Gramática en Inglés B2-C1: Deseos, Inversión, Comparativos y Vocabulario de Salud

Grammar 12: Unreal Situations and Inversion

Wishes

We use wish to talk about a situation or an action we aren't happy about, or to say how we would like something to be different.

We use wish + past simple or continuous when we talk about the present or the future:

• I wish I knew how to lose weight easily.
• I wish I were going with you tomorrow.

We use wish + past perfect simple or continuous when we talk about the past:

• I wish I hadn't eaten so much last night.
• I wish I'd been wearing a helmet when I fell off my bike.

We use wish + would + infinitive when we talk about other people's annoying habits or to say that we would like something to be different in the future. We use it for actions, not states. Don't use wish + would when the subjects are the same; use wish + could + infinitive instead:

• I wish the school canteen would stop selling junk food.
• I wish the price of gym memberships would go down.
• I wish I could stick to a diet for more than a few days. (not: I wish I would...)

We can use If only instead of wish in affirmative and negative sentences when we feel especially strongly about something:

• If only I didn't have the flu.
• If only I hadn't gone out in the rain.

12.2 Other Ways of Talking About Unreal Situations

As if and as though

We can use as if and as though to say what something is similar to. There is no difference in meaning between as if and as though.

They are usually followed by "normal" tenses (i.e. present to talk about the present; past to talk about the past), whether we're talking about something real / likely or unreal / unlikely:

• Are you OK? You look as if you're ill.
• By the end of the marathon, my legs felt as though they were made of stone.

When we're talking about the unreal present, we can choose whether to use the present or the past. Both forms are equally good and mean the same:

• Why is everyone ignoring me? It's as if I'm / I were invisible!

It's (about / high) time...

We can use it's time, it's about time and it's high time + past tense to talk about something that should have already been done in the present:

• It's time you started eating healthy, nutritious food.
• It's about time I had a check-up.
• It's high time Federico joined a gym.

Would rather

We use would rather to show a preference in the present or future. We use would rather + infinitive when we are talking about ourselves:

• I'd rather make a sandwich than cook pasta.

We use would rather followed by a pronoun and a past tense when we are talking about someone else in the present or future:

• I'd rather we stayed at home this evening.

Would prefer and prefer

We use would prefer to show preference in a particular situation (not in general).

We can use:

• would prefer + noun:

  — "Would you like fruit juice or a lemonade?"
  — "I'd prefer fruit juice."

• would prefer + to + infinitive:

  I'd prefer to eat out tonight.

• would prefer + to + infinitive + rather than + infinitive:

  I'd prefer to play football rather than go jogging.

We use prefer to show preference in general.

We can use:

• prefer + noun:

  I prefer healthy food (to junk food).

• would prefer + to + infinitive + rather than + infinitive:

  I'd prefer to eat healthy food rather than eat junk food.

• prefer + -ing + to + -ing:

  I prefer eating healthy food to eating junk food.

12.3 Negative Inversion

We can use certain negative words and expressions at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis. When we do this, the word order changes. The auxiliary verb comes before the subject. This is called inversion. If there is no auxiliary verb (i.e. we are using the present or past simple), we use do / does / did, in exactly the same way as when we're making questions.

• I've never seen anything so amazing.
  → Never have I seen such an amazing sight!
• Phoebe not only bakes cakes, she also sells them.
  → Not only does Phoebe bake cakes, she also sells them.
• Unaccompanied children aren't allowed in the pool under any circumstances.
  → Under no circumstances are unaccompanied children allowed in the pool.
• We didn't know that the gym would be so expensive.
  → Little did we know that the gym would be so expensive.
• You rarely / seldom see elderly people jogging.
  → Rarely / Seldom do you see elderly people jogging.
• The trainer didn't help me once with the exercise machines.
  → Not once did the trainer help me with the exercise machines!
• I didn't realise how expensive the meal was before I got the bill.
  → I got the bill. Only then did I realise how expensive the meal was!
• It started to rain when the runners began the marathon.
  → No sooner / Hardly had the runners begun the marathon than it started to rain.
• I haven't played netball since I was at school.
  → Not since I was at school have I played netball.

Vocabulario 12

Vocabulario de Anatomía y Salud

• Ache: dolor
• Bruise: moretón
• Bump: chichón
• Chest: pecho
• Cure: curar
• Develop symptoms: desarrollar síntomas
• Disability: discapacidad
• Eyebrow: ceja
• Eyelids: párpados
• Faint: desmayarse
• Fingernails: uñas (de las manos)
• Gums: encías
• Heal: sanar
• Hip: cadera
• Itch: picazón
• Jaw: mandíbula
• Liver: hígado
• Lungs: pulmones
• Muscles: músculos
• Reaction: reacción
• Rib: costilla
• Scar: cicatriz
• Spot: mancha
• Stroke: derrame cerebral / ataque
• Sweat: sudor
• Swollen: hinchado
• Thigh: muslo
• Toenails: uñas de los pies
• Treat: tratar
• Waist: cintura
• Wrist: muñeca

Phrasal Verbs

• Burn out: agotarse
• Care for: cuidar
• Come down with: enfermarse
• Get over: recuperarse
• Pass out: desmayarse
• Throw up: vomitar

Health Expressions

• Be out of breath: quedarse sin aliento
• Be what you eat: ser lo que comes
• Do you good: hacerte bien
• Give birth: dar a luz
• Have an upset stomach: tener malestar estomacal
• Hold your breath: aguantar la respiración
• Keep in shape: mantenerse en forma
• Lose your voice: perder la voz

Grammar 11: Comparisons, Intensifiers, and Modifiers

Comparative and Superlative Structures

We use the comparative to compare two people or things.

We usually form the comparative by adding -er to an adjective or adverb. If the adjective or adverb has two or more syllables, we use the word more. We often use the word than after the comparative.

• International flights are more expensive than domestic flights.
• The train will get you to your destination more quickly than the bus.

We use the superlative to compare one person or thing with other people or things of the same type. We usually form the superlative by adding -est to the adjective or adverb. If the adjective or adverb has two or more syllables, we use the word most. We usually use the word the before the superlative.

• What is the longest mountain range in the world?
• The Japanese tourists spoke the most politely of all the people on the cruise.

Spelling rules:

• hot → hotter / hottest
• brave → braver / bravest
• tiny → tinier / tiniest

Some adjectives and adverbs are irregular and form their comparative and superlative in different ways.

Other Comparative Structures

We use as + adjective / adverb + as to show that two people or things are similar in some way:

• Do you think city breaks are as enjoyable as a beach holiday?

We use not as / so + adjective / adverb + as to show that one person or thing has less of a quality than another:

• London isn't as beautiful as Paris.

We use less / the least + adjective / adverb to mean the opposite of more / the most:

• The beach is less clean than it used to be. (= It's dirtier.)
• This resort is one of the least crowded in the area.

We use the + comparative, the + comparative to show that as one thing increases or decreases, another thing is affected:

• The lower the airfares, the higher the number of travellers.

Intensifiers

We can use much, far, a lot or considerably before a comparative to make the meaning stronger:

• The hotel is considerably bigger than I expected.

We can use slightly, a bit or a little before a comparative to make the meaning weaker:

• This pool is slightly smaller than the other one.

We can use easily, by far or by a long way before or after a superlative to make the meaning stronger:

• This is easily / by far the best holiday of my life.
• This is the best holiday of my life by far / by a long way.

So, Such, Too, Enough

We use too + adjective / adverb to show that something is more than we want or need:

• It's too expensive to go on holiday.

We use adjective / adverb + enough or enough + noun to show that something is or isn't as much as we want or need:

• The hotel accommodation wasn't good enough.
• We have enough money to go on holiday.

Structures with too and enough are often followed by to + infinitive:

• The sea was too cold to swim in.
• At the age of seventeen, you're old enough to drive a car in Britain.

We use so and such for emphasis. It is stronger than very:

• We use so + adjective / adverb:

  The beach was so clean!

• We use such + (adjective) + noun:

  This water is such a gorgeous colour.

We can also use so and such with a that clause to emphasise characteristics that lead to a result or action:

• Berlin is such an interesting city that I have visited it three times.
• The ferry crossing was so rough that many passengers got sick.

Gradable and Ungradable Adjectives

Gradable Adjectives

Gradable adjectives can:

• Vary in intensity:

  It's cold today, but it was very cold yesterday.

• Be used with grading adverbs such as a little, extremely, fairly, hugely, immensely, intensely, rather, reasonably, slightly, unusually, very, etc.:

  Argentina is fairly big, but it's reasonably easy to explore.

• Have comparative and superlative forms:

  The city tour was more boring than the cooking class, but the Cheese Museum was the most boring of all.

Ungradable Adjectives

Ungradable adjectives:

• Cannot vary in intensity because they are already at their limit:

  It was freezing in Moscow.

• Are often used alone:

  It was boiling in the midday sun.

  I hadn't eaten all day and I was starving.

• Can only be used with non-gradable adverbs such as absolutely, utterly, completely, totally, etc.:

  I'm absolutely exhausted after that six-hour tour!

  We were completely lost in the jungle.

Pretty can be used with both gradable and ungradable adjectives:

• Jason is pretty tall for his age.
• The film was pretty awful, wasn't it?

We usually use quite with gradable adjectives. When we use it with ungradable adjectives (especially sure, certain and right), it changes its meaning to absolutely. However, this use can seem formal or old-fashioned:

• Gradable: The sea was quite warm. (= fairly warm)
• Ungradable: I'm quite sure I left my sunglasses here. (= absolutely sure, formal)

Adjectives and Adverbs

Forming Adverbs

We usually form adverbs by adding -ly to an adjective:

• careful → carefully
• slow → slowly

If the adjective ends in -le, we change it to -ly:

• simple → simply
• whole → wholly

If the adjective ends in -ic, we add -ally:

• basic → basically
• fantastic → fantastically

If the adjective already ends in -ly, we can't make an adverb, so we can use the structure in a / an ... way:

• friendly → in a friendly way
• lovely → in a lovely way

Some words like hard, early, late, straight and fast can be both adjectives and adverbs:

• Trevor is a hard worker. He works very hard.
• I need to take the early train, so I need to get up early.
• I wanted to watch the late news, so I stayed up very late.

The words hardly (= barely) and lately (= recently) are not the adverbs of hard and late:

• Trevor hardly does any work. (= he does almost none)
• Lately, I've been going to bed early. (= recently)