Describing routines
Routines are things that you do regularly. This means things you do every day, every week,
every month or even every year. We use present simple tense to describe routines because
they are things you do at any time rather than a particular time- so they indicate past, present
and future activities. Write the names of these household chores under each picture using a
gerund (i.e. verb + ing)
1
2
........................................
.....................................
4
........................................
7
........................................
5
.....................................
8
.....................................
3
...................................
6
...................................
9
...................................
Household chores are one example of a routine.
Here are some other examples of things that you do regularly:
1) Your daily routine (the order you do things every day)
2) Your study routine (your timetable at school or for individual study)
3) Your exercise routine (for good health)
WATCH
A VIDEO
4) Your training routine (for a sport)
5) Your travel routine (to work or school)
PRACTICE
6) Your routine at weekends
PRACTICE
Which of these routines do you have?
1........................................................
PRACTICE
2........................................................
3........................................................
4.......................................................
Do you have any other routines?
...................................................................
Sequence markers
We use sequence markers to indicate the order in which we do things:
a) Ordinal numbers
First, second, third, fourth, fifth...
b) Ordinal adverbs
Firstly, secondly, thirdly, fourthly, fifthly...
c) Other adverbs
Then, next, after that, finally/lastly
WATCH
A VIDEO
WATCH
A VIDEO
NOTE: be careful when you use ‘at last’
‘at last’ does not mean the same thing as ‘lastly’
Here is an example of how to use ‘at last’ correctly.
We agreed to meet at Burger King at 6pm. I arrived at 5.50, but
you were not there. At six o’clock, you had still not arrived. I
continued to wait. At 6.20, I was starting to get angry. At 6.40, I
was beginning to think you had forgotten or that something had
happened. At last, at 6.50, you arrived.
‘At last’ indicates that a period of time had passed after the
expected time of arrival. It indicates that the person who was
waiting was feeling frustrated and annoyed because the other
person was late.
‘At last’ indicates that someone had been made to wait for
something to happen.
If you are making a cup of instant coffee, these are the things you do:
Task: Write a number in the box to indicate the order in which you do these things to
make a cup of coffee
Add some milk
Put one spoon of coffee in a cup
Add the hot water
Stir the coffee, the sugar, the milk and the hot water together
Boil some water in a kettle
Add some sugar
Task: Write a short paragraph using sequence markers to describe what you do every
day in the evening when you come home from university:
First,_____________________________________________________.
Then ____________________________________________________,
and then __________________________________________________.
Next,_____________________________________________________.
After that, ________________________________________________.
Finally, __________________________________________________.
PRACTICE
We use ordinal adverbs when we want to make a series of points:
For example, ‘There are many reasons why people want to learn English’
Firstly, it is useful when you meet people from other countries
Secondly, it is useful for business.
Thirdly, it is useful when we study.
Fourthly, you can get a bigger salary if you can speak English.
Fifthly, you have more job opportunities if you can speak English.
Task: Read the following passage and write down the five advantages of living with
your parents that are mentioned.
I have lived with my family for most of my life. Living with my parents can be both
good and bad. Sometimes I think it was good to live at home with my family, but at other
times it could be very annoying.
When I was at school, my dad always gave me a lift to school in the mornings in his car.
I’m very glad he did because I would have skipped class many times if I had had to catch a
bus. Since I started university, it has been my responsibility to get up and get to my first class
on time. I am not always successful! These days I have to find my own food which either
means cooking it myself or paying for it in a restaurant. My mum might not be the best cook
in the world, but having all of my meals prepared for me every day was great. Another
problem with being a student who lives in a dorm is that when I run out of money, my life
stops. At home, I could always get some money from my mum or dad. Another thing I hate is
doing laundry. Once a week I have to wash all of my clothes and then spend a whole evening
ironing them. My mum always did this for me at home. I now realize how hard she worked
for us all!
Sometimes I wish I had the benefits of living at home, but I also had to make sacrifices. Now I
am free- free to go out when i feel like it, free to come home when I like, free to see whoever I
want to see, but also free to do all of the chores I mentioned and sometimes I have to do all of
these things by myself, which reminds me of another thing. At home I was never lonely.
Firstly, ..................................................................................................................................
Secondly, .............................................................................................................................
Thirdly, ................................................................................................................................
Fourthly, ...............................................................................................................................
Fifthly, .................................................................................................................................
Prepositions of time
We usually use three different propositions to describe time: ‘at’, ‘on’ and ‘in’
1) We use ‘at’ to identify a particular time:
at 8 o’clock
at 20.40
at night
at 5pm
at eight-thirty
2) We also use ‘at’ for the weekend (British English):
e.g. ‘I will meet you at the weekend.’
