Starting a new life

Jordi Gómez is from Terrassa. He is 32 years old. He is single. He runs a farm called Can Jordà, which is near the small village of Torrentbò, in the region of Solsonès. He loves music and hiking in the countryside. People often tell him that his job must be very hard. It is very hard, but he likes it very much.

Núria Martínez is from Cornellà, a city near Barcelona, but she lives in Torrentbò with her partner Jordi Gómez, with whom she hopes to get married one day. Jordi loves her very much, but he is always telling her that she must finish her studies first. Núria is 30 years old. She is currently finishing her degree in agricultural studies. She manages the farm together with Jordi. She especially likes growing fruits and vegetables, and she loves swimming, climbing and birdwatching. Sometimes, she and Jordi walk to the village to have a drink, but they have very little time because they are usually busy with the farm.

Jordi and Núria are good friends because they have many things in common. They both like nature and doing outdoor activities. They are now taking an online English course because they think that English will help them improve the quality of their job. They also think that English is very important in their daily life. They are lucky because now they can practise English with their British friend Laura Smith. They hope that Laura will help them improve their oral skills.

Laura Smith is a young British student who has just finished her farming studies. She has come to Can Jordà on an European programme to do part of her training in a farm. Jordi and Núria can speak English quite well, so they must help Laura and tell her about their job.

Basic vocabulary:

Language notes:

1) In the text ‘Meet Jordi, Núria and Laura’, there are some names of activities:

• birdwatching
• climbing
• hiking
• swimming
• training

The nouns that designate activities are usually formed with a verb + the ending -ing, as in watch (Cat. ‘observar’) > watching (Cat. ‘observació, el fet d’observar’). Other examples are:

• running (Cat. ‘jogging’)
• jogging (Cat. ‘jogging’)
• diving (Cat. ‘submarinisme’)
• gliding (Cat. ‘parapent’)
• cycling (Cat. ‘ciclisme’)
• sailing (Cat. ‘navegació’)

To say we do outdoor activities, we use the verb ‘go’, so we say:

• I go birdwatching (Cat. ‘vaig a observar ocells’)
• I go swimming (Cat. ‘vaig a nedar, faig natació’)
• I go cycling (Cat. ‘vaig amb bicicleta’)

2) Note the sentence construction in these examples:

• He is 32 years old (Cat. ‘té 32 anys’)
• They are lucky (Cat. ‘tenen sort’)
• I’m very busy (Cat. ‘tinc molta feina’)

3) The difference between a city, a town and a village is in their size:

• A city is large: Barcelona, València, London, New York and Paris are cities.
• A town is of medium size: Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, Terrassa and Vic are towns
• A village is small: Monistrol, Gualba, Rupit and Queralbs are villages.

Sometimes, the difference between a town and a city is not very clear.

In this section, you are going to learn some theoretical aspects of the English pronunciation. Of course, the only way of learning the pronunciation of words is by imitation and practice. You must listen to English and then imitate the sounds many times to pronounce the words correctly. It is not possible to learn how to speak by reading a manual, but a basic knowldege of how the English pronunciation works will help you in your practice.

An important aspect of speaking is intonation. Intonation refers to the way in which the voice rises and falls when we speak. It is important because by changing the intonation, we can change the meaning, so an English speaker will interpret our message differently depending on whether we use a rising or a falling intonation at the end of a sentence. Again, it is not possible to learn the right intonation from a manual. It is necessary to practise a lot, but a basic theoretical knowledge of the principles of intonation will certainly facilitate your practice.

English is the official language, or at least, the most-widely-used language in many parts of the world. It originated in the British Isles and then it spread to Ireland, North America, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, India, Jamaica, and many countries in Africa. Nowadays, it has become the standard language in many areas. This situation has created different varieties of English. In this course, you are going to learn the standard British English, but we are also going to see multiple examples of the American English, which is now widely used in manuals and the social media. For this reason, we are going to devote a section to explain the basic differences between British English and American English, especially concerning the vocabulary and grammar.

