Grammar Flashcards
One
Used to refer to a singular countable noun in a group
Ex.: I’ve made some sandwiches - would you like one?
There are some excellent exhibitions on. I strongly recommend the one at the National Gallery.
Ones
Used to refer to plural countable nouns in a group
Ex.: I enjoy romantic films, especially sad ones.
I’ve bought a lot of new shirts recently, but for gardening I prefer to wear an old one.
Another
Used to refer to a second/third (etc.) countable noun in a group
Ex.: One picture showed a girl combing her hair. Another was of the same girl dancing.
Both and Neither
Used to refer to two things/people
Ex.: He’s written two novels and both have won prizes. Neither is autobiographical.
All and None
Used to refer to more than two things/people
Ex.: He’s written twenty novels and I’ve read all of them.
Mariella invited her friends but none of them came.
First Conditional
To talk about very possible or probable situations/events in the present or future
If + present simple/continuous, + will/may/must/etc + infinitive
Ex.:If you’re hungry, I’ll start getting lunch ready.
We should get there by midday if the trains are running on time.
Second Conditional
To talk about improbable for imaginary situations/events in the present or future
If + past simple/continuous, + would/could/might + infinitive
Ex.: I might miss the city if we moved away from here. (but we probably won’t move)
If I was driving the car, we’d be arriving by now. (but I’m not driving so we aren’t arriving yet)
Third Conditional
To talk about imaginary situations/events in the past
If + past perfect simple/continuous, + would have/ could have/might have + past participle
Ex.: I could have got better results if I’d taken the photos earlier. (but I didn’t take them early enough)
If it hadn’t been snowing, we wouldn’t have got lost. (but it was snowing, so we got lost)
Mixed Conditional
(If one part of the sentence speaks about the present/future and the other part about the past, 2nd and 3rd conditionals can be mixed)
Ex.: If I hadn’t met Julia in Bulgaria last year (past - 3rd conditional), we wouldn’t be married now (present - 2nd conditional).
If Anastasia didn’t need this book for her Ph.D. (present - 2nd conditional), she would never have bought it (past - 3rd conditional).
If you weren’t leaving tomorrow (future - 2nd conditional), we could have had more time together (past - 3rd conditional).
Other uses of conditionals
- Give advice: If I were you + I would + infinitive
Ex.: If I were you, I’d take that laptop as hand luggage. - Make criticisms or strong requests: If you would + infinitive + would + infinitive
Ex.: If you’d stop making so much noise, perhaps we’d all be able to enjoy the programme. - Make polite formal requests: I’d appreciate it/I’d be grateful + if you would/could
Ex.: I’d appreciate it if you could hand in the report by Tuesday.
Countable nouns
- Singular or plural
- In the singular form they can be preceded by a/an or one, or determiners such as this/that, each, every: A human being has two hands. Each hand has a thumb and four fingers.
- In the plural form they can be preceded by numbers or determiners such as some, any, many, (a) few, no, these/those: That are a few teenagers in the room but no children
Uncountable nouns
- Neither singular nor plural
- They are used with singular verbs and can be preceded by determiners such as some, any, no, much, this/that: Is there any coffee left? No, but there’s some tea
- A/an, one, each and every CANNOT be used with uncountable nouns
Passive
Verb be + past participle
Ex.: My office was broken into last night.
Tonight’s football match has been canceled.
The goods are imported by a chain of supermarkets.
Water was added and the mixture has heated to 85°C
With verbs like know, believe, think, consider, expect, report we can use passive + infinitive
Ex.: Bill Gates is known to be one of the world’s richest people.
Twenty people are reported to have been injured in the fire.
We can also use an impersonal construction with It + passive + that + clause
Ex.: It is believed that the accident was caused by a gas leak.
It has been estimated that average house prices will fall by 5% this year.
Reported speech
‘I’m feeling ill’ → He said he was feeling ill.
‘You can borrow my phone’ → She said I could borrow her phone.
‘The rain has stopped’ → He said the rain had stopped.
‘We drove all night’ → They said they had driven all night.
‘We’ll try to help’ → They said they would try to help.
The past perfect tenses and the modal verbs would, could and should cannot move ‘further back’ so they remain unchanged
‘I’d never spoken to her before’ → He said he’d never spoken to her before.
‘I wouldn’t go skiing again’ → She said she wouldn’t go is skiing again.
Inversion
- Negative word + [aux] + [subject] + past participle
Ex.: Not for a moment did I think…
Never have I ever done…
Little did he know
No sooner had I got home than I realized… - Here/There
Ex.: Here comes the bus!
There is she
Here’s your coffee
