英語語法英文講解時(shí)態(tài)條件狀語

PresentSimpleUse

PresentUses

1:Weusethepresentsimplewhensomethingisgenerallyoralwaystrue.

Peopleneedfood.

Itsnowsinwinterhere.

Twoandtwomakefour.

2:Similarly,weneedtousethistenseforasituationthatwethinkismoreorlesspermanent.(Seethepresentcontinuousfortemporarysituations.)

Wheredoyoulive

Sheworksinabank.

Idon'tlikemushrooms.

3:Thenextuseisforhabitsorthingsthatwedoregularly.Weoftenuseadverbsoffrequency(suchas'often','always'and'sometimes')inthiscase,aswellasexpressionslike'everySunday'or'twiceamonth'.(Seethepresentcontinuousfornew,temporaryorannoyinghabits).

Doyousmoke

IplaytenniseveryTuesday.

Idon'ttravelveryoften.

4:Wecanalsousethepresentsimpleforshortactionsthatarehappeningnow.Theactionsaresoshortthattheyarefinishedalmostassoonasyou'vesaidthesentence.Thisisoftenusedwithsportscommentary,orindemonstrations.

Hetakestheball,herunsdownthewing,andhescores!

FirstIputsomebutterinthepanandturnonthecooker.

FutureUses

5:Weusethepresentsimpletotalkaboutthefuturewhenwearediscussingatimetableorafixedplan.Usually,thetimetableisfixedbyanorganisation,notbyus.

Schoolbeginsatninetomorrow.

Whattimedoesthefilmstart

Theplanedoesn'tarriveatseven.Itarrivesatseventhirty.

6:Wealsousethepresentsimpletotalkaboutthefutureafterwordslike''when','until','after','before'and'assoonas'.Thesearesometimescalledsubordinateclausesoftime.

IwillcallyouwhenIhavetime.(Not'willhave'.)

Iwon'tgooutuntilitstopsraining.

I'mgoingtomakedinnerafterIwatchthenews.

ConditionalUses

7:Weusethepresentsimpleinthefirstandthezeroconditionals.(Seethe

conditionalssection

formoreinformation.)

Ifitrains,wewon'tcome.

Ifyouheatwaterto100degrees,itboils.

PresentContinuousUse

PresentUses

1:First,weusethepresentcontinuousforthingsthatarehappeningatthemomentofspeaking.Thesethingsusuallylastforquiteashorttimeandtheyarenotfinishedwhenwearetalkingaboutthem.

I'mworkingatthemoment.

Pleasecallbackasweareeatingdinnernow.

Julieissleeping.

2:Wecanalsousethistenseforotherkindsoftemporarysituations,eveniftheactionisn'thappeningatthismoment.

John'sworkinginabaruntilhefindsajobinhisfield.(Hemightnotbeworkingnow.)

I'mreadingareallygreatbook.(Imightnotbereadingnow)

She'sstayingwithherfriendforaweek.

Comparethiswiththepresentsimple,whichisusedforpermanentsituationsthatwefeelwillcontinueforalongtime.

Iworkinaschool.(Ithinkthisisapermanentsituation.)

I'mworkinginaschool.(Ithinkthisisatemporarysituation.)

3:Wecanusethepresentcontinuousfortemporaryornewhabits(fornormalhabitsthatcontinueforalongtime,weusethepresentsimple).Weoftenusethiswithexpressionslike'thesedays'or'atthemoment'.

He'seatingalotthesedays.

She'sswimmingeverymorning(shedidn'tusetodothis).

You'resmokingtoomuch.

4:Anotherpresentcontinuoususeisforhabitsthatarenotregular,butthathappenveryoften.Inthiscaseweusuallyuseanadverblike'always','forever'or'constantly'.Often,weusethepresentcontinuousinthiswaytotalkaboutanannoyinghabit.

You'reforeverlosingyourkeys!

She'sconstantlymissingthetrain.

Lucy'salwayssmiling!

FutureUses

5:Thenextuseisfordefinitefuturearrangements(withafuturetimeword).Inthiscasewehavealreadymadeaplanandweareprettysurethattheeventwillhappeninthefuture.

I'mmeetingmyfathertomorrow.

We'regoingtothebeachattheweekend.

I'mleavingatthree.

