APTIS COURSE

1. Conditional sentences

Conditional sentences have two parts:

a) The subordinate clause, which expresses a condition and is introduced by “if”

b) The main clause, which expresses the result of the condition

There are three types of conditionals, depending on the degree of probability of the indicated
condition:

Degree of
Type of conditional Form
probability

If + present
1st Probable
future

If he is interested in your offer, he’ll let you know.

Imaginary or If + past
2nd
improbable conditional

If we lived in London, I would accept the job.

3rd Impossible If + past perfect conditional perfect

If she had phoned, I would have fetched her.

1. First conditional

Use: The subordinate clause introduced by “if” expresses a condition which is possible or
probable to become true. The main clause predicts the consequences of the condition.

The most frequent tenses in this type of sentences are:

Form:

Subordinate clause:

If + present simple

Main clause:

“will” future

IF + PRESENT  è  FUTURE

If you study,  you’ll pass your exam.

Sub. Clause    Main Clause.

Variations: This basic structure has many variations. Instead of “if”, there are conditional
particles like “unless”, “as long as”, “provided”, “even if”.

The verb in the subordinate clause can have the form of Present Continuous or Present Perfect,
instead of Present Simple.

1
 APTIS COURSE

The verb in the main clause can appear with a modal verb (can,  may,  must,  should,  had
better) or have the imperative form, instead of Future Simple.

IF

Unless (= if not)

As long as

Provided

Even if

PRESENT SIMPLE

Present Perfect

Present Continuous

FUTURE SIMPLE

can, may

must

should, had better

imperative

Unless you study harder, you won’t pass your exams.

Even if we can fix it, it will never look the same.

You may go, provided (that) you’re at home by eleven o’clock.

As long as you are not busy, can you help with this work?

If you have the time, you must visit him in hospital.

If you have a cold, you should go to the doctor.

Unless you are tired, we may go out.

If you want to know his name, ask him.

The two parts of the sentence are interchangeable; but when the subordinate clause comes
first, we have to separate the two clauses by adding a comma.

If you study, you’ll pass your exam.

=  You’ll pass your exam if you study.

FALSE CONDITIONALS

Universal truths

2
 APTIS COURSE

There is a type of conditional sentence with present simple in both parts. This clause is
classified as zero conditional, but in fact, it is no conditional sentence. It doesn’t indicate
probability of a condition, but expresses a relation of cause and effect. In this type, the particle
“if” is equivalent to “when”:

IF / WHEN + PRESENT è PRESENT

If you mix red and white, you get pink.

When you mix red and white, you get pink.

In case

Conditional:

If it rains I’ll take the umbrella.

False conditional:

Take the umbrella, in case it rains.

Time clauses

Be careful with the subordinate clauses that are “time clauses”. Although they can coincide
regarding the tenses, these clauses indicate a temporal reference, and not a condition:

After

As soon as

Before               + Present   è   Future

Till / Until

When

After 
After she graduates, she will get a job.

As soon as 
As soon as it stops raining, we will leave.

Before 
I will leave before he comes.

Till / until 
We will stay there until we finish our work.

When 
When I see him tomorrow, I’ll ask him to come.

2. Second conditional

Use: The second conditional is used to speak of hypothetical or imaginary situations, of what
would happen if they were true.

Form:

Subordinate clause:

3
 APTIS COURSE

If + past simple

Main clause:

Conditional simple

IF + PAST è CONDITIONAL

If I lived in China, I would learn Chinese.

If I were travelling in the desert, I’d take a bottle of water with me.

We have to take some points into consideration when we use this type of conditional:

Like in the first conditional, the main and subordinate clauses can invert their order.

If I lived in China, I would learn Chinese.

I would learn Chinese if I lived in China.

The conditional particle doesn’t always have to be “if”; it can be “unless”, “provided”, “as long
as” or “even if”.

Even if I had entered the competition, 

I wouldn’t have won it.

The modal verbs “could” or “might” can be substituted with “would” if we want to express that
the result is less probable.

If I knew her telephone number, 

I could phone her.

But I don’t know it, so it is practically impossible to call her.

The verb “To be” has two past forms: “was” and “were”, but in the conditional sentences we
use “were” for all persons.(Note: In colloquial English, sometimes people use “was” for the first
and third person singular.)

If I were you, I would take the job.

3. Third conditional

Form:

Subordinate clause:

If + past perfect

Main clause:

Conditional perfect

IF + PAST PERFECT 
è CONDITIONAL PERFECT

If I had known, I would not have come.

If you had been to Spain, you would have learned more Spanish.

Like with the first and second conditional sentences, we have to take into consideration:

4
 APTIS COURSE

The conditional particle can also be “unless”, “provided”, “as long as”, “even if”.

