PRESENT TENSES

SIMPLE Eternal truths: timeless, permanent actions. Used without

references to any specific time. SCIENTIFIC, MATHEMATICAL,
GEOGRAPHICAL, PROVERBIAL statements.
Verb: timeless.
“Oil floats on water” “2 and 2 make 4” “Peru shares a border with
Chile” “All roads lead to Rome”

Permanent actions/events to express facts, abilities and continue

states.
“I live in Cordoba” “She works as a nurse” “She plays the piano”

Habitual actions: an established habit, a series of repeated

events not just a single one. The action is not necessarily
happening at the moment of speaking.
Advs of frequency to specify the frequency of the repetition.
“I usually have lunch at 12 p.m”
Instantaneous present: the event has limited or no duration. It
doesn’t take place at the very moment of speaking.
Verb: refers to a single action begun and completed at the
moment of speech.
Occur in: Reports or commentaries on the radio where the
commentator is reporting sth the listener can’t
see “Ronnie passes to Jim, he scores”

Demonstrations and other self commentaries

“we add the eggs to the flour and then bit
everything together”

Explanations (captions) underneath the pictures

in magazines and newspapers.
“the commemorative plaque is lifted into place
over the library door”

Performative speech acts with performative

verbs which represent the act itself.
Verbs: promise, apologize
Verbs of speaking: request, advise, predict,
name, declare, thank, swear.
“I now pronounce you man and wife”

Special exclamatory sentences with initial

adverbials
“up she goes!” “here comes the bride!”
To express future time reference:

Future as a fact: future action considered as very certain

to happen. To refer to timetables and programmes. It
contains future time words unless the future time ref. is
given by the context.
“My birthday is tomorrow”
In subordinate clauses when the verb in the main clause is
in the future tense or imperative.
“If I see Jenny, I’ll give her the message”
“Wait here until the green light shows”

Contrast between a past and a present activity: neither activity

needs to be habitual.
“yesterday she said she hated him, today she says she loves him”

Historic present: describes the past as if it is happening now

Conversational and narrative historical present: an event

that happened in the past and it is characteristic of narrative
conversacional style. Used to add vividness to a narrative by
assimilating it to the here and now of the speech act.
“At that moment in comes a messenger from the Head Office
telling me the boss wants to see me in a hurry””

With verbs of communication: refer to a past

communication. Backgrounds the communication and
foreground its content.
Verbs: say, tell, inform, learn, suggest, hear, gather,
understand, write
“I hear poor Mr. Baxter has lost his cat”

Newspaper headlines: reporting recent past events. It might

be regarded as a metaphorical extension of the use of the
present tense in commentaries.
“Baby starts fire”
PROGRESSIVE Activity in progress at the very moment of speaking: the action
began in the recent past, is continuing at present and will end at
some point in the future. The characteristics of the progressive
aspect are present.
Adverbs: right now, currently, at present.
“What are you doing?” “I’m waiting for the bus”

Habitual repeated actions for/over a period of time: temporary

actions going on around now; not necessarily happening at the
moment of speaking.
Advs: these days, this month, this academic year.
“we are taking the bus this week bc our car has broken down”

Repeated action to show annoyance, irritation, disapproval on

part of the speaker: the progressive tense loses its semantic
component of temporariness.
Advs of frequency to reinforce the idea of repetition.
“he is always calling me to ask stupid questions”

Changing situations or state developing into another state:

indicates increase or decrease in the activity. Used with
comparative adverbials, adjectives or quantifiers “Little by little”
“I’m forgetting my French little by little”

Arrangement for the near future: action arranged beforehand.

FUTURE MEANING. Contextualized by advs or time expressions
“Sam is leaving at noon tomorrow”
PERFECT Activity which began in the past and continues up to the present:
relates the activity has not finished yet.
the past Advs: since: period of time, for: point of time, up to/until now,
and the ever since, all. OBLIGATORY bc their omission changes the
present meaning.
“She has lived in Scotland since 1980.”

Habit/repeated event in a period of time leading up to the

present.
Advs of frequency.
“She has often worked at night until now”

Action that began and finished in the past with visible present
results: the time is not specified at all and therefore not
important. The connection with the past is important for the
speaker.
“I’ve finished my homework, now I can rest”

Activity completed in the recent past time: the action took place
a short time ago.
Advs: just, lately, recently. To express recency.
“I’ve just had lunch”

An action that happened (or never did) before now at an

unspecified time in the past: time is not important.
Adverbs:
Ever: at any time up to now; at any time before
now and now. “have you ever been to America?”
Never: at no time up to now/during my life so far.
“I have never phoned my father”
Already: ?: To express surprise, sth happened
sooner tan expected. “Have you (already) had
breakfast already?”
+: emphasize that an action has happened
before the present moment in time. “I have
already had breakfast”

Yet: -: up until now; by a particular time; not in a

period of time before now and now. “I haven’t
had lunch yet”
?: ask if sth has happened before now “Have
you received a telegram yet?”
?: HAVE/HAVEN’T you…? : negative to emphasize, shows surprise or angry if the
answer is no.
Unusual position of “still” before the auxiliary: for emphasis. “He still hasn’t
solved the problem”
Action/state completed during a present incomplete period of
time: the period of time is not over at the moment of speaking.
Advs: today, this week, this year, in the past few days. Refer
partly to the past and partly to the present.
“I haven’t seen John this week”

Talk about a specific number of times we’ve done sth in the past:
the exact time when the action happened is not mentioned.
“I’ve visited Peru only once”

OTHER USES OF THE PRESENT PERFECT:

Report/comment verbs: guess, imagine, suppose, reckon.
“I suppose she has forgotten she is meant to be here”

Phrases: “this/It/That is the (first/second) time…”

“This is the first time I have been late”

Future time reference: in adverbial clauses of time or

condition when the verb in the main clause is in the future or
imperative form.
“Don’t leave until everybody has finished eating”
PERFECT PROGRESSIVE Activity started in the past and still in progress at the
moment of speaking: emphasis on the duration of the
action and on the imperfective meaning.
“He has been studying French for two years”

Temporary habit which started in the past and continues up

to the present.
“She has been walking to work this week”

A complete action that has been in progress during a

present incomplete period of time.
“It has been raining all day”

The action started in the past and lasted for some time.
May have finished or may still be going on. It has effects
which are still apparent.
Verb: not accompanied by adverbial of duration.
“The ground is white. It’s been snowing”

Express anger, annoyance, irritation or to demand an

explanation in questions with “what” and “who”.
“What have you been doing in my bedroom?”

Stative verbs used dynamically in an attempt to emphasize

the incompleteness of an action.
Verbs: Want, hope, think.
“I’ve been wanting to give up smoking for weeks”
 PAST TENSES
Takes place before the present moment. The speaker has a definite time in mind named by
an adverbial expression accompanying the verb.

SIMPLE Activities without any connection with the present: interest in when
the action took place.
Advs: indicate the specific point in time when the action was carried
out.
“He sat for his last exam three years ago”

Indicate a definite period of past time

“She studied music while she was in Paris”

Past habits that are now finished

“I used to work from 7 a.m to 12 p.m”

In contexts of everyday conversation to refer to the PRESENT feelings

and thoughts of the speaker or hearer. Interchangeable with the
present tense; the past: politer, to make a request indirect.
“did you want to speak to me?”

In dependent clauses to express hypothetical meaning (except in

noun clauses of indirect speech)
“If I were you, I would tell him the truth”
PROGRESSIVE Interest in the past activity and in the duration of it: don’t
mention when the action started or finished.
In progress, temporariness, incompleteness (progressive
aspect)
“The children were playing football all day”

A repeated action over a limited period of time (not

permanent)
“I was walking to the office that week”

Repeated past actions that show annoyance, irritation,

disapproval on the part of the speaker.
Advs of frequency to reinforce the idea of repetition.
“They were all the time telling lies”

To give a descriptive background to a story

“It was raining when we left Orleans…”
 PERFECT Past action pevious to another past action: used to express
“past in the past”
Sub conjunctions: after and before (optional) in adverbial
clauses of time.
Exception: “before” the past simple verb refers to sth that
happened before the verb in the past perfect. The 1st action
may prevent the 2nd one to happen.
“He had begun his studies when I met him”

Incomplete past action that had started before another past

action and lasted for some time
“He had been unconscious for several hours when we found
him”

Resultative past in the past: action which had started and

finished in the past whose results were visible in the past.
“He had lived in Italy for 5 years that’s why he spoke Italian
very well”

With adjectives in the superlative degree and expressions

such as the first/second/only…
“That was the first time I had been to Paris”

PERFECT PROGRESSIVE Emphasis on the duration of an action which started

and finished in the past before a past action.
Advs clauses of time, for or since
“he had been waiting long before she arrived”

Resultative past in the past: an action that lasted for

some time and its duration caused visible results
later on in the past.
“Tommy had been playing in the mud all the
afternoon, so he dirtied all his clothes”
SEQUENCES OF PAST TENSES

In “wrote AND send”. If the order is reversed it changes the

sequence meaning or loses its sense.

“called WHEN found”. The subordinating conjunction

“when” introduces the action that happened first

Simultaneously “enjoy AND admired”. If the order is reversed, the

meaning doesn’t change

“WHILE she was reading, he was watching TV”. At

the same time. The subordinating conjunction
“while” introduces an action in progress. It means
“during that time”

A past action in progress when another past action interrupted it “He was
racing down the motorway when the tyre burst”

The 1st past action was in progress when the 2nd one took place. The 1st action
is posible to have continued after the 2nd one finished. “He was having dinner
when he heard the news”

Two past actions: 1 took place after the other. Past tense to show which one
took place before. “He began writing when he completed his university studies”

If the time sequence is clear both Simple Past and Past Perfect are possible (bc
we use after) “I got to work after he arrived/had arrived”
EXPRESSING FUTURE Future is not a formal category, certain
TIME REFERENCE grammatical constructions are capable of
expressing the semantic category of future time

SIMPLE FUTURE

“WILL” to talk about sth that has been planned

“We will study the history of Rome tomorrow”
In formal: to talk about future events that have been
previously arranged in detail.

An action/state/event that is definitely going to happen in

the future
“I´ll be 18 next week”

General predictions based on an opinion/experience

“Tomorrow’s weather will be cold and icy”

On the spot decisions: decisions we make at the time of

speaking. It represents the process of decision-making
“There is Sonia. I´ll go and talk to her”

To express promises, threats, warnings, hopes, fears,

invitations, refusal and willingness.
“I promise I´ll be punctual next time”

To express requests and offers

“I don´t understand this. Will you help me?”

FUTURE
PROGRESSIVE
An action that will be in progress at a stated time in the
future (IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT).
“I´ll be travelling to London when you wake up tomorrow”

Pure future: bc it is not contaminated by any modal attitude.