Finally, you are also going to practise your reading skills with a text about cultural differences. Learning a language is not all about grammar, vocabulary and practice of the four skills. You must also learn a few things about the customs of the people who speak the language. Having some knowledge about the customs of other cultures will help you avoid embarrasing moments in your interaction with foreign people. Apart from learning about the cultural differences, the text will serve to point out some ideas for improving the reading skills.

Pronunciation refers to the way in which we make the sounds of words. To create sounds, air flows from the lungs up through our throat, vocal cords, mouth, nose, teeth and lips. We change the sounds mostly with our tongue and lips, which serve to control the flow of air. If we can control the flow of air correctly, then we can say that our pronunciation is good and other people will understand us more clearly. We usually find the pronunciation of a foreign language rather difficult because we need to train the muscles of the mouth to pronounce the sounds of that language. To get a native-like pronunciation requires long and continuous practice and sometimes it may be even impossible to achieve. This is why most people have an ‘accent’ when they speak a foreign language. The important thing is to pronounce as clearly and accurately as possible to make comprehension easy.

The English pronunciation is usually difficult for a Spanish or Catalan native speaker. We say that Spanish is a phonetic language, which means that there’s a one-to-one relationship between the spelling and the sound, so we can know the pronunciation of a word by looking at the spelling. English is a non-phonetic language, that is, there is no correspondence between the spelling and the sound. When you learn a new word in English, you must learn its meaning and its pronunciation.

Here are some examples of the difficulties of English pronunciation:

The word ‘read’ can be pronounced in two different ways:

• I read novels: the pronunciation is /ri:d/.
• I have read a novel: the pronunciation is /red/.

The words ‘life’ and ‘live’ are usually mispronounced:

• He has a good life: the pronunciation is /laif/.
• I live in a village: the pronunciation is /liv/.
• It is a live concert: the pronunciation is /laiv/.

Related to pronunciation, we should also consider word and sentence stress. Word stress is very important for understanding English. Native speakers use word stress in such a natural way that they do not even know that they use it. Non-native speakers, however, must make an effort to place the stress on the right syllable. If you do not use the stress correctly, people may not understand you. There are some rules for placing the stress on the right syllable, but they are not very strict because there are many exceptions. It is better to feel the music of the language and place the stress in a natural way. You will do so as you gain fluency with the language.

Word stress is also important because sometimes it can change the meaning of a word. Depending on the stressed syllable, a word can be a noun or a verb. For example:

• Record (noun) (Cat. ‘disc, rècord’)
• Record (verb) (Cat. ‘gravar’)

• Present (noun/adjective) (Cat. ‘regal, present’)
• Present (verb) (Cat. ‘presentar’)

• Object (noun) (Cat. ‘objecte’)
• Object (verb) (Cat. ‘objectar, contradir’)

• Contrast (noun) (Cat. ‘contraste’)
• Contrast (verb) (Cat. ‘contrastar’)

Sentence stress is like the music of English. Word stress refers to the stress of a syllable in a word. Sentence stress refers to the stress of certain words in a sentence. When we say a sentence in a normal, neutral tone, we tend to stress the most important words, that is, the words that carry the meaning (called content words). For example:

• I left the jacket on the desk.

In this sentence, the key words are: ‘left’, ‘jacket’ and ‘desk’. We know these are the key words because we can probably understand the meaning of the sentence if a person says: Left jacket desk.

If we catch the rythm of the language, the time between each stressed word is the same. We must learn to adjust the speed of our speech to get the rythm of the sentence. Of course, we must do this unconsciously. As we practise the speaking skills and gain more fluency, we will gradually catch the rythm and get the right sentence stress.

Sometimes we can alter the sentence stress to put the emphasis on certain words to transmit specific information. For example, you can say our sentence like this:

• I left the jacket on the desk. [The meaning is: I left de jacket, not you].

Or like this:

• I left the jacket on the desk. [The meaning is: I leff it on the desk, not under it].

