English notes 1

(Eng) English study about entertainment

Questions:

• Where do you think the place is?
• Would you want to read in a place like this?
• Do you usually take a book with you when you're travelling or do you prefer e-book readers?
• What's the nicest or most unusual place that you've spent time reading in?
• Do you read much?

Example answers:

• I like all kinds of stuff as well -rock, pop, even some classical.
• I don't tend to during the week, though, because I've got to get up early and basically my parents prefer me to stay at home.
• Not as much as I'd like to, because I really love it - especially musicals. The seats are so expensive I can't afford to go more than a couple of times a year.
• I find it a bit boring. It's not really my kind of thing and I'm not very good at it either.
• Probably less than I think I do. It's always on in the background, you know, but I don't pay much attention to it most of the time.
• I will watch a big game if there2s one on and the occasional film, but apart from that, most of it's rubbish.
• Yeah, I guess so. I generally cycle to college as well -unless it's raining.
• I tend to watch films on demand through my TV at home.
• Not as much as I used to.

Vocab:

• Now and again - ?
• Tend to -

Habit's Grammer

Past:

• To talk about past habits, we can use the past simple, used to + infinitive(without to) or would + infinitive(without to). Examples:
• I listened to music all the time when I was younger.
• I used to listen music all the time when I was younger.
• I'd listen to music all the time when I was younger.

Present:

• To talk about current habits we can use the present simple, tend to + infinitive(without to) and will + infinitive(without to)
• I listen to music all the time.
• I tend to watch films on demand through my TV.

Adverbs and adverbal phrases for frequency:

• always, all the time, constantly
• normally, usually, as a rule, one the whole, by and large
• sometimes, now and again, once in a while
• almost never, very rarely, hardly ever, once in a blue moon
• not as much as + I'd like to / I want / I used to / I did before

Making negatives for habits

• We can make negatives with tend to and used to in different ways.
• I didn't use to like it very much.
• I never used to listen to music at home.
• I tend not to go to the cinema that much.

Mistakes:

• Don't say use to or used to to talk about habits in the present. Ex:

  • I (use to) usually / tend to go out with friends on a Friday.

• Don't use the past continuous to talk about past habits. Ex:

  • I (was going) went / used to go swimming a lot when I was younger.

• Don't use would to talk about character and other kinds of states. Ex:

  • I (would have) had / used to have long hair when I was younger.

• Don't use how instead of as in comparatives. Ex:

  • I don't go as much (how) as I'd like to.

Did you know?

• Would is actually far more common than used to to talk about past habits. That's because while we often introduce a topic with used to, we tend to give details with would. Ex:
  • I used to make my own films when I was younger. I'd watch famous films and get ideas and then my brother and I would try to make our own versions. We'd then do screenings for our family.

Ex:

• By and large, I don't tend to watch TV much. There are too many ads, which annoys me.
• I don't see her as much as I used to, because we're both so busy.