Grammar

in a nutshell

# 3

When you talk about time, you often have to use a preposition (voorzetsel). There are differen prepositions of time, they are:

to – past– at – on – in – before

Let’s start with the clock…

You use to and past when you are literally talking about time:

It is 10 to 2 (10 minutes before 2 o’clock) or

It is 20 past 3 (it is 20 minutes after 3 o’clock).\

Quarter = So past is after the whole hour, 15 minutes

to is before the whole hour.

Prepositions of time

At, on, in comes before the time (clock, day or date):

NCIS starts at nine.

Football practise is on Mondays.

The classes start in September.

Use AT to show an exact time:

two o’clock, midnight / noon,

the moment, etc.

Use ON with:

days of the week and dates

Use IN to say when something is going to

happen… : parts of the day, months, years,

long periods, duration

Let’s look at this clip:http://youtu.be/v8Sas-BC5EM

I go walking ........ the morning.

I’m leaving ……… the end of the year.

He is meeting me ……… 9.30am ……… the morning.

EXERCISES

At, in or on?

Got it?

Excellent!NEXT UP:

Now for the difficult bit…The Future

There are two ways you can talk about the futurewill and going to.

You use will to say that something is (not) going to happen in the future. In Dutch you say ‘zal’ or ‘zullen’.

It is a fact or you believe it to be true.

For example: In speech: you shorten will to ‘ll, so:

It will snow tomorrow. It’ll snow tomorrow. (Because Piet Paulusma said so and we believe that he is always right ;))

Future

If something is not going to happen you say: will not or won’t…

If you make a decision at the moment of speaking you use will. If you have made a decision in the past (so you have already planned it), then you use (to be) going to.

If you expect something to happen or you have prove that something is going to happen orwhen something was planned before use GOING TO.

I think, it’s going to rain. (expectation – the sky is looking very grey)

Look, it’s going to snow. (proof – you can see the first snow drops)

I’m going to the doctor in an hour. (plan – you have made the

appointment already)

Add not before going to if something is not going to happen.

Future (2)

Will?

Going to?

Still confused about the future?

Maybe this lady will be able to make it clear for you:http://youtu.be/YDj-7oyD6l0

Future (3)Exercise 2 (p. 84 WB)

1. Do I need a sweater when I go sailing tomorrow?

2. What will the weather be like in Friesland today?

3. Look at those dark clouds!

4. What’s the weather forecast for tomorrow?

5. What are your plans for today?

6. Do I need a rain coat?

No, it won’t be cold tomorrow.

It will be cloudy and 20 degrees celcius.

I think it is going to rain…

There will be fog in the morning.

I’m going to watch a football match in the afternoon.

No, it won’t rain.

If you say something and want to ask people if they feel the same way, you can put a question behind your sentence.

When you make a positive (+) sentence, your added sentence (the question at the end) has to be negative (-).

She is a really smart girl, isn’t she?

But,when you make a negative (-) sentence, you put a positive (+) question at the end.

She isn’t a smart girl, is she?

Ok, this sounds really difficult, but it isn’t… Look at this video!

Question Tags

?http://youtu.be/zHaLuv7E3xk

Question Tags (2)

http://youtu.be/3zuo56O7_aUCheck out the hand out!

So what you do:You repeat the form of to be, or the auxilliary (hulpwerkwoord), in the added question.

He is (+) taking Spanish lessons, isn’t (-) he?You can (+) cut my hair, can’t (-) you?You won’t (-) call me back, will (+) you?

No ‘be’ or other ‘auxilliary’ in the sentence? Then you use do/don’t or does/doesn’t (he/she/it).

You know (+) where I live, don’t (-) you?He never (-) talks, does (+) he?

Exercise

Grammar

in a nutshell

# 3