The third important element in speaking is intonation. Intonation refers to the way in which the voice rises and falls when we speak. There are four main patterns in English:

1) Falling intonation (↓) (the voice falls at the end of a sentence): it is the most common pattern in English. Generally used in statements, wh-questions and commands:

• It’s going to rain (↓)
• What’s the weather like (↓) ?
• Sit down (↓) !

2) Rising intonation (↑) (the voice rises at the end of a sentence):common in yes-no questions:

• Is it going to rain (↑) ?
• Are you sure (↑) ?

3) Rise-Fall intonation (↑↓) (the voice rises and then falls): it is commonly used when giving alternatives, in unfinished statements and conditional sentences:

• Are you going on Saturday (↑) or Sunday (↓) ?
• The salad (↑) was good (↓),…(but the rest was not so good).
• If you come early (↑), give me a call (↓).

4) Fall-rise intonation (↓↑) (the voice falls and then rises, usually within a word): it is used to express hesitation and be more polite:

• Will you come in the morning? - I don’t know, I sup(↓)pose(↑) so.
• Do you think this is al(↓)lowed(↑) ?

In order to speak English correctly, you must especially pay attention to pronunciation, but stress and intonation are also important to transmit the meaning clearly. The best way of improving your speaking skills is by practising all you can and acquiring the rythm of the English language. To do so, a good exercise is to listen to short recordings of dialogues with transcriptions (there are thousands of them in Youtube) and reading the words along with the recording using the same stress and intonation of the speaker. You must learn by imitation.

British and American people speak the same language and they can understand each other perfectly, but there are some differences between the British and the American varieties of English.

As a learner of English, you should not worry much about these differences because both varieties are equally correct, but you should know the basic differences between British and American English, especially in written texts.

Most differences between British and American English are in the vocabulary and the spelling, but there are also some differences in the grammar and the pronunciation. Let’s have a look to some of these differences:

Vocabulary

Here are some words that are different in British and American English:

Spelling

Some differences in spelling between British and American English are:

Apart from the spelling, the way of expressing the dates is also different in British and American English:

• British English: 16th June
• American English: June 16

Grammar

There are very few differences in the grammar between British and American English. Here are some:

1) The verb form needn’t is considered as a modal verb in British English, but in American English it is used as a normal lexical verb:

• British English: You needn’t go > American English: You don’t need to go

2) The verb have (meaning possession) is considered as an auxiliary verb in British English, which usually adds the particle got, but in American English it is used as a normal lexical verb:

• British English: I’ve got a sister > American English: I have a sister
• British English: I haven’t got any sisters > American English: I don’t have any sisters
• British English: Have you got any sisters? > American English: Do you have any sisters?

3) In British English we use the present perfect when talking about recent actions with an effect in the present, but in American English they prefer to use the past simple instead:

• British English: I’ve seen Max this morning > American English: I saw Max this morning
• British English: Have you slept well? American English: Did you sleep well? in

Pronunciation

The American pronunciation is quite distinctive from the British pronunciation, but it is equally acceptable. In fact, American English is nowadays the most widely known variety of English thanks to the force of the US entertainment industry. When you watch a film or series in the original version, you are most probably exposed to American English.

Reading is probably the easiest skill to practise because it is an individual activity that you can do at home. Reading is very good way of learning new words and grammatical structures, so try to read as much as possible.

To practise the reading skills, we suggest the following material:

• Graded readers: if you like fiction, there are many graded readers at different levels, from beginners to advanced learners. These readers offer adaptations of classical works from the English and American literature.
• Wikipedia: if you prefer reading online, the Internet offers a huge quantity of reading material. The English version of the Wikipedia has millions of articles about any possible topic that you can imagine.
• Simple English Wikipedia: if you find the articles in the Wikipedia too difficult, there is a more simple version specially designed for learners of English. The Wikipedia in Simple English uses basic words and very simple grammatical structures. It currently has more than 125,000 articles.
• Howstuffworks: in this website, you can find a great variety of articles divided into different areas of knowledge. There are a lot of technical manuals that explain how things (stuff) work. It is especially recommended for intermediate to advanced students.

