Grammar unit 4
Prepositions by and on
When talking about general ways to travel, we use the preposition by and no article.
For example, we say: by bike, by motorcycle, by car, by van, by lorry, by truck, by train, by plane, by
bus, by ship, by tram, or by boat.
Immigrants flee their country and often travel by boat or by truck.
!There is one exception: when you walk, you go on foot.
Modal verbs to express degrees of certainty
To say that something is (almost) certain, we use must or will.
He must/will have a fever.
To say that something is likely or possible, we use can, could or may.
She can/may survive this disease.
I could have been wrong.
To say that something is uncertain, we use might.
He might have the flu.
To say that something is completely impossible, we use can’t or couldn’t.
This can’t be the flu.
She couldn’t get better.
!You can also add the adverbs surely, probably, perhaps and maybe to express (un)certainty.
It is surely/probably the best medicine.
Perhaps/Maybe the headache will be over tomorrow.
Question tags
Form
1) A positive statement takes a negative question tag and a negative statement takes a positive one.
You write a lot of poetry, don’t you?
He didn’t like the poem very much, did he?
Words such as never, nowhere, nobody, no one, neither also make a statement negative.
2) If there is an auxiliary in the sentence, we repeat it but if there isn’t an auxiliary, we use ‘to do’.
People’s comments can hurt sometimes, can’t they?
Young people really enjoy your poetry, don’t they?
3) If to be is the only verb in the sentence, we repeat that in the question tag.
You are a Canadian citizen now, aren’t you?
I am still your best friend, aren’t I?
Use
We add a question tag to a remark in order to ask for agreement or confirmation or to involve other
people in the conversation.
Prepositions by and on
When talking about general ways to travel, we use the preposition by and no article.
For example, we say: by bike, by motorcycle, by car, by van, by lorry, by truck, by train, by plane, by
bus, by ship, by tram, or by boat.
Immigrants flee their country and often travel by boat or by truck.
!There is one exception: when you walk, you go on foot.
Modal verbs to express degrees of certainty
To say that something is (almost) certain, we use must or will.
He must/will have a fever.
To say that something is likely or possible, we use can, could or may.
She can/may survive this disease.
I could have been wrong.
To say that something is uncertain, we use might.
He might have the flu.
To say that something is completely impossible, we use can’t or couldn’t.
This can’t be the flu.
She couldn’t get better.
!You can also add the adverbs surely, probably, perhaps and maybe to express (un)certainty.
It is surely/probably the best medicine.
Perhaps/Maybe the headache will be over tomorrow.
Question tags
Form
1) A positive statement takes a negative question tag and a negative statement takes a positive one.
You write a lot of poetry, don’t you?
He didn’t like the poem very much, did he?
Words such as never, nowhere, nobody, no one, neither also make a statement negative.
2) If there is an auxiliary in the sentence, we repeat it but if there isn’t an auxiliary, we use ‘to do’.
People’s comments can hurt sometimes, can’t they?
Young people really enjoy your poetry, don’t they?
3) If to be is the only verb in the sentence, we repeat that in the question tag.
You are a Canadian citizen now, aren’t you?
I am still your best friend, aren’t I?
Use
We add a question tag to a remark in order to ask for agreement or confirmation or to involve other
people in the conversation.
