1- Grammar B2

ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS 1

Adjectives are used t modify nouns, while Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

Comparison of adjectives

Use the positive form of the adjective if the comparison contains one of the following
expressions:

as … as

Jane is as tall as John.

not as … as / not so … as

John is not as tall as Arnie.

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (-er/-est)

one-syllable adjectives (clean, new, cheap)

two-syllable adjectives ending in -y or -er (easy, happy, pretty, dirty, clever)

Exceptions in spelling when adding -er / -est

silent ‘e’ is dropped

Example: late-later-latest

final ‘y’ after a consonant becomes i

Example: easy-easier-easiest

final consonant after short, stressed vowel is doubled

Example: hot-hotter-hottest

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (more/most)

▪ adjectives of three or more syllables

positive
comparative form superlative form
form

difficult more difficult most difficult

Comparative Form and Superlative Form (irregular comparisons)

positive form comparative form superlative form

good better best

bad / ill worse worst

little (amount) less least

little (size) smaller smallest

much / many more most

far (place + time) further furthest

far (place) farther farthest

late (time) later latest

late (order) latter last

near (place) nearer nearest

near (order) - next

old (people and things) older oldest

old (people) elder eldest

Adverbs are used to express how something is done (adjectives express how someone or
something is). Example: The dog sleeps quietly. The dog is absolutely quiet.

Form

In general: adjective + -ly

adjective adverb

slow slowly

Form

In general: adjective + -ly

adjective adverb

slow slowly
Adjectives ending in -ic: adjective + -ally (exception: public-publicly)

adjective adverb

fantastic fantastically

Adjectives ending in -ly: use ‘in a … way / manner’ or another adverb with similar meaning

adjective adverb

friendly in a friendly way

in a friendly manner

likely probably

Exceptions

adjective adverb (meaning) adverb (meaning)

good well

difficult with difficulty

public publicly

deep deep (place) deeply (feeling)

direct direct directly (=soon)

hard hard hardly (=seldom)

high high (place) highly (figurative)

late late lately (=recently)

most most mostly (=usually)

near near nearly (=almost)

pretty pretty (=rather) prettily

short short shortly (=soon)

The following adjectives are daily, enough, early, far, fast, hourly, little,
also used as adverbs (without long, low, monthly, much, straight, weekly,
modification): yearly, …
 Comparison

Comparison (-er/-est)

Comparative ending in -er Superlative ending in -est

one-syllable adverbs (hard) harder hardest

adverbs with the same form as adjectives (early) earlier earliest

Comparison (more / most)

Comparative formed with more Superlative formed with most

adverbs ending in -ly (happily) more happily most happily

Irregular comparisons

positive form comparative superlative

well better best

badly worse worst

ill worse worst

little less least

much more most

far (place + time) further furthest

far (place) farther farthest

late (time) later latest

Linking Verbs

Some verbs can only be used with adjectives, others might change their meaning when used
with an adverb.
 verb used with an adjective used with an adverb

look look good (= appearance) look well (= healthy)

feel feel good (= state of health/mind) feel well (= have a good sense of touch)

smell smell good (= odour) smell well (= have a good sense of smell)

taste taste good (= preference) taste well (= have a good sense of taste)

The following verbs can only be used with adjectives:

Be, become, get, grow, keep, remain, seem, sound, stay, turn

VERB TENSES
Narrative tenses

Meaning and use

We use narrative tenses to talk about the past. We can use them to tell a story or to describe past
events, including personal anecdotes.

• When I lived on the island, I enjoyed walking on the beach in the early morning with
Bonnie - my best friend and my dog.

• Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 after Germany had

attackedPoland two days earlier. Britain had been trying to negotiate a peaceful
settlement.

The four narrative tenses are the past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect continuous
and one or more of these can be used in a sentence.

