Conditional Sentences

Conditional sentences

The conditional sentences are sometimes confusing for learners of English.

Watch out:

1) Which type of the conditional sentences is used?

2) Where is the if-clause (e.g. at the beginning or at the end of the conditional sentence)?

There are three types of the if-clauses.

type	condition
I	condition possible to fulfill
II	condition in theory possible to fulfill
III	condition not possible to fulfill (too late)

Form

type	if clause	main clause
I	Simple Present	will-future (or Modal + infinitive)
II	Simple Past	would + infinitive *
III	Past Perfect	would + have + past participle *

Examples (if-clause at the beginning)

type	if clause	main clause
I	If I study,	I will pass the exam.
II	If I studied,	I would pass the exam.
III	If I had studied,	I would have passed the exam.

Examples (if-clause at the end)

type	main clause	if-clause
I	I will pass the exam	if I study.
II	I would pass the exam	if I studied.
III	I would have passed the exam	if I had studied.

Examples (affirmative and negative sentences)

type		Examples
		long forms	short/contracted forms
I	+	If I study, I will pass the exam.	If I study, I'll pass the exam.
	-	If I study, I will not fail the exam. If I do not study, I will fail the exam.	If I study, I won't fail the exam. If I don't study, I'll fail the exam.
II	+	If I studied, I would pass the exam.	If I studied, I'd pass the exam.
	-	If I studied, I would not fail the exam. If I did not study, I would fail the exam.	If I studied, I wouldn't fail the exam. If I didn't study, I'd fail the exam.
III	+	If I had studied, I would have passed the exam.	If I'd studied, I'd have passed the exam.
	-	If I had studied, I would not have failed the exam. If I had not studied, I would have failed the exam.	If I'd studied, I wouldn't have failed the exam. If I hadn't studied, I'd have failed the exam.

* We can substitute could or might for would (should, may or must are sometimes possible, too).

I would pass the exam.

I could pass the exam.

I might pass the exam.

I may pass the exam.

I should pass the exam.

I must pass the exam.

Passive

Para los ejercicios de pasiva hay generalmente dos maneras de afrontar las transformaciones, en su inmensa mayoría la pasiva en Español e Inglés se afronta de la misma manera, por lo tanto si dominas los verbos, las transformaciones son las mismas.

En caso de que tengas algún problema con los tiempos que hay que user aquí te dejo esta tabla. Recuerda que la parte izquierda de la tabla son las frases en activa y la de la derecha son en pasiva.

Recuerda que el aprendizaja de la pasiva requiere aprender el participio de los verbos irregulares. (Tercera palabra en las listas de verbos irregulares)

ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES CHART

SIMPLE PRESENT and SIMPLE PAST The active object becomes the passive subject. am/is/are + past participle was/were + past participle
Active: Simple Present The movie fascinates me. The movie bores Jack. The movie surprises them.	Passive: Simple Present I am fascinated by the movie. Jack is bored by the movie. They are surprised by the movie.
Active: Simple Past The movie bored me. The movie fascinated Jack. The movie surprised them.	Passive: Simple Past I was bored by the movie. Jack was fascinated by the movie. They were surprisedby the movie.

PRESENT and PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) Passive form: am/is/are + being + past participle was/were + being + past participle
Active: Present Continuous I am helping Shannon. June is helping Su and Ling.	Passive: Present Continuous Shannon is being helped by me. Su and Ling are being helped by June.
Active: Past Continuous I was cleaning the bathroom. They were cleaning the bedroom. Susan was cleaning the kitchen and patio.	Passive: Past Continuous The bathroom was being cleaned by me. The bedroom was being cleaned by them. The kitchen and patio were being cleaned by Susan.

PRESENT PERFECT, PAST PERFECT and FUTURE PERFECT Passive form: have/has been + past participle had been + past participle
Active: Present Perfect I have mailed the gift. Jack has mailed the gifts.	Passive: Present Perfect The gift has been mailed by me. The gifts have been mailed by Jack.
Active: Past Perfect Steven Spielberg had directed the movie. Penny Marshall had directed those movies.	Passive: Past Perfect The movie had been directed by Steven Spielberg. The movies had been directed by Penny Marshall.
Active: Future Perfect John will have finished the project next month. They will have finished the projects before then.	Passive: Future Perfect The project will have been finished by next month. The projects will have been finished before then.