HowlongisshestayinginLondon

Wecan'tusethistense(oranyothercontinuoustense)withstativeverbs.

sheisworkingasawaitressforamonth.

PresentPerfectSimpleUse

Weusethistenseforunfinishedandfinishedactions.

UnfinishedActions

1:Weusethistensewhenwewanttotalkaboutunfinishedactionsorstatesorhabitsthatstartedinthepastandcontinuetothepresent.Usuallyweuseittosay'howlong'andweneed'since'or'for'.Weoftenusestativeverbs.

I'veknownKarensince1994.

She'slivedinLondonforthreeyears.

I'veworkedhereforsixmonths.

'Since'and'For'

Weuse'since'withafixedtimeinthepast(2004,April23rd,lastyear).Thefixedtimecanbeanotheraction,whichisinthepastsimple(sinceIwasatschool,sinceIarrived).

I'veknownSamsince1992.

I'velikedchocolatesinceIwasachild.

She'sbeenheresince2pm.

Weuse'for'withaperiodoftime(2hours,threeyears,sixmonths).

I'veknownJuliefortenyears.

I'vebeenhungryforhours.

She'shadacoldforaweek.

FinishedActions

2:Lifeexperience.Theseareactionsoreventsthathappenedsometimeduringaperson'slife.Wedon'tsaywhentheexperiencehappened,andthepersonneedstobealivenow.Weoftenusethewords'ever'and'never'here.

IhavebeentoTokyo.

TheyhavevisitedParisthreetimes.

Wehaveneverseenthatfilm.

3:Withanunfinishedtimeword(thismonth,thisweek,today).Theperiodoftimeisstillcontinuing.

Ihaven'tseenherthismonth.

She'sdrunkthreecupsofcoffeetoday.

I'vealreadymovedhousetwicethisyear!

WeCAN'Tusethepresentperfectwithafinishedtimeword.

NOT:I'veseenhimyesterday.

4:Afinishedactionwitharesultinthepresent(focusonresult).Weoftenusethepresentperfecttotalkaboutsomethingthathappenedintherecentpast,butthatisstilltrueorimportantnow.Sometimeswecanusethepastsimplehere,especiallyinUSEnglish.

I'velostmykeys(soIcan'tgetintomyhouse).

She'shurtherleg(soshecan'tplaytennistoday).

They'vemissedthebus(sotheywillbelate).

5:Wecanalsousethepresentperfecttotalkaboutsomethingthathappenedrecently,evenifthereisn'taclearresultinthepresent.Thisiscommonwhenwewanttointroducenewsandweoftenusethewords'just/yet/already/recently'.However,thepastsimpleisalsocorrectinthesecases,especiallyinUSEnglish.

TheQueenhasgivenaspeech.

I'vejustseenLucy.

TheMayorhasannouncedanewplanfortherailways.

BeenandGone

Inthistense,weuseboth'been'and'gone'asthepastparticipleof'go',butinslightlydifferentcircumstances.Weuse'been'(oftenwhenwetalkaboutlifeexperience)tomeanthatthepersonwe'retalkingaboutvisitedtheplaceandcameback.

I'vebeentoParis(inmylife,butnowI'minLondon,whereIlive).

Shehasbeentoschooltoday(butnowshe'sbackathome).

TheyhaveneverbeentoCalifornia.

Weuse'gone'(oftenwhenwearetalkingaboutanactionwitharesultinthepresent)tomeanthatthepersonwenttotheplaceandisattheplacenow.

Where'sJohnHe'sgonetotheshops(he'sattheshopsnow).

JuliehasgonetoMexico(nowshe'sinMexico).

They'vegonetoJapanforthreeweeks(nowthey'reinJapan).

PresentPerfectContinuousUse

Unfinishedactions

1:Tosayhowlongforunfinishedactionswhichstartedinthepastandcontinuetothepresent.Weoftenusethiswith'for'and'since'(seethe

thepresentperfectsimplepageformoreabout'for'and'since').

I'vebeenlivinginLondonfortwoyears.

She'sbeenworkingheresince2004.

We'vebeenwaitingforthebusforhours.

Thisuseisverysimilartohowweusethepresentperfectsimple,andoftenit'spossibletouseeithertense.Ofcourse,withstativeverbs,wecan'tusethepresentperfectcontinuous.

I'vebeenhereforhours.

