When do I use HAVE and HAS?

"Have" and "has" are both present tense conjugations of the verb "to have," and we use "have" or "has" depending on the subject.  

If the subject is 3rd person, singular, then you use "has."  All other subjects take on "have".  See below:

Singular                                 

1st Person         I have            

2nd Person        You have            

3rd Person       He/She/It HAS        

Plural
1st Person          We have
2nd Person         You have
3rd Person         They have

Ex.

She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow.

They have a long day ahead of them.

My dog has a good temperament.

We both have an iPhone.

My sister has a hybrid car.

Remember that the verb "to have" serves two purposes in the English language:

1. Verb: Of course, as you know, the verb "to have" is used to express possession, as in the examples above and as in "I have a dog, a house and a beautiful family."
2. Auxiliary Verb: "Have" is also used as an auxiliary (or helping) verb when using the present perfect.  (Click here to learn more about the present perfect.)  See below for the grammar construction of the present perfect:

Present Perfect Grammar:

When using the present perfect, we conjugate the verb "to have" in the same way as the present tense as seen above; that is, the 3rd person singular changes to "has."

I/You/We/They + HAVE + past participle

He/She/It            + HAS    + past participle

Ex. 

I have traveled to Paris three times.

He has never seen a James Bond movie!

They have taken the test.

She has tried to help.

We have just finished writing the report.

My dog has already gone for a walk four times today.

They have taken the test.

She has tried to help.

Infinitive (to+verb), Gerund (verb+ING) or BOTH? (for Beginners)

Whenever we use two verbs together in English, the second verb must change to either an infinitive or gerund, or sometimes it can be either one.  For example:

I enjoy have a coffee after dinner.
I enjoy to have a coffee after dinner.
I enjoy having a coffee after dinner.

I need buy a dress.
I need buying a dress.
I need to buy a dress.

I like go to the beach.
I like to go to the beach.
OR
I like going to the beach.

These examples represent the three groups of verbs below:

1. gerund ONLY (verb+ing)
2. infinitive ONLY (to+verb)
3. gerund OR infinitive 

Here is a short list of the most commonly used verbs that correspond to one of these three groups.

1. The following verbs MUST be followed by a gerund (verb + ing)

• can't stand (really don't like!)
• enjoy
• finish
• give up
• go + activity (swimming, surfing, shopping, dancing, sightseeing...)
• recommend

      2.  The following verbs MUST be followed by an infinitive (to + verb)

• forget
• learn
• mean
• need
• try
• want

      3.  The following verbs can be followed by a gerund (verb + ing) OR an infinitive (to + verb)

• begin
• can't stand
• hate
• like
• love
• prefer

20 (more) Opposites for Beginners

Here is the second group of must know opposites for beginners of English.  You can find the first group by clicking here.

20 (more) Opposites List:

1. Best - Last
2. Boring - Exciting
3. Day - Night
4. East - West
5. Heavy - Light
6. Long - Short
7. More - Less
8. New - Old
9. Nice - Mean
10. North - South
11. Open - Closed
12. Right - Wrong
13. Rude - Polite
14. Safe - Dangerous
15. Smart - Stupid
16. Soft - Hard
17. Sunny - Cloudy
18. Thick - Thin
19. Up - Down
20. Warm - Cool

20 Opposites for Beginners

Here is a group of basic opposites every beginner of English should know.  Take a look below:

20 Opposites List:

1. Beautiful - Ugly
2. Big - Small
3. Black - White
4. Clean - Dirty
5. Close - Far
6. Early - Late
7. Easy - Difficult
8. Empty - Full
9. Expensive - Cheap
10. Fast - Slow
11. First - Last
12. Happy - Sad
13. High - Low
14. Hot - Cold
15. Left - Right
16. Quiet - Loud
17. Rich - Poor
18. Tall - Short
19. Wet - Dry
20. Young - Old

10 MORE Examples of how STRESS can change the meaning or part of speech of a word

Here are 10 more examples words that change meaning or part of speech depending on word stress.  This is an extension of a previous blog post that can be found here.

As already stated in the previous post, t is crucial to know where to place the appropriate stress or intonation of many words in English, as the meaning of a word or its part of speech can change.

Pay close attention to which syllables (the first or second) carry the stress and what part of speech each word is (verb or noun).  Do you notice any pattern in these two syllable words?  Well, as you can see in these examples, if the stress is on the first syllable, it is a noun, and if the stress is on the second syllable, it is a verb. 

