Voices

Vocabulary
Tenses Modifiers Drills
Direct
Indirect
speech

Functional Grammar : Patterns and Usage

English project
Aarishti Singh(9155)
1 st Semester
Section C
Tenses
Definition
◦ In English grammar, tenses are a category of words that express time. They help communicate whether the event being spoken of has happened in the
past, is happening right now or will happen in the future. Tenses are manifested by the use of forms of verbs. Let us learn more. . Tenses can be
broadly classified into three broad categories:

◦ Past Tense
◦ Present Tense
◦ Future Tense
◦ With each of these tenses, there are four aspects associated with it. An aspect here refers to the nature of action performed by the verb. We will also
learn about them in an introduction to tenses.

◦ Perfect or complete
◦ Perfect continuous
◦ Progressive or Continuous
◦ Simple or indefinite.
Past Tenses
This tense is used to refer to something that happened in the past.

◦ Simple Past Tenses

Indicates an action took place before the present moment and that has no real connection with the present
time.
a.the verb 'flew' is an irregular verb which does not take 'ed' in the past tense like regular verbs.
b. the form of Simple Past Tense is - verb + ed
Example: We stayed in a hotel.
o Past Perfect Continuous Tense-
Indicates an action in the past that took place before another time or event in the past and continued during the second
event/time point in the past.
a. The form of Past Perfect Continuous Tense is- had + been + verb + ing
Example: I had been playing the drums since school time.

◦ Past Perfect Tense- ◦ Past Continuous Tense-

Indicates an action in the past that had been Indicates an action going on at some time in the
completed before another time or event in the past or an action in the past that is longer in
past. duration than another action in the past.

The form of Past Perfect Tense is- had + verb
(past participle form or the 3rd form of the
verb)
Example: We had completed our match before
she had come.
The form of Past Continuous Tense is- was/were
+ verb + ing
Example: We were playing tennis at the club.
Present Tense
This tense is used to refer or indicate to something that occurs in the present.

◦ Simple Present Tense- ◦ Present Perfect Tense-

Indicates an action that is generally true or habitual. That Indicates an action that has been completed
is, it took place in the past , continue to take place in the sometime before the present moment, with a
present, and will take place in the future. This tense is result that affects the present situation.
used to denote
The form of Present Perfect Tense is- has/have
-a habitual action- for instance, "He walk to school."
+ verb (past participle form or 3rd form of the
-general truths- for instance, "The sun rises in the east", verb)
"Honesty is the best policy."
Example: She is preparing chicken sandwiches for
-a future event that is part of a fixed timetable- for
breakfast.
instance, "The match starts at 9 o' clock."
a. The form of Simple Present Tense is- verb (infinitive
without 'to' and agreeable with the subject)
◦ Present Continuous Tense-
Indicates an action that is taking place at the
moment of speaking.
The form of Present Continuous Tense is-
is/am/are + verb + ing
Example: She is preparing chicken sandwiches for
breakfast.
◦ Present Perfect Continuous
Tense-
Indicates an action that started in the past and is
continuing at the present time.
The form of Present Perfect Continuous Tense
is- has/have + been + verb + ing
Example: They have been trying to contact her.
Future Tense
This tense is used to refer to or indicate something that hasn’t happened at the time of speaking or writing.

◦ Simple Future Tense- ◦ Future Perfect Tense-

Indicates an action that will take place after the
present time and that has no real connection with
the present time.
the form of Simple Future Tense is- will/shall +
verb
Example : She will visit her ailing grandmother
soon.
Is used to refer or describe an event that will be
completed sometime in the future before another
action takes place.
The form of Future Perfect Tense is- will/shall
have + verb(past participle form or 3rd form of
the verb)
Example: I will have completed 10 years of work
in August this year.
◦ Future Continuous Tense-
This tense is used to describe actions that are
ongoing or continuing in the future.
The form of Future Continuous Tense is-
will/shall be + verb + ing
Example: His parents will be attending the
convocation.
◦ Future Perfect Continuous
Tense-
This tense is used to describe an action that is
continuing into the future and will be completed
at a specified time in the future.
The form of Future Perfect Continuous Tense is-
will/shall have been + verb + ing
Example: I shall have been living in Mumbai for
five years by May 2019.
Active And
Passive Voice
◦Active Voice
The active voice describes a sentence where the subject performs the action stated by the verb. It follows a
clear subject + verb + object construct.

