Wuolah Free English Grammar

English-Grammar.
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Inglés B2
1º Idiomas
Idiomas
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Present Simple
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + VBase (3rd singular + -s, -es)
 (-): S + do/does + not (don’t/doesn’t) + VBase
 (¿?): Do/Does + S + VBase?

USES:
 Present Uses
We use the present simple when something is generally or always true.
- People need food.
- It snows in winter here.
- Two and two make four.
Similarly, we need to use this tense for a situation that we think is more or less
permanent.
- Where do you live?
- She works in a bank.
- I don’t like mushrooms.
The next use is for habits or things that we do regularly. We often use adverbs of
frequency (such as ‘often’, ‘always’ and ‘sometimes’) in this case, as well as expressions
like ‘every Sunday’ or ‘twice a month’.
- Do you smoke?
- I play tennis every Tuesday.
- I don’t travel very often.
We can also use the present simple for short actions that are happening now. The
actions are so short that they are finished almost as soon as you’ve said the sentence.
This is often used with sports commentary.
- He takes de ball, he runs down the wing, and he scores!
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 Future Uses
We use the present simple to talk about the future when we are discussing a timetable
or a fixed plan. Usually, the timetable is fixed by an organization, not by bus.
- School begins at nine tomorrow.
- What time does the film start?
- The plane doesn’t arrive at seven, it arrives at seven thirty.
We also use the present simple to talk about the future after words like ‘when’, ‘until’,
‘after’, ‘before’ and ‘as soon as’. These are sometimes called subordinate clauses of
time.
- I will call you when I have time.
- I won’t go out until it stops raining.
- I’m going to make dinner after I watch the news.
 Conditional Uses
We use the present simple in the first and the zero conditionals.

- If it rains, we won’t come.
- If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.
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Present Continuous
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + To Be + V -ing
 (-): S + To Be + not + V -ing
 (¿?): To Be + S + V -ing?
USES:
 Present uses
First, we use the present continuous for things that are happening at the moment of
speaking. These things usually last for quite a short time and they are not finished when
we are talking about them.

- I’m working at the moment.
- Please call back as we are eating dinner now.
- Julie is sleeping.
We can also use this tense for other kinds of temporary situations, even if the action
isn’t happening at this moment.
- John’s working in a bar until he finds a job in his field. (He might not be working
now).
- I’m reading a really great book.
- She’s staying with her friend for a week.
Compare this with present simple, which is used for permanent situations that we feel
will continue for a long time.
- I work in a school. (I think this is a permanent situation)
- I’m working in a school. (I think this is a temporary situation)
We can use the present continuous for temporary or new habits (for normal habits that
continue for a long time, we use the present simple). We often use this with expressions
like ‘these days’ or ‘at the moment’.
- He’s eating a lot these days.
- She’s swimming every morning (she didn’t use to do this).
- You’re smoking too much.
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Another present continuous use is for habits that are not regular, but that happen very
often. In this case we usually use an adverb like ‘always’, ‘forever’ or ‘constantly’. Often,
we use the present continuous in this way to talk about an annoying habit.
- You’re forever losing your keys!
- She’s constantly missing the train.
- Lucy’s always smiling!
 Future Uses
The next use is for definite future arrangements (with a future time word). In this case
we have already make a plan and we are pretty sure that the event will happen in the
future.
- I’m meeting my father tomorrow.
- We’re going to the beach at the weekend.
- I’m leaving at three.
We can’t use this tense (or any other continuous tense) with stative verbs.

Present Perfect Simple
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + have/has + PP
 (-): S + have/has + not (haven’t/hasn’t) + PP
 (¿?): Have/Has + S + PP?
USES:

 Unfinished actions
We use this tense when we want to talk about unfinished actions or states or habits that
started in the past and continue to the present. Usually we use it to say ‘how long’ and
we need ‘since’ or ‘for’. We often use stative verbs.
- I’ve known Karen since 1994.
- She’s lived in London for three years.
- I’ve worked here for six months.
We use ‘since’ with a fixed time in the past (2004, April 23rd, last year, two hours ago).
The fixed time can be another action, which is in the past simple (since I was at school,
since I arrived).
- I’ve known Sam since 1992.
- I’ve liked chocolate since I was a child.
- She’s been here since 2pm.
We use ‘for’ with a period of time (2 hours, three years, six months).
- I’ve known Julie for ten years.
- I’ve been hungry for hours.
- She’s had a cold for a week.
 Finished actions
Life experience. These are actions or events that happened sometime during a person’s
life. We don’t say when the experience happened, and the person needs to be alive now.
We often use the words ‘ever’ and ‘never’ here.
- I have been to Tokyo.
- They have visited Paris three times.
- We have never seen that film.
With an unfinished time word (this month, this week, today). The period of time is still
continuing.
- I haven’t seen her this month.
- She’s drunk three cups of coffee today.
- I’ve already moved house twice this year!
We CAN’T use the present perfect with a finished time word.
- I’ve seen him yesterday
A finished action with a result in the present (focus on result). We often use the present
perfect to talk about something that happened in the recent past, but that is still true or
important now. Sometimes we can use the past simple here, especially in US English.
- I’ve lost my keys (so I can’t get into my house).
- She’s hurt her leg (so she can’t play tennis today).
- They’ve missed the bus (so they will be late).
We can also use the present perfect to talk about something that happened recently,
even if there isn’t a clear result in the present. This is common when we want to
introduce news and we often use the words ‘just/yet/already/recently’. However, the

past simple is also correct in these cases, especially in US English.
- The Queen has given a speech,
- I’ve just seen Lucy.
- The Mayor has announced a new plan for the railways.
 Been and Gone

In this tense, we use both ‘been’ and ‘gone’ as the past participle of ‘go’, but in slightly
different circumstances.
We use ‘been’ (often when we talk about life experience) to mean that the person we’re
talking about visited the place and came back.
- I’ve been to Paris (in my life, but now I’m in London, where I live).
- She has been to school today (but now she’s back at home).
- They have never been to California.
We use ‘gone’ (often when we are talking about an action with a result in the present)
to mean that the person went to the place and is at the place now.
- Where’s John? He’s gone to the shops (he’s at the shops now).
- Julie has gone to Mexico (now she’s in Mexico).
- They’ve gone to Japan for three weeks (now they’re in Japan).

Present Perfect Continuous
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + have/has + been + V -ing
 (-): S + have/has + not (haven’t/hasn’t) + been + V -ing
 (¿?): Have/Has + S + been + V -ing?
USES:
 Unfinished actions
To say how long for unfinished actions which started in the past and continue to the
present. We often use this with ‘for’ and ‘since’.
- I’ve been living in London for two years.

- She’s been working here since 2004.
- We’ve been waiting for the bus for hours.
This use is very similar to how we use the present perfect simple, and often it’s possible
to use either tense. Of course, with stative verbs, we can’t use the present perfect
continuous.
- I’ve been here for hours.
- NOT: I’ve been being here for hours.
For temporary habits or situations. The action started in the past and continues to the
present in the same way as with use number 1, but we don’t answer the questions about
‘how long’ so clearly. Instead, we use a word like ‘recently’.
- I’ve been going to the gym a lot recently.
- They’ve been living with his mother while they look for a house.
- I’ve been reading a lot recently.
This is very similar to the use of the present continuous for temporary habits and often
either tense is possible.

 Finished actions
Actions which have recently stopped (though the whole action can be unfinished) and
have a result, which we can often see, hear, or feel, in the present. We don’t use a time
word here.
- I’m so tired, I’ve been studying.
- I’ve been running, so I’m really hot.
- It’s been raining so the pavement is wet.
The present perfect simple has a very similar use, which focuses on the result of the
action, whereas the present perfect continuous focuses on the action itself.
- I’ve been reading the book you recommended. (I’m enjoying it, but I’m not
finished).
- I’ve read the book you recommended. (I’ve finished it, so we can talk about it).