Here is some advice for practising your reading skills:

• Read slowly. You may need to read a sentence or a paragraph several times before you can understand the meaning.
• You do not need to know all the words to understand the general meaning of a text.
• Do not mentally translate the text into your own language, but try to ‘think’ in English.
• Try to guess the meaning of unknown words. Many English words are of Latin origin: you do not need a dictionary to understand words like: cultural, difference, ability, non-verbal communication, consequence, social, international, etc.
• Do not use automatic translators to understand a text. If you wish to learn, you must make an effort at reading.
• If there is a word that you do not understand and the word is important for the meaning, look it up in a dictionary.
• Choose a topic of your interest and read as much as possible in your free time. It is very important thay you enjoy your reading. If you find a text boring, just leave it.

Now try to apply the reading advice to the following text about cultural differences:

Did you read the text? Did you understand the general meaning without using a dictionary or a translator? Ask yourself the following questions:

1. After the first reading, can I explain (in my own language) what the text is about?
2. Did I understand a sentence without knowing all the words?
3. Did I guess the meaning of many words?

If the answer to the three questions is ‘yes’, then you can say that you understand the text.

In this review section, you are going to practice the use of the personal pronouns in English, especially to distinguish between subject and object pronouns.The distinction is important to help you use the pronouns correctly. Apart from this, you will also learn some details about the use of the personal pronouns in English.

Another basic grammar point that you are going to review in this section is what we call ‘quantifiers’, that is, the words that accompany a noun to indicate the quantity of that noun. In order to use the correct quantifier, you need to think about the type of noun (countable and uncountable) and about the type of sentence (statement, negative sentence or question).

You are also going to review the different ways of expressing possession in English, including the correct use of possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns, the use of the Saxon Genitive, which is the ‘s that we add to person nouns to express possession, and the use of the preposition ‘of’ to express possessions with things.

Finally, we are going to review three important verbs in English. These are the auxiliary verbs ‘to be’, ‘to have’ and ‘to do’. They are important because they have very basic meanings and because they are used to form certain verb tenses and verb forms. The auxiliary verbs are used in a different way from most of the other verbs, so we are also going to review their special characteristics.

In the text ‘Meet Jordi, Núria and Laura’, we can find different examples of personal pronouns:

• Jordi Gómez is from Terrassa. He is 32 years old.
• People often tell him that his job must be very hard.
• Núria Martínez is from Cornellà, a city near Barcelona, but she lives in Torrentbò.
• Jordi loves her very much.
• David and Laura are good friends because they have many things in common.
• They hope that Laura will help them improve their oral skills.

We use the personal pronouns to refer to people and things:

• He and him refer to Jordi Gómez, a male.
• She and her refer to Núria Martínez, a female.
• They and them refer to Jordi and Núria, plural.

As you can see, there are two different pronouns to speak about Jordi (he, him), two that refer to Núria (she, her) and two that refer to Jordi and Núria (they, them):

• He, she and they are subject pronouns.
• Him, her and them are object pronouns.

The subject pronouns are the subject of a sentence.

The object pronouns are the object of a sentence.

The table below shows the forms of the subject pronouns and the object pronouns:

Notes:

1. We always spell the pronoun I (Cat. ‘jo’) with a capital letter.
2. The pronoun you is the same in informal speech (Cat. ‘tu, vosaltres’) as in formal speech (Cat. ‘vostè, vostès’).
3. The third person pronoun in singular has three forms: he is used for males (Cat. ‘ell’), she is used for females (Cat. ‘ella’) and it for things (Catalan and Spanish have no specific pronoun for things; in these languages, all words are either masculine or feminine).

Here are some examples of the use of subject pronouns.

• I live in Barcelona - '(Jo) visc a Barcelona’.
• You speak English - '(Tu) parles anglès / (Vostè) parla anglès’.
• She studies at the university - '(Ella) estudia a la universitat’.
• He is a farmer - '(Ell) és pagès’.
• It is very hot - ‘Fa molta calor’.
• We go swimming every day - '(Nosaltres) anem a nedar cada dia’.
• You are here - '(Vosaltres)sou aquí / (Vostès) són aquí’.
• They work ten hours a day - '(Ells/Elles) treballen deu hores al dia’.

