English

MÓDULO: INGLÉS

Grammar 1: Basic topics

 © Hipatia Educación, S.L.
Madrid (España), 2022
Autor: David García León

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Índice
1. Basic topics (Conceptos generales) ................................................................ 4
1. Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives ........................................................... 4
1.1. Personal or subject pronouns ................................................................ 5
1.2. Object pronouns (pronombres objeto) .................................................. 6
1.3 Possesive adjectives and possessive pronouns ................................... 6
2. Demonstratives (adjetivos demostrativos) .................................................. 8
3. Verbo “To be” ................................................................................................. 9
5. Short answers ..............................................................................................12
6. There is / There are. Quantifiers. Small and large quantity .......................13
6.1. There is / There are ...............................................................................13
7. Auxiliary verbs ..............................................................................................22
7.1. Present simple ......................................................................................23
7.2. Past simple ............................................................................................23
7.3. Continuous tenses ................................................................................24
7.4. Perfect tenses .......................................................................................24
7.5. Modal verbs ...........................................................................................24
2. Resumen .........................................................................................................25

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 1. Basic topics (Conceptos generales)

1. Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

SUBJECT OBJECT POSSESSIVE POSSESSIVE REFLEXIVE

PRONOUNS PRONOUNS ADJECTIVES PRONOUNS PRONOUNS

I Me My Mine Myself

You You Your Yours Yourself

He Him His His Himself

She Her Her Hers Herself

It It Its Its Itself

We Us Our Ours Ourselves

You You Your Yours Yourselves

They Them Their Theirs Themselves

Tabla 1. Pronouns and possessive adjetives.

Los pronombres son palabras que sustituyen o se refieren al

nombre.

Como podemos ver en la tabla, tenemos varios tipos, que vamos a estudiar a
continuación (a excepción de los pronombres reflexivos, que aparecen en la tabla
para tu conocimiento, pero que no estudiaremos de momento).

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 1.1. Personal or subject pronouns

Los pronombres especificados en la tabla anterior como subject pronouns son

los que cumplen la función de sujeto en una oración.

EXAMPLES:
I am Spanish. > Yo soy español/española
She can play the guitar. > Ella sabe tocar la guitarra.

Estos pronombres tienen ciertas particularidades con respecto al castellano:

 En inglés (salvo casos excepcionales) siempre es necesario poner el sujeto.
 La fórmula “usted” no existe en inglés, usaríamos you en su lugar.
 En una frase aislada o fuera de un contexto específico, you puede referirse a
“tú” o a “vosotros”.
 En la tercera persona del singular, el pronombre cambia según el género del
sujeto: he (él), she (ella), it (se utiliza para animales o cosas).
 Sin embargo, en la tercera persona del plural, they se utiliza para todos los
géneros.

EXAMPLES:
She is beautiful. > Ella es guapa
They’re beautiful. > Ellas son guapas.
It is a cat. > Es un gato
They’re cat. > Son gatos.

 Incluso con frases impersonales, necesitamos incluir un pronombre de

sujeto:

EXAMPLE:
It’s raining. > está lloviendo

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 1.2. Object pronouns (pronombres objeto)

Se consideran pronombres objeto a aquellos que son complemento de un verbo.

Comúnmente, cumplen la función que, en español, cumple el objeto indirecto.
Solo los verbos transitivos (verbos que necesitan uno o dos complementos)
pueden ir acompañados de estos pronombres. También pueden ser objeto de
una preposición.

EXAMPLES:
That letter is for you. > Aquella carta es para ti.
She told me a story. > Ella me (a mí) contó una historia.
I gave him a present. > Le (a él) di un regalo.
He bought them yesterday. > Los compró ayer.

El verbo “to run” no es transitivo, por lo que no podría llevar este tipo de
pronombres:

EXAMPLE:
They run a marathon > Ellos corrieron una maratón.

1.3 Possesive adjectives and possessive pronouns

Los adjetivos son palabras que acompañan o se refieren al nombre. Salvo en el

caso de los demostrativos, que veremos un poco más adelante en esta unidad,
los adjetivos no se pueden modificar. Mantienen la misma forma
independientemente del género (masculino o femenino) y el número (singular o
plural) del sustantivo al que acompañan. Los hay de muchos tipos, pero en este
caso nos referimos a los que indican posesión.
EXAMPLES:
My car is red. > Mi coche es rojo.
My cars are red. > Mis coches son rojos.

