Comprehensive English Grammar: Reported Speech, Perfect Tenses, Modals, and Conditionals Explained

Reported Speech: Mastering Indirect Communication

Reported speech, also known as indirect speech, is used to convey what someone else said without directly quoting them. This section covers how to transform direct speech into reported speech for orders, commands, and questions.

Orders and Commands

When reporting orders or commands, we typically use a reporting verb followed by an infinitive construction.

Form:

• It tells you + to + infinitive
• It tells you + not to + infinitive

Examples:

• Direct: Computer: "Type 999."
  Reported: It tells you to type 999.
• Direct: Computer: "Don’t proceed."
  Reported: It tells you not to proceed.

Reported Questions

Unlike direct questions, reported questions do not use question marks and often follow a different word order. They are introduced by reporting verbs like "ask."

Form:

It asks you if / what, where, when, etc. + subject + verb

Examples:

• Direct: Computer: "Do you want to exit?"
  Reported: It asks if you want to exit.

Questions with Question Words:

• Direct: Peter: "What is your password?"
  Reported: It asks what your password is.

The Present Perfect Simple

The present perfect simple connects past actions or states to the present. It is formed using have/has + past participle.

Form:

We form the present perfect simple with: have/has + past participle

Examples:

• I’ve used Microsoft Access for years.
• I haven’t used Microsoft Access for years.

Uses of the Present Perfect Simple:

We use it to talk about:

• States that began in the past and continue up to the present.
  • Since 2006, I have been a computer operator for PromoPrint.
  • I have designed four programs in COBOL.
• Actions that began in the past and continue up to the present, with an emphasis on quantity.
  • I have written four programs in C++.
• Personal experiences with ever and never.
  • Have you ever worked with databases?
  • I have never worked with databases.

The Present Perfect Continuous

The present perfect continuous emphasizes the duration of an action that started in the past and continues into the present. It is formed using have/has + been + -ing.

Form:

We form the present perfect continuous with: have/has + been + -ing

Example:

• Since January, I’ve been writing programs in C.

Uses of the Present Perfect Continuous:

We use it for:

• Actions that began in the past and are still happening.
  • For the last 3 years, I’ve been working as a software engineer for Intelligent Software.
• Past actions that continue up to the present, with an emphasis on their duration.
  • She’s been working all morning.

Contrast with the Simple Past

Understanding the difference between the present perfect and the simple past is crucial. The simple past refers to completed actions at a specific time in the past.

We use the simple past to talk about events that occurred at a specific moment in the past and have already finished.

Examples:

• Present Perfect: Since 2006, I have been a computer operator for PromoPrint.
• Simple Past: I became a computer operator for PromoPrint in 2006.

Using For, Since, Ago, and Until

These time expressions are essential for specifying durations and points in time, especially with past and perfect tenses.

• We use for to refer to a period of time.
  • I’ve lived in Liverpool for five years.
• We use since to refer to a specific moment in time.
  • I’ve been unemployed since May 2005.
• We use ago with the simple past to indicate how long ago something happened.
  • I got married five years ago.
• We use until to talk about the moment something finished.
  • I stayed at high school until I was 18.

Will and Going To: Expressing Future Predictions

Both will and going to are used to talk about the future, but they often carry different nuances regarding certainty, plans, or spontaneous decisions.

Form:

• Will + infinitive
• Is/Are + going to + infinitive

We use will and is/are going to to make predictions about future events we are sure will happen.

Modal Verbs: Expressing Nuances of Meaning

Modal verbs add specific meanings like possibility, permission, ability, obligation, and advice to the main verb.

Possibility

Modals like can, could, may, and might express different degrees of possibility.

• You can/could use Adobe Flash to include interactive animations.
• You may like to insert songs, podcasts, etc.
• The price of Dreamweaver might go down next month.

Permission

Can, could, and may are used to ask for or give permission.

• Can/Could/May I use your mobile phone?

Ability

Can and could (for the past) express ability.

• They are looking for artists who can draw and design web pages.
• Could is the past tense of can.

Obligation and Necessity

Must, needn't, don't need to, and don't have to convey obligation or lack thereof.

• To see or hear all these files, you must have the right plug-in.
• ...you needn't learn HTML in order to write your own websites.
• Needn't, don't need to, and don't have to are used to express lack of necessity.

Advice

Should is commonly used to give advice or make recommendations.

• Before going live, you should check that all the links work.

Conditional Sentences: Exploring Hypothetical Situations

Conditional sentences describe a condition and its result. They are crucial for discussing possibilities, hypothetical events, and their consequences.

The First Conditional (for real, possible situations)

This conditional describes real and possible situations in the future.

Form:

If A happens, B will happen

(Present simple) (will + verb)

Example:

• If you like entertainment, you will love the latest multimedia video games.

The Second Conditional (for more hypothetical situations)

This conditional describes hypothetical or unlikely situations in the present or future.

Form:

If A happened, B would happen

(Past simple) (would + verb)

Example:

• If you wanted to make a video on your computer, first you would need to…