Past Simple
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + V -ed (or Past Simple form in irregular verbs)
 (-): S + did + not (didn’t) + VBase
 (¿?): Did + S + VBase?
USES:

This is the basic past tense. We use it whenever we want to talk about the past and we
don’t have any special situation that means we should use the past perfect, present
perfect, past continuous, etc.
 Finished actions, states or habits in the past

We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past when we have a finished time
word (yesterday, last week, at 2 o’clock, in 2003).
- I went to the cinema yesterday.
- We spent a lot of time Japan in 2007.
We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past when we known from general
knowledge that the time period has finished. This includes when the person we are
talking about is dead.
- Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa.
- The Vikings invaded Britain.
We use it with finished actions, states or habits in the past that we have introduced with
the present perfect or another tense. This is sometimes called ‘details of news’.
- I’ve hurt my leg. I fell off a ladder when I was painting my bedroom.
- I’ve been on holiday. I went to Spain and Portugal.
For stories or lists of events, we often use the past simple for the actions in the story
and the past continuous for the background.
- He went to a café. People were chatting and music was playing. He sat down and
ordered a coffee.
 Unreal or imaginary in the present or future
We use the past simple to talk about things that are not real in the present or future. So
we use it with the second conditional and after words like ‘wish’.
- If I won the lottery, I would buy a house.
- I wish I had more time!

Past Continuous (Past Progressive)
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + was/were + V -ing
 (-): S + was/were + not (wasn’t/weren’t) + V -ing
 (¿?): Was/Were + S + V -ing?
USES:
An action in the past which overlaps another action or a time. The action in the past
continuous starts before and often continues after the other shorter action or time.
- I was walking to the station when I met John. (I started walking before I met John,
and maybe I continued afterwards).
- At three o’clock, I was working. (I started before three o’clock and finished after

three o’clock).
In the same way, we can use the present continuous for the background of a story. (We
often use the past simple for the actions). This is really a specific example of Use 1.
- The birds were singing, the sun was shining and in the cafés people were laughing
and chatting. Amy sat down and took out her phone.
Temporary habits or habits that happen more often than we expect in the past. We
often use ‘always, constantly’ or ‘forever’ here. This is the same as the way we use the
present continuous for habits, but the habit started and finished in the past. This thing
doesn’t happen now.
- He was always leaving the tap running.
- She was constantly singing.
To emphasize that something lasted for a while. This is use often optional and we usually
use it with time expressions like ‘all day’ or ‘all evening’ or ‘for hours’.
- I was working in the garden all day.

- He was reading all evening.
Remember you can’t use this tense or any continuous tense with stative verbs.

Past Perfect Simple
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + had + PP
 (-): S + had + not (hadn’t) + PP
 (¿?): Had + S + PP?
USES:
A finished action before a second point in the past.

- When we arrived, the film had started (= first the film started, the we arrived).
We usually use the past perfect to make it clear which action happened first. Maybe we
are already talking about something in the past and we want to mention something else

that is further back in time. This is often used to explain or give a reason for something
in the past.
- I’d eaten dinner so I wasn’t hungry.
- It had snowed in the night, so the bus didn’t arrive.
If it’s clear which action happened first (if we use the words ‘before’ or ‘after’, for
example), the past perfect is optional.
- The film started before we arrived / the film had started before we arrived
Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the
past. The past perfect tell us ‘how long’, just like the present perfect, but this time the
action continues up to a point in the past rather than the present. Usually we use
‘for+time’. We can also use the past perfect continuous here, so we most often use the
past perfect simple with stative verbs.
- When he graduated, he had been in London for six years. (= He arrived in London
six years before he graduated and lived there until he graduated, or even longer).
- On the 20th of July, I’d worked here for three months.
To talk about unreal or imaginary things in the past. In the same way that we use the
past simple to talk about unreal or imaginary things in the present, we use the past
perfect (one step back in time) to talk about unreal things in the past. This is common in
the third conditional and after ‘wish’.
- If I had known you were ill, I would have visited you.

- She would have passed the exam if she had studied harder.
- I wish I hadn’t gone to bed so late!

Past Perfect Continuous
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + had + been + V -ing
 (-): S + had + not (hadn’t) + been + V -ing
 (¿?): Had + S + been + V -ing)
USES:

Something that started in the past and continued up to another action or time in the
past. The past perfect continuous tell us ‘how long’, just like the present perfect
continuous, but this time the action continues up to a point in the past rather than the
present. Usually we use ‘for+time’. (We can also use the past perfect simple here, often
with stative verbs).
- She had been working at that company for a year when she met James.
- I’d been walking for hours when I finally found the house.
- We’d been living in Berlin for three months when we had to leave.
Something that finished just before another event in the past. This is usually used to
show a result at a time in the past. It’s very similar to the present perfect continuous,
but the action finishes before another time in the past, rather than finishing before the
present.
- The pavement was wet, it had been raining (The rain had finished before the
time I’m describing in the past. We could see the result of the rain).
- The children had been playing and so the room was a mess!
- I’d been working before I saw you and that’s why I was really tired.
Future Simple
 Will / Shall
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + will + VBase
 (-): S + will + not (won’t) + VBase
 (¿?): Will + S + VBase? // Shall + I/We + VBase?
USES:
We use the future simple with ‘will’ to predict the future. It is the basic way we talk
about the future in English, and we often use it if there is no reason to use another future
tense. We can use it for future facts and for things that are less certain.

- The sun will raise at 7am.
- I think the Conservatives will win the next election.
Promises / requests / refusals / offers. This is sometimes called ‘volitional’ will. It’s about
wanting to do something or not wanting to do something in the future.
- I’ll help you with your homework.
- Will you give me a hand?
- I won’t go!
In a similar way, we often use ‘will’ when we’re talking about a decision at the moment
of speaking. We are usually making an offer or promise or talking about something that
we want to do.
- A: I’m cold. B: I’ll close the window.
We use the simple future with ‘will’ in the first conditional, and in other sentences that
have a conditional feeling.
- If it doesn’t rain, we’ll go to the park.
- Let’s arrive early. That will give us time to relax.
‘Shall’ is used mainly in the forms ‘shall I?’ and ‘shall we?’ in British English. These forms
are used when you want to get someone’s opinion, especially for offers and suggestions.
- Shall I open the window? (= Do you want me to open the window?)
- Where shall we go tonight? (= What’s your opinion?)
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 Be going to
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + Be going to + VBase
 (-): S + Be + not + going to + VBase
 (¿?): Be + S + going to + VBase?
USES:
We often use ‘be going to’ to talk about our future intentions and plans. We have usually
made our plans before the moment of speaking.
- A: We’ve run out of milk. B: I know, I’m going to buy some.
We can also use ‘be going to’ to make a prediction about the future. Often it’s possible
to use both ‘be going to’ and ‘will’ but it’s more common to use ‘be going to’ if we can
see evidence in the present.
Look at those boys playing football! They’re going to break the window.

-
- The sky is getting darker and darker. It’s going to rain.

Future Continuous
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + will + be + V -ing
 (-): S + will + not (won’t) + be + V -ing
 (¿?): Will + S + be + V -ing?
USES:
We use the future continuous to talk about an action in the future that overlaps another,
shorter action or a time. The action in the future continuous usually starts before and
might continue after the second action or time. This is very similar to how we use the
past continuous in the past. The verb after ‘when’ is usually in the present simple.
- I’ll be waiting when you arrive.

- At eight o’clock, I’ll be eating dinner.
We can use the future continuous to talk about something that will happen if everything
happens as we expect. This is sometimes called ‘future as a matter of course’. It’s usually
possible to choose the future simple as well, but we often choose the future continuous
because then it’s clear that we are not making a request or offer.
- The Government will be making a statement later.
- When will you be leaving? (This is more polite than ‘when will you leave?’
because it’s definitely not a request for you to leave).
Remember, we can’t use the future continuous with stative verbs, so if we want to use
a stative verb in one of the situations where we need to the future continuous, then we
use the future simple with ‘will’.