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Her house is near the petrol station. > Su casa está cerca de la gasolinera.
Her houses are near the petrol station. > Sus casas están cerca de la
gasolinera.
Como podemos comprobar en los ejemplos, estos adjetivos van junto al nombre
(car, house).
Por otro lado, vamos a destacar que, cuando en español usamos el posesivo ‘su’,
nos podemos referir a:
 Su > de él (his)
 Su > de ella (her)
 Su > de ellos (their)
En inglés, debemos especificar usando los adjetivos o pronombres que
correspondan.
Como hemos podido observar en el apartado anterior, los pronombres se refieren
o sustituyen al nombre. En el caso de los posesivos ocurre lo mismo.
Si nos fijamos en la Tabla 1, la mayoría de los pronombres llevan incorporada
una “s”, pero esto no tiene nada que ver con que sean singular o plural, tal y como
hemos visto en los ejemplos anteriores.
En el siguiente ejemplo, observamos la diferencia entre un adjetivo (her) y un
pronombre posesivo (hers).
EXAMPLES:
That house is hers. > Aquella casa es de ella.
That’s her house. > Aquella es su casa (de ella)

Como podemos observar en las dos frases siguientes, la “s” final de ours no tiene
relación con el número del sujeto (car o cars), sino que simplemente el
pronombre posesivo tiene esa forma.
EXAMPLES:
This car is ours. > Este coche es nuestro.
These cars are ours. > Estos coches son nuestros.

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 2. Demonstratives (adjetivos demostrativos)
Son los únicos adjetivos que cambian de forma según el número del sustantivo
al que se refieren (el género, sin embargo, no les afecta):
EXAMPLES:
This car is mine. > Este coche es mío.
This house is mine. > Esta casa es mía.
These cars are mine. > Estos coches son míos.
These houses are mine. > Estas casas son mías.
That car is his. > Ese/aquel coche es de él.
Those cars are his. > Esos/aquellos coches son de él.

Una vez que controlemos estos conceptos, podremos practicar breves

conversaciones. En ellas, aprenderemos cómo usar los adjetivos demostrativos
para hacer presentaciones.

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 3. Verbo “To be”

TO BE (SER O ESTAR) IN PRESENT SIMPLE

Subject
Affirmative Contraction Negative Contraction Question
pronoun

I Am I’m I am not I’m not Am i?

You are You’re not

You Are You’re Are you?
not You aren’t

He’s not
He Is He’s He is not Is he?
He isn’t

She’s not
She Is She’s She is not Is she?
She isn’t

It’s not
It Is It’s It is not Is it?
It isn’t

We are We’re not

We Are We’re Are we?
not We aren’t

You are You’re not

You Are You’re Are you?
not You aren’t

They are They’re not Are

They Are They’re
not They aren’t they?

The verb to be doesn’t need an auxiliary to make negative sentences and

questions in simple tenses.

Tabla 2. Verbo To be..

English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Vocabulary Box

Nationalities Country Nationality

Cuando queremos preguntarle a Spain Spanish
alguien de dónde es, decimos:
The United British
“Where are you from?”
Kingdom
En la siguiente tabla se recogen
England English (origin)
los nombres de algunos países y
regiones en inglés y la Scotland Scottish (origin)
nacionalidad correspondiente. Wales Welsh (origin)
Cuando queremos decir de dónde Ireland Irish
es alguien, utilizamos una de
estas dos estructuras: France French

 Sujeto + to be + from + país Italy Italian

 Sujeto + to be + nacionalidad Germany German
I am from Spain. / I am Spanish. Greece Greek
He is from China. / He is Chinese. Portugal Portuguese
United States (North) American
Mexico Mexican
Canada Canadian
Japan Japanese
China Chinese
Morocco Moroccan
Egypt Egyptian

Tabla 3. Nacionalidades.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Vocabulary Box

Introductions
Para presentar a alguien podemos hacerlo de varias maneras según el contexto.
Si nos hallamos en una situación informal la expresión más habitual es “This is
+ nombre”.
This is my friend Lyndsay.

La expresión “Let me introduce you to + nombre” puede usarse tanto en

presentaciones formales como informales.

Let me introduce you to my friend Lyndsay.