Here are some examples of the use of object pronouns (with their equivalent forms in Catalan):

• Robert calls me everyday - ‘Robert em truca cada dia’.
• I’ll tell you something - 'Et diré una cosa’.
• I know Jim. I see him at work everyday - ‘Conec al Jim. El veig a la feina cada dia’.
• That’s Berta. Do you know her? - ‘Aquesta és la Berta. La coneixes?’
• This task is very complicated, but I can do it - ‘Aquesta feina és molt complicada, peró la puc fer’.
• Laura gave us a good lesson - ‘Laura ens va donar una bona llicó’.
• They are new in the office. I’ll introduce them to you - ‘Són nous a l’oficina. Te’ls presentaré’.

We use the quantifiers to express an indeterminate quantity of a noun. These words usually go before a noun (as in: I’ve got some money), but they can also function as pronouns (for example, in: have you got any money? - Yes, I’ve got some).

The English quantifiers are:

• No, none
• A/an, some, any
• Little, few, a little, a few
• A lot of, many, much

In English, the use of the quantifiers depends on the type of sentence (affirmative, negative or interrogative) and on the type of noun (countable or uncountable).

The following table shows the correct use of the English quantifiers:

Notes:

• The quantifier no means: zero quantity. The verb of the sentence must be in the affirmative: I’ve got no friends (Cat. ‘No tinc amics’). If we use a negative verb, we must use the form not…any: I haven’t got any friends (Cat. ‘No tinc amics’).
• None has the same meaning as no, but it is only used as a pronoun with a countable noun: Have you got any friends? - No, I’ve got none (Cat. ‘Tens amics? - No, no en tinc cap’).
• The quantifiers a lot of and many express a large quantity. They have the same meaning, but in affirmative sentences we generally use a lot of in informal situations and many in formal situations. In negative and interrogative sentences, we must always use many.

Here are some examples of the use of quantifiers. The type of noun is indicated in brackets:

• I’ve got a very interesting offer (count.) (Cat. ‘Tinc una oferta molt interessant’).
• There are some people (count.) in the room (Cat. ‘Hi ha algunes persones a la sala’).
• Have you got any money (uncount.)? (Cat. ‘Tens diners?’).
• We found no books (count.) (Cat. ‘No vam trobar cap llibre’).
• We didn’t find any books (count.) (Cat. ‘No vam trobar cap llibre’).
• There’s a lot of information (uncount.) in the website (Cat. ‘Hi ha molta informació a la web’).
• Mr Larson controls a lot of / many companies (count.) (Cat. ‘El Sr. Larson controla moltes empreses’).
• We haven’t got much time (uncount.) (Cat. ‘No tenim molt de temps’).
• Are there many people (count.) in the room? (Cat. ‘Hi ha molta gent a la sala?’).
• We have few computers (count.) for so many people (Cat. ‘Tenim pocs ordinadors per a tanta gent’).
• We have a few computers (count.), so we can work (Cat. ‘Tenim uns quants ordinadors, així que podem treballar’).
• There’s little time (uncount.) to finish the work (Cat. ‘Hi ha poc temps per a acabar la feina’).
• We can finish because we have a little time (uncount.) (Cat. ‘Podem acabar perquè tenim una mica de temps’).
• Are there any books on the shelves? - No, there are none (Cat. ‘Hi ha algun llibre a les prestatgeries? - No, no n’hi ha cap’).

If we wish to express a specific quantity, we use the numeral adjectives (one, two, three, four, etc.). Numeral adjectives are always used with countable nouns, generally in statements (they are rare in negative and interrogative sentences).

There are different ways of expressing possession in English:

The form ‘noun + ‘s’ is called the Saxon Genitive. It is used to indicate possession when the noun is a person or refers to a person. For example:

• Laura’s training - ‘La formació del Mark’.
• John’s shift - ‘El torn del John’.
• A nurse’s job - ‘La feina d’una infermera’.
• My friend’s bedroom - ‘L’habitació de la meva amiga’.
• The chief’s office - ‘El despatx del cap’.

