English Grammar Guide: Tenses, Conditionals, and Conjunctions

Posted on Oct 17, 2024 in Spanish

English Grammar Guide

Reported Speech

That can be used or omitted after the main verb:

  • He said he wasn’t going.
  • He said that he wasn’t going.

Changes in Reported Speech:

  • tomorrow → the next day / the following day
  • yesterday → the day before
  • here → there
  • this / that → the
  • this morning → that morning
  • today → that day
  • tonight → that night
  • next / on Tuesday → the following Tuesday
  • last Tuesday → the previous Tuesday
  • the day after tomorrow → in two days’ time
  • ago → before / previously

Personal pronouns, possessive adjectives, and pronouns also change.

Some verbs change: come → go, bring → take.

Conditional Sentences

Types of Conditional Sentences:

  1. First Conditional (Possible): If + present … future / present / imperative
  2. Second Conditional (Improbable): If + past … conditional / could, might + infinitive
  3. Third Conditional (Impossible): If + past perfect … conditional perfect / could, might + perfect infinitive

Other Words Besides If:

  • Unless = if not:
    Example: I’ll go home soon if the film doesn’t start → I’ll go home soon unless the film starts.
  • Provided that, on condition that, as long as = if and only if:
    Example: Provided that everybody agrees, we’ll have the meeting on Tuesday.
  • Supposing that, imagine, just suppose:
    Example: Just suppose it didn’t rain for four months, would we have enough water?

Inversion:

  • Example: Had I known, I wouldn’t have come. = If I had known, I wouldn’t have come.

Conjunctions and Connectors

Types and Uses:

  • Coordinating Conjunctions: and, but, or
  • Connectors: however, indeed
  • Subordinating Conjunctions:
    • Temporal: after, as, as long as, as soon as, before, since, till, until, when, while, whenever
    • Place: where, wherever
    • Causal: because, since, as
    • Purpose: in order that, so that
    • Consecutive: as a result, so + adj. / adv. + that, so, such (a) + noun + that, then
    • Concessive: although, though, even though
    • Manner: as, as if, as though

Meanings:

  • Additive: and, also, as well, besides, furthermore, too, both … and, not only … but also, in addition to this, again, and what’s more, as well as
  • Alternative: or, whether … or, either … or, otherwise, neither … nor, or else
  • Contrastive: but, however, still, nevertheless, whereas, while, yet, notwithstanding, despite, on the other hand
  • Cause and Effect: so, therefore, consequently, because, due to the fact that, because of
  • Order: firstly, secondly, finally

Frequently Used Words

  • think (pensar)
  • thing (cosa)
  • which (NOT wich)
  • with (NOT whit)
  • cannot or can’t (NOT can not)
  • the (NOT de)
  • practice (noun)
  • practise (verb)
  • Exception: surprise (same spelling for noun and verb)

Constructions with Make

  • To express that something/someone makes us do something else: I made him call the police.
  • With the adjectives clear, easy, sure: I’d like to make my views clear. Mary’s help made things easier. You should study hard to make sure that you pass the exam.