oPassive Voice
When the object is acted upon by the subject, the sentence is written in Passive voice. It follows a clear Object
+ Verb + Subject construct.
Rules for changing Active voice to Passive voice
◦ Simply exchange the places of the subject and the object. The subject should become the object and vice-e-
versa while changing a sentence from Active to Passive voice or reverse.
Active voice: She bought a new car. (She is the subject and a new car is an object.)
Passive voice: A new car was bought by her. (A new car is a subject and her is the object.)
o Always blindly convert the main verb into its past participle or third form while converting from active to
passive voice.
Active voice: Bhaanu wrote a book on gun violence.
Passive voice: A book on gun violence was written by Bhaanu.
First form Second form Third form
Buy Bought Bought
Sing sang sung
Grow Grew Grown
◦ 3. Use the word “by” before the subject in the passive sentence. For example:
Active voice: My brother sang a song.
Passive voice: A song was sung by my brother.
◦ 4. Change of tense of the auxiliary word: Now when you change the verb form of the main verb, the tense of the auxiliary
also changes accordingly. Let’s see this with the help of a few example
Present tense–
Active voice: Sun rises from the east. ; Passive voice: East is where the sun rises from.
Past tense–
Active voice: She walked my dog home.;Passive voice: My dog was walked home by her.
Future tense–
Active voice: Sheena will do the craft work.;Passive voice: Craft work will be done by Sheena.
◦ 5. Sometimes you may completely omit the subject from the passive voice if the idea you are trying to convey is clear. You
just have to take a judgement call for that. For example:
Active voice: Distance is measured in kilometers.;Passive voice: Kilometres is a measurement unit for distance.
◦ 6. Words like “with” or “to” are also used in passive voice. You may recall that we use “by” quite frequently in an active
voice to passive voice conversion.
Active voice: I know her.;Passive voice: She is known to me.3
 Direct And
Indirect Speech
What is Direct & Indirect Speech?
◦ Direct Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported in his own actual words without any
change.
◦ Indirect Speech: the message of the speaker is conveyed or reported in our own words.
Example on Process of Conversion from Direct to Indirect Speech
a) Direct: Radha said, “I am very busy now.”
b) Indirect: Radha said that she was very busy then.
Transition of Tenses
Direct speech tense Indirect/Reported speech tense
Simple present simple past
present continuous past continuous

simple past past perfect

past continuous past perfect continuous

present perfect tense past perfect tense

past perfect tense past perfect tense

Word Transitions
Will Would
Can Could
May Might
Shall Should
Today That day
Yesterday The previous day
Tomorrow The next day
Must Had to
Now Then
This That
Here There
Ago Before
Reported Questions
◦ When we report questions, the subject comes before the verb.
1.Direct speech: “Where are you going?”
Reported speech: He asked me where I was going.
2.Direct speech: “Why is he shouting?”
Reported speech: He asked me why he was shouting.
3.Direct speech: “What do you want?”
Reported speech: She asked me what I wanted.
◦ When reporting questions we don’t use the auxiliary verb do, except in negative questions.
1.Direct speech: “Who doesn’t like cheese?”
Reported speech: She asked me who didn’t like cheese.
◦ We report yes/no questions with if or whether.
1.Direct speech: “Do you want me to come?”
Reported speech: I asked him if he wanted me to come.
2. Direct speech: “Have you fed the dog?”
Reported speech: She asked me whether I had fed the dog.
◦ When we report questions with who, what or which + to be + object, the verb be can come before or after the object.
1.Direct speech: “Who is the champion?”
Reported speech: She asked me who the champion was / She asked me who was the champion.
2.Direct speech: “What is your favourite colour?”
Reported speech: She asked me what my favourite colour was / She asked me what was my favourite colour.
 Reported Requests
◦ A request is when somebody asks you to do something – usually politely. We usually introduce reported
requests with the verb "ask". The structure is very simple:
ask + noun + to infinitive
pronoun
◦ We asked the man to help us.
◦ They asked us to wait.
Because we use the infinitive there is no need to worry about tense. But as with reported statements and
reported questions, we may need to change pronouns as well as time and place in reported requests.
Reported Command
◦ Form

affirmative commands → to + infinitive ; negative commands → not + to + infinitive

◦ . Affirmative commands

Direct Speech → Mum: “Tidy your room.” ; Reported Speech → Mum told me to tidy my room.

◦ Negative commands

Direct Speech → Policeman: “Don’t park there.” ; Reported Speech → The policeman told me not to park there.

◦ The introductory sentence in commands etc.,

◦ The word tell is often used in introductory sentences in Reported Commands but others are possible such as order, insist, command etc.,

◦ Direct Speech

◦ Dad: “Do your homework.”

◦ Reported Speech

◦ Dad told me to do my homework.