Future Perfect Simple
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + will + have + PP
 (-): S + will + not (won’t) + have + PP
 (¿?): Will + S + have + PP?
USES:

We use the future perfect to say ‘how long’ for an action that starts before and continues
up to another action or time in the future. Usually we need ‘for’. We can also use the
future perfect continuous here so we often use the future perfect simple with stative
verbs. If we use ‘when’, we usually need the present simple.
- When we get married, I’ll have known Robert for four years.
- At 4 o’clock, I’ll have been in this office for 24 hours.
Sometimes we could also use the present perfect in the same situation. But we like to
use the future perfect to make the time an easy number.
- I’ve lived here for 11 months and three weeks. (This is correct, but the time is
not an easy number).
- On Tuesday, I will have lived here for one year. (A much easier number).
We use the future perfect with a future time word, (and often with ‘by’) to talk about
an action that will finish before a certain time in the future, but we don’t know exactly
when.
- By 10 o’clock, I will have finished my homework. (= I will finish my homework
some time before 10, but we don’t know exactly when).
- By the time I’m sixty, I will have retired. (= I will retire sometime before I’m sixty.
Maybe when I’m fifty-nine, maybe when I’m fifty-two).
Future Perfect Continuous
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + will + have + been + V -ing
 (-): S + will + not (won’t) have + been + V -ing
 (¿?): Will + S + have + been + V -ing?
USES:
Just like with the other perfect continuous tenses, we can use the future perfect
continuous to say ‘how long’ for an action that continues up to another point in the
future. The second point can be a time or another action. Generally, we need ‘for+
length of time’ and if we use ‘when’ or ‘by the time’, we usually use the present simple.
- In April, she will have been teaching for twelve years.

- By the time you arrive, I’ll have been cooking for hours!
In the same way as with the future perfect simple, we often use the future perfect
continuous because we like easy numbers. It’s also possible to use the present perfect
continuous, but then we get a more complicated number.
- I’ve been working here for 11 months and three weeks. (This is correct, but the
time is not an easy number).
- On Tuesday, I will have been working here for one year. (A much easier number).
We can use the future perfect continuous, like the other perfect continuous tenses, to
talk about something that finishes just before another time or action (in this case, in the
future). It’s often used because there will be a result at the second point in the future.
(Again, if we used ‘when’ we usually need the present simple).
- When I see you, I’ll have been studying, so I’ll be tired.

Questions
Questions can be a little difficult in English. The first thing to remember is that there are
two main kinds, ‘yes/no’ and ‘wh’.
The ‘yes/no’ kind need the answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example:
- Do you like chocolate?
- Is he from India?
- Have you been to Japan?
A ‘wh’ one needs more information in the answer. It uses a question word like ‘where’,
‘why’, ‘how’, etc.
- Where do you live?
- What did she do yesterday?
- Where is the station?
They are made in three different ways in English grammar depending on the verb tense:

1. We change the position (or ‘invent’) the verb and the subject. This is used for the
present simple and the past simple of ‘be’ and for modal verbs.
2. We add an extra word, like ‘do/does’ or ‘did’. This is used for the past simple and
the present simple of all other English verbs (not ‘be’).
3. We change the position of the first auxiliary verb and the subject. This is for all
other tenses, for example the present perfect, the present continuous or the
future perfect continuous.
To make the ‘wh’ kind, just put the question word in front of any ‘yes/no’ question: “Is
he coming?” (‘yes/no’) becomes “When is he coming?” (‘wh’).
Here is a summary of the tenses and their interrogative forms:
VERB TENSE YES/NO WH

Present simple ‘be’ Are you hungry? Who are you?
Present simple (other) Do you like ice cream? Where do you play tennis?
Present continuous Are you coming? When are you coming to the party?
Past simple ‘be’ Were you at home? Where were you last night?
Past simple (other) Did you go out last night? How did you do it?
Past continuous Were you watching TV? What were you doing?
Present perfect Have you eaten? What have you eaten?
Present perf. continuous Have you been working? Where have been you working?
Past perfect Had you slept? What had you eaten?
Past perfect continuous Had you been running? Why had you been working?

Future simple Will you come? Who will you meet?
Future continuous Will you be coming? Why will you be sleeping?
Future perfect Will you have finished? When will you have finished?
Future perf. Continuous Will you have been working? What will you have been doing?
Modals Can you swim? Where can we swim?

Tag questions
Tag questions (or question tags) turn a statement into a question. They are often used
for checking information that we think we know is true.
Tag questions are made using an auxiliary verb (for example: be or have) and a subject
pronoun (for example: I, you, she). Negative question tags are usually contracted: “It’s
warm today, isn’t it?” (not ‘is it not’).
Usually if the main clause is positive, the question tag is negative, and if the main clause
is negative, it’s positive.

- It’s cold (positive), isn’t it (negative)?
- It isn’t cold (negative), is it (positive)?
If the main clause has an auxiliary verb in it, you use the same verb in the tag question.
If there is no auxiliary verb (in the present simple and past simple) use do/does/did (just
like when you make a normal question).
There is one weird exception: the question tag after ‘I am’ is ‘aren’t I’. For example: I’m
in charge of the food, aren’t I?
VERB TENSE + sentences, - tags - sentences, + tags

Present simple ‘be’ She’s Italian, isn’t she? We aren’t late, are we?
Present simple (other) They live in London, don’t they? She doesn’t have any children, does
she?
Present continuous We’re working tomorrow, aren’t we? The bus isn’t coming, is it?
Past simple ‘be’ It was cold yesterday, wasn’t it? She wasn’t at home yesterday, was
she?
Past simple (other) He went to the party last night, didn’t They didn’t go out last Sunday, did
he? they?
Past continuous We were waiting at the station, weren’t You weren’t sleeping, were you?
we?
Present perfect They’ve been to Japan, haven’t they? She hasn’t eaten all the cake, has she?
Present perf. continuous She’s been studying a lot recently, hasn’t He hasn’t been running in this
she? weather, has he?
Past perfect He had forgotten his wallet, hadn’t he? We hadn’t been to London before,
had we?
Past perfect continuous We’d been working, hadn’t we? You hadn’t been sleeping, had you?
Future simple She’ll come at six, won’t she? They won’t be late, will they?
Future continuous They’ll be arriving soon, won’t they? He won’t be studying tonight, will he?
Future perfect They’ll have finished before nine, won’t She won’t have left work before six,
they? will she?
Future perf. Continuous She’ll have been cooking all day, won’t He won’t have been travelling all day,
she? will he?
Modals He can help, can’t he? She can’t speak Arabic, can she?
Subject and Object Questions
Usually, when we ask a question, we want to know about the object of the answer:
- What did you lose?
- I lost my purse.
‘My purse’ is the object of the answer and ‘what’ is the object of the question. (The
subject of the question is ‘you’).
Here’s another example:
- Who did John meet?
- John met Lucy.
‘Lucy’ is the object of the answer and ‘who’ is the object of the question.
When we usually learn about how to make a question, we learn about object questions,
because they are the most common type of question. The normal rules that you learn

about making questions, such as inverting the question word and the auxiliary verb, or
adding ‘do’, ‘does’ or ‘did’, are all used in object questions.
However, sometimes we want to ask a question where the thing we want to know is
actually the subject of the answer.
Here’s an answer:
- Lucy kissed John.
We can ask about John, in a normal object question:

- Who did Lucy Kiss?
But we can also ask about Lucy:
- Who kissed John?
‘Who kissed John?’ is a subject question. We don’t need to use inversion, or add ‘did’.
Instead, we just take out ‘Lucy’ from the answer (which is a normal sentence) and add
‘who’. We generally make subject questions using ‘who’ or ‘what’.
Let’s have a look at some more examples:
James dropped the glass.
- Object question: What did James drop?
- Subject question: Who dropped the glass?

We will read the book.
- Object question: What will you read?
- Subject question: Who will read the book?
Amanda washed the car.
- Object question: What did Amanda wash?

- Subject question: Who washed the car?
The students like their new professor.
- Object question: Who do the students like?
- Subject question: Who likes the new professor?
I’m buying some bread.
- Object question: What are you buying?
- Subject question: Who is buying some bread?

Indirect Questions
Have a look at this conversation.

Me: Excuse me. Could you tell me where the nearest station is?
Person in the street: Certainly. It’s along that road on the right.
Me: Thank you. And do you know if there’s a supermarket near here?
Person in the street: Yes, there’s one next to the station.
Me: Thank you very much for your help.
I use indirect questions when I’m asking for help in the street, because they are very
polite. Indirect questions start with a phrase like ‘could you tell me…’ or ‘do you know…’.
For example:

Direct question: Where is the bank?
Indirect question: Could you tell me where the bank is?
Notice that in the indirect question I put the verb (‘is’) after the subject (‘the bank’), in
the same way as I do with a normal positive sentence (‘the bank is over there’), but in
the direct question I put the verb ‘is’ before the subject ‘the bank’. This is called
inversion, and it is used to make direct questions in many verb tenses in English, but we
don’t use inversion in indirect questions. This is very similar to the grammar of reported
questions. However, we use indirect questions in a different way from reported
questions. Indirect questions are a way of being polite. They are very, very common in
English, especially when you’re talking to someone you don’t know.
 ‘Yes/No’ Questions
To make an indirect ‘yes/no’ question, we use ‘if’ and the word order of a normal
positive sentence. This is the same as for reported ‘yes/no’ questions. On the other
hand, we don’t usually need to ‘backshift’ (change the tense of the verb) as we do with
reported questions.
Of course, most tenses make questions by using ‘inversion’ (changing the word order).
To change from a direct ‘yes/no’ question with inversion to an indirect question, you
add ‘if’ and change the word order back to a normal positive sentence. You don’t need
to use inversion.

