English Grammar Guide: Tenses, Voice, Conditionals, and More

Posted on May 7, 2024 in English

English Grammar Guide

Verb Tenses

Present Simple

Used for habitual actions or routines.

  • Affirmative: I/you work, he works
  • Negative: Don’t/doesn’t work
  • Interrogative: Do/does I/he work?

Signal words: Always, usually, generally, regularly, occasionally, frequently, often, sometimes, rarely, seldom, never, at 1 o’clock, at night, in the morning, on Fridays, every week, once a month, how often…?

Present Continuous

Used for actions happening now or planned future actions.

  • Affirmative: I’m singing, you are singing, he is singing
  • Negative: am not, isn’t, aren’t singing
  • Interrogative: Am/are/is singing?

Signal words: Now, right now, at the moment, this year, at present, this evening, tonight, tomorrow, next Friday, week, year.

Past Simple

Used for past actions.

  • Affirmative: I/he finished
  • Negative: I/he didn’t finish
  • Interrogative: Did I/he finish?

Signal words: In the 1990s, in the 18th century, when, then

Past Continuous

Used for actions happening at a specific time in the past or long actions interrupted by shorter ones.

  • Affirmative: I was/you were writing
  • Negative: I wasn’t/you weren’t writing
  • Interrogative: Was I/Were you writing?

Signal words: Last night, week, year, at 4 o’clock, when, while, as

Future Simple

Used for decisions made at the moment of speaking, predictions without evidence, and future schedules.

  • Affirmative: I will allow
  • Negative: I won’t allow
  • Interrogative: Will you allow?

Signal words: This evening, in an hour, at 2 o’clock, later, tomorrow, next month/year, soon, in a few weeks, in the future, on 1st May.

Be Going To

Used for plans made before speaking and predictions with evidence.

  • Affirmative: I am going to buy
  • Negative: I am not going to buy/you aren’t going to buy
  • Interrogative: Am I going to buy/Are you going to buy?

Signal words: This evening, later, in an hour, at 4 o’clock, tomorrow, soon, next year, in a few weeks, on 8th May.

Future Continuous

Used for actions happening at a specific time in the future.

  • Affirmative: I/you will be traveling.
  • Negative: I/you won’t be traveling
  • Interrogative: Will I/you be traveling?

Signal words: At this time tomorrow, next year, on Monday, in the next decade.

Passive Voice

The passive voice is used to emphasize the action or the object of the action.

  • Present Simple: is/are + past participle (e.g., The house is cleaned by her.)
  • Present Continuous: is/are being + past participle (e.g., The house is being cleaned.)
  • Present Perfect Simple: has/have been + past participle (e.g., The house has been cleaned.)
  • Past Simple: was/were + past participle (e.g., The house was cleaned.)
  • Past Continuous: was/were being + past participle (e.g., The house was being cleaned.)
  • Past Perfect Simple: had been + past participle (e.g., The house had been cleaned.)
  • Future with will: will be + past participle (e.g., The house will be cleaned.)
  • Future with going to: is/are going to be + past participle (e.g., The house is going to be cleaned.)
  • Has/have to be + past participle: (e.g., The house has to be cleaned.)
  • Modal + infinitive:
    • Can be + past participle
    • Should be + past participle
    • Must have been + past participle

Two Forms of Passive

Example: Peter gave her a gift.

  1. A gift was given to her by Peter.
  2. She was given a gift by Peter.

Desiderative Sentences (Wish/If Only)

  • Wish/If only + Past Simple: For present situations we want to change or improve (e.g., I wish I finished earlier.)
  • Wish/If only + Past Perfect: For past events, expressing regret (e.g., I wish I had arrived earlier.)
  • Wish/If only + could/would + base form: For wishes about the future, indicating low probability (e.g., I wish I could travel more.)

Reported Speech

Reported speech is used to report what someone else said.

Statements

  • Present Simple: “He works in a restaurant” – She said that he worked in a restaurant.
  • Past Simple: “He worked in a restaurant” – She said that he had worked in a restaurant.
  • Future Simple: “He will work in a restaurant” – She said that he would work in a restaurant.
  • Present Continuous: “He is working in a restaurant” – She said that he was working in a restaurant.
  • Past Continuous: “He was working in a restaurant” – She said that he had been working in a restaurant.
  • Present Perfect Simple: “He has worked in a restaurant” – She said that he had worked in a restaurant.
  • Present Perfect Continuous: “He has been working in a restaurant” – She said that he had been working in a restaurant.
  • Past Perfect Simple: “He had worked in a restaurant” – She said that he had worked in a restaurant.
  • Past Perfect Continuous: “He had been working in a restaurant” – She said that he had been working in a restaurant.

