Gramática Inglesa: Preposiciones, Modales en Pasado, Condicionales, Voz Pasiva y Futuro

Prepositions

Accustom to, good at/for, play tricks on, evidence of, be sensitive to, be involved in, connected to/with, according to, seized with, terror of, disconnect from, result of, testify to, alarmed by, figures in, way to, faces with, activity in, put to, experienced by, haul through, characters in.

Past Modals

Structure: SUBJ + MODAL + HAVE + PP + O

We can use past modals to talk about:

Possibility

It might / might have been your parents who sent the flowers.

Logical explanation / certainty

It can't have been Maria who phoned before. It must have been Sarah.

Obligation

I ought to / should have finished his composition last night.

Lack of necessity

We needn't have got up so early.

A past condition

I would have finished the composition if I had had time.

Adjectives Order

Opinion / size / age / shape / colour / origin / material / purpose.

Relative Clauses

They are subordinate clauses introduced by a relative pronoun or a relative adverb. There are two types: defining and non-defining.

Defining relative clauses

They do not go between commas. They can be formed with the relative pronouns that, who, which, whose, where and when. The relative pronoun can be omitted when it is not the subject of the clause.

Example: The boy who I met yesterday is beautiful. → The boy I met yesterday is beautiful.

Non-defining relative clauses

They give extra information about the antecedent. Without them, the sentence still makes sense. Therefore, they must go between commas. They can be formed with the relative pronouns who, which, whose, when and where. They cannot be omitted when they are the subject of the clause.

Example: The boy, whose father is Marco, is beautiful.

Used to + V. infinitive (solía / solir)

Expresses habits in the past.

When I was a child, I used to play with my dolls.
I didn't use to live in Brazil when I was 20.

Get used to + V-ing (acostumbrarse a)

It was difficult for me to get used to eating fish.

Be used to + V-ing (estar acostumbrado a)

After a year, I'm used to eating fish.

Conditionals

0 Conditional – Facts, scientific truths, general rules

If + present simple + present simple

If it rains, I get wet.

1st Conditional – Real, probable, possible situations

If + present simple + will

If I don't study, I will fail.

2nd Conditional – Possible but improbable situations

If + past simple + would / could / might

If I were you, I would go to the party.

3rd Conditional – Imagining how things might have been different in the past

If + past perfect + would / wouldn't have + past participle

If you had gone to the party, you would have met a lot of people.

Wishes and Regrets

We can express wishes and regrets about the past using wish or wished + past perfect. The wish expressed is the opposite of what really happened.

• I wish I'd been born a hundred years ago. (You weren't born a hundred years ago.)
• Paula wishes she hadn't split up with her boyfriend. (But she did split up with him.)

We can also express regrets about the past with if only + past perfect.

• If only I had called him. (But I didn't call him.)
• If only James had remembered my birthday! (But he didn't remember it.)

Passive Voice

To form a passive sentence, we need to make three changes to the active sentence:

1. Make the object of the verb the subject of the passive sentence.
2. Use the same tense of the verb to be and the past participle of the active verb.
3. When it is necessary to say who or what performed the action, make the subject of the active sentence the agent of the passive sentence by using by.

Future Forms

Going to

To talk about intentions and to make predictions based on what we can see.

Look at the beautiful sky! It's going to be a nice day.

Present continuous (to be + V-ing)

To talk about a definite arrangement for the future.

I'm having an interview tomorrow.

Present simple

To talk about events at a definite time in the future.

The concert begins at 7.

Future simple (will)

To make a prediction, a request, an instant decision, a promise, or to express determination.

I will go and get an ice cream.
I think it will rain later.

Future continuous

To emphasise the length of an action at a certain time in the future, to make a request, or to make an instant decision.

In 2012 they will be building the new space station.
This time next week, I'll be relaxing in Florida.

Future perfect simple

To talk about an action or event completed before a specific time in the future.

They will have finished the new space station by 2015.
We'll have finished the project by the end of next week.

Future perfect continuous

To say how long an action or event will have continued by a certain time, often used with for.

In 2012 they will have been building the space station for two years.