English Grammar Cheat Sheet: Tenses, Reported Speech, and More
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Stative Verb List (PRESENT SIMPLE)
agree, appear, believe, belong, concern, consist, contain, depend, deserve, disagree, dislike, doubt, feel, fit, hate, hear, impress, include, involve, know, like, love, matter, mean, measure, mind, need, owe, own, prefer, promise, realise, recognise, remember, seem, sound, suppose, surprise, understand, want, weigh, wish.
PRESENT SIMPLE/ PRESENT CONTINUOUS
Be, think, have, see, taste
STATIVE VERBS
believe, know, understand, remember, forget, think.
REPORTED SPEECH: Tense Changes
- Present Simple – Past Simple
- Present Continuous – Past Continuous
- Present perfect simple – Past perfect simple
- Past simple – Past perfect simple
- Past perfect simple – Past Perfect Simple
- am/is/are going to – was/were going to
Modal Verbs
- will – would
- can – could
- must – had to
Time Expressions
- now – at the moment
- today – that day
- tonight – that night
- this (morning, week) – that (morning, week)
- yesterday – the day before
- last (week, month, year) – the (week, month, a year) before
- (two days/ a year) ago – (two days/ a year) earlier
- tomorrow – the next/following day
- next (week) – the following (week)
Place
- this – that
- these – those
- here – there
Questions
- Where are you going? Mum asked where I was going.
- Are you famous?, he asked her. He asked her if she was famous.
- Do you like horror films?, she asked. She asked if I liked horror films.
Commands
Form
- Affirmative commands → to + infinitive
- Negative commands → not + to + infinitive
Affirmative Commands
- Direct Speech → Dad: “Do your homework.”
- Reported Speech → Dad told me to do my homework.
Negative Commands
- Direct Speech → Teacher: “Don’t talk to your friend.”
- Reported Speech → The teacher told me not to talk to my friend.
Say & Told
say (+that) + reported speech & tell + indirect object + that + reported speech and tell + object + to + infinitive.
REPORTING VERBS
Verb + object + to + V.infinitive
reminded – warned – invited – ordered- advised – permitted – persuaded
Verb + to + V.infinitive
promised – refused – agreed – offered – decided – proposed
Verb + Ving
Admitted – Suggested – Denied – Recommended
Verb + preposition + Ving
Apologised for – Insisted on – Complained about – Warned about
Verb + object + preposition + Ving
Suspected – Accused sb of – Advised sb against – Congratulated sb on
Verb + that + subj + Verb reported
Explained – Said – Complained – Insisted – Demanded
Verb + Object + that + subj + Verb reported
Persuaded – Reminded – Warned – Informed
CONNECTORS
Contrast
TOT I QUE
(Although, even though) + subj + verb (despite, in spite of) + noun or -ing
NO OBSTANT
S1… (Nevertheless/however)…S2 Mentre que
Purpose
PER TAL DE
(to, so as to, in order to) + Vinf (So that) + Subj + Verb
Addition
TAMBÉ (too, as well). A MÉS A MÉS (.Besides, .Moreover, .Furthermore, .In addition, .Also)
Result
A CAUSA DE
(because of, due to) + noun (for this reason, that’s why) + subj + verb
PER TAL DE
(so as to) + Vinf PERQUÈ: (since, because) + subj + noun.
SO/SUCH
tan SO + Adj/Adv + … that SUCH + a/an + adj + noun … that
ACTIVE/PASSIVE
ACTIVE: Velázquez painted Las Meninas
PASSIVE: Las Meninas was painted by Velázquez
Tenses
- Present: grow/ is grown
- Present Continuous: is taking/ is being taken
- Present Perfect: have taken/have been taken
- Past Simple: took/ was-were taken
- Past continuous: was taking/was being taken
- Past Perfect: had taken/has been taken
- Will: will be taken
- Going to: is/are going to be taken
- Modal: must/must be taken
Passive with Two Objects
Tim gave Lisa some flowers.
Some flowers were given to Lisa by Tim / Lisa was given some flowers by Tim.
Impersonal
It + (be) + past simple + that – He is said that he is a strict disciplinarian.
Infinitive
Verbs amb el mateix temps verbal (TO + Vinf) Verbs amb diferent temps (TO + HAVE + Vp.p)
CAUSATIVE (HAVE/GET SOMETHING DONE)
Have + noun + P.Participle
Example
The mechanic changed the oil in my car. I had the oil in my car changed.
Tenses
- Present Simple: I have my repaired
- Past Simple: I had
- Present Continuous: I’m having
- Past Continuous: was having
- Present Perfect: have had
- Past Perfect: had had
- Will: will have
- Future Continuous: will be having
- Future Perfect: Will have
- Must: Must have
- be going to: ‘m going to have
CONDITIONALS
0. General truths and general habits
If + present simple, present simple If you add two and two, you get four.
1st. Possible or likely things in the future
If + present simple,… will + infinitive/ will + infinitive…if + present simple If it rains later, we’ll stay at home.
As long as, providing that, unless, even if.
2nd. Impossible things in the present / unlikely things in the future
If + past simple, would + infinitive/ would + infinitive… if + past simple If I won the lottery, I would sail round the world
3rd. Things that didn’t happen in the past and their imaginary results
If + past perfect, would + have + past participle/ would have + past participle…if + past perfect If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam
Modals
1st
- possibility: may/might
- permission: can
- obligation: must
- suggestion: should
2nd
- possibility: could
- permission: could
- suggestion: should
3rd
- ability: could have
- possibility: might have
Wishes and Regrets
Per expressar el pasat
wish + past perfect – I wish I hadn’t voted for him.
Per expressar el present
wish + could – I wish I could stand for election.
Per expressar una queixa durant el present
wish + would – I wish he would stop making that noise.