GRAMMAR

Advice – should, ought to, had better

Example

Linda is talking on her mobile phone and driving. You tell her, "You really shouldstop the car if you are going to talk on the phone..."

"... and you had better not let the police catch you. They will give you a £200 fine and 3 points on your licence."

We use should and ought to to give advice. We use had better to give stronger advice, especially when there could be a negative consequence if the advice is ignored.

Use

Should and ought to have very similar meanings. Had better has a stronger meaning. Look at the examples in the table below and notice the difference.

Should	Ought to	Had better
Advice	Advice	Strong or urgent advice, with consequences if ignored.
You should brush your teeth three times a day.	You ought to brush your teeth three times a day.	We had better study tonight because the exam is tomorrow morning.
We should take a taxi because it is quite a long walk.	We ought to take a taxi because it is quite a long walk.	We had better take a taxi because we don't have time to walk.

Must / can't - to express probability in the present
Structure: modal + infinitive without to must be, must have, can't go, etc.
We use must to express that we feel sure that something is true.	They are really good, they must win. They must be very rich. Look at the house.
We use can't to say we are sure that something is impossible.	She can't be ill. I've just seen her in the shop and she looked fine. It can't be true. I don't believe it.

May / might / could - to express probability in the present
Structure: modal + infinitive without to may be, might do, could go, etc.
We use may or could or might to say that it is possible that something will happen or is happening.	They may be arriving tomorrow. He might be away on holiday. He could be away on holiday. He might be offered the job.
The negative of may is may not.The negative of might is might not. They both mean that it is possible that something will not happen or is not happening. We DO NOT use could not to express probability.	He might not be offered the job. I may not pass the exam. I might not go to the match tomorrow. I could not go to the match tomorrow.

'So do I' and 'neither do I' 

I use 'so do I' to say that a positive sentence is also true for me, and I use 'neither do I' to say that a negative sentence is also true for me:

• John: I hate mushrooms.
• Me: So do I (=I also hate mushrooms).

• Lucy: I don't live in London.
• Me: Neither do I (=I also don't live in London. For example, maybe Lucy and I both live in Paris).

This is often used as a reply to someone else in a conversation, but both sentences can also be said by the same person, and even joined together:

• Me: Elizabeth loves coffee. So do I.
• Me: Harry doesn't play the piano and neither do I.

In my examples above, I use 'do' because the first sentence is in the present simple tense. The verb after 'so' or 'neither' changes depending on the tense of the verb in the first sentence. (This is very similar to tag questions ).

Present simple: use 'do / does'	Lucy likes coffee. So do I. Lucy doesn't like coffee. Neither do I.
Present simple with 'be': use 'am / is / are'	John's at the office. So am I. John isn't at the office. Neither am I.
Present continuous: use 'am / is / are'	Luke's going out tonight. So am I. Luke isn't going out tonight. Neither am I.
Past Simple: use 'did'	Jill went to the cinema yesterday. So did I. Jill didn't go to the cinema yesterday. Neither did I.
Past simple with 'be': use 'was / were'	She was at the library. So was I. She wasn't at the library. Neither was I.
Present perfect: use 'have / has'	They've been to Colombia. So have I. They haven't been to Colombia. Neither have I.
Future simple: use 'will'	Edward will be at the cafe later. So will I. Edward won't be at the cafe later. Neither will I.
Modal verbs: repeat the modal verb	He would like a cup of tea. So would I. He wouldn't like a cup of tea. Neither would I. Emma can speak Russian. So can I. Emma can't speak Russian. Neither can I.

What about 'too' and 'either'?

We can also use 'I do too' and 'I don't either', which mean the same as 'so do I' and 'neither do I':

• John: I hate mushrooms.
• Me: I do too (=I also hate mushrooms).

• Lucy: I don't live in London.
• Me: I don't either (=I also don't live in London).

The verb changes in the same way as with 'so do I' and 'neither do I' (remember you need a negative verb with 'either'):

• Present simple: John's at the office. I am too.
• Present continuous: Luke isn't going out tonight. I'm not either.
• Present perfect: They've been to Colombia. I have too.
• Modal verbs: Emma can't speak Russian. I can't either.

 THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Introduction

The Simple Present is frequently used in English. It is also called Present Simple.

Uses:

1) Repeated actions (every day, always, often, sometimes or never)

My friend often draws nice posters.
I never drink milk.

2) Things in general

The sun rises in the East.

3) Fixed arrangements, scheduled events (e.g. timetable)

The plane flies to London every Monday.

4) Actions in the present - one follows after the other (first - then, after that)

First I get up, then I have breakfast.

5) After special verbs, which are normally not used with the Present Progressive (These   

    verbs express states, possessions, feelings etc.)
    be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem,   

    smell, think, understand, want, wish

I understand English.
He doesn't like fish.

S -ES or -IES?

With most verbs, the third person singular form is created simply by adding -S. However, with some verbs, you need to add -ES or -IES. Here are the rules:

Verb ending in...	How to make the 3rd person singular	Example
O	Add - ES	(go)  She goes
S	Add -ES	(pass) He passes
Z	Add -ES	(doz) She dozes
Sh	Add –ES	(wish)She wishes
Ch	Add –ES	(watch)He watches
consonant + y	Change Y to I, then add -ES	(fly) It flies
Vowel + y	Add –S	(play) He plays
[anything else]	Add –S	He sings

PRESENT PROGRESSIVE OR CONTINUOUS.

Use:

1) Actions happening at the moment of speaking

Peter is reading a book now.

2) Fixed plan in the near future

She is going to Basel on Saturday.

3) Temporary actions

His father is working in Rome this month.

4) Actions happening around the moment of speaking (longer actions)

My friend is preparing for his exams.

5) Trends

More and more people are using their computers to listen to music.

6) Repeated actions which are irritating to the speaker (with always, constantly,             

     forever)

Andrew is always coming late.

SIGNAL WORDS

now, at the moment, Look! Listen!