First Conditional

We use the First Conditional to talk about future events that are likely to happen.

• If we take John, he'll be really pleased.
• If you give me some money, I'll pay you back tomorrow.
• If they tell us they want it, we'll have to give it to them.
• If Mary comes, she'll want to drive.

The 'if' clause can be used with different present forms.

• If I go to New York again, I'll buy you a souvenir from the Empire State Building.
• If he's feeling better, he'll come.
• If she hasn't heard the bad news yet, I'll tell her.

The "future clause" can contain 'going to' or the future perfect as well as 'will'.

• If I see him, I'm going to tell him exactly how angry I am.
• If we don't get the contract, we'll have wasted a lot of time and money.

The "future clause" can also contain other modal verbs such as 'can' and 'must'.

• If you go to New York, you must have the cheesecake in Lindy's.
• If he comes, you can get a lift home with him.

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Second Conditional

The Second Conditional is used to talk about 'impossible' situations.

• If we were in London today, we would be able to go to the concert in Hyde Park.
• If I had millions dollars, I'd give a lot to charity.
• If there were no hungry people in this world, it would be a much better place.
• If everyone had clean water to drink, there would be a lot less disease.

Note that after I / he/ she /it we often use the subjunctive form 'were' and not 'was'. (Some people think that 'were' is the only 'correct' form but other people think 'was' is equally 'correct' .)

• If she were happy in her job, she wouldn't be looking for another one.
• If I lived in Japan, I'd have sushi every day.
• If they were to enter our market, we'd have big problems.

Note the form 'If I were you' which is often used to give advice.

• If I were you, I'd look for a new place to live.
• If I were you, I'd go back to school and get more qualifications.

The Second Conditional is also used to talk about 'unlikely' situations.

• If I went to China, I'd visit the Great Wall.
• If I was the President, I'd reduce taxes.
• If you were in my position, you'd understand.

Note that the choice between the first and the second conditional is often a question of the speaker's attitude rather than of facts. Compare these examples. Otto thinks these things are possible, Peter doesn't.

• Otto – If I win the lottery, I'll buy a big house.
• Peter – If I won the lottery, I'd buy a big house.
• Otto – If I get promoted, I'll throw a big party.
• Peter – If I got promoted, I'd throw a big party.
• Otto – If my team win the Cup, I'll buy champagne for everybody.
• Peter – If my team won the Cup, I'd buy champagne for everybody.

Note that the 'If clause' can contain the past simple or the past continuous.

• If I was still working in Brighton, I would commute by train.
• If she were coming, she would be here by now.
• If they were thinking of selling, I would want to buy.

Note that the main clause can contain 'would' 'could' or 'might.

• If I had the chance to do it again, I would do it differently.
• If we met up for lunch, we could go to that new restaurant.
• If I spoke to him directly, I might be able to persuade him.

Also note that sometimes the 'if clause' is implied rather than spoken.

• What would I do without you? ("if you weren't here")
• Where would I get one at this time of night? ("if I wanted one")
• He wouldn't agree. ("if I asked him")

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Third Conditional

We can use the Third Conditional to talk about 'impossible' conditions, impossible because they are in the past and we cannot change what has happened.

• If I had worked harder at school, I would have got better grades.
• If I had had time, I would have gone to see him. But I didn't have time.
• If we had bought that house, we would have had to rebuild the kitchen.
• If we had caught the earlier train, we would have got there on time but we were late.

Notice that the main clause can contain 'would', 'could' or 'might.

• If I had seen him at the meeting, I would have asked him. (But he wasn't there so I didn't.)
• If I had seen him at the meeting, I could have asked him. ( But he wasn't there so it wasn't possible.)
• If I had seen him at the meeting, I might have asked him. (But I'm not sure. Perhaps if the opportunity had arisen.)
• If I had paid more attention in class, I would have understood the lesson.

Also notice that sometimes the 'if clause' is implied rather than spoken.

• I'd have done it. ("if you had asked me but you didn't.")
• I wouldn't have said that. ("if I'd been there.")
• He wouldn't have let him get away with that. ("if he had tried that with me.")

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Present Perfect Continuous

Present perfect continuous
This tense is used to talk about an action or actions that started in the past and continued until recently or that continue into the future:
We can use it to refer to an action that has finished but you can still see evidence.