• We were walking as usual one day, when all of a sudden, Bonnie shot off.
She startedto bark furiously. I saw a man sleeping face down on the sand. Bonnie
continued to bark, but the man didn’t wake up. He wasn’t sleeping; he was dead.
It was clear that the storm had washed up the body.

Past simple

We can use the past simple for actions that started and finished in the past, for example a series of
events in someone’s life.

• Nelson Mandela was born in 1918. He became the first black President of South Africa.
He spent 27 years in prison in his battle against the system of apartheid.
The past simple is often used in stories and dialogue, too.

When Bobby went down for breakfast, Matt looked up.

- “Did you hear the storm last night?”

- Bobby didn’t answer.

- “Your brother went out last night. He didn’t come back. Do you know where he went?”

- Bobby’s heart sank. She knew exactly where Dan had gone…

Past continuous

We use the past continuous for background information and to describe a scene or situation that
continued for some time.

• At 6 o’clock that evening Dan was still missing. Bobby was feeling worried.

• Bonnie was barking loudly.

Past simple and past continuous

We often use the past simple and past continuous together when one action interrupts another.

• I was strolling along the beach one day when suddenly, Bonnie ran off.

• It was still raining when Bobby woke up the next morning. Dan was sitting at the table
when she went into the kitchen.

Past simple and past perfect

We can use the past perfect with the past simple together in a sentence to describe an action that
happened before another past action.

• I quickly realised that the storm the previous night had washed up the body.

• Bobby knew that Dan hadn’t wanted to come home but she also knew that he hadn’t
had any other option.

Past perfect continuous

We use this tense to describe something that has been happening over a long period of time.

• I could tell that the body had been lying on the beach for several hours because the
man’s clothes were dry.

• Britain had been trying to negotiate a peaceful settlement between Poland

and Germany.

Take note: linking devices

When we tell a story in the past, we often use linking words or phrases to join two or more
sentences or clauses. This helps the narrative to flow in a more interesting and natural way.
Some linking phrases and words show a sequence of events or actions.
 • Nelson Mandela never gave up on his struggle against apartheid. As the years went by, his
fame spread to every corner of the world. In the end, under enormous global pressure, the
government had no option but to release him.

Other linking words and phrases that signal order of events are: First of all …, Then …, Next …,
Finally …, After that …, After several months/days/hours/weeks …, By the time …, All of a
sudden …

We also use linking words and phrases in dialogue to indicate interest in what is being said and
to keep the conversation flowing.

We also use linking words and phrases in dialogue to indicate interest in what is being said and
to keep the conversation flowing.

- So how did you meet your wife?

- Well, it’s a strange story: what happened was I was training as a paramedic and one day we
got a call to a house in East Street.

- Oh, my cousin lives there! …

- Really? … So, anyway, when we arrived in East Street, another ambulance was already there!

- So what happened?

- Sylvie and I treated the patient together. The rest is histor

Future

Use of Will and To be going to for prediction:

Both be going to and will can be used to predict future events. In many cases they can be used
interchangeably.
Experts believe that the recession will continue.
Experts believe that the recession is going to continue.

However, in some cases they are used differently:

• Use going to when there is evidence about what is going to happen.

Look at the time! We’re going to be late!

• Use will / won’t when guessing about the future.

I bet Robin will be late again.

• Will is often used with phrases such as I think…, I expect…, I don’t think…, I bet… , I’m
sure…, I doubt if/that… when making predictions

• It is more common to use I don’t think + will, not I think + won’t

I think it won’t rain => I don’t think it will rain

FORM:

be going to
Positive
I am / ‘m going to verb (infinitive form)

you / we / they are / ‘re

he / she / it is / ‘s

Negative
I ‘m not going to verb (infinitive form)

you aren’t OR ‘re not

he / she / it isn’t OR ‘s not

Questions
Am I going to verb (infinitive form) ?

Are you / we / they

Is he / she / it

Short Answers
I am. No, I’m not.
Yes,
you / we / they are. you / we / they ‘re not / aren’t

he / she / it is. he / she / it ‘s not / isn’t

will
Positive / Negative
Question

will verb (infinitive form).

I / You / He / She / It / We / They
won’t

I / you / he / she / it / we / they / verb (infinitive form)?

Will

The future continuous (will be + ‘ing’ form) and the future perfect (will have + past participle) tenses are
used to talk about events in the future.

We use the future continuous to talk about something that will be in progress at or around a time in the
future.

• Don’t ring at 8 o’clock. I’ll be watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

 • This time tomorrow we’ll be sitting on the beach. I can’t wait!

These sentences are not about the future but we can use the future continuous to talk about what we
assume is happening at the moment.

• Don’t phone grandma now, she’ll be having dinner.

• The kids are very quiet. They’ll be doing something wrong, I know it!

Future Perfect

We use the future perfect to say that something will be finished by a particular time in the future.

• Do you think you will have finished it by next Thursday?

• In 5 years time I’ll have finished university and I’ll be able to earn some money at last.

We often use the future perfect with ‘by’ or ‘in’

• I think astronauts will have landed on Mars by the year 2020.

• I’ll have finished in an hour and then you can use the computer.

‘By’ means ‘not later than a particular time’ and ‘in’ means 'within a period of time’. We don’t know
exactly when something will finish.

• I promise I’ll have done all the work by next Saturday.

We don’t know exactly when he will finish the work – maybe Thursday, maybe Friday – but definitely
before Saturday.

CONDITIONALS

What are conditionals in English grammar? Sometimes we call them 'if clauses'. They describe the result
of something that might happen (in the present or future) or might have happened but didn't (in the
past) . They are made using different English verb tenses.

The Zero Conditional

We can make a zero conditional sentence with two present simple verbs (one in the 'if clause' and one
in the 'main clause'):

• If + present simple, .... present simple.

This conditional is used when the result will always happen. So, if water reaches 100 degrees, it always
boils. It's a fact. I'm talking in general, not about one particular situation. The result of the 'if clause' is
always the main clause.

The 'if' in this conditional can usually be replaced by 'when' without changing the meaning.

For example: If water reaches 100 degrees, it boils. (It is always true, there can't be a different result
sometimes). If I eat peanuts, I am sick. (This is true only for me, maybe, not for everyone, but it's still
true that I'm sick every time I eat peanuts)
Here are some more examples:

• If people eat too much, they get fat.

• If you touch a fire, you get burned.

• People die if they don't eat.

First Conditional

The first conditional has the present simple after 'if', then the future simple in the other clause:

• if + present simple, ... will + infinitive

It's used to talk about things which might happen in the future. Of course, we can't know what will
happen in the future, but this describes possible things, which could easily come true.

• If it rains, I won't go to the park.

• If I study today, I'll go to the party tonight.

• If I have enough money, I'll buy some new shoes.

First vs. Zero Conditional:

The first conditional describes a particular situation, whereas the zero conditional describes what
happens in general.

For example (zero conditional): if you sit in the sun, you get burned (here I'm talking about every time a
person sits in the sun - the burning is a natural consequence of the sitting)

But (first conditional): if you sit in the sun, you'll get burned (here I'm talking about what will happen
today, another day might be different)

Second Conditional

The second conditional uses the past simple after if, then 'would' and the infinitive:

• if + past simple, ...would + infinitive

(We can use 'were' instead of 'was' with 'I' and 'he/she/it'. This is mostly done in formal writing).

It has two uses.

First, we can use it to talk about things in the future that are probably not going to be true. Maybe I'm
imagining some dream for example.

• If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house.(I probably won't win the lottery)

• If I met the Queen of England, I would say hello.

 • She would travel all over the world if she were rich.

• She would pass the exam if she ever studied.(She never studies, so this won't happen)

Second, we can use it to talk about something in the present which is impossible, because it's not true.
Is that clear? Have a look at the examples:

• If I had his number, I would call him. (I don't have his number now, so it's impossible
for me to call him).

