Essential English Vocabulary & Grammar Reference

Posted on May 7, 2025 in Administration and Management

Food & Restaurant Vocabulary

Food Qualities & Types

  • Fresh
  • Low-fat (bajo en grasas)
  • Home-made
  • Raw (crudo)
  • Spicy
  • Sweet
  • Takeaway

Food Items

  • Beans
  • Duck
  • Lettuce
  • Peaches
  • Prawns
  • Salmon
  • Sausages
  • Strawberries

Dining Items & Courses

  • Knife
  • Fork
  • Spoon
  • Plate
  • Glass
  • Napkin
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Starters
  • Main Courses
  • Desserts

Cooking Methods

  • Boiled
  • Roast
  • Baked
  • Grilled
  • Fried
  • Steamed

Restaurant Terms

  • Butcher (carnicero)
  • Menu
  • Diet
  • Well done
  • Rare

Sports Terminology

People in Sport

  • Captain
  • Coach
  • Fans
  • Players
  • Referee
  • Spectators
  • Team

Sporting Venues

  • Stadium
  • Sport Hall
  • Circuit
  • Court (cancha)
  • Course (golf)
  • Pool
  • Slope (ski)
  • Track
  • Pitch (campo)

Actions & Outcomes

  • Beat
  • Win
  • Lose
  • Draw

Training & Fitness

  • Warm up
  • Get injured
  • Get fit

Describing Personality Traits

General Traits

  • Affectionate
  • Aggressive
  • Ambitious
  • Bossy
  • Charming (encantador)
  • Competitive
  • Independent
  • Jealous
  • Manipulative
  • Moody (humor cambiante)
  • Reliable (fiable)
  • Selfish (egocéntrico)
  • Sensible
  • Sensitive
  • Sociable
  • Spoilt (caprichoso)
  • Friendly
  • Honest
  • Imaginative
  • Kind
  • Organized
  • Patient
  • Responsible
  • Tidy

Trait Pairs (Contrasts)

  • Extrovert / Shy
  • Self-confident / Insecure
  • Mean / Generous
  • Stupid / Clever
  • Hard-working / Lazy
  • Talkative / Quiet

Family & Relationships

  • Couple
  • Stepmother
  • In-laws

Money & Finance Vocabulary

  • Afford (permitirse)
  • Blow (despilfarrar)
  • Broke
  • Credit Card
  • Earn (ganar trabajando)
  • Greedy (tacaño)
  • Loan (préstamo)
  • Mall (centro de compras)
  • Mortgage (hipoteca)
  • Spend
  • Be worth (vale)
  • Borrow (pedir prestado)
  • Charge
  • Cost
  • Inherit
  • Invest (invertir)
  • Lend
  • Owe (deber)
  • Save
  • Take out (e.g., a loan)
  • Waste (perder, malgastar)
  • Tax
  • Cash Machine / ATM
  • Coin
  • Note (banknote)

Strong Adjectives & Equivalents

  • Tiny / Small
  • Delicious / Tasty
  • Furious / Angry
  • Terrified / Afraid
  • Exhausted / Tired
  • Boiling / Hot
  • Starving / Hungry
  • Enormous / Big
  • Freezing / Cold
  • Filthy / Dirty
  • Great / Good
  • Awful / Bad (Note: original had ‘Bored’, ‘Bad’ is a more common counterpart)

Transport & Travel Terms

Air Travel

  • Check-in Desk
  • Luggage
  • Boarding Pass
  • Baggage Reclaim
  • Take off (verb)
  • Gate
  • Case (suitcase)
  • Aisle

Rail Travel

  • Railway Station
  • Platform
  • Carriage
  • Ticket Office
  • Underground (Tube/Subway)

Road Travel

  • Coach (autocar, not vagón which is carriage)
  • Lorry (UK) / Truck (US)
  • Van
  • Motorbike
  • Helmet
  • Bike (Bicycle)
  • Car
  • Scooter
  • Tram (tranvía)
  • Motorway (UK) / Highway (US)
  • Traffic Jam
  • Speed Limit

General

  • Land (verb)
  • Public Transport

Mobile Phone Terminology

  • Dialling
  • Texting
  • Hung up
  • Ring Tone
  • Calling back
  • Left a message
  • Voicemail
  • Engaged / Busy (line)