Let me introduce you to Lyndsay Taylor.
Cuando nos presentan a alguien en un contexto informal, solemos decir “Hi /
Hello” o “Pleased to meet you/ Nice to meet you”. La respuesta a estas
expresiones suele ser “Pleased to meet you, too. / Nice to meet you, too”.
Cuando nos presentan a alguien en una situación formal, solemos decir: “How
do you do?”. La respuesta adecuada es también: “How do you do?”.
Tabla 4. Introductions.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 5. Short answers
We use short answers to respond to direct or yes/no questions and to be more
polite. We use them in all tenses.
Structure
Yes, subject + auxiliary
No, subject + auxiliary with contraction
EXAMPLES
 Is she american? Yes, she is/no she isn’t.
 Was he at the party? Yes, he was/no, he, wasn’t.
 Can you play the piano? Yes, I can/no, I can’t.
 Are there any books on the table? Yes, there are/no, there aren’t.
 Do you like pizza? Yes, I do/no, I don’t.
 Have you ever tried thai food? Yes, I have/no, I haven’t.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 6. There is / There are. Quantifiers. Small and large quantity

6.1. There is / There are

There is / There are

Afirmative There is + singular noun There is a pen on the table

There are + plural noun There are two pens on the table

There is + uncountable noun There is some cheese in the fridge.

Negative There isn´t + singular noun There isn’t a pen on the table.

There aren´t + plural noun There aren’t any pens on the table.

There isn’t + uncountable There isn’t any cheese in the fridge.

noun

Questions Is there + singular noun Is there a pen on the table?

Are there + plural noun Are there any pens on the table?

Is there + uncountable noun Is there any cheese in the fridge?

Tabla 5. There is / There are

How many + plural noun + are there?

How many pens are there on the table?

How many chairs are there in the class?

Tabla 6. Preguntas con How many.

Contractions

There is = There’s
There is not = There’s not /There isn’t
There are not = There aren’t.
Tabla 7. Contractions There is / There are.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 We use there is and there are to say that something exists.

Positive Sentences
We use there is for singular and there are for plural:
EXAMPLES:

There is one table in the classroom.

There are three chairs in the classroom.

There is a spider in the bath.

There are many people at the bus stop.

We also use there is with uncountable nouns:

EXAMPLES:
There is milk in the fridge.

There is some sugar on the table.

There is ice cream on your shirt.

Contractions
The contraction of there is is there's:
EXAMPLES:

There's a good song on the radio.

There's only one chocolate left in the box.

You cannot contract there are.

There are nine cats on the roof.

There are only five weeks until my birthday.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Negative Form
The negative is formed by putting not after is or are:
EXAMPLES:
There is not a horse in the field.
There are not eight children in the school.
There is not a tree in the garden.
There are not two elephants in the zoo.
We almost always use contractions when speaking. The Negative contractions
are:
EXAMPLES:
There's not / There isn't
There are not / There aren't

There aren't with ANY

When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists, we use there
aren't any.
EXAMPLES:
There aren't any people at the party.
There aren't any trees in my street.

We also use this structure with uncountable nouns:

EXAMPLES:
There isn't any water in the swimming pool.
There isn't any sugar in my coffee.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Questions
To form a question, we place is / are in front of there. Again, we use any with
plural questions or those which use uncountable nouns. We also use there is /
are in short answers.
EXAMPLES:
Is there a dog in the supermarket? No, there isn't.
Are there any dogs in the park? Yes, there are.
Is there a security guard in the shop? Yes, there is.
Are there any polar bears in Antarctica? No, there aren't.
Is there any ice-cream in the freezer? Yes, there is.

‘How Many’ with ‘Are There’

If we want to find out the number of objects that exist, we use How many in the
following form: How many + plural noun + are there (+ complement).
EXAMPLES:
How many dogs are there in the park?
How many students are there in your class?
How many countries are there in South America?
How many Star Wars films are there?

Countable
Countable Plural Uncountable
Singular

Affirmative A/An Some Some

Negative A/An Any Any

Questions (*) A/An Any Any

Tabla 8. Usos de “some” and “any”.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 (*) Hay excepciones importantes en las que, en las preguntas, usamos “some“ en
lugar de “any”.

Excepciones: “some” en frases interrogativas

Question 1 Would you like some…? Some Some

Offer

Question 2 Can I … some…? Some Some

Ask for

Question 3 Why don’t we … some …? Some Some

Suggest
Tabla 9. Excepciones: usos de “some” en frases interrogativas.

A and An

We use A/An (articles) with singular countable nouns.