• Oh, the kitchen is a mess. Who has been cooking?
• You look tired. Have you been sleeping properly?
• I've got a a stiff neck. I've been working too long on computer.

It can refer to an action that has not finished.

• I've been learning Spanish for 20 years and I still don't know very much.
• I've been waiting for him for 30 minutes and he still hasn't arrived.
• He's been telling me about it for days. I wish he would stop.

It can refer to a series of actions.

• She's been writing to her regularly for a couple of years.
• He's been phoning me all week for an answer.
• The university has been sending students here for over twenty years to do work experience.

The present perfect continuous is often used with 'since', 'for', 'all week', 'for days', 'lately', 'recently', 'over the last few months'.

• I've been wanting to do that for ten years.
• You haven't been getting good results over the last few months.
• They haven't been working all week. They're on strike
• He hasn't been talking to me for weeks.
• We've been working hard on it for ages.
• I've been looking at other options recently.
• He's been working here since 2001.

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Present Perfect

Present perfect
(Please note that British and American English have different rules for the use of this tense. The explanation and exercises here refer to British English. In American English, it is often acceptable to use the past simple in some of these examples.)
We use the present perfect when we want to look back from the present to the past.
We can use it to look back on the recent past.

• I've broken my watch so I don't know what time it is.
• They have cancelled the meeting.
• She's taken my copy. I don't have one.
• The sales team has doubled its turnover

When we look back on the recent past, we often use the words 'just' 'already' or the word 'yet' (in negatives and questions only).

• We've already talked about that.
• She hasn't arrived yet.
• I've just done it.
• They've already met.
• They don't know yet.
• Have you spoken to him yet?
• Have they got back to you yet?

It can also be used to look back on the more distant past.
We've been to Singapore a lot over the last few years.
She's done this type of project many times before.
We've mentioned it to them on several occasions over the last six months.
They've often talked about it in the past.
When we look back on the more distant past, we often use the words 'ever' (in questions) and 'never'.
Have you ever been to Argentina?
Has he ever talked to you about the problem?
I've never met Jim and Sally.
We've never considered investing in Mexico.

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The language of presentations

The language of presentations Non-native speakers of English have to consider not only the content of their presentations but also the language to use.

Let’s look at how to make reference.

Referring to visuals

Look at these phrases for referring to visuals:

I'd like you to look at this ...
As you can see from this ...
As this ... shows, ...
Let's look at this ...

Making reference

Non-native speakers of English have to consider not only the content of their presentations but also the language to use. In this issue of POSTSCRIPTwe look at how to make reference.

Look at these presentation phrases and decide whether they:
refer backwards, refer forwards, refer to visuals or deal with interruptions.

1. This graph indicates...
2. As I said earlier, ...
3. This leads me to my next point.
4. Taking this into consideration, ...
5. As this bar chart shows, ...
6. If you don't mind, I'll deal with questions later on.
7. Going back to a point I made earlier, ...
8. Sorry, could I finish first?
9. I'll deal with this point again later.
10. I'll give you some more information on this in a moment.

• Let us look now at the video below and listen to some useful language for meetings.

Starting a presentation

Get people's attention

• If I could have everybody's attention.
• If we can start.
• Perhaps we should begin?
• Let's get started.

Welcome them

• Welcome to Microsoft.
• Thank you for coming today.
• Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
• On behalf of Intel, I'd like to welcome you.

Introduce yourself

• My name's Jane Shaw. I'm responsible for travel arrangements.
• For those of you who don't know me, my name's Tom Stotter.
• As you know, I'm in charge of public relations.
• I'm the new Marketing Manager.

State the purpose of your presentation

• This morning I'd like to present our new processor.
• Today I'd like to discuss our failures in the Japanese market and suggest a new approach.
• This afternoon, I'd like to report on my study into the German market.
• What I want to do this morning is to talk to you about our new mobile telephone system.
• What I want to do is to tell you about our successes and failures in introducing new working patterns.
• What I want to do is to show you how we've made our first successful steps in the potentially huge Chinese market.

State how you want to deal with questions.

• If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer them as we go along.
• Feel free to ask any questions.
• Perhaps we can leave any questions you have until the end?
• There will be plenty of time for questions at the end.

Of course, these are only suggestions and other language is possible. Even within this limited group of phrases, just choose a few you feel comfortable with and learn and use those.

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Signposting

When you want to make your next point, you ‘move on’.

