Intermediate course (A2/B1)English words

*Welcome to the Intermediate Course!* This course will take you one step closer to feeling confident in English! We’ll learn how to compare adjectives, talk about the past, explore phrasal verbs and much more. But first, let’s start with a quick recap of essential English phrases and words that always come in handy.

*Phrasal Verbs* Have you come across *phrasal verbs* already? Let's take a look at them together! A phrasal verb is a phrase that has a *special meaning.* Phrasal verbs have *a main verb* and *another word* that is usually either an adverb or a preposition. For example: "to put on" means to get dressed "to work out" means to exercise

*Types of Adverbs for intermediate level* Adverbs are structures that modify verbs, adjectives, phrases, and other adverbs. Let us examine some of the most common and useful adverbs below!

*Linking verbs* Linking verbs are verbs that don’t show an action but rather *describe the subject.* While verbs like "walk" or "jump" represent an action, linking verbs like "be" or "seem" add more details to the subject, such as "he seems nice" or "she is an architect."

*Comparative adjectives with adverbs* You can use adverbials such as "slightly", "much", "a lot" before a comparative adjective. That means you can be more subtle in the comparisons you can make. "The prices are slightly higher than they were last year." "Those who start early will have a much better chance of meeting their goals." "The task is a lot easier than it sounds." Notice that "much better" is followed by a *noun*, however, it can also stand on its own.

*Past simple* As you already know, with most verbs, the past tense is formed by adding *–ed:* "call" - "called" "like" - "liked" However, there are a lot of *irregular past tense forms* in English. You need to remember these. "to get" - "got" - "gotten" "to bring" - "brought" - "brought" "to drive" - "drove" - "driven" "to eat" - "ate" - "eaten" "to think" - "thought" - "thought" "to know" - "knew" - "known" "to speak" - "spoke" - "spoken" "to understand" - "understood" - "understood"

*The different uses of get* The verb "get" can seem quite confusing for most English students. You can hear native speakers use it in almost every conversation. The most common meanings of this verb are the following: *1. Obtain/buy* "I need to get some files from the archives." "We must get some milk. There isn’t any left." *2. Take* "She gets the train to work every day." "We can get a cab back to the hotel." *3. Receive* "Did you get my email yesterday?" "She got a beautiful necklace for her birthday." *4. Become* "It’s getting colder. Put on your jacket." "You can get better at English by practicing." *5. Arrive* "They left at 4:30 and got home at 5:30." "When do you think you’ll get here?" *6. Understand* "I didn’t get what he said. Did you?" "He got the joke but I didn’t." *7. Make something happen* "You should get your hair cut. It’s really long." "We’re getting the car checked before our holiday."

*Common phrasal verbs with get* There are quite a few phrasal verbs with "get" that you already know and use without even thinking about it. For example: "What time do you get up?" "Get up" means to leave your bed in the morning. Let’s have a look at some of the most important phrasal verbs with *get*.

*Cause and Effect* Let's look at some words and phrases that help you join two ideas together. We often use expressions such as "because", "since", "due to", "as", "thanks to", "therefore", "so" to talk about cause and effect. Note, that there's a difference between "due to" and "thanks to". *Thanks to* has a *positive connotation*. *Due to* is more *neutral* - it can have both a negative and a positive connotation.

*What comes after a verb?* There are many verbs in English and there are many different patterns for what comes after a verb. Some common patterns are: *Verb + infinitive with to* "I decided to take the car to work." "He offered to cook dinner." *Verb + -ing form* "It took years but I've finally quit smoking." "After she finished reading the book she turned off the light and went to sleep." *Verb + (that) clause* (You can leave out "that".) "I understand that you weren't happy with your pay rise." "I suggest that you try the salmon, it's delicious."

*More rules* Some verbs have different meanings depending on whether they are followed by an *-ing form* or *to + infinitive*. For example: "Stop" *+ -ing* means the action is *not happening anymore.* "Stop" + *to + infinitive* means that someone or something stops an activity *so that they can do something else.* "I've stopped buying the newspaper because now I read the news online." "He stopped the video to ask the students some questions."

*Hate, like, love, and prefer* We can use *hate, like, love, and prefer* with an -ing form or with a to-infinitive. In American English, the forms with to-infinitive are much more common than the -ing form. There is a very small difference in meaning between the two forms. The *-ing form* emphasizes the *action or experience.* The *to-infinitive* gives more emphasis to the *results* of the action or event. We often use the -ing form to suggest enjoyment (or lack of it), and the to-infinitive form to express habits or preferences. The -ing form is more common than the to-infinitive form after *hate and love.* When we use "would" with *hate, like, love, or prefer*, we use the *to-infinitive*, not the -ing form.

*Transitive or intransitive* Some verbs always need an object. These are called transitive verbs. Some verbs never have an object. These are called intransitive verbs. Some verbs can be used *with an object (transitively)* or *without an object (intransitively).* Sometimes the meaning is the same. For example: "Please bring coffee." - In this sentence, the verb "bring" is transitive; its object is coffee, the thing that is being brought. "The sun is shining." - In this sentence, the verb "shine" is intransitive, it doesn't require an object for the sentence to make sense.

*Say vs tell* The most important difference between "say" and "tell" is that with "say", you don’t need to mention who the ideas or information were shared with, but with "tell", you do. For example: "Amy said that she likes coffee." "Amy told me that she likes coffee."

*English can be exciting!* Adjectives ending in *-ed* express how the *subject feels.* The subject himself has such a feeling, that something affects him. On the other hand, adjectives ending in *-ing* say that *the subject causes a given feeling in the environment* and that others feel that way because of it. In other words, you can say: "The teacher is boring." and "We are bored because of him."

*Prepositional phrases* A prepositional phrase is a group of words consisting of a *preposition, its object, and any words that modify the object.* Most of the time, a prepositional phrase modifies *a verb or a noun.* For example: "He arrived in time." "Are you going by bicycle or on foot?"

*Should* "Should" is a modal auxiliary verb. We use it mainly to: give advice or make recommendations: "You should get a haircut." talk about probability and expectation: "They should arrive soon." talk about obligation: "You should be wearing your seat belt."

*Like or as?* "As" and "like" are often confused since they can both be used for *comparisons.* Most of the time, like compares two things. "He looks like my brother." Frequently, as can be replaced by "the way". "He can’t play cricket as he used to." ("He can't play cricket the way he used to.")

*Wishes about the present or future* We can use "to wish" to talk about something that we would like to be different in the present or the future. We use *wish + past simple*: "I wish I spoke Italian." "I wish you were here." "I wish I had a big car."