Modifiers
◦ To “modify” something is to change it or alter it. A modifier is an adjective or adverb; or adjective clause or adverb
clause, that “modifies” other words in a sentence to make it more descriptive. Some modifiers affect nouns, while
others affect other verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. They are optional words that you can usually add or remove
without affecting a sentence’s grammar; but they make sentences much more interesting, detailed, and revealing.
◦ Examples of Modifiers
A modifier changes our understanding of a word by adding details. Here are some examples of words that can be
changed with modifiers:
1.Word Modified: Red
Bright red, fire engine red, red as dark as blood
2.Word Modified: Cold
Bitter cold, freezing cold, cold that chills you to the bone
3.Word Modified: Cat
Fluffy cat, orange cat, the cat I saw on the street
4.Word Modified: Idea
Bold idea, the world’s worst idea, the best idea I’ve ever had
Types Of Modifiers
Adjective Modifiers
An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun by making it more descriptive. Here’s a basic sentence:
◦ The dog went to the county fair to eat popcorn.
Now, with modifiers:
◦ The big, friendly dog went to the county fair to eat popcorn.
As you can see, both sentences are grammatically correct and have the same basic meaning. But, adjective
modifiers like “big” and “friendly” make the second sentence more detailed.
Adverbs as Modifiers
An adverb modifies a verb, adverb or adjective by answering questions of where, when, why and how.
Oftentimes, adverbs explain a degree to which something is done, answering the question “to what extent?” So,
let’s take the same sentence from above and add adverb modifiers:
◦ Yesterday the big, friendly dog went to the county fair only to eat popcorn.
◦ The big, friendly dog frequently went to the county fair to eat popcorn.
The first sentence uses modifiers to share time (“yesterday”) and answer why? (“only”). In the second
sentence, the modifier “frequently” lets us know how often the dog goes to the county fair, answering the
question “to what extent?”
Phrases and Clauses as Modifiers
Modifiers are not only single words—they can be phrases and clauses too, so long as they act like adjectives or
adverbs in a sentence. Remember, a clause needs a subject and verb. Here are some examples:
◦ The dog ate popcorn until he had a stomachache.
◦ Here, the clause “until he had a stomachache” serves is an adverb clause as a modifier answering how long the
dog ate popcorn. Here’s another:
◦ I saw the dog that eats popcorn.
This sentence uses the adjective clause “that eats popcorn” as a modifier to describe the dog.
Now, let’s try phrases as modifiers. Remember, a phrase is a group of related words that don’t include a subject and a
verb.
◦ The dog ate popcorn from the fair.
◦ The dog ran as fast as the wind.
The phrases “popcorn from the fair” and “as fast as the wind” work as modifiers to describe what the dog ate and
how fast he could run.
Vocabulary Drill
Homonyms
Homonyms, broadly defined, are words which sound alike or are spelled alike, but have different
meanings. Examples :
◦ Address – Address
I can give you the address of a good attorney.
That letter was addressed to me.
◦ Band – Band
The band was playing old Beatles songs.
She always ties her hair back in a band.
◦ Bat – Bat
I am afraid of bats.
It’s his first time at bat in the major leagues.
◦ Match – Match
If you suspect a gas leak do not strike a match or use electricity.
Her fingerprints match those found at the scene of the crime.
Homophones
A homophone is a word that is pronounced the same as another word but differs in meaning and is spelled differently.
Examples :
◦ Fort – Fought
Just the three of you going to be holding the fort tonight.
He fought many battles with the early Labor party in Lancaster and discrimination against socialist employees was alleged.
◦ Foul – Fowl
He woke up with a foul taste in his mouth.
Fish, fowl and meat, most with a decidedly Southwestern treatment, are represented on the menu.
◦ Groan – Grown
Richard’s jokes make you groan rather than laugh.
He had been a grown man with a small but independent income when he had taken Minnie instead of her to wife.
◦ Holy – Wholly
The priest puts some holy water on the child’s head.
The report claimed that the disaster was wholly unavoidable.
Homographs
Homographs are words with the same spelling but having more than one meaning. Examples:
◦ Close
Shut : Did you close the windows before leaving the house?
Near: The post office is close to the bank in the main town.
◦ Bow
Type of knot: She always wraps her presents with colourful bows /bəʊz/
To make a forward movement with the top part of your body: Japanese people always bow /baʊ/ to show respect.
◦ Bat
in baseball or cricket: Tom has a strange way of holding his cricket bat.
an animal: We often see bats in our garden in the early evening.
◦ Minute
tiny: The chances of success were minute /maɪnju:t/
unit of time: I will be with you in just a minute /mɪnɪt/
◦ Ball
sphere: We love ball games.
a dance: At university, there was always a Summer Ball.