Day 11 Contractions and Present Perfect

1.Contractions

Contractions with ‘to be’
am becomes -'m:

I am here → I’m here

are becomes → 're:

you are right → you’re right

we are talking → we’re talking

they are colleagues → they’re colleagues

is becomes → 's

He is my brother → he’s my brother

She is my sister → she’s my sister

It is raining → it’s raining

Contractions with ‘to have’:
have becomes → 've:

I have done → I’ve done

you have been → you’ve been

we have eaten → we’ve eaten

they have drunk → they’ve drunk

has becomes → 's:

he has met → he’s met

she has studied → she’s studied

it has gone → it’s gone

my friend has arrived → my friend’s arrived

Contractions with ‘will’:

will becomes → 'll:

I will wait for you → I’ll wait for you

it will snow tomorrow → it’ll snow tomorrow

they will meet us → they’ll meet us

Contractions with ‘not’:
not becomes → n’t:

we do not → we don’t

he should not → he shouldn’t

they are not → they aren’t

2.Present Perfect

Meaning and use
Positive
The present perfect is made with subject + have/has + past participle.

I’ve taught English in Italy and in Russia.

Johnny Depp has starred in lots of brilliant films.

Negative
The negative present perfect is made with subject + have/has not + past participle.

I haven’t seen the first Bond film.

I haven’t seen the first Bond film.

Questions
Present perfect yes/no questions are made from have/has + subject + past participle?

Present perfect question word questions are made from question word + have/has + subject + past participle?

Ever and never
We often use the present perfect with the words ever or never. Ever mean at any time in someone’s life. We usually use ever in questions.

‘Has he ever worked in China?’ ‘No, he hasn’t.’

Never means not at any time in someone’s life.

I’ve never seen the first Bond film.

Sometimes we ask questions with never. Often we do this to express surprise:

Have you never eaten a banana?

Past participles
The past participle is the third form of the verb. For example, with the verb to see, the three forms are: see, saw, seen.

We use the past participle in present perfect sentences with ever and never.

Have you ever eaten sushi?

I’ve never seen the first Bond film.

Regular and irregular verbs
Many verbs are regular. The past participle ends with -ed

look - looked - looked
climb - climbed - climbed
want - wanted - wanted

Some verbs are irregular. Here are some of them:

become - became - become
eat - ate - eaten
forget - forgot - forgotten
give - gave - given
go - went - gone / been
have - had - had
know - knew - known
meet - met - met
read - read - read
ride - rode - ridden
run - ran - run
say - said - said
see - saw - seen
sell - sold - sold
sing - sang - sung
win - won - won
write - wrote - written

3.Vocabulary Reference

the Antarctic
The very cold region that is the most southern part of the world

bucket list
a list of the things you want to do before you reach a certain age, or before you die

climb
to go up something

marathon
a race where people run over a distance of 42 kilometres

medal
a small flat piece of metal that you can win in a competition, or for doing something very brave

awesome
fantastic, amazing, wonderful

ghost
the spirit of a dead person that someone sees or hears

allergy
a medical condition in which you become ill or your skin becomes covered with red marks as a reaction to something you eat, breathe, or touch

famous
known and recognised by many people

audition
a short test in which you sing, act, dance or play an instrument to show if you are good enough to be in a play, show, concert, etc.

performance
singing, acting, dancing or playing an instrument in front of other people

debut
first (often used to describe the first CD made by a singer)

stardom
being very famous, usually as a singer, actor or dancer

to bully
to act in a threatening way towards other people, often making them do something they don’t want to do

celebrity
famous person

the press
news media including newspapers, magazines, online news sites etc.

award
prize you get for an achievement

to nominate
to recommend someone for a prize or job

to adopt
to bring up someone else’s child as if they are your own child

perhaps
maybe

inspiration
(here) a person who you admire and try to be like

demand
to ask for something strongly

compensation
money which is paid to you because you have been hurt in some way

orphan
a child whose parents have died

foster family
a family which takes care of a child, although they are not the child’s biological family

agriculture
the science or industry of farming

mechanized
using machines to do work

labour
work; particularly, physical work

object
(here) to oppose something; to say that something is not acceptable

decline
(here) to decrease; to become less

campaigner
a person who works, together with others, to try to change something in society

parliament
the group of elected people who make laws for the country

suffer
to experience something painful

decade
ten years

fool
a stupid person

monster
a living thing that is frightening and not human

creature
a living thing that is not human

alchemist
a kind of scientist in the middle ages who tried to change metals into gold and find a cure for all illnesses

power
strength or ability to do something special

elixir of life
a liquid with magical powers which could give someone eternal life

chemistry
a kind of science which studies substances and what happens when they are mixed together

laboratory
a room with scientific equipment which is used for experiments

anatomy
study of the human body