Moving from the Yellow Level to the Green Level

How are you doing with the Yellow Level? We're almost finished with it, so if you haven't gone through all the lessons in that level, it would be a good idea for you to do that now. The grammar that you study in the Green Level might look similar to that which you have studied in the Yellow Level, but there's a big difference. In the Yellow Level you study perfect and continuous tenses. These tenses are often confused with the passive voice. Look at this example:

She has been cleaning the house. (present perfect continuous tense)

The house has been cleaned. (present perfect tense, passive voice)

In the first sentence, we know who is doing the action. In the second sentence, the person who is doing the action is not mentioned. Is it a woman? Is it a woman. Is it a man? We don't know. But look at how similar the verbs are. �

How have you been doing?

How have you been doing lately? Have you been studying your English? If you haven't been studying English lately, perhaps you've been doing other things. You could say, "I've been working a lot lately." Or, I've been doing a lot of gardening." Or, I've been helping my brother rebuild his house after the tornado tore his roof off."

As for your teacher, I've been doing a lot of things lately. Right now I'm enjoying a vacation from my regular teaching assignment. School starts up again in two weeks, so I have a little time off to do things that interest me. So, if someone asked me the same question I'm asking you, I'd have to say....

I've been riding my bike around town a lot lately.

I've been cleaning my basement. (It's really a mess.*)

I've been spending time with my kids.

I've been working on my website.

I've been fixing my house. (It's old and needs repairs.)

I've been planning on taking a trip to Chicago.

I've been taking pictures with my camera. The pictures are for my website. �

Perfect Modal Verbs

We continue to study modal verbs today by looking at perfect modal verbs. Perfect modal verbs look like this:

modal verb + have + past participle

When you use perfect modal verbs, you are describing some past action that did or didn't happen. Here is an example:

She should have done her homework.

The main verb in the above sentence, "do," is in the form of the past participle after the verb "have." She should have done her homework, but she didn't do it. This is an action that did not happen in the past. Let's look at some more examples:

I could have gotten a job at that company. (but I didn't)

She should have stopped at the light. (but she didn't)

If he had a car, he wouldn't have walked. (but he did)

To learn more, go to Lesson Twelve in the Yellow Level. �