Mastering Reported Speech: Tense Shifts, Questions, and Orders
Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to convey what someone else said without using their exact words. This often involves changes in tense, pronouns, and time expressions.
Tense Changes in Reported Speech
When reporting speech, the tense of the verb usually shifts back one step. Here are some common tense changes:
- 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.
Essential English Vocabulary: Weather, Activities, and Clothing
Weather Vocabulary:
- Cloud: Clouds
- Cloudy: Cloudy
- Hot: Hot
- Warm: Temperate
- Cool: Fresh
- Cold: Cold
- Sun: Sun
- Sunny: Sunny
- Freezing: Frozen
- Rain: Rain
- Rainy: Rainy
- Windy: Windy
- Snowy: Snowy
- Humid: Wet
- Fog: Fog
- Foggy: Foggy
- Sultry: Sultry
- Hailstone: Hailstones
Common Questions and Answers
- What’s the weather like today? It is cloudy and warm.
- What are you doing now? What are you doing now?
- What are they doing? They are doing…
- I do aerobics. I do aerobics.
- I don’t play soccer. I don’t play soccer.
- I watch tennis. I watch tennis.
Vaccines, HR Meetings, Logistics, and Grammar
Vaccine Hesitancy and Pandemic Management
1. My opinion on vaccines is complex. Thanks to them, we have eliminated many deadly diseases. However, the COVID-19 vaccines were introduced with strong insistence despite scientific evidence suggesting potential adverse effects for some individuals. Media and public figures who tried to publicize this information, often supported by medical and scientific reports, faced censorship and scorn. This political and medical management of the last pandemic significantly
Prepositions, Feelings, Conjunctions, and More
Prepositions of Time
At: Used for specific times, special periods, and certain expressions:
- At 6 o’clock, at half past two, at 7:45
- At Christmas, at Easter, at night, at the weekend
In: Used for months, seasons, years, and parts of the day (except for “at night”):
- In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening
On: Used for dates and specific days:
- On March 1st
- On Tuesday, on New Year’s Day, on Valentine’s Day
Feelings
Bored, worried, stressed, excited, relaxed, embarrassed, disappointed, in a bad mood,
Read MoreMastering Active and Passive Voice in English
Verb Tenses: Active and Passive Voice
Present Simple
- Active: Cultivan (They grow)
- Passive: Es cultivado (It is grown) / Están cultivados (They are grown) / Está siendo cultivado (It is being grown)
Future Simple
- Active: Cultivarán (They will grow) / Van a cultivar (They are going to grow)
- Passive: Será cultivado (It will be grown) / Va a ser cultivado (It is going to be grown)
Past Simple
- Active: Cultivaron (They grew)
- Passive: Fue cultivado (It was grown)
Present Perfect
- Active: Han cultivado (They have
Key Concepts in English Grammar and Vocabulary
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Countables: Use a few and many. Examples: a few hours, many people, many drops. You can use ‘a lot of’ at the end of a sentence.
Uncountables: Use a little and much. Examples: a little time, much sugar, much makeup, much money. You can use ‘a lot of’.
Prepositions of Place and Time
- AT: Specific places (at home), weekends (at the weekend), expressions with ‘about’ (at about…).
- IN: General places like cities or rooms (in a room), evenings (in the evening).
- ON: Surfaces