The two parts of the sentence are interchangeable.

I would have bought it if I had had enough money.

If I had had enough money, I would have bought it.

There can be modal verbs. In that case, it’s “might have” or “could have” instead of “would
have” in the Conditional Perfect.

Compare:

If you had asked him, he would not have let you go.

If the condition had become true, I am sure, that this would have been the result.

But:

If you had asked him, he might not have let you go.

I don’t know, what would have happened, but it is  possible  that this would have happened.

4. Mixed conditionals

They are a mixture of the second and the third conditional: the subordinate clause seems to
belong to the third type (Past Perfect), that is, it indicates a condition that is already impossible
to become true; but the main clause has the form of the second type of conditionals (would)
showing a consequence in the present:

If you had listened to me, 

you would be rich now.

If she had entered that company, 

she wouldn’t be looking for a job now.

2. Homographs

Homographs are words that are spelled in the same way, but have different meanings. In many
cases, they are pronounced in a different way.

Generally, we can classify the homographs as follows:

Those, being noun and verb: Usually they have their origin in common and their meanings are
related to each other:

TO DESIGN        A DESIGN

He designs fashion accessories.

What an original design!

In this group, the pronounciation is often nearly the same, but the stress changes its position.
The noun is usually stressed on the first syllable, and the verb on the second:

TO RECORD       A RECORD

5
 APTIS COURSE

He wants to record a new CD.

It is essential to keep a record of expenses.

TO PRESENT      A PRESENT

They presented him with a gold watch.

She gave me a present.

TO INCREASE     AN INCREASE

The boss has promised to increase my salary.

There has been an increase in crime.

TO OBJECT        AN OBJECT

I object to your attitude.

What a strange looking object!

Those that are not related in any way. They only coincide by chance, regarding the form, but
their meanings are totally different, and they can belong to very different syntactic categories:
noun, adjective, verb, adverb, etc.

Their pronounciation can be also very different:

MINUTE         /mᴵnᵊt/         /maᴵnju:t/

He lives about five minutes from here.

Do you like this minute doll?

ROW             /rᵊᶷ/            /raᶷ/

I’ve got some tickets for first row for tonight’s performance.

Have you had another row? Why are you two always arguing?

TEAR            /tᴵᵊr/            /teᵊr/

She was crying and the tears were running down her face.

How did you tear your T-shirt?

LIVE             /laᴵv/           /lᴵv/

The show wasn’t recorded. It was live.

Where do you live?

CLOSE          /klᵊᶷs/         /klᵊᶷz/

He lives close to my house.

Can you close the door, please?

3. Materials

The question “What is it made of?” is answered with the structure:

6
 APTIS COURSE

It’s made of wood, wool, gold, ...

Nevertheless, when we indicate the material an object is made of, we put it before the noun
like an adjective and some materials have a special form:

A cup made of glass:        A glass cup

A bag made of plastic:      A plastic bag

A tray made of silver:       A silver tray

But:

A scarf made of wool:       A woollen scarf

A box made of wood:        A wooden box

Earrings made of gold:      Golden earrings*

* Also: “gold earrings” if we speak about the material; “golden” can refer to both, colour and
material. 

4. Passive voice

When a sentence contains a transitive verb, we can express the sentence in active or passive
form. The passive voice is very usual in English.

The passive voice is used in the following cases:

a)      When the agent (of an action) is unknown or not specified.

English is spoken all over the world.

b)  When we want to put emphasis on the action instead of the person who acts.

His brother was advised to study Law.

Regarding the form, we use the verb “to be + participle of the main verb”. The following table
shows the structure of a sentence in passive voice:

Passive subject + to be + participle 

+ (agent) + rest of the sentence

His brother was killed in a car accident.

English is spoken (by people) all over the world.

Subsequently, we show a table of changes in the verb:

  ACTIVE / PASSIVE

present simple present form

7
 APTIS COURSE

He pays the bill.

am / is / are + participle

The bill is paid.

am / is / are + gerund

He is paying the bill.

present continuous
am / is / are + being + participle

The bill is being paid.

past form

He paid the bill.

past simple
was / were + participle

The bill was paid.

was / were + gerund

He was paying the bill.

past continuous
was / were + being + participle

The bill was being paid.

have / has + gerund

He has paid the bill.

present perfect
have / has + been + participle

The bill has been paid.

had + participle

He had paid the bill.

past perfect
had + been + participle

The bill had been paid.

Have/has + been + verb + ing

I have been waiting for a long time.

Present perfect continuous
Have/been + been + being + past participle

I have been being waited for a long time.

Past perfect continuous was/were + ing form + object

She was writing a novel.

