Asking Questions:
Business Grammar review
A write down the questions that led to each of these answers .The first is done for you as an example.
1 ……………………………. That’s right. Pleased to meet you.
2 …………………………… Yes, thanks, I had a very good flight.
3 …………………………… I’d like to see Mr Preze, if he’s in the office.
4……………………………… On my last visit I spoke to ms Wong.
5…………………………….. It was Mr Grun who recommended the hotel to me.
6…………………………… No, my husband is traveling with me. I’m meeting him later.
7…………………………… We’ll probably be staying till Friday morning.
8…………………………… No, this is his first visit – he’s never been here before.
B Imagine that you’re talking to someone who talks rather unclearly, and that you can’t catch some of the information he or she gives you.
Write down the question you’d ask this person to find out the missing( ------ ) information.
‘I work for ……..’
‘I live in ………..’
‘I’ve been working here for …………. Years.’
‘We keep our sales files in the ……….. room.’
‘We never phone in the morning because ……….’
‘I started working for the firm in 19 ………’
‘I’ like a ……… room for two nights, please.’
‘I heard about this product from Mr …….’
‘The complete package costs only $ ……………’
‘They printed ……… thousand copies of the report.’
‘They asked me to ………… as soon as possible.’
‘Mrs ……….. told me I should get in touch with you.’
C In these sentences the ‘question tags’ are missing, aren’t they? Complete each sentence with a suitable question tag. The first two are done for you as examples.
They don’t normally pay their account late ,………….
The phone number is 518361 ,……………
They’ll let us know before the end of the month ,………..
We can send the catalogues by surface mail ,…………..
They can’t provide us with the information we need ,………
She isn’t in the office today ,………………..
This machine doesn’t operate automatically ,……………..
You know a great deal about economics ,………………….
You’ve studied this subject for sometime ,……………..
We shouldn’t interrupt the meeting ,…………….
We must confirm this by sending them a fax ,………………
He hasn’t heard that the fire has been taken over ,……………………..
1 You are going to hear a women interviewing a student for a survey about what people do in their free time. Before you listen, look at the pictures. Which activities do you think the student does in his free time?
Listen and check if you were right.
Listen again and decide if the following statements are true or false. If a statement is false, write the correction.
Peter is waiting for his friends. ……………………
He isn’t studying much this month. ……………..
His parents own a shop. ………………………
He practices the guitar most mornings. ……………………..
He frequently uses the Internet. …………………..
His cousin is living in America at the moment. …………….
Peter doesn’t support any football teams. …………………….
Look at your answers to exercise 3 and answer these questions.
1 Which sentences are about a situation that is permanent or a fact ? ………………….
2 Which sentences are about everyday habits? ………………
3 Which sentence is about an action happening at the moment of speaking? ………………..
Which sentence are about a temporary situation? ……………………
1 Present simple
+ verb/verb + (e)s He plays tennis.
- do/does not + verb She doesn’t play tennis.
? do/does… + verb? Do you play tennis?
We use the present simple
to talk about regular habits repeated actions:
I get up really early and practice for an hour or so most days.
I use the internet just about everyday.
Words that describe how often or when are often used( e.g. always, generally, normally, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day, every evening).
to talk about permanent situations:
My parents own a restaurant.
We use the present perfect, not the present simple, to say how long something has continued:
I have worked there since I was there since I was 15.
* to talk about facts or generally accepted truths:
Students don’t generally have much money.
If you heat water t 100 deg C, it boils.
The following words are often used: generally, mainly, normally, usually, traditionally .
to give instructions and directions:
You go down to the traffic lights, then you turn left.
To start the programme, first you click on the icon on the desktop.
to tell stories and talk about films, books and plays:
In the film, the tea lady falls in love with the Prime Minister.
Present continuous
+ am/is/are +very + -ing He’s living in Thailand.
am/is/are not + verb + -ing I’m not living in Thailand.
? am/is/are…….. + verb + -ing? Are they living in Thailand?
We use the present continuous
to talk about temporary situations:
I’m studying really hard for my exams.
My cousin is living in Thailand at the moment.
Words like at the moment, currently, now, this week/month/year are often used.
to talk about actions happening at the moment of speaking:
I’m waiting for my friends.
*To talk about trends or changing situations:
The Internet is making it easier for people to stay in touch with each other.
The price of petrol is rising dramatically.
to talk about things that happen more often than expected, often to show envy or to criticize with words like always, constantly, Continually, forever:
My mum’s always saying I don’t help enough!