VERB TENSE Direct Question Indirect Question
Present simple ‘be’ Is he Spanish? Can you tell me if he is Spanish?
Present continuous Is the restaurant closing now? Can you tell me if the restaurant is
closing now?
Past simple ‘be’ Was he late for the meeting? Can you tell me if he was late for the
meeting?
Past continuous Were you watching TV at 3pm? Can you tell me if you were watching
TV at 3pm?
Present perfect Has Lucy been to Mexico? Can you tell me if Lucy has been to
Mexico?
Present perf. continuous Has she been living here long? Can you tell me if she has been living
here long?
Past perfect Had she found this job when she Can you tell me if she had found this
moved here? job when she moved here?

Past perfect continuous Had she been living here long Can you tell me if she had been
when she met you? living here long when she met you?
Future simple (will) Will she start her new job next Can you tell me if she will start her
week? new job next week?
Future simple (be going to) Is it going to rain later? Can you tell me if it is going to rain
later?
Future continuous Will Lisa be meeting the boss Can you tell me if Lisa will be
later? meeting the boss later?
Future perfect Will he have finished the report Can you tell me if he will have
by tonight? finished the report by tonight?
Future perf. Continuous Will he have been studying Can you tell me if he will have been
French for twenty years when studying French for twenty years
he retires? when he retires?
Modals Should we start now? Can you tell me if we should start
now?
 ‘Yes/No’ questions with tenses that use ‘do/does/did’

Sometimes you want to make an indirect question using the present simple of any verb
except ‘be’ or the past simple of any verb except ‘be’. These tenses make direct
questions by using ‘do/does/did’. When we want to make indirect ‘yes/no’ questions
using these tenses, we need ‘if’ and we don’t need ‘do/does/did’.

Present simple with Does David live in London? Can you tell me if David lives
any verb except ‘be’ in London?
Past simple with any Did Amanda call John yesterday? Can you tell me if Amanda
verb except ‘be’ called John yesterday?
 ‘Wh’ Questions
In the same way as with reported ‘wh’ questions, we use the question word and the
word order of a normal positive sentence to make indirect ‘wh’ questions. We don’t
need to use inversion. Again, we also don’t usually need to ‘backshift’ (change the tense
of the verb) as we do with reported questions.
To change a direct question to an indirect question for tenses that make questions using
inversion, you just change the word order back to a normal positive sentence.
Present simple ‘be’ Why is he unhappy? Can you tell me why he is unhappy?
Present continuous When is the restaurant closing? Can you tell me when the restaurant
is closing?
Past simple ‘be’ Why was he late for the Can you tell me why he was late for
meeting? the meeting?
Past continuous What were you doing at 3pm? Can you tell me what you were
doing at 3pm?
Present perfect Where has Lucy been? Can you tell me where Lucy has
been?
Present perf. continuous How long has she been living Can you tell me how long she has

here? been living here?
Past perfect Why had she quit her job before Can you tell me why she had quit
she moved here? her job before she moved here?
Past perfect continuous How long had she been living Can you tell me how long she had
here when she met you? been living here when she met you?
Future simple (will) When will she start her new Can you tell me when she will start
job? her new job?
Future simple (be going to) When is it going to rain? Can you tell me when it is going to
rain?
Future continuous What time will Lisa be meeting Can you tell me what time Lisa will
the boss? be meeting the boss?
Future perfect When will he have finished the Can you tell me when he will have
report? finished the report?
Future perf. Continuous How long will he have been Can you tell me how long he will
studying French when he have been studying French when he
retires? retires?
Modals What should we do now? Can you tell me what we should do
now?
 ‘Wh’ questions for tenses with ‘do/does/did’

Sometimes you want to make an indirect ‘wh’ question using the present simple of any
verb except ‘be’ or the past simple of any verb except ‘be’. Usually these tenses make
questions by using ‘do/does/did’. However, when we want to make an indirect ‘wh’
questions using these tenses, we don’t need ‘do/does/did’. Instead, we use a question
word and then normal positive sentence word order.

Present simple with Where does David live? Can you tell me where David
any verb except ‘be’ lives?
Past simple with any Why did Amanda call John Can you tell me why Amanda
verb except ‘be’ yesterday? called John yesterday?
 Common problems
It can be difficult to remember to put the verb after the subject, especially when the
indirect question is in the present simple tense of ‘be’. For example, we need to say:
- Could you tell me where the station is?
NOT:
- Could you tell me where is the station?

Multi-word Verbs
Multi-word verbs are verbs that consist of more than one word. There are three types
of multi-word verbs: prepositional verbs, phrasal verbs and phrasal-prepositional
verbs.
Many multi-word verbs serve an idiomatic purpose. Sometimes the meaning of the
multi-word verbs is clear from the meaning of the verb and the particle (e.g. sit down),
but often you have to learn the meaning of each multi-word verb. Examples:
- Run into means ‘encounter’: I ran into an old friend at the reunion.
- Come by means ‘visit’: She came by the store this morning.
- Put up means ‘tolerate’: I shouldn’t have to put up with this nonsense.
 Prepositional verbs
Prepositional verbs consist of a main verb and a preposition. A preposition links a noun

or pronoun to other words in a sentence. Prepositions are often used to show
relationships (often in logic, space, or time) between a noun and the rest of the
sentence. Prepositions introduce a prepositional phrase, which consists of the
preposition and an object. E.g. I ran into my roommate on my way to class.
 Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs consist of a main verb and a particle. A particle is a function word that
does not have meaning on its own and depends on the main verb to have meaning. E.g.
Our car broke down on the way home from Tulsa.
 Phrasal-prepositional verbs
Phrasal-prepositional verbs consist of a main verb, a particle and a preposition (in that
order). E.g. The attendees grew restless when they learned we had run out of pizza.
Transitive and intransitive multi-word verbs

Transitive multi-word verbs need an object. The object can come before the particle
(e.g. throw sth away) or after the particle (e.g. look after sb), depending on the type of
multi-word verb.
When the object is a long noun phrase, it normally comes after the particle. E.g. Please
throw away those old shoes that are nearly falling apart!
When the object is a pronoun (e.g. it, me, sb), it almost always comes before the particle.
E.g. Those shoes are really old. Please throw them away! NOT: Please throw away them!

When the object is a short noun phrase (e.g. up to three words), it can come before or
after the particle. E.g. Please throw those old shoes away // Please throw away those
old shoes.
Intransitive multi-word verbs don’t have an object (e.g. go away NOT go somebody
away).
IMPORTANT: Many multi-word verbs are both transitive and intransitive. Use a
dictionary to find out if a multi-word verb is transitive or intransitive:
- When you wake up (intransitive) // Try not to wake the dog up too! (transitive)
- After the plan took off (intransitive) // Took my shoes off (transitive)
Modal Verbs
The modal verbs in English grammar are ‘can, could, may, might, must, need not,
shall/will, should/ought to’. They express things like ability, permission, possibility,
obligation, etc. Modal verbs only have one form. They don’t take -s in the present simple
and they don’t have a past simple or past participle form. However, some modal verbs
have alternative forms that allow us to express the same ideas in different tenses.
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + modal verb + V
 (-): S + modal verb + not + V
 (¿?): Modal verb + S + V?
USES:

 Modal verbs for Ability (can, could, to be able to)
We use can in present simple whereas we use could in past simple. We use could for
general ability in the past and with the verbs ‘feel, hear, see, smell, taste, remember and
understand’.
- Max can already change a tyre.
- Max’s father could do everything in the garage.
We can use the alternative form to be able to in all tenses (present, past, perfect,
continuous and future). Also, we use was/were able to when we talk about something
specific in the past.
- In two years, Max will be able to do everything in the garage.
- Was Max able to change the tyre yesterday?
 Modal verbs for Advice (should/ought to)

We use should/ought to to give advice, make suggestions or say what is a good idea.
- Max should/ought to work more often in the garage.
To make suggestions about something that has already happened we use should/ought
to + have + past participle.
- Max shouldn’t/ought not to have played computer games all day

 Modal verbs for Permission (can, could, may, be allowed to)
We use can/could/may to ask permission in present simple. Could is more polite than
can, and may is more polite than could. We usually only use may in questions with I and
we.
- Can/Could/May I leave my car here for repairs?
We only use can or may, but NOT could, to give permission.
- Max, you can/may change this tyre.
We can use be allowed to in all tenses.