PRACTICE
3) And we also use ‘at’ for festival days:
at Christmas
at Easter
at Eid
at Songkran
at Loi Kratong
We use ‘on’ to describe a particular day or date:
1) When we do things regularly on a particular day
on Sundays
e.g. ‘I always go shopping on Sundays’
(Notice that it is plural because it is every Sunday)
2) On weekends (American English)
3) On a particular day
on Monday
on Friday
on my birthday e.g. ‘I will meet you on Friday’
4) On a particular date
on June 4th
on the 25th of April
on Christmas day
on the first day of school
We use ‘in’ to describe a period of time
1) In the future
in a few minutes / in an hour / in three days / in two weeks / in three months/
in a few years
e.g. ‘I will do in the next day or two’ (future intention)
‘Our class starts in ten minutes’ (in the future)
‘I can finish it in three days’
(an estimate of the time it will take to complete)
2) To identify a part of the day
in the morning / in the afternoon/ in the evening
e.g. ’I always study in the morning’
3) To identify a month
in March, in April e.g. ‘My birthday is in March.’ ‘The semester starts in August’
4) To identify a year
e.g. ‘I was born in 1987’
in 1987
5) To identify a season
in the spring/the summer/the autumn/the winter/the rainy season
e.g. ‘The weather is hot in the summer.’
6) To identify a decade
in the 1960s, 1970s
e.g. ‘There was an economic crash in the 1990s’
Task: Write the correct preposition in the following sentences.
1) I will visit my aunt and uncle _______ Wednesday.
2) We will get paid _________ three days.
3) I went to New York ____________ Christmas day.
4) I’ll stay at home __________ Songkran.
5) My favourite TV show is on __________ 7.30pm.
6) His birthday is __________ October.
7) We have a test _________ Friday.
8) I can meet you _________ the afternoon.
9) Your birthday is __________ October 1st.
10) I have an appointment __________ three hours.
11) My friend will get married __________ July.
12) I was born ___________ 1993.
13) I always go to bed _______ midnight.
CLICK HERE TO DO
THIS EXERCISE
ONLINE
14) I want to buy a house _________ a few years.
15) Can I call you back _________ ten minutes?
Task: Write five sentences about your life and study using ‘in’, ‘at’ and ‘on’
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
Adverbs of frequency
Task: Put the adverbs from the box into the table to indicate the degree of frequency.
Often
Seldom/rarely
Usually/normally
Sometimes
Occasionally
ALWAYS (100%)
NOTE: ‘Often’ can be modified to show degrees
Not very often
Quite often
Often
Very often
‘Always’ and ‘Never’ can also be modified:
Almost always
NEVER
Almost never
(0%)
READ
ABOUT IT
PRACTICE
PRACTICE
We also use some other adverbial phrases to indicate frequency:
Every: hour, morning, afternoon, evening, night, day, Wednesday, week, month, July,
summer, year, Christmas, Songkran etc.
Once/ twice/ three times: an hour / a day / week / month / year,
NOTE: Use an adverb of frequency or an adverbial
phrase, but not both.
I sometimes go shopping at Big C.
I go shopping at Big C once a week.
Task: Read the following two paragraphs to see how by using different adverbs and
phrases, the meaning can be dramatically changed.
The Good Mother
Paweena is a housewife. She lives in Roi-et with her husband and two children. Her husband
works in a government office and her children are at school. Paweena always gets up at 7am
and prepares breakfast for her family. She clears away the plates and washes the dishes. Her
husband takes the children to school on his way to work. Paweena sometimes goes to the
market in the morning to buy food for the day, but she never spends time playing cards and
gossiping with her friends. Paweena usually does the laundry in the morning and then she
puts the washing out to dry. She often has lunch at about 12 pm and usually spends the
afternoon cleaning the house and preparing food for the evening. Normally, she cooks dinner
for her family. They usually eat at about 6pm. After dinner, she clears up and often she helps
her children with their homework. She always goes to bed at ten o’clock. Everyone thinks she
is a wonderful mother.
The Bad Mother
Paweena is a housewife. She lives in Roi-et with her husband and two children. Her husband
works in a government office and her children are at school. Paweena rarely gets up at 7am
and doesn’t usually prepare breakfast for her family. She often doesn’t clear away the plates
and never washes the dishes. Her husband takes the children to school on his way to work.
Paweena always goes to the market in the morning to buy food for the day, but she usually
spends time playing cards and gossiping with her friends. Paweena quite often doesn’t do the
laundry in the morning or put the washing out to dry. She always has lunch at about 12 pm
but rarely spends the afternoon cleaning the house and preparing food for the evening. Once
a week, she might cook dinner for her family. They usually have to find something to eat at
about 6pm. After dinner, she never clears up and she rarely helps her children with their
homework. She never goes to bed at 10. Everyone thinks she is a terrible mother.
Task: Write a paragraph about you normal routine.
Use sequence markers (Firstly, then, next, after that, finally etc), adverbs of frequency
(sometimes, usually, always etc.) adverbial phrases, (every day, once a week etc.) and
propositions of time (in, at, on)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Homework task: Asking about routines
Ask another person, maybe a family member or friend, the following questions:
1) What time do you get up?
2) What time do you have breakfast?
3) What time do you leave the house in the morning?
4) What time do you arrive at school/work?
5) What time do you have lunch?
6) What time do you usually finish study/work?
7) What time do you arrive home?
8) What time do you have dinner?
9) What do you usually do in the evenings?
10) What time do you go to bed?
You can ask additional questions about things of your choice:
1
2
3
4
5