One(s)

We use ONE(S) to avoid (=evitar) repeating the noun. This works with countable nouns only.

Which is your house?  The one with the white door.

I’d like a hamburger, please. A big one with lots of ketchup.

Can you lend me a ruler? I’m sorry, I haven’t got one.

I’m looking for a flat. I’d like to find a small one with two bedrooms.

I’m looking for a flat. I’d like to find one with two bedrooms.

Can you pass me those CDs? Which ones? The ones on the shelf.

Modern cars are safer than older ones.

One(s) is very often used with adjectives:

I ate the small one (el pequeño).

The yellow one is better (el amarillo).

I bought the large ones (las grandes).

She danced with the ugly one (el feo).

The word one(s) is sometimes omitted immediately after which, this, that, another and superlatives:

Which (one) do you like best?

Let’s have another (one).

That watch is the most expensive (one).

I'm tired of this boring lesson!

Participles such as interesting, frightening, bored, boring, etc.  can be used as adjectives.

 Read the following examples:

-ED participles say how people feel	-ING participles describe the people or things that cause the feelings
I was very tired after the long journey.	It was a very tiring journey.
The children were really excited.	What an exciting adventure it was!
If you are so bored, why don’t you go to bed?	It’s the most boring film I have ever watched.
I’m not interested in water sports.	Doing voluntary work is an interesting experience.
She sounded a bit confused.	It’s a very confusing text.
Everybody was terrified.	It was a terrifying story.
I felt relaxed and confident.	I had a relaxing bath.

Be very careful in cases where you use only one adjective in Spanish: “cansado” and “aburrido” can mean two very different things, depending on whether you mean ESTAR o SER.

Don’t say “-ED for people, -ING for things” because people can be both boring and bored, tiring and tired.

If you are not sure whether to use -ED or –ING, remember the following rule:

Usamos –ED para ESTAR: alguien ESTÁ cansado / emocionado / aburrido / interesado / confundido / aterrado / relajado.

Usamos –ING para SER: algo o alguien ES cansado (=agotador) / emocionante / aburrido (=pesado)/ interesante / confuso / terrorífico.

Conditionals

Listen and read:

1A- If I finish my homework before 8, I’ll go out with my friends. (Si acabo… saldré…)

1B-I’ll go out with my friends if I finish my homework before 8. (Saldré… si acabo…)

2A-If I finished my homework before 8, I would go out with my friends. (Si acabara…saldría…)

2B-I would go out with my friends if I finished my homework before 8. (Saldría… si acabara…)

3A-If I would have more money, I’d buy you a present.

3B- Si tendría más dinero, te haría un regalo.

Da igual poner primero la subordinada o la principal:

IF-present + imperative		If you see her, tell her to phone me.	Tell her to phone me if you see her.
IF-present + WILL in the  main clause	(lo veo como probable o posible sin complicaciones)	If I see her, I’ll give her your message.	I’ll give her your message if I see her.
IF-past + WOULD in the main clause	(improbable)	If I found €100, I’d buy a new mobile.	I’d buy a new mobile if I found €100.
	(irreal en la actualidad)	If I knew the answer, I’d tell you.	I’d tell you if I knew the answer.

4A- They’d stay in Spain if they found a job.

4B- My brother would move to Germany if he found a job there.

5A- If I were a rich man,…                 

5B- If I were you, I’d tell no-one.

"Si yo fuera rico, ay dubi dubi dubi dubi dubi dubi dubi da...":

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Listen and read.

DEFINING:

A cook is a person THAT works in a restaurant. =  A cook is a person WHO works in a restaurant.

A clock is a thing THAT tells the time. =  A clock is a thing WHICH tells the time.

A post office is a place WHERE you can buy stamps.

NON-DEFINING:

My brother and his wife, WHO work in the same hospital, never go on holiday together.

We visited Granada, WHICH is a town in the south of Spain.

The Odeon Theatre, WHERE so many local actors performed, was closed in 1998.

Importance of punctuation:

The Spanish athletes who / that won the two races became national heroes.

The Spanish athletes, who won the two races, became national heroes.

Rule of thumb (regla casera)

People: WHO / THAT                                    Things: WHICH / THAT                  Places: WHERE

BUT… if there’s a comma, don’t use THAT!

Common mistakes:

We visited the cathedral, that was built in the sixteenth century. >>. …the cathedral, which was built…

Mr Holmes, that was my history teacher, was always very kind. >> Mr Holmes, who was my…

A cook is a person that he works in a hospital.

A clock is a thing that it tells the time.

A post office is a place where you can buy stamps there.

Omission of the relative pronoun

Common in defining (NO COMMAS) relative clauses where the pronoun is the object of the clause:

Tick the words you hear = Tick the words that / which you hear.

Think of a hero you admire. = Think of a hero who / that you admire.

Tick seven things you see in the box below. = Tick seven things that / which you see in the box below.

Cross out the phrase which does not go with the verb. (No omission: WHICH is the subject of DOES)

Find three things that / which are the same. (No omission: the pronoun is the subject of ARE)

What a pity! How awful!

A common way to form exclamations in English is to start with the words what or how. In Spanish we would say ¡qué...!, but in English you have to decide which of those two words to use.

How is followed by an adjective or an adverb:

How interesting! Let me have a look.
How lovely you look, darling!
How rude you are sometimes!
How beautifully she plays the piano!


What is followed by a noun. There may be (puede haber) other words, such as articles or adjectives, but there has to be (tiene que haber) a noun. You have to be careful with what exclamations because if the noun is singular and countable you need the article a(n):

What a pity!
What an interesting story!
What a lovely dress you're wearing!
What a rude man!
What a beautiful morning!

BUT in the story of Little Red Riding Hood (Caperucita Roja), you hear:

What big eyes you have!  What big ears you have! What big teeth you have! (a + plural)
Other examples:

What lovely hair she's got! (no nos referimos a UN pelo, sino a todo su cabello: uncountable)
What beautiful weather! (weather is uncountable)

No auxiliary verb in a question?

When we learn about interrogatives, we are told that the correct word order is auxiliary verb + subject + infinitive (A-S-I). There may be (puede haber) other words, such as an direct or indirect object, an adverb, etc., but the auxiliary must precede the subject and the subject must precede the infinitive:

Do you smoke?                                              A= do    S= you    I= smoke
Did your mother shout?                    A= did   S= your mother   I= shout
Where does she live?                                 A= does    S= she    I= live
Why doesn't the baby always eat fruit?     A= doesn't   S= the baby   I= eat
What does "litter" mean?                       A= does    S= "litter"   I= mean
What does mean "litter"?                        incorrect word order
What means "litter"?                                incorrect: no auxiliary

However, there are some questions where this does not happen:

How many people came to the party?
Who eats fruit every day?
Which of these animals lives in the sea?
What happened then?

Why? Because the WH- words at the beginning of the sentence (how many people, who, which of these animals, what) are the subjet of the question. You start your sentence with the subject, so it is imposiible to follow tha A-S-I rule. In these cases you don't use the auxiliary verb. The word order is the same as in positive sentences: Subject + verb + (...):
How many people came? Twenty people came. (Subjects: how many people and twenty people).
Who eats fruit every day? Pete eats fruit every day. (Subjects: who and Pete).
Which of these animals lives in the sea? The dolphin. (Subjects: which of these animals and the dolphin).
What happened then? Nothing happened. (Subjects: what and happened).

Compare these two sentences:
Who did you see? I saw my boss. Who= direct object, and then A-S-I. You is the subject. My boss = object.
Who saw you? Nobody saw me. Who and nobody = subjects. You and me = objects.