Examination questions
Reported speech is the exact meaning of what someone said, but not the exact words. We do not use quotation marks in reported speech.
The verb tenses remain the same in reported speech when the introductory verb is in the present, future or present perfect.
e.g. Mum says, ‘Dinner is ready.’
Mum says (that) dinner is ready.
The introductory verb is in the present tense:
a) When we pass on messages.
e.g. Debbie says she needs the car tonight.
b) When we report the content of a letter, article, etc. while reading it.
e.g. The article says that people consume too much junk food.
c) When we refer to something someone says very often.
e.g. Mum often says that I shouldn’t eat fast food.
2.The verb tenses do not change in Type 2 and Type 3 conditionals.
e.g. ‘If I had more time, I would cook my meals myself,’ Eric said to Helen.
Eric told Helen (that) if he had more time, he would cook his meals himself.
3. The verb tenses can either change or remain the same in reported speech:
a) in uptodate reporting.
b) when reporting a general truth or law of nature.
e.g. The teacher said, ‘Saturated fat is unhealthy.’
The teacher said (that) saturated fat is/was unhealthy.
4. Verb tenses and time expressions change in reported speech:
a) when the introductory verb is in the past tense.
e.g. ‘We’re having a barbecue next week,’ she said.
She said (that) they were having a barbecue the following week.
b) in outofdate reporting.
e.g. (Monday 2 May) Mike said, ‘I borrowed some money from my parents.’
(Thursday 5 May) Mike said (that) he had borrowed some money from his parents.
c) when we consider what the speaker says to be untrue.
e.g. ‘Paula and I are best friends,’ Jack said to me.
Jack said to me that he and Paula were best friends, but Paula had never actually met him.
The Passive Voice is used to show that the person or thing denoted by the subject of the sentence is not the agent (the doer) of the action expressed by the verb but it is the object of this action. The subject of a passive verb doesn’t act but it is acted upon – it undergoes an action.
We form the passive with the verb to be and the past participle of the main verb.
We use the passive:
when the person who caries out the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context.
e.g. Tea is made from the leaves of the tea plant. (It’s not important to know who makes the tea.)
when the action itself is more important than the person who caries it out, as in the news headlines, newspaper articles, instructions, advertisements, processes, etc.
e.g. Then, the milk is taken to the factory where it is pasteurised. (process)
when we refer to an unpleasant event and we do not want to say who or what is to blame (polite statement).
Only transitive verbs (verbs followed by an object) can be changed into the passive.
e.g. active: They pick grapes by hand and check carefully.
passive: Grapes are picked by hand and checked carefully.
But: The cocoa tree comes from the Amazon rainforests.
Some transitive verbs such as have, fit, suit, etc. can’t be changed into the passive.
e.g. He usually has some soup for the first course at lunch.
A person who performs an action in a passive sentence is called an agent, introduced by the preposition by. The agent may or may not be mentioned.
e.g. The pancakes were made by Grandma.
We use with and instrument/material/ingredient to say what the agent used.
e.g. The pancakes were made with eggs, flour and milk .
The agent is often omitted in the passive sentence when the subject of the active sentence is one of the following words: people, one, someone/somebody, they, he, etc.
e.g. active: People eat a lot of junk food nowadays.
passive: A lot of junk food is eaten nowadays.
Uncountable nouns denote objects that cannot be counted. The uncountable nouns are subdivided into the socalled singularia tantum and pluralia tantum.
Uncountable nouns are for the things that we cannot count with numbers. They may be the names for abstract ideas or qualities or for physical objects that are too small or too amorphous to be counted (liquids, powders, gases, etc.). Uncountable nouns are used with a singular verb. They usually do not have a plural form.
The noun is a word expressing substance in the widest sense of the word.
According to their morphological composition we distinguish
1. simple nouns (which have neither prefixes nor suffixes): hat, suit, dress.
2. derivative nouns (which have derivative elements prefixes or suffixes or both): mortgage, discount, overdraft.
3. compound nouns ( which are built from two or more stems; they have one stress; their meaning differs from the meaning of their elements). The main types are as follows:
nounstem + nounstem: shopkeeper, bookshop;
adjectivestem + nounstem: blueprint
verbstem + nounstem: pickpocket; the stem of a gerund or of a participle may be the first component of a compound noun: writingtable, readinghall.
An adjective is a part of speech denoting qualities of substances:
size ( huge, tiny )
colour ( amber, azure)
age ( young, elderly )
material ( wooden, rayon)
psychological state ( anxious, embarrassed )
The main syntactical functions of the adjective are those of an attribute and a predicative.
e.g. It’s a difficult task. (attribute)
The task is difficult. (predicative)
II Morphological composition of the adjective.