- Max will be allowed to use the dangerous equipment soon.
 Modal verbs for Obligation (must/mustn’t, have to/don’t have to; need
to/need not; be not allowed to; should/ought to; be supposed to; be forced to)
We use must to say what is necessary (moral obligations) and give orders or advice in a
strong way. With must, the obligation is usually imposed by the speaker.

- His father says, “You must do what you are told”
We use have to when the obligation is general (rules or laws), or we are expressing past
or future obligation.
- Max is only 12 so he has to go to school.
- Max’s father had to go to school too.
We use mustn’t/be not allowed to to say what is not allowed or forbidden (prohibition)
- Max mustn’t/isn’t allowed to touch any dangerous equipment.
We can use should/ought to or be supposed to like must, but it is weaker. Should is much
more common than ought to.
- I think you should give /ought to give the money back.
- I’m supposed to give the money back, but I don’t want to.
We use need not/don’t have to when there is no obligation.
- Max need not/doesn’t have to worry about his future.
 Modal verbs for Possibility (can, could, may, might)

The only one difference between can, could, may and might is that we use can where
the possibility will be bigger and might when there will be less possibility,
- Study English can be difficult sometimes.
- Max’s father might retire soon.

 Future probability
We use a wide range of modal verbs, adverbs, adjectives, etc. to describe what we think
is the probability of future events:
Degree of probability Modal verbs Other expressions Adjectives

We will go. I’m sure we’ll go. It’s certain that we’ll go.
100% We will certainly go.
high We will probably go.
It’s (very) likely that we’ll go.
We could well go.
We may well go.
We might well go.
50% We could go. There’s a (good) chance It’s possible that we’ll go.
medium We may go. that we’ll go.
We might go.
We probably won’t go. I don’t suppose we’ll go. It’s (very) unlikely that we’ll go.
I doubt if we’ll go.
I shouldn’t think we’ll go.
We won’t go. There’s no chance that we’ll
0%
We certainly won’t go. go.
low
I can’t imagine that we’ll go.

We can make negative statements of probability with might not or may not. Don’t use
couldn’t in this way – it refers to the past ability, not future probability.
With the adjectives ‘sure/likely/unlikely/certain’ we can use the pattern: be + adjective
+ to + infinitve:
- They’re sure to be late (= I’m sure that they’ll be late)
- He’s certain/likely/unlikely to see you.
 Modal verbs for Deduction (may/might, can’t, must, will (not)/shall (not)
We use may/might when we think something is perhaps true, but we are not 100% sure.
We can replace them with could in positive sentences, but NOT with can. To speculate
about something in the past we use may/might (not) + have + past participle.
- Max may/might not want to work in the garage forever.

- Max’s father may/might/could retire soon, he is almost 60.
- Max’s grandfather may/might have wanted to retire when he was 50.
We use can’t to express something we are sure is untrue or impossible in the present. If
we want to talk about the past, we will use the form can’t + have + past participle.
- Max can’t be retired, he’s 12 years old.

- They can’t have got lost. They have a satnav.

We use must to express something we are 100% sure is true in the present. To speculate
about something in the past we use must + have + past participle.
- Max’s grandfather must be retired, he’s 90 years old.
- Max’s father must have worked very hard.
We use will (not)/shall (not) when we make a prediction about the future, or when we
are sure about something in the future.
- The car won’t/shan’t be ready tomorrow.
- Max will/shall be a wonderful mechanic.
 Offers/Requests

We can often choose between two modal verbs with similar meanings when we ask
questions or make requests. One form is more polite than the other.
Normal Form Polite Form Example

Can (ability) Could Can you repair this flat tyre?
Could you repair this flat tyre?
Can (permission) May/Might Can we come in?
May/might we come in?
Shall* Should Shall he pick the car up tomorrow?
Should he pick the car up tomorrow?
Will* Would Will the car be ready tomorrow?
Would the car be ready tomorrow?
(*) We use will to make requests/ask somebody to do something. When we want to

make a suggestion using the interrogative form in the first person (I, we), we use shall.
- Max, will you change that tyre?

- Shall I change that tyre?
Present and past habits and states
 Used to
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + used to + infinitive
 (-): S + did + not (didn’t) + use to + infinitive
 (¿?): Did + S + use to + infinitive?
USES:
We often use used to to talk about repeated past habits and actions that we no longer
do, or to talk about states or circumstances that are no longer the same as before.
- When I was a child, I used to go to Disneyland. (I was there often)

- My English used to be terrible. (My English wasn’t very good for a long time, but
now it is better).
We don’t use this structure to say when things happened. We use the past simple to talk
about when or one-off actions.
- I moved to the UK last year / When I was a child, I went to Disneyland.
We often use never to form negatives
- My English never used to be very good.
We can use any more or any longer to emphasize that we don't do that anymore.
- I used to do a lot of sport, but I don’t do any more.
IMPORTANT: The used to + infinitive structure is only used to talk about the past, there
is no present, continuous or future form. To talk about present habits, we use the
present simple together with adverbs of frequency (always, usually, etc.).
 Would + infinitive
We can also use would + infinitive to talk about a habit or repeated action in the past.
We usually use would + infinitive in this way when we’re telling a story about the past.
So, we can say:
- When I was a student, we would often have a drink after class on Friday.
- When I lived in Italy, we would go to a little restaurant near our house.

However, we DON’T use would + infinitive to talk about states in the past. So, if we’re
talking about the past, we CAN’T say:
- I would have long hair.
- I would live in Scotland.
 Be used to / Get used to
STRUCTURE:
 (+): S + be/get + used to + V-ing

 (-): S + be/get + not + used to + V-ing
 (¿?): Be/Get + S + used to + V-ing?
USES:
We used be used to + verb -ing to talk about things which feel normal for us or things

that we are accustomed to:
- I’m used to getting up early, so I don’t mind doing it.

- My little daughter is used to eating lunch at noon. So she was grumpy yesterday
when we didn’t eat until one.
Note that we make the negative or the question with the verb ‘be’ in the normal way.
The used to doesn’t change:
- Lucy isn’t used to staying up late, so she’s very tired today.

- Are your children used to walking a lot?
We can also use be used to + noun, which has the same meaning:
- I’ve lived in the UK almost all my life, so I’m used to rain (rain is normal for me)
- That football team always lose, so they’re used to disappointment!
We can put the verb ‘be’ into any tense. So we can talk about things in the past or the
future as well as the present using this expression:
- It was difficult when I first started university, because I wasn’t used to the
amount of work we had to do.
- Soon I’ll be used to driving in London and I won’t be so frightened!
We can used get used to + verb -ing to talk about the change of not normal to normal.
We can also use this in any tense and we can also use get used to + noun:
- Don’t worry if your new job is hard at first. You’ll get used to it.
- It took me a while, but I got used to speaking another language every day.
- It took me a few months to get used to living in Japan.