NOT:

I’vebeenbeinghereforhours.I'vebeenbeinghereforhours

2:Fortemporaryhabitsorsituations.Theactionstartedinthepastandcontinuestothepresentinthesamewayaswithusenumber1,butwedon'tanswerthequestionsabout'howlong'soclearly.Instead,weuseawordlike'recently'.

I'vebeengoingtothegymalotrecently.

They'vebeenlivingwithhismotherwhiletheylookforahouse.

I'vebeenreadingalotrecently.

Thisisverysimilartotheuseofthepresentcontinuousfortemporaryhabitsandofteneithertenseispossible.

Finishedactions

3:Actionswhichhaverecentlystopped(thoughthewholeactioncanbeunfinished)andhavearesult,whichwecanoftensee,hear,orfeel,inthepresent.Wedon'tuseatimewordhere.

I'msotired,I'vebeenstudying.

I'vebeenrunning,soI'mreallyhot.

It'sbeenrainingsothepavementiswet.

Thepresentperfectsimplehasaverysimilaruse,whichfocusesontheresultoftheaction,whereasthepresentperfectcontinuousfocusesontheactionitself.See

mypagehereaboutthedifferencebetweenthepresentperfectsimpleandthepresentperfectcontinuousformoreexplanation.

PastSimpleUse

Thisisthebasicpasttense.Weuseitwheneverwewanttotalkaboutthepastandwedon'thaveanyspecialsituationthatmeansweshouldusethepastperfect,presentperfectorpastcontinuous.

Finishedactions,statesorhabitsinthepast.

1:Weuseitwithfinishedactions,statesorhabitsinthepastwhenwehaveafinishedtimeword(yesterday,lastweek,at2o'clock,in2003).

Iwenttothecinemayesterday.

WespentalotoftimeJapanin2007.

2:Weuseitwithfinishedactions,statesorhabitsinthepastwhenweknowfromgeneralknowledgethatthetimeperiodhasfinished.Thisincludeswhenthepersonwearetalkingaboutisdead.

LeonardopaintedtheMonaLisa.

TheVikingsinvadedBritain.

3:Weuseitwithfinishedactions,statesorhabitsinthepastthatwehaveintroducedwiththepresentperfectoranothertense.Thisissometimescalled'detailsofnews'.

I'vehurtmyleg.IfelloffaladderwhenIwaspaintingmybedroom.

I'vebeenonholiday.IwenttoSpainandPortugal.

4:Forstoriesorlistsofevents,weoftenusethepastsimplefortheactionsinthestoryandthepastcontinuousforthebackground.

Hewenttoacafé.Peoplewerechattingandmusicwasplaying.Hesatdownandorderedacoffee.

Unrealorimaginarythingsinthepresentorfuture.(ConditionalUses)

5:Weusethepastsimpletotalkaboutthingsthatarenotrealinthepresentorfuture.Soweuseitwiththesecondconditionalandafterwordslike'wish'.

IfIwonthelottery,Iwouldbuyahouse.

IwishIhadmoretime!

PastContinuousUse

1:Anactioninthepastwhichoverlapsanotheractionoratime.Theactioninthepastcontinuousstartsbeforeandoftencontinuesaftertheothershorteractionortime.

IwaswalkingtothestationwhenImetJohn.(IstartedwalkingbeforeImetJohn,andmaybeIcontinuedafterwards.)

Atthreeo'clock,Iwasworking.(Istartedbeforethreeo'clockandfinishedafterthreeo'clock.)

2:Inthesameway,wecanusethepastcontinuousforthebackgroundofastory.(Weoftenusethepastsimplefortheactions.)ThisisreallyaspecificexampleofUse1.

Thebirdsweresinging,thesunwasshiningandinthecaféspeoplewerelaughingandchatting.Amysatdownandtookoutherphone.

3:Temporaryhabitsorhabitsthathappenmoreoftenthanweexpectinthepast.Weoftenuse'always','constantly'or'forever'here.Thisisthesameasthewayweusethepresentcontinuousforhabits,butthehabitstartedandfinishedinthepast.Thisthingdoesn'thappennow.

Hewasalwaysleavingthetaprunning.

Shewasconstantlysinging.

4:Toemphasisethatsomethinglastedforawhile.Thisuseisoftenoptionalandweusuallyuseitwithtimeexpressionslike'allday'or'allevening'or'forhours'.

