Activities in Their Capitals and Countries

Konu Anlatımı

Free Time in a Big City

A capital city is not only a place of government buildings. After work and at the weekend, the streets, the squares, the parks and the old markets fill with people who want to enjoy their free time. In a city you can do almost everything within walking distance, and this is why walking is the favourite way of moving for many visitors. The most common activities are going sightseeing, shopping, visiting a museum, having a coffee in a café, walking in a park, watching a match, and taking a boat trip on the river or on the lake.

All of these activities are described with the present simple, because they are habits and repeated actions. If you want to say how often something happens, use the adverbs of frequency in their fixed order: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never. Put the adverb after the verb be and before any other main verb: They usually have lunch in a café, The market is always crowded on Saturdays. A time expression such as on Sundays, in summer or twice a week is very helpful, because it immediately shows that the present simple is the right tense.

Getting Around: Transport in a City

Transport phrases are short but they are very frequently tested. On foot means walking, and it is used after a verb of movement: We walked to the historic centre on foot. For vehicles we use by plus the vehicle with no article: by bus, by train, by underground, by taxi, by bike, by boat. When you ride something, the vehicle takes the direct article: She rides a bicycle to school, You can ride a boat on the lake. A bazaar or a market is an open place where people buy food and small things, and shopping there is one of the most popular evening activities.

Rules, Advice and What People Do Not Do

Cities have rules, and English has three small structures for them. Use must and must not for rules that everybody has to follow: You must not take photos inside the mosque, Visitors must keep their voices low. Use should and should not for advice: You should visit the old market in the morning, You should not carry a lot of money. Use it is worth plus a gerund for something that is worth the time and the money: It is worth taking the boat trip. All three structures are followed by the base form of the verb, and this is a very common exam point.

• must / must not + base verb: — You must have a ticket to enter.
• should / should not + base verb: — You should wear comfortable shoes.
• It is worth + gerund: — It is worth visiting the old cathedral.
• Why don't you + base verb? — Why don't you walk instead of taking a taxi?
• Let's + base verb: — Let's take the underground; it is faster.

• by + vehicle with no article: — They go to work by underground.
• ride + article + vehicle: — You can ride a boat on the lake.
• on foot without a vehicle: — The market is ten minutes on foot from here.
• go + gerund for an activity: — go sightseeing, go shopping, go swimming

Seasons, Crowds and Empty Streets

The activities of a city change with the season. In summer the old town is full of visitors, the museums are crowded and the boat trips leave every hour. In winter the same streets are quiet, the cafés are warm and friendly, and prices are often lower. For this reason people who want to feel the real rhythm of a city often choose the spring or the autumn. A very useful structure for talking about this is the comparative: The old town is more crowded in summer than in winter. With the superlative you can name the best month: May is the best month to visit.

Sample Question and Solution

Read the text and answer the questions.

The Green City Guide. The historic centre is only one kilometre long, so you can walk everywhere. In summer the old market opens at eight and closes at nine in the evening, and street musicians play in the square every evening. In winter the market closes early and the city is much quieter. A full tour of the centre lasts two hours, and visitors must wear quiet shoes inside the mosque.

Question: Which two activities can people do in the square in summer, and what rule must visitors follow in the mosque?

Solution: Step 1: Find the place in the text; the square is the place named in the question. Step 2: Find the two activities that happen there; shopping at the market and listening to street musicians. Step 3: Find the rule; the word must gives a rule, not advice, and the object is shoes. Step 4: Answer with two complete sentences and the modal verb of obligation. Answer: In summer people shop at the old market and listen to street musicians in the square, and visitors must wear quiet shoes inside the mosque.

Common Mistakes

Students make three mistakes again and again. The first one is forgetting the third person ending: write she goes sightseeing, not she go sightseeing. The second one is putting an article after by: say by bus and by underground, but say ride a bicycle with the verb ride. The third one is using a base verb after a modal: you must not take and you should visit take the plain form of the verb with no ending. One more trap is the verb enjoy, which is always followed by a gerund: She enjoys visiting museums, never She enjoys to visit museums.

Summary

The activities of a capital city are described with the present simple, because they are repeated actions, and the adverbs of frequency always stand after the verb be and before another main verb. Transport has its own small rules: on foot for walking, by plus a vehicle with no article, and ride plus a vehicle with an article. Rules use must and must not, advice uses should and should not, and it is worth is always followed by a gerund. A city changes with the season, so compare the crowds with a comparative form and name the best month with a superlative.