Was/were + being + past participle + by +

8
 APTIS COURSE

subject of active sentence

A novel was being written by her.

will + infinitive

He will pay the bill.

future simple
will + be + participle

The bill will be paid.

be going to + infinitive

He is going to pay the bill.

be going to
be going to + be + participle

The bill is going to be paid.

modal + infinitive

He can pay the bill.

He must pay the bill.

He would pay the bill.

modal verbs
modal + be + participle

The bill can be paid.

The bill must be paid.

The bill would be paid.

We can see that the verb “to be” is always in the same tense as the active sentence was.

As we said before, the agent of the passive sentence is introduced by the particle “by”. But it is
not necessary to mention the agent in the passive voice. We only mention him in the following
cases:

a)  When the agent is important, that is, when we want to give prominence to by whom
something was done. That is often the case with inventors, painters, writers, etc.

This book was written by Shakespeare.

b)    When we introduce new information, something that wasn’t mentioned before.

As we were having a walk, we were surprised by a chimpanzee.

Pay attention to the following examples and their changes:

My mother feeds the dog.

The dog is fed by my mother.

Jane Austen wrote many novels.

Many novels were written by Jane Austen.

9
 APTIS COURSE

They will serve dinner.

Dinner will be served.

We can also put the sentences into negative form. Then, the negative particle goes with the
verb “to be” or the auxiliary that accompanies it:

They haven’t stolen that money from the bank.

That money hasn’t been stolen from the bank.

They didn’t paint the house last year.

The house wasn’t painted last year.

The reporter isn’t interviewing the Mayor.

The Mayor isn’t being interviewed.

Until now, we have seen verbs with only one object: the direct object. But, there are also verbs
that go with direct and indirect object. In English, we can use both of them as a passive subject
or object when putting the sentence into passive voice (although we usually prefer the indirect
object):

They sent me a new catalogue. (active form)

A new catalogue was sent to me. (passive form with direct object as subject)

I was sent a new catalogue. (passive form with indirect object as subject)

More examples:

They gave me a present.

è   A present was given to me. 

I was given a present.

She has sent me a bunch of flowers.

è   A bunch of flowers has been sent to me. 

I have been sent a bunch of flowers

As you can see, the form of the verb is the same in both possibilities of the passive voice:

(Past)

He offered me a new idea.

A new idea was offered to me.

I was offered a new idea.

(Future Simple)

She will show me some photos.

Some photos will be shown to me.

I will be shown some photos.

10
 APTIS COURSE

Impersonal phrases

There is a type of sentence, which is impersonal, that can also be expressed in a passive
structure:

It is said that he has a child.

Or

He is said to have a child.

Compare the two structures. One has the subject “it”, the other has a passive structure:

It is      said            that he           is dead

thought       died

believed      will die

expected     lives abroad

reported

He is     said            to be dead

thought       to have died

believed      to die

expected     to live abroad

reported      to be living abroad

Prepositions in passive sentences

See how to treat the prepositions in passive clauses:

1. Verbs followed by a preposition:

There are verbs that require a preposition between them and the object. Others don’t:

Will you read to me?

Please, tickle me.

Don’t shout at me!

Kiss me again!

Thanks for cooking for me.

When these verbs with prepositions are used in passive voice, the object becomes the subject
and goes at the beginning of the sentences, but the preposition stays behind the verb:

I like being read to.

I love being tickled.

I hate being shouted at.

I love being kissed.

11
 APTIS COURSE

I appreciate being cooked for.

2. Compound Verbs:

As you already know, in English we have “phrasal verbs” and “prepositional verbs”, which are
compund verbs consisting of verb, and adverb or preposition. Nevertheless, they form a unit of
meaning, that is, they are treated as if they were one word.

to sort out                         = to organise, to arrange

to write down                   = to note down

to give back                       = to return sth.

to put away                       = to put into the pocket, cupboard etc.

to look after                      = to take care of

These verbs, as they are always followed by a preposition or adverb, have the same structure
when they appear in passive voice (although in this case the preposition belongs to the verb):

Don’t worry! Someone is looking after the children.

Don’t worry! The children are being looked after.

This happens especially in questions with the passive voice:

Has someone written down the date?

Has the date been written down?

Has someone put away the clothes?

Have the clothes been put away?

Is someone sorting out the papers?

Are the papers being sorted out?

3. The preposition “by”:

The preposition “by”, which is used to indicate the agent in passive voice, can also appear at
the end of an interrogative sentence:

Who were The Canterbury Tales written by?

The Canterbury Tales were written by G. Chaucer.

Who was the radio invented by?

The radio was invented by Marconi.

Who was “Sunflowers” painted by?

“Sunflowers” was painted by Vincent Van Gogh.

5. Word formation: nouns

12
 APTIS COURSE

In the languages we use today, new words are continuously created. For that purpose, words
which already exist in the language are chosen as a base. In that way, we can create many
more nouns: using the adjectives and verbs.