• If I were you, I wouldn't go out with that man.

First vs. Second Conditional:

The first conditional describes things that I think are likely to happen in the future, whereas the second
conditional talks about things that I don't think will really happen. It's subjective; it depends on my point
of view.

For example (first conditional): If she studies harder, she'll pass the exam (I think it's possible she will
study harder and so she'll pass)

But (second conditional): If she studied harder, she would pass the exam (I think that she won't study
harder, or it's very unlikely, and so she won't pass)

Third Conditional

We make the third conditional by using the past perfect after 'if' and then 'would have' and the past
participle in the second part of the sentence:

• if + past perfect, ...would + have + past participle

It talks about the past. It's used to describe a situation that didn't happen, and to imagine the result of
this situation.

• If she had studied, she would have passed the exam (but, really we know she didn't
study and so she didn't pass)

• If I hadn't eaten so much, I wouldn't have felt sick (but I did eat a lot, and so I did feel
sick).

• If we had taken a taxi, we wouldn't have missed the plan

MODAL VERBS

Here's a list of the modal verbs in English:

can could may might will

would must shall should ought to

 Modals are different from normal verbs:

1: They don't use an 's' for the third person singular.

2: They make questions by inversion ('she can go' becomes 'can she go?').
3: They are followed directly by the infinitive of another verb (without 'to').

MODAL VERBS 1

They are Auxiliary verbs that provide additional and specific meaning to the main verb of the Sentence.

Main features:

- Do not accept conjugations

- Do not need other auxiliary verbs

- No use of the s form : He can do it

- No need of the use of the verb to do in questions or negative forms: Would you like to join me?

- Sorry, but I can’t

- They don’t have infinitives or ing forms

- They are followed by an infinitive withput to.

- Their meaning change depending on the situation:

SINGLE CONCEPT MODALS:

MIGHT: Small probability. I might move to Canada one day.

OUGHT TO: Formal recommendation. We ougth to know about first aids.

SHOULD: Recommendation. You should see a doctor.

WILL: Spontaneous future decisions and things that may happen + making promises and
offers+ expressing Will, desires and making predictions.

HAD BETTER: Warning. You had better study or you Will fail.

DOUBLE CONCEPT MODALS:

CAN: Permission. Can I go to the party?

Ability. I can speak japanese.

COULD: Unreal ability. I could do it if I knew how to.

 Past ability. She could drive a car (but she can’t anymore)

MAY: Permission. May I come in?

Good probability. I may visit my parents this summer.

MUST: Responsability. They must vaccinate their children.

Assumption. She didn’t come, she must be sick.

SHALL: Educated expression. I shall sit next to you.

Contractual obligation. Atahe company shall payo n May 23rd.

WOULD: Present unreal. I would buy a new car, but I can’t afford it.

Past (used to). When I was a child I would go to my granma’s house and Watch TV.

+ OFFER. Would you like anything to drink?

TO SUMMARIZE:

Probability/possibility: Can’t (She can’t be her mother, she’s too Young) might (I might do it), must(she
must be her sister, they look alike) may (I may go to your birthday) could (I could help you if you need
me to)

Ability: Can (I can play the drums) Can’t (I can’t play the drums) could (I could already play the drums
when I was 3)

Permission: Can (Can I go to the party?) Could ( could I see you ID?) May (May I leave the table?)

OBLIGATION: Must, have to, shall, should, have better

OFFERS: shall, would.

REPORTED SPEECH
Here's how it works:

We use a 'reporting verb' like 'say' or 'tell'. (Click here for more about using 'say' and 'tell'.) If this verb
is in the present tense, it's easy. We just put 'she says' and then the sentence:

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.

• Reported speech: She says (that) she likes ice cream.

We don't need to change the tense, though probably we do need to change the 'person' from 'I' to 'she',
for example. We also may need to change words like 'my' and 'your'.

