Lesson 1

Present Indefinite Tense

The first tense – the Present Indefinite Tense. It always says: “I am used to express a customary repeated action (or permanent states or actions). I am used with these words: always, often, never, usually, seldom, sometimes.”

-         Hello, Polly, what’s the news?

-         Hello, Sam, no news.

-         “No news is good news” ,as we, English, say.

-         Oh, what a clever boy you are, Sam! And I know a proverb too.

-         What proverb?

-         “Bad news has wings”. I know that you have ”two” for your French.

-         Oh, no, I have “three”.

-         That’s better, I am glad to hear it.

I want to be strong and healthy. I remember a good proverb: “A sound mind in a sound body”. That's why I go in for sports. My motto is: “Eat at pleasure, drink with measure, and enjoy life as it is”.

Proverbs

·                     Actions speak louder than words.

·                     A thief a thief as a wolf knows a wolf.

·                     No news is good news.

Words Order in Questions

Is as follows:

When, What, Why, Where and so on…                               1. I have six honest serving men. They taught me all I knew. Theirs names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.

Auxiliary verbs: Do, Does, Did Have…                               2. Auxiliary verbs help other verbs to form their tenses and question-sentences (as in the cases of  the Present  Indefinite Tense or the Past Indefinite Tense).

Subject                                                                                 3. The subject is the person or thing we are talking about in the sentence.

Predicate                                                                                  4. The predicate of a sentence is the word or group of words that tells us something about the subject.

Some Examples of Questions:

Limericks

There was an Old Man of the West,

Who wore a pale plum-coloured vest;

When they said: “Does it fit?”

He replied: “Not a bit!”

That uneasy Old Man of the West.

There was an Old Lady of Prague,

Whose language was horribly vague;

When they said: “Are there caps?”

She answered: “Perhaps!”

That oracular Lady of Prague.

Brother Tree:

-         Why do you reach and reach?

Do you dream some day to touch the sky?

Brother Stream:

-         Why do you run and run?

Do you dream some day to fill the sea?

Brother Bird:

-         Why do you sing and sing?

Do you dream? (Yes, I do) (No, I do not)

Young man:

-         Why do you talk and talk?

Imperative Mood

Some examples of the Imperative Mood:                                                Take!

Give!

Speak!

Listen!

Proverbs

·                     Do in Rome as Romans.

·                     Don’t be in a hurry.

·                     Do as you would be done by.

·                     Don’t change horses in midstream.

·                     Don’t say halloo until you are out of the wood.

·                     Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

·                     Don’t cross the bridge before you come to it.

·                     Never put off till tomorrow you can do today.