-Future activity that is part of the normal course of events or
that is one of a repeated/series of events
“I´ll be visiting you tomorrow morning as usual”
-For arrangements made beforehand no difference in
meaning with Present Progressive.
2
 Refer to the present when we are guessing about what
people are doing
“They will be lying on the beach at the moment”

FUTURE PERFECT

An action that will have been completed prior to/by a certain

time in the future, We think of a future time and look back from
that future time to say that sth will be complete. (PERFECTIVE
ASPECT). Puts emphasis on the completion of the activity.
“This coming January we will have been married for 30 years”

FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE

An action that began before a certain future time but WILL

NOT have been completed by then. Used to emphasize the
duration of an action up to a certain time in the future. The
action may continue further. (IMPERFECTIVE ASPECT)
“BY the end of the year, we will have been working here for 1º
years”

BE GOING TO

Future fulfilment of a present intention/plan/ambition: used

with personal subjects as the speaker has the firm intention of
performing/fulfilling an action.
“They are going to decontaminate the lake”

Future fulfilment of a present cause: used in predictions where

there is evidence that sth will happen in the near future.
“She is going to have another baby” “I think I’m going to faint”
OTHER WAYS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE
TIME REFERENCE IN ENGLISH

WAS/WERE GOING TO + INFINITIVE: describe a planned action that

didn’t happen. Speak about an unfulfilled intention
“I was going to call you, but I forgot”

AUXILIARY VERB CONSTRUCTION WITH WOULD: “He promised he

would be punctual next time”

PAST PROGRESSIVE: used when we don’t know whether the

activity/event actually took place “I was meeting him in Paris the next
day”
The most common types of features marked on the verb Tense
in English that serve to situate and contextualize its usage Mood
are
Aspect
Voice
Important to make a clear distinction between

TIME: an element of our experience of

reality. Universal and independent of any
language. It can be present, past or future.

TENSE: linguistic category varying from language to language.

It is a grammatical idea. The tense of a verb tells us that it is
present, past or future but a present tense does not
necessarily express an action taking place at a present time.
“the children are playing football tomorrow”: In this case, the
Present Progressive Tense expresses future time reference.
The action is not taking place at the moment of speaking; it
will take place in the future.

ASPECT: grammatical category that expresses how an action denoted by a verb

relates to the flow of time. It adds information about the speaker’s perspective on
time, that is to say, the completeness or incompleteness of an action

SIMPLE ASPECT: refers to the whole activity or event.

“I usually go to the office by car”

PROGRESSIVE ASPECT: event at some point between its beginning

and its end. It is used with dynamic verbs and the activity is more
important than the result. The focus is on the duration of the action
and it is used to indicate that sth is unfinished, temporary.
Form: auxiliary be + the –ing form of a lexical verb.
“they are working at the moment to help their mother”

PERFECT ASPECT: it gives information about the duration and

relationships of events to one another in time. It is concerned
with the speaker’s perspective on the relationship between one
time frame and an event that takes place in another time frame.
Form: auxiliary have + the –ed form of a lexical verb.
A past event may be relevant to a present moment.
A future event may be linked to a present moment.
“I have worked very hard today”
ASPECTUAL IMPERFECTIVE: action seen
MEANING: as incomplete.

PERFECTIVE: action seen as

complete.

MOOD: has to do with the emotional attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Refers to:
FACTUAL STATUS OF EVENTS: events that happen
NON FACTUAL STATUS OF EVENTS: events that not happen or
are only desired.

INDICATIVE/DECLARATIVE MOOD: factual mood. It is

the most frequent mood and involves all the choices
concerning: person, tense, number, aspect, modality
and voice.
Declarative: “Sally watches tv every night.”
Interrogative: “Does your brother work at night?”
Exclamative: “What a lovely dress you’re wearing”

IMPERATIVE MOOD: non-factual mood. It is used to

issue directives and also to make warm invitations.
They are a very direct way of telling people to do sth.
To sound politer use do or please before it.
Involves the base form of the verb.
“Get up and start working”.

SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD: non-factual mood, rather

formal and it’s not so frequent. It refers to wishes,
desires, suggestions, etc.
Used after a very limited number of verbs (suggest,
insist, wish, imagine, suppose, recommend, demand),
after conditional subordinators, expressions of
necessity and a limited number of set phrases.
Its forms involve the base form of the verb.
PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE:
The Mandative Subjunctive:
Involves the base form of the verb, shows no apparent agreement with its subject but the verb form
is finite. Even when the verb is in the past tense, the present subjunctive is used.
Used in a “that clause” after an expression of demand, recommendation, proposal, intention.
It can also be used after adjectives: advisable, essential, important.
“it is essential that an adult accompany any child under ten.”
It can also be used with:
-Whether… or: “whether the environment problems be the result of pollution or overuse”
-The conjunction IF: “if it be the case that you get ill, you must notify the company”
-Wh-ever pronouns: “your relatives are welcome here, whoever they be”.
NEGATIVE: “they ordered that he not leave”
To sound less formal, avoid such constructions and use:
 The indicative mood: “he suggests that he goes to the doctor”
 Should + bare inf: “the school ignored my suggestion that she should sit fewer GCSEs”.
The Formulaic Subjunctive:
It consists of the base form and it is only used in clauses in certain set expressions used to express a
wish or hope:
Come what may, we will go ahead
Far be it from me to criticize
Be that as it may
Suffice it to say that
God save the Queen
Long live the King
God forgive/bless you
Heaven forbid that
Heaven be praised
Heaven help you
Peace be with you
Damn you

THE WERE SUBJUNCTIVE/ THE PAST SUBJUNCTIVE:

It’s called the were subjunctive bc it survives a distinguishable form only in the past tense of the
verb “be”. Hypothetical or unreal in meaning. Used in adverbial clauses introduced by conjunctions
as: if, as if, as though, though and in nominal clauses after verbs like wish, suppose and imagine.
Sentences with this structure are called “counterfactual” bc they always imply that the situation
described is actually not the case.
“if I were you, I’d tell her the truth”
“I wish she were more independent”
VERBS ONLY FOLLOWED BY –ING
Admit
Advise
Anticipate
Appreciate
Avoid
Complete
Consider
Can’t help
Defer
Delay
Deny
Discuss
Dislike
Endure
Entail
Envisage
Evade
Finish
Keep
Mention
Mind
Miss
Postpone
Practice
Quit
Recall
Recollect
Recommend
Resent
Resist
Risk
Shirk
Suggest
Tolerate
VERBS FOLLOWED ONLY BY “TO INFINITIVE”
Afford
Agree
Appear
Arrange
Ask
Beg
Care
Claim
Compel
Consent
Decide
Demand
Deserve
Expect
Fail
Hesitate
Hope
Learn
Manage
Offer
Plan
Prepare
Pretend
Proceed
Promise
Refuse
Seem
Struggle
Swear
Tend
Threaten
Volunteer
Wait
Want
Wish

VERB + OBJECT + BARE INFINITIVE

Make e.g: made me laugh
Had better
Let
Help
Would rather
VERB + PRONOUN + TO INFINITIVE
Advise
Allow
Ask
Beg
Cause
Challenge
Convince
Dare
Encourage
Expect
Forbid
Force
Hire
Instruct
Invite
Need
Order
Permit
Persuade
Remind
Require
Teach
Tell
Urge
Want
Warn
PREPOSITIONAL VERBS + GERUND
AGAINST Protest
ABOUT Protest
Speak
Boast
Dream
Think
Complain
Talk
AT Aim
Laugh
Smile
FOR Apologise
Compensate
FROM Abstain
Benefit
Refrain
IN Persevere
Believe
Succeed
Delight
Persist
Specialise
Collaborate
Take part
Cooperate
Participate
OF Approve
Speak
Boast
Dream
Think
Repent
Talk
Complain
Disapprove
Be fond

ON Be keen
Concentrate
Depend
Insist
Rely
Theorize
Spend
TO Object
Be used
Come close
Confess
React
Be committed
Be accostumed
Feel up
Submit
Allude
Get used
Take
Contribute
Resort
Look forward
Turn
React
Be opposed
WITH Be fed up
VERB + OBJECT/NOUN + PREPOSITION +
GERUND
SOMEBODY OF Accuse
Suspect
SOMEBODY FOR Admire
Arrest
Blame
Criticize
Despise
Forgive
Justify
Prosecute
Punish
Reproach
Reward
Thank
SOMEBODY FROM Ban
Defend
Deter
Discourage
Dissuade
Prevent
Protect
Prohibit
Rescue
Restrain
Save
Stop
SOMEBODY ON Compliment
Congratulate
ONESELF TO Adjust
Adapt
Apply
Confine
Dedicate
Devote
Limit
Reconcile
Resign
Restrict
ONESELF FOR Justify
ONESELF ON Pride
Voice A grammatical category which makes it posible to view an action
in 2 ways, without a change in the facts reported.

ACTIVE: unmarked voice. The doer of the action comes first and
it is the subject of the sentence.
Form: subject NP + verb + object NP

PASSIVE:
-The marked voice, used when we want to defocus the agent and also
when we want to give the information we provide an objective and
impersonal tone. It is usually used with transitive verbs.
It occurs in written discourse such as fiction, scientific and business
writing, newspaper reports and academic articles.
-The person/thing we want to talk about is usually put first as the
subject of the clause. When we want to talk about the performer of
the action (agent) we make them the subject of the verb and we use
an active form of the verb. The other person/thing is made the subject
of the verb.
When we want to focus the person/thing affected by the action we
make that person/thing the subject of a passive form of the verb.
“The given-new contract”: old info placed at the beginning and new
info comes after it.

Form of the passive voice:

The passivization of of the active involve 3 steps:
-The object NP in the active becomes the subject in the
passive sentence
-The subject NP becomes the agent complement in the
passive sentence. It is moved to the end of the sentence and
“by” is inserted before it.
-The main verb is changed into its participle form and the
appropiate form of the verb to be is inserted before it.
“be + past participle”
The passive sentence verb agrees in number with the NP that
has been moved into subject position.

Verb tenses NOT used in the passive:

PRESENT
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
FUTURE
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
Verbs with 2 objects:
1) TO DATIVE: (2 objects, active):
BRING, TELL SEND, SHOW, WRITE, SELL.
2 different passives:
“The old woman give a piece of Candy to the little girl”
-1st option should be the Oi:
“The little girl was given a piece of Candy by the old
woman”
-2nd option:
“A piece of Candy was given to the little girl by the old
woman”

2) FOR DATIVE: the Od is the only option to be the subject

“Susan found a nice flat for John”

“A nice flat was found for John by Susan”

OMITTING THE AGENT:

Agentless passives are more common than long passives (the
ones with an agent phrase)
1) The agent is unknown or the natural doer of the action
2) The action or the result is far more important than the
doer of the action (it´s obvious)
3) People in general are the agent
4) The agent has already been mentioned or it can be
inferred by the context
5) We wish to conceal the agent’s identity to avoid
assigning blame/responsibility or to distance ourselves
from our own action
6) To give direct orders, commands or rules

MENTIONING THE AGENT:

It represents new information that is important in some way
1) We want to say more about the agent. The speaker
decides to put the info that is new and long after the
info that is old
The principle of end weight: long, complex NP placed at
the end to facilitate processing
2) We need to say who or what is responsible for an event
(the creator, the discoverer of sth) verbs: BUILD,
COMPOSE, DAMAGE, DESIGN, DESTROY, DISCOVER,
INVENT, MAKE, WRITE.
3) The agent´s identity is surprising or unexpected
4) Info about causes and the method of “doing sth”
PASSIVE LOOK ALIKE:
Sentences with “be” followed by a past participle that look like
passive when they are in active sentences. The past participle
form is a participial adjective in these constructions.
They can’t be changed into a corresponding active sentence.
“Pau is worried about tomorrow’s exam”
Some cases are ambiguous: “The shop is closed”/sb closes the
shop. Adjectival interpretation

SPECIAL USES:
1) Passive Reporting Structures:
-Same tenses:
IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTION: It + be passive + that “It is
believed that the flour dropped on the floor”
PERSONAL CONSTRUCTION: Sb + be passive + To do sth “Sb is
believed to be unhappy there”
present/present
past/past

-Different tenses:
IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTION: It + be passive + that “It is
thought that sb did sth”
PERSONAL CONSTRUCTION: Sb + be passive + to have done sth
“Sb is thought to have done sth”
present/past
present/present perfect
past/past perfect

2) Transitive verbs which can have a complement after their object

(Co). In the passive, the complement is put after the verb
“He was elected president”

3) The object of a preposition is moved into subject position

“This bed was slept in by Hoover”

4) Special verbs: HEAR, HELP, MAKE, FEEL, SEE. Used in the passive
must be followed by a TO INFINITIVE rather than the bare infinitive.
See and hear may be followed by an –ing form

Let + sb + do sth
“Let” can only be used in the passive when it forms part of a
phrasal or prepositional verb. When it has the meaning of
permission it is replaced by “be allowed to”

Steal: Sb steals sb’s sth

Sb’s sth + be stolen
Sb + be robbed of + his/her sth
GET PASSIVE:
- Tends to be limited to constructions without an expressed
animate agent
- Tends to have an adversative nature as it generally occurs with
verbs from semantic categories: physical assault, transference
and verbs of emotional/mental strain
- Avoided in formal style and it is less frequent than the be
passive
- Can express events that have no adverse implication as well as
actions that benefit the subject
- Associated with verbs that emphasizes actions or processes.