Constitution of nouns using adjectives:

We add the suffixes “-ness” or “-ity” to the adjective:

selfish            ð     selfishness

stupid             ð     stupidity

kind               ð     kindness

popular           ð     popularity

silly                ð     silliness

sincere           ð     sincerity

There are other suffixes that are less frequently used, like “-ty”, “-ence”, “-sm”, “-er”, “-th”, etc.
Sometimes, apart from adding the suffix, we also have to modify the adjective:

patient            ð     patience

realistic           ð     realism

safe               ð     safety

angry             ð     anger

long               ð     length

Constitution of nouns using verbs:

We add the suffixes “-ment”, “-ion” or”-tion” to the verb. Sometimes, we have to modify the
verb:

to arrange       ð     arrangement

to hesitate       ð     hesitation

to develop       ð     development

to organise      ð     organisation

to treat           ð     treatment

to pronounce   ð     pronunciation

to permit         ð     permission

to decide         ð     decision

to suspect       ð     suspicion

6. Relative clauses

13
 APTIS COURSE

Relative clauses are also known as adjective clauses because they behave like an adjective that
modifies a noun. This noun can be the subject or the object of a sentence. The relative clauses
go after the word they refer to.

Relative clauses are introduced by relative pronouns. The most prevalent relative pronouns are:

who:     Referring to a person

which:  Referring to a thing

that:      Referring to a person or a thing

TYPES OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

We have to distinguish between “defining” and “non-defining” relative clauses.

Defining relative clauses (specifying)

This type of relative clauses is used to specify the thing or person we refer to. That means, it
gives us clues to identify the subject out of a group of possible referents.

Have a look at this sentence:

A boy is wearing a blue jacket. He is very attractive.

We can make one sentence out of the two:

The boy who is wearing a blue jacket is very attractive.

As you can see, in the second sentence we substituted “he” with “who” adding important
information about the boy to identify him.

We use the relative pronoun “who” because we refer to a person.

Nevertheless, when we refer to a thing we use the relative pronoun “which”:

The house was expensive. I bought it last year.

The house which I bought last year was expensive.

In this example, we substituted “it” with “which”, adding again information without which we
couldn’t know what the sentence refers to.

In both cases we could have used the relative pronoun “that”, which is used for people and
things:

The boy that is wearing a blue jacket is very attractive.

The house that I bought last year was very expensive.

Omission of the relative pronoun

In this type of relative clause (defining) the relative pronoun doesn’t act like a subject in the
relative clause, and so it is possible to omit it.

The book that you gave me yesterday is exciting.

The book you gave me yesterday is exciting.

Here is the skirt that you gave me.

14
 APTIS COURSE

Here is the skirt you gave me.

We realise that, when a pronoun comes after the relative clause, we can omit the relative, but
not when there is a verb, because in that case it acts as a subject and cannot be omitted.

Compare:

I know these children who are in the street.

This is the film that we saw last week. / This is the film we saw last week.

Non-defining relative clauses (explaining)

This type of clause is used to give more information about a person or a thing. Nevertheless,
this information is not important to identify the person or the thing we are talking about. It is
additional information is not essential.

These relative clauses have two main characteristics:

- They go between commas.

- The relative pronoun cannot be substituted with 

  “that”.

Our new house, which [not that] you saw last week, is very luxurious.

Compare the two following examples. One of them contains a non-defining relative clause, and
the other one contains a defining relative clause:

The boy who came to my house is my cousin.

My uncle Tom, who lives in Mexico, is coming to visit us.

In the first sentence, we are specifying the boy (one out of many) who is the cousin.

In the second sentence we are saying that the uncle (who, by the way, lives in Mexico) is going
to visit us. Maybe you know him, maybe you don’t, but the comment is not necessary to help
identify him.

In the following table we summarize all that in a more explicit way:

Defining relative clauses

(specifying)

All the relative pronouns can be used, although the most usual one is “that”, because it
refers to people and to things.

The relative pronoun can be omitted, if it is not the subject in the relative clause.

They are necessary for the universal significance of the sentence.

They don’t go between commas.

Non-defining relative clauses

(explaining)

We cannot use the relative pronoun “that”. We remember that “who” refers to people

15
 APTIS COURSE

and “which” refers to things.

The relative pronoun cannot be omitted.

They are not necessary for the understanding of the sentence; they only give extra
information.

They always go between commas.

Other relative pronouns are “whose”, “where”, “when” and “what”

Whose: This relative pronoun is used to express possession. It always refers to people and we
find it in both, defining and non-defining, relative clauses.

The woman bought some sweets. Her son is a doctor.

The woman whose son is a doctor bought some sweets.