Iwasworkinginthegardenallday.

Hewasreadingallevening.

Rememberyoucan'tusethistenseoranycontinuoustensewith

stativeverbs.

PastPerfectSimpleUse

Successively

1:Afinishedactionbeforeasecondpointinthepast.

Whenwearrived,thefilmhadstarted(=firstthefilmstarted,thenwearrived).

Weusuallyusethepastperfecttomakeitclearwhichactionhappenedfirst.Maybewearealreadytalkingaboutsomethinginthepastandwewanttomentionsomethingelsethatisfurtherbackintime.Thisisoftenusedtoexplainorgiveareasonforsomethinginthepast.

I'deatendinnersoIwasn'thungry.

Ithadsnowedinthenight,sothebusdidn'tarrive.

Ifit'sclearwhichactionhappenedfirst(ifweusethewords'before'or'after',forexample),thepastperfectisoptional.

Thefilmstartedbeforewearrived/thefilmhadstartedbeforewearrived.

Howlong

2:Somethingthatstartedinthepastandcontinueduptoanotheractionortimeinthepast.Thepastperfecttellsus'howlong',justlikethepresentperfect,butthistimetheactioncontinuesuptoapointinthepastratherthanthepresent.Usuallyweuse'for+time'.Wecanalsousethepastperfectcontinuoushere,sowemostoftenusethepastperfectsimplewith

stativeverbs.

Whenhegraduated,hehadbeeninLondonforsixyears.(=HearrivedinLondonsixyearsbeforehegraduatedandlivedthereuntilhegraduated,orevenlonger.)

Onthe20thofJuly,I'dworkedhereforthreemonths.

ConditionalUses

3:Totalkaboutunrealorimaginarythingsinthepast.Inthesamewaythatweusethepastsimpletotalkaboutunrealorimaginarythingsinthepresent,weusethepastperfect(onestepbackintime)totalkaboutunrealthingsinthepast.Thisiscommoninthe

thirdconditional

andafter

'wish'.

IfIhadknownyouwereill,Iwouldhavevisitedyou.

Shewouldhavepassedtheexamifshehadstudiedharder.

IwishIhadn'tgonetobedsolate!

PastPerfectContinuousUse

UnfinishedactionsinthepastHowlong

1:Somethingthatstartedinthepastandcontinueduptoanotheractionortimeinthepast.Thepastperfectcontinuoustellsus'howlong',justlikethepresentperfectcontinuous,butthistimetheactioncontinuesuptoapointinthepastratherthanthepresent.Usuallyweuse'for+time'.(Wecanalsousethe

pastperfectsimple

here,oftenwith

stativeverbs.)

ShehadbeenworkingatthatcompanyforayearwhenshemetJames.

I'dbeenwalkingforhourswhenIfinallyfoundthehouse.

We'dbeenlivinginBerlinforthreemonthswhenwehadtoleave.

FinishedactionsinthepastSuccessively

2:Somethingthatfinishedjustbeforeanothereventinthepast.Thisisusuallyusedtoshowaresultatatimeinthepast.It'sverysimilartothe

presentperfectcontinuous,buttheactionfinishesbeforeanothertimeinthepast,ratherthanfinishingbeforethepresent.

Thepavementwaswet,ithadbeenraining.(TherainhadfinishedbeforethetimeI'mdescribinginthepast.Wecouldseetheresultoftherain.)

Thechildrenhadbeenplayingandsotheroomwasamess!

I'dbeenworkingbeforeIsawyouandthat'swhyIwasreallytired.

PresentSimpleVsPresentContinuous

PresentSimple

PresentContinuous

Thingswhicharealwaystrue:

Water

boils

at100degrees.

Thingswhicharehappeningatthemomentofspeaking:

Thewater

isboiling

now,soyoucanputinthepasta.

Permanentsituations(ornearlypermanent;trueforafewyearsatleast):

Julie

lives

inLondon.

Temporarysituations:

Julie

isliving

inParisforafewmonths(usuallyshelivesinLondon).

Situationswhichareslowlychanging:

I'mgetting

betterandbetteratspeakingEnglish.

Habitsorthingswedoregularly:

I

drink

coffeeeverymorning.

Temporaryornewhabits:

I'mdrinking

toomuchcoffeethesedaysbecauseI'msobusyatwork.

