English Grammar and Vocabulary Guide: From Tenses to Phrasal Verbs

Posted on Aug 26, 2024 in English

English Grammar and Vocabulary Guide

Verb Tenses and Forms

Active Voice

  • Present Simple: Rita writes a letter.
  • Past Simple: Rita wrote a letter.
  • Present Perfect: Rita has written a letter.
  • Future Simple: Rita will write a letter.
  • Present Continuous: Rita is writing a letter.
  • Past Continuous: Rita was writing a letter.
  • Past Perfect: Rita had written a letter.
  • Future Perfect: Rita will have written a letter.
  • Future Continuous: Rita will be writing a letter.
  • Going to: Rita is going to write a letter.

Passive Voice

  • Present Simple: A letter is written by Rita.
  • Past Simple: A letter was written by Rita.
  • Present Perfect: A letter has been written by Rita.
  • Future Simple: A letter will be written by Rita.
  • Present Continuous: A letter is being written by Rita.
  • Past Continuous: A letter was being written by Rita.
  • Past Perfect: A letter had been written by Rita.
  • Future Perfect: A letter will have been written by Rita.
  • Future Continuous: A letter will be being written by Rita.
  • Going to: A letter is going to be written by Rita.

Conditional Sentences

  • First Conditional (Possible Future): If she studies, she will pass. (Negative: If she doesn’t study, she won’t pass)
  • Second Conditional (Hypothetical Present): If I studied, I would pass. (Negative: If I didn’t study, I wouldn’t pass)
  • Third Conditional (Hypothetical Past): If I had studied, I would have passed.
  • Mixed Conditional: If I hadn’t drunk, I would feel better.

Expressing Wishes

  • Present Wish: I wish I won the lottery. (Negative: I wish I didn’t…)
  • Past Wish: I wish I had chosen another topic.
  • Wish about Situations: I wish my father would lend me her car.

Phrasal Verbs

  • Go with: (combine with) – That hoodie doesn’t go with those suit trousers at all!
  • Wrap up: (to cover in warm clothes) – It’s cold outside so you need to wrap up before you go out.
  • Pull on: (put on quickly) – We have to leave now! Just pull on the first thing you find!
  • Dress up: (wear formal clothes) – It’s an informal event so you don’t need to dress up.
  • Catch on: (become popular) – I wonder if these bags will catch on with students.
  • Bring in: (introduce, arrest) – Now that all the guests are here you can bring in the food. // The police brought in the suspect.
  • Break the law: (violate the law)
  • Contaminate: (pollute)
  • Commit a crime:
  • Enquire: (ask)
  • Do community service:
  • Discover: (find)
  • Get away with: (escape punishment)
  • Imprison: (put in jail)
  • Get carried away: (become overly excited)
  • Disturb: (interrupt, bother)
  • Give a sentence: ( pronounce a punishment in court)
  • Offend: (insult)
  • Go to court:
  • Interfere: (meddle)
  • Go to prison: (go to jail)
  • Establish: (set up)
  • Pay a fine:
  • Examine: (investigate)
  • Punish: (discipline)
  • Try: (attempt)
  • Spend time in prison: (serve a jail sentence)
  • Remove: (take away)
  • Treat fairly:

More Phrasal Verbs & Idioms

  • Bring in: (introduce, earn money)
  • Discover the truth about = Get to the bottom of it: (investigate thoroughly)
  • Stand up to: (confront, oppose)
  • Accept punishment = Face the music: (accept consequences)
  • Let on: (reveal a secret)
  • Discovered him = Caught him red-handed: (caught in the act of doing something wrong)
  • Found out: (discovered)
  • Wasn’t honest = Wasn’t above board: (suspicious, dishonest)
  • Cover up: (hide, conceal)
  • Avoided getting into trouble = Kept his nose clean: (stayed out of trouble)
  • Stamp out: (eliminate)
  • Behaved badly = Stepped out of line: (misbehaved)
  • Set up: (establish)
  • Owned up to: (admitted)

Reported Speech

  • Present Simple to Past Simple: “I go to school.” – She said she went to school.
  • Present Continuous to Past Continuous: “I am studying.” – She said she was studying.
  • Past Simple to Past Perfect Simple: “I went to Barcelona.” – Ann said she had gone to Barcelona.
  • Present Perfect Simple to Past Perfect Simple: “I have seen the movie.” – He said he had seen the movie.

Modal Verb Changes in Reported Speech

  • Can to Could
  • Will to Would
  • May to Might
  • Must to Had to

Pronoun and Adverb Changes in Reported Speech

  • This to That
  • These to Those
  • Here to There
  • Now to Then
  • Today to That day
  • Tomorrow to The following day
  • Yesterday to The day before
  • This week to That week
  • Next month to The following month
  • Last day to The day before
  • A week ago to The week before

Example Reported Speech Transformations

  • Direct Question: “Did you pass your exams?”
  • Reported Question: She asked me if we had passed the exams.
  • Direct Question: “How long have you lived in Blanes?”
  • Reported Question: She asked me how long I had lived in Blanes.
  • Direct Order: “Don’t throw papers and sit properly!”
  • Reported Order: He asked me not to throw papers and to sit properly.

Even More Phrasal Verbs!

  • Break into: (enter illegally) – Last night the police broke into a house looking for drugs.
  • Bring up: (mention, raise a child) – We didn’t want to talk about the subject but Tom brought it up.
  • Carry out: (conduct) – The detective will carry out an investigation to solve the mystery.
  • Come across: (find by chance) – Joey came across a very interesting book the other day.
  • Get on: (board, progress, have a good relationship) – Get on the bus! // How are you getting on with your studies? // We get on well.
  • Give back: (return) – The doctors will do all they can to give Jack his sight back.
  • Give up: (quit) – Richard gave up smoking after his father died of lung cancer.
  • Kick off: (begin) – The Black team kicked off at seven.
  • Pull over: (stop a vehicle at the side of the road) – The car’s making a funny noise, I’ll pull over to see what it is.
  • Put up: (raise, increase) – I can’t believe that the prices are putting up so much.
  • Rip off: (tear off, overcharge) – The police ripped the sofa leather off but they didn’t find anything. // That store ripped me off!
  • Run over: (hit with a vehicle) – The driver didn’t see the cat and ran over it.
  • Take out: (remove, extract) – Can you drive? The trip’s taken it out of Tom and he needs to rest.
  • Tell off: (reprimand) – Henry has been told off because of his bad behaviour in class.
  • Turn up: (appear, increase volume) – The cat finally turned up after being absent for many days.