Gerunds and Infinitives
 Gerunds (V + ing / not + V + ing)

We use gerunds after certain verbs:
Enjoy I enjoyed living in France
Fancy I fancy seeing a film tonight
Discuss We discussed going on holiday together
Dislike I dislike waiting for buses
Finish We’ve finished preparing for the meeting
Mind I don’t mind coming early
Suggest He suggested staying at the Grand Hotel
Recommend They recommend meeting earlier
Keep He kept working, although he felt ill
Avoid She avoided talking to her boss
Miss She misses living near the beach
Appreciate I appreciate her helping me

Delay He delayed doing his taxes
Postpone He postponed returning to Paris
Practise She practiced singing the song
Consider She considered moving to New York
Can’t stand He can’t stand her smoking in the office
Can’t help He can’t help talking so loudly
Risk He risked being caught
Admit He admitted cheating on the test
Deny He denied committing the crime
Mention He mentioned going to that college
Imagine He imagines working there one day
Tolerate I tolerated her talking
Understand I understand his quitting
Involve The job involves travelling to Japan once a month
Complete He completed renovating the house
Report He reported her stealing the money
Anticipate I anticipated arriving late
Recall Tom recalled using his credit card at the store
Also, we use it when the verb is preceded by a phrasal verbs or prepositions

- I’m looking forward to seeing you.
- I drank a cup of coffee before leaving.
When the verb works as the subject of the sentence, we use gerunds too.
- Cooking is very relaxing for me.
- Swimming is good exercise.

 Infinitive with to
We use to + infinitve after certain verbs
Agree She agreed to give a presentation at the meeting
Ask* I asked to leave early / I asked him to leave early
Decide We decided to go out for dinner
Help* He helped to clean the kitchen / He helped his flatmate to clean the kitchen
Plan She plans to buy a new flat next year
Hope I hope to pass the exam
Learn They are learning to sing
Want* I want to come to the party / I want him to come to the party
Would like* I would like to see her tonight / I would like you to see her tonight
Promise We promised not to be late
Can afford We can’t afford to go on holiday

Manage He managed to open the door without the key
Prepare* They prepared to take the test / The teachers prepared the students to
take the test
Demand He demanded to speak to Mr. Harris
Choose I chose to help
Offer Frank offered to drive us to the supermarket
Wait She waited to buy a movie ticket
Would hate* I’d hate to be late / I’d hate you to be late
Would love* I’d love to come / I’d love him to come
Seem Nancy seemed to be disappointed
Expect* They expect to arrive early / They expect Julie to arrive early
Intend We intend to visit you next spring
Pretend The child pretended to be a monster
Refuse The guard refused to let them enter the building
Tend He tends to be a little shy
Would prefer* I’d prefer to do it / I’d prefer him to do it
Deserve He deserves to go to jail
Appear His health appeared to be better
Arrange Naomi arranged to stay with her cousin in Miami
Claim She claimed to be a princess
(*) We can use an object before the infinitive with these verbs.
Also, we use to + infinitve after adjectives:
- It is very hard to learn English
- This book is interesting to read
When we want to express a reason or purpose (why?)
- I came London to study English
- My friend is getting ready to go to the cinema
 Infinitive or gerund without changing their meaning
The following verbs can be followed by either the infinitive or the gerund without
changing their meaning:
Attempt Hate
Begin Intend
Bother Love
Can’t bear Prefer
Cease Start
Continue
 Infinitive or gerund with change in meaning

We can use the infinitive or the gerund after the following verbs, but the meaning
changes:
 REMEMBER

o + gerund: this is when you remember something that has happened in
the past. You have a memory of it, like being able to see a movie of it in
your head. (‘I remember going to the beach when I was a child’ / ‘He
remembers closing the door’).
o + to infinitive: this is when you think of something that you need to do. (‘I
remembered to buy milk’ / ‘Remember to lock the door’).
 FORGET
o + gerund: it’s when you forget about a memory, something that you’ve
done in the past. (‘Have we really studied this topic before? I forget
reading about it’ / ‘I told my brother that we’d spent Christmas at
Granny’s house in 1985, but he’d forgotten going there’).
o + to infinitive: it’s when you want to do something, but you forget about
it (‘I forgot to call my mother’ / ‘She keeps forgetting to bring his book
back’).
 TRY
o + gerund: this is when you do something as an experiment. The thing you
do is not difficult, but you want to see if doing it will have the result that
you want (‘I wanted to stop smoking, so I tried using nicotine patches’ /
‘She tried giving up chocolate, but it didn’t help her lose weight’).
o To infinitive: this is when the thing you do itself is difficult. In the present
tense or future tense, this means you might not succeed in doing it. In
the past tense, it means that you made an effort to do the thing, but you

did not succeed (‘I’ll try to carry the suitcase, but it looks too heavy for
me’ / She tried to catch the bus, but she couldn’t run fast enough’).
 STOP
o + gerund: when we stop doing something it means the verb in the gerund
is the thing that we stop. It can mean ‘stop forever’ or ‘stop at that
moment’ (‘I stopped working when I was expecting a baby’ / ‘My
grandmother stopped driving when she was 85’).
o + to infinitive: in this case, we stop something else in order to do the verb
in the infinitive (‘I stopped to eat lunch’ / ‘She was shopping and she
stopped to get a cup of coffee’).
 REGRET
o + gerund: this is when you are sorry about something you did in the past
and you wish you hadn’t done it (‘I regret going to bed so late. I’m really
tired today’ / ‘She regrets leaving school when she was sixteen. She
wishes that she had studied more and then gone to university’).
o + to infinitive: we use this construction when we are giving someone bad

news, in quite a formal way. The verb is almost always something like
‘say’ or ‘tell’ or ‘inform’ (‘I regret to tell you that the train has been
delayed’ / ‘The company regrets to inform employees that the London
office will close next year’).
 GO ON
o + gerund: this is when you continue doing the same thing (‘He stopped
reading, looked up a word and then went on reading’).
o + to infinitive: this is when you start to do something new (‘After his
studies he went on to become a teacher’).

Passive voice
STRUCTURE:
The passive voice in English grammar is formed with the auxiliary verb be and the past
participle of the main verb. The form of be changes depending on the tense we are using.
We can use the following formula, or rule, to conjugate the passive voice: subject + form
of be + past participle.
Tense Active Passive

Present Simple I make a cake A cake is made (by me)
Present Continuous I’m making a cake A cake is being made (by me)
Past Simple I made a cake A cake was made (by me)
Past Continuous I was making a cake A cake was being made (by me)
Present Perfect I have made a cake A cake has been made (by me)
Present Perf. Contin. I have been making a cake A cake has been being made (by me)
Past Perfect I had made a cake A cake had been made (by me)

Future Simple I will make a cake A cake will be made (by me)
Future Perfect I will have made a cake A cake will have been made (by me)
Some verbs that have two objects can make two different active sentences, and so two
different passive sentences too: you can choose either or the two objects to be the
subject of the passive sentence. For example, the verb ‘give’ is like this:
- Active: He gave me the book // He gave the book to me
- Passive: I was given the book (by him) // The book was given to me (by him).
Other verbs like this are: ask, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw.
Also, you can make the passive in a relative clause that has a subject and a normal
conjugated verb. This is really the same as a normal passive:
- Active: I thought that Mary had kissed John
- Passive: I thought that John had been kissed by Mary
In press or Tv, verbs of speech and thought are often used without an object, because
they simply introduce a dependent clause. Some typical verbs of speech and thought
are: agree, announce, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, expect, feel, find, know,
mention, report, say, suppose, tell, think and understand. We can use the pronoun ‘it’
for this personal form, or we can also make the subject of the dependent clause into the
subject of the passive sentence and then use an infinitive construction.
- People think that the major will resign
o It is thought that the major will resign
o The major is thought to resign

USES:
When we want to change the focus of the sentence:
- The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the
painting than the artist in this sentence).
When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or ‘people
in general’:
- He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
- My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
- The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).
- The form can be obtained from the post office (people in general).
In factual or scientific writing:

- The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.
In formal writing instead of using someone/people/they (these can be used in speaking
or informal writing):
- The brochure will be finished next month.
In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style:
- Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell.
When the subject is very long:

- I was surprised by how well the students did in the test (More natural than: ‘how
well the students did in the test surprised me’).
Too/Enough ; So/Such
 Too / Enough
Both of these words indicate a degree. They give us more information about an
adjective, an adverb or a noun. After ‘too’ and ‘enough’, we often use to + infinitive.
‘Too’ goes before adjectives and adverbs. It has a negative meaning and shows that
something is more than enough, more than necessary or more than wanted.
- Helen is too rude to become a doctor.
We can also use ‘too’ with ‘much´or ‘many’ and a noun. This means that we have more
of the noun than we want or we need. You would choose ‘many’ if the noun was
countable and you would choose ‘much’ if the noun was uncountable.
- There are too many people here.

- Paul has too much furniture in this room!

