a word, only to find you knew how to spell it all along. Because spelling improvement is as important as it is difficult, however, you can't afford to let it slide. The suggestions that follow are intended to help you develop good spelling habits.

Suggestions for Spelling Improvement

1. Don't look words up while you're composing. Wait until your thought-flow runs its course. As you write, highlight or mark any words you aren't absolutely sure about. Then later when editing, your attention will go right to these words and you can look them up all at once without interrupting and losing track of your thoughts. By looking up words later, you also can concentrate on learning to spell them correctly so you won't have to look them up again. You might even consider keeping a list of Target Words to concentrate on.

2. Every time you write a word ask yourself whether you know how to spell it. There are only two possible answers to this question: yes and no. Maybe, probably, and I think so all count as no. If the answer is yes, keep on writing, but if the answer is no, mark the word to look up. Most spelling errors come not on words like "cataclysmic," which you know you need to look up, but on words like "front," where you think the odds are with you.