Annoyinghabits(usuallywith'always'):

Myflatmate

isalwaysleaving

thekitcheninamess!

Futureeventswhicharepartofatimetable:

Myplane

leaves

ateighttonight.

Totalkaboutthefutureaftercertainwords('when''until''after''before''assoonas'):

I'llcallyou

whenIget

home.

Definitefutureplans:

I'mmeeting

Johnafterclasstoday.

Totalkaboutwhathappensinbooks,playsandfilms:

Attheendofthebook,thedetective

catches

thekiller.

Totalkaboutpeopleinpicturesandphotos:

Inthisphoto,mymother

iswalking

besidealake.

Remember:

Weusethepresentsimplewith

stativeverbs.Wecan'tuseanycontinuoustense(includingthepresentcontinuoustense,ofcourse)withstativeverbs.

PresentPerfectVsPastSimple

PresentPerfectSimple

PastSimple

Unfinishedactionsthatstartedinthepastandcontinuetothepresent:

I'veknown

Juliefortenyears(andIstillknowher).

Finishedactions:

I

knew

Juliefortenyears(butthenshemovedawayandwelosttouch).

Hewasmarriedfortenyears,buthegotdivorced.

Afinishedactioninsomeone'slife(whenthepersonisstillalive:lifeexperience):

Mybrother

hasbeen

toMexicothreetimes.

Afinishedactioninsomeone'slife(whenthepersonisdead):

Mygreat-grandmother

went

toMexicothreetimes.

Iknewmygreatgrandmotherforafewyears-shediedwhenIwaseight.

Afinishedactionwitharesultinthepresent:

I'velost

mykeys!(TheresultisthatIcan'tgetintomyhousenow).

Afinishedactionwithnoresultinthepresent:

I

lost

mykeysyesterday.Itwasterrible!(Nowthereisnoresult.Igotnewkeysyesterday).

Withanunfinishedtimeword(thisweek,thismonth,today):

I'veseen

Johnthisweek.

Withafinishedtimeword(lastweek,lastmonth,yesterday):

I

saw

Johnlastweek.

Remember:

Weusethepastsimpleforpasteventsoractionswhichhavenoconnectiontothepresent.

WeusethepresentperfectforactionswhichstartedinthepastandarestillhappeningnowORforfinishedactionswhichhaveaconnectiontothepresent.

WeCAN'Tusethepresentperfectwithafinishedtimeword:

NOT:I'vebeentothemuseumyesterday.

PresentPerfectSimpleVsPresentPerfectContinuous

Weusebothofthesetensesforfinishedandunfinishedactions.

Thepresentperfectsimplecanbeused(oftenwith'since'and'for')totalkaboutunfinishedactionsthatstartedinthepastandarestilltrueinthepresent.It'softenusedwithstativeverbs:

I'veknownJohnforthreeyears.

Thepresentperfectcontinuouscanalsobeused(oftenwith'since'and'for')totalkaboutunfinishedactionsthatstartedinthepastandarestilltrueinthepresent.(Ofcourse,wedon'tusethepresentperfectcontinuouswithstativeverbs):

She'sbeenlivinghereforthreeyears.

Sometimesthere'sreallynodifferenceinmeaningbetweenthetwotenses.Thisisespeciallythecasewithverbssuchas'live','work'and'study':

They'velivedinLondonsince2004.

They'vebeenlivinginLondonsince2004.

I'vestudiedFrenchfortenyears.

I'vebeenstudyingFrenchfortenyears.

He'sworkedatthecompanysince2009.

He'sbeenworkingatourcompanysince2009.

Sometimes,thereisadifferenceinmeaning:

1:Thepresentperfectcontinuouscanbeusedtoemphasisethelengthoftimethathaspassed.Thepresentperfectsimpleisgenerallyneutral:

They'vebeenwaitingforhours!(Thisemphasisesthelengthoftime).

They'vewaitedforhours.(Thisdoesn'temphasisethelengthoftime).

2:Ontheotherhand,thepresentperfectsimpleisoftenusedwhenwe'retalkingabouthowmuchorhowmany.Thisisn'tpossiblewiththepresentperfectcontinuous:

She'sdrunkthreecupsofcoffeethismorning.

She'sdrunkatleastalitreofcoffeetoday.

