Mastering English Verb Tenses, Conditionals, Reported Speech, and Passive Voice

English Verb Tenses

Present Simple

Example: play / plays

• Hábitos y rutinas
• Hechos y verdades generales
• Situaciones permanentes
• Hechos o acciones programadas en un horario

Present Continuous

Example: am/is/are playing (Negative: isn't/aren't playing)

• Acciones que están ocurriendo cuando hablamos
• Acciones temporales que empezaron en el pasado y siguen ocurriendo
• Planes específicos para futuro cercano
• Acciones molestas y repetitivas (con 'always')

Past Simple

Example: played (Negative: didn't play, Question: did play?)

• Acciones que ocurrieron en un momento concreto del pasado
• Acciones consecutivas que ocurrieron en un momento concreto del pasado
• Una acción breve que ocurrió mientras estaba en proceso otra acción

Present Perfect Simple

Example: have/has played

• Acciones que empezaron en el pasado y continúan en el presente
• Experiencias del pasado sin referencia temporal concreta
• Consecuencias evidentes de acciones recientes

Past Perfect Simple

Example: had played

• Acciones que ocurrieron antes que otra acción en el pasado
• Uso con: by the time + Past Simple
• Uso con: already
• Uso con: before / after

Past Continuous

Example: was/were playing

• Acciones que estaban en proceso en un momento concreto del pasado
• Acciones en proceso que fueron interrumpidas por otra acción
• Descripciones en pasado
• Uso con: when + Past Simple, while + Past Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous

Example: have/has been playing

• Acciones prolongadas que empezaron en el pasado y puede que continúen en el futuro
• Acciones prolongadas recientemente acabadas, con consecuencias evidentes en el presente

Past Perfect Continuous

Example: had been playing

• Acciones prolongadas que estaban ocurriendo en el pasado antes de que ocurriera otra acción, también en pasado

Future Simple

Example: will play (Negative: won't play)

• Predicciones y opiniones sobre el futuro
• Ofrecimientos y promesas
• Decisiones espontáneas
• Acontecimientos futuros programados (menos común que Present Simple/Continuous para horarios)

Be Going To

Example: am/is/are going to play

• Predicciones basadas en hechos evidentes del presente
• Planes o intenciones
• Decisiones tomadas para el futuro (antes del momento de hablar)

Future Continuous

Example: will be playing

• Acciones que estarán en proceso en un momento concreto del futuro
• Preguntas (educadas) sobre planes para el futuro

Future Perfect

Example: will have played

• Acciones que habrán terminado en un momento concreto del futuro.

Other Grammar Points

Relative Pronouns

• who
• which
• whose
• where
• when

Modal Verbs

• Should
• Must
• Can
• Could
• Have to

Conditionals

Zero Conditional

Structure: If + Present Simple, ... Present Simple / Continuous

• Verdades universales o hechos científicos

Example: If you boil an egg, it goes hard.

First Conditional

Structure: If + Present Simple, ... will + infinitive

• Situaciones reales, posibles o probables en presente o futuro

Example: If you want to save the environment, recycle your rubbish.

Second Conditional

Structure: If + Past Simple, ... would/might/could + infinitive

• Situaciones hipotéticas o poco probables en presente o futuro

Example: If we used renewable energy, we would reduce carbon emissions.

Third Conditional

Structure: If + Past Perfect, ... would have + past participle

• Situaciones hipotéticas del pasado y sus posibles consecuencias (que no ocurrieron)

Example: If I had known about the floods, I would have stayed at home.

Reported Speech

Tense Changes

• Present Simple ('I always drink tea,' Bill said) becomes Past Simple (Bill said that he always drank tea).
• Present Continuous ('They are reading,' Kate said) becomes Past Continuous (Kate said that they were reading).
• Past Simple ('Pete arrived on Tuesday,' Jo said) becomes Past Perfect (Jo said that Pete had arrived on Tuesday).
• Present Perfect ('I've seen all her films,' Phil said) becomes Past Perfect (Phil said that he had seen all her films).
• Will ('I'll visit you soon,' Anna promised) becomes Would (Anna promised that she'd visit us soon).
• Can ('You can use my pen,' Jeff said) becomes Could (Jeff said that I could use his pen).
• May ('It may be a good idea,' Jill said) becomes Might (Jill said that it might be a good idea).

Pronouns and Possessive Adjectives

Example:

• Direct: 'Jake, please tell my parents I'll be late,' Susie said.
• Reported: Susie asked Jake to tell her parents she'd be late.

Demonstratives

Example:

• Direct: 'I hate this kind of music,' Jane said.
• Reported: Jane said that she hated that kind of music.

Time and Place Expressions

• now becomes then
• today becomes that day
• yesterday becomes the day before / the previous day
• tomorrow becomes the next day / the following day
• next week/month/year becomes the following week/month/year
• last week/month/year becomes the previous week/month/year
• ago becomes before
• here becomes there

Example (Place):

• Direct: 'People have dinner at midnight here,' said Laura.
• Reported: Laura said that people had dinner at midnight there.

Active vs. Passive Voice

Transformations

• Present Simple: make(s) → is/are made
• Present Continuous: is/are making → is/are being made
• Present Perfect: has/have made → has/have been made
• Past Simple: made → was/were made
• Past Continuous: was/were making → was/were being made
• Past Perfect: had made → had been made
• Future Simple: will make → will be made
• Future Continuous: will be making → will be being made (less common)
• Future Perfect: will have made → will have been made
• Modals (Present): can make → can be made
• Modals (Perfect): must have made → must have been made