Ne Öğreneceğiz

What people do in big cities and in their countries: sightseeing, shopping, sport, boat trips, cafés and city rules, with the present simple, adverbs of frequency and transport phrases. Bu konuda ögrenme çıktıları:

• Names common free-time and tourist activities and says where people do them.
• Uses the present simple with adverbs of frequency to describe regular activities.
• Talks about transport with on foot, by bus, by underground, by bike and by boat.
• Explains rules and advice for visitors with must, must not, should and it is worth.
• Describes what visitors do in a capital and compares the seasons of a city.
• Spots and corrects mistakes with the third person singular, after prepositions and after verbs like enjoy and watch.

Ön Bilgi

Bu konuya başlamadan önce temel kavram ve ön koşulları kavramanız yardımcı olacaktır. Konunun çerçevesinde şu kavramlar dikkat ister:

• Free-time activities in a capital are repeated actions, so they take the present simple and a time expression such as on Sundays or in summer.
• Adverbs of frequency stand after the verb be and before any other main verb, and their order is always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never.
• On foot means walking and it has no article; every vehicle after by also has no article, but after ride the vehicle takes an article.
• The verb enjoy, the verb mind and the phrase it is worth are always followed by a gerund, and this is one of the most tested points in this unit.
• Must and must not express rules, should and should not express advice, and all of them are followed by the base form of the verb without any ending.
• In a protected old town there are usually two kinds of rule: no photos inside religious buildings and quiet behaviour in public places.
• Seasonal comparison uses comparatives, such as more crowded in summer, and the best month uses a superlative.
• A city tour has a length and a price, and both are asked for with how long and how much in the same way as a journey.

Basit Örnek ve Günlük Yaşam

Günlük yaşamda ve mesleki bağlamda bir uygulama:

Soru: Describe what the people in a capital city do at the weekend with the present simple.

1. Step 1: Choose an activity that really happens there, such as visiting a museum or walking in a park.
2. Step 2: Use the third person plural or the first person plural so that the verb is easy and correct.
3. Step 3: Add a frequency adverb in the correct position, usually or often.
4. Step 4: Add a place expression with the correct preposition, in the park or at the museum.

Sonuç/cevap: They usually visit a museum on Saturday mornings and they often walk in the park in the afternoon.

İleri Örnek

Daha ileri bir uygulama:

Soru: Recommend one free-time activity in a capital city and support it with two reasons.

1. Step 1: Name the activity with a gerund so that the reader understands the plan.
2. Step 2: Begin the advice with should or with the phrase it is worth plus a gerund.
3. Step 3: Give the first reason with because, for example the price or the view.
4. Step 4: Give the second reason in a short sentence with also, and finish clearly.

Sonuç/cevap: I recommend taking the boat trip on the river because it is cheap and the view is wonderful, and you also see the whole city from the water.

Adım Adım Çözülmüş Örnek

Example 1: Describing a Regular Activity konusunun adımları:

1. Step 1: Choose an activity that really happens there, such as visiting a museum or walking in a park.
2. Step 2: Use the third person plural or the first person plural so that the verb is easy and correct.
3. Step 3: Add a frequency adverb in the correct position, usually or often.
4. Step 4: Add a place expression with the correct preposition, in the park or at the museum.

Karşılaştırma Tablosu

Sık Yapılan Hatalar

Forgetting the third person ending: Write she goes sightseeing every summer, because a singular subject needs the ending on the verb in the present simple.

Putting an article after by: Say by bus and by underground with no article, and use the verb ride with an article when you mean one particular vehicle.

Using a base form with a modal: Modals are always followed by the plain verb, so write you must not take and you should visit without any ending.

Using an infinitive after enjoy: This verb needs a gerund, so write she enjoys visiting museums and never she enjoys to visit museums.

Forgetting the -ing form after go: The activities take a gerund, so write go sightseeing, go shopping and go swimming, not go to sightseeing.

Confusing a rule with advice: Use must and must not when something is not allowed, and use should and should not when you are only giving a recommendation.

Özet

The activities of a capital city take the present simple, because they are repeated actions, and the adverbs of frequency stand after the verb be and before another main verb. Transport has its own rules: on foot for walking, by plus a vehicle with no article, and ride plus a vehicle with an article. Rules use must and must not, advice uses should and should not, and it is worth is followed by a gerund. A city changes with the season, so compare the crowds with a comparative and name the best month with a superlative.

Kendini Dene

Soru: Write a paragraph of 80-110 words about what people usually do in your capital city at the weekend. Give four activities with the correct verbs, two frequency adverbs in the right position, one place with a preposition and one piece of advice for a visitor.

Örnek cevap: Marking key: four realistic activities with correct verbs (6 points); two adverbs of frequency in the correct position (4 points); correct third person forms where needed (3 points); one place with a correct preposition (3 points); one piece of advice with should or it is worth (2 points); spelling and punctuation (2 points). Total 20 points.