GRAMMAR

REPORTED SPEECH

Introduction

When we are reporting what someone else said, we normally don’t use their exact words with quotation marks (direct speech), but instead we use indirect speech (also called reported speech). Indirect speech is introduced using certain phrases.

Example:

He says/said …

She explains/explained …

She tells/told me …

He asks/asked …

Example  

Audio Player

00:04

Use Left/Right Arrow keys to advance one second, Up/Down arrows to advance ten seconds.

00:36

Use Up/Down Arrow keys to increase or decrease volume.

Mandy is sitting in the café where James works. He tells her: “I work in this café almost every day. But yesterday I saw a famous TV presenter here for the first time. She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting now.”

A week later, Mandy is speaking to a friend on the phone: “I saw James at the café last week. He said that he worked in that café almost every day, but that the day before he had seen a famous TV presenter there for the first time. She had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting at that moment.”

Declarative Sentences

When turning declarative sentences into indirect speech, we need to pay attention to the following points:

• changing the pronouns

  Example:

  He said: I saw a famous TV presenter.
  He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter.

• changing the information about time and place (see the table at the end of this page)

  Example:

  He said, “I saw a famous TV presenter here yesterday.”
  He said (that) he had seen a famous TV presenter there the day before.

• changing the tense (backshift)

  Example:

  He said, “She was eating an ice-cream at the table where you are sitting.”
  He said (that) she had been eating an ice-cream at the table where I was sitting.

Changing the Tense (backshift)

If the introductory clause is in the simple past (e.g. He said), the tense has to be set back by one degree (see the table). The term for this in English is backshift.

Example:

He said, “I work every day.”
He said that he worked every day.

He said, “I saw a TV presenter.”
He said that he had seen a TV presenter.

He said, “She was sitting where you are sitting.”
He said that she had been sitting where I was sitting.

direct speech	indirect speech
simple present	simple past
present progressive	past progressive
simple past	past perfect simple
present perfect simple
past perfect simple
past progressive	past perfect progressive
present perfect progressive
past perfect progressive
future I (going to)	was / were going to
future I (will)	conditional I (would)
conditional I (would)

The verbs could, should, would, might, must, needn’t, ought to, used to normally do not change.

Example:

He said, “I could have asked her for an autograph.” – He said that he could have asked her for an autograph.

Typical Changes of Time and Place

direct speech	indirect speech
today	that day
now	then at that moment/time
yesterday	the day before
… days ago	… days before
last week	the week before
next year	the following year
tomorrow	the next day the following day
here	there
this	that
these	those

Requests and commands are formed using the "to-infinitive" in statements and "not + to-infinitive" in negative statements. If we report somebody's commands, we use the verb told. If it's a request, the word used in the main clause is usually asked.

• He asked me to close the window.

Commands

• Go to bed!
• He told me to go to bed.

• Don't go to bed!
• He told me not to go to bed.

Requests

• Could you buy some eggs?
• She asked me to buy some eggs

• Don't buy any eggs please.
• She asked me not to buy any eggs.

Passive Verb Formation

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with the past participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present: "The measurecould have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various tenses. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design."

Tense	Subject	Auxiliary		Past Participle
		Singular	Plural
Present	The car/cars	is	are	designed.
Present perfect	The car/cars	has been	have been	designed.
Past	The car/cars	was	were	designed.
Past perfect	The car/cars	had been	had been	designed.
Future	The car/cars	will be	will be	designed.
Future perfect	The car/cars	will have been	will have been	designed.
Present progressive	The car/cars	is being	are being	designed.
Past progressive	The car/cars	was being	were being	designed.

A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by the gorilla." But a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was crushed." Also, when an active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the indirect object can take on the role of subject in the passive sentence:

used to do

I used to be handsome.

We use used to do to talk about the past. It is not a tense but it is like a tense. It is a special structure. We use the structure used to do for the past only.

Do not confuse used to do with with the expression be used to. They have different meanings.

Structure of used to do

The structure of used to do is:

subject

+

main verb use

+

to-infinitive

Look at the structure again with positive, negative and question sentences:

	subject	auxiliary did	not	main verb use	infinitive
+	I			used	to like him.
-	I	did	n't	use	to work.
?	Did	you		use	to drink?

Used or use?

• when there is no did in the sentence, we say used to (with d)

• when there is did in the sentence, we say use to (without d)

Use of used to do

We use the used to do structure to talk about:

• an activity that we did regularly in the past (like a habit)
• a situation that was true in the past

past	present	future
I used to smoke.

