Relative clauses

 

Relative clauses give us more information about something or someone in a sentence. They are not grammatically essential in a sentence.

 

Relative clauses start with relative pronouns and adverbs, which are used to define or refer back to the noun that precedes them.

 

The relative pronouns are who, that, which, whose, and whom. The relative adverbs are when and where. We use whom when it does not refer to the subject of the sentence but the object.

 

There are two types of relative clause:

1. Defining
2. Non-Defining

 

1. Defining relative clauses tell us the specific thing or person we are talking about in a sentence. Defining clauses are not separated by commas or brackets. Defining clauses provide important information about the noun we are talking about. The sentence’s meaning changes greatly if we remove a Defining relative clause.

• The girl who invited me is not here yet.
• The shoes that I bought were really expensive.
• This is the woman whose dog saved me.

 

2. Non-Defining, provides more information about the noun we are talking about in the sentence. Unlike defining relative clauses, Non-Defining clauses are separated by commas or brackets. Non-Defining clauses can be removed from a sentence without affecting the meaning because they simply give us extra details.

• My grandmother, who is 90 years old, lives alone in the countryside.
• My new car, which I bought myself, is compact and good on gas.
• Jucinda, whom I just met, is coming to our house for dinner.

 

We use who, whom, that, and whose to refer to people. We can not use that in Non-Defining clauses.

• Do you remember that girl that I went to university with?
• Do you know that girl who just started this class?
• Do you remember Kylie, whose mother used to babysit me?
• The little boy, whom I thought was homeless, is back again.

 

We use which, that, and whose to refer to things:

• Can I have the book that I lent to you?
• The heavy wind, which is not normal for this time of year, caused damage to our house.
• I told you about this company, whose CEO personally wrote me a letter, the other day.

 

We use when and where to refer to time and place nouns:

• It was just one of those days when everything goes wrong.
• I am so excited to visit Germany, where Einstein was born, and Austria on our trip in the spring.

Mixed conditionals

 

We use mixed conditionals when the time of the “if” or condition clause is not the same as the time in the result or main clause.

There are two main types of mixed conditional sentences:

1. Present Result of a Past Condition
2. Past Result of a Present or Continuing Condition

 

Present Result of a Past Condition

 

We use this mixed conditional sentence to refer to an unreal past condition and its probable present result. More simply, we use this mixed conditional to explain a situation which is not real both in the past and in the present.

For these sentences, we use the Past Perfect in the “if”/condition clause and the Present Conditional in the result/main clause.

 

If Clause (Condition)	Main Clause (Result)
If + Past Perfect	Present conditional (would + verb)

• If you had followed the rules, we wouldn’t be in trouble. (but you didn’t follow the rules – in the past – and now we’re in trouble)
• I would have a better job if I had tried harder. (but I didn’t try harder, and now I don’t have a better job)

Note: Again, the order of the clauses does not matter. But remember, when the condition clause comes first, we put a comma after it. If the main clause comes first, we don’t need a comma.

 

We can also use modals like ‘might‘ and ‘could‘ in the main clause instead of ‘would’.

• You might have more money if you had worked more hours.
• If we had invested in that company, we could be millionaires by now.

 

Past Result of a Present or Continuing Condition

 

We use this type of mixed conditional sentence to refer to an unreal present situation and its probable – yet unreal – past result. We use it to explain conditions that are contrary to the present reality and results that are contrary to the past reality. The time in the condition clause is now or always while the time in the main clause is before now.

In this mixed conditional sentence, the condition or “if” clause uses the Simple Past tense, and the Perfect Conditional in the main/result clause.

 

If Clause (Condition)	Main Clause (Result)
If + Past Simple	Perfect conditional (would have + past participle)

• I would have touched the snake if I wasn’t afraid of them.
• If we knew about the project, we would have helped.

 

Again, we can use modals like ‘might‘ and ‘could‘ instead of ‘would’ in the result clause.

• She could have climbed the wall if she were stronger.
• I might have invited her to my baby shower if we were friends.

 

Let’s summarize:

MIXED CONDITIONAL (I): An unreal past condition and its probable present result
If + Past Perfect	Present conditional (would + verb)
If this thing had happened	that thing would happen.
MIXED CONDITIONAL (II): An unreal present situation and its probable – yet unreal – past result
If + Past Simple	Perfect conditional (would have + Past Participle)
If this thing happened	that thing would have happened.

Conditional verbs and expressions: the unreal past

 

We use the unreal past to talk about unreal situations. Even though the verb is in the past tense, we use it to talk about situations that did not happen as well as to describe hypothetical situations that might exist now or at any time.

 

We use the unreal past after conditional words and expressions like ‘if only’, ‘I wish’, ‘would rather’, ‘should(n’t) have’, ‘would love/hate to’.

 

(I) wish/if only

 

We use (I) ‘wish’ and ‘if only’ to express wishes and regrets about things that may happen in the future or things that may have happened in the past. The tenses used depends on what we are trying to express.

When we use ‘wish’ to talk about things we want to be different in the present, we use ‘wish + Simple Past’.

• I wish I had more money. (but I don’t)
• She wishes she were famous. (but she’s not)

Note:  If the verb in the if clause is ‘to be,’ use “were,” even if the subject of the clause is a third person singular subject (i.e., he, she, it): If I were a rich man, I would make more charitable donations. If he were here right now, he would help us. Remember, though, that this exception applies only to unreal conditionals.