• Moving on to the next point.
• I’d like to move on to the next point if there are no further questions

When you want to change to a completely different topic, you ‘turn to’.

• I’d like to turn to something completely different.
• Let’s turn now to our plans for next year.

When you want to give more details about a topic you ‘expand’ or ‘elaborate’.

• I’d like to expand more on this problem we have had in Chicago.
• Would you like me to expand a little more on that or have you understood enough?
• I don’t want to elaborate any more on that as I’m short of time.

When you want to talk about something which is off the topic of your presentation, you ‘digress’.

• I’d like to digress here for a moment and just say a word of thanks to Bob for organizing this meeting.
• Digressing for a moment, I’d like to say a few words about our problems in Chicago.

When you want to refer back to an earlier point, you ‘go back’.

• Going back to something I said earlier, the situation in Chicago is serious.
• I’d like to go back to something Jenny said in her presentation.

To just give the outline of a point, you ’summarize’.

• If I could just summarize a few points from John’s report.
• I don’t have a lot of time left so I’m going to summarize the next few points.

To repeat the main points of what you have said, you ‘recap’.

• I’d like to quickly recap the main points of my presentation.
• Recapping quickly on what was said before lunch,……

For your final remarks, you ‘conclude’.

• I’d like to conclude by leaving you with this thought ……
• If I may conclude by quoting Karl Marx

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Describing change

When we are giving a presentation, we often talk about changes. Usually we illustrate these changes with visual aids to show these changes. We need, however, to explain these changes. To do this, we need special verbs.

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Describing Change- Adjectives

When talk about changes, we often need to point out how big or rapid these changes have been. To do this, we need to use adjectives.

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How to present like Steve Jobs key features

Present Simple vs Present Continuous

The present simple is used to talk about actions we see as long term or permanent. It is very common and very important.

In these examples, we are talking about regular actions or events.

• I drive to work every day.
• She doesn't come very often.
• The games usually start at 8.00 in the evening.
• What do you usually have for breakfast?

In these examples, we are talking about facts.

• Water freezes at 0° C or 32° F.
• I have three children.
• What does this word mean?
• I don't have any of my original teeth left.

In these examples, we are talking about future facts, usually found in a timetable or a chart.

• The plane leaves at 5.00 tomorrow morning.
• Christmas Day falls on a Sunday this year.
• Ramadan doesn't begin for another 2 weeks.
• Does the class begin this week or next?

In these examples, we are talking about our thoughts and feelings at the time of speaking. Notice that, although these feelings can be short-term, we use the present simple and not the present continuous.

• I think you are wrong.
• She doesn't want to do it.
• They don't agree with us.

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More info here

The present continuous is used to talk about present situations which we see as short-term or temporary. We use the present simple to talk about present situations which we see as long-term or permanent.

• It's raining.
• Who is Kate talking to on the phone?
• Look, somebody is trying to steal that man's wallet.
• I'm not looking. My eyes are closed tightly.

In these examples, the action is true at the present time but we don't think it will be true in the long term.

• I'm looking for a new apartment.
• He's thinking about leaving his job.
• They're considering making an appeal against the judgment.
• Are you getting enough sleep?

In these examples, the action is at a definite point in the future and it has already been arranged.

• I'm meeting her at 6.30.
• They aren't arriving until Tuesday.
• We are having a special dinner at a top restaurant for all the senior managers.
• Isn't he coming to the dinner?

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More info here

Present Simple or Continuous?

We use the Present Simple for:

regular actions or events

• I watch TV most evenings.
  

facts

• The sun rises in the east.

facts known about the future

• The plane leaves at 5.00 in the morning.

thoughts and feelings about the time of speaking

• I don't understand.

We use the Present Continuous for

the time of speaking ('now')

• I'm watching a movie on TV.

things which are true at the moment but not always

• I'm looking for a new job.

present plans for the future

• I'm taking my husband to New York for his birthday.

Look at these sentences :

• I usually don't drink coffee but I'm having one this morning because there is nothing else.
• I often drive to work but I'm taking the train this morning because my car is in for repair.
• I'm thinking about dying my hair blonde but I don't think my wife will be very happy about it.
• My parents live in New York but I'm just visiting.

Notice how in all these examples we use the present continuous to talk about events which are temporary/limited in time and the present simple to talk about event which are habits/permanent.
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Simple Past

We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.

