Unit 3: Routines
Which of these are part of your daily routine?
Do you do them in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, or at night?
take a shower take a bath
drink coffee drink tea
eat (breakfast / lunch / dinner) drive to / go to (work/school) / take the bus to
cook (breakfast / lunch / dinner) go home
talk to ( ) check my messages
study work
go shopping help my children
take my children to (school/ ) put my children to bed
go to bed wake up
Is there anything else that you do every day?
What is your favorite day of the week? Why?
These pictures show Genet Abebe’s routine on Thursdays. Genet is an immigrant from
Ethiopia.
Image 1 Image 2
1.________________________________ 2. _______________________________
______________________________________ _________________________________
Image 3 Image 4
3. _________________________________ 4. _________________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________
Image 5 Image 6
5. _________________________________ 6. _________________________________
_________________________________ _________________________________
Practice 3A: Read this paragraph.
Genet’s favorite day of the week is Thursday because she doesn’t work on
Thursdays. In the morning, Genet wakes up at around 8:00. She drinks coffee and
eats some hot cereal for breakfast. At 9:15, she takes the bus to City College of
Chicago. Genet has English class from 10 to 12. She eats lunch with friends in the
cafeteria. They study and talk. Genet enjoys hanging out with her classmates. In the
afternoon, she often takes a walk with a friend in the park. Walking relaxes and
energizes Genet. She cooks a healthy dinner on Thursday evenings. She takes a hot
shower before she goes to bed. For Genet, Thursdays are relaxing and fun because
she doesn’t have to work.
After you read, write a sentence from the paragraph under each picture, or in your
notebook. You do not need to use every sentence from the paragraph.
In Unit 2, we looked at prepositions of place, like in, on, and at. In the paragraph about
Genet’s routine on Thursdays, some prepositions are used for time expressions. Notice the
bold expressions:
Genet’s favorite day of the week is Thursday because she doesn’t work on
Thursdays. In the morning, Genet wakes up at around 8:00.
Here are some rules about prepositions:
Prepositions of Time
A. IN
1. Months, years, seasons
a. It sometimes snows in April.
b. April is in the spring.
2. Periods of time during the day
a. I wake up early in the morning.
b. I work in the evening.
B. ON
1. Days of the week, weekend
a. I work on Mondays and Wednesdays. Image 7
b. I don’t have to work on the weekend.
2. Specific dates
a. The baby was born on October 4.
C. AT
1. Specific times of the day
a. I get home at 5:00.
D. FROM…TO
1. Starting at one time and ending at another.
a. The store is open from 9 AM to 8 PM.
b. Summer lasts from June to September.
Practice 3B: Fill in the prepositions of time.
1. I eat breakfast _______ 7:30 AM.
2. I eat lunch _______ noon. I take a nap _____ the afternoon.
3. I study English ______ 6:00 PM ______ 10:00 PM.
4. I like to take classes ______ the evening, but I don't want to be awake _______ night.
My sister is different.
1. She does homework _______6:00 AM _______ 10:00
AM.2. She eats lunch with me _______ 12:00 PM.
3. She has a class _______ 2:00 _______ 4:00PM.
Image 8
4. After dinner, she watches TV. She watches a lot of TV _______ the evening.
5. She goes to sleep _______ midnight.
Practice 3C. Answer the questions. Write in complete sentences. Start with a capital
letter and end with a period.
1. What time do you wake up?
______________________________________________________________________
2. What time do you eat dinner?
______________________________________________________________________
3. What time do you do your homework?
______________________________________________________________________
4. What time do you go to bed?
______________________________________________________________________
Share your answers with a partner. Then write a short paragraph about your partner.
Use simple present verbs. The first sentence should start with your partner’s name.
The next sentences should use he or she as subjects.
Example:
Maha wakes up at 7:00. She eats lunch at 5:00 PM. She does her homework in the
evening. She goes to bed at 11:30 PM.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Practice 3D: The following paragraph is missing prepositions of place and time. Write
the prepositions in the blanks.
My favorite place to shop is Ikea ______
Canton. First, I drop my kids off ______ the
children’s area. It’s fun and free. Then I go
______ the second floor and look ______ all of
the unique living rooms and bedrooms. After that,
I pick up my kids and we eat _____ the café. _____ the morning, we enjoy Image 9
breakfast and fresh cinnamon rolls. _____ the afternoon, we have a cheap and tasty
lunch. I love the European dishes at Ikea, like red cabbage, Swedish meatballs, and
torte with fresh fruit. Finally, my kids and I choose a few small household items
______ the first floor. We usually spend less than $25 dollars ______ Ikea. We leave
the store with a great feeling because this fun experience didn’t cost us very much.
Practice 3E: Discuss these questions as a class, in a small group, or with a partner.
1. Do you like to shop?
2. How is shopping in the U.S. different than in your country?
3. What is your favorite place to shop?
4. How often do you go shopping? When do you go?
5. What is the difference between these places to shop?
a mall a superstore a grocery store
a strip mall a department store a mom-and-pop store
Ask your teacher if you are not sure.
Which of these places do you most often shop?
6. Look at the list of items to buy. Which of these do you buy often? Do you buy any of them
online?
groceries books kitchen/dining items
clothes toys music
jewelry gifts tobacco products
home décor linens arts and crafts
Practice 3F: Vocabulary building. For each of the categories of items below, write
three, four, or more specific examples. Work with a group or partner.
Example: See “linens” box.
groceries clothes
jewelry kitchen/dining items
home décor linens sheets
pillow cases
towels
Here are some more words to help you discuss your favorite places to shop:
prices everything I need beautiful
cheap unique / special colorful
high /the best quality relaxing interesting
displays helpful staff convenient
selection big good service
fast lines friendly clean
close to my house good location the latest designs/
models
Good writers use “signal words” to move through a paragraph. For example, if we write about
three reasons that we like a store, we can use words like “First,” “Second,” and “Finally”
before each reason. The words “First,” “After that,” and “Finally” can be used to show that we
do things in time order, too. These words do not go in the middle of a sentence. They start a
sentence. They have a comma → , after them.
Examples:
My favorite place to shop is Meijer. First, Meijer is very convenient, second I really like the
fruits and vegetables at Meijer. X
(incorrect)
My favorite place to shop is Meijer. First, Meijer is very convenient. I can get everything in one
store. Second, I really like the fruits and vegetables at Meijer. CORRECT
Practice 3G: Read the sentences. Then number them from 1 to 7.
______ After that, she looks for new books to read.
______ Finally, Rika sits at a table in the café in the library, drinks
coffee, and enjoys her new book.
______ Rika enjoys going to the library on Saturday afternoons.
______ First, she sits and studies at her favorite table by the
window.
______ She learns new words, completes her workbook, and writes
in her journal.
Image 10
______ Next, she goes to the front desk and checks out her books.
______ Her reading skills are getting better, so she chooses a new novel or biography every
week or so.
Write the sentences about Rika and the library. Write them in order. Write them in a
paragraph format. Your teacher may ask you to write this on a separate piece of paper.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Practice 3H: Punctuation review. Remember that and, but, and so come in the middle
of the sentence. If you are connecting two complete sentences, use a comma. Try not
to start a sentence with and, but, and so.
Add punctuation where necessary.
1. This market sells fresh fruit and vegetables and they also have frozen food.
2. I chose this market because it is close to my house and the quality is the best. It is very
clean and the employees are so helpful to me.
3. I love this store because it has everything I need. And it has items on sale all the time. I
like to shop there but I often buy too many things.
4. There is soft music and colorful displays so I usually spend a long time and relax while I
shop.
5. I like to go shopping at Macy’s because they have the latest fashions, I go there when
there is a big sale. I spend a lot of time there so I usually leave my baby at home with my
husband, this is a special treat. But I only do it two or three times a year.
Notice how we talk about shopping:
I go shopping on Fridays. CORRECT
I go to shop on Fridays. X (incorrect)
I go to shopping on Fridays. X (incorrect)