Avoiding "VERY"

• very afraid = terrified
• very angry = furious
• very big = huge, immense 
• very bright = dazzling
• very capable = accomplished
• very clean = spotless
• very clever = brilliant
• very cold = freezing
• very dirty = squalid
• very eager = keen
• very good = superb
• very happy = jubilant
• very hot = scalding
• very loved = adored
• very old = ancient
• very poor = destitute
• very pretty = beautiful
• very risky = perilous
• very rude = vulgar
• very small =  tiny
• very stupid = idiotic 
• very thin = gaunt
• very tasty = delicious
• very worried = anxious

The Present Perfect Simple Tense

When there is a connection either action and/or result from the past to the present time, we use the Present Perfect Tense.

The present perfect simple is formed with "have/has + past participle".

 It is used for:

1. an action you did in the past but wish not to mention the specific time.

• Have you done your homework yet? ~ Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
• I have finished the project that you gave me. (Maybe you have forgotten when you finished it or maybe you do not want to tell when you finished it.)
• I have lost my phone. (You do not know the exact time you lost it)

In this case, it is used to talk about:

Experiences:

• I have been to Paris.
• I have never loved anyone.

Changes:

• You have changed a lot since we met last year.
• My English has improved since I moved to this school.
• The bus fee has gone up rapidly.

Accomplishments:

•  They have won a lot of games in the past few years.
• My daughter has learned how to sing.

Uncompleted actions you are supposed to have done (with "yet" in negative sentences):

• I haven't bought the milk yet.
• The teacher hasn't returned us the quiz result yet.

Repeated actions at different time:

• I have been to Paris four times this year.
• We have met a lot of famous people recently.

Used with "yet" to ask if someone has completed a task:

• Have you done the washing yet? ~ Yes, I have. / No, I haven't.
• Has he watched that movie yet? ~ Yes, she has. / No, she hasn't.
• Has the teacher check the attendance yet? ~ Yes, he has. / No, he hasn't.

An action which was completed earlier than expected. (with "already" in positive sentences):

• Can you go to the market and get some oil? ~ I have already bought some.
• Don't forget to water the flowers. ~ No worry. I have already asked Jane to do it.

2. We also use the present perfect simple tense to talk about continuation in the present (an action that happened in the past and continues until now with "for" (a period of time until now" and "since (from a specific time in the past until now")

• I have learned English for 3 years.
• She has worked as a waitress for 6 weeks and now she's tired of it.
• They have stayed in that village since October.

Spelling of Third Person Singular

Note below on how to add suffixes to the third person singular:

1. We add -s to most verbs:

• talk - talks
• sing - sings
• leave - leaves
• swim - swims
• ring - rings

2. With verbs ending in -s, -ss, -ch, -sh, -o, -x, and -z we add -es to the verb.

• teach - teaches
• box - boxes
• fix - fixes
• kiss - kisses
• wish - wishes
• go - goes
• do - does

3. With verbs ending in "consonant + y", we change the -y to -i and add -es.

• cry - cries
• carry - carries
• deny - denies
• fly - flies
• hurry - hurries
• reply - replies
• study - studies
• worry - worries

But we do not follow the above rule if the form is "vowel + y":

• stay - stays
• play - plays
• betray - betrays
• decay - decays

Regular and Irregular Verbs : Spelling of Regular Verbs

There are two types of past simple verb form - regular verbs and irregular verbs.

1. Regular Verbs end in -ed with various spellings depending on the individual verb.
1. We add -ed to most verbs to form the regular verb form.
1. need - needed
2. watch - watched
3. kiss - kissed
4. rest - rested
5. look - looked
6. cook - cooked
7. fetch - fetched
8. point - pointed
9. form - formed
10. sponsor - sponsored
2. But, if the verb contains -e, just add -d.
1. chase - chased
2. base - based
3. bake - baked
4. blame - blamed
5. care - cared
6. race - raced
7. waste - wasted
8. note - noted 
9. hope - hoped
10. slice - sliced
3. For verbs ending in a form of [consonant + y], we replace the "y" with "i", then add -ed.
1. study - studied
2. hurry - hurried
3. vary - varied
4. apply - applied
5. carry - carried
6. query - queried
7. marry - married
8. dry - dried
9. cry - cried
10. pry - pried
11. try - tried
12. copy - copied
13. deny - denied
14. tidy - tidied
15. excite - excited
4. But, if the verb ends in [vowel + y], we don't replace the "y", instead, just add -ed
1. play - played
2. stay - stayed
3. fray - frayed
4. enjoy - enjoyed
5. obey - obeyed
6. annoy - annoyed
7. deploy - deployed
8. employ - employed
9. destroy - destroyed 
10. stray - strayed
5. If the verb ends in [consonant + one vowel + one consonant], we double the last consonant, then add -ed.
1. stop - stopped
2. mop - mopped
3. ban - banned
4. trap - trapped
5. sip - sipped
6. swap - swapped
7. whip - whipped
8. pin - pinned
9. slip - slipped 
10. hop - hopped
6. We also double the last consonant for some two-syllable verbs when the stress is on the last syllable.
1. refer - referred
2. prefer - preferred
3. compel - compelled
4. confer - conferred
2. Irregular verbs have various forms. There are no rules on the spelling of irregular verbs. Learners have to memorize the irregular past forms by themselves. You can find the past form of irregular verbs in the dictionary or at the end of your English course book
1. cut - cut
2. shut - shut
3. go - went
4. be - was/were
5. come - came
6. catch - caught 
7. swim - swam
8. write - wrote
9. sing - sang
10. draw - drew

A Few, Few, A Little, and Little

A FEW and FEW are used to quantify the count noun following it.

