En glish Gr a m m a r t h r ou gh St or ie s by Alan Tow nend
Photocopiable 1 © www.english-test.net
En glish Gr a m m a r t h r ou gh St or ie s
Ta ble of Con t e n t s
1. Pr esent sim ple t ense or «I t never get s you anyw her e» ... 2
2. Pr esent cont inuous or «What a per for m ance! » ... 5
3. Fut ur e t ense or «Jealousy»... 7
4. Ar t icles in English or «Char lie t he Brave» ... 9
5. Pr ogr essive for m s or «Going, going, gone! » ... 12
6. Passive voice or «Haunt ed» ... 15
7. Relat iv e pr onoun ... 17
8. Usage of pronouns or «One t hing or anot her» ... 21
9. Pr eposit ions or «How I got t hat j ob» ... 22
10. Spot t he preposit ion ... 24
11. English adver b or «High hopes» ... 25
12. Types of adv er bs ... 27
13. I ndir ect speech or «Say it again» ... 30
14. Conj unct ions or «Joined up w r it ing» ... 32
15. Condit ionals or «On condit ion» ... 33
16. Subj unct iv e or «Wishful t hink ing» ... 35
17. Reflect ions ... 37
18. St ar t or begin? ... 39
19. Make or do? or «Doing t im e» ... 41
20. Phr asal verb br eak or «Br eak ing up» ... 45
21. Expr essions w it h br eak or «Have a br eak ! »... 47
22. Phr asal verb br ing or «Upbr inging» ... 49
23. Phr asal verb hold or «Hold on» ... 55
24. Phr asal verb t ake or «Take on» ... 58
25. Phr asal verb look or «Look out ! » ... 65
26. Phr asal verb go or «Going on» ... 68
27. Phr asal verb r un or «A Chr ist m as post m an» ... 71
28. Phr asal v erb fall ... 73
29. Phr asal verb get ... 75
30. Wor d st or y: Healt h ... 77
31. Wor d st or y: Jok es ... 78
32. Wor d st or y: Dict ionar y ... 79
33. Wor d st or y: Search engines ... 80
34. Wor d st or y: Weat her ... 81
35. Saying it t wice or «Save our anim als» ... 82
36. Colour idiom s or «A silv er lining» ... 84
37. Cool expr essions or «From one ext rem e t o t he ot her » ... 86
38. Book expr essions or «Have y ou seen t his book ?» ... 88
39. Gr eet ing expr essions or «Well, hello! » ... 90
40. Sea expressions... 92
41. Head expr essions... 93
42. Expr essions w it h t he wor d or der or «Or der int o chaos» ... 95
43. Expr essions w it h t he wor d nam e or «The nam e of t he gam e» 97 44. Usage of t he w or d chip or «Pot at oes» ... 99
45. Usage of t he w or d lear n or «Lear ning t o lear n?» ...101
46. Usage of t he w or d t ur n or «My t urn» ...103
En glish Gr a m m a r t h r ou gh St or ie s by Alan Tow nend
Photocopiable 2 © www.english-test.net
1 . Pr e se n t sim ple t e n se or « I t n e v e r ge t s y ou a n y w h e r e »
I n t his st ory y ou w ill find m any ex am ples of how t he Present Sim ple Tense can be used. As you know w e use t he pr esent sim ple for t hings t hat ar e t r ue in gener al, or for t hings t hat happen som et im es or all t he t im e:
She likes black t ea.
I st ar t w or k at 9 o'clock and finish at 5: 30.
Wat er boils at 100 degrees Celsius.
We usually visit our fr iends on t he w eekend.
You pr obably r em em ber t hat aft er he/ she/ it an «s» is added t o t he verb as in t hese exam ples:
She speaks excellent Fr ench.
He som et im es calls her «m y dar ling». I t m akes per fect sense t o m e.
When w e want t o m ake a negat ive sent ence we use t he follow ing st r uct ur e:
subj ect ( I / you/ w e/ t hey) + auxiliar y ver b ( don't ) + m ain verb
( infinit ive)
subj ect ( he/ she/ it ) + auxiliar y ver b ( doesn't ) + m ain ver b ( infinit iv e)
Exam ples:
I don't speak Chinese.
You don't w ork ver y har d
She doesn't call m e ev er y day.
When w e w ant t o m ak e a quest ion w e also use don't aft er
I / you/ w e/ t hey and doesn't aft er he/ she/ it :
Do you speak Chinese?
Does she w or k her e?
What do y ou do for a liv ing? How do you usually get t o w or k?
En glish Gr a m m a r t h r ou gh St or ie s by Alan Tow nend
Photocopiable 3 © www.english-test.net
« I t n e v e r ge t s y ou a n y w h e r e »
Andr ew Sm odley is a nat ur al w or r ier . I t is som et hing he has inher it ed fr om his fat her — t he king of all w or r ier s. But t hen t her e ar e t hose w ho ar e never happy unless t hey hav e a problem t o solv e. Andr ew w orried about t he w eat her , t he st at e of t he pound, his healt h, t he cost of liv ing and once he even w or r ied because he t hought he w asn't w or r ying enough. But t hat w as in t he past . Things have changed because som et hing happened t o him exact ly t w o year s ago.
