136 OUTCOMES

GRAMMAR REFERENCE
GRAMMAR REFERENCE 137
GRAMMAR REFERENCE
Exercise 1
Find the six sentences that contain mistakes with the
structures and expressions about habits. Correct them.
1 Im tend to stay in on Friday nights, as Im generally too
tired to do anything much.
2 I use to go and see films when they come out at the
cinema because I prefer to see them on the big screen.
3 I used to eat chocolate whenever I got the chance. Id
probably have at least a bar a day, but Ive gone off it
now.
4 I dont see her as much as I used, because were both so
busy.
5 Hell always disappear when I want him to do some
housework.
6 I not used to do any sport at all, so I do a lot more now
than before.
7 I tend not to eat out much, but I go for a Chinese again
and now.
8 When I lived in New York, I was going running in Central
Park every day.
Exercise 2
Rewrite the sentences using the prompts in brackets
(without changing the form of the words).
1 I tend to only listen to classical music.
only listen to classical music.
(rule)
2 I did like them, but Ive gone off them a bit.
I dont like them . (used)
3 He hardly ever does any exercise.
He do much exercise. (tend)
4 We used to constantly fight when we were kids.
We used to when we were
kids. (time)
5 Ill go to the theatre, just not very often.
Ill go to the theatre , but I
dont go every week or anything. (while)
6 They never turn the TV off in their house.
They in their house.
(watching)
7 He was really fit. He went cycling 50 km every day.
He was really fit. cycle 50 km
every day. (would)
8 On the whole, I only eat food from my country.
foreign food. (hardly)
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS
Adjectives
Adjectives tend to go before a noun.
The film had a really uplifting ending.
Its quite dull music, if you ask me.
Adjectives go after linking verbs.
The painting looks quite sombre.
This song is so catchy.
She went red with embarrassment.
The following verbs can be followed by an adjective on
its own: be, become, get, go, feel, grow, keep, look, remain,
seem, smell, stay, sound, taste and turn.
Adverbs
Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to the adjective,
but some adverbs have the same form as the adjective.
For example: alive, fast, hard, late, later.
Note that the adverbs hardly and lately have completely
different meanings to the adjectives hard and late.
I hardly know him. (= not really)
I havent been to the cinema lately. (= recently)
Add adverbs immediately before the main verb to show
frequency or how you did something.
Theyre always shouting at each other.
I hardly ever go out these days.
She angrily denied she was involved in the scandal.
We also add adverbs after a verb to show how we did
something or to show when the action happens.
He was looking at me strangely.
I went to this great exhibition yesterday.
Im going there later.
Dont use an adverb after a linking verb to modify the
subject. Use an adjective.
She looks amazingly amazing.
You sound terribly terrible. Are you feeling badly bad?
We can use an adverb at the start of a sentence or clause
to give an opinion about the whole sentence.
Fortunately, no-one was injured in the accident.
I meant to be here earlier, but, stupidly, I got half-way here
before I realised Id left your address at home.
Funnily enough, I never went up the Eiffel Tower, despite
living in Paris for ten years!
Adverbs go before adjectives.
His writing is absolutely impossible to read.
It was a strangely moving film.
Adverbs can come before other adverbs.
The traffic was moving really slowly.
Exercise 1
Complete 18 with the adjectives in the box,
changing them into adverbs if necessary.
TALKING ABOUT HABITS
To talk about present habits, we mainly use:
Present simple
I hardly ever go out these days.
As a rule, I dont watch much TV.
tend to + verb
I tend to stay in during the week.
I dont tend to read much. (or I tend not to read much).
We also use this structure. Its more emphatic than the
present simple.
will / wont
Ill usually listen to music for a while before I go to bed.
I wont normally get up until 11 or 12 on a Sunday.
Present continuous
The present continuous emphasises that something
happens all the time and is often annoying.
Hes always watching TV! He hardly does anything else!
Past simple
Use the past simple to talk about past habits.
I did it every day for ten years, but then I gave up.
Dont use the past continuous to talk about past habits.
I was going went swimming a lot when I was younger.
used to + verb
I used to eat out a lot, but I cant afford to these days.
I never used to read much when I was a kid.
Dont say use to or used to to talk about habits in the
present. Say usually / normally + verb.
I use to usually go out with friends on a Friday.
would
Would is often used to talk about past habits. We
usually introduce the past habit with used to or the past
simple and then add details with would.
We used to go to the beach a lot in summer. Sometimes
wed make a bonfire, and wed stay up all night telling jokes.
Frequency expressions
These frequency expressions are often used in
connection with habits:
more than before / I used to / I should / you
not as much as Id like to / I used to / I should / you
(= less than)
whenever I can / I get the chance
(= every time I can)
all the time (= always / a lot)
(not) as a rule (= (not) usually / normally)
on the whole (= generally)
by and large (= generally)
now and again / once in a while (= occasionally)
hardly ever (= almost never)
Glossary
gone off: if you go off a band, a programme or some
kind of food, you stop liking it
come out: when a film / DVD is first released or a book
is first published, it comes out
go for a Chinese: if you go for a Chinese, an Indian or
an Italian, you go to eat that kind of food
01 ART AND ENTERTAINMENT
interesting hard frequent
beautiful funny occasional
later disturbing catchy
recent
1 You can buy a season ticket for the museum if youre
going to be a visitor. It works out a lot
cheaper.
2 I dont do much exercise, except for
going swimming.
3 Ive been working really to improve my
English and I feel Im making progress at last.
4 Seven in the mornings a bit early. Cant we get a
train?
5 enough, I was just thinking about
calling you when you rang.
6 If we want the book to sell, we need a
title to ensure that people remember it.
7 A report has found that kids are being
exposed to high levels of violence in
films and video games.
8 , this is one of only two portraits he
ever painted, but as you can see its
done a real masterpiece.
Exercise 2
Put the adverbs in brackets into the correct place.
1 I download films from the Internet. (never)
2 Ive seen him all day. (hardly)
3 He reacted badly to the news. (fairly)
4 Im going fishing in the week. (later)
5 To be honest, I havent even picked up a book. (lately)
6 The car was completely destroyed, but he escaped
without a scratch. (amazingly)
7 The special effects are amazing just realistic.
(incredibly)
8 They got married in 2005, but he died after. (sadly,
soon)
Exercise 3
Make collocations with adjectives and adverbs from
this unit. Look in the Vocabulary Builder if you need
help.
1 a heated a after
2 loosely b meaning
3 a symbolic c treated
4 ended d exactly the same
5 shortly e discussion
6 an uplifting g ending
7 almost h out of control
8 badly i tragically
9 totally j based on a true story