(NOT:

she'sbeendrinkingthreecupsofcoffeethismorningshe'sbeendrinkingthreecupsofcoffeethismorning).

3:Thepresentperfectcontinuousoftenfocusesontheactionitself,whilethepresentperfectsimplefocusesonthefactthattheactioniscompleted:

I'vebeenreadingthebookyourecommended.(I'menjoyingit,butI'mnotfinished).

I'vereadthebookyourecommended.(I'vefinishedit,sowecantalkaboutit).

Weuse'yet'and'already'withthepresentperfectsimple:

Haveyoureadthebookyet

She'sfinishedherworkalready.

Thisdifferenceisoftenusedtotalkaboutdifferentkindsofresultsinthepresent.Thepresentperfectsimpleisusedwhentheactionisfinished,andtheresultcomesfromtheactionbeingfinished:

I'veeatendinner,solet'sgoout.

She'sdoneallherhomework,soshecanrelaxthisevening.

I'vemadeacake.Wouldyoulikesome

Thepresentperfectcontinuousisusedwhentheresultcomesfromtheactionitself.Itdoesn'tmatterifthewholeactionisfinishedornot.Theresultisoftensomethingwecansee,hear,smell,orfeel:

I'vebeeneatingdinner,sothereareplatesalloverthetable.

She'sbeendoingherhomework,soshe'stired.

I'vebeenmakingacake,that'swhythekitchenissuchamess.

4:Finally,thepresentperfectcontinuouscanbeusedtoemphasisethatsomethingistemporary:

She'sbeenrunningalotrecently.(Shedoesn'tusuallydothis).

UsuallyIstudyathome,butI'vebeenstudyinginthelibraryforthelastweek.

TheZeroConditional

Wecanmakeazeroconditionalsentencewithtwo

presentsimple

verbs(oneinthe'ifclause'andoneinthe'mainclause'):

If+presentsimple,presentsimple.

Thisconditionalisusedwhentheresultwillalwayshappen.So,ifwaterreaches100degrees,italwaysboils.It'safact.I'mtalkingingeneral,notaboutoneparticularsituation.Theresultofthe'ifclause'isalwaysthemainclause.

The'if'inthisconditionalcanusuallybereplacedby'when'withoutchangingthemeaning.

Forexample:Ifwater

reaches

100degrees,it

boils.(Itisalwaystrue,therecan'tbeadifferentresultsometimes).IfI

eat

peanuts,I

am

sick.(Thisistrueonlyforme,maybe,notforeveryone,butit'sstilltruethatI'msickeverytimeIeatpeanuts)

Herearesomemoreexamples:

Ifpeople

eat

toomuch,they

get

fat.

Ifyou

touch

afire,you

get

burned.

People

die

ifthey

don'teat.

You

get

waterifyou

mix

hydrogenandoxygen.

Snakes

bite

ifthey

are

scared

Ifbabies

are

hungry,they

cry

TheFirstConditional

Thefirstconditionalhasthe

presentsimple

after'if',thenthe

futuresimple

intheotherclause:

if+presentsimple,...will+infinitive

It'susedtotalkaboutthingswhichmighthappeninthefuture.Ofcourse,wecan'tknowwhatwillhappeninthefuture,butthisdescribespossiblethings,whichcouldeasilycometrue.

Ifit

rains,I

won'tgo

tothepark.

IfI

study

today,I'llgo

tothepartytonight.

IfI

have

enoughmoney,I'llbuy

somenewshoes.

She'llbe

lateifthetrain

is

delayed.

She'llmiss

thebusifshe

doesn'tleave

soon.

IfI

see

her,I'lltell

her.

Firstvs.ZeroConditional:

Thefirstconditionaldescribesa

particular

situation,whereasthe

zeroconditionaldescribeswhathappens

ingeneral.

Forexample(zeroconditional):ifyousitinthesun,yougetburned(hereI'mtalkingabouteverytimeapersonsitsinthesun-theburningisanaturalconsequenceofthesitting)

But(firstconditional):ifyousitinthesun,you'llgetburned(hereI'mtalkingaboutwhatwillhappentoday,anotherdaymightbedifferent)

TheSecondConditional

Thesecondconditionalusesthe

pastsimple

afterif,then'would'andtheinfinitive:

if+pastsimple,...would+infinitive

(Wecanuse'were'insteadof'was'with'I'and'he/she/it'.Thisismostlydoneinformalwriting).

