Unit 7A

In Units 7A, 7B and 7C you will learn:

• how to compare present and routine action
• how to use verbs
• the object pronouns
• reciprocal action
• how to talk about traveling
• about describing people
• telephone dialogs

Lesson 1:    Tense Review I

I'm eating cereal. I always eat cereal
in the morning.

It's time to review the tenses you have learned and compare them together. Remember that the Present Continuous is used to express action at the moment, and the Present Simple is used to express routine action.

	I'm jogging. I always jog in the park.
	She's swimming. She swims every weekend.
	We're going out. We go out every Friday.

Try to understand that the Present Simple is often used with time expressions or other clauses that express routine or repetition. It is necessary to try to use the Present Simple this way.

Exercise 1    Make sentences with the information below. SPEAK!

Example    Jane / jog / every morning    Jane is jogging. 
She jogs every morning.

1. Paul / play guitar / every day 
2. Martha / listen to the radio / in the evening
3. Mother / cook / every day 
4. My brother / go out / every Saturday night
5. Father / look for his keys / every morning 
6. My sister / take a shower / after work
7. Tom / wash his clothes / every weekend 
8. Eddie / brush his teeth / before classes
9. My roommate / drink coffee / in the morning 
10. Brad / eat lunch / at 1:00

Answers

1. Paul is playing the guitar. He plays the guitar every day. 
2. Martha is listening to the radio. She listens to the radio every day. 
3. Mother is cooking. She cooks every day.
4. My brother is going out. He goes out every Saturday night. 
5. Father is looking for his keys. He looks for his keys every morning. 
6. My sister is taking a shower. She takes a shower after work.
7. Tom is washing his clothes. He washes his clothes every weekend. 
8. Eddie is brushing his teeth. He brushes his teeth before classes. 
9. My roommate is drinking coffee. She drinks coffee in the morning. 
10. Brad is eating lunch. He eats lunch at 1:00.

Exercise 2     Answer the questions with the Present Continuous and Present Simple.

Lesson 2:    Verbs III

I'm brushing my teeth. I brush my teeth every day.

Practice saying the verbs below.

	brush (one's) teeth, fix, know, want, work out
	cry, laugh (at), shave, call, go for a walk
	give, bring, dance, travel, smile

Exercise 3     Use the verbs work out, cry, shave, fix and travel  
in the sentences.

Lesson 3:    Verbs and Adjectives

She's crying. She always cries when she's upset.

It is important to understand the difference between verbs and adjectives. In other languages adjectives can also have a verb form. This is not necessarily so with English. For example, the word sick is an adjective. You can say I am sick or He is a sick man. Both sentences use sick as an adjective. If we want to use sick  as a verb, we can add get as an auxiliary (get will be discussed later). But for now let's concentrate on verbs and adjectives. Look at the adjectives below.

Remember that adjectives are used to express emotion, or give a description or condition of something or someone. Verbs almost always express action (but there are exceptions, such as hate and love). For now think of adjectives as description, and verbs as action. Look at the examples.

I'm thirsty. I'm drinking water. I always drink water when I'm thirsty.

He's tired. He's resting. He always rests when he's tired.

She's hungry. She's eating. She always eats when she's hungry.

When we say I'm thirsty we are describing a feeling. It is a need to drink something. I'm drinking water is action at the moment, and I always drink water  expresses routine action.

Exercise 4    Try to make sentences with the information. SPEAK!

Example    Sue / angry / shout    

Sue is angry. She's shouting.
She always shouts when she's angry.

1. Peter / tired / rest 

2. Lucy / upset / cry 

3. The children / happy / smiling 

4. I / hungry / eat 

5. My dog / thirsty / drink 

Answers

1. Peter is tired. He's resting. He always rests when he's tired. 2. Lucy is upset. 
She's crying. She always cries when she's upset. 3. The children are happy. 
They're smiling. They always smile when they're happy. 4. I'm hungry. 
I'm eating. I always eat when I'm hungry. 5. My dog is thirsty. It's drinking. 
It always drinks when it's thirsty.

Lesson 4:    Verbs and Prepositions

I'm listening to the radio.

One problem for students is to know when and how to use prepositions with verbs. Some verbs require specific prepositions. Let's review a few verbs and learn some prepositions.

Learners often make mistakes because they forget the prepositions. It isn't possible to say, for example, I'm waiting my wife. You must say I'm waiting for my wife. Not all verbs require prepositions. However it is necessary to simply memorize those that do.

Exercise 5    Complete the sentences below with the information. Use the possessive adjectives and the Present Continuous.

Lesson 5:    The Object Pronouns I

She's speaking to him.

It's time now to learn the object pronouns.

Practice saying the object pronouns.

me, him, her, it, you, us, them

The object pronouns are the objects. They always fall after a verb or preposition. In other languages it is possible to say a sentence in various ways. But English sentence structure, as already mentioned, is much stricter.

I see him.    I know her.     I work with them.

It isn't possible to say, for example, I him see or See him I. In English the object pronoun always comes after the verb or preposition. Other languages sometimes use a special case system that may require a specific verb to be used. 
This is not so with English. The object pronouns are used in all situations and with all the verbs.

Exercise 6    Put the sentences below in the correct order.