‘Enough’ goes before nouns but after adjectives or adverbs. It has positive meanings and
shows that there is as much of something as is wanted or needed.
- The weather is warm enough to swim.
- We have enough money to buy a new car.
If we want to make theses sentences negative, we’ll add ‘not’ before adjectives and
adverbs, and also we add it before the main verb when we are talking about a noun. It
means that it is less than then amount that we want or we need. It’s a really negative
thing.
- You’re not good enough.
- I have not enough time.
 So / Such
We often ‘so’ and ‘such´ to mean ‘very’ or ‘really’. It makes the sentence stronger and
shows that there is a high level of something.
We use ‘so’ before an adjective or adverb (without a noun).
- She was so beautiful.

- The food was so delicious.
- The children spoke French so well.

Also, we can use ‘so’ before ‘much/many/little/few’ with and without a noun. This
shows that the amount is really a lot or really little. As usual, we use a countable noun
after ‘many’ and ‘few’ and an uncountable noun after ‘much’ and ‘little’.
- I ate so much cake.

- He had so many books.
We use ‘such’ before a noun or an adjective + a noun. If there is ‘a’ or ‘an’, it goes after
‘such’.
- It was such delicious food.
- She was such a beautiful woman.
When we use ‘such’ directly with a noun, it’s often a noun that shows our opinion.
- He’s such a genius! (=he’s very clever)

- You’re such a teacher! (= you act in a typical way for a teacher)
We can use ‘such’ before ‘a lot (of)’.

- He has such a lot of books.
- I ate such a lot of cake.
We don’t use a word like ‘this’, ‘those’, ‘your’ or ‘his’ before ‘so’ and ‘such’. ‘So’ and
‘such’ come directly after the verb.
- This city is so beautiful NOT This so beautiful city

We can use ‘so…that’ and ‘such…that’ to show that there is a certain result. (We can’t
use ‘very’ or ‘really’ in this way.
- It was so cold that the pond froze (=because it was very cold, the pond froze).
- It was such an expensive meal that he didn’t spend any money for the rest of the
moment (= because it was a very expensive meal, he didn’t spend any money for
the rest of the month).
We can use ‘so’ and ‘such’ to mean ‘to this level’ or ‘as…as this’.
- He isn’t usually so late (= he isn’t usually as late as this).
- I don’t often drink such a lot of coffee (= I don’t often drink as much coffee as
this).

Causative: Have / Get
We use verb when we want to talk about something that someone else did for us or for
another person. It means that the subject caused the action to happen but didn’t do it
themselves. Maybe they paid, or asked, or persuaded another person to do it. For
example:
- I cleaned my house. (This means I cleaned it myself).
- A cleaner cleaned my house. (Normal construction).
- I had my house cleaned. (Causative construction).
In a sense, using a causative verb is similar to using a passive. The important thing is that
the house is now clean. We don’t focus on who did the cleaning.
 Have + object + past participle (have something done)*

We usually use ‘have something done’ when we are talking about paying someone to
do something for us. It’s often used for services. The form is ‘subject + have + object +

past participle’.
- I had my car washed.
- John will have his house painted.
 Get + object + past participle (get something done)*

We can use the structure ‘get something done’ to focus on the end results of an activity
rather than the activity itself. We can also use ‘subject + get + object + past participle’.
This has the same meaning as ‘have’, but is less formal.
- The students get their essays checked.
- I’ll get my hair cut next week.
- He got his washing machine fixed.
(*) In both situations we can mention the agent (the person who did the action) after
by: ‘She had her dress made by a designer’.
 Have someone do something (have + person + infinitive)

We can also use the construction ‘subject + have + person + infinitive’. This has a very
similar meaning to ‘have something done’, but this time we say who did the thing – we
talk about the person who we asked to do the thing for us.
- The doctor will have the nurse call the patients.
- The teacher had the students write the answers on the whiteboard.

 Get someone to do something (get + person + to + infinitive)
Finally, we can also use the construction ‘get + someone + to + infinitive’. Again, this
means that you cause the other person to do the action, maybe by paying them to do it,
or by asking them to do it, or by persuading them to do it.
- She gets her son to do his homework by promising him ice cream when he’s
finished.
- I got the cleaner to clean under the cupboards.
Conditionals
 Zero Conditional
We can make a zero conditional sentence with two present simple verbs (one in the ‘if
clause’ and one in the ‘main clause’:
 If + present simple, … present simple
This conditional is used when the result will always happen (rules, laws, science facts…).
So, if water reaches 100 degrees, it always boils. It’s a fact. I’m talking in general, not
about one particular situation. The result of the ‘if clause’ is always the main clause.
The ‘if’ in this conditional can usually be replaced by ‘when’ without changing the
meaning.
For example: If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils (it is always true, there can’t be a
different result sometimes). If I eat peanuts, I am sick (this is true only for me, maybe,
not for everyone, but it’s still true that I’m sick every time I eat peanuts).

Here are some more examples:
- If you touch a fire, you get burned.
- People die if they don’t eat.
- You get water if you mix hydrogen and oxygen.
 First Conditional
The first conditional has the present simple after ‘if’, then the future simple in the
other clause:
 If + present simple, …. will + infinitive

It’s used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can’t know
what will happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily
come true.
- If it rains, I won’t go to the park.
- If I have enough money, I’ll buy some new shoes.
- She’ll be late if the train is delayed.
We can also use imperatives in the main clause:
- If you’ve finished your test and you’re waiting to leave, please come to my desk.
We often use other present/past tenses in the ‘if’ clause and we often use other modals
than ‘will/would’ in the main clause (e.g. might, could, can…).

 Second Conditional
The second conditional uses the past simple after ‘if’, then ‘would’ and the infinitive:
 If + past simple, … would + infinitive

With the verb ‘To Be’, we can use ‘were’ instead of ‘was’ with ‘I’ and ‘he/she/it’.
We use it to talk about imagined events or states and their consequences. They can be
about the unreal present or unlikely future events.
- If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.
- If I were you, I wouldn’t go out with that man.
We often use other present/past tenses in the ‘if’ clause and we often use other modals
than ‘will/would’ in the main clause (e.g. might, could, can…).
 Third Conditional
We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after ‘if’ and then ‘would have’
and the past participle in the second part of the sentence:

 If + past participle, … would + have + past participle
We use it to talk about imagined past events or states and their consequences:
- If she had studied, she would have passed the exam.
- If I’d arrived five minutes earlier, I’d have seen the robbery.
We can use past perfect continuous in the ‘if’ clause and we can also use ‘might’ or
‘could’ in the main clause.
 Mixed Conditionals
The first one has a condition in the past and a present result. We use it to express that
if something had been different in the past there would be a present result and its
structure is:
 If + pas perfect, …would (could, might) + infinitive

For example: If we hadn’t missed our flight, we would be in Spain now.
The next one has a present condition and a past result. We use it to express that due to
certain present conditions something already happened in the past and its structure is:
 If + past simple, … would (could, might) + have + past participle

For example: If I didn’t have such a good relationship with my family, I would have left
the city years ago.

Relative Clauses
Relative clauses allow us to provide additional information without having to start a new
sentence. In English, there are two types of relative clauses: defining and non-defining.
Relative clauses are introduced by a relative pronoun or a relative adverb.
Relative Usage Example
pronouns
Who For people The boy who is wearing glasses
Which For animals and things … in the club, which is very
popular
Whose Possession/belonging for people, The girl whose mother is a
animals and things ballerina
Whom Quite formal, for people, especially Phil, whom I met at summer
in non-defining relative clauses camp

When describing a place, time or reason, it’s more common to use a relative adverb:
Relative Replaces Meaning Example

adverb
When In/on which A point in time is more I can still remember the
precisely described day when I met Phil
Where In/at which A place is more precisely This is the youth club
described where I meet my friends
Why For which A reason is more precisely That’s the reason why I
described go there
 Defining Relative Clauses

Defining relative clauses give essential information about a noun. In defining relative
clauses, we can use ‘that’ instead of both ‘who’ and ‘which’.
- They’ve invented a car. The car stops people crashing.
- They’ve invented a car which/that stops people crashing!
When ‘who/which/that’ replace the object of the clause, we can omit them:
- You’re applying for the job (=object).
- What’s the job (which/that) you’re applying for?
We sometimes use ‘who’ and ‘which’ with prepositions. The prepositions usually come
at the end of the sentence.

