Modal Verbs and Complex Structures

This page delves into modal verbs, reported speech, conditional sentences, and the passive voice, providing a comprehensive overview of these important grammatical structures in English.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs that express necessity, ability, permission, or possibility. They are followed by the base form of the main verb.

Example: He can swim. $ability$ Example: I would like to do this. $polite request$ Example: Shall I apply to university? $asking for advice$

Highlight: Only one modal verb can be used in a sentence.

Reported Speech

Reported speech is used to convey what someone else has said. It involves changing the tense and certain words in the original statement.

Example: Marek said $that$ he liked me.

Highlight: When converting to reported speech, present tense often becomes past tense, and time expressions may change $e.g., "now" becomes "then"$.

Conditional Sentences

Conditional sentences express the result of a certain condition. There are four main types of conditionals in English.

1. Zero Conditional: If + Present Simple, Present Simple Example: If it rains, I cry.
2. First Conditional: If + Present Simple, Future Simple Example: If it rains, I will cry.
3. Second Conditional: If + Past Simple, would + base verb Example: If it rained, I would cry.
4. Third Conditional: If + Past Perfect, would have + past participle Example: If it had rained, I would have cried.

Passive Voice

The passive voice is used when the focus is on the action rather than who or what is performing the action.

Example: The lion ate John. $active voice$ John was eaten by the lion. $passive voice$

Highlight: In passive voice, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject, and the verb "to be" is used along with the past participle of the main verb.

Irregular Verbs in English

This page presents a comprehensive list of common irregular verbs in English, providing their base form, past simple, and past participle forms along with their Polish translations.

Highlight: Irregular verbs do not follow the standard -ed ending rule for past tense and past participle forms.

Here's a selection of important irregular verbs:

1. arise $arose, arisen$ - pojawić się
2. awake $awoke, awoken$ - obudzić
3. be $was/were, been$ - być
4. bear $bore, borne$ - znosić, udźwignąć coś
5. beat $beat, beaten$ - zbić
6. become $became, become$ - stawać się, zostawać sb/sth
7. begin $began, begun$ - zaczynać
8. bend $bent, bent$ - zginać, nachylać
9. bite $bit, bitten$ - ugryźć
10. blow $blew, blown$ - wiać, dmuchać

Vocabulary: Past participle - The form of a verb, typically ending in -ed or -en, used to form perfect and passive tenses.

Example: "I have eaten" uses the past participle of "eat".

These irregular verbs are crucial for mastering English grammar and should be memorized for effective communication.

Past Tenses in English

This page explores the various past tenses in English, including Past Simple, Past Continuous, Used To, Past Perfect, and Past Perfect Continuous. Each tense serves a specific purpose in describing past actions and events.

Past Simple

The Past Simple tense is used for completed actions in the past.

Example: He went to Hollywood.

Highlight: This tense often uses time expressions like "ago", "yesterday", "last week", or specific past dates.

Past Continuous

The Past Continuous describes actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past.

Example: He was going to Hollywood.

Highlight: This tense is often used in conjunction with the Past Simple to describe an interrupted action.

Used To

"Used to" expresses past habits or states that are no longer true.

Example: I used to smoke.

Highlight: This structure is particularly useful for describing how things were different in the past compared to now.

Past Perfect

The Past Perfect describes an action that was completed before another past action.

Example: The storm had passed by the time we woke up.

Highlight: This tense is often used in conjunction with the Past Simple to establish a sequence of events in the past.

Past Perfect Continuous

This tense describes an action that had been happening up to a certain point in the past.

Example: By the time they arrived, we had been waiting for an hour.

Highlight: This tense emphasizes the duration of the past action up to a specific moment.

Present Tenses in English

This page introduces the Present Simple tense, a fundamental aspect of English grammar used to describe habitual actions, general truths, and scheduled future events.

Present Simple

The Present Simple tense is formed by using the base form of the verb for most subjects, adding -s or -es for third-person singular subjects.

Example: You go to a pub. He goes to a pub.

Highlight: For questions and negatives in the third person singular, the auxiliary verb "does" is used.

Example: Do you go to a pub? Does he go to a pub? You don't go to a pub. He doesn't go to a pub.

The Present Simple has various uses:

1. Habitual actions or routines
2. General truths or facts
3. Scheduled future events, especially in formal contexts

Example: The sun rises in the east. $general truth$ The train leaves at 6 PM tomorrow. $scheduled future event$

Understanding the Present Simple tense is crucial for effective communication in English, as it forms the basis for more complex grammatical structures.

Future Tenses in English

The English language offers multiple ways to express future actions, each with its own nuances and specific uses. This page introduces five primary methods for describing future events.

Future Simple

The Future Simple tense is formed using "will" followed by the base form of the verb.

Example: I will buy a motorcycle.

Highlight: This tense is often used for spontaneous decisions or predictions.

"To Be Going To"

This structure uses a form of "to be" plus "going to" followed by the base form of the verb.

Example: I am going to buy a dress.

Highlight: This form is commonly used for planned future actions or intentions.

Future Continuous

The Future Continuous tense uses "will be" followed by the present participle $-ing form$ of the verb.

Example: I will be working.

Highlight: This tense is used for actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future.

Future Perfect

The Future Perfect tense is formed with "will have" plus the past participle of the verb.

Example: I will have finished school in 2023.

Highlight: This tense is used for actions that will be completed by a certain point in the future.

Present Simple for Future Events

The Present Simple can be used to describe future events, especially for schedules or timetables.

Example: My train leaves at 6:00.

Highlight: This usage is common for fixed future arrangements, particularly with transportation schedules.