In this sentence, we substituted “her” with “whose” because “her” refers to “woman”. In this
way, we make one sentece out of two senteces and avoid repeating “woman”.

That is the man. His daughter is studying law.

That is the man whose daughter is studying law.

In this sentence, we substituted “his” with “whose” and therefore, we can make a simple
sentence.

Where: This relative pronoun is used to give information about a certain place. “Where”
usually substitutes words like “here” or “there”.

This is the shop. I bought my suit here.

This is the shop where I bought my suit.

In this example we substituted “here” with “where”. Note that the word “here” doesn’t appear
anymore in the second sentence. The first two sentences become one sentence.

That is the village. I was born there.

That is the village where I was born.

In this example we substituted “there” with “where”.

When: This relative pronoun is used to refer to time. Ususally it substitutes words like “year”,
“month” or “week”. In this case we can use “that” and “when”.

I remember that day. He visited us that day.

I remember the day when / that he visited us.

We put the two sentences together to make a single sentence by substituting “that day” with
“when / that”.

What:  We use “what” to refer to something indefinite.

16
 APTIS COURSE

I couldn’t hear what he said. 

(The thing(s) that he said)

What happened was my fault. 

(The thing(s) that happened)

But be careful, in other contexts it must be “which”:

The weather was really bad, which was a pity. 

(The fact that the weather was bad)

They came to the party, which we didn’t expect. 

(The fact that they came)

  “what” as a relative pronoun means “the thing(s) that...” and “which” in that context means
“the fact that ...”.

7. Prepositions in relative clauses

Informal use of the language lets us put the preposition at the end of the relative clause:

That’s the woman (who) he fell in love with.

I don’t remember the name of the man (who) I talked to.

This is Mr Carter, who I was telling you about.

But in formal style, especially when written, the prepositions can go before the relative
pronoun:

That’s the woman with whom he fell in love.

I don’t remember the name of the man to whom I talked.

This is Mr Carter, about whom I was telling you.

Is that the lever with which you start the machine?

Fortunately, we had an instruction book, without which we wouldn’t have managed to

assemble all the pieces.

As you can see in the previous examples, the pronoun “which” stays the same, with the
preposition before or after it, but the pronoun “who” is changed to “whom” if there is a
preposition before it.

Quantity in relative clauses

The same pronouns, we use to indicate quantity in a definite group, can also be used for
“explaining relative clauses” (non-defining).

All of

Most of

Many of

Some of

17
 APTIS COURSE

Few of

Both of

Half of                 +  whom (people)

None of                +  which (things)

Neither of

Any of

Either of

One of

Two of

(etc.)

Most of the students in the class were hungry.

There were thirty students in the class, most of whom were hungry.

When I was in hospital, two women, neither of whom I had never seen before, came to visit
me.

Debbie tried on five dresses, none of which fitted her.

Sharon has four sisters, half of whom are married.

8. Connective relative clauses

These sentences look like relative clauses because they use relative pronouns to introduce the
clause. But they are called “connective relative clauses” because these relative pronouns do not
explain anything about the person or object mentioned before. They just connect two clauses
that tell a sequence of events.

Then, I met my driving instructor, 

who taught me to start the car.

The clause “who taught me to start the car” doesn’t indicate which instructor we are talking
about, but tells us the events: first, the instructor was presented and then, he taught the
speaker how to start the car. In that context, the clause is equivalent to the following
examples:

Suddenly he stepped on the brake, which caused the car to stop.

Suddenly he stepped on the brake and the car stopped.

We met at Jane’s house, whose mother prepared us a coffee and we all went for a walk.

When I decided to learn French I went to an adult school where I registered for an evening
course.

9. Word formation: verbs

18
 APTIS COURSE

Some verbs are formed on the basis of others that already existed by only adding a prefix to
modify their meanings.

to dress  è  to undress

The most prevalent ones are:

RE,  which means “to do sth. again”.

                to build    è   to rebuild

The museum was destroyed by the earthquake, but it is being rebuilt.

UN, which means “undo or destroy”.

                to pack   è   to unpack

If you are tired, we can go to bed now and unpack the suitcases tomorrow.

UNDER, which means “not enough done”.

                to cook   è   to undercook

Waiter, please! My steak is undercooked. 

Can I have it a bit more done?

MIS, which means “do wrong”.

                to understand    è   to misunderstand

I think she misunderstood you, 
I’m sure you didn’t mean ill.

OVER, which means “too much done”.

                to dress  è   to overdress

I left early because I felt overdressed. 

It was an informal party and I was wearing a evening dress.

10. Reported Speech

In English, like in other languages, there are two forms of telling something that was said
before:

a) Repeating exactly the same, putting them between quotation marks, that is direct speech.

b) Saying what was said before in other words, that is indirect/ reported speech.

