English Grammar Essentials: Modals, Passive, Reported Speech

Posted on Mar 30, 2025 in English

Modal Verbs

Ability

  • Can (Present)
  • Could (Past)

Permission

  • Can
  • Could
  • May
  • Would (Used in polite requests, e.g., Would you mind…?)

Obligation

  • Must (Internal obligation)
  • Have to (External obligation)
  • Didn’t have to (Expresses lack of obligation in the past)

Prohibition

  • Mustn’t
  • Can’t / Couldn’t

Deduction

  • Must (Strong certainty, positive)
  • Can’t (Strong certainty, negative)

Advice

  • Should
  • Ought to
  • Had better (Stronger advice, often implies negative consequence)
  • Shall (Often used in questions for suggestions/offers, e.g., Shall I…?)

Possibility

  • May
  • Might
  • Could

Conditional Sentences

Type 0 Conditional

Structure: If + Present Simple, … Present Simple

Use: General truths, facts.

Type 1 Conditional

Structure: If + Present Simple, … will/won’t + infinitive

Use: Real possibilities in the present or future.

Type 2 Conditional

Structure: If + Past Simple (verb-ed / 2nd form / didn’t + infinitive), … would + infinitive

Use: Hypothetical situations in the present or future.

Type 3 Conditional

Structure: If + Past Perfect (had + verb-ed / 3rd form), … would have + verb-ed / 3rd form

Use: Hypothetical situations in the past.

Relative Clauses

Relative Pronouns and Adverbs

  • Who: Refers to people (subject).
  • Whom: Refers to people (object, more formal, often used after prepositions).
  • Whose: Shows possession for people and things.
  • Which: Refers to things.
  • That: Refers to people or things (often used in defining relative clauses).
  • Where: Refers to places.
  • Why: Refers to reasons.

Passive Voice

Tense Transformations: Active to Passive

Present Simple:
Active: Open → Passive: Is/Are opened
Present Continuous:
Active: Is/Are opening → Passive: Is/Are being opened
Present Perfect Simple:
Active: Has/Have opened → Passive: Has/Have been opened
Past Simple:
Active: Opened → Passive: Was/Were opened
Past Continuous:
Active: Was/Were opening → Passive: Was/Were being opened
Past Perfect Simple:
Active: Had opened → Passive: Had been opened
Will (Future Simple):
Active: Will open → Passive: Will be opened
Be going to:
Active: Is/Are going to open → Passive: Is/Are going to be opened

Basic Passive Structure

Object + Verb (to be + past participle) + (by + Agent)

Example: Flowers are grown by the gardener.

Reported Speech (Indirect Speech)

Tense Changes from Direct to Reported Speech

Direct: Present Simple
Example: He said, “I watch TV” → Reported: Past Simple. Example: He said he watched TV.
Direct: Present Continuous
Example: He said, “I am watching TV” → Reported: Past Continuous. Example: He said he was watching TV.
Direct: Present Perfect Simple
Example: He said, “I have watched TV” → Reported: Past Perfect Simple. Example: He said he had watched TV.
Direct: Past Simple
Example: He said, “I watched TV” → Reported: Past Perfect Simple. Example: He said he had watched TV.
Direct: Will
Example: He said, “I will watch TV” → Reported: Would. Example: He said he would watch TV.
Direct: Can
Example: He said, “I can watch TV” → Reported: Could. Example: He said he could watch TV.
Direct: Must
Example: He said, “I must watch TV” → Reported: Had to. Example: He said he had to watch TV.

Changes in Time and Place Expressions

  • Now → Then
  • Today → That day
  • Tonight → That night
  • Yesterday → The previous day / The day before
  • Last week → The previous week / The week before
  • A month ago → The previous month / The month before
  • Tomorrow → The following day / The next day / The day after
  • Next week → The following week / The week after
  • Here → There
  • This → That
  • These → Those

Reporting Verb Patterns

Verb + that-clause

Verbs: Declare, suggest, explain, insist, say, recommend

Example: He declared that he loved her.

Verb + object + to-infinitive

Verbs: Invite, order, tell

Example: He told her to sit down.

Verb + to-infinitive

Verbs: Agree, offer, promise

Example: She offered to pay for coffee.

Verb + gerund (-ing form)

Verbs: Apologize (for), suggest

Example: She apologized for being late.