Gracia Castillo's Blog

 Simple Present: 3rd Person Singular Whenever you refer to a third person singular (He/She/It) in simple present, you must add -s to the verb following the spelling rules. Is it an option? No, it isn't. It is part of the grammatical structure of simple present. Therefore, it is your duty to manage the spelling rules to convey an accurate message. AFFIRMATIVE STATEMENTS:  Subject + Verb (base form) + s/es/ies (Depending on spelling rules) + complement + . Spelling rules to add -s to 3rd person singular verbs in simple present 1. To most verbs add -s: Cook - Cook s Skate - Skate s Play - Play s 2. When the verb finishes in consonant + y , change the -y to an -i and add -es : C ry - Cr ies Stu dy - Stud ies F ly - Fl ies 3. When the verb finishes in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z , add -es : Cros s - Cross es Wa sh - Wash es Cat ch - Catch es Fi x - Fix es Buz z - Buzz es 4. There are only 3 irregular spelling forms: Do - Does Go - Goes Have - Has 🖉Let's do a short practice...

 FEELING ADJECTIVES Feelings are emotions we can easily see or experience. You can tell when someone is sad, mad, ecstatic, etc. by looking at their facial expressions. Here is a list of the common feelings we experience on a daily-basis. The only point to consider when making a sentence using feeling adjectives is not to forget we use the verb be: I am hungry. ( I have hungry .) I'm not cold. ( I don't have cold. ) Are you hot? ( Do you have hot? ) As usual here are the links for you to do some online practice on your own: https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/feelings-emotions-exercises.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=6096

ADJECTIVES Let's start this post by describing the picture above! 👀 A language is made up of different words. Each of these words have a special function and we call them PARTS OF THE SPEECH. They are verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, nouns, articles, prepositions and pronouns.  In this post we will focus on ADJECTIVES . Do not forget their main function which is to describe the noun. Adjectives can work two different ways: as attributive and predicative. ATTRIBUTIVE:  They go BEFORE a noun and describe it. An ugly hostel A funny clown Long hair Busy cities Let's see them in complete sentences: We went to a beautiful village in Ishuatán but we stayed in an ugly hostel . My friend's daughter's birthday party was fantastic, she hired a funny clown . The woman in the picture has long hair. I don't like to travel to busy cities. They are too noisy! PREDICATIVE: We call them predicative adjectives when they are separated from the noun they describe by a v...

COLORS IN ENGLISH You may use color related vocabulary in any kind of conversations; when talking about food, clothing items, make-up, paint, fruit, vegetables, furniture, and so on. In this post we will go over the most basic colors and a few important points to consider when using them in a sentence. Learning tips! The difference between "color" and "colour" is their language. The first one is in American English and the second one in British. Colors do not take a plural form like in Spanish. My shoes are black. ( My shoes are blacks. ) Since they are adjectives they are used before the noun. Orange dress. ( Dress orange ) The best way to learn them is by practicing. As usual, here are some links which you could explore and do their exercises if you want😉. https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/colours-exercises-colors.html https://www.englishexercises.org/makeagame/viewgame.asp?id=558 https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/vocabulary/beginner-vocabulary/colours

A BRIEF GUIDE TO NOUNS Let's start this post with a quick exercise, describe the pictures above💬 Everything that we can see or talk about is represented by a word that names it and that word is A NOUN. Nouns are the basic building blocks of sentences and using them properly is essential to send clear messages. The more nouns you know in English the better you will communicate your ideas. Let's, first, start with a simple diagram that will help you distinguish them: We will go over them in a brief way. Uncountable nouns These nouns do not take any singular or plural form, you cannot use any numbers with them since you cannot count them. The easiest way to learn them is by categorizing them. For us, Salvadorans, this point is tricky because we tend to count everything (Una lechuga, dos panes, una leche, una margarina) but you must keep in mind the items above are UNCOUNTABLE as well as the following:  Cabbage, bread, cauliflower, broccoli, magarine, among others. Here is a wide ...

Classroom Supplies Look at the picture above 🠉, how many classroom objects can you name? In this lesson, we will go over classroom supply related vocabulary which may not be familiar to you. Learning tip: To avoid translating each word to your native language, make your own version of a picture dictionary. Notebook Notepad Mechanical Pencil Highlighter (Pencil) Sharpener Sticky notes Markers Scissors Bulletin board Thumbtacks Masking tape Clear tape Rubber bands Clipboard Flip chart Pencil case Here is a website where you can find a variety of exercises related to school supplies https://agendaweb.org/vocabulary/school_objects-exercises.html

POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES Describing possession in English is confusing for Spanish speakers when being in lower levels because they still think in their native language and tend to translate all the ideas. One of the most common mistakes or errors is to use the possessive adjective YOUR when referring to a third party's possession: "I saw Ana with your boyfriend." I know the student must have thought in Spanish "Ví a Ana con SU novio." Does this usually happen to you? Get used to associating each personal pronoun to its possessive adjective and make that relation when talking about possession instead of translating the sentence.   I  You He  She  It  We   You They  My   Your His   Her Its  Our   Your Their   Besides associating  them with each personal pronoun, you have to consider some points: Possessive adjectives do no take plural form like in Spanish. These are my two dogs. ( These are mys two dogs ....

Basic Personal Information Questions Let's review how to ask for personal information and how to answer properly.👩 Learning tips: To answer questions 1 to 3  you can say two different ways: My ______ is ______ or It's _______. What's your name?  My name is Gracia. / It's Gracia. Be careful not to ask for second names when referring to middle names. Second name in English means SURNAMES (Last names). To answer question 4  you can either say "I'm ____ years old." or "I'm ____ ." I am 38 years old. ✅ I'm 38. ✅ I have 38 years old. ✖ I am 38 years. ✖ To answer question 5  you should say your occupation and before you say it, you must insert the indefinite article ( A/an ): What do you do?  I am an E FL facilitator. What does you father do? He is an a ccountant. What does Marlene do? She is a r eceptionist. What does your niece do? She is a h igh-school student. To answer question 6  you have to keep in mind the use of the prepositio...

Grammar point: A quick guide to use the verb be properly in simple present How many times have we studied verb be in our school/ university/ English course? Even if we have seen this topic many times in our lives, we continue (unconsciously) making the same errors over and over again. 😑 It is typical to hear most PreA1, A1 and even A2 students combining verb be with other verbs in simple present and it is mostly because we tend to fossilize incorrect structures. "I send the message, people understand me, I am fine!👍" Yes, when you start learning without having any previous knowledge it is acceptable to convey messages with some errors; however, if you have been already taught the lesson, it is not. In this lesson, we will go over the main tips to use verb be properly in simple present. 1. Use of verb be in simple present We use verb be to describe people, animals, places and things. We use it to: Describe occupations Describe the age Describe personality (Adjectives) Descri...

DESCRIBING MY DAILY ROUTINES Describing what you do every day is very simple, you only need to learn the most common daily routine phrases and combine them with the simple present structure. Analyze the following examples: I                take a shower         every day.  I               check reports        at work. I               do the dishes        after eating. Subject +        Verb         +   Complement + .  As you can see the three sentences follow the simple present structure. Follow that structure to describe your daily routines when writing or speaking. Let's learn some common daily routine phrases and build more vocabulary! Wake up Get up Take a shower Brush (my) teeth Get dressed / Put on (my clothes) Have breakfast  (You can say "Eat ...