1. I have a few/few friends.
2. There are a few/few people in this area.

However, A FEW and FEW do not have the same quantity. A FEW means "some" and the quantity is enough for the purpose.

1. I have a few friends. I'm not lonely.
2. There are a few cakes in the fridge. Would you like one?
3. I don't mind sharing the oranges. I have a few in my bag.

FEW means "not enough" for the purpose.

1. I have few friends. I'm feeling so lonely.
2. The night life here is quiet. Few people go out at night.
3. We have few trees in our village. I think we have to plant more.

Unlike A FEW and FEW, A LITTLE and LITTLE quantify the non-count noun following it. A LITTLE means "some" and quantity is enough for the purpose.

1. I have a little wine left. There's enough for us, I think.
2. We still have a little time to spare before the party ends.
3. There's a little bread left. Shall we eat it for dinner?

LITTLE means "not enough" for the purpose.

1. People with little education cannot find a good job in this modern city.
2. I have little free time. I can hardly call my daughter.
3. I have little money left in the bank to afford the new car.

The Most Common Phobias

1. Acrophobia: fear of heights
2. Aerophobia:  fear of flying
3. Agliophobia: fear of pain
4. Agoraphobia: fear of open or crowded spaces
5. Ailurophobia / Gatophobia: fear of cats
6. Allodoxaphobia: fear of opinions (what people think of you)
7. Androphobia: fear of men
8. Anthropophobia: fear of people
9. Aphenphosmphobia: fear of intimacy
10. Apiphobia : fear of bees
11. Aquaphobia: fear of water
12. Arachnophobia: fear of spiders
13. Astraphobia: fear of thunder/lightning
14. Atychiphobia: The fear of failure
15. Autophobia: fear of abandonment and being abandoned by someone
16. Bathophobia: fear of depths
17. Chronophobia: fear of the future
18. Claustrophobia: fear of small spaces
19. Coasterphobia: fear of roller coasters
20. Coulrophobia: fear of clowns
21. Cynophobia: fear of dogs
22. Didaskaleinophobia: fear of school
23. Enochlophobia: fear of crowds
24. Entomophobia: fear of bugs and insects
25. Equinophobia: fear of horses
26. Galeophobia: fear of sharks
27. Gerascophobia: fear of getting old
28. Glossophobia: fear of public speaking
29. Gynophobia: fear of women
30. Hemophobia: fear of blood
31. Iatrophobia: fear of doctors
32. Katsaridaphobia: fear of cockroaches
33. Kinemortophobia: fear of zombies
34. Metathesiophobia: fear of change
35. Monophobia: fear of being alone
36. Mottephobia: fear of moths
37. Musophobia: fear of mice
38. Myrmecophobia: fear of ants
39. Mysophobia: fear of germs
40. Nosocomephobia: fear of hospitals
41. Nyctophobia: fear of darkness
42. Ophidiophobia: fear of snakes
43. Panophobia: fear of the happenings of terrible things
44. Pediophobia: fear of dolls
45. Phasmophobia: fear of ghosts
46. Philophobia: fear of love
47. Pogonophobia: fear of beards / bearded men
48. Pyrophobia: fear of fire
49. Ranidaphobia: fear of frogs
50. Scelerophobia: fear of crime
51. Scoleciphobia: fear of worms
52. Spheksophobia: fear of wasps
53. Taphophobia: fear of being buried alive
54. Thalassophobia: fear of the ocean
55. Tokophobia: fear of pregnancy
56. Thanatophobia: fear of deaths
57. Trypanophobia: fear of needles
58. Vehophobia: fear of driving
59. Xenophobia:fear of the unknown
60. Zoophobia: fear of animals

The Simple Past Tense

The Simple Past tense is used to express a completed action in a definite time before now (either a recent completed action or a distant completed one). For this reason, speakers always attach a specific past time expression or phrases in the simple past tense.

1. She needed a lot of help last week.
2. I ate a lot candy when I was young.
3. The electricity was off the whole night last night.
4. Four years ago, we didn't have specific plans for our business.

The past tense verb forms differ from the present verb forms.

1. I go to school by bus. (present simple)
   Yesterday, I went to school by bus. (past simple)
2. He does his homework after dinner. (present simple)
   He did his homework after dinner last night. (past simple)
3. They need some help. (present simple)
   They needed some help a few days ago. (past simple)

Forms of the Simple Past 

Positive Form

Unlike the present simple tense, the past simple verb is used with all subjects without any changes.

Negative Form

The auxiliary verb "did" + "not" is used with the base form of the main verb in order to form the simple past tense form.

Question Form

In the question form, the auxiliary verb "did" is placed before the subject pronoun together the base form of the main verb to form questions.

Answering to the questions:

• Yes, [subject] did.
• No, [subject] didn't. (not "did not")