English Vocabulary & Grammar Units 3 & 4: A Comprehensive Guide
English Vocabulary Unit 3
Shopping and Consumerism
- Browse: to look through something quickly
- Try out: to test something
- Charity shops: stores that sell donated items to raise money for charity
- Sweatshop: a factory where workers are exploited with low wages and poor working conditions
- Second-hand: used or previously owned
- Bargains: items sold at a lower price than usual
- Brands: a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a specific name
- Influencers: people who have a strong influence on others, often through social media
- Purchases: the act of buying something
- Tries on: to put on clothing to see if it fits
- Ripped off: to be charged too much for something
- Exchange: to give something and receive something else in return
- Refund: to get your money back for something you bought
Idioms Related to Shopping
- Doesn’t give these offers the time of day: to ignore or not pay attention to something
- Judge a book by its cover: to form an opinion about something based on its appearance
- The tip of the iceberg: a small part of a much larger problem
- In safe hands: to be in the care of someone who is reliable and trustworthy
- A rule of thumb: a general principle or guideline
- Keep an eye out: to watch for something or someone
Environmental Issues
- Biodegradable: able to decompose naturally
- Break down: to decompose or fall apart
- Carbon footprint: the amount of greenhouse gases produced by a person or activity
- Clean-up: the act of removing pollution or waste
- Compost: decomposed organic material used as fertilizer
- Contaminate: to pollute or make something impure
- Disposed of: to throw something away
- Dumped: to discard something in an inappropriate place
- Incinerate: to burn something to ashes
- Landfill sites: places where waste is buried
- Packaging: materials used to wrap or protect goods
- Recycling: the process of converting waste into reusable material
- Reuses: to use something again
- Sustainable: able to be maintained at a certain level without depleting resources
- Toxic: poisonous
- Zero-waste: producing no waste
English Vocabulary Unit 4
Social Issues
- Employment: the state of having a job
- Minority group: a group of people who differ from the majority in terms of race, ethnicity, religion, or other characteristics
- Gender: the state of being male or female
- Racial discrimination: unfair treatment based on race
- Segregation: the separation of people based on race or other characteristics
- Authorities: people in positions of power or control
- Healthcare system: the system that provides medical care to people
- Citizens: people who are members of a particular country
- Mental health issues: problems related to a person’s emotional and psychological well-being
- Neighbourhood: a district or community within a town or city
- Animal rights: the belief that animals deserve to be treated with respect and compassion
- Wealth: a large amount of money or possessions
- Child poverty: the state of children living in poverty
- Welfare state: a system in which the government provides social and economic assistance to its citizens
- Entertainment: activities that provide amusement or enjoyment
- Appearance: the way someone or something looks
- Survival: the state of continuing to live or exist
- Supervision: the act of watching over and directing someone or something
- Maturity: the state of being fully developed or grown-up
- Fairness: the quality of treating people equally
- Bravery: the quality of being courageous
- Friendship: a close relationship between two people who care about each other
Phrasal Verbs
- Dealt with: to take action to solve a problem
- Came across: to find something by chance
- Stick together: to remain close and support each other
- Ran away: to escape
- Calm down: to begin to feel less emotional
- Set off: to start a journey
- Brought back: to return something
- Set up: to create something
Suffixes
- adj or noun + -ity → maturity
- adj + -ness → fairness
- noun + -ship → friendship
- verb + -ment → entertainment
- verb or adj + -ance, -ence → appearance
- verb + -ion, -tion, -ation → supervision
- adj / noun + -ery → bravery
- verb + -al → survival
Crime and Justice
- Shoplifting: the act of stealing goods from a shop
- Vandalism: the act of deliberately damaging property
- Theft: the act of stealing
- Criminal record: a record of a person’s criminal history
- Therapy programme: a programme designed to help people with mental or emotional problems
- Young offenders: young people who have committed crimes
- Prosecutors: lawyers who represent the state in criminal cases
- Criminal: a person who has committed a crime
- Defendant: a person who is accused of a crime
- On trial: being judged in a court of law
- Victim: a person who has been harmed by a crime
- Witnesses: people who have seen or heard something related to a crime
- Jury: a group of people who decide whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty
- Judge: a person who presides over a court of law
- Sentence: the punishment given to a person who has been found guilty of a crime
- Community service: unpaid work that is done as a punishment for a crime
- Paying a fine: paying a sum of money as a punishment for a crime
English Grammar Unit 3
The Passive Voice
- Affirmative: subject + to be + past participle
- Negative: subject + to be + not + past participle
- Interrogative: to be + subject + past participle
Examples:
- Active: The director explained the plot. → Passive: The plot was explained by the director.
- Active: They are going to offer the role to Paul. → Passive: Paul is going to be offered the role.
The Causative
Structure: HAVE/GET + direct complement + past participle
Examples:
- I am going to have/get my hair cut.
- My car broke down, so I had it repaired yesterday.
English Grammar Unit 4
Conditionals
- Zero Conditional (always true): If + present simple // present simple
- First Conditional (probable): If + present simple // future simple
- Second Conditional (hypothetical): If + past simple // would + V base form
- Third Conditional (impossible): If + past perfect simple // would have + past participle
Wishes and Regrets
- Wish / if only + past simple (refers to a present situation the speaker is not happy with)
- Wish / if only + past perfect simple (expresses regret about a past action or situation)
- Wish / if only + could/would + base form (expresses a desire for something to happen in the future)