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by R. S. Karunarathne
Future perfect tense
The future perfect tense is formed in the following manner:
will / shall + perfect infinitive for first persons and will +
perfect infinitive for the other persons.
 The future perfect tense is normally used with a time expression
beginning ‘by, by then, by that time’ or ‘by the 10th.’
By the end of 2014 we will have lived in this house for 30 years.
The future perfect tense is used for an action which at a given
future time will be in the past or will just have finished.
Let us wait till 31st December 2013. Sanka will have had his
convocation by then.
Sam saves Rs. 1,000 a month. He started doing so in January 2013. By
the end of the year he will have saved Rs. 12,000.
I drink two bottles of water a day. I will have drunk 14 bottles in a
week.
The contractor will have built my house by the end of November 2013.
We use words such as ‘already’ and ‘just’ with the future perfect
tense to refer to actions or events which will be finished by an
approximate time in the future.
By December 2015 John will have already completed all his
examinations.
My grandson will have just turned 25 years at the end of next year.
Activity
Underline the correct verb forms in the following sentences. Check
your answers with the key.
 1. The books he wrote have made / will have made an impression on
readers during the past few years.
2. Xavier had retired / will have retired as the postmaster of Dompe
by the end of this year.
3. Mother had just cooked / will have cooked my meals when I returned
home.
4. Don’t disturb him. He has already gone / will have already gone to
bed by now.
5. The cricketers hadn’t realised / won’t have realised
how tired they were until they returned home.
6. The police have succeeded / will have succeeded in solving the
mystery by the end of this month.
7. The hurricane has damaged / will have damaged several houses in
the coastal areas.
8. Dawn hadn’t accepted / won’t have accepted the truth until she
read about it in the newspapers.
9.By April, the leaves on the trees have turned / will have turned
brown.
10. The amazing fact about Blackie is that it will have returned /
will return to his master’s house in a few days.
Key
1. have made
2. will have retired
3. had just cooked
4. has already gone
5. hadn’t realised
6. will have succeeded
7. has damaged
8. hadn’t accepted
9. will have turned
10. will return
Quiz on Latin roots
There are many English words derived from Latin.
Therefore, a knowledge of Latin roots will help you to understand the
meaning of certain English words.
In the following quiz we give the Latin roots and their meanings.
You have to write a word with the Latin root on the dotted line. The
first one has been done for you.
Check your answers with the key.
Latin roots Meaning
English word
1. spire breathe inspire
2. struct build ...............
3. sult jump ...............
4. sume take ...............
5. sumpt take ...............
6. tain hold ...............
7. tin hold ...............
8. tract pull ...............
9. vert turn ...............
10. verse turn ...............
11. voke call ...............
12. voc call ...............
13. volve turn ...............
Key
2. obstruct
3. consult
4. consume
5. assumption
6. contain
7. continue
8. distract
9. convert
10. reverse
11. provoke
12. invocation
13. involve
Use of prepositions
Part 9
Most starters find it difficult to use prepositions correctly.
However, a good knowledge of prepositions is necessary to use English
effectively.
Apart from
 We use apart from when we make an exception to a general statement.
Apart from the few articles he wrote to newspapers, he has not
published any book.
We use apart from to indicate that we are aware of one aspect of a
situation, but we are going to focus on another aspect.
Apart from making you ill, smoking is a nuisance to others.
As
We use as when we indicate what somebody or something is thought to
be.
He is regarded as a hero by the common people.
Rex worked as an artist before he became an editor.
The following verbs are usually followed by as: address, adopt,
brand, cast, categorize, certify, characterize, choose, cite, class,
classify, conceive, condemn, consider, construe, count, denounce,
depict, describe, designate, diagnose, disguise, elect, employ,
establish, groom, hail, interpret, label, mark, name, nominate,
perceive, project, regard, use, act, begin, come, function, pass, pose,
serve, work.
As to
We use as to when we indicate the subject of a piece of information.
I have no information as to his whereabouts.
Astride
When you sit astride a horse or motorcycle, you will have your legs
on each side of it.
Raymond sat astride a big motorcycle ready to begin his journey.
At
If you are at a place, you are there.
I saw Nilma at the airport.
He came to meet me at the station.
On mercantile holidays there are no workers at the factory.
She works as a computer operator at a communication centre.
My younger sister is at school.
Her father died when she was at university.
When you are at a table, you are next to it.
I saw her sitting at a table waiting for somebody.
He waited at the gate but nobody came to open it.
We use at to indicate the time.
My last train leaves Badulla at 9.30 p.m.
Mother used to read me fairy tales at bedtime.
We use at to indicate the age.
At 75 grandfather is still very active.
She began to write poems at the age of 15.
We use at to indicate a price or rate.
He drove the car at full speed.
We used to ring the temple bell at regular intervals.
We look at somebody or something.
Why are you looking at me?
Some words are followed by at: bark, scream, shout, snap, swear,
yell.
Forming adjectives from nouns
Words often come in families. You can expand your vocabulary by
becoming familiar with these word families. This can also enable you to
become a fluent speaker and writer of English. Here’s a quiz on word
families. Give the relevant adjective for each noun listed in Column A.
We have done the first one for you. Check your answers with the key.
Column A Column B
1. Circle circular
2. Cleanliness ................
3. Closure ................
4. Clothes ................
5. Collection ................
6. Colour ................
7. Combination ................
8. Comfort ...............
9. Commitment ................
10. Communication ................
11. Comparison ................
12. Competition ................
13. Completion ................
14. Complication ................
15. Concentration ................
16. Concern ................
17. Conclusion ................
18. Condition ................
19. Confidence ................
20. Confirmation ................
21. Confusion ................
22. Connection ................
23. Consciousness ................
24. Consequence ................
25. Consideration ................
Key
2. clean
3. closed
4. clothed
5. collected
6. coloured
7.combined
8. comfortable
9. committed
10.communicative
11.comparable
12.competitive
13. complete
14. complicated
15.concentrated
16. concerned
17. conclusive
18. conditional
19.confident
20. confirmed
21. confused
22. connected
23.conscious
24. consequent
25.considerable |