We have to distinguish between “statements” (affirmative or negative formulated sentences),

“questions” (interrogative sentences) and “commands” (imperative sentences).

Statements in reported speech

Let’s start with the changes that are necessary when we put an affirmative or negative
sentence into reported speech.

Those changes are the following ones:

19
 APTIS COURSE

-    They don’t go between quotation marks.

-    Sentences in indirect style usually are introduced by verbs like “say”, “tell”, “explain”, etc.

-    Regarding the tenses, we make one step back. We will see that better in the paragraph
about the verbal tenses.

-    We also have to change deictic expressions, i.e. temporal expressions, pronouns, etc.

Let’s have a look at the changes in the following example. We are going to study them step by
step.

“I saw your mother yesterday”, Susan said to Joan. (direct)

Susan said to Joan (that) she had seen her mother the day before. (indirect)

Now see the changes of every word:

I                  è     she (subject)

saw              è     had seen (verb)

your mother  è     her mother (object)

yesterday      è     the day before (adverb)

As you can see, there are three sorts of changes:

a) Change of person:

All the pronouns and adjectives in direct speech refer to the first person, in the reported speech
they have to refer to the third person:

I        è       he

my     è       her

We have to adjust the uses of the pronouns and adjectives to the new context:

“You look tired.”   è   She said I looked tired.

b) Change of tense:

In the following table, we see the changes of the tenses:

DIRECT INDIRECT

Present simple Past simple

He studies maths ...he studied maths

Present continuous Past continuous

He is studying maths ...he was studying maths

Present perfect Past perfect

He has studied maths ...he had studied maths

Past simple Past perfect

20
 APTIS COURSE

He studied maths ...he had studied maths

Past continuous Past perfect continuous

He was studying maths ...he had been studying maths

Past perfect Doesn’t change

He had studied maths ...he had studied maths

Future Conditional

He will study maths ... he would study maths

As you can see, it is like moving one step back in time, except regarding the Future Simple,
which becomes Conditional.

c) Local and temporal change:

Regarding the changes of local and temporal expressions, see the list below:

DIRECT INDIRECT

Temporal expressions

now then

today that day

yesterday the day before

tomorrow the following day, the day after

next week / month / year the following week / month / year

last week / month / year the week / month / year before

a week / month / year ago the week / month / year before

Other changes

this that

these those

here there

Let’s see some more examples:

“I am buying a present for you now”, Anne said to Paul.

Anne said to Paul (that) she was buying a present for him then.

“I have seen Peter this morning”, Jim said to Jean.

21
 APTIS COURSE

Jim said to Jean (that) he had seen Peter that morning.

“I left my history book here yesterday”, Susan said to Ed.

Susan said to Ed (that) she had left her history book there the day before.

Note:  We can choose whether we want to use the particle “that” in reported speech or not.

Reported questions

In English, there are two types of questions. The ones that can be answered by “Yes” or “No”,
known as “Yes / No questions”, and the ones that are introduced by an interrogative pronoun,
known as “Wh-questions”.

“Do you like swimming?” 

(expect “Yes” or “No”)

“What did you buy?”

Yes / No questions

Putting a question with these characteristics into reported speech requires the following
changes:

a)  As we have already seen, the tenses change, moving back one step into the past.

b)  The clause we are changing is introduced by “if” or “whether”.

c)  We have to change deictic expressions, e.g. pronouns, expressions of time and place.

d)    Although the interrogative clause has the structure of subject and verb inverted, in its
indirect form the structure is that of an affirmative clause.

e)  These indirect clauses are introduced by the verbs “ask”, “want to know”, etc.

f)      The questions in reported speech don’t go with speech marks anymore, not even question
marks.

“Do you like swimming?” I asked him.

I asked him if he liked swimming.

In this example, we changed the subject “you” to “he”, the present tense “do you like” to the
past tense “liked”, the structure is subject + verb, the modified clause in reported speech is
introduced by “if”.

“Did you park your car here yesterday?” Susan asked Peter.

Susan asked Peter if he had parked his car there the day before.

“Will you come to my party?” She asked Anne.

She asked her / wanted to know if Anne would go to her party.

Wh-questions

When the question in direct speech is introduced by an interrogative pronoun, this one also
introduces the clause in reported speech. The changes are the same.

22
 APTIS COURSE

“Where did you buy this shirt?” Anne asked Peter.

Anne asked Peter / wanted to know where he had bought that shirt.

“Who came with you yesterday?” I asked Anne.

I asked Anne / wanted to know who had come with her the day before.

“What have you eaten?” I asked her.

I asked her / wanted to know what she had eaten.