Describing People’s Appearance

General Descriptors

  • Bright (intelligent)
  • Height
  • High
  • In his eighties (age)
  • Light brown (color, e.g., hair)
  • Might (modal verb, seems misplaced here unless referring to potential)
  • Neighbour
  • Overweight
  • Sight (vision)
  • Straight (e.g., hair)
  • Weigh (verb) / Weight (noun)
  • Tall
  • Slim
  • Short
  • Well-built

Hair

  • Fair / Blonde hair
  • Ponytail
  • Long wavy hair
  • Grey hair
  • Beard
  • Curly hair (rizado)
  • Shoulder-length hair (hasta los hombros)
  • Moustache
  • Fringe (UK) / Bangs (US)

Attractiveness

  • Attractive
  • Beautiful
  • Good-looking
  • Handsome (typically for men)
  • Plain (not especially attractive)
  • Pretty (typically for women/children)
  • Ugly

English Grammar Essentials

(Based on original notes, with clarifications)

Present Simple

  • Use: General truths, facts, habits. (Original: verdades)
  • Example: I live here. / I do live here.

Present Continuous

  • Structure: `be + verb-ing`
  • Use: Actions happening at the moment of speaking; temporary situations; future plans/arrangements. (Original: planes o acciones en el momento de habla)
  • Example: I’m waiting. / What are you doing? / We are meeting tomorrow.

Past Simple

  • Use: Completed actions in the past. (Original: acabadas)
  • Example: I woke up. / Did you wake up?

Past Continuous

  • Structure: `was/were + verb-ing`
  • Use: Actions in progress at a specific moment in the past; background actions interrupted by another past action. (Original: acción en progreso en momento específico)
  • Example: I was watching TV when you called. (Original example context: YO ESTABA VIENDO – I was watching)

Past Perfect

  • Structure: `had + past participle`
  • Use: An action completed before another action or specific time in the past. (Original: HABIA TERMINADO – had finished; pasado cercano)
  • Example: She had finished her homework before she went out.

Sequence of Tenses (Examples from original notes)

  • Past Simple + Past Simple: For sequential completed actions. (Original: cuando el tal hicieron tal) Example: When the bell rang, the students left.
  • Past Simple + Past Continuous: When a shorter action interrupts a longer, ongoing action in the past. (Original: cuando tal estaban haciendo tal) Example: While they were playing, it started to rain.
  • Past Simple + Past Perfect: When one action was completed before another past action occurred. (Original: cuando tal ellos ya habían tal) Example: When he arrived, they had already eaten.

Future with “going to”

  • Structure: `be + going to + infinitive`
  • Use: Intentions, decided plans; predictions based on present evidence. (Original: algo decidido o predicciones)
  • Example: She is going to adopt a cat. (Original example context: ELLA VA A… – She is going to…)

Future with “will/shall”

  • Structure: `will/shall + infinitive`
  • Use: Spontaneous decisions, promises, offers, suggestions, predictions without current evidence. (Original: decisiones momento, promesas, ofertas, sugerencias)
  • Example: I think it will rain tomorrow. / I’ll help you.

Present Perfect

  • Structure: `have/has + past participle`
  • Use: Actions completed at an unspecified time in the past that have a connection to the present; experiences; actions that started in the past and continue to the present (often with ‘for’ or ‘since’). (Original: conexión pasado futuro)
  • Example: I have cut my finger. (Original example interpretation: HE CORTADO, not HABÍA CORTADO which is Past Perfect)

Present Perfect vs. Past Simple

  • Present Perfect: Connects the past with the present.
  • Past Simple: Refers to actions completely finished in the past, with no direct present relevance specified. (Original: acciones acabadas en el pasado)

Present Perfect Continuous

  • Structure: `have/has + been + verb-ing`
  • Use: Duration of an action that started in the past and continues up to the present, or has recently stopped but has present results. Often used with ‘for’ and ‘since’. (Original: con since y for)
  • Example: They have been waiting for hours. (Original example context: HAN SIDO/ESTADO… – They have been…)

Modals of Obligation: “have to” and “must”

  • Use: Both express general obligations. ‘Must’ often implies obligation from the speaker, while ‘have to’ often implies external obligation.
  • Negative:
    • `mustn’t`: Prohibition (it’s forbidden). (Original: must es prohibir) Example: You mustn’t smoke here.
    • `don’t have to`: No obligation (it’s not necessary). Example: You don’t have to pay. (The original note’s mention of ‘consejo’ (advice) for negative ‘have to’ is better applied to ‘shouldn’t’ for negative advice.)

A Note from Original Text

The original document included the word: “IMPOSSIBLE”. The specific grammatical context for this was not provided.