EXAMPLES:
My brother has a dog and my sister has a cat.
There is an accident on the corner.
A is used when the next word starts with a consonant sound.
A book
A guitar
A friend
A university (the start of the word university sounds like “you”, a consonant
sound).
An is used when the next word starts with a vowel sound.
An apple
An ice-cream

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 An orange
An hour (the letter “h” in this word is silent so it sounds like it starts with a
vowel).

Some and Any

We use “some” and “any” with plural nouns and uncountable nouns. “Some” is
generally used in positive sentences. “Any” is generally used in negative
sentences and questions.
EXAMPLES:
I have some information for you about flights to Paris.
(Positive - Uncountable)

I don't have any information for you about flights to Paris.

(Negative - Uncountable)

We met some friends for drinks after work yesterday.

(Positive - Plural Countable)

I didn't see any friends there on Thursday.

(Negative - Plural Countable)

I think he will have some time to speak to you today.

(Positive - Uncountable)

I don't think he will have any time to speak to you today.

(Negative - Uncountable)

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 You can also use “some” and “any” in a sentence without a noun if the meaning
of the sentence is clear.
EXAMPLES:
I didn't eat any salad but Peter ate some. (salad)
Sean took lots of photos of the mountains, but Emma didn't take any.
(photos)

Questions with Some and Any

Generally, we use any in questions.
EXAMPLES:
Do you know any famous people?
Do you have any children?
But, some is used in the following circumstances:
 When we are offering something:
Would you like some coffee?
Do you want some sugar for the coffee?

 When we are asking for something:

Could I have some salt, please?
Can I have some fries with that?

 When we are suggesting something:

Why don't we watch some movies on TV tonight?
Why don't you give her some advice?
You can also use “some” and “any” in a sentence without a noun if the meaning
of the sentence is clear.
EXAMPLES:
I didn't eat any salad but Peter ate some. (salad)
Sean took lots of photos of the mountains but Emma didn't take any.
(photos) 7. Question Words

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Question
Meaning Examples
words

who person Who's that? That's Nancy.

where place Where do you live? In Boston.

Why do you sleep early? Because I've got

why reason
to get up early.

when time When do you go to work? At 7:00.

how manner How do you go? By car.

what object, idea or action What do you do? I am an engineer.

which choice Which one do you prefer? The red one.

whose possession Whose is this book? It's Alan's.

whom object of the verb Whom did you meet? I met the manager.

What kind of music do you like? I like

what kind description
quiet songs

what time time What time did you come home?

How many students are there? There are

how many quantity (countable)
twenty.

amount, price How much time have we got? Ten

how much
(uncountable) minutes.

How long did you stay in that hotel? For

how long duration, length
two weeks.

How often do you go to the gym? Twice a

how often frequency
week.

how far distance How far is your school? It's one mile far.

how old age How old are you? I'm 16.

how come reason How come I didn't see you at the party?
Tabla 10. Question Words.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 Question words are also called wh- questions because they
include the letters w and h.

If you ask about the subject of the sentence, simply add the question word at the
beginning:
EXAMPLE:
James writes good poems. — Who writes good poems?
If you ask about the predicate of the sentence (the part of a sentence which
contains the verb and gives information about the subject), there are three
options:
 If there is a helping (auxiliary) verb that precedes the main verb (for example:
can, is, are, was, were, will, would...), add the question word and invert the
subject and the helping (auxiliary) verb.
EXAMPLES:
He can speak Chinese. — What can he speak?
They are leaving tonight. — When are they leaving?
 If you ask about the predicate and there is no helping (auxiliary) verb and the
verb is "to be", add the question verb and invert the subject and the verb.
EXAMPLE:
The play was interesting. — How was the play?

 If there is no helping (auxiliary) verb in the predicate and the main verb is not
"to be", add the auxiliary "do" in the appropriate form.
EXAMPLES:
They go to the movies every Saturday. — Where do they go every Saturday?
He wakes up early. — When does he wake up?
They sent a letter. — What did they send?

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 7. Auxiliary verbs
What we are going to learn about auxiliary verbs:
 What are they?
 Learn the different types of auxiliaries.
 Identify them and use them in order to make sentences properly.
 Emphasize their use to make questions.

An auxiliary verb “helps” the main verb of the sentence by adding

tense, mood, voice, or modality to the main verb.

Auxiliary verbs cannot stand alone in sentences; they have to be connected to a

main verb to make sense. They are helping verbs that give us grammatical
information about the verb.

