Learn grammar through dialogue

Vocabulary take time off: to stop working in order to do something else average day: a normal or typical day in someone's life studio: the room(s) in which a movie is made shoot some scenes: to record scenes being acted out on a video camera script: the lines an actor needs to speak in a movie career: the job you have for most of your life future projects: the work that you will do in the future focus on something: to try to do only one thing at a time documentary: a type of film about something that happened in real life retire: to stop working permanently

Part One of the Interview Pay close attention to the use of the present simple and present continuous tense in the following interview excerpt. Interviewer: Thank you for taking some time off from your busy schedule to answer a few questions about your life! Tom: It's my pleasure. Interviewer: Could you tell us about an average day in your life? Tom: Sure. I get up early, at 7 in the morning, then I have breakfast. After breakfast, I go to the gym. Interviewer: Are you studying anything now? Tom: Yes, I'm learning dialogue for a new film called "The Man About Town". Interviewer: What do you do in the afternoon? Tom: First I have lunch, then I go to the studio and shoot some scenes. Interviewer: Which scene are you working on today? Tom: I'm acting out a scene about an angry lover. Interviewer: That's very interesting. What do you do in the evening? Tom: In the evening, I go home and have dinner and study my scripts. Interviewer: Do you go out at night? Tom: Not always, I like going out at weekends.

The present simple tense is used to speak and ask about daily routines.

The present continuous tense is used to speak about what is happening at a specific moment in time, usually at or around the moment that a conversation is taking place.

Part Two of the Interview Pay close attention to the use of the present perfect and future tense in the following interview excerpt. Interviewer: Let's talk about your career. How many films have you made? Tom: That's a hard question. I think I've made more than 50 films! Interviewer: Wow. That's a lot! How many years have you been an actor? Tom: I've been an actor since I was ten years old. In other words, I've been an actor for twenty years. Interviewer: That's impressive. Do you have any future projects? Tom: Yes, I do. I'm going to focus on making a few documentaries next year. Interviewer: That sounds great. Do you have any plans beyond that? Tom: Well, I'm not sure. Maybe I will become a film director and maybe I'll just retire. Interviewer: Oh, please don't retire! We love your films! Tom: That's very kind of you. I'm sure I'll make a few more films. Interviewer: That's good to hear. Thank you for the interview. Tom: Thank you.

The future tense is used to talk about the future and uses forms such as "going to" and "will" to do this. The future tense can be used to reference scheduled events, predictions, and even conditional events that depend on the occurrence of other conditions to take place. "Going to" is often used for future plans and "will" is often used to make predictions.

Present Perfect The present perfect tense is one of the common verb tenses in English, used to show an action that happened in the past that is directly related to the present, such as actions that are still continuing or that indicate a change over time. Present Perfect vs Past Simple Present Perfect Use: 1) The present perfect tense is often used to tell up-to-date news. ‘Great news! Jane has had a baby!’ But you cannot use the present perfect with phrases relating to finished time. ‘Great news! Jane has had a baby yesterday!’ So, to ask about and give more details, you need to use the past simple. ‘Great news! Jane has had a baby!’ ‘When did she have it?’ ‘She had it last night!’ 2) The present perfect can be used with phrases relating to unfinished time, such as: this week, today, this year I’ve seen Roger twice this week. That’s the second time I’ve seen that film this year. 3) The present perfect is often used in sentences with these words: just, yet, already, ever, never I’ve just finished the report. Karen has finished the book already. I haven’t finished the report yet. I’ve never been to Spain. Have you ever been? 4) The present perfect is used to describe periods of time that start in the past and continue until the present. It is often used with for and since. I’ve lived here for five years. James has worked here since last summer. The present perfect and past simple may appear in the same sentence: I’ve lived here since I was a child. Tom has been unemployed since he left the factory. Past Simple Use: The past simple can be used with phrases relating to finished time, such as: yesterday, last week, last month, in 2010, two weeks ago Jemma left the company six weeks ago. I emailed Tony last week.

The present perfect tense for statements For general statements, the most common use of the present perfect, use have or has plus the past participle form of the main verb. [have/has] + [past participle] Charlotte has become friends with Wilbur. We’ve broken up before, but this time feels different.

1. Which sentence is NOT correct? 1. This is the news. There has been an earthquake in Japan last night. 2. This is the news. There has just been an earthquake in Japan. 3. This is the news. There has been an earthquake in Japan.

Which question follows this statement? ‘I’ve been to New York.’ 1. Really? When did you go? 2. Really? When have you gone? 3. Really? When you have gone?

3. Complete the sentence. ‘I ____ out last Friday.’ a.didn’t go b. have gone c. haven’t been

4. Which sentence is NOT correct? a. He’s recently got a new job in Frankfurt. b. Alan has just arrived. c. I’ve bought a new mobile phone two days ago.

Which word can complete the sentence? 5. I haven’t seen him ____. a. last night b. yesterday c. yet

6. Which words complete the sentence? I _______ Helen since we _______ at school together. a. know / were b. 've known / were c, knew / ‘ve been

7. Which sentence is true? My parents have lived in Canada for three years. a. They still live in Canada now. b. They used to live in Canada but now they live somewhere else.