Commands in reported speech

Commands usually stand in the imperative form. The necessary changes are:

a)  The verb in imperative becomes infinitive with “to”.

b)  The verb that introduces the direct command is “tell” and not “say”, because the verb “say”
doesn’t mean “command”, but the verb “tell” does.

c)  “Tell” is followed by the person who receives the command. We can also use the verb
“order”.

d)  If the structure is negative, the infinitive must be negative. (not + to + infinitive)

“Open the door!” Anne said to / told me.

Anne told me to open the door.

“Be quiet!” She said to / told him.

She told him to be quiet.

“Don’t do that!” I said to / told Susan.

I told Susan not to do that.

“Don’t play with that!” She said to / told me.

She told me not to play with that.

Other verbs in reported speech

Until now, the verbs we have seen for the reported speech have been: “say” for statements,
“ask” for questions, and “tell” for commands.

Nevertheless, there are other verbs that, although not that frequent, can substitute these
verbs, and apart from that, they give more specific information about the mode and
circumstances in which the action took place.

See some of these verbs below:

INVITE + person who is invited + infinitive with “to”.

“Do you want to meet my friend?” he said to Cathy.

He invited Cathy to meet his friend.

OFFER + infinitive with “to”

23
 APTIS COURSE

“I’ll do that for you”, Anne said to Peter.

Anne offered to do it / that.

PROMISE + infinitive with “to”

“I’ll write you every day”, Anne said to Peter.

Anne promised to write to him every day.

REFUSE + infinitive with “to”

“I won’t do it”, Anne said to Peter.

Anne refused to do it.

SUGGEST + verb in the gerund form (with -ing)  +  sentence in reported speech introduced by
“that”

“Why don’t we give her a present for her birthday?” Anne said to Peter.

Anne suggested giving her a present for her birthday.

ACCEPT + infinitive with “to”

“I’ll go with you if you dress up”, she answered him.

She accepted to go with him if he dressed up.

DENY + gerund

“I haven’t thrown the ball”, he said.

He denied having thrown the ball that had broken the window.

ADMIT + verb in the gerund form (with -ing) + sentence in reported speech introduced by
“that”

“I told you a lie. I’m sorry.” Anne said.

She admitted having lied.

AGREE + infinitive with “to”

“OK. I’ll talk to the troublemakers”, Peter said.

He agreed to speak to the troublemakers.

THREATEN + infinitive with “to”

“If you don’t behave yourself, I’ll punish you”, her teacher said.

Her teacher threatened to punish her if she didn’t behave herself.

INSIST + on + gerund

“I repeat that we should take her to the doctor”, he said again.

He insisted on taking her to the doctor.

CLAIM + infinitive with “to”

24
 APTIS COURSE

“I’m the person who invented this new system”, he said.

He claimed to be the inventor of this new system.

ORDER + person + infinitive with “to”

“Don’t eat in class!” the teacher shouted at Jim.

The teacher ordered Jim not to eat in class.

TELL  + person + phrase with “that”

“You are wrong”, he told me.

He told me (that) I was wrong.

When “tell” is used in this context, it is equivalent to the verb “say”, but it also has other
meanings, depending on the sentence.

Regarding the form, the verb “tell” is followed by an indirect object, while the verb “say”
doesn’t require an indirect object, and if it goes with one, it is introduced by “to”.

She told me that she was tired.

She said that she was tired.

She said hello to me.

Take into consideration that “tell” also means “to order”. It also has the same structure as “to
order”, as we have already seen in the paragraph “Commands in reported speech”:

Tell + object (person) + infinitive with “to”

“Tidy your bedroom now!” he ordered his son.

He told his son to tidy his bedroom immediately.

In some cases, the use of alternative verbs (sometimes followed by modal adverbs) is not only
an option, but a necessity: some expressions in conversations cannot be changed into reported
speech in another way:

Shall we go out?

Yes, that would be great!

He invited her out and she accepted enthusiastically.

Modal verbs in reported speech

We can also find modal verbs in the clauses of reported speech. Let’s see which of them change
and how.

As we saw in the previous table, we have to move back one step in time. But some modals and
semi-modals don’t have past forms or are always used in the past tense, like “used to”.

The modal verbs that don’t change from direct speech to reported speech are:

VERB DIRECT  / INDIRECT

25
 APTIS COURSE

“Would you mind opening the door?”

would
He asked me if I would mind opening the door.

should / “You should / ought to buy a new house.”

ought to She said (that) I should / ought to buy a new house.

“Could you come to my house?”

could
She asked me if I could come to her house.

“It might rain.”

might
She said (that) it might rain.

“You needn’t do the washing up.”

needn’t
She told me (that) I needn’t do the washing up.

“I used to go swimming as a child.”

used to
He said (that) he used to go swimming as a child.

had “We had better call the police.”

better She said (that) they had better call the police.