BE PASSIVE: unmarked, semantically neutral nature, used in

formal style.

GET PASSIVE LOOK-ALIKES:

Look like passives but they can’t be expanded by an agent. They
have no active counterpart. They can’t be changed into active
sentences mantaining the same meaning.
“get + ed” can be active as in: get dressed
burned
married
lost
Get means become and it is followed by a participial adjective.
Ambiguity: he got stuck in the elevator
Sb stuck him in the elevator

INTRANSITIVE VERBS USED AS PASSIVES: intransitive verbs don’t

generally form passives, but they can be used in a transitive way
Verbs: STAND, WALK, RUN, FLY

CAUSATIVE FORM: “get” and “have” followed by a complement

have causative meaning. The subject of the sentence is
understood as causing the action in the complement.
SB HAVE sth DONE
ASK, ORDER, WANT, PAY, ARRANGE for sb to do sth

Would you like do/does/did

Do you want to HAVE STH DONE?
Why don’t you

-We use causative form when sth unpleasant, unexpected, has

happened to sb : HAVE sth done “He had his house burgled”
-An unfortunate event that the subject didn’t cause
intentionally: GET sth done “I got my pocket picked in the
station”
 CONSTRAINTS OR RESTRICTIONS ON FORMING PASSIVE
SENTENCES:
-EXCEPTIONS where active transitive verbs can’t be turned
into passive sentences:
1) Verb constraints with stative verbs: HAVE, CONTAIN,
COST, EQUAL, FIT, LACK, RESEMBLE. These verbs don’t really
affect their objects and thus are not found in passive
sentences. “She has a cat” NOT “A cat is had by her”
When they have a different meaning (dynamic) we can use
them as passive. Hold, contain, possess: dynamically.
2) Idioms constraints: the passive is not posible for many
idioms in which the verb and the object form a close unit.
“the ship set sail” “we changed trains”
3) Semantic or meaning constraints: the difference of order
produced when we change an active sentence to a passive
one oe viceversa may make a difference in emphasis and also
on the scope of negatives and quantifiers sometimes
produces ambiguity, especially with constructions in which
we use modals. “Every kid knows at least one joke” “One
joke at least is known by every kid”
4) Constraints in relation to pronouns: when the reflexive,
reciprocal and possessive pronouns are used in active voice.
“John could see himself in the mirror”

MIDDLE VOICE

Describes a state that seems to change by itself. It has

characteristics of both active and passive voice.
The verb form is the same as in the active voice.
The subject is the same as in the passive voice.
There is no agent.
“Public opinion changed.”

ERGATIVE OR CHANGE OF STATE VERBS: special verbs used in

English to express spontaneous occurrences. They allow the
object of a transitive clause to be the subject of an
intransitive one without changing voice.
We use them to say that an action simply happens without
an agent.
“The door opened”: “pasiva con se”
Differences:
Passive Ergative form
Its use requires an agent Does not permit an agent
We prefer change of state verbs sentences instead of passive
sentences when:
1) The focus is on the change of state and the agent is
irrelevant. “classes start tomorrow”
2) The writer/speaker’s objective is to create an aura of
mystery or suspense: things happen without the
intervention of an agent.
“when suddenly the door opened”
3) The subject is sth fragile/unstable that it can break,
change, dissolve without any apparent intervention
of an agent.
“The red vase dropped and smashed into pieces”
4) It is natural to expect change to occur (physical,
social, psychological “laws” seem to be involved).
“The humidity condensed the air”.
5) There are so many possible causes for a change of
state that it would be misleading to imply a simple
agent. “Prices increased due to a variety of factors”

4 categories of ergative verbs:

1) Change of state: BEGIN, BREAK, BURST, CHANGE,
CLOSE, DEVELOP, DROP, DRY, EVAPORATE, FINISH,
GROW, INCREASE, MELT, OPEN, SPREAD.
2) Food and cooking: BAKE, BOIL, COOK, DEFROST, FRY,
THICKEN.
3) Physical movement: MOVE, SHAKE, SWING, TURN.
4) Involving vehicles: DRIVE, FLY, PARK, REVERSE, RUN,
SAIL.
THE INFINITIVE AND THE ING FORMS

THE “TO” INFINITIVE Has 4 basic forms

THE SIMPLE INFINITIVE: “to teach”.

Present reference
Essential to
express time THE PROGRESSIVE INFITIVE: “to be teaching”.
reference or a Shows the aspect: in progress, incomplete
particular aspect
THE PERFECT INFINITIVE: “to have taught”.
Past reference.

THE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE INFINITIVE: “to have

been teaching”.
Incompleteness. Partly to the past and partly to the
present
TO FUNCTIONS EXAMPLE
INFINITIVE
FORM
AS A NOUN SUBJECT (HEAD OF THE SUBJECT). “TO ERR is human”
Usually placed at the beginning
POSTPONED SUBJECT: statements “It is a shame TO CUT
intended to apply to anyone. DOWN trees”
The postponed subject comes after the
anticipatory it.
IT + be + noun + t TO INF.

RESTRICTION OF MEANING:
-To refer to specific people or groups of
people place a restrictive phrase
beginning with FOR between the “It is dangerous for
adjective and the infinitive. The pronoun children to play with fire”
following FOR becomes the subject of
the infinitive.
IT + be + adjective + FOR + pronoun + TO
INF.
This pattern is not frequent after a noun
since the reference is already specific but
in a few cases it is possible to direct the
notion of the noun (object) to the person
performing the activity rather than to
the activity itself.
-Adjectives that describe moral or
intellectual qualities. Can be applied to
both a person and to sth that she/he “It was very kind of your
does. To apply such adjectives to a uncle to give us a lift”.
person in virtue of sth that she does/has
done the preposition OF is used.
-Depending on the noun we can use
FOR/OF (mistake, shame, pity) “It was a mistake for us to
do that”
DIRECT OBJECT “She likes TO WATCH tv at
night”.
REAL DIRECT OBJECT. “I found it difficult TO DO
Introductory/anticipatory it is the Od these exercises”.
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT “Your mistake was TO
Linking verb. “be” HIDE the truth”
APPOSITION “Their plan TO LIVE
Can work as a postmodifier when the ABROAD was put off”
infinitive is not derived from a relative
clause.
We can’t paraphrase it and we can add
“is” The attitude (is) to help people was…
TO INFITIVE FUNCTIONS EXAMPLES
FORM
AS AN POSTMODIFIER OF NOUNS OF “I have a report TO TYPE”
ADJECTIVE PRONOUNS to qualify them or to show (that has to be typed):
how they can be used or what is to be NOUN
done with them. The infinitive phrase
derives from a relative clause.
“There is nothing TO DO
here”: PRONOUN
ADJECTIVAL COMPLEMENT. “I am pleased TO MEET
After adjectives. you”

TO FUNCTIONS EXAMPLES
INFINITIVE
FORM
AS AN Adverbial adjunct of PURPOSE. “I came here TO TALK TO
ADVERB (what for?, in order to) YOU”
Adverbial adjunct of RESULT or “She got a new job only
CONSEQUENCE. TO HAVE more problems”

Can be pleasant or unpleasant “He went home TO FIND A

GIFT FROM HIS
GIRLFRIEND”

Use of the infinitive after: 1)“The coffee is too hot for

1)“too + adjective + (for adjunct)” me to drink”
2)“too + adjective + as” 2)”Jane was too short as
3)“adjective + enough + (for adjunct)” to play basketball”
4)“so + adjective + as” 3)”The coffee is not cold
enough for me to drink”
4)”He is so short as to be
unable to play basketball”
Adverbial adjunct of CAUSE OR REASON “I rejoice TO HEAR OF
(because) YOUR SUCCESS”
THE BARE INFINITIVE

BARE FUNCTIONS EXAMPLES

INFINITIVE
AFTER VERBS OF PHYSICAL PERCEPTION “I saw him PICK UP THE
TO REFER TO THE WHOLE ACTION: (feel, COIN”
hear, listen to, see, look at, watch,
observe, notice, etc).

“I saw her cross the Street/ I saw her crossing

the Street”: difference in aspectual meaning
(completeness/incompleteness of the action)
AFTER CAUSATIVE VERBS IN THE ACTIVE “She LET ME GO OUT LAST
VOICE NIGHT”
(make, let, have) “Don’t MAKE ME LAUGH”
ACTIVE: she made me doi it “She HAD her daughter
PASSIVE: I was made to do it CLEAN the bedroom”
AFTER “HELP” AND “LET’S” “I can’t HELP you DO this”
Help + bare/to infinitive “LET’S GO to the cinema
Let’s only followed by bare tonight”
AFTER “WOULD RATHER”, “HAD “I WOULD RATHER STAY
SOONER”, “HAD BETTER”, “HAD at home tomorrow”
BEST(=should. To express “I HAD SOONER CORRECT
suggestion/advice)” the exams today”
“You HAD BETTER SEE a
doctor”
“You HAD BEST LOOK for a
new job”
AFTER “RATHER THAN” AND “THAN” “I’d prefer TO DRINK
coffee RATHER THAN
DRINK tea”
“I’d rather walk in the
park THAN SIT and
WATCH tv”
AFTER “BUT” AND “EXCEPT” IN THE “You do nothing BUT
PATTERN: DO + ANY/NO/EVERYTHING + TALK”
BUT/EXCEPT “I’ll do anything EXCEPT
(only with do, no other verbs) lend you some money”
WHY + BARE INF..?/ WHY NOT + BARE “WHY WAIT for him when
INF…? TO EXPRESS SUGGESTION AND he never waits for us?”
ADVICE “WHY NOT TELL him the
truth?”
THE ING FORM

THE ING FUNCTIONS EXAMPLES

FORM
AS A SUBJECT (HEAD OF THE SUBJECT) “WORKING IN THESE
GERUND Usually at the beginning CONDITIONS is unhealthy”
(NOMINAL)
POSTPONED SUBJECT “It is not easy STUDYING
Needs an introductory it. Same English”
meaning as the TO INFINITIVE
DIRECT OBJECT “Most boys like PLAYING
FOOTBALL”
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT “All she likes is READING”
Linking verb “be”
PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT “She is fond OF FISHING”
Preposition + ing
OBJECT COMPLEMENT “I call that CHEATING”
Od Oc

THE ING FORM FUNCTIONS EXAMPLES

AS A PARTICIPLE (shows TO FORM THE “Martha is cooking
progressive aspect) PROGRESSIVE ASPECT at the moment”
ADJECTIVAL PRESENT “A CHARMING
PARTICIPLE: work as a person”
modifier to a noun “A BORING speech”
(adjective). “An EXCITING
We can paraphrase it: story”
(“charming “RUNNING water”
person”=person who is
charming)
SUBJECT COMPLEMENT “This book is quite
Linking verb “be” INTERESTING”
Moving, exciting (words “The film I saw last
come from ) night was really
MOVING”
OBJECT COMPLEMENT “I found the film
rather BORING”
ADVERBIAL FUNCTION “Coming back
Time: when home, I realised I’ve
Manner: in that way lost the keys”
Reason: because “She spent the
Condition: If whole evening
studying grammar”
“Being so tired, the
soldier fell asleep”
 “If you study hard,
you will pass the
exam”
MODIFIER TO AN “It’s BOILING HOT today”
ADJECTIVE “It’s FREEZING COLD in here”
Set expressions, “He got HOPPING MAD adter he told her the
intensifiers: to news”
emphasize words.
Adverbial function
(very, extremely)

THE GERUND AFTER POSSESSIVE DETERMINERS, OBJECTIVE PRONOUNS ANS

NOUNS IN THE POSSESSIVE CASE.