When the noun indicating the possessor ends in -s, we only add the apostroph (') without the ‘s. For example:

• The nurses’ job - ‘La feina de les infermeres’.
• My friends’ bedroom - ‘L’habitació de les meves amigues’.
• His parents’ house - ‘La casa dels seus pares’.
• Mr Higgins’ job - ‘La feina del Sr Higgins’.
• Dickens’ novels - ‘Les novel·les de Dickens’.

We place the noun with ‘s before the other noun. It is wrong to say: the training Mark’s.

We can also express the Saxon Genitive as a pronoun (that is, without a following noun):

• This jacket is Laura’s - ‘Aquesta jaqueta és de la Laura’.
• This bedroom is my friends’ - ‘Aquesta habitació és la de les meves amigues’.
• This office is the chief’s - ‘Aquest despatx és el del cap’.

We can also find the Saxon Genitive in certain expressions of time:

• Yesterday’s emergency - ‘L’emergència d’ahir’.
• Tomorrow’s meeting - ‘La reunió de demà’.
• Today’s work - ‘La feina d’avui.’
• This week’s schedule - ‘L’horari d’aquesta setmana’.
• Next years’ activities - ‘Les activitats dels propers anys’.

The possessive adjectives are:

• Singular: my, your, his (male), her (female), its (things)
• Plural: our, your, their

In English, the possessive adjectives agree (Cat. ‘concorden’) in person and number with the possessor. Compare to Catalan, where they agree in person, number and gender with the noun that comes after the possessive:

The possessor is a male (Jordi):

• Jordi and his brother - ‘El Jordi i el seu germà’.
• Jordi and his sister - ‘El Jordi i la seva germana’.
• Jordi and his brothers - ‘El Jordi i els seus germans’.
• Jordi and his sisters - ‘El Jordi i les seves germanes’.

The possessor is a female (Núria):

• Núria and her brother - ‘La Núria i el seu germà’.
• Núria and her sister - ‘La Núria i la seva germana’.
• Núria and her brothers - ‘La Núria i els seus germans’.
• Núria and her sisters - ‘La Núria i les seves germanes’.

Other examples:

• My name is Mark - ‘Em dic Mark / El meu nom és Mark’.
• What’s your name? - ‘Com et dius? / Quin és el teu nom?’
• Mark and his colleagues - ‘El Mark i els seus companys’.
• Laura and her friend - ‘La Laura i el seu amic.’
• These are our tasks for today - ‘Aquestes són les nostres tasques per avui’.
• Dear friends, I’m your new colleague - ‘Estimats amics, soc el vostre nou company’.
• Jordi and Núria and their farm - ‘El Jordi i la Núria i la seva granja.’

The possessive pronouns are the following:

• Singular: mine, yours, his (male), hers (female)
• Plural: ours, yours, theirs

We never say a noun after a possessive pronoun. Note that there is no form for the third person singular for things. The possessive pronouns are only used for people.

Look at these examples:

• Is this your jacket? / Yes, it is mine (‘És aquesta la teva jaqueta? / Sí, és la meva’)
• Is this yours, Laura? (‘Això és teu, Laura?’)
• Is this Jordi’s jacket? / Yes, it is his (‘És la jaqueta del Jordi? / Sí, és la seva’)
• Are these Núria’s things / No, I think they aren’t hers (‘Són les coses de la Núria? / No, em sembla que no són les seves’)
• Is this shift ours? (‘Aquest torn és el nostre?’)
• This shift is yours (‘Aquest torn és el vostre’)
• Is this Jordi and Núria’s shift? / Yes, it’s theirs (‘És aquest el torn del Jordi i la Núria? / Sí, és el seu’)

We use the auxiliary verbs to express certain verb tenses and verb forms. The three auxiliary verbs are: to be, to have and to do. Most other verbs are lexical verbs, which means that they have a specific meaning. The three auxiliary verbs are also be lexical verbs.

