Be Going to — Will - Present Continuous

Be going to is used:

 

- to talk about future plans and intentions.

Now that he’s got the money, he is going to get the car fixed, (future plan)

She loves animals. She is going to buy a dog. (intention)

- to make predictions based on what we see or know.

That car is going too fast! It’s going to crash.

Will is used:

· to express on-the-spot decisions.

I’m tired. I’ll go to bed early.

· to express predictions based on what we think or imagine.

He will become a very good teacher.

· to express threats or warnings.

Start working harder or you will lose your job.

· to express promises.

Don’t worry. I won’t be late.

We can use the present continuous to talk about fixed arrangements in the near future.

She is catching the train to Spain at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning. (All the arrangements have been made. She has bought her ticket.)

 

Reported Speech

Statements

1) If the sentence starts in the present, there is no backshift of tenses in Reported speech.
Example: Susan: "I work in an office." Susan says that she works in an office.

2) If the sentence starts in the past, there is often backshift of tenses in Reported speech. (see: Note)
Example: Susan: "I work in an office." Susan said that she worked in an office.

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Simple Present	Simple Past
Simple Past	Past Perfect
Present Perfect
Past Perfect
will	would
Progressive forms
am/are/is	was/were
was/were	had been
has been
had been

 

Backshift of tenses
from	to
Peter: "I work in the garden."	Peter said that he worked in the garden.
Peter: "I worked in the garden."	Peter said that he had worked in the garden.
Peter: "I have worked in the garden."
Peter: "I had worked in the garden."
Peter: "I will work in the garden."	Peter said that he would work in the garden.
Peter: "I can work in the garden."	Peter said that he could work in the garden.
Peter: "I may work in the garden."	Peter said that he might work in the garden.
Peter: "I would work in the garden." (could, might, should, ought to)	Peter said that he would work in the garden. (could, might, should, ought to)
Progressive forms
Peter: "I'm working in the garden."	Peter said that he was working in the garden.
Peter: "I was working in the garden."	Peter said that he had been working in the garden.
Peter: "I have been working in the garden."
Peter: "I had been working in the garden."

If the sentence contains an expression of time, you must change it as well.

Peter: "I worked in the garden yesterday. "
Peter said that he had worked in the garden the day before.

Shifting of expressions of time

this (evening)	that (evening)
today/this day	that day
these (days)	those (days)
now	then
(a week) ago	(a week) before
last weekend	the weekend before / the previous weekend
here	there
next (week)	the following (week)
tomorrow	the next/following day

Note:

In some cases the backshift of tenses is not necessary, e.g. when statements are still true.

John: "My brother is at Leipzig university."
John said that his brother was at Leipzig university. or
John said that his brother is at Leipzig university.

or

Mandy: "The sun rises in the East."
Mandy said that the sun rose in the East. or
Mandy said that the sun rises in the East.

Reported questions

If you put a question into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, backshift of tenses, changing of expressions of time).

In Reported speech there is no question anymore, the sentence becomes a statement.
That's why the word order is: subject - verb

Question without question words (yes/no questions):
Peter: " Do you play football?" - Peter asked me whether (if) I played football.

Question with question words:
Peter: " When do you play football?" - Peter asked me when I played football.

Reported commands

If you put a command into Reported speech there are some steps which are the same like in statements: (changing of the person, backshift of tenses, changing of expressions of time).

The form is mostly: form of to tell + to + infinitive.

Affirmative commands	Negative commands
Father: "Do your homework."	Teacher. "Don't talk to your neighbour."
Father told me to do my homework.	The teacher told me not to talk to my neighbour.

Passive Voice

The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.

Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:

subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

The main verb is always in its past participle form.

Look at these examples:

subject	auxiliary verb (to be)		main verb (past participle)
Water	is		drunk	by everyone.
100 people	are		employed	by this company.
I	am		paid	in euro.
We	are	not	paid	in dollars.
Are	they		paid	in yen?

Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

· we want to make the active object more important

· we do not know the active subject

	subject	verb	object
give importance to active object (President Kennedy)	President Kennedy	was killed	by Lee Harvey Oswald.
active subject unknown	My wallet	has been stolen.	?

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).

Look at this sentence:

· He was killed with a gun.

Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".

Conjugation for the Passive Voice

We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:

· present simple: It is made

· present continuous: It is being made

· present perfect: It has been made

Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive	to be washed
simple	present	It is washed.
past	It was washed.
future	It will be washed.
conditional	It would be washed.
continuous	present	It is being washed.
past	It was being washed.
future	It will be being washed.
conditional	It would be being washed.
perfect simple	present	It has been washed.
past	It had been washed.
future	It will have been washed.
conditional	It would have been washed.
perfect continuous	present	It has been being washed.
past	It had been being washed.
future	It will have been being washed.
conditional	It would have been being washed.