 

When we use ‘wish’ to talk about situations that happened in the past that we wish hadn’t happened or were different, we use ‘wish + Past Perfect’.

• I wish I had known then what I know now. (but I didn’t)
• He wishes he had asked her out before she left. (but he didn’t)

 

We use ‘if only’ for emphasis, and it follows the same rules as wish.

• If only I didn’t have so much homework to do, I could go with you tonight. (present unreal condition)
• If only you had told me you were coming, I would have made more food. (past unreal condition)

 

Would rather/it’s time

 

The expression ‘would rather’ is also followed by the unreal past. We use the past tense verb to talk about a situation in the present. When we want to talk about something that we would prefer someone else do or a situation that we would prefer go another way, we use ‘would rather + Past Simple’.

• I would rather you did it.
• He’d rather you didn’t hunt on his property.

*We can use the contracted form of would i.e., he’d, I’d, she’d, we’d, etc.

 

We use ‘it’s time’ similarly. When we want to suggest that it is a good time to do something – either for ourselves or someone else – we use ‘it’s time + Past Simple’.

• It’s time she went home now.
• It’s time you stopped that.

 

Should/shouldn’t have

 

When we use ‘should have’, it means something that we wish happened did not happen. When we use ‘shouldn’t have’, it refers to something that didn’t happen in the past that we wish did.

 

We use should(n’t) have + Past Participle.

• You should have told us. We were so worried! (but you didn’t)
• I shouldn’t have done that. (but I did)

*We often use ‘should/shouldn’t have’ in apologies.

 

Would love/hate to

 

When we talk about things or situations we want or hate but are unreal or hypothetical, we can use ‘would love/hate + infinitive (to + verb)’.

• We would love to go to the party. (but we can’t for some reason)
• I would love to visit Spain.
• I would hate to be you. (but I am not you)
• She would hate to leave the party early.

 

Conjunctions of time

 

Conjunctions are English words that connect words or phrases. Sometimes we want to show a more complicated relationship between the ideas, like a relationship involving time. Some common time conjunctions are: when, after, before, until, since, while, once, as and as soon as.

• I like to have the radio on while I study.

 

In these cases, we use subordinating conjunctions.  Subordinating conjunctions link an independent clause/main clause with a dependent clause.

 

Conjunction	Use	Example
before	The main clause happens earlier in time.	She made her bed before she left the house.
after	The main clause happens later in time.	After I ate dinner, I went to bed.
until/till	The main clause happens up to the time when the dependent clause happens.	I’m not leaving until you say sorry.
as soon as once	The main clause happens immediately after the dependent clause.	Romeo fell in love as soon as he saw Juliet. Once your grandpa gets here, we’re leaving for dinner.
while	The main clause happens at the same time as the dependent clause.	While Steve cut the onions, Jean peeled the potatoes.
when	The main clause happens after the dependent clause, or at the same time.	When he saw her, he smiled. When I lived in Norway, I lived with a local family.
since	The main clause began at the moment the dependent clause happened.	We’ve been friends since the second grade.
as	The main clause happens while the dependent clause is in progress.	We got to the party as everyone was leaving.
during	The main clause happens at the same time as the dependent clause.	During the Alaskan winter, the sun is hardly ever seen.
whenever	The main clause always happens as a result of the dependent clause.	Whenever I see her, I smile.

Adverbs: formation

 

Adverbs add information to verbs. They can be used to tell us how, where, when or how often something happens.

 

1. Simple adverbs look the same as adjectives. This includes words like hard, fast, well and late. It also includes words like daily, weekly, monthly and yearly, which are used to talk about how often something happens:

 

Adjective	Adverb
Jerry has a fast horse. I have a yearly eye test. I don’t feel well.	Henry can run fast. I have my eyes tested yearly. The project is not going well.

 

2. Derived adverbs are often formed by adding -ly to the end of an adjective. Adverbs ending in -ly usually tell us how something happens:

 

Adjective	Adverb
He was slow. Freya sang. She was quiet. Ryan was careful with the box.	He moved slowly. Freya sang quietly. Ryan carried the box carefully.

 

Adverbs that come from adjectives ending in -y will end in -ily:

• angry → angrily
• crazy → crazily
• lazy → lazily

 

We don’t add -ly to adjectives that end in -ly:

• lonely → lonelily
• ugly → uglily
• lovely → lovelily

 

Note: Remember, adverbs add information to verbs. Adjectives are used to describe nouns. Do not confuse adverbs with adjectives that end in -ly: The party was lively. (Party is a noun. Lively is an adjective.)

 

Most simple adverbs and derived adverbs ending in -ly are gradable, which means we can use more than one adverb to give extra information. We often add really, very, extremely, completely, fairly, rather or quite:

• She shouted very loudly.
• The man drove rather fast.
• I opened the box extremely carefully.

 

A small number of derived adverbs end in -ward(s) or -wise. These are not gradable. Adverbs ending in -ward(s) include upwards, downwards, inwards, outwards, eastwards, westwards, northwards and southwards:

• I pushed the handle downwards.
• The road leads westwards.
• The door opens outwards.

 

Adverbs ending in -wise include clockwise, anticlockwise, lengthwise and likewise:

• You should turn the handle anticlockwise. (The opposite direction to the hands of a clock.)
• I spun the wheel