Nevertheless, there are other modals that change when put into reported speech:

DIRECT INDIRECT

may might

“I may go to the theatre.” She said (that) she might go to the theatre.

must had to

“You must wear a uniform.” She said (that) I had to wear a uniform.

can could

“I can’t hear very well.” She said (that) she couldn’t hear very well.

shall should

“Shall I ring your sister?” She asked if she should ring my sister.

11. Connectors

26
 APTIS COURSE

Connectors are, as the name suggests, words that are used to connect ideas. Their use is very
important in spoken and written English; especially in written texts and large documents,
because they help us to develop our ideas fluently.

If we don’t use connectors, or we use them in a wrong way, we possibly make the impression of
an infantile, insecure or poor language.

We already know some basic connectors, like “and”, “but”, “because”, “in order to”, etc., but
now we are going to learn some more. Below they are classified depending on the idea they
express:

v Showing contrast between the idea and the unexpected result:

Although

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence, but when it stands at the
beginning of a sentence, the two clauses are separated by a comma.

Example: 
Although it was cold, I went swimming.

However

It is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
It was cold; however, we went swimming.

     We all know that smoking is a bad habit.

    However, people still smoke.

Nevertheless

It is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Examples: 
It was cold; nevertheless, we went swimming.

     We all know that smoking is a bad habit.

    Nevertheless, people still smoke.

Despite

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
We went swimming despite the cold weather.

v Showing the direct opposite of an idea:

However

It is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
Luke is nice; however, Glenn is very unpleasant.

27
 APTIS COURSE

On the other hand

It is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
Luke is nice. Glenn, on the other hand, is very unpleasant.

While

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
John is nice, while Glenn is very unpleasant.

v Showing a relation of cause and effect:

As

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence, but when it stands at the
beginning of a sentence, the two clauses are separated by a comma.

Example:
As she wasn’t interested in rock music, she decided not to go to the concert.

Since

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence, but when it stands at the
beginning of a sentence, the two clauses are separated by a comma.

Example:
Since heavy rain is predicted for tonight, we’d better stay at home.

Seeing that

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence, but when it stands at the
beginning of a sentence, the two clauses are separated by a comma.

Examples:
Seeing that she could do nothing about it, she decided to drop the subject.

Due to

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence, but when it stands at the
beginning of a sentence, the two clauses are separated by a comma.

Examples:
Due to the bad weather, we had to take a taxi.

        The flight was cancelled due to the fog.

v Expressing intention or purpose:

So that

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example:
She turned off the TV so that her son could study.

28
 APTIS COURSE

v Expressing consequence:

Therefore

It is used in the same way as “so”, but it is more formal. It is separated by a comma from the
rest of the sentence.

Example: 
I did not study. Therefore, I failed the test.
I did not study. I, therefore, failed the test.
I did not study. I failed the test, therefore.

v Developing a chain of thoughts:

Moreover

It is separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
He is very healthy. He eats a balanced diet. Moreover, he does physical exercise regularly.

Besides

It is usually separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example: 
He eats a balanced diet. Besides, he does physical exercise regularly. 

Besides taking a balanced diet, he does physical exercise regularly.

In addition

It is not separated by a comma from the rest of the sentence.

Example:
In addition to taking a balanced diet, he does physical exercise regularly.

12. Word formation: adjectives

Let’s see some adjectives that are based on already existing nouns or verbs:

Formation of adjectives, based on nouns:

We add a suffix like “-y” or “-al” to the noun. Sometimes we have to modify the noun a little
bit:

cloud            ð     cloudy

habit            ð     habitual

sleep            ð     sleepy

philosophy     ð     philosophical

Other frequently used suffixes are “-less” and 

“-ful”, which, added to the same noun, have contrary meanings:

29
 APTIS COURSE

care      ð     careless

use       ð     useless

care      ð     careful

use       ð     useful

Formation of adjectives, based on verbs:

Mainly, we add the suffixes “-able” or “-ive” to a verb. Sometimes we have to modify the verb
a little bit:

to adore        ð     adorable

to act           ð     active

to break        ð     breakable

to imagine     ð     imaginative

to receive      ð     receptive

13. Appearances and impressions

Pay attention to the following expressions:

At first sight

It looks as if

Apparently

In my opinion

To my mind

The emphasis is on

As you can observe, they are all introducing expressions, which are used to express opinions.

14. Onomatopoeia

An onomatopoeia is a word that is based on the sound it represents:

In English, onomatopoeias are very frequent. They are typical for the sounds of animals.

A dog barks.

A mouse squeaks.

A cow moos.

A lion roars.

A cat meows.

30
 APTIS COURSE

But there are also those which represent human sounds:

To clap

To hum

To moan

And others represent usual sounds:

To ring

To bang a door

To click

To crunch

31