-I don’t like smoking SAME SUBJECT OF THE FINITE AND NON

FINITE VERB: CORREFERENTIAL SUBJECT

-I don’t like the student’s smoking

SUBJECT OF THE FINITE VERB: I
the students
SUBJECT OF THE NON FINITE
them
VERB: THE STUDENTS
their
FINITE AND NON FINITE VERBS
HAVE DIFFERENT SUBJECTS: NON
COREFERENTIAL SUBJECTS

NON CORREFERENTIAL SUBJECTS:

-In colloquial speech it is common to hear a noun or a pronoun in the objective
case instead of the possessive: Paul/him
-Formal speech: Paul’s/ his
-The possessive form is used when the gerund is the subject of the main verb:
“your being right doesn’t mean my being wrong”
-The possessive wouldn’t be used with common nouns before the gerund as in:
“I didn’t know the weather being so awful in this area”
 CATENATIVE VERBS: is a verb that controls a non-finite complement.
“Catenative” means “chaining” and reflects the way in which the verb can link
recursively with other catenatives to form a chain:
“We decided to try to rent a house near the sea”
In this example there is a chain of 3 verbs: decide, try and rent, in which “to try to
rent a house near the sea” functions as a catenative complement of “try”. The final
verb is not a catenative.

Verbs followed by “infinitive” or “-ing”

WITH NO DIFFERENCE IN MEANING: the choice may

be determined by STILISTIC CONSTRAINTS. We don’t
normally have 2 –ing forms together.
“He is beginning to speak”
Verbs: continue, start “start raining/started to rain”

WITH DIFFERENCES IN

THE SPEAKER’S ATTITUDE:

-Like + to infinitive: specific reference
“I like to swim in the summer”
-Like + ing: general preference
“I like swimming”
Other verbs: love, dread

ASPECT:
-See + bare infinitive: complete action, from beginning to
end
“I saw the child cross the street”
-See + -ing: action in progress, incomplete action; only a part
of it is considered
“I saw the child crossing the street”
Other verbs: hear, notice, watch, listen

TIME REFERENCE:
-Remember + to infinitive: not forget (future action)
“Remember to lock the door when you leave”
-Remember + ing: recall (past action)
“She remembers locking the door before leaving the house”
Other verbs: forget, regret
To infinitive: the action indicated by regret happened 1st
Ing: 1st I did sth and now I regret doing sth
 MEANING:
-Propose: to inf: intend; ing: suggest
-Mean: to inf: involve, require, imply; ing: to intend to
do sth
-Stop: to inf: change of act; ing: cease
-Try: to inf: make an effort; ing: make an experiment
-Go on: to inf: change of act; ing: continue doing the
same act

VOICE:
-Deserve + to infinitive: active meaning
“You deserve to shoot 1st”
-Deserve + ing: passive meaning
“You deserve shooting 1st”
Other verbs: want, need require

IMPORTANT:
-Gerund as head of the subject: speaker has personal experience on the topic
“Swimming underwater is easy if you breath deeply before you go down”
-Gerund as head of the subject: the action is prohibited
“Talking is not allowed during the exam”
-Gerund as head of the subject: action considered as a habit
“Swimming everyday is mavellous exercise”
-To infinitive as head of the subject: speaker doesn’t have personal experience, just
gives an opinion
“To swim underwater is easy if you breath deeply before you go down”

THE USES OF “I PREFER”

-Prefer + gerund + to + gerund: general preference
“I prefer reading to watching tv”
-Prefer + to infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive: general preference
“I prefer to read rather than watch tv”
-Would prefer + to infinitive + rather than + bare infinitive: specific preference
“I’d prefer to stay at home rather than stay in the office all day”
 THE INFINITIVE AND THE -ING FORM

The “TO INFINITIVE” form FORMS: (essential to express time reference or a particular aspect)
1) The simple infinitive: “to teach”
2) The progressive infinitive: “to be teaching”
3) The perfect infinitive: “to have taught”
FUNCTIONS 4) The perfect progressive infinitive: “to have been teaching”

As a NOUN:

SUBJECT: to at the beginning

“to err is human”

POSTPONED/REAL SUBJECT: statements which are intended

to apply to anyone
“it is a shame to cut down trees”
-To restrict their application to specific people we place a
restrictive phrase with FOR between the adjective and the
infinitive (pattern not frequent since the reference is
specific): “It was imposible for me to understand him”
-Some adjectives descriptive of moral or intellectual qualities
can be applied to both a person and to sth that he does, to
aplply such adjectives we use the preposition OF:
“It was very foolish of you to do that”

DIRECT OBJECT: an action

“She likes to watch TV every night”

REAL DIRECT OBJECT:

“I find it difficult to do these excercises”

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:
“Your mistake WAS to hide the truth”

APPOSITION: postmodifier when the

infinitive is not derived from a relative
clause. We can’t paraphrase it so it
doesn’t have adjectival function
“Their plan to live abroad was put off”
As an
ADVERB:
Adverbial clause to express PURPOSE:
“what for?”
“I came here to talk to you”

Adverbial clause to express RESULT:

May be pleasant or unpleasant
“She got a new job to have more problems”
In the use of the infinitive after:
-“too + adj + as”
-“adjective + enough + for adjunct”
“She was too short (as) to play basketball”
“The coffee is not cold enough for me to drink”

Adverbial clause to express REASON:

“because”
“I rejoice to hear of your success”

As an
ADJECTIVE
Postmodifier of nouns or pronouns: to qualify
them or to show how they can be used. Derives
from a relative clause
“She never has anything to talk about”

As complement of the adjective or adjectival

complement: used after adjectives,
complements the meaning of the adjective
“He was anxious to start”
THE BARE INFINITIVE

After verbs of physical perception: feel, hear, listen to, see, look at,
perceive, watch, observe, notice. To refer to the whole action.
“I felt an ant crawl my leg”

After “causative” verbs: make, let, have. In the active voice.

“Don’t make me laugh”

After “help” and “let’s”:

“I can’t help you do this”

After “would rather”, “had sooner”, “had better”, “had best”

“I would rather stay at home tomorrow”

After modal auxiliaries and semimodal “used to”:

“You must leave now”
“I’m used to live in this conditions”

After “rather than” and ”than”:

“I’d prefer to drink coffee tan drink tea”
“I’d rather walk in the park than watch Tv”

After “but” and “except” in the pattern:

“do + any/no/everything… + but/except…”
“You do nothing but talk”

“Why… /Why not…?” To express suggestions and advice:

“Why wait for him when he never waits for you?”
The –ING form

As a GERUND

SUBJECT: head of the subject

“Working in these conditions is unhealthy”

POSTPONED/REAL SUBJECT: needs

introductory “it”
“It is not easy studying English”

DIRECT OBJECT:
“Most boys like playing football”

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:
“All she likes IS reading”

OBJECT OF A PREPOSITION:
“How about having a break?”

OBJECT COMPLEMENT: Od + Oc
“I call that cheating”

After possessive determiners, objective pronouns

and nouns in possessive case:
“I don’t like smoking” (correferential subject)
“I don’t like HIS/HIM/GEORGE/GEORGE’S smoking in
the bedroom” (non-correferential)
Possessive form used when the gerund is the subject
of a main verb:
“Your being right doesn’t mean my being wrong”
Possessive form WOULD NOT be used with common
nouns before the gerund:
“I object to the car being left there”
As a
PARTICIPLE

Present participle to form the progressive aspect:

“Martha is cooking at the moment”

Present participle as a modifier to a noun: “adjectival

present participle”: charming person, boring speech,
exciting story, running water, sleeping baby, running shoes,
walking stick

Present participle work as SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:

“This book is quite interesting”

Present participle work as OBJECT COMPLEMENT:

“I found the film rather boring”

ADVERBIAL FUNCTION

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCT OF TIME:

“when”
“Coming back home, I realized I had lost the keys”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCT OF MANNER:

“in that way”
“She spent the whole evening studying grammar”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCT OF REASON:

“because, as, since”
“Being so tired, the soldier fell asleep”

ADVERBIAL ADJUNCT OF CONDITION:

“if”
“Studying hard, you will pass the exam”

Present Participle as modifier to an adjective: set expressions

“It is boiling hot today”
“He got hopping mad after he told her the news”
 Catenative verbs
A verb that can take a complement with a
non-finite verb.
“Catenative” means changing and reflects
the way in which a verb can link with other
catenatives to form a chain.

We decided to try to persuade Bill to help us rent a house near the sea
1. DECIDE: to try to persuade bill to help us…
2. TRY: to persuade bill to help us…
3. PERSUADE: Bill to help us…
4. HELP: us rent a house near the sea.

COMPLEMENTATION OF VERBS

VERB + TO INFINITIVE: would like, decide, want,

hope, need, can’t afford, remember, try.