I t w as in t he spring w hen leaves appear on t r ees and nat ur e
prepares her self for r enew al. Ot her t hings happen t oo — people oft en fall in lov e. Now Andrew doesn't hav e a rom ant ic disposit ion. He
never looks up at t he leaves st ar t ing t o gr ow , sighs and say s: «Ah her e com es t he spr ing! » He sim ply t hinks t o him self: «I live in a sm all village by a lit t le st r eam and ar ound t his t im e of year lot s of cr eat ur es st art t o w ake up and m ake a lot of noise.» I n London, w hich st ands on t he River Tham es, people m ake a lot of noise all t he t im e.»
I apologize for t he sim plicit y of t hese st at em ent s but I w ant t o
illust r at e t he unim aginat ive nat ur e w hich Andrew possesses. Tow ar ds t he end of t his st ory I giv e exam ples t o show t he ext ent of t he
change t hat he underwent .
The ot her char act er in t his anecdot e is a young w om an called Sally Fair w eat her . She t oo lives in t his t iny and r em ot e village w her e Andr ew has his cot t age. Now Sally is an ent ir ely differ ent ket t le of fish. Her philosophy r uns as follow s: «Worry ing nev er get s you any where and life is t oo shor t t o wast e t im e im agining t he w or st .»
I n a w or d she is t he com plet e opposit e in t em per am ent of Andr ew . Here com es anot her cliche: Opposit es at t r act . But you m ust
r em em ber t hat t w o year s ago t he t w o m ain char act er s hadn't m et ,
w hich w as sur pr ising when you consider t he prox im it y of Andrew 's cot t age and Sally 's flat . I f you t ake t he fir st left aft er t he post office, y ou com e t o Sally 's place and if y ou t ake t he second t ur ning t o t he r ight aft er t hat you com e t o t he cot t age wher e Andr ew lives.
The nex t part icipant in t his v illage dram a is t he w eat her , w hich plays a v ery significant part in English life. I t w as lat e April and t he sun had disappear ed behind dar k heavy r ain clouds but Andr ew had already set off for t he local pub. Nat urally he had his um brella w it h him and a heavy coat follow ing t hat aphor ism his m ot her alw ays used: «Never cast a clout ( r em ove an ar t icle of clot hing) befor e May
is out .»
En glish Gr a m m a r t h r ou gh St or ie s by Alan Tow nend
Photocopiable 4 © www.english-test.net
Ev er yone in t he pub looks suit ably depr essed at t his r em ar k and begins t o t hink of all t he price increases t hat w ill follow . The gloom is palpable. Then suddenly t he door bur st s open and in w alks our her oine, Sally looking like a dr ow ned r at . Most people in t he pub
t hink t o t hem selves: «What a pr et t y gir l! » Andr ew sees her as
som eone w ho is drenched and needs help. He w alks over t o her and
asks if she is all right . For probably t he first t im e in his life Andrew
act ually t r ansfer r ed his w or r y fr om him self t o som eone else and he
m ixes her a special dr ink t o pr ot ect her fr om a possible cold. The
conver sat ion w ent as follow s: «I hear y ou liv e in t his v illage, t oo» — «How do y ou know ?» asked Andr ew .
But Sally changed t he subj ect . «This dr ink t ast es delicious. How did you m ake it ?» — «I put a dr op of ginger ale and a piece of lem on in t he alcohol and t hen st ir t hor oughly. I alw ays keep t hose t w o ingredient s w it h m e w hen I go out at night .» Suddenly Sally looked at her w at ch: «I m ust fly . My t rain leaves in t en m inut es.» — «Don't
for get t o t ake t hose t ablet s I suggest ed and let m e know how you are.» — «I 'll let you know as soon as I com e back fr om London.»
And t hen she w ent .
I m m ediat ely Andr ew st ar t ed t o w or r y. He didn't know her nam e, he didn't know her addr ess and he felt st r ange. He checks his pulse. He
t est s his m ent al facult ies: «Tw o and t w o m ake four .» I t was a
differ ent sor t of w or r y t hat w as alm ost a concer n. He w ant s t o see her again. Wit hin seconds he r ushed out of t he pub leaving his coat behind, ran int o t he pouring rain w it h no um brella. What w as
happening t o him ? He saw Sally st anding on t he plat for m get t ing int o t he t r ain and t he t r ain leaving t he st at ion. He j um ps down fr om t he plat for m ont o t he t r ack and w aves at t he t r ain dr iver t o st op. The t r ain st ops and Andrew get s ont o it .
Six w eeks aft er t his ext raor dinar y episode Sally got m ar r ied. Andr ew
doesn't w orry any m ore now . He st ay s calm . The obvious t im e w hen
people expect ed him t o st ar t w or r ying w as dur ing t he w edding cerem ony in t he v illage church j ust ov er t w o y ears ago. As he says, «I know what ever yone w as t hinking. They t hought I w ould I go t o pieces. But I w as per fect ly r elaxed and I ow e it all t o Sally . She is cert ainly a w onderful w ife. She sm iled at m e when w e w er e st anding at t he alt ar and I st opped w or r ying from t hat m om ent on. You can
see m e look ing r elaxed in t he new spaper pict ures especially t hat one
w it h t he capt ion:
