Mastering English Grammar: Tenses, Clauses, and More

Posted on Feb 6, 2025 in Administration and Management

Relative Clauses

Defining: who/that, which/that, when/that, where, whose.

Non-defining: without ‘that’, with commas.

Desiderative Sentences

  • wish/if only + past simple (present situations we would like to change or improve).
  • wish/if only + past perfect (past events, regretting what happened).
  • wish/if only + could/would + base form (wishes about future situations, indicating that it is unlikely).

Causative Verbs

have/get + a noun + a participle (express actions that were commissioned to someone).

Passive Voice

  • sell – are sold
  • are selling – are being sold
  • sold – were sold
  • will sell – will be sold
  • have sold – have been sold
  • can sell – can be sold
  • were selling – were being sold
  • had sold – had been sold
  • must have sold – must have been sold
  • have to sell – have to be sold
  • are going to sell – are going to be sold

Conditional Sentences

  • 1st: if/unless + present simple + future simple/might, may + base form/present simple/imperative.
  • 2nd: If/Unless + past simple + would + base form/could, might + base form.
  • 3rd: If + past perfect + would, could, might have + past participle.

Reported Speech

Tense Changes:

  • works – worked
  • worked – had worked
  • will work – would work
  • is working – was working
  • was working – had been working
  • has worked – had worked
  • has been working – had been working
  • had worked – had worked
  • had been working – had been working
  • can – could
  • may – might
  • must/have to – must/had to
  • will – would

Time/Place Changes:

  • 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 following day
  • next week – the following week
  • here – there
  • this/these – that/those

Modal Verbs

  • can (ability, request, possibility, suggestion)
  • be able to (ability)
  • could (past ability, polite request, polite suggestion, possibility)
  • may/might (possibility)
  • may (polite request)
  • would (formal request, offer)
  • must (obligation, strong necessity)
  • have to/need to (obligation, necessity)
  • should/ought to (advice, opinion)

Present Simple

work (habit or routine, scientific fact) (adverbs of frequency, at night, every week…)

Present Continuous

am reading (action that is happening, plan for the near future) (now, at the moment, this year, at present, next week, tonight, tomorrow)

Past Simple

visited (complete action in the past) (yesterday, last week, in 2007)

Past Continuous

was watching (incomplete action) (last week, at 4 o’clock)

Future Simple

will start (prediction, timetable, spontaneous decision) (this evening, tomorrow, in the future)

Be Going To

am going to buy (planned action for the future, action that is going to happen) (this evening, later, in an hour, in a few days)

Future Continuous

will be shopping (action in progress) (at this time, on Wednesday)

Present Perfect Simple

have talked (action that begins in the past and continues in the future) (ever, never, just, already, for, since)

Present Perfect Continuous

have been working (action that begins in the past and continues in the present) (for a year, since 2002, all night)

Past Perfect Simple

had started (a complete action that comes before another action in the past) (already, by the time, after, before, until, never, just)

Past Perfect Continuous

had been traveling (an action that occurs at the same time as another in the past) (for hours, since last month, when, until, before)