VERBS + OBJECT + TO INFINITIVE: teach sb to,

advise sb to, help sb to

VERB + BARE INFINITIVE: help, let

VERB + OBJECT + BARE INFINITIVE: made sb, let

sb

VERB + ING FORM: imagine, don’t mind,

consider, suggest, hate, remember, avoid

VERB + OBJECT + ING FORM: catch sb, see sb

 VERBS FOLLOWED BY “INFINITIVE” OR “-ING”

>Some verbs can be used with and infinitive and with a gerund without changing their
meaning but WE NORMALLY DON’T HAVE TWO ING FORMS TOGETHER. (style not grammar)

WITH DIFFERENCES IN MEANING OR USE:

>DIFFERENCES CONCERNING THE SPEAKER’S ATTITUDE:

Like + to infinitive: specific reference
Like + -ing: general preference

>DIFFERENCES CONCERNING ASPECT:

See + bare infinitive: refers to the complete action, from beginning to end
“I saw the children cross the Street”
See + -ing: action in progress, incomplete action, only a part of it is considered
“I saw them crossing the street”

>DIFFERENCES CONCERNING TIME REFERENCE:

Remember + to infinitive: not forget (future action)
Remember + -ing: recall (past action)

>DIFFERENCES CONCERNING MEANING:

Propose + to infinitive: intend
“I propose to complain about his behaviour”
Propose + -ing: suggest
“I propose trying the new Chinese restaurant”

>DIFFERENCES CONCERNING VOICE:

Deserve + to infinitive: active meaning
“you deserve to shoot first”: you are going to shoot, sb else sees the action
Deserve + -ing: passive meaning
“you deserve shooting first”: you are going to be shot first

>When the gerund is used as head of the subject the speaker has experience of the
topic “Swimming underwater is easy if you breathe deeply before going down”
>Infinitive as head of the subject: the speaker gives an opinion not based on personal
experience “To swim underwater is easy if you remember to breathe deeply…”
>Gerund used as head of the subject: action considered a habit “Swimming everyday
is marvellous exercise”
>Gerund as head of the subject: action prohibited
“Talking is not allowed during the exam”
INVERSION VERB BEFORE SUBJECT AFTER IDEAS EXPRESSING TIME AND PLACE

Here/there + verb (be, come, go) + noun

“Here comes the bride”
“There goes the footballer”
If the subject of the verb is a PERSONAL PRONOUN: NO
INVERSION

First/Next/Again/Then + verb (be, come) + noun:

“Then came a man carrying a knife”
“Again was the man following me”

Prepositional phrases expressing place + verb + noun

“IN the doorway stood his father”
“AROUND the corner is Sam’s house”

Adverbs expressing movement/direction (ALONG, AWAY,

BACK, DOWN, IN, OFF, OUT, UP) + intransitive verbs
(COME, FLY, RUN, APPEAR, JUMP, MARCH, GO) + subject
Used in narratives.
“Out went the lights”

SUBJECT.- AUXILIARY INVERSION

Negative and restrictive adverbs:

1) NEVER, SELDOM, HARDLY EVER, RARELY, BARELY,
LITTLE, IN FEW CASES
“Seldom DO we have godos returned bc they are
faulty”
2) ON NO CONDITION, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES,
BY NO MEANS, ON NO ACCOUNT, AT NO OTHER
TIME, IN NO CASE, IN NO WAY, NO LONGER,
NOWHERE
“At no time was I aware of anything out of the unusual”
You may find no…any as above.

Adverbial clauses of time with correlative conjuctions:

NO SOONER… THAN “No sooner had I reached the door than I realized it was locked”
HARDLY… WHEN
SCARCELY…WHEN
BARELY… WHEN
The PAST PERFECT is ALWAYS used with this constructions
ONLY + NOUN PHRASE: “Only three pounds will I lend you”
ONLY + ADVERBIAL PHRASE: “Only until some weeks later
were the facts made public”
INVERSION IN THE MAIN CLAUSE!!!:
ONLY + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF TIME:
“Only when Pete has arrived CAN WE begin the
programme”
ONLY + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF REASON:
“Only because he wanted a higher salary DID HE turn down
the offer”
ONLY + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF CONDITION:
“ONLY IF you work harder WILL YOU get a promotion”
-NO INVERSION when “only” PRECEDES the subject

Not in initial position:

NOT + NOUN PHRASE: “Not a sound did he make”
NOT + ADVERBIAL/ PREP. PHRASE: “Not even for a million
dollars would I agree to kill a person”
INVERSION IN THE MAIN CLAUSE!!!:
NOT + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF TIME:
“Not until I got home DID I notice that I didn’t have my
keys”
NOT + ADVERBIAL CLAUSE OF CONDITION:
“Not unless you are a celebrity ARE YOU allowed to enter
this exclusive restaurant”
NO INVERSION when “only” precedes the subject “Only
Mary realized that the door was locked””

Adverbial clauses of result:

SO + ADJECTIVE: “So famous did she become that he was
considered a celebrity”
SO + ADVERB: “So fast did the fire spread that the firemen
couldn’t put it out in time”
SO + MANY/MUCH/FEW: “So much responsibility did he
take on that he son broke down under so much pressure”
SUCH + NOUN PHRASE: “Such a famous person did the
singer become that he could no longer need a normal life”
SUCH + BE + NOUN PHRASE: “Such was his popularity that
he could no longer lead a normal life”

Conditional clauses:
IF + SIMPLE PRESENT + SHOULD (“Should you need”)
IF + SIMPLE PAST + WERE (“Were he to come”)
IF + PAST PERFECT + HAD (“Had I (not) went home”)
With correlative pairs:
NOT ONLY…BUT ALSO…: (different verbs)
“Not only did he fail to report the accident but HE also
denied that he was driving”
NEITHER…NOR…: (double inversion)
“He didn’t report the accident NOR did he admit that he was
driving”
“Neither did he report the accident nor did he admit he was
driving”

With pro-forms:
SO…: “I’m going home” “SO I AM”
NEITHER/NOR…: “I don’t like meat” “NEITHER/NOR DO I”

Affirmative sentences:
WITH DIFFERENT VERB PHRASES – SAME SUBJECT
The government should bring down inflation. The
government should increase security as well.
“Not only should the government bring down inflation but
also it should increase security”

WITH DIFFERENT VERB PHRASES – SAME SUBJECT

The trade unions won’t make any concessions. The trade
unions won’t support the new legislation
Option1: “The trade unions won’t make any concessions nor
WILL they support the new legislation”
Option2: “Neither will the trade unions make any
concessions nor will they support the new legislation”

SAME VERB PHRASE – DIFFERENT SUBJECTS

I don’t approve of smoking in public places. Most people
don’t approve of this either”
“I don’t approve of smoking in public places nor do most
people”

With “as”
AS: We were short of money, as were most people in our
neighbourhood

FOR A MOMENT : NOT FOR ONE MOMENT

Sentences in the original WITHOUT adverbs: LITTLE
NEVER: NEVER (No “not”)
In few cases=in vain
Not often: not often – often: seldom
Today: only today
COORDINATION The joining of constituents of the same
type (clauses/phrases) by coordinating
conjunctions or coordinators. This is
called “parallel structures”.
Coordination implies elements of
equal syntactic status.

TWO TYPES OF COORDINATORS

Single-word coordinators: and, but, so, for, yet

Multiword or correlative coordinator:

either…or; neither…nor; both…and; not
only…but also

Coordinate conjunctions can be used to connect two

independent clauses

Clauses joined by coordination: MAIN CLAUSES

Subordination joins: MAIN CLAUSE + SUBORDINATE CLAUSE

COMPOUND SENTENCES: sentences that have coordinated

clauses
COMPLEX SENTENCES: sentence that has 1 or + subordinate
clauses functioning as an element functioning as an element
of the sentence.
COMPOUND-COMPLEX SENTENCES: sentences that have
both coordinated and subordinated clauses
SUBORDINATION A subordinate clause is dependent on the main clause or in
another subordinate clause. It can’t form a whole sentence
itself.
Subordination is ASSYMETRICAL RELATION. The sentence and
its subordinate are in HYPOTATIC RELATIONSHIP which
means they form a hierarchy in which the subordinate clause
is a CONSTITUENT OF THE SENTENCE AS A WHOLE.

Subordination enable us to construct a multiple hierarchy of

clauses, sometimes resulting in extremely involved sentences

Subordinate clauses are typically introduced by a class of

words known as SUBORDINATORS, which are the most
important formal device of subordination for finite clauses
and indicate the semantic relationship between the
subordinate clause and the clause it is dependent on.

SUBORDINATORS may be classified into:

SIMPLE SUBORDINATORS: after, because, if,

although, that

COMPLEX SUBORDINATORS: in order that;

so…that; no matter what; as if; as long as;
even if.
 Adverbial clauses act as modifiers in/of the
ADVERBIAL CLAUSES CLASSIFICATION main clause. They specify circumstances
such as manner, place, time, contrast,
reason, result, condition, etc.

ADVERBIAL Events in the main clause occur earlier

CLAUSES than/simultaneously with/later than events in the
OF TIME adverbial clause. They may be placed before or
after the main clause.

Neutral position: after main clause.

-If the emphasis is on the info. Provided by the
subordinate clause, this is fronted.
-Main clause after the subordinate clause MUST BE
SEPARATED BY A COMMA.

Introduced by the subordinating conjunctions:

AFTER; BEFORE; SINCE; (UN)TILL; WHEN;
WHENEVER; WHILE; AS; AS SOON AS; ONCE; BY THE
TIME; DURING THE TIME; IMMEDIATELY AFTER; AS
LONG AS; THE MOMENT.
“Keep the book for you as long as you need it”
NO SOONER…THAN; SCARCELY…WHEN;
HARDLY…WHEN; BARELY…WHEN.
“She had no sooner switched off the tv than there
was a explotion”

EVERSINCE: “from that time in the past to the present”. Mark the beginning of a
period of timecontinuing until now/then. Used to introduce a fact. The main clause
is the result of this fact
WHEN: at that time. In future sentences, we use the present tense in the time clause.
WHENEVER: any time, every time. Present if the main clause is in the present.
WHILE – AS: express a continuous action. “during that period of time”
(UN)TILL: mark the end point of a period of time. They are associated with a verb
denoting an action or lack of action which can continue during the period ending at
that point.
 Sequence Present tense in the main clause + present tense in the
of tenses time clause.
“I usually come to school by bus when it rains”

Past time reference: past tense used in both clauses.

Wide range of combination of past tenses and
subordinating conjunctions according to the meaning.
“I met Sally when I crossed the street”
I was crossing the street
I had crossed the street
“She was reading while he was watching tv”
“I have travelled twice to Paris since I moved here”

Future time reference: future indicated in the main

clause by the simple future or Imperative mood but NOT
in the subordinate clause: this takes Simple Present or
Present Perfect according to the meaning
“He will attend the meeting when he has finished lunch”
“Don’t talk to me until you apologise to your mother”

ADVERBIAL
CLAUSES Answer the ? “where?”.
OF PLACE The subordinate clause usually comes after the main
clause, especially the “where” clauses.
“She went where she had been told to go”

Can be introduced by the subordinating conjunctions:

“where”, “wherever”, “anywhere”, “everywhere”.

ADVERBIAL
Answer the ? “how?”. Normally they come after the main
CLAUSES
clause.
OF
“He behaved as if he were/was a fool”
MANNER
“He reacted just as I expected him to do it”

Can be introduced by: “as”, “as if”, “just as”, “as though”

AS IF/ AS THOUGH:
-After verbs: ACT, BEHAVE, FEEL, LOOK, SOUND, SPEAK
-When marking an assumption based on what we can see/hear
-The verb after as if/ as though can go in: Simple Present, Present Progressive, Present Perfect,
Present Perfect Progressive, Future Form
-When making a comparison the verb after as if/ as though can go in: Simple Past, Past
Progressive, Past Subjuctive, Past Perfect.
ADVERBIAL State why sth is the case. Answer the ? “why?”.
CLAUSES OF Before AS and SINCE we need to place a comma.
CAUSE OR Otherwise, it can be an adverbial clause of time or
REASON result. The sentence is wrong if it is not placed.
“As he is working hard, he is likely to succeed”

Introduced by the subordinating conjunctions:

“because”, “since” (= in consequence of the fact that),
“as”, “seeing that” (= in a view of the fact that),
“considering that”, “now that”

ADVERBIAL
CLAUSES State the result of a situation. Introduced by the correlative
OF RESULT subordinating conjunction “so…that” and “such…that” in:

…so + adjective/adverb + that …

So + “The film was so boring that I got asleep”
Adjective
Adverb …so + much/little + uncountable noun + that …
Quantifier “There was so much noise that I couldn’t concentrate”

Such +
Noun phrase
Noun …so + many/few + plural countable noun + that …
Quantifier+noun
“She made so many mistakes that she failed the exam”

…such (a lot/a few/a) (adjective) + noun + that …

“She has such a lot of money that she can buy whatever
she wants”