Ithastwouses.

First,wecanuseittotalkaboutthingsinthefuturethatareprobablynotgoingtobetrue.MaybeI'mimaginingsomedreamforexample.

IfI

won

thelottery,I

wouldbuy

abighouse.(Iprobablywon'twinthelottery)

IfI

met

theQueenofEngland,I

wouldsay

hello.

She

wouldtravel

allovertheworldifshe

were

rich.

She

wouldpass

theexamifsheever

studied.(Sheneverstudies,sothiswon'thappen)

Second,wecanuseittotalkaboutsomethinginthepresentwhichisimpossible,becauseit'snottrue.IsthatclearHavealookattheexamples:

IfI

had

hisnumber,I

wouldcall

him.(Idon'thavehisnumbernow,soit'simpossibleformetocallhim).

IfI

were

you,I

wouldn'tgo

outwiththatman.

Howisthisdifferentfromthefirstconditional

Firstvs.SecondConditional:

Thiskindofconditionalsentenceisdifferentfromthefirstconditionalbecausethisisalotmoreunlikely.

ThefirstconditionaldescribesthingsthatIthinkarelikelytohappeninthefuture,whereasthesecondconditionaltalksaboutthingsthatIdon'tthinkwillreallyhappen.It'ssubjective;itdependsonmypointofview.

Forexample(firstconditional):Ifshestudiesharder,she'llpasstheexam(Ithinkit'spossibleshewillstudyharderandsoshe'llpass)

But(secondconditional):Ifshestudiedharder,shewouldpasstheexam(Ithinkthatshewon'tstudyharder,orit'sveryunlikely,andsoshewon'tpass)

Forexample(secondconditional):IfIhadenoughmoneyIwouldbuyahousewithtwentybedroomsandaswimmingpool(I'mprobablynotgoingtohavethismuchmoney,it'sjustadream,notveryreal)

But(firstconditional):IfIhaveenoughmoney,I'llbuysomenewshoes(It'smuchmorelikelythatI'llhaveenoughmoneytobuysomeshoes)

TheThirdConditional

Wemakethethirdconditionalbyusingthe

pastperfect

after'if'andthen'wouldhave'andthe

pastparticiple

inthesecondpartofthesentence:

if+pastperfect,...would+have+pastparticiple

Ittalksaboutthepast.It'susedtodescribeasituationthatdidn'thappen,andtoimaginetheresultofthissituation.

Ifshe

hadstudied,she

wouldhavepassed

theexam(but,reallyweknowshedidn'tstudyandsoshedidn'tpass)

IfI

hadn'teaten

somuch,I

wouldn'thavefelt

sick(butIdideatalot,andsoIdidfeelsick).

Ifwe

hadtaken

ataxi,we

wouldn'thavemissed

theplane

She

wouldn'thavebeen

tiredifshe

hadgone

tobedearlier

She

wouldhavebecome

ateacherifshe

hadgone

touniversity

He

wouldhavebeen

ontimefortheinterviewifhe

hadleft

thehouseatnine

ReportedSpeech

ReportedStatements

WhendoweusereportedspeechSometimessomeonesaysasentence,forexample"I'mgoingtothecinematonight".Later,maybewewanttotellsomeoneelsewhatthefirstpersonsaid.

Here'showitworks:

Weusea'reportingverb'like'say'or'tell'.(Clickhereformoreaboutusing'say'and'tell'.)Ifthisverbisinthepresenttense,it'seasy.Wejustput'shesays'andthenthesentence:

Directspeech:Ilikeicecream.

Reportedspeech:She

says

(that)she

likes

icecream.

Wedon'tneedtochangethetense,thoughprobablywedoneedtochangethe'person'from'I'to'she',forexample.Wealsomayneedtochangewordslike'my'and'your'.

(AsI'msureyouknow,often,wecanchooseifwewanttouse'that'ornotinEnglish.I'veputitinbrackets()toshowthatit'soptional.It'sexactlythesameifyouuse'that'orifyoudon'tuse'that'.)

But,ifthereportingverbisinthepasttense,thenusuallywechangethetensesinthereportedspeech:

Directspeech:Ilikeicecream.

Reportedspeech:She

said

(that)she

liked

icecream.

Tense

DirectSpee