Future tenses

There are several different ways in English that you can talk about the future. This page is an introduction to the most important ones:

Predictions/statements of fact

The auxiliary verb will is used in making predictions or simple statements of fact about the future.

• The sun will rise at 6.30 tomorrow.
• Lunch break today will be 10 minutes longer than usual.
• In the year 2050 all students will have their own computers in school.
• If you help me, I will help you.
• Do you think she will come soon?
• You won't pass your exams if you don't start working harder.
• I know my parents won't let me go to the party.
• Will it snow for Christmas?
• I know she's sick, but will she be back in school tomorrow?

Intentions

The auxiliary verb going to is used in talking about intentions. (An intention is a plan for the future that you have already thought about.)

• We're going to buy a new car next month.
• I'm going to work in a bank when I leave school.
• In the new year I'm going to stop eating so much junk.
• He's not going to go to the dance. He's got too much work.
• I'm not going to watch TV until my science project is finished.
• Are you going to play basketball after school?
• What are you going to have for lunch today?

Note: going to is often used in the past tense to talk about an unfulfilled intention. Examples: I was going to study for my grammar test, but I had no time. / He was going to call you, but he couldn't find his mobile phone. / My grandmother was going to visit us, but she fell and broke her arm.

Arrangements

The present continuous tense is used in talking about arrangements. (An arrangement is is a plan for the future that you have already thought about and discussed with someone else.)

• I'm meeting my mother at the airport tomorrow.
• Our grandparents are visiting us this Christmas.
• Sorry, I can't stay after school today; I'm playing tennis with Jun-Sik.
• My sister's going to the dentist tomorrow.
• I'm not returning home for the holidays, so I can come to your party after all!
• Are you doing anything on Sunday morning?
• Do you know if he is going to the dance with Maiko next week?

Scheduled events

The present simple tense is usually used to refer to future events that are scheduled (and outside of our control).

• Hurry up! The train departs in 10 minutes.
• I leave Frankfurt at 5 o'clock in the morning and arrive in New York
at midnight the next day.
• She has an appointment with the headmaster after school today.
• There's no need to hurry. The train doesn't leave for another 30 minutes.
• When does the meeting begin?
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• EXERCISE ONE
• EXERCISE TWO 
• EXERCISE THREE 

ADJECTIVES ENDING IN ED OR ING

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

 Adjectives Ending in "-ed" and "-ing" (Adjetivos terminados en "-ed" y "-ing")

Las terminaciones "-ed" y "-ing" no sólo se usan para formar los tiempos verbales del pasado y presente continuo, también se usan con adjetivos. Estos adjetivos están compuestos de un verbo y estas dos terminaciones, pero ten en cuenta que el sentido cambia dependiendo de que terminación se use.

"-ed" Adjectives (Adjetivos terminados en "-ed")

Los adjetivos que terminan en "-ed" indican o describen emociones. Estos adjetivos suelen acabar en "-ado", "-ido" o "-edo" en español y van después del verbo "estar".

• Ejemplos:
•  
• John is interested in art. (John está interesado en el arte.)
• Denise was bored in class. (Denise estaba aburrida en clase.)
• Luke is excited about his new job. (Luke está emocionado con su nuevo empleo.)

"-ing" Adjectives (Adjetivos terminados en "-ing")

Los adjetivos que terminan en "-ing" indican o describen una característica de algo o alguien. A diferencia de los adjetivos que terminan en "-ed", no hay regla en español para formar estos adjetivos y van después del verbo "ser".

• Ejemplos:
•  
• John is an interesting person. (John es una persona interesante.)
• The class was boring so Denise fell asleep. (La clase era aburrida asi que Denise se durmió.)
• Luke started an exciting new job. (Luke acaba de empezar un nuevo empleo emocionante.)

Nota: Como hemos mencionado anteriormente, el uso de un adjetivo en vez de otro cambia el sentido de la frase.

• Ejemplos:
• 
  
  Steve is embarrassed. (Steve está avergonzado.)
• Steve is embarrassing. (Steve es vergonzoso.) 

SIMPLE PRESENT VS PRESENT CONTINUOUS

READ THE LESSON AND THEN CLICK BELOW AND DO THE ON-LINE EXERCISES.
EXERCISE ONE
EXERCISE TWO 
EXERCISE THREE

Introduction

The simple present tense is often confused with the present continuous tense. This page will explain when to use each one.

1. The simple present tense

The simple present tense is used for two main types of action:

Habits	Actions which happen regularly (for example, every day or every week)
States	Things which do not often change (for example, opinions and conditions)

Some examples will help to make this clearer:

Type of action	Examples	Explanations
Habit	Young-Mi goes to class every day.	“Every day” is a habit.
	It rains a lot in Vancouver.	This means that it rains often.
	Santos always talks about his family.	“Always” means this is a habit.
	Jerry spends Christmas with his parents.	This implies that he spends Christmas with his parents every year.
State	Bianca lives in Florida.	This is a state, because it doesn't change.
	Jean-Paul has red hair.	Someone's hair colour doesn't usually change.
	Martin likes chocolate.	When we like something, usually we will always like it.
	Anna believes in God.	Beliefs and opinions are states. They don't often change.

2. The present continuous tense

The present continuous tense is used for two main types of action:

A temporary action happening now	Something which is going on right now (but it will stop in the future)
A definite plan for the future	Something we intend to do, usually in the near future

Here are some examples:

Type of action	Examples	Explanations
Temporary action happening right now	John is winning the game.	Right now, John is winning, but the game isn't finished yet.
	It's raining outside.	It's raining right now (but it may stop soon).
	Soraya's working in the library.	She's working there right now.
	Sihol is spending Christmas with his family.	He's spending Christmas with his family right now, this year. (Maybe next year he won't.)
Definite plan for the future	I'm playing soccer tomorrow.	This plan is already arranged and definite.
	Sarah's leaving for San Francisco on Friday.	She has probably already bought her ticket.
	The Olympics are taking place here next year.	This is already certain.
	I'm having a party next week.	All the plans have been made.

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THE PASSIVE VOICE

THE PASSIVE VOICE.

Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
• the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
• the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level: lower intermediate

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Modals	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Examples of Passive Level: upper intermediate

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Progressive	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Progressive	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future II	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects.

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

	Subject	Verb	Object 1	Object 2
Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter	to me.
Passive:	A letter	was written	to me	by Rita.
Passive:	I	was written	a letter	by Rita.

.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

REPORTED SPEECH

 

Reported speech (1)

When we report someone’s words we can do it in two ways. We can use direct speechwith quotation marks (“I work in a bank”), or we can use reported speech (He said he worked in a bank.) 
In reported speech the tenses, word-order and pronouns may be different from those in the original sentence. 
Present simple and present continuous tenses

•  Direct speech: “I travel a lot in my job” Reported speech: He said that he travelled a lot in his job.

The present simple tense (I travel) usually changes to the past simple (he travelled) in reported speech.

•  Direct speech: “Be quiet. The baby’s sleeping.” Reported speech: She told me to be quiet because the baby was sleeping.

The present continuous usually changes to the past continuous. 
NB:

• “I work in Italy” Reported speech: He told me that he works in Italy.

It isn’t always necessary to change the tense. If something is still true now – he stillworks in Italy – we can use the present simple in the reported sentence. 
Past simple and past continuous tenses

•  Direct speech: “We lived in China for 5 years.” Reported speech: She told me they had lived in China for 5 years.

The past simple tense (we lived) usually changes to the past perfect (they had lived) in reported speech.

•  Direct speech: “I was walking down the road when I saw the accident.”Reported speech: He told me he’d been walking down the road when he’d seen the accident.

The past continuous usually changes to the past perfect continuous. 
Perfect tenses

•  Direct speech: “They’ve always been very kind to me”. Reported speech:She said they’d always been very kind to her.

The present perfect tense (have always been) usually changes to the past perfect tense (had always been).

•  Direct speech: “They had already eaten when I arrived” Reported speech:He said they’d already eaten when he’d arrived.

The past perfect tense does not change in reported speech. 
You can find more information about reported speech in another section.

 Reported speech (2)

Remember that in reported speech we usually change the tense of the direct statement. The present simple tense changes to the past simple, the past simple changes to the past perfect and so on. 
Here are some other points to consider. 
‘Can’ and ‘will’

•  Direct speech: “I can’t remember his name.” Reported speech: She said she couldn’t remember his name.

‘Can’ and ‘can’t’ in direct speech change to ‘could’ and ‘couldn’t’ in reported speech.

•  Direct speech: “I’ll be there for 3 weeks.” Reported speech: He told me he’d be there for 3 weeks.

‘Will’ and ‘won’t’ in direct speech change to ‘would’ and ‘wouldn’t’ in reported speech. 
Other modal verbs

• Direct speech: “You could be right.” Reported speech: I said that he could be right.
• Direct speech: “You must call me.” Reported speech: She said that I must call her.

Other modal verbs don’t change in reported speech. 
Reporting orders, requests and advice

• Direct speech: “Sit down and shut up!” Reported speech: The teacher told me to sit down and shut up.
• Direct speech: “Can you hold this for me please?” Reported speech: He asked me to hold it.
• Direct speech: “You should do more exercise.” Reported speech: He advised me to do more exercise.

Orders, request and advice can be reported using an infinitive. 
Reporting verbs 
There are a number of verbs that we use to report statements. These can make your speech and writing more interesting than simply reporting every word of the direct speech.

• Direct speech: “It wasn’t me who broke the window.” > He denied breaking the window.
• Direct speech: “I’ll help you if you want” > She offered to help.

There are a number of verbs that can be used to report. They include: promise, claim,suggest, advise, refuse, argue, confirm and others.

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EXERCISE 1
EXERCISE 2
EXERCISE 3