ADVERBIAL Show why people do things or what their intention is. Finite
CLAUSE OF purpose clauses introduced by the subordinating
PURPOSE conjunctions “so that” and “in order that” + modal auxiliary
(can, may, will). Sentences about the past: (might, would,
could).
-There must be a conjugated verb.
WRONG: She studied hard in order to pass the exam
It should be: “She studied hard so that she can pass the
exam”.
-Imperative mood: “Keep quiet so that you can listen to him”
-Past tenses are sometimes used to refer to the future after
“so that”/”in order that”: “Send the letter express so that
she gets it before Tuesday”
 ADVERBIAL Indicate that the situation in the main clause is contrary
CLAUSES OF to expectation in the light of what is said in the
CONTRAST concessive clause. They link statements which contrast
OR with one another expressing sth unexpected.
CONCESSION
The most typical subordinators: “though”(more frequent,
informal, used as a conjunct coming at the end of the
sentence) and “although”(more formal)
Although: in front position after the main clause
“Although I like olives, I don’t eat them”
-When these subordinators are used with a subordinate
clause before a main clause, the meaning is “INSPITE OF THE
FACT THAT”.
-When used to introduce a clause following a main clause the
meaning: “BUT IS ALSO TRUE THAT”

“Though” and “however” can work as a subordiating

conjunction or as a coordinate conjunction.
COMMA used -When used as SUBORDINATED introduced adverbial
only if you front clauses of contrast/concession
the “Though he tried to convince her to tell her father the
subordinating truth, he couldn’t”
conjuction “Difficult though it was, they finally managed to reach a
compromise” (adjective fronted for the sake of emphasis)
EVEN THOUGH: used to emphasize the idea of contrast and
implies “in that as well as every other circumstance”.
Though not normally replaced by “although” after “even”
“Even though she studied hard, she couldn’t pass the
exam”
“However WELL they played, they couldn’t win the match”
“Jonh didn’t pass the exam however HARD he studied”
-When used as COORDINATED they link one sentence to
another.
“We were in the same class for years; I never knew him
well, though”
“They played very well; however, they couldn’t win the
match”
 Other subordinating conj. to express contrast/concession:
“Whereas” and “while” to show direct opposition; one is
exactly the opposite of the other.
“WHILE”: more restricted than “although”/”though”. It may
relate clauses in which the contrast is muted (concessive
relationship)
“George likes playing tennis very much, while his wife hates
it”
“While I don’t really like modern art, I find his work
impressive”
ALWAYS “WHEREAS”: the most restricted of all the subordinators,
COMMA BEFORE requiring antithesis between 2 situations. Whether the
WHILE AND dependent clause appears in 1st or 2nd position, we place a
WHEREAS BC comma between the contrast clauses.
MAKE THE “Ron is a playboy, whereas his brother is a good student”
DIFFERENCE “Whereas the people want freedom, the government wants
BETWEEN TIME suppression of human rights”
AND CONTRAST. -“AS”; “MUCH AS”; “HOWEVER”; “NO MATTER WHAT/HOW”
EVEN IF THE ADJ/ADV + AS:“Good as he is, he couldn’t pass the law exam”
ORDER IS (as can be: time, manner, concession and reason)
CHANGED. MUCH AS=ALTHOUGH: “Much as Charles would like to visit
Paris, his tight schedule will make it impossible”
HOWEVER + QUANTIFIER + NOUN PHRASE: “However many
pictures he painted, he went on painting more”
HOWEVER + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB + NOUN PHRASE: “However
hard working he is, he will never be top of his class”
NO MATTER HOW + ADJECTIVE/ADVERB: “No matter how
clever you are, you won’t solve this puzzle”
NO MATTER WHAT + NOUN: “No matter what measures are
taken, there will be people who overreact”
NO MATTER WHAT + SUBJECT + VERB: “No matter what she
does, she won’t succeed”

Often called “IF CLAUSES”. They follow conditional sentence

ADVERBIAL patterns. Tell us under what condition sth will happen/be true.
CLAUSES OF If the condition (expressed in the subordinate clause) is not
CONDITION
true, the result will not be true.

Introduced by the subordinated conjunctions:

“IF”: “If we win, we will celebrate”
“UNLESS”: (negative meaning) “Unless he hurries up, he won’t
be in time”
“PROVIDED THAT”: “Provided that she saved money, she could
buy a car”
“AS LONG AS” and “ONLY IF”
 ADVERBIAL Talk about things that may possibly happen and is
CLAUSES introduced by the subordinating conjuction “in case”.
OF Used to talk about precautions. It shows that an
CONTINGENCY action is taken bc of sth else that might happen.
“Take an umbrella in case it rains”

DIFFERENCE IN MEANING:
“Take an umbrella if it rains”: take it only if it rains, if it doesn’t he won’t take it.
“Take an umbrella in case it rains”: take it just in case it rains (precaution).
Wants to be ready for a future action.
 RELATIVE CLAUSES A clause that describes a noun. Used to identify or give
information about nouns (people, places or things)
which works as the antecedents. In most cases, it
directly follows the noun it is describing.
Such information may be essential or non essential for
the meaning of the sentence.

INTRODUCED BY
WHO: refer to a personal antecedent
“Daniel, who is my brother, studies French”
RELATIVE WHOM: personal antecedent
PRONOUNS “Daniel, whom I give the news about John’s car
accident, got very sad”
WHICH: non personal antecedent
“This book, which I bought in London, will help
WHEN THE CLAUSE IS you a lot”
INTRODUCED BY THE RELATIVE THAT: personal and non personal
DETERMINER “WHOSE” OR THE antecedents
RELATIVE ADVERBS “WHERE” “This is the book I’ve been looking for all week”
”WHEN” ”WHY” YOU DON’T HAVE
TO SPECIFY THEIR FUNCTION
WHERE:
RELATIVE “The house where I live is my father’s”
ADVERBS WHEN:
“That was the day when the war
WHOSE: possessive determiner
that can be used with started”
personal/non-personal WHY: (only DEFINING relative clauses)
antecedents in defining/non- “Nobody knows the reason why she
defining relative clauses. We use it
to replace possessive decided to quit her job”
adjectives/determiners. THE USE
OF WHOSE USUALLY IMPLIES
CHANGES IN WORD ORDER IN
THE SECOND SENTENCE WHOSE:
RELATIVE “Sam, whose best friend lives in Paris,
DETERMINER
is travelling to France today”

-With PLACE ADJUNCTS the preposition must be expressed:

“This is the garden that he sunbathes in”
-With TIME ADJUNCTS the omission of the preposition is usual whether the pronoun is THAT
or if it is OMITTED:
“This is the time (that) he usually arrives (at)”
-With CAUSE and MANNER ADJUNCTS the usual pronoun is “that” or omitted, and THERE IS
NO PREPOSITION.
“This is the way (that) he did it”
But: With MANNER ADJUNCTS is possible to find “which” with a preposition in formal style
“This is the way in which he did it”
 CLASSIFICATION OF RELATIVE CLAUSES

DEFINING Gives information that is necessary to identify or limit the noun

RELATIVE it describes. It can’t be omitted as this could obscure the
CLAUSES meaning of the main clause and it is not placed between
commas.
These sentences post modify the preceding noun phrase or are
part of it, for this reason they are also called “adjectival clauses”
“People who steal are thieves”

NONDEFINING
RELATIVE Adds extra information to the main clause, the main idea of
CLAUSES the sentence is complete without it. It can be omitted without
causing confusion or changing the meaning of the main clause
and must be separated from the main clause by commas.
In spoken: A relative clause that describes a unique person or place is
NONDEFINING are always non defining.
spoken with separate It doesn’t define or restrict which person, thing or event the
intonation contour, writer means but adds extra information about a person or
whereas DEFINING are thing that has already been identified.
bound to their “My father, who lives in Puerto Rico, works as a doctor”
antecedent

We use non-defining relative clauses mainly in the following

PROPER NOUNS AS
ANTECEDENTS: when the cases:
antecedent is a proper PROPER NOUNS: “Mr Lawrence, whose daughter graduated
noun or a noun with very
from university last year, is retiring”
specific reference clauses
are ALWAYS NONDEFINING VERY SPECIFIC REFERENT: “My father, who is 40 years old,
works in a shoe factory”
ALL THE MEMBERS OF A GROUP: “The students of grammar,
who passed the exam, threw a party”

1st step: identify the 2 noun phrases 3rd step: decide

-The 1st noun phrase becomes the antecedent -If the clause is defining the antecedent. If it is a defining
that must be followed by the relative clause relative clause don’t use commas. Decide if the pronoun
-The 2nd noun phrase has to be replaced by a can be omitted (when the pronoun functions as object or
relative pronoun, determiner or adverb. The complement)
function this noun phrase has is the function -If the clause is not defining the antecedent because it is:
the relative will have in the subordinate *a proper noun
clause. *a noun with very specific reference
*a noun followed by a quantifier, ordinal number or
superlative adj + an –of construction
2nd step: move the 2nd sentence without any change
except for the use of a relative and place it immediately -MUST BE BETWEEN COMMAS
after the antecedent. Don’t change from active to -THE PRONOUN CAN NEVER BE DROPPED IN
passive, in a limited number of cases some changes in NONDEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES
word order may be necessary - “THAT” CAN NEVER BE USED IN NONDEFINING
 FUNCTIONS IN A RELATIVE CLAUSE

SUBJECT: subject pronouns can’t be omitted

“Children who eat a lot of candy can get sick” (defining)
“Bariloche, which is in Argentina, is a marvellous place” (non defining)

DIRECT OBJECT:
“These are the documents which she needs” (defining)
“Your parent, whom you love, are going to help you” (non defining)

INDIRECT OBJECT:
“The man to whom you were giving the books is my English teacher”
“The man who you were giving the books to is my English teacher”

PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT:
“The country from which I come has many economic problems”
“The country which/that I come from has many economic problems”

SENTENTIAL RELATIVE CLAUSES: a special class of non

defining relative clauses that refers back to the
CONTACT CLAUSES: a relative clause lacking predicate, the whole clause or to a series of
any subordinator. The omission of the sentences. They are separated by intonation or
subordinator is frequent in OBJECT position punctuation from their antecedent.
in defining relative clauses. Introduced by the relative word “which”.
“I’ve just read the letter I received yesterday” (Od) -Which as pronoun:
“The woman I bought this present for is my wife” (Oi) “He failed the exam, which surprised us”
“This is the pen I signed the document with” (Cprep) -Which as a relative determiner of general abstract
nouns (fact, case, event, situation) or specific verbal
nouns (failure, claim)
“The plain may be late, in which case there is no point in our
(non) defining relative clause,
waiting”
introduced by the relative
-The relative determiner “which” may be found with
pronoun/adverb/determiner “…”. The
prepositions other than “in”: from, on
function of the PRONOUN is… “They were under water for several hours, from which
experience they emerged unharmed”
“The speaker assured the audience that the party would win the
election, on which optimistic note the meeting ended”
The relative pronoun “which” may be a Cprep:
“He shouted at her, of which he repented later on”
*The relative pronoun which usually functions as
subject.
*Before the relative clause there must be a comma.
 QUANTIFIERS
most, many, a few, all, neither, both, WHOM + VERB
the majority, half
“I have two cousins, neither of whom are
NOMINAL boys” OF WHICH + VERB
ANTECEDENT
ORDINAL NUMBERS
the first, the second, the last WHOSE + NOUN + VERB
“Several accountants arrived for the
interview, the last of whom was really late”

ADJ IN SUPERLATIVE DEGREE

the youngest, the most beautiful
“There were many applicants, the youngest
of whom was 18”

The choice of the relative pronouns

“That” CAN’T be used in NON-DEFINING relative clauses. We should use

“who” (for personal antecedents) or “which” (for nonpersonal antecedents)
“Puerto Rico, which is an island, has a tropical climate”
“My father, who lives in Puerto Rico, works as a doctor”

“That” can NEVER be preceded by a preposition. The preposition may be

relegated to the end. A preposition can precede “who” or “which”.
“The house in which I live is near my school”
“The house that I live in is near my school”

“That” as SUBJECT after:

-something and anything “She told me sth that hurt my feelings”
-all, little, much, one and none as PRONOUNS “These walls are all that remain of the
city”
-noun phrases that include superlative “She is the most intelligent person that has
ever worked here”
“WHO” when all refers to a personal antecedent “I phoned all who agree to come”

“That” or omission as OBJECT:

-Something and anything “This is the one (that) I’ve decided to read”
-Noun phrases with superlatives “She is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met”
“WHOSE” substitutes for his/her/it/their/possessive form of the noun.
CAN’T be omitted from the sentence. It is said to be a relative determiner bc
it always precedes a noun and modifies it.
We use whose + noun in written/academic English to talk about sth
belonging to or associated with a person/ animal/ plant/ town/ country/
organization/”belonging to” relationships.
“A student whose homework has a lot of mistakes should do it over”

WHOM (formal) or WHO can be used as OBJECTS.