FUTURE TENSES Passive forms: will + be + past participle is/are going to be + past participle
Active: Future with WILL I will mail the gift. Jack will mail the gifts.	Passive: Future with WILL The gift will be mailed by me. The gifts will be mailed by Jack.
Active: Future with GOING TO I am going to make the cake. Sue is going to make two cakes.	Passive: Future with GOING TO The cake is going to be made by me. Two cakes are going to be made by Sue.

PRESENT / FUTURE MODALS The passive form follows this pattern: modal + be + past participle
Active: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Sharon will invite Tom to the party. Sharon won't invite Jeff to the party. (Sharon will not invite Jeff to the party.)	Passive: WILL / WON'T (WILL NOT) Tom will be invited to the party by Sharon. Jeff won't be invited to the party by Sharon. (Jeff will not be invited to the party by Sharon.)
Active: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) Mai can foretell the future. Terry can't foretell the future. (Terry can not foretell the future.)	Passive: CAN / CAN'T (CAN NOT) The future can be foretold by Mai. The future can't be foretold by Terry. (The future can not be foretold by Terry.)
Active: MAY / MAY NOT Her company may give Katya a new office. The lazy students may not do the homework. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Her company might give Katya a new office. The lazy students might not do the homework.	Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may be given a new office by her company. The homework may not be done by the lazy students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might be given a new office by her company. The homework might not be done by the lazy students.
Active: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T Students should memorize English verbs. Children shouldn't smoke cigarettes.	Passive: SHOULD / SHOULDN'T English verbs should be memorized by students. Cigarettes shouldn't be smoked by children.
Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to learn English verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)	Passive: OUGHT TO English verbs ought to be memorized by students.
Active: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT Students had better practice English every day. Children had better not drink whiskey.	Passive: HAD BETTER / HAD BETTER NOT English had better be practiced every day by students. Whiskey had better not be drunk by children.
Active: MUST / MUST NOT Tourists must apply for a passport to travel abroad. Customers must not use that door.	Passive: MUST / MUST NOT A passport to travel abroad must be applied for. That door must not be used by customers.
Active: HAS TO / HAVE TO She has to practice English every day. Sara and Miho have to wash the dishes every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Maria doesn't have to clean her bedroom every day. The children don't have to clean their bedrooms every day.	Passive: HAS TO / HAVE TO English has to be practiced every day. The dishes have to be washed by them every day. DOESN'T HAVE TO/ DON'T HAVE TO Her bedroom doesn't have to be cleaned every day. Their bedrooms don't have to be cleaned every day.
Active: BE SUPPOSED TO I am supposed to type the composition. I am not supposed to copy the stories in the book. Janet is supposed to clean the living room. She isn't supposed to eat candy and gum. They are supposed to make dinner for the family. They aren't supposed to make dessert.	Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO The composition is supposed to be typed by me. The stories in the book are not supposed to be copied. The living room is supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum aren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner for the family is supposed to be made by them. Dessert isn't supposed to be made by them.

PAST MODALS The past passive form follows this pattern: modal + have been + past participle
Active: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The students should have learned the verbs. The children shouldn't have broken the window.	Passive: SHOULD HAVE / SHOULDN'T HAVE The verbs should have been learned by the students. The window shouldn't have been broken by the children.
Active: OUGHT TO Students ought to have learned the verbs. (negative ought to is rarely used)	Passive: OUGHT TO The verbs ought to have been learned by the students.
Active: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) I was supposed to type the composition. I wasn't supposed to copy the story in the book. Janet was supposed to clean the living room. She wasn't supposed to eat candy and gum. Frank and Jane were supposed to make dinner. They weren't supposed to make dessert.	Passive: BE SUPPOSED TO (past time) The composition was supposed to be typed by me. The story in the book wasn't supposed to be copied. The living room was supposed to be cleaned by Janet. Candy and gum weren't supposed to be eaten by her. Dinner was supposed to be made by them. Dessert wasn't supposed to be made by them.
Active: MAY / MAY NOT That firm may have offered Katya a new job. The students may not have written the paper. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT That firm might have offered Katya a new job. The students might not have written the paper.	Passive: MAY / MAY NOT Katya may have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper may not have been written by the students. MIGHT / MIGHT NOT Katya might have been offered a new job by that firm. The paper might not have been written by the students.