We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.

• She came back last Friday.
• I saw her in the street.
• They didn't agree to the deal.

It can also be used to talk about a period of time.

• She lived in Tokyo for seven years.
• They were in London from Monday to Thursday of last week.
• When I was living in New York, I went to all the art exhibitions I could.

You will often find the past simple used with time expressions such as these:

• Yesterday
• three weeks ago
• last year
• in 2002
• from March to June
• for a long time
• for 6 weeks
• in the 1980s
• in the last century
• in the past

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More here

Past Continuous

We use the past simple to talk about actions and states which we see as completed in the past.

We can use it to talk about a specific point in time.
We use the past continuous to talk about past events which went on for a period of time.

We use it when we want to emphasize the continuing process of an activity or the period of that activity. (If we just want to talk about the past event as a simple fact, we use the past simple.)

• While I was driving home, Peter was trying desperately to contact me.
• Were you expecting any visitors?
• Sorry, were you sleeping?
• I was just making some coffee.
• I was thinking about him last night.
• In the 1990s few people were using mobile phones.

We often use it to describe a "background action" when something else happened.

• I was walking in the street when I suddenly fell over.
• She was talking to me on the phone and it suddenly went dead.
• They were still waiting for the plane when I spoke to them.
• The company was declining rapidly before he took charge.
• We were just talking about it before you arrived.
• I was making a presentation in front of 500 people when the microphone stopped working.

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learn more about this tense here

• Both the past simple and the past continuous refer to completed actions in the past.

Most of the time when we are talking about such actions, we use the past simple. This is by far the most common way of talking about the past.

• I lived there for 6 years.
• I only found out a few moments ago.
• I asked her but she didn't know anything.
• The company made 100 people redundant last year.

Only use the past continuous when you want to emphasize the continuity of the action.

• Everybody was talking about it all evening.
• They were really trying hard but couldn't do it.
• I was thinking about you the other day.
• Were you expecting that to happen?

When we use these two forms in the same sentence, we use the past continuous to talk about the "background action" and the past simple to talk about the shorter completed action.

• It was raining hard when we left the building.
• I was reading the report when you rang.
• He was going out to lunch when I saw him.
• The company was doing well when I last visited it.
  

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Questions tags

We use tags in spoken English but not in formal written English.

They are not really questions but are a way of asking the other person to make a comment and so keep the conversation open.

Making a tag is very mechanical. To make a tag, use the first auxiliary. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. With a positive sentence, make a negative tag and with a negative sentence, make a positive tag.

• It's beautiful, isn't it?
• He has been, hasn't he?
• You can, can't you?
• It must be, mustn't it?
• You know him, don’t you?
• He finished it, didn't he?
• He will come, won't he?
• It isn't very good, is it?
• It hasn't rained, has it?
• It can't be, can it?
• Jenny doesn't know James, does she?
• They didn't leave, did they?
• He won’t do it, will he?

Notice these:

• There isn't an ATM here, is there?
• Let's have a cup of coffee, shall we?

To reply, use the same auxiliary:

• It's beautiful, isn't it? ~ Yes, it is. I think it's fabulous.
• It isn't very good, is it? ~ No, it isn't. In fact, it's terrible.

Although, the rules are very simple and mechanical, in order to use them easily in conversation, they have to be automatic. So you need to hear an
practice them very often.

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More here

Should have

We can use 'should have' to talk about past events that did not happen.

• I should have let her know what was happening but I forgot.
• He should have sent everybody a reminder by email.
• They should have remembered that their guests don't eat pork.

We can also use 'should have' to speculate about events that may or may not have happened.

• She should have got the letter this morning. I expect she'll give us a call about it later.
• He should have arrived at his office by now. Let's try ringing him.
• They should have all read that first email by this stage. It's time to send the next one.

We can use ' should not have' to speculate negatively about what may or may not have happened.

• She shouldn't have left work yet. I'll call her office.
• He shouldn't have boarded his plane yet. We can probably still get hold of him.
• They shouldn't have sent the report off for printing yet. There is still time to make changes.

We can also use 'should not have' to regret past actions.

• I shouldn't have shouted at you. I apologise.
• We shouldn't have left the office so late. We should have anticipated this bad traffic.
• They shouldn't have sacked him. He was the most creative person on their team.
  
  
  

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