- •1. Kinds of nouns
- •2. Gender
- •3. Plurals
- •4. Uncountable nouns
- •5. Possessive case
- •Adjectives
- •1. Kinds of adjectives
- •2. Participles used as adjectives
- •3. Position of adjectives: attributive and predicative use
- •9. Comparison of adjectives
- •Adverbs
- •1. Kinds of adverbs
- •2. Form and use
- •3. Some words are both adjectives and adverbs:
- •4. Comparative and superlative adverb forms
- •5. Constructions with comparisons.
- •6. Position of adverbs
- •3. Uses of the Present Continuous Tense
- •4. Verbs not normally used in the Continuous Tenses
- •5. See, feel, look, smell and taste used in the continuous
- •6. The Continuous and Non-Continuous Uses of Certain Verbs
- •The simple present tense
- •1. Form
- •2. Spelling Notes
- •3. Uses of the Simple Present Tense
- •4. Other Uses of the Simple Present Tense
- •The past and perfect tenses the simple past tense
- •1. Form
- •2. Spelling Notes
- •3. Uses of the Past Simple Tense
- •4. Used to Indicating Past Habit
- •The past continuous tense
- •1. Form
- •2. Main Uses of the Past Continuous Tense
- •3. Other Uses of the Past Continuous Tense
- •The present perfect tense (simple and continuous)
- •1. Form
- •2. The Present Perfect Used for Past Actions Whose Time is not Definite
- •3. The Present Perfect Used for Actions Occurring in an Incomplete Period
- •4. The Present Perfect (Simple and Continuous) Used for Actions and Situations Continuing up to the Present
- •5. Special Structures in the Present Perfect
- •The past perfect tense (simple, continuous)
- •1. Form
- •3. Past and Past Perfect Tenses in Time Clauses.
- •4. Past Perfect Tense in Main Clause
- •The future
- •1. Future Forms
- •2. The simple present used for the future
- •4. The Present Continuous as a Future Form
- •5. The be going to form
- •6. The Future Simple
- •7. The Future Continuous
- •8. The Future Perfect
- •9. The Future Perfect Continuous
- •The passive voice
- •1. Form
- •2. Various Structures Expressed in the Passive
- •3. Active Tenses and Their Passive Equivalents
- •4. Get in the Passive
- •5. Questions in the passive
- •6. Uses of the Passive: Active or Passive
- •7. The Passive is Used:
- •8. Passive Sentences with or without by:
- •9. Passive with the Verbs Having Two Objects
- •10. Special Passive Patterns
- •11. Verbs Which Cannot be Used in the Passive
- •1. Modal Auxiliary Verbs: General
- •2. Modal Auxiliary Verbs With Perfect Infinitives
- •3. Can, could and be able for ability
- •4. May and Can for Permission
- •5. May and Can for Possibility
- •6. Could as an Alternative to May/Might
- •7. Can in Interrogative and Negative Sentences
- •8. Can Used to Express ‘Theoretical Possibility’
- •9. Set Phrases with Can, May, Might
- •10. Must and Have for Deduction and Assumption
- •11. Must and have to: forms
- •12. Difference between have to and have got to Forms
- •13. Difference between must and have to in the Affirmative
- •14. Need not and must not in the Present and Future
- •15. Must, have to and need in the Interrogative
- •17. Needn’t have done Compared with didn’t have/need to do
- •18. Ought and Should for Obligation
- •The infinitive
- •1. Forms
- •2. Infinitive without to
- •3. The Infinitive Represented by its to
- •4. Split Infinitives
- •5. The Infinitive Used as a Connective Link
- •6. Functions of the infinitive
- •7. The Infinitive as Subject of a Sentence
- •8. The Infinitive as Complement of a Verb
- •9. The Infinitive as Object of a Verb
- •10. The Infinitive as Object of an Adjective
- •11. The Infinitive after Interrogative Conjunction
- •12. The Infinitive as Adverbial Modifier
- •A. TheInfinitive as Adverbial Modifier of Purpose
- •B. The Infinitive asAdverbial Modifier of Result
- •13. The Infinitive as Attribute
- •14. Active and Passive Infinitive with Similar Meaning
- •15. Objective-with-the-Infinitive Construction
- •16. Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction
- •19. The Infinitive as Parenthesis
- •The gerund
- •1. Form and Use
- •2. Functions of the Gerund
- •3. Verbs Followed by the Gerund
- •Note that:
- •5. Gerunds after Prepositions
- •6. The Verb mind
- •7. Gerunds with Passive Meaning
- •8. The Gerund: Special Cases
- •Infinitive and gerund constructions
- •1. Verbs and Adjectives Which May Take either Infinitive or Gerund
- •M. Accustomed, afraid, ashamed, certain, interested, sorry, sure, used
- •The participles
- •1. The Present (or Active) Participle
- •2. Present Participle after verbs of sensation
- •I saw him enter the room, unlock a drawer, take out a document, photograph it and put it back.