(As I'm sure you know, often, we can choose if we want to use 'that' or not in English. I've put it in
brackets () to show that it's optional. It's exactly the same if you use 'that' or if you don't use 'that'.)

But, if the reporting verb is in the past tense, then usually we change the tenses in the reported speech:

• Direct speech: I like ice cream.

• Reported speech: She said (that) she liked ice cream.

 Tense Direct Speech Reported Speech
present simple I like ice cream She said (that) she liked ice cream.
present
I am living in London She said (that) she was living in London.
continuous
She said (that) she had bought a car OR She said (that)
past simple I bought a car
she bought a car.
past I was walking along
She said (that) she had been walking along the street.
continuous the street
present perfect I haven't seen Julie She said (that) she hadn't seen Julie.
I had taken English
past perfect* She said (that) she had taken English lessons before.
lessons before
will I'll see you later She said (that) she would see me later.
would* I would help, but..” She said (that) she would help but...
I can speak perfect
can She said (that) she could speak perfect English.
English
I could swim when I
could* She said (that) she could swim when she was four.
was four
shall I shall come later She said (that) she would come later.
I should call my
should* She said (that) she should call her mother
mother
might* I might be late She said (that) she might be late
I must study at the She said (that) she must study at the weekend OR She
must
weekend said she had to study at the weekend

* doesn't change.

Reported Questions

So now you have no problem with making reported speech from positive and negative
sentences. But how about questions?

• Direct speech: Where do you live?

How can we make the reported speech here?

In fact, it's not so different from reported statements. The tense changes are the same, and we
keep the question word. The very important thing though is that, once we tell the question to
someone else, it isn't a question any more. So we need to change the grammar to a normal
positive sentence. A bit confusing? Maybe this example will help:

• Direct speech: Where do you live?

• Reported speech: She asked me where I lived.
Do you see how I made it? The direct question is in the present simple tense. We make a present simple
question with 'do' or 'does' so I need to take that away. Then I need to change the verb to the past
simple.

The direct question is the present simple of 'be'. We make the question form of the present
simple of be by inverting (changing the position of)the subject and verb. So, we need to change
them back before putting the verb into the past simple.
Here are some more examples:

Direct Question Reported Question

Where is the Post Office, please? She asked me where the Post Office was.
What are you doing? She asked me what I was doing.
Who was that fantastic man? She asked me who that fantastic man had been.

So much for 'wh' questions. But, what if you need to report a 'yes / no' question? We don't
have any question words to help us. Instead, we use 'if':

• Direct speech: Do you like chocolate?

• Reported speech: She asked me if I liked chocolate.

Reported Requests

There's more! What if someone asks you to do something (in a polite way)? For example:

• Direct speech: Close the window, please

• Or: Could you close the window please?
• Or: Would you mind closing the window please?

All of these requests mean the same thing, so we don't need to report every word when we
tell another person about it. We simply use 'ask me + to + infinitive':

• Reported speech: She asked me to close the window.

To report a negative request, use 'not':

• Direct speech: Please don't be late.

• Reported speech: She asked us not to be late.

Reported Orders

And finally, how about if someone doesn't ask so politely? We can call this an 'order' in English,
when someone tells you very directly to do something. For example:

• Direct speech: Sit down!

 In fact, we make this into reported speech in the same way as a request. We just use 'tell'
instead of 'ask':

• Reported speech: She told me to sit down.

Direct Order Reported Order

Go to bed! He told the child to go to bed.
Don't worry! He told her not to worry.
Be on time! He told me to be on time.
Don't smoke! He told us not to smoke.
Time Expressions with Reported Speech

Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions
too. We don't always have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and
when we say the reported speech.

Here's a table of some possible conversions:

now then / at that time

today yesterday / that day / Tuesday / the 27th of June
yesterday the day before yesterday / the day before / Wednesday / the 5th of December
last night the night before, Thursday night
last week the week before / the previous week
tomorrow today / the next day / the following day / Friday