Word Order Activity

EJERCICIOS DE ORDENAR PALABRAS


El ejercicio de ordenar palabras para lograr una frase con sentido en Inglés está apareciendo mucho últimamente en selectividad.

Es un ejercicio que algunas veces puede ser "tricky" (con truco) por lo tanto es recomendable dejar esta actividad para el final y no user mucho tiempo en ella que luego nos pueda servir para el resto del examen.

En general tenemos que analizar la extructura de la frase, Subject + (auxiliar if it requires it) Verb + Object (indirect object comes first + direct object comes second) + complement of place + complement of time.

I

will tell

you

the story

at school

tomorrow.

Si la frase es negativa, recordad que hay que poner el NOT entre el AUX y el Verbo principal.

I

will not tell

you

the story

at school

tomorrow.

Si la frase es interrogativa, recordad que posiblemente aparezcan los interrogativos, WHAT, WHERE, WHICH, WHO, WHY, WHEN y este caso siempre van en primera posición. Importante es también ser conscientes de que hay que alterar el orden de la frase, poner los auxiliares antes que el sujeto.

What

would

you

like to tell

me

Palabras útiles para tus composiciones en Inglés.

Ya sabes que la composión es el apartado del examen de Inglés que marca la diferencia. Para lograr una composicion lo más decorada posible trata de introducir palabras más técnicas.

LISTA DE PALABRAS PARA LA COMPOSICION

Relative Pronouns - Defining Clauses

Defining clauses

These clauses define the noun and they identify which thing or person we are referring to.

Things

"The present which he bought me is beautiful."

People

"The man who has started an English course is from Spain."

Using whom

Whom is used to refer to the object of the verb.

The people with whom I was sitting were very noisy.

However, it is hardly ever used in spoken English. Instead, "who" is used with the preposition:

The people who I was sitting with were very noisy.
To whom are you speaking? = Who are you speaking to?
For whom are you buying the present? + Who are you buying the present for?

Using that

In spoken English, "that" is often used instead of "which", "whom"or "who".

"The present that he bought me is beautiful."

"The man that has started an English course is from Spain."

When, where and whose

When: Is there another time when (that) I can call you?

Where: Can you tell me where I can buy wrapping paper?

Whose: (possessive) Have you seen the TV show whose catchphrase is "Deal no deal?"

Omitting that, who and which

If the pronoun ("that", "who", "which") is the object of the verb, it can be omitted.

"The company that she works for is based in London." ("That"is an object pronoun.)

= "The company she works for is based in London." ("That"can be omitted.)

But:

"The company that employs her is based in London." ("That" is a subject pronoun.)

The company employs her (the company is the subject). In this case, it is not possible to omit "that". You need the pronoun because it is the subject of the verb.

A/An THE or No Article

This is not an exercise that appears in selectividad very often but it is going to help us to avoid some mistakes in the compositions:

Here are the rules for when to use "A, An or The":

• a = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with consonants
  She has a dog.
  I work in a factory.
• an = indefinite article (not a specific object, one of a number of the same objects) with vowels (a,e,i,o,u)
  Can I have an apple?
  She is an English teacher.
• the = definite article (a specific object that both the person speaking and the listener know)
  The car over there is fast.
  The teacher is very good, isn't he?
• The first time you speak of something use "a or an", the next time you repeat that object use "the".
  I live in a house. The house is quite old and has four bedrooms.
  I ate in a Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was very good.
• DO NOT use an article with countries, states, counties or provinces, lakes and mountains except when the country is a collection of states such as "The United States".
  He lives in Washington near Mount Rainier.
  They live in northern British Columbia.
• Use an article with bodies of water, oceans and seas -
  My country borders on the Pacific Ocean
• DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about things in general
  I like Russian tea.
  She likes reading books.
• DO NOT use an article when you are speaking about meals, places, and transport
  He has breakfast at home.
  I go to university.
  He comes to work by taxi.

PLEASE email me for any doubt concerning this topic

El Estilo Indirecto - Reported Speech

En Selectivdad el ejercicio de cambiar una frase del estilo directo al indirecto es una pregunta muy común.

Ejemplo de esta pregunta puede ser:

10) Turn the following sentence into reported speech: (0.5 points)

The young lady said: "I did not make such a mistake."

Para saber los cambios verbales, preposiciones de tiempo y etc aquí tienes la siguiente tabla.

HAZ CLICK PARA BAJAR APUNTES SOBRE EL ESTILO INDIRECTO