Look at these examples.

past	present
She used to work in a shop.	Now she works in a bank.
He used to watch a lot of TV.	Now he doesn't watch much TV.
They used to be married.	Now they are divorced.
There used to be a cinema here.	Now there is a supermarket here.
I didn't use to go swimming.	Now I go swimming.
Did you use to smoke?

PRESENT PERFECT.

Use

1) Result of an action in the past is important in the present

I have cleaned my room.

2) Recently completed actions

He has just played handball.

3) Actions beginning in the past and still continuing

We have lived in Canada since 1986.

4) Together with lately, recently, yet

I have been to London recently.

SIGNAL WORDS

just, yet, never, already, ever, so far, up to now, recently, since, for

PRESENT PERFECT  - COMMON MISTAKES
Common mistakes	Correct version	Why?
Steven has wrote a new book.	Steven has written a new book.	The past participle of the verb must be used - wrote is past simple, written is the past participle.
Did you have seen him before?	Have you seen him before?	The helping verb 'have' is used in the present perfect- it is inverted with the person (you have becomes have you).
I didn't have seen him before.	I haven't seen him before.	The helping verb 'have' is used in the present perfect- to make it negative we simply add not (n't).
I am here since last week.	I have been here since last week.	The present perfect is used to show an action which continues to the present (an unfinished action).
I've been knowing him for 5 years.	I've known him for 5 years.	Verbs such as know, want, like, etc. (stative verbs) suggest permanent states, not actions, so are used in the simple form, NOT the -ing form.

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

Introduction

The Simple Present is frequently used in English. It is also called Present Simple.

Uses:

1)      Routines (a sequence of actions regularly followed)

I wake up at 5.30

2)   Repeated actions (using adverbs of frequency)

     My friend often draws nice posters.
I never drink milk.

Frequency	Adverb of Frequency	Example Sentence
100%	always	I always go to bed before 11pm.
90%	usually	I usually have cereal for breakfast.
80%	normally / generally	I normally go to the gym.
70%	often* / frequently	I often surf the internet.
50%	sometimes	I sometimes forget my wife's birthday.
30%	occasionally	I occasionally eat junk food.
10%	seldom	I seldom read the newspaper.
5%	hardly ever / rarely	I hardly ever drink alcohol.
0%	never	I never swim in the sea.

3) Facts which are always true (present, past and future) – general truths e.g. facts in science and geographical descriptions.

            Water freezes at 0 degrees.

The sun rises in the East.

4) Fixed arrangements, scheduled events (e.g. timetable)

The plane flies to London every Monday.

5) To express future actions that are scheduled to occur. Some verbs that are commonly used in the simple present to express the future are arrive, begin, close, come, end, finish, leave, open, return, and start.                                                                                        

            The spring term begins in January next year.

6) After special verbs, which are normally not used with the Present Progressive (These   

    verbs express states, possessions, feelings etc.)
    be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem,   

    smell, think, understand, want, wish

I understand English.
He doesn't like fish.

Forming the simple present tense There are only two basic forms for the simple present tense; one ends with -s and the other doesn't. Here are the rules, using the example verb "sing": Subject Verb Form Example I simple form I sing You simple form You sing He simple form + S He sings She simple form + S She sings It simple form + S It sings We simple form We sing They simple form They sing In other words, only THIRD PERSON SINGULAR subjects (he, she and it) have to have a verb with -S. S ,ES or IES? With most verbs, the third person singular form is created simply by adding -S. However, with some verbs, you need to add -ES or -IES. Here are the rules: Verb ending in... How to make the 3rd person singular Example O Add - ES (go)  She goes S Add -ES (pass) He passes X Add - ES (fix) She fixes Z Add -ES (doz) She dozes Sh Add –ES (wish)She wishes Ch Add –ES (watch)He watches consonant + y Change Y to I, then add -ES (fly) It flies Vowel + y Add –S (play) He plays anything else Add –S He sings SIMPLE PRESENT  - COMMON MISTAKES Common mistakes Correct version Why? I working in London. I work in London. The gerund ing form is not used in the present simple. He work in London. He Works in London. The third person he, she, it adds the letter s. He work in London? Does he work in London? Questions - third person: does + subject + infinitive. All other persons: do + subject + infinitive. Work he in London? Does he work in London? He not work in London. He doesn't work in London. Negatives - third person: subject + doesn't + infinitive. All other persons: subject + don't + infinitive.