Tenses Auxiliaries Use Examples

Simple Present: Negative  I don’t like pizza.

tenses: and  Does he like pizza?
do/does
present and questions
past Past: did

Continuous To be: All forms  I’m learning English.

tenses  He wasn’t dancing at the party
Am, is, are,
yesterday.
was, were
 Were they cooking when you
arrived?

Perfect To have All forms  I have already finished

tenses homework.
 The film hadn’t started when we
arrived.
 Has she cleaned her car yet?

Modal verbs Can, Could, All forms  She can play the piano.
should,  He could swim when he was 5.
may,…  May I open the window?
Tabla 11. Use and examples of auxiliary verbs.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 7.1. Present simple

Auxiliary: To Do.

 Affirmative: not common in affirmative sentences, only uses to give emphasis

to the main verb:

EXAMPLE:
I do go to the gym every Saturday.

 Negative: don’t or do not; doesn’t or does not (he, she, it).

 Interrogative: sentence inversion

EXAMPLES:
I go to the gym every saturday.
I don’t go to the gym every saturday / he doesn’t go to the gym every
saturday.
Do you go to the gym every saturday?

7.2. Past simple

EXAMPLES:
I went to the gym yesterday.
I didn’t go to the gym yesterday.
Did you go to the gym yesterday?

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 7.3. Continuous tenses

Auxiliary: To Be + v-ing

EXAMPLES:
Present Continuous: He’s going to the gym.
Past Continuous: Were you going to the gym?

7.4. Perfect tenses

Auxiliary: to have + past participle

EXAMPLES:
Present perfect: Have or has. I’ve been to the gym twice this week.
Past perfect: Had. I had gone to the gym twice before the quarantine.:
Future perfect: Will have. I’ll have finished work by 10 pm.

7.5. Modal verbs

They act as auxiliary verbs and add meaning to the main verb.

EXAMPLES:
I can play the piano.
Could you pass me the salt, please?
Álvaro mustn’t smoke.

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

 2. Resumen

 En inglés, salvo en casos excepcionales, siempre es necesario poner el sujeto

en la oración. Los subject pronouns (o personal pronouns) son los
pronombres que hacen la función de sujeto: I, you, she, he, it, we y they.
EXAMPLES:
She is beautiful. > Ella es guapa.
They’re beautiful. > Ellas son guapas.
It’s a cat. > Es un gato.
They’re cat. > Son gatos.
 Los object pronouns cumplen en la frase la función que, en español, suele
cumplir el objeto indirecto. Son me, you, him, her, it, us, you y them.
EXAMPLES:
That letter is for you. > Aquella carta es para ti.
She told me a story. > Ella me (a mí) contó una historia.
 Los adjetivos no tienen género ni número, es decir, no se pueden modificar.
La única excepción son los adjetivos demostrativos, que tienen número: this
y that, son sus formas singulares, y these y those, sus respectivos plurales.
EXAMPLES:
My car is red. Your shoes are red.
That’s a door. Those are Windows.
 Entre otras muchas funciones, podemos utilizar los demostratives (adjetivos
demostrativos) para presentarnos a nosotros mismos o a otras personas.
EXAMPLE:
This is my friend Lyndsay.
 Las respuestas cortas tienen una estructura clara: Yes, pronombre + auxiliar,
y No, pronombre + auxiliar en negativo.
EXAMPLE:
Do you like pizza? Yes, I do/No, I don’t.
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English Grammar 1: Basic topics

  Para decir que algo existe, usamos There is y There are.
EXAMPLES:
There is one table in the classroom.

There are three chairs in the classroom.

 Para expresar la cantidad de un sustantivo, utilizamos a/an, some y any

EXAMPLES:
My brother has a dog and my sister has a cat.
I have some information for you about flights to Paris.
I don't have any information for you about flights to Paris.
 La estructura de las preguntas es la siguiente: (Question word) + auxiliary +
subject + verb.
EXAMPLES:
Are you Spanish?
Where do you live?
 Los verbos auxiliares (auxiliary verbs) siempre aparecen conectados a un
verbo principal. Los verbos auxiliares nos informan de qué tiempo verbal
estamos utilizando o, en el caso de los modal verbs, nos sirven para expresar
acciones posible o probables.
EXAMPLES:
I don’t like pizza. (present simple, modal verb “to do”).
I’m learning English (present continuous, modal verb “to be”).
She can play the piano (acción posible, modal verb “to can”).

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English Grammar 1: Basic topics