Adjectives are divided into simple, derivative and compound.
Simple adjectives are those which have neither prefixes nor suffixes: huge, hot, cute.
Derivative adjectives are those which have a derivative element: stifling, gorgeous, unbearable.
Compound adjectives are adjectives built from two or more stems.
The main types of compound adjectives are :
noun stem and adjective stem: snowwhite
noun stem and participle: smokedried
adjective stem and adjective stem: deafmute
adjective stem and noun+ed: blueeyed
noun stem and noun+ed: lynxeyed
numeral and noun+ed: fourstoreyed
adverb and noun+ed: overcrowded
6. Comment on the rules of the sequence of tenses.
The Future Indefinite in the Past
The Future Indefinite in the Past is formed by means of the auxiliary verbs should and would and the infinitive without particle to of the notional verb.
The Future Indefinite in the Past denotes an action which was future from the point of view of the past.
e.g. I was sure he would order the speciality of the day.
The Future Continuous in the Past is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to be in the Future Indefinite in the Past and Participle I of the notional verb.
It denotes an action going on at a definite moment which was future from the point of view of the past.
e.g. I felt sure they would be having dinner when I came.
The Future Perfect in the Past
The Future Perfect in the Past is formed by means of the auxiliary verb to have in the Future Indefinite in the Past and Participle II of the notional verb.
It is used to denote an action completed before a definite moment which was future from the point of view of the past.
e.g. I wondered whether she would have baked a peach flan by noon.
The Future Perfect Continuous in the Past
The Future Perfect Continuous in the Past is formed by means of the Future Perfect in the Past of the auxiliary verb to be and Participle I of the notional verb.
It denotes an action lasting during a certain period of time before a definite moment which was future from the point of view of the past.
e.g. I wondered how long they would have been cooking dinner by the time I returned.
Agreement between subject and verb
It is natural that nouns in the singular agree with the singular verb and nouns in the plural take a plural verb.
e.g. She lives in China.
More people live in Asia than in any other continent.
1. When the subject of the sentence is complex, the following verb must agree with the main noun in the
sentence.
e.g. The only excuse that he gave for his actions was that he was tired.
2. We have difficulties with collective nouns:
a) Some of them always have a singular form and take a singular verb: the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie, the peasantry, furniture, machinery, linen.
e.g. The aristocracy is proud of having blue blood.
b) Other collective nouns also have the singular form, but agree with a plural verb (nouns of multitude). Here belong: the public, police, people, the gentry, the clergy, infantry, cattle, poultry.
e.g. The police have arrested a criminal.
c) Still other collective nouns may have either the singular or the plural form. Here belong: family, crew, group, team, staff, company, party, band etc. When these nouns are used in the plural, they agree with a plural verb.
e.g. All the families in our neighbourhood were alike.
These nouns in the singular form may take either a singular or a plural verb.
We use a singular verb if we see the institution or organization as a whole unit, a collective body.
e.g. The team has won the game.
Their family is very happy.
But if we see it as a collection of individuals (members are thought of individually) we use a plural verb.
e.g. The team are now resting.
My family keep a close eye on me.
d) Some nouns are usually plural and take a plural verb. These include: belongings, clothes, goods, outskirts etc.
e.g. There were clothes scattered about the room.
3. Some nouns always end in –s and look as if they are plural, but when we use them as the subject of a sentence they have a singular verb. Here belong: news, means, some sports, some diseases, some academic disciplines (the latter agree with a plural verb when denote general use of a science, but not the science itself).
e.g. Statistics was always my worst subject .
Statistics are able to prove anything you want them to (= numerical information).
4. After per cent (also percent and %) we use a singular verb.
e.g. Around 10 per cent of the forest is destroyed each year.
Note: In phrases where we can use of + plural noun we use a plural verb.
e.g. I would say that about 50 per cent of the houses need major repairs.
But where we use a singular noun that can be thought of either as a whole unit or a collection of individuals, we can use a singular or plural verb.
e.g. Some 80 per cent of the electorate is expected to vote (or “are expected).
5. With e.g. two thirds of and a plural noun we use a plural verb, with a singular noun we use a singular verb.
e.g. Two thirds of the food was eaten immediately.
e.g. Two thirds of the books were mine.
6. With any of, either of, neither of, none of” and a plural noun, we can use a singular or plural verb (However, we prefer a singular verb in careful written English).
e.g. I don’t think any of them knows (or know) where the money is hidden.
Neither of the French athletics has (or have) won this year.