English Grammar Fundamentals: Tenses, Conditionals, Reported Speech, Vocabulary

Posted on Aug 6, 2025 in Food Industries

Verb Tenses: Active and Passive Voice

Understanding how verb tenses change between active and passive voice is crucial for clear communication.

Tense	Active Voice (Example)	Passive Voice (Example)
Present Simple	I write a letter.	The letter is written.
Present Continuous	I’m writing a letter.	The letter is being written.
Past Simple	I wrote a letter.	The letter was written.
Past Continuous	I was writing a letter.	The letter was being written.
Present Perfect	I’ve written a letter.	The letter has been written.
Past Perfect	I had written a letter.	The letter had been written.
Future Simple	I will write a letter.	The letter will be written.
Future (Going to)	I’m going to write a letter.	The letter is going to be written.
Modals (e.g., Have to)	I have to write a letter.	The letter has to be written.
Modals (e.g., Should)	I should write a letter.	The letter should be written.
Modals (e.g., Must)	I must write a letter.	The letter must be written.

Conditional sentences express hypothetical situations and their consequences. There are four main types:

Structure: If + subject + present simple + complement, subject + present simple + complement.
Example: If you heat ice, it melts.

Structure: If or unless + subject + present simple + complement, subject + will + infinitive verb + complement.
Example: If it rains, I will stay home.

Structure: If + subject + simple past + complement, subject + would + infinitive verb + complement.
Example: If I had a million dollars, I would buy a house.

Structure: If + subject + past perfect + complement, subject + would have + past participle + complement.
Example: If I had studied harder, I would have passed the exam.

When we report what someone else said, we often change the tense of the verbs. This is known as reported speech or indirect speech.

Direct Speech Tense	Reported Speech Tense	Direct Speech Example	Reported Speech Example
Present Simple	Past Simple	“I am happy.”	He said he was happy.
Present Simple	Past Simple	“I sleep.”	He said he slept.
Present Continuous	Past Continuous	“I am sleeping.”	He said he was sleeping.
Past Simple	Past Perfect	“I was happy.”	He said he had been happy.
Past Simple	Past Perfect	“I slept.”	He said he had slept.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	“I have been happy.”	He said he had been happy.
Present Perfect	Past Perfect	“I have slept.”	He said he had slept.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	“I have been feeling happy.”	He said he had been feeling happy.
Present Perfect Continuous	Past Perfect Continuous	“I have been sleeping.”	He said he had been sleeping.
Future Simple (Will)	Conditional Simple (Would)	“I will be happy.”	He said he would be happy.
Future Simple (Will)	Conditional Simple (Would)	“I will sleep.”	He said he would sleep.
Future Perfect	Conditional Perfect	“I will have been happy.”	He said he would have been happy.
Future Perfect	Conditional Perfect	“I will have slept.”	He said he would have slept.

A collection of useful English words and expressions with their Spanish equivalents, along with common verb-adjective pairs and phrasal verbs.

These pairs show how verbs can be transformed into adjectives, often describing the cause of a feeling (-ing) or the feeling itself (-ed).