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

English Grammar Cheat Sheet

Verb Tenses

Present Simple

Use: routines, permanent situations

Form:

• verb + -s (third person singular)
• do/does + not + verb (negative)
• Do/Does + subject + verb? (question)

Present Continuous

Use: actions happening right now, actions happening in the future (arranged)

Form: am/is/are + verb + -ing

Present Perfect

Use:

• Actions that started in the past and continue in the present
• Actions completed in the past, but we don't say when
• Recent past actions

Form: have/has + past participle (-ed)

Present Perfect Continuous

Use:

• Actions that started in the past and have not finished
• Actions that happened repeatedly in the past and have an effect in the present
• To say how long an action has been in progress

Form: have/has + been + verb + -ing

Past Simple

Use: actions that began and ended in the past

Form:

• verb + -ed (regular verbs)
• did not + verb (negative)
• Did + subject + verb? (question)

Past Perfect

Use: to describe an action that happened before another action in the past

Form: had + past participle (-ed)

Past Continuous

Use: to describe an incomplete action in the past

Form: was/were + verb + -ing

Past Perfect Continuous

Use: to describe an action that started and ended at a specific moment in the past

Form: had been + verb + -ing

Future Simple

Use: to talk about actions that will happen in the future without saying when

Form: will/will not + verb

Future Perfect

Use: to describe an action that will be completed by a specific time in the future

Form: will/will not + have + past participle (-ed)

Future Continuous

Use:

• To describe an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future
• To describe a future action that will be interrupted by another action
• To make suppositions about what might be happening in the future

Form: will be + verb + -ing

Future Perfect Continuous

Use: to describe the duration of an action that will extend to a specific moment in the future

Form: will have/won't have + been + verb + -ing

Relative Clauses

• Who: for people
• Which: for animals and objects
• Whose: to show possession
• That: for people, animals, and objects
• Where: for places
• When: for time

Other Grammar Points

• Used to: to talk about past habits or states that are no longer true
• Be used to: to talk about being accustomed to something
• Would: to talk about past habits (similar to "used to")

Reported Speech

Tense Changes

• Present Simple -> Past Simple
• Present Continuous -> Past Continuous
• Past Simple -> Past Perfect
• Present Perfect -> Past Perfect
• Will -> Would
• Must -> Had to

Time and Place Changes

• Now -> Then
• Yesterday -> The day before
• Tomorrow -> The next day
• Ago -> Before
• Tonight -> That night
• Here -> There
• This -> That
• These -> Those

Reporting Verbs

• Verb + -ing: accusing someone, admitting, apologizing, presuming, complaining, denying, insisting, suggesting, warning
• Verb + to do: advise, accept, ask, beg, recommend, decide, ask, prohibit, invite, order, persuade, promise, remind someone, threaten, insist, warn
• Verb + that: add, admit, agree to, ensure, affirm, complain, decide, deny, doubt, inform, promise, answer

Vocabulary

• Belong to
• Bias towards
• Decrease in
• Depend on
• Fearful (fear of)
• Different from
• Prevent from
• Protect from
• Puzzled by
• Result in
• Similar to
• Typical of
• Bonfire
• Celebrate
• Costume (disguise)
• Dress up
• Explode
• Firework display
• Get-together (reunion)
• Halloween
• Harvest
• Heat
• Lantern
• Mask
• Onlookers
• Parade
• Roots
• Set off
• Autumn
• Cell phone
• CV (curriculum)
• Fall
• Film
• Holiday
• Mobile
• Movie
• Resume
• Vacation
• Back up
• Fall out
• Finish with
• Friendship group
• Gossip about
• Hurt somebody's feelings
• Let down
• Life and soul of the party
• Look out for (take care of)
• Make up
• Rely on (trust in)
• Talk behind somebody's back
• Split up
• Upset
• Approve of
• Be ashamed of
• Attitude towards
• Be aware of