“Professor Johnson, who(m) I have long admired, is to visit us next week”

“That” is preferred in sentences with NON PERSONAL antecedents when the

antecedent is modified by
-An ordinal number “The second train that arrives at platform 3 will be the express”
-A determiner such as last, next, only “That is the only book that the students have
consulted”
“WHO” is preferred with a PERSONAL antecedent “He was the last student who
participated in the conference”

“That” or omission OBLIGATORY when the antecedent (personal or non

personal) and the pronoun are SUBJECT COMPLEMENT of the verb TO BE
“He is not the man (that) he used to be”
-In other cases only the antecedent is SUBJECT COMPLEMENT of the verb to
be and the pronoun is SUBJECT
“That” for NON PERSONAL antecedents “It is a book that will be very popular”
“WHO” for PERSONAL antecedents “Was he the man who spoke to you?”

COLLECTIVE NOUN as antecedent: consider it as denoting an entity or a

number of individuals and should treat it as singular or plural accordingly.
We use “WHICH” when it is considered as a singular thing, thinking of it as a
whole. “Our association, which has consistently pressed for greater employment
opportunities for the disabled, will publish ITS proposal in the future”
We use “WHO” when it is considered as personal (plural), thinking of it as a
number of people. “England’s team, who are now superbly fit, will be doing THEIR best
next week to revenge themselves for last year’s defeat”
The choice of pronoun depends on which particular idea is intended, ensure
that any other pronouns that occur in the sentence are singular/plural in
agreement with the relative pronoun
THE USE OF PREPOSITIONS IN RELATIVE CLAUSES

FORMAL
STYLES NOUN + OF WHICH preferred to whose+noun when we talk about
things
“A huge amount of oil was spilled, the effects of which are still being felt”

“WHOSE” can come after a preposition in a relative clause. More

natural to put the preposition at the end of the clause in less
formal context.
“The council is in discussion with Lord Thomas, ON whose land most of the
village is built.”

Preposition needed with “WHICH” and ”WHOM” we put it before

the relative pronoun
“The rate AT which a material heats up depends on its chemical composition”

All, both, each, many, most, neither, none, part, some, several, a number (one, the 1st)
and superlatives + OF WHICH, OF WHOM, OF WHOSE: to add information about part
of sth or about an individual from a group mentioned
“Sandra has seven children, three of whom are doctors”
“We saw the photographs, one of which was taken at night”
“We entered the classroom, some of whose furniture was quite old”
NOUN Introduced by the subordinating conjunction
CLAUSES THAT CLAUSES “that” which can be omitted in come cases.
That clauses can fulfill some of the functions

functions
of a NP

SUBJECT:
“That the driver could not control his car is obvious”
The conjunction THAT is obligatory when the clause is
subject.

EXTRAPOSED SUBJECT:
“It is obvious (that) you lied to me”
The conjunction THAT can be omitted

DIRECT OBJECT:
-When the clause is object and comes after its verb
“THAT” is optional.
“Everybody could see (that) he was terrified”
-In short sentences we can omit THAT, but in long
sentences when the “that-clause” is separated from
the verb of which it is the object or when there’s more
than 1 subordinate clause THAT is obligatory
“Everybody could see what was happening and that he
was terrified”
-THAT clause can come before the clause it depends
on and it is obligatory
“That George was terrified, I can’t believe”

REAL DIRECT OBJECT:

“He doesn’t like it that she still smokes”
What he doesn’t like IS that she still smokes
Can be omitted

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:
“The truth is (that) he is very shy”
THAT can be omitted. Always with a linking verb

ADJECTIVAL COMPLEMENT:
Adjectives that refer to personal feelings or states of the
mind: afraid, certain, delighted, glad, interested, pleased,
satisfied, surprised + preposition + NP or followed by
“THAT-clause“ but the preposition is omitted.
THAT is optional
“I’m afraid (that) the house will catch fire”
 APPOSITIVE:
May be in apposition to a NOUN: fact, truth,
explanation, reason, idea, theory.
THAT can be omitted in: -Restrictive: essential to complete the meaning of the
-Extraposed subject sentence, we can’t omit them. NOT in between
-Object after its verb in commas.
short sentences “The explanation (that) she was Chinese is irrelevant”
-Subject Complement -Non-restrictive: not essential to complete the
-Appositive Restrictive meaning of the sentence. Between commas. That can
-Adjectival Complement be omitted.
“The hard truth, that they had spent all their money,
was a great shock”

COMMENT They are parenthetical adjuncts or ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

CLAUSES
May occur initially, medially or finally. End position is
restricted to informal speech
They make a
comment on what They don’t add so much to the information in a
the speaker says. sentences as a comment on its truth, the manner of
Short sentences. saying it, or the attitude of the speaker
THAT is obligatory.
-Analysis:
Usually marked off from the other clauses (in written) by
“ADVERBIAL
commas, and in speech by having a separate tone unit
CLAUSE
COMMENT
CLAUSE” The most frequent type of comment clauses is probably
that of finite clauses without any introductory word as in:

“There were no other applicants for that job, I think”

“As you probably know, Madrid is the capital of Spain”
NOUN WH Used when there’s a gap of information; some
CLAUSES INTERROGATIVE information that is missing. Introduced by WH
CLAUSES QUESTION WORDS
The clause has syntactic functions similar to a NP

functions SUBJECT:
“What caused the accident is unknown”
“Who came first is not clear”
“When she is coming back is unknown”
“Where she is living now is uncertain”

EXTRAPOSED SUBJECT:
A clause beginning with “IT”
“IT is a complete mystery what caused the accident”
“IT is not clear who came first”
“IT is unknown when she is coming back”
“IT is uncertain where she is living now”

DIRECT OBJECT:
“Nobody knows what caused the accident”
Object can come in front position, before the main
clause
“What you really mean, I can’t guess” (comma)

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:
Always with linking verbs
“The question is what caused the accident”
“The problem seems to be who will take care of him”

PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT:
The preposition is not part of the noun clause, it
belongs to the main clause (don’t transcribe it).
“It depends on what caused the accident”

ADJECTIVAL COMPLEMENT:
The adjective is not part of the noun clause
“They are not certain who killed George’s wife”

APPOSITIVE:
The only possibility: in between commas.
“My doubt, who will take care of my pets, still
remains”
 YES/NO Direct yes/no questions have NO wh question
INTERROGATIVE words and the gap of information is filled in
CLAUSES indirect questions by using the SUBORDINATING
CONJUNCTIONS “if” or “whether”

SUBJECT:
“Whether we will be able to help you is a difficult
question”

EXTRAPOSED SUBJECT:
“IT is a difficult question whether/if we will be able to
help you”

DIRECT OBJECT:
“We don’t know if/whether we will be able to help you”

SUBJECT COMPLEMENT:
“The question is whether we will be able to help you”

ADJECTIVAL COMPLEMENT:
“It is doubtful whether we will be able to help you”

PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT:
“It depends on whether we will have enough money”

APPOSITIVE: (between commas)

“Our doubt, whether George killed his wife, is still
present in our minds”

“If” CAN’T be used in:

-Subject
-Subject Complement “If” can only be used in:
-Adjectival Complement -Extraposed subject
-Prepositional Complement -Direct Object
-Appositive

“whether” can be used with all the functions

 NOMINAL RELATIVE CLAUSES Resemble WH interrogative clauses in that they are
introduced by WH pronouns, adverbs or determiners.

THE HEAD NOUN

DELETION RULE: There is NO missing information and this is the
Consists on deleting the main difference with WH INTERROGATIVE clauses
head noun where the use
of both the head noun and
the relative adverb is They have NO written antecedent and this is the
redundant. It is called main difference with RELATIVE clauses
“FREE RELATIVE” bc it
allows a relative clause to
exist without a head noun They are a special type of NOUN CLAUSES
in the surface structure.
“She knows (the time) when
we are meeting”. They are more like NP bc they can be concrete,
FUNCTIONS

Also occurs in the absense

abstract and refer to persons.
of any adverbial
phrase/clause when the
head noun works as: They are basically NP modified by a relative clause,
SUBJECT, OBJECT or except its wh-element is fused with its antecedent.
PREDICATE NOUN The antecedent is OMITTED since it is IMPLICIT
“The new teacher is just (the
person) WHO we are looking
for” FREE RELATIVE CLAUSES: have no head noun in the main clause.
-They are the result of the head noun deletion rule that allows
WHO or WHAT to replace a noun or a relative pronoun in
SUBJECT, OBJECT or PREDICATE POSITION

SUBJECT:
“(What he is looking for) is a new job”/ “(Whoever wrote this book is a genius)”

EXTRAPOSED SUBJECT:
“It is a wonderful idea what you want to do now”

INDIRECT OBJECT:
“He told the truth to whoever asked”

DIRECT OBJECT:
“I want to check what you have done”

OBJECT COMPLEMENT:
“You can say it whatever it is”

APPOSITIVE: non-restrictive
“Let us know your college address: where you live”

PREPOSITIONAL COMPLEMENT:
“I’m happy with what I am”
THE EXPRESSION OF HYPOTHETICAL MEANINGS

A good handling of conditionals involves proper knowledge of

embedding, proficient command of tense forms to mark potential
subsequence of possible or impossible events and a good gasp of modal
auxiliaries’ uses.

The verb phrase is the most important feature

Many traditional and oversimplified explanations on conditionals are untrue

as they are based on misguided assumptions and likely to confuse rather
than help

Conditionals don’t constitute a class apart.

They are considered to be one type of adverbial clauses with all the
characteristics inherent in this kind of clauses. Conditional sentences are
sentences that express a condition and the result of the condition

The most common type

of conditional clauses THE IF CLAUSE
has 2 clauses (contains a
proposition known
as “condition” or
“protasis”) The
conditional
sentence has
THE RESULT CLAUSE
the meaning:
(also called
If X occurs,
apodosis)
then Y occurs
Contains a
proposition stating
what happens if the
condition is fulfilled If Alice’s boyfriend
doesn’t tell her the
truth, she won’t forgive
him

Cowan: in spoken English no preference for

the result clause or the if clause to be placed
in initial position
In written, tendency for if clauses to occur
first
 Conditional clauses are introduced by subordinating conjunctions:
IF, PROVIDED THAT, AS LONG AS, PROVIDING THAT, ASSUMING
THAT, SUPPOSE THAT, SUPPOSING THAT, UNLESS, EVEN IF, ON
CONDITION THAT, BUT FOR + ING.

