

Be careful with prepositions!!!!
Some common examples.
We arrived at 6 o'clock at England…Should be IN England
I drive at the city centre every morning. Should be TO the city centre
I work IN the centre of Helsinki. Not AT the centre…
I went to university in 1980's. Should be in THE 80's! (or in THE 90's etc.)
I go to work at 8.00. Not to THE work.
or one goes to school, to bed, to kindergarten, to jail, to university, to heaven/hell etc.
BUT I can go to THE school (to speak to the headmaster.etc)
I arrived AT 9 0'clock TIME
I arrived IN 1995 YEAR
I arrived IN December MONTH
I arrived ON Wednesday DAY OF THE WEEK
I arrived ON the 25th of JULY DATE
You can say:
I'm going to London tomorrow.
I arrived in London late last night
I went to the theatre last night.
I went to the exhibition last week
I saw Bill AT the theatre.
I saw Ann AT the football match
You can go TO the country or city and arrive IN that country or city at some time or another.
You can go TO the movies or TO the Art Gallery and arrive AT the movies or AT the art gallery AT 8 o'clock.etc.
You can't ask "Where are you coming from?" when you want to know a person's country of origin.
You CAN ask: "Where do you come from?" or "Where are you from?"
You can ask "What do you do?" if you want to know what somebody does 'for a living':
What sort of work he/she does.
You cannot ask "How long time have you been in Finland?"
But you CAN ask "How long have you been in Finland?"
You can't say "They are so nice people"
You can say "Those people are so nice" or
You can say "They are such nice people.
You can ask "do you think it is going to rain tomorrow?"
And the answer might be "I think so" or "I don't think so".
But one can't answer "I think so that it is going to rain.
"TOINEN AND TOINEN!!!!!
You can say "I have 2 brothers. One is a doctor. The other is a lawyer."
Or "One of them is a doctor and the other one is a lawyer."
You Can't say (as many Finns do )The other one is a doctor and the other one is a lawyer"
You can't say: "We have been discussing ABOUT our new project."
You should say: We have been discussing our new project."
You can't say "Please tell FOR me when you are ready to discuss our sales figures." You should ask: "Please tell me…"
If I say "Mr. Smith arrived on time" I mean he arrived at the time we agreed upon for our meeting.
If I say "Ms Jones arrived IN time" I mean she arrived a bit before the agreed time or ON time (He wasn't late)
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS. There are a number of nouns that refer to thinks that cannot be counted. Here are a few examples:
INFORMATION : you can't say I need 5 informations. (You can say I need more information or better information or more up-to-date information. Etc.)
OTHER UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS: advice luggage furniture weather accommodation permission machinery
work traffic progress homework
(You can't say homeworks traffics weathers accomodations permissions etc.)
BRUSH UP your knowledge of both the PRESENT CONTINUOUS and the PRESENT SIMPLE. And don't mix them up!
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS comprises 3 parts.
(I you he she they it we etc) + the verb to be + VERB ROOT + the ending -ING"
Examples:
I am playing tennis (AS I SPEAK)
Or I am checking the sales figures (NOW).
I am not expecting a delivery today(NEGATIVE)
Are you waiting for somebody? (QUESTION)
USE:
WE use the present continuous to talk about what is happening now:
At the time of speaking.
OR: To indicate an activity around the time of speaking.
OR: To indicate the temporary nature of an activity.
Example: I'm working in sales at the moment (I usually work
In the finance department)
THE PRESENT SIMPLE:
POSITIVE: He works in the advertising department.
NEGATIVE She doesn't live in Tapiola any more.
QUESTION: Does Mr. Jones need more information?
WE use the present simple:
To indicate a general or permanent activity.
Example: I live in HELSINKI
To describe how often an activity takes place.
Example: We appraise our employees once a year.
To describe a truth or current belief
Example:Managers plan,organise,lead and control.
The sun rises in the east.
With non-continuous verbs
Example: At present the company belongs to the APEX group.
NOTE: The present simple takes an -s ending in the third person singular.
Examples: he/she works(not IS working) in Espoo.
Does he/she/Mr.Jones,your mother,etc like classical music?
Anne, the man next door,Fred.etc, doesn't live here
My CV