Here are the main characteristics and the conjugation (in present and past) of the verbs ‘to be’, to have’ and ‘to do’.

The table below shows the forms of the verb ‘to be’ in the present:

These are the forms in the past:

As a lexical verb, ‘to be’ means ‘ser/estar’ (Cat.). Here are some examples:

• Mark Smith is a young British emergency technician - Mark Smith és un jove tècnic d’emergències britànic.
• David and Laura are in an emergency team - El Josep i la Núria estan en un equip d’emergències.
• I am quite happy in my job - Estic bastant content amb la meva feina.
• The hospital is in the centre of Barcelona - L’hospital està al centre de Barcelona.
• Mark’s parents were policemen - Els pares d’en Mark eren policies.
• I was in the shower - (Jo) estava a la dutxa.
• She was in London last week - (Ella) va estar a Londres la setmana passada.

As an auxiliary verb, we use the verb ‘to be’ to form other verb tenses:

1. The continuous tenses:
   • Laura is doing her training at Can Jordà - La Laura està fent les pràctiques a Can Jordà.
   • She is training to become an agricultural technician - S’està preparant per ser un tècnic agropecuari.
   • Núria and Jordi are studying English online - La Núria i el Jordi estan estudiant anglès a distància.
   • I was speaking to Robert - Jo estava parlant amb el Robert.
   • We were working on a farm in Wales - Estàvem treballant en una granja de Gal·les.
2. The passive voice:
   • Laura was born in Glasgow - La Laura va néixer a Glasgow.
   • She was given a training course - Li van donar un curs de formació.
   • The uniforms are kept in the locker room - Els uniformes es guarden als vestidors.
   • The horses are kept in the stable - Els cavalls es guarden a l’estable.
   • Laura was introduced to Núria on the first day - La Laura va ser presentada a la Núria al primer dia.

In the table below, you can see the forms of the verb ‘to have’ in the present:

The table below shows the forms of the verb in the past:

As a lexical verb, we usually say the negative and interrotative forms of ‘to have’ as all the other verbs, especially in American English (table below):

As a lexical verb, ‘to have’ means ‘tenir’ (Cat.). For example:

• I have a good job - Jo tinc una bona feina
• Mark has a younger sister - El Mark té una germana petita
• You had a lot of time - (Tu) vas tenir molt de temps
• She had very good friends - (Ella) tenia molt bons amics
• We didn’t have much money - (Nosaltres) no teníem molts diners
• Do you have any bothers or sisters? Teniu (vosaltres) germans o germanes?

As an auxiliary verb, ‘to have’ means ‘haver’ (Cat.). We use it to form:

1. The perfect tenses:
   • I have never been in England - No he estat mai a Anglaterra.
   • She hasn’t met Laura yet . (Ella) encara no ha conegut a la Laura.
   • Have you seen the new film? - Has vist la nova pel·lícula?.

In the table below, you can see the forms of the verb ‘to do’ in the present tense;

These are the forms in the past tense (table below):

As a lexical verb, ‘to do’ means ‘fer’ (Cat.). Here are some examples:

• He does his shopping on Saturdays - (Ell) fa la compra els dissabtes
• What do you do as a living? - Què fas per guanyar-te la vida?
• She did a lot of exercise - (Ella) va fer molt d’exercici
• We didn’t do anything special - No vam fer res d’especial.

As an auxiliary verb, we use ‘to do’ to form:

1. The negative forms of the verbs (except ‘to be’ and the modal verbs):
   • I don’t live in Glasgow - Jo no visc a Glasgow
   • Laura doesn’t work in a hospital - La Laura no treballa a un hospital
   • We didn’t see anything - No vam veure res
   • He didn’t talk to Mr Smith - (Ell) no va parlar amb el Sr Smith
2. The interrogative forms of the verbs (except ‘to be’ and the modals):
   • Do you speak English? - Parles anglès?
   • Does she like her job? - Li agrada la seva feina?
   • Did we do anything wrong? - Vam fer alguna cosa malament?
   • Where did you go last year? - On vas anar l’estiu passat?