When the IF clause PRECEDES the main clause we separate the 2

clauses with a comma
If you are ill, you must stay in bed
You must stay in bed if you are ill

OTHER SUBORDINATING CONJUCTIONS THAT HAVE SIMILAR MEANINGS:

-UNLESS: used in the real conditional pattern with the meaning “if not” or “except
if”. The verb after “unless” refers to the future but is in PRESENT FORM. Used to
talk about the only thing that could stop sth from happening or being true
“Unless you help me, I won’t be able to do it”
According to Hewings: “unless” can be used in unreal conditional when the main
clause is negative: “She wouldn’t have gone to university unless her parents had
insisted” PAST TIME RESTRICTION
Negative: inherent in the meaning of unless
PRESENT + FUTURE
PAST TIME REFERENCE: RESTRICTION: VERB IN THE MAIN CLAUSE: NEGATIVE
FORM
Although “unless” is close in meaning to “if not” we can’t always use it as an
alternative to “if not”
-EVEN IF: can be an adverbial clause of contrast or concession. It adds the idea of
contrast (combination of condition + contrast). Shows that the condition doesn’t
affect the result. Used to talk about possibility which doesn’t affect or make any
difference to what is stated in the other part of sentence. Also used in all the
patterns for conditionals used with “if” and with every appropriate verb tense to
talk about the consequence of facts
“Even if she apologizes, I won’t forgive her”
-PROVIDED THAT; PROVIDING THAT; AS LONG AS: used to talk about sth that must
happen or be true in order for the other part of the sentence to happen/be true.
Used in the conditional clause with any tense
“As long as you leave before 3, you’ll catch the plane”
“Provided/Providing that you have followed my instructions, everything will be fine”
-ON CONDITION THAT: requires a human agent
“I’ll let you drive on condition you have a valid license”
-BUT FOR + ING/NOUN (ing can work as a noun; for: prep followed by ing); SUPPOSING; IF ONLY:
“But for the rain, we wouldn’t have arrived in time”: inanimate, nominalized the
action/verb and the use of the noun. INVERSION
“Only if you confess, will she forgive you” INVERSION
“Supposing I trained a lot, could I participate in the competition?”
 SUPPOSE: when referring to imaginary/unreal situations it can be
followed either by SIMPLE PAST (present situations) or PAST
PERFECT (past situations)
-SIMPLE PRESENT (situation that might happen in the future or
suggestion)
“Suppose you missed the bus, what would you do?”
“Suppose you had missed the bus, what would you have done?”
“Suppose she is on holiday; how can we contact her?”

CLASSIFICATION OF CONDITIONALS
AND MEANINGS IMPLIED

REAL GENERIC FACTUAL CONDITIONALS:

CONDITIONALS Express a fact that appears to be a scientific truth.
The if clause specifies general conditions in which
the phenomena described in the result clause will
occur. Statements of universal truth or general
The condition and validity, relationships that are true and unchanging.
the result can be Statements in this form appear in scientific and
fulfilled technical material. Because of their unchanging true
value, they normally take a simple present tense in
both clauses (one of the uses of present tense)
“If oil is mixed with water, it floats”

HABITUAL FACTUAL CONDITIONALS: implies a habit.

Situations or events in the present or past. They look
like generic factual in that they also express a
relationship that is NOT bounded in time. Based on
habit instead of physical law. Frequent in
conversation.
Don’t need to use an adverb of frequency.
Modals: central role when we talk about conditionals
“If I make a promise, I keep it” (generic factual, it may
change)
“If I made a promise, I kept it” (whenever I made, I kept it)
“If he had business in Baltimore, he stayed in the
Hyatt” (whenever he went, he stayed)
“If he had business in Baltimore, he would stay in the
Hyatt” (would implies habit, means “used to”, shows past habit)
INFERENCE CONDITIONALS: drawing conclusions
based on some evidence/info I may have, infer sth,
logical conclusions. “If X, then Y follows”. Can be
about the present or the past, have more
possibilities for modals and tense-aspect
combinations than do generic or habitual
conditionals.
Factual conditionals that express an inference are
different from generic or habitual bc they express
inferences about specific time-bound relationships.
They make use of a wider range of tense and aspect
and occur with certain modal auxiliaries
“If that call is for me, it must be my wife”
will + will: negotiations (emphatic use)
“If you will bring some wine, I will bring some beer”

FUTURE CONDITIONALS: express predicted future

results of conditions, which are often but not
necessarily, in the future. May be about plans or
other contingencies.
Difference in meaning:
Present + simple future: prediction based on the
speaker’s beliefs
“If you don’t leave now, you’ll miss your plane”
Present + be going to: prediction based on evidence
“If we get more rain, the river is going to flood”
-In the typical future conditional, the if clause
expresses an event in the present and the verb is in
the simple present, but it is also possible to talk
about a future result that depends on sth that
happened in the past. in such cases the verb is in the
simple past or present perfect.
Past/present perfect (progressive) + future (will)
“If you have done a good job, you will get a rise”
“If you didn’t misbehave at school, you won’t be
punished”
-In some future conditionals an if clause in the simple
present and denoting a possible future event is
followed by an instruction, request, question or
suggestion (modals or imperative)
“if you meet Andrew tomorrow, please tell him I need
to talk to him”
“If he calls, what do I tell him?”
-SHOULD is sometimes used in the if clause instead
of the simple present
“Should you meet him, ignore him”
 HYPOTHETICAL CONDITIONALS: imagine a situation
UNREAL that is possible to happen. Express speculations about
CONDITIONAL imagined events or states in the present and future.
“If I should get enough money, I would buy that house”
Conditionals in It is a matter of meaning
which the They can also comment on the present events. The if
proposition in the if clause expresses a condition that is not real but, if
clause is an fulfilled, could result in the imaginary result of the
imagined condition following clause.
and the one in the “If the film weren’t so boring, I wouldn’t feel sleepy”
result clause is an Imaginary situations, wishes the result may be possible
imagined outcome.
They can express
past, present and COUNTERFACTUAL CONDITIONALS: impossible to
future. happen. Counterfactual conditionals about the past
Imaginary situation, talk about past events that didn’t obtain.
impossible to “If I were a bird, I could fly”
happen The tense sequence in counterfactual conditionals
about the past is:
past perfect + would have past participle
(if clause) (result clause)
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Other modals as could and might can occur in the
COUNTERFACTUAL AND result clause:
HYPOTHETICAL: “If you had left the party earlier, we might never have
Hypothetical: results can met”
be obtained Counterfactual conditionals about the past can express
Counterfactual: results speculations about possible states/situations in the
can’t be obtained present. The if clause describes an impossible present
state, so the speaker imagines and action he would
carry out if this impossible state were somehow to
become possible.
“If I were in your shoes, I would explain everything to
her” (impossible to happen)
Counterfactual conditionals can contain speculations
about present states that would or could have
resulted had past events been different:
“If you had passed your driving test, you could drive
now” (past + present – type3)
Conditionals about impossible present states: the verb
in the if clause has the same verb tense as in
counterfactuals about the past: the past perfect. In the
result clause is a modal + verb combination that
describes an impossible outcome in the present.
Past perfect + modal and verb
(if clause) (result clause)
 ELLIPSIS OF “IF” AND SUBJECT-AUXILIARY INVERSION

Ellipsis of “if” is possible in HYPOTHETICAL and COUNTERFACTUAL

conditionals sentences, provided the subject-auxiliary inversion
can also occur.
“If things should turn out badly, you could always try again”
“Should things turn out badly, you could always try again”

“If I had known you were here, I’d have stayed at home”
“Had I known you were here; I’d have stayed at home”

“If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t say anything”

“Were I in your shoes, I wouldn’t say anything”

“Adverbial clause of condition introduced by the subordinating

conjunction “if”, which has been omitted.”

Possible combinations of meanings, tenses and time reference

Main clause / Result clause
If-clause / Conditional clause
If he is as clever as you say (he is), He wouldn´t have reacted like that.
1 3
If he was/were as clever as you think (he is), He would have passed the exam.
If she caught her flight in time, she will be landing any moment now.
If you didn´t misbehave at school, you won´t be punished.
2 1 If she left an hour ago, she must/ should be at home now.
If she left at 8:30, she must / should be landing any moment now.
If she was sleeping all day, she will feel better now.
If Mozart were alive today, He would be writing music for the movies.
2 2
If you knew he was not coming, why didn´t you tell me?
If I were rich, I would have bought a new car.
2 3
If you paid more attention, you wouldn´t have made so many mistakes.
If she had finished earlier, she would be coming to the cinema with us.
3 2 If Alan hadn´t told me about the meeting, I wouldn´t be here now.
If you hadn´t been talking all the time, you would be able to do the exercises now.

I WISH/IF ONLY PAST TENSE: wish/regret about a present situation we want to be

different “I wish you worked more efficiently”

COULD + BARE INFINITIVE: wish/regret in the present concerning

lack of ability/possibility “I wish I could play the piano”

PAST PERFECT: express regret that sth happened or didn’t in the

past “I wish I hadn’t missed the class”

SUBJECT + WOULD + BARE INFINITIVE: express a wish for a future

change unlikely to happen or to express dissatisfaction; polite
request implying dissatisfaction or lack of hope
“I wish HE would drive more carefully”
THE USES OF “I RATHER” AND “I PREFER”

WOULD RATHER
WOULD AND THE
RATHER FOLLOWING
VERB SAME
SUBJECT

PRESENT/FUTURE time reference:

I’d rather + present bare infinitive
“I’d rather stay at home”
“I’d rather NOT stay at home”

PAST time reference:

I’d rather + perfect bare infinitive
“I’d rather have stayed at home last night”
“I’d rather NOT have stayed at home last night”

WOULD RATHER
AND THE
FOLLOWING
VERB DIFFERENT
SUBJECTS

PRESENT/FUTURE time reference:

I’d rather + sb + Simple Past
“I’d rather you studied harder”
“I’d rather you didn’t make noise”

PAST time reference:

I’d rather + sb + Past Perfect
“I’d rather you had told me the truth”
“I’d rather you hadn’t told me the truth”

WOULD RATHER + BARE INFINITIVE + THAN + BARE INFINITIVE

“I’d rather stay at home than go out”
“I’d rather be punished than hide the truth”
 I GENERAL
PREFER PREFERENCE PREFER + GERUND + TO + GERUND
“I prefer watching TV to going to the cinema”

PREFER + FULL INF + RATHER THAN + BARE INF

“I prefer to study rather than work”

SPECIFIC WOULD PREFER + FULL INF + RATHER THAN + BARE INF

PREFERENCE “I’d prefer to stay at home rather than stay in the
office”

IT’S (HIGH/ABOUT) TIME

IT’S HIGH/ABOUT TIME + SIMPLE PAST/ PAST PROGRESSIVE/PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

“It’s about time you stopped moping about the house and got a job”
“It’s time I was leaving/left”
“It’s high time you were more responsible at work”

HAD BETTER

Used to express a piece of advice or a recommendation

It has PRESENT/FUTURE time reference

HAD BETTER + BARE INFINITIVE

“You had better see a doctor if you’re not feeling well”
“You’d better stay at home if it is raining”