Mastering English Grammar: Tenses and Voice

Direct Speech vs. Reported Speech

Direct Speech

• Present Simple
• Present Continuous
• Present Perfect Simple (have + past participle)
• Past Simple
• CAN
• WILL
• MUST/HAVE TO
• MAY

Reported Speech

• Past Simple
• Past Continuous
• Past Perfect (had + past participle)
• Past Perfect
• COULD
• WOULD
• HAD TO
• MIGHT

Examples:

• "Are you feeling well?" He asked me if I was feeling well.

Changes in Adverbs and Time Expressions:

• THIS becomes THAT
• HERE becomes THERE
• TODAY becomes THAT DAY
• YESTERDAY becomes THE DAY BEFORE
• TOMORROW becomes THE FOLLOWING DAY
• TONIGHT becomes THAT NIGHT
• TOMORROW MORNING becomes THE FOLLOWING MORNING
• YESTERDAY AFTERNOON becomes THE PREVIOUS AFTERNOON
• NEXT WEEK/MONTH/YEAR becomes THE FOLLOWING WEEK/MONTH/YEAR
• LAST WEEK/MONTH/YEAR becomes THE PREVIOUS WEEK/MONTH/YEAR
• A WEEK/MONTH/YEAR AGO becomes A WEEK/MONTH/YEAR BEFORE

Example:

• "Don't shout at me," she told him. She told him not to shout at her.

Conditionals

• Possible Conditional: If + present, + will. Example: If they arrive late, they will miss the bus.
• General Truths/Laws: If + present, + present. Example: If he drinks too much, he gets drunk.
• Improbable Conditional: If + past, + would/should. Example: If I were you, I wouldn't do it.
• Impossible Conditional: If + had + past participle, + would/should have + past participle. Example: If you had studied, you would have passed the exam.

Transportation Verbs

• Car: Take, get in/out
• Taxi: Catch/take/get in/out
• Bus: Catch/take/get on/off
• Plane: Take/get on/off
• Train: Catch/take/get on/off
• Bicycle: Take/get on/off

Passive Voice

The main verb is replaced by the auxiliary verb "to be" in the same tense, followed by the main verb in the past participle.