Remember that when speaking English, stress is a crucial element in pronunciation, so always pay close attention to which syllable carries the stress.

1. Addict

• aDDICT (v.):  Many people become addicted to alcohol or drugs after suffering a tragedy.
• Addict (n.):  As there is heroin readily available in Afghanistan, you will find many addicts.

2. Compact

• comPACT (v.):  My neighbor owns a device that compacts trash to create more space for garbage. 
• COMpact (n.):  The Smart car is the most famous of all compact car designs.

3. Default

• deFAULT (v.):  It is absolutely imperative that you don't default on your loan--you must make the payment.
• DEfault (n.):  The default in payments to the insurance company increased his monthly premiums.

4.  Extract

• exTRACT (v.): During the Gold Rush, pioneers extracted gold from mines in California.
• EXtract (n.): Flower extracts are used in the production of perfume.

5. Insult

• inSULT (v.): Please don't insult me in front of the guests!
• INsult (n.): In China burping is not considered an insult, on the contrary it is a compliment to the cook!

6. Mismatch

• misMATCH (v.): Unfortunately, they mismatched the names and corresponding contacts, causing great confusion.
• MISmatch (n.): The blind date ended up being a disastrous mismatch!

7. Overlap

• overLAP (v.): John overlapped his clients appointments and ended up with two people in his office at the same time.
• OVERlap (n.): The overlap of the fabrics in the dress created a nice texture.

8. Rewrite

• reWRITE (v.): The author had to rewrite the entire manuscript as it was lost in the plane crash.
• REwrite (n.): The editor was not satisfied with the rewrite of the second edition.

9. Torment

• torMENT (v.): Nightmares of the tornado tormented him day and night.
• TORment (n.): She could no longer bear the torment of breaking up and getting back together one more time.

10. Transplant

• transPLANT (v.): The gardener transplanted the tree from the backyard to the front yard where there was more sun.
• TRANSplant (n.): She was the first human being ever to receive a successful face transplant.

 

5 Common Mistakes for Portuguese Speakers

Naturally, when we try to speak in a foreign language we translate directly and literally from our own, but sometimes translating does not work, as in the following examples.

1. congress/conference

• I'm going to an international congress conference about physical therapy this weekend.

Note: Congress is the governing body in the United States consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

2. all the people/everybody

• I think all the people go everybody goes on vacation in August in Europe.

Note: We use "all the people" when it is more specific or qualified, such as "all the people who registered for the test" or "all the people who I invited to the party"...

3. toes/fingers

• My feet were so cold after snowboarding all day that I could hardly move my fingers toes.

Note: The word "toes" does not exist in Portuguese; fingers is used instead.

4.  to have/be ______ years old

• When I had was 10 years old, I visited Finland with my family.

5. to like something

• I like very much going to the beach very much.
• She likes more shopping downtown more than going to the mall.

Note: These are syntax (word order) errors.

Quick Lesson: Possessive: 'S vs. S'

Possessive: 'S

In English, we normally say "John's house" instead of "the house of John."  The syntax (word order) of the possessive case in English is different from most languages, such as the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc.), so it's helpful to practice this until you become more familiar with the word order.

Ex.

the house of my cousin= my cousin's house
the school of your daughter= your daughter's school
the book of Teresa= Teresa's book
the friend of Adam= Adam's friend
the computer of the library= the library's computer
the beaches of San Diego= San Diego's beaches
the narrow streets of Lisbon= Lisbon's narrow streets

Now, take a look at the following words that end in the letter 's'. 

the surfboard of Charles= Charles' (or Charles's) surfboard
the park of St. James= St. James' (or St. James's) park
the birthday of Agnes= Agnes' (or Agnes's) birthday

It's more common to use the s' instead of s's, but both are correct.

The same rule applies to plural nouns ending in s:

the bikes of the students= the students' (or students's) bikes
the costumes of the actors= the actors' (or actors's) costumes

Exercise 1.  Change the following phrases using 's:

1. the dress of my sister=
2. the car of her cousin=
3. the laptop of Rita=
4. the boots of Sofia=
5. the son of Raquel=
6. the mother of John=
7. the birthday party of Paul=
8. the crayons of Jennifer=
9. the job of my brother=
10. the question of the student=

Exercise 2.  Change the following phrases using s':

1. the phone number of James=
2. the help of Charles=
3. the boutiques of Paris= 
4. the grades of the students=
5. the uniforms of the employees=