English Grammar Cheat Sheet: Tenses, Reported Speech, and More

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Verb Tenses

Present Simple

Actions that happen habitually. Subject + Verb (e.g., I don't talk, he eats)

Present Continuous

Action happening at this moment: Subject + to be + gerund (e.g., I'm talking, he isn't eating)

Past Simple

Action that began and ended in the past: Subject + past tense verb (e.g., She was/wasn't a doctor, I wanted/didn't want to dance)

Past Continuous

Action interrupted in the past (e.g., I was talking)

Present Perfect Simple

e.g., I have talked to Peter / He hablado con Peter

Past Perfect Simple

e.g., They had studied (habían estudiado)

Future Simple

Predicting the future: I will call you tonight / be going to (planned future action) - I'm going to call you.

Future Perfect Simple

Actions completed by a certain point in the future (e.g., The party won't have ended... no habrá terminado). Also can use 'be going to' (e.g., I'm going to have eaten...)

Future Continuous

Action in progress in the future (e.g., I will be talking / I'm going to be talking...)

Present Perfect Continuous

Action from the past that continues in the present (e.g., They have been talking (han estado hablando))

Past Perfect Continuous

e.g., I had been studying / Había estado estudiando

Reported Speech

Direct Speech: Reports exactly what the other person said (e.g., "He is American" she said).

Reported Speech: e.g., She said he was American.

Tense Changes in Reported Speech

• Present Simple - Past Simple
• Present Continuous - Past Continuous
• Past Simple - Past Perfect Simple
• Past Continuous - Past Perfect Continuous
• Present Perfect Simple - Past Perfect Simple
• Present Perfect Continuous - Past Perfect Continuous
• Past Perfect Simple - No Change
• Past Perfect Continuous - No Change

Passive Voice

Active: Mark Twain wrote the book.

Passive: The book was written by Mark Twain.

Conditional Sentences

Zero Conditional

Condition and result are always true (e.g., If I don't practice the piano every day, I play poorly)

First Conditional (Future)

e.g., If you don't study, you will fail the exam.

Second Conditional (Unreal Possibility, Dream)

e.g., If I won the lottery, I would travel around the world.

Third Conditional (Past Unrealized Conditions)

e.g., If Tom had studied harder, he could have got a better mark.

Wish / If Only

Wish/If Only + Past Simple

(Refers to a present situation that the speaker is unhappy about) e.g., If only I had a computer. He wishes his friends were here now.

Wish/If Only + Past Perfect

(Expresses regret about a past action or situation) e.g., If only I hadn't lost my mobile phone! I wish he had called me.

Wish + Could / Would + Base Form

(Expresses a desire for something to happen in the future) e.g., I wish I could go to university. I like Jack so much. If only he would call me.