UNIT 13

THIRD CONDITIONAL

1. Meaning:

The 3rd conditional is used to talk about situations that did not happen in the past and,
therefore, their results are imaginary. For example: If I had met your brother, I would
have told him about my birthday party (I did not meet your brother and, therefore, I
could not tell him about my birthday party).

2. Form:

If + past perfect (subordinate clause) + would have (done, gone, seen, fought, etc.)
(main clause)

If I hadn’t studied as much as I did, I wouldn’t have passed my exams.

Note that if the if-clause comes first, a comma should be used. If the if-clause comes
second, there is no need for a comma:

I wouldn’t have passed my exams, if I hadn’t studied as much as I did.

In 3rd conditionals it is possible to use could to mean “would be able to” (that is, to
express ability) and might to mean “would possibly” (that is, to express possibility):

If you had studied harder, you could have passed your exams (you had the
ability to pass the exams; however, you didn’t because you didn’t study hard enough)

If you had got up earlier, you might have caught the plane (catching the plane
was a possibility).

Wish, if only and hope

Wish + past simple is used when we would like a situation to be different. It has a
present or future meaning:

I wish I knew French.

I wish tomorrow was Saturday.

Many people use were instead of was in this structure, especially in formal style:

I wish I were richer.

Wish + past perfect is used to refer to the past: I wish you hadn’t driven so fast.
Would is also very common after wish in a that-clause. Would is a softened equivalent
of will to express people’s willingness or unwillingness to do things, irritation or
dissatisfaction, because someone or something will keep or won’t keep doing
something:

I wish you wouldn’t smoke so much.

I wish you would speak less.

If only has the same meaning as wish, but it is more emphatic. If only is preferred when
we feel something very strongly. There is no need for a main clause and, therefore, it
often stands alone. If only is followed by the same tenses as wish:

Present tense: if only + past simple: If only I knew how to proceed.

Future tense: if only + would: If only it would stop raining.
Past perfect tense: if only + past participle: If only you hadn’t talked to her.

Hope is used when we want something to happen in the present or future: I hope she
likes the present or we want it to be true in the past: I hope you had a good summer.
UNIT 14

CAUSATIVE HAVE

1. Meaning:

The causative have is used when we want someone to do something for us instead
of doing it ourselves. The past participle has a passive meaning:

Tomorrow I’ll have my hair dyed again.

It is not necessary to say who did it, but it is possible: Tomorrow I’ll have my hair dyed
again by my mother.

2. Form:

The causative have has the following structure: have + something + done:

I had the house repainted the other day.

EXPRESSING OBLIGATION AND PERMISSION

 Obligation and necessity in English are expressed with must and have (got) to. In
American English have to is the norm. In British English there is a distinction
between must and have got to. Must is used to indicate the speaker’s or hearer’s
obligation, whereas have (got) to is used to express obligations that come from
laws, regulations, agreements and other people’s orders:

I must quit smoking (I want to).

I have to quit smoking. The doctor told me it is dangerous.

I must go to church on Sunday (I want to).

Catholics have to go to church on Sundays (it is an obligation imposed by the Church).
Future obligation is expressed with will have (got) to for future arrangements that
have already been made, whereas must is for orders and instructions:

I’ll have to go lunch on Sunday, even if I don’t feel like it.

Books must be returned next Monday.

Past obligation is expressed with had to, not must have + participle, since this is the
form used to convey certainty:

Sorry, Ann is not at home right now. She had to leave early (past obligation).
Ann is not at home right now. She must have left early (the speaker is making an
inference).

The negative forms also have quite different meanings: must not is used to prohibit,
whereas do not have to / have not got to is used to indicate that there is no obligation
to do something:

You mustn’t come back late (strong obligation).

You don’t have to come back late (you can if you like, but there is no obligation).

 Be supposed to is also employed to covey obligation, however, that obligation

differed greatly from what happened in the end:

You were supposed to come back early, but you didn’t.

 Should also expresses obligation, but it is less strong than must:

You shouldn’t watch so much TV.

Prohibition

 Different modal verbs are used to convey prohibition in English: can’t, mustn’t, not
let, not allowed to, not allowed (me) to:

You can’t let her go alone. It’s too late.

You mustn’t wear your uniform on the street. (can’t is common in Am.Eng)
She won’t let me go.
She is not allowed to talk in class.
My parents won’t allow me to stay that late at night.
As pointed out, don’t have to does not convey prohibition: She doesn’t have to go (she
can, but she doesn’t have to).

 In the past we use couldn’t, didn’t let, wasn’t allowed to, didn’t allow me to: I
couldn’t leave the country on the ay appointed.

 Mustn’t only expresses prohibition in the present, not in the past: You couldn’t use
a calculator in the Math exam.

Permission

 Can is the form commonly used to ask for and give permission:

Can I tell you something?

You can leave now.

Could is also used, although it is more formal than can. May and might are also
possible to give and refuse permission. In fact, some people believe that they are the
correct form for expressing permission; however, the reality is that can and could are
usual in current usage.

Could expresses general permission in the past; however, when could means
permission for one particular occasion and can be substituted by was/were allowed to,
then the latter should be used:

When I was young I could stay out until late at night.

Yesterday night I was able to stay in the office until late at night. (NOT could)
However, in the negative could can be used to talk about one occasion:

Yesterday night I couldn’t to stay in the office until late at night.

Lack of obligation and permission

 Lack of obligation is expressed with don’t have to, don’t need to and needn’t:

You don’t have to come. I’ve finished all work.

 You don’t need to come. I’ve finished all work.
You needn’t come. I’ve finished all work.

Needn’t is used to talk about immediate necessity; however, for habitual necessity the
usual auxiliary + need to should be used:

You don’t need to come to work at the weekends. (NOT needn’t to)

 Lack of permission is expressed with can’t: You can’t go out this late, said my mum.
UNIT 15

THE PASSIVE

The active voice is used to say what happens to people or things, whereas the
passive voice is used to say what is done to them by an agent that maybe explicit or
not in the sentence. Verbs such as plays, carries and repairs are active and is played, is
carried and is repaired are passive.

In the active-passive transformation, the object of the active sentence becomes

the subject of the passive:

The man opens the door.

The door is opened (by the man).

The subject of the active sentence is now the agent, which is preceded by the
preposition “by”. Let us see all passive forms for an ordinary English verb:

Tense Passive form Example

Simple present am/is/are + participle The door is broken
Present progressive is/are being + participle The door is being broken
Simple past was/were + participle The door was broken
Past progressive was/were being + participle The door was being
broken
Present perfect has/have been + participle The door has been broken
Present perfect has/have been being +
progressive participle (uncommon)
Past perfect had been + participle The door had been broken
Past perfect had been being + participle
progressive (uncommon)
Future simple will be + participle The door will be broken
Future perfect will have been + participle The door will have been
 broken
Going to is/are going to be + The door is going to be
participle broken

Note that some verbs cannot be used in the passive voice because they are intransitive
and, therefore, do not have objects. There are also some transitive verbs that are not
used in the passive, because they are stative verbs. Ex: have, own, suit, resemble and a
few others.

She owns a house in the country. (NOT *A house is owned in the country)

She runs five kilometers a day. (NOT *Five kilometers a day are ran by her)

The form get + past participle can also be used to make passive structures, especially
to refer to something self-inflicted:

She got hurt in the car accident.

The same structure is used in common expressions such as get drown, get engaged,
get married, get divorced, get dressed, get lost to indicate an action that we do to
ourselves.

The passive with reporting verbs

The choice of the passive is common with verbs reporting what people say or believe
but you do not know or do not want to say who the people are. There are three
common patterns:

1. He is said / considered / known / thought / said / supposed + infinitive:

He is considered to be a very good professor.

Verbs that are common in this pattern are: think, consider, feel, know, say,
suppose, understand.

2. It is said / considered / known / said / supposed that + subject + verb:

It is known that he is a great professor.

 Verbs that are common in this pattern are: agree, feel, announce, consider, decide,
discover, expect, find, think, understand.

3. It is agreed / decided / hoped / planned + infinitives:

It has been agreed to change the date of the exam.

Common verbs in this pattern are: agree, decide, forbid, hope, plan, propose, claim,
consider.

Depending on the time reference the verb following the passive will change. Let us see
an example:

Structure Example
Passive + present infinitive She is thought to live in Paris
Passive + past infinitive She is thought to have lived in Paris
Passive + present continuous infinitive She is thought to be living in Paris
Passive + past continuous infinitive She is thought to have been living in
Paris

The reporting verb can also be in the other tenses:

She was thought to have lived in Paris

She has been thought to …
She had been thought to …
UNIT 16

LINKING WORDS AND PHRASES: when, if, in case, even if and even though

 When and if

When and if are used to talk about the future. When is used to say that we are sure
that something will happen, whereas with if we indicate that we are unsure it will
happen or not:

I’ll meet you downstairs when I finish. (you are sure you’ll meet that person)
I’ll meet to at Mary’s if I finish early. (you are not sure if you’ll finish early)

 In case and if

In case and if are quite different in English. In case is used when you do an action first
because something might happen:

I’ll take an umbrella in case it rains. (I’ll take an umbrella because it might rain). The
first action happens first
I’ll take an umbrella if it rains. (I’ll take an umbrella only if it rains). The second action
happens first
We’ll buy something to eat in case you come home. (We’ll buy something to eat
because you might come home). The first action happens first.
We’ll buy something to eat if you come home. (We’ll buy something to ear only if you
some home). The second action happens first.

 Even if and even though

Even may be used with although and if, although they have different meanings. Even
though has a similar meaning to although, although it is more emphatic. Even though
means “despite the fact that”.

Even though she was a very good student, she was not accepted in Oxford University.
(Despite the fact she was a good student, …)

Even if has a stronger force than if. It means “whether or not”:

I’ll see her even if I have to wait all day long. (Whether or not I have to wait all day long
…)
REPORTED SPEECH: REPORTING VERBS

There are many different verbs that can be used in reported speech. Most of them can
be followed by different grammatical patterns. A good dictionary will always help in
those cases:

Verb + infinitive
promise: My friend promised to lend me her book.
ask: She asked me to continue working.
tell: The teacher told me to close the door.

Verb + object + infinitive

advise: I advise her to talk to her.
tell: He told her not to say the truth.
ask: I asked her to leave immediately.

Verb + preposition + noun/verb + -ing

apologise for: I apologized for being late.
agree on: I agreed on starting right away.
accused of: Tom was accused of stealing money.
insist on: He insisted on telling the truth.
 Verb + noun/verb + ing
admit: He admitted stealing the money.
recommend: She recommended doing some exercise every week.
deny: I denied taking the money.

Verb + (that) + sentence

promise: She promised that she’d come at 11.
say: My parents said that they liked the new house.
explain: My friends explained that they were very happy.

Verb + object (that) + sentence

tell: I told her what I was thinking.
remind: I reminded her that she had to call me.
explain: The child explained that she loved the movie.

We do not use infinitive after “suggest”: He suggested that I stay longer. Many verbs
indicating instructions are followed by a that-clause usually with modal verbs or
subjective:

She suggested that she leave the room. (“leave” is subjunctive)

The teacher said that she must leave the room.