 

Conditionals

 

Conditional clausesconsist of two parts: the if-clause(hypothesis) and the main clause(result).
Type 0 general truth	If-clause(hypothesis)	Main clause(result)	Use
if/when + present simple	present simple	something which is always true, laws of nature
If you mix red and yellow, you get orange.
Type 1 real (present future)	if + present simple, present continuous, present perfect or present perfect continuous	future/imperative can/may/might/must/ should/ could + bare infinitive	something real - likely to happen in the present or future
If he doesn’t study, he will fail his exams. If you need money, let me know. If you have cleaned your room, you can watch TV. If you’re in town, you should call us.
Type 2 unreal (present)	if + past simple or past continuous	would/could/might + bare infinitive	imaginary situation contrary to facts in the present; also used to give advice
If 1 had free time, I would join a gym. BUT: I don’t have free time, (untrue in the present) (advice) If I were rich. I’d buy a mansion. BUT: I’m not rich, (untrue in the present)
Type 3 unreal (past)	if + past perfect	would/could/might + have +past participle	a condition in the past that did not happen
If I had found her address, I would have sent her an invitation. (Sometime in the past, I wanted to send an invitation to a friend. I didn't find her address, however. So in the end I didn't send her an invitation.) If John had had the money, he would have bought a Ferrari. (I knew John very well and I know that he never had much money, but he loved Ferraris. He would have loved to own a Ferrari, but he never had the money to buy one.)

 

 

· When the if-clause comes before the main clause, the two clauses are separated with a comma. When the main clause comes before the if-clause, then no comma is necessary.

If I have time today, I will answer my emails.

I will answer my emails if I have time today.

· We can use were instead of was for all persons in the if-clause of Type 2 conditionals.

If Sandy was/were here, we could play a card game.

Unless means if not.

You’ll be late unless you leave now. You’ll be late if you don’t leave now.

We use if to say that something might happen.

We use when to refer to the time that something will definitely happen.

If you phone Kevin, will you ask him for directions? (You might phone Kevin.)

When you phone Kevin, will you ask him for directions? (It is certain that you will phone him.)

 

Time Clauses

 

· We do not use the future simple after: while, before, until, as soon as, after, if and when. We use the present simple

instead.

Stand here until you see him come out of the shop. (NOT:... until you will see him come out of the shop.)

· men can be used with the future simple if it is used as a question word.

When will you visit your grandmother?

I’m not sure when Bob will arrive.

· When is followed by the present simple if it is used as a time word.

Send me an email when you get home from school.

 

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are for example may, can, must, should, need. They express an ability, permission, wish etc. to do something. (I may, can, must swim.) Many modal verbs cannot be used in all of the English tenses. That's why we need to know the substitutes to these modal verbs.

 

Modal Verb	Substitute	Example
must	to have to	I must swim. = I have to swim.
must not	not to be allowed to	I must not swim. = I am not allowed to swim.
can	to be able to	I can swim. = I am able to swim.
may	to be allowed to	I may swim. = I am allowed to swim.
need	to have to	I need to swim. = I have to swim.
need not	not to have to	I need not swim. = I don't have to swim.
shall / should/ ought to	to be supposed to / to be expected to / to be to	I shall / should / ought to swim. = I am supposed to swim. / I am expected to swim. / I am to swim.

Have to — Don’t have to

· We use have to to express necessity.

I have to be at work by 8:30 am.

(It’s necessary. It’s a rule/law.)

· We use don’t/doesn’t have to to express lack of necessity.

They don’t have to get up early on Sunday. (It’s not necessary. They don’t work on Sundays.)

Must - Mustn’t

· We use must/mustn’t to express obligation or duty.

She must pay the rent on time.

(She has a responsibility.)

· We use must/mustn’t to express very strong advice.

You must study hard for the exams.

You mustn’t smoke.

· We use mustn’t to express prohibition.

You mustn’t eat or drink in the museum. (It’s against the rules; it isn’t allowed.)

Note: Must is only for present tenses. We use have to for all other tenses.

He’ll have to work late tonight, (future) She had to go home alone yesterday, (past)

Can - Can’t

· We use can to ask for permission.

Can I take the day off work? (Is it OK if...?)

· We use can to give permission.

You can go home early if you like. (You are allowed.)

· We use can’t to refuse permission.

You can’t park here! (It’s forbidden.)

· We use can to make a request or a suggestion.

Can you bring me the dictionary, please? (request)

We can postpone the meeting if you like, (suggestion)

· We use could to ask for permission, make a request or make a suggestion.

Could I leave early today? (asking for permission)

Could you please post this letter for me? (making a request)

We could send out the letters tomorrow, (making a suggestion)

Should - Shouldn’t

· We use should/ shouldn’t to give advice.

You should wear sunglasses in the sun.

(It’s a good idea.)

You shouldn’t eat junk food! (It’s better if you don’t.)

Need to - Needn’t

· We use need to to express necessity.

We need to paint the house. (It’s necessary.)

· We use needn’t to express lack of necessity. You needn’t wash the dishes. I’ll do them. (It’s not necessary.)

Note: We can use don’t/doesn’t have to instead of needn’t with no difference in meaning. You needn’t buy any milk./You don’t have to buy any milk. (It isn’t necessary to buy any milk.)

 

 

Relative Clauses