Changes in Reported Speech

  • Now → Then
  • Today → That day
  • Tonight → That night
  • Yesterday → The previous day/the day before
  • Last week → The previous week/the week before
  • A month ago → The previous month/the month before
  • Tomorrow → The following day/the day after/the next day
  • Next week → The following week/the week after
  • Here → There
  • This/these → That/those
  • Can → Could
  • May → Might
  • Must/have to → Must/had to
  • Will → Would

Imperative Sentences

  • “Do the homework” – She told me to do the homework.
  • “Don’t chew gum in class” – She told me not to chew gum in class.

Questions

  • “Do you do your homework every day?” – She asked me if I did my homework every day.
  • “Will you go to Ana’s party tomorrow?” – She asked me if I would go to Ana’s party the next day.
  • “Are your brothers going to fly to NY?” – She asked me if my brothers were going to fly to NY that day.
  • “What’s your name?” – He asked what my name was.
  • “Did you buy a car yesterday?” – He asked if I had bought a car the day before.
  • “What were you doing yesterday at 3?” – He asked what I had been doing the previous day at 3.
  • “When does Sam go to swimming?” – He asked me when Sam went swimming.
  • “Why are they playing football now?” – He asked why they were playing football then.

Suggestions

  • “Let’s go to the cinema tomorrow,” she said. – She suggested going to the cinema the next day.
  • “Go to the cinema tomorrow?” she suggested. – She suggested that we go to the cinema the next day.

Present Perfect Tenses

Present Perfect Simple

Used for actions that started in the past and continue in the present, or finished very recently.

  • Affirmative: I, you have lived/he has lived
  • Negative: I/you haven’t/hasn’t lived
  • Interrogative: Have/has I/he lived?

Signal words: Never, ever, already, just, yet, recently, how long…?, for, since, in recent years.

Present Perfect Continuous

Used for actions that started in the past and continue in the present, or finished recently with visible effects, emphasizing duration.

  • Affirmative: I, you have/she has been working
  • Negative: I, you haven’t/she hasn’t been working.
  • Interrogative: Have I, you/she been working?

Signal words: For a year, since 2002, how long…?, all night/morning/day/week.

Past Perfect Tenses

Past Perfect Simple

Used for a past action that happened before another past action.

  • Affirmative: I/you/she had arrived
  • Negative: I/he/you hadn’t arrived
  • Interrogative: Had I arrived?

Signal words: Already, by the time, after, before, until, never, just

Past Perfect Continuous

Used for a long past action (Past Perfect Continuous) that happened before another short past action (Past Simple), or an action that continued until another action occurred.

  • Affirmative: Subject + had been traveling
  • Negative: Subject + hadn’t been traveling.
  • Interrogative: Had + subject + been traveling?

Signal words: For hours, since last April, all morning, when, until, before.

Future Perfect Simple

Used for an action that will be completed by a specific time in the future.

  • Affirmative: I/you will have eaten.
  • Negative: I/you won’t have eaten
  • Interrogative: Will I/you have eaten?

Signal words: By this time next week, by 3 o’clock, by the end of…, by then, by April, in four months.

Irregular Verbs

A list of common irregular verbs with their base form, past simple, and past participle.

Conditionals

First Conditional (Real)

Expresses what will happen if the condition is met.

Structure: If/Unless + Present Simple == Future Simple/Imperative/Modal + base form

Second Conditional (Hypothetical)

Expresses unlikely situations or gives advice.

Structure: If/Unless + Past Simple (were for all persons) == would/could/might + base form

Third Conditional (Impossible)

Refers to past situations that cannot be changed.

Structure: If + Past Perfect Simple == would have/could have/might have + past participle

Causative

Structure: Subject + Have/get (Present Simple, Present Perfect, Past Simple, Future) + Object + Past Participle

Relative Clauses

  • Defining: Who/that (people), which/that (objects), when (time), where (place), whose (possession), to whom (with whom), what (that which, antecedent omitted). Can be omitted if there is a subject behind, except for “whose.”
  • Non-defining: Without “that,” separated by commas, never omitted, provides extra information: who, which, when, where, whose.

Vocabulary

Lists of vocabulary related to health, shopping, relationships, travel, and work.

Writing Topics

  • A Year Out: Discusses the pros and cons of taking a gap year.
  • Parents Should Set Rules for Their Teenage Children: Argues for the importance of parental guidance during adolescence.
  • Bullfighting: Debates the ethical implications of bullfighting as a tradition.
  • Are You For or Against Traveling Abroad?: Weighs the benefits and drawbacks of international travel.
  • Moving Out: Explores the challenges and opportunities of young adults leaving home.

Connectors

A list of common connectors used to link ideas and sentences.