Your five prepositions
Read out the five prepositions you noted from Bluey, each one inside the sentence you heard it in. Whole sentences, not single words.
Three sentences, three errors of number. Fix them.
1. There is two banks in my street.
2. There are a park near here.
3. There is lots of shops on the square.
What you can and cannot do here
Two reviews of the same neighbourhood
Positive: You can walk to almost everything. You can get a bus to the centre every ten minutes until midnight. There are three supermarkets within five minutes, and you can park on the street for free after six.
Negative: You cannot cycle safely anywhere — there are no bike lanes at all. You cannot park during the day unless you have a permit. There is nowhere to swim, and you can't get a taxi after eleven.
Both reviews use the same two structures. Answer from the text.
1. What comes immediately after can and cannot?
2. Does can change for he or she?
3. You can walk to almost everything — who is you here?
4. The negative review says there are no bike lanes. Which is the alternative form?
The two structures, fully
There is / there are — all six forms
| Singular | Plural | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | There is a bank. | There are two banks. |
| Negative | There isn't a bank. / There is no bank. | There aren't any banks. / There are no banks. |
| Question | Is there a bank? | Are there any banks? |
The any rule. Use any in negatives and questions with plural nouns: Are there any banks? · There aren't any banks.
Use some in positives: There are some banks.
One exception worth having: use some in a question when you are offering or requesting — Can I have some water?
Can / can't
| Form | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Positive | can + bare verb | You can walk there in ten minutes. |
| Negative | can't / cannot | You can't park here. |
| Question | Can + subject + verb | Can you walk there? |
| Never | — |
Can does three different jobs. Match each sentence to the job it is doing.
One word per gap. Mix of there is/are, can/can't, and some/any.
There a market on Tuesdays, and you buy vegetables much more cheaply there. There any supermarkets in the old town, so people walk to the square. there a chemist near the market? Yes, but you get anything after six — it closes early. There are good cafés on the square, and you sit outside all year.
Both structures, fast
Six sentences, six errors. Rewrite each one in full.
1. He cans speak three languages.
2. You can to park here at night.
3. There isn't no cinema in my town.
4. Do you can swim?
5. Are there a bank near here?
6. There are some shops?
Build the question. Put the six parts in order.
Sell it and warn them
Task card · Speaking
A friend is thinking about moving to your neighbourhood. They have asked you, honestly, what it is like.
Two minutes: one minute selling it, one minute warning them. At least four there is/are and four can/can't.
- The positive minute: what exists, and what they will be able to do.
- The negative minute: what does not exist, and what they will not be able to do.
- Finish with one sentence of honest advice — So if you…, it's fine. If you…, don't.
Three quick decisions.
1. There are no bike lanes. Which sentence?
2. It is possible to walk to the station. Which sentence?
3. You want to ask whether there are shops. Which question?
Which structure held
Two minutes of speaking just happened. Answer about it.
1. Which structure did you get wrong more?
2. Did you use have anywhere you should have used there is?
One rule to carry
Thirty seconds. Match each form to when you use it.
Before Lesson 4. Walk your five-minute route again — really walk it, or use a map app in street view. Write down every single thing you pass that you cannot name in English.
That list is Lesson 4. It is more useful than any word list this course could give you, because it is the vocabulary you are actually short of.