 Non-defining Relative Clauses
Non-defining relative clauses give extra information about a noun. The clause is not
necessary for the sentence to make sense. A non-defining clause has a comma before it
and either another comma, or a full stop, after it.
- My new doctor, who I had my first appointment with on Thursday,
recommended the medicine to me.
In non-defining clauses, ‘which’ can relate to a single noun, or to the whole main clause:
- Revolutionary technology, which is rare, usually costs a huge amount to develop.
- I’m going to Thailand next week, which is very exciting.
There are two main differences between defining and non-defining clauses: we cannot
use ‘that’ in a non-defining clause and we can never omit the relative pronoun in a non-

defining clause.
Reported Speech
When do we use reported speech? Sometimes someone says a sentence, for example
‘I’m going to the cinema tonight’. Later, maybe we want to tell someone else what the
firs person said. Here’s how it works:
We use a reporting verb like ‘say’ or ‘tell’. If this verb is in the present tense, it’s easy.
We just put ‘she says’ and then the sentence:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.
- Reported speech: She says she likes ice cream.
We don’t need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the person
from ‘I’ to ‘she’, for example. We also may need to change words like ‘my’ and ‘your’.
On the other hand, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the
tenses in the reported speech:
- Direct speech: I like ice cream.

- Reported speech: She said she liked ice cream.
Present Simple Past Simple

Present Continuous Past Continuous
Past Simple Past Perfect
Past Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Present Perfect Past Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Past Perfect Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous Past Perfect Continuous
Will Would
Can Could
Must Must/Had to
May Might
Should / Ought to / Might / Would / NO CAMBIAN
Could
Occasionally, we don’t need to change the present tense into the past if the information
in direct speech is still true (but this is only for things which are general facts, and even
then usually we like to change the tense):
- Direct speech: The sky is blue.
- Reported speech: She said that the sky is/was blue.

 Reported Questions
So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative
sentences. But how about questions?
- Direct speech: Where do you live?
How can we make the reported speech here? In fact, it’s not so different from reported
statements. The tense changes are the same, and we keep the question word. The very
important thing though is that, once we tell the question to someone else, it isn’t a
question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal positive sentence:
- Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. Then I
need to change the verb to the past simple. Another example:
- Direct speech: Where is Julie?
- Reported speech: She asked me where Julie was.
The direct question is the present simple of ‘be’. We make the question form of the
present simple of be by inverting (changing the position of the subject and verb). So, we

need to change them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
But, what if you need to report a ‘yes/no’ question? We don’t have any words to help
us. Instead, we use ‘if’.
- Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?
- Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.
 Reported Requests
There’s more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:
- Direct speech: Close the window, please.
- Or: Could you close the window please?
- Or: Would you mind closing the window please?
All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don’t need to report every word when
we tell another person about it. We simply use ‘ask me + to + infinitive’:
- Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.
To report a negative request, use ‘not’:
- Direct speech: Please don’t be late.
- Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

 Reported Orders
And finally, how about if someone doesn’t ask so politely? We can call this an ‘order’ in
English, when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:
- Direct speech: Sit down!
In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use
‘tell’ instead of ‘ask’.
- Reported speech: She told me to sit down.
 Time Expressions with Reported Speech

Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time
expressions too. We don’t always have to do this, however. It depends on when we
heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech. Here’s a table of some
possible conversions:
Today Yesterday / That day

Now Then / At that time / At the moment
Yesterday The day before
…days ago …days before
Last night / week / year The night / week / year before
Next week / year The following week / year
Tonight That night
Here There
This / These That / Those
Ago Previously / Before
 Reporting Verbs
We talked about how to change direct speech into reported speech using the verbs ‘say’,
‘tell’ and ‘ask’. However, we can also use many other verbs to report what someone
said, like ‘promise’, ‘warn’, ‘advise’ and ‘recommend’, for example.
Some of these verbs look a bit more complicated to use than ‘say’ and ‘tell’, but it’s just
a question of getting to know the verb patterns (or verb structures).
Verb + (that) + clause Agree, believe, complain, He stated (that) he would

discover, find out, insist, stay with us
promise, realise, say,
stated…
Verb + sb + (that) + clause Inform, tell, warn, We informed them (that)
assume… it was ready
Verb + to + infinitive Agree, promise, refuse… They refused to speak
with us

Verb + sb + to + infinitive Ask, order, tell, remind… She ordered me to leave
Verb + gerund Admit, apologise for, He admitted taking the
deny, regret, suggest… money
Verb + (sb) + reported Ask, discover, know, I wondered where they
question realise, wonder… were
To make the verbs that we have reported negative, we need to look at the verb pattern.
- When there’s a clause, we make the negative in the usual way: She said that she
didn’t like ice cream.
- When there’s ‘to+infinitive’, we generally put ‘not’ before ‘to’: He promised not
to do it again.
- When there’s ‘verb-ing’, we generally put ‘not’ in front of it: I advise not taking

the bus.
Wishes and Regrets
We often use the verb ‘wish’ to express strong desires. We always wish for something
to be different than it is (or was) or wish for the present are for things that are unlikely
or impossible. Our wishes for the pas are always impossible, because the past cannot be
changed.
 Wishes about the present and future
o Wish + (that) + past simple
We can not use a present tense verb with ‘I wish’. Wishes for the present/future use a
past tense verb or a modal verb with an infinitive. When we make a wish, we change the
form of the verb that we are using from positive to negative, or vice versa.
- I am poor. I don’t like this and I want to be rich.
- ‘I wish I wasn’t poor’ or ‘I wish I was rich’.
We also use ‘wish’ with ‘could’ to talk about things in the present or future that we

would like to be different. In this situation, ‘could’ is the past simple of ‘can’.
Of course, we use ‘can’ to talk about ability – if we know how to do something or not.
For example, ‘I can speak Spanish’ or ‘I can’t drive’. We also use ‘can’ to talk about
possibility – if things are possible or not possible. For example, ‘we can’t come to the
party tonight’ or ‘John can help you clean up’. We use ‘could’ with ‘wish’ to talk about
ability and to talk about possibility.
- I wish I could speak Spanish (but, unfortunately, I can’t speak Spanish).
- I wish that John could help you clean up (John is at work, so he can’t help).
We don’t usually use ‘wish’ in this way for things that are really possible in the future.
Instead, we use ‘hope’ + present tenses.
- I hope that you pass your exam.
- I hope that it’s sunny tomorrow.
- I hope that Julie has a lovely holiday.
When making wishes about I/he/she/it, we can use ‘were’ instead of ‘was’. ‘Were’ is
preferred in formal English, but in normal spoken English, both versions are common.
We can use ‘if only’ in the same way of ‘wish’:
- If only it weren’t so expensive!
- If only I could see you again

o Wish + (that) + would
On the other hand, we use ‘would’ with ‘wish’ in a little bit of a special way. It’s generally
used about other people who are doing (or not doing) something that we don’t like and
we want that person to change. It’s not usually used about ourselves, or about
something which nobody can change though, exceptionally, we do use it about the
weather.
- I wish that John wouldn’t eat all the chocolate.
- I wish that it would stop raining!
We don’t usually use ‘would’ when there’s no feeling that we want somebody to change
their behavior.
- NOT: I wish that tomorrow would be a holiday. (Instead: I wish that tomorrow
was a holiday).
 Wishes about the past (wish + (that) + past perfect)

We can use ‘wish’ with the past perfect to talk about regrets from the past. These are
things that have already happened but we wish they’d happened in a different way. This

use of ‘wish’ is very similar to the third conditional.
- I wish that I had studied harder at school.

- I wish that I hadn’t eaten so much yesterday!


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 Been and Gone

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- I’ve been living in London for two years.

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 Finished actions, states or habits in the past

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- I was working in the garden all day.

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A finished action before a second point in the past.

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- If I had known you were ill, I would have visited you.

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 (+): S + will + VBase

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VERB TENSE YES/NO WH

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VERB TENSE + sentences, - tags - sentences, + tags

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We can ask about John, in a normal object question:

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- Object question: What did Amanda wash?

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Have a look at this conversation.

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 ‘Yes/No’ questions with tenses that use ‘do/does/did’

VERB TENSE Direct Question Indirect Question

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 ‘Wh’ questions for tenses with ‘do/does/did’

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Transitive and intransitive multi-word verbs