English Grammar Essentials: Tenses, Modals, Conditionals & Passive Voice
English Grammar Essentials
Future Tense
Simple Future (Will): I will allow / I won’t allow / Will I allow? Examples: this evening, in an hour, at 2 o’clock, later, tomorrow, next month/year, soon, in a few weeks, in the future, on the 1st of May.
Be Going To: I am going to buy / I am not going to buy / Am I going to buy? Examples: this evening, later, in an hour, at 4 o’clock, tomorrow, soon, next month/year, in a few weeks, on the 8th of May.
Future Continuous: I will be travelling / I won’t be travelling / Will I be travelling? Examples: at this time tomorrow, at this time next, on Thursday, in the next decade.
Future Perfect Simple: I will have eaten / I won’t have eaten / Will I have eaten? Examples: by this time next week, by 3 o’clock, by the end, by August.
Relative Clauses
Defining:
- Who/That: Person
- Which/That: Things
- Whose: Possessions
- When/That: Time
- Where: Places
Non-Defining: Who/Which (use commas). ‘That’ is not substituted.
Modal Verbs
- Can: (Ability, question, possibility)
- Be Able To: (Ability, possibility)
- Can’t: (Inability, prohibition, disbelief)
- Could: (Past ability, formal question, possibility, formal suggestion)
- May/Might: (Possibility, formal requests)
- Should/Ought To: (Advice, opinion)
- Need To: (Obligation, necessity)
- Have To: (Obligation, necessity)
- Must: (Obligation, strong necessity, certainty)
- Mustn’t: (Prohibition)
- Don’t Have To: (Lack of obligation or necessity)
- Needn’t: (Lack of obligation)
Perfect Modals (3rd Column)
- Must Have: (Certainty about a past truth)
- May/Might Have: (Doubt about a past action)
- Could Have: (Ability to do something in the past that wasn’t done)
- Couldn’t Have: (Certainty that something didn’t happen)
- Would Have: (Desire to do something in the past that couldn’t be done)
- Should/Ought To Have: (Criticism or regret after doing something)
- Shouldn’t Have: (Criticism or regret after doing something)
- Needn’t Have: (Something that was unnecessary)
Conditional Sentences
- Zero Conditional: If/When + Present Simple / Present Simple
- First Conditional: If/Unless + Present Simple / Future Simple, Imperative, Modal + Base Form
- Second Conditional: If/Unless + Past Simple / Would, Could, Might + Base Form
- Third Conditional: If + Past Perfect / Would, Could, Might Have + 3rd Column
Passive Voice (Active/Passive)
- Present Simple: conduct / is conducted
- Past Simple: conducted / was conducted
- Future Simple: will conduct / will be conducted
- Present Continuous: are conducting / is being conducted
- Past Continuous: were conducting / was being conducted
- Present Perfect Simple: have conducted / has been conducted
- Past Perfect Simple: had conducted / had been conducted
- Perfect Modals: could have conducted / could have been conducted
- Have To: have to conduct / has to be conducted
- Be Going To: are going to conduct / is going to be conducted
Reported Speech (Direct Speech / Reported Speech)
- Present Simple: eat / ate
- Past Simple: ate / had eaten
- Future Simple: will / would eat
- Present Continuous: are eating / were eating
- Past Continuous: were eating / had been eating
- Present Perfect Simple: have eaten / had eaten
- Past Perfect Continuous: have been eating / have been eating
- Past Perfect Simple: had eaten / had eaten
- Past Perfect Continuous: had been eating / had been eating
Changes in Modal Verbs (Direct Speech / Reported Speech)
- Can / Could
- May / Might
- Must / Have To / Must / Had To
- Will / Would
Changes in Words and Expressions (Direct / Reported)
- Now / Then
- Today / That Day
- Tonight / That Night
- Yesterday / The Day Before
- Last Week / The Week Before
- A Month Ago / The Month Before
- Tomorrow / The Next Day
- Next Week / The Following Week
- Here / There
- This/These / That/Those