- •4. Go, come, spend, waste, be busy
- •5. A present participle phrase replacing a main clause
- •6. A present participle phrase replacing a subordinate clause
- •7. The perfect participle (active)
- •8. The past participle (passive) and the perfect participle (passive)
- •9. Participles used as adjectives before and after nouns
- •10. Misrelated participles
- •Reported speech
- •1. Main points
- •2. Statements in reported speech 1. If you want to report a statement, you use a ‘that’-clause after certain verbs. The most useful are:
- •Tense changes
- •Indirect speech is usually introduced by a verb in the past tense. Verbs in the reported clause have to be changed into a corresponding ‘more past’ tense.
- •1. Past Simple and Past Continuous in time clauses do not normally change. The verb in the main clause can either remain unchanged or become the past perfect:
- •5. Time and place expressions in reported speech
- •6. Modals in reported speech
- •7. Reported questions
- •8. Questions beginning Shall I/we…? Such questions can be of different types:
- •9. Reported orders/requests/advice/suggestions, etc.
- •14. Let’s, let him/them in indirect speech 1. Let’s usually expresses a suggestion and is reported by suggest in reported speech:
- •15. Exclamations and yes/no
- •16. Reported speech: mixed types
- •Contents
2. Modal Auxiliary Verbs With Perfect Infinitives
Modal verbs usually refer to the present, or the future (except for certain uses of could, would and must). However, all modal verbs (except shall) in some of their meanings can be used together with perfect infinitives to talk about the past. ( The perfect infinitive without to is used, except after ought.) This structure has a special meaning: it is used for speculating (thinking about what possibly happened) or imagining (thinking about how things could have been different).
She’s two hours late - what can have happened?
You could have told me you were coming.
I think I may have annoyed Aunt Mary.
You were crazy to ski down there - you might have killed yourself.
John is behaving very strangely. I think he must have been drinking.
We ought to have got here earlier: the train’s packed.
You needn’t have brought wine - we’ve got plenty.
3. Can, could and be able for ability
The general meaning of can and could is connected with the idea of freedom. If you say that you can do something, you mean that there is nothing to stop you doing it if you want to; you are strong enough, or you have learnt how to do it, or you have been given permission, or it is physically possible: you are free to do it.
A. Present and Future
Can is usually used to talk about the present, or about ‘general ability’ - the ability to do something at any time you want to.
Can you do this sum in your head?
You can cook even if you can’t do anything else.
be able to is also possible but less usual.
But in some patterns we always use be able to, not can:
To-infinitive: It’s nice to be able to go to the opera.
Present perfect: Since his accident he hasn’t been able to leave the house.
To talk about future ability, will be able to is normally used.
Our baby will be able to walk in a few weeks.
But we normally use can (not will be able to) to suggest a possible future action or to make present decisions about future ability. Could is also possible here, but is more unsure.
We’re busy today, but we can repair your car tomorrow.
Let’s have lunch together. We can go to that new restaurant.
‘What shall we do this evening?’ - ‘We could go to the cinema’.
B. Past
Could is used for ‘general ability’, to say that you could do something any time you wanted to. (Was/were able to is also possible.)
She could sing like an angel when she was a kid.
My father could speak ten languages.
Could is not used to talk about particular ability (to do something on one occasion) in the past. Instead, we use was able to, managed to, or succeeded in.
Luckily I had my camera with me, so I was able to play in the match.
The driver managed to stop just before he hit the wall.
After six hours’ climbing, we succeeded in reaching the top.
But in the negative couldn’t is used for both general and particular ability.
When I was younger I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do. (general ability)
Simon was so tired that he couldn’t open the door. (particular ability)
C. Could with the Perfect Infinitive
1. This form is used for past ability when the action was not performed. We had the ability to do something but we didn’t try to do it.
I could have lent you the money. Why didn’t you ask me?
I was so angry! I could have killed her.
It is also used when we don’t know whether it was performed or not:
Someone could have taken the keys from your bag.
2. Could + perfect infinitive can also express irritation at or reproach to the non-performance of an action:
You could have told me.
3. We use couldn’t have to say that it is impossible that something happened:
Paul couldn’t have taken a bus yesterday. There aren’t any buses on Sundays.
I coudn’t have enjoyed myself more - it was perfect.
D. Could with remember etc.
With some verbs can is often left out without changing the meaning very much. This happens with remember, speak, understand and play.
I (can) remember London during the war.
She can speak Greek/She speaks Greek.
I can’t/don’t understand.
Do/can you play the piano?
E. Can and could with see, hear etc.
The verbs see, hear, feel, smell and taste have several different meanings. When they have their basic meanings of ‘receiving information through the senses’, they are not usually used in the progressive tenses. Instead of the progressive tenses, we usually use can with the infinitive of these verbs to talk about a sense experience that is going on at the moment. Could is used for the past.
I can see Henry over there. (Compare: I’m seeing Henry off tomorrow)
I can feel something crawling up my leg.
When I got off the train I could smell the sea.