Before doing this activity you may need to read the text you will find at the end
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| Gapped text | |
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| (they-need) ________________________ any money? | |
| (he-can) ____________ speak Chinese? | |
| (she-live) __________________________ near your house? | |
| (It-might) ________________ rain on Sunday? | |
| (I-should) ________________ go with you? | |
| (you-be) ______________ Spanish? | |
| (She-like) __________________________ your new house? | |
| (you-do) ____________ do homework on Saturdays? | |
| (they-must) __________________ bring their children too? | |
| (you-have got) ________________________ any children yet? | |
| (you-work) ______________________ in Salisbury? | |
| (we-shall) ________________ go to the party tomorrow? | |
| (you-like) ______________________ whiskey? | |
| (you-know) ______________________ her telephone number? | |
| (you-have) ________________ lived in Rome? | |
| (I-be) ________ right? | |
| (you-would) __________________ like a drink? | |
| (you-could) __________________ open the window, please? | |
| (you-play) ______________________ tennis with Tom? | |
| (I-may) __________ come in? | |
| (she-has) ______________ finished her exercises? | |
| (he-be) __________ your brother? | |
| (he-take) ________________________ the bus very often? | |
| (they-will) __________________ be here before 10? | |
| (they-have) ________________________ a job? |
It is very important to know which verbs are normal and which are special, because the sentence structure is different in each case.
SPECIAL VERBS
They can do everything, they never need help. Special verbs are auxiliaries and modals, and there are only 13:
auxiliaries: to be, have, do
modals: can/could, will/would, shall/should, may/might, must, ought to NORMAL VERBS
All the other verbs are normal. They can only build an affirmative sentence. For all the other constructions they need to use DO
Special verbs follow the rule of the three NO's: No -S, No To, No Do
| SPECIAL VERBS | compare: | NORMAL VERBS | ||||
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| NO –S |
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I can / she can | I want / She wants | |||
| NO TO | |
I can walk / to can |
I want to go / to want | |||
| NO DO | |
you can / you can’t / can you? | you want / you don't want / do you want? | |||
❶- No S: Special verbs don't add an -S for the third person singular in the simple present tense. The forms is, has are irregular forms, but still, they are not bes (be + S) or haves (have + S)
❷- No To: Special verbs are never followed by an "infinitive with to" (exception: ought to), and they don't have an infinitive form (exception: to be). To do and To have are different from Do and Have. Compare:
- Do = special (auxiliary verb, no meaning): Do you like it?
- To Do = normal verb: I do yoga in the mornings / Do you do yoga?
- Have = special (auxiliary verb, no meaning): Have you ever been to London?
- To Have = normal verb: I have a car / do you have a car?
Note: Have got = have (special) + got (normal): Have you got a car?
❸- No Do: Special verbs never use DO
I can't speak Russian (not: I don't can speak Russian)
Are you Polish? (not: Do you are Polish?)
Abbriviations used here: s.v.= special verb n.v.= normal verb S= subject V= verb O= object, adverbial, complement
Let's see how these three rules work in practice, shaping the 4 most common constructions in the language
AFFIRMATIVE
s.v. & n.v. S+V+(O)
- I am Spanish
- He can speak English
- You live in London
- She likes Japanese music NEGATIVE
s.v. S+ V+not +(O)
- I am not French
- She can’t speak Italian
n.v. S+do+not +V+(O)
- You don’t live in Rome
- She doesn’t like Jazz QUESTIONS
s.v. V+S +(O) ?
- Are you Spanish?
- Can she speak English?
n.v. do+S +V+(O) ?
- Do you live in London?
- Does she like Japanese music? SHORT ANSWERS
s.v.
Are you Spanish? Yes, I am / No, I'm not
Can she speak English? / Yes, he can / No, he can't
n.v. (use do)
Do you live in London? Yes, I do / No, I don't
Does she like Japanese music? Yes, she does / No, she doesn't
(simple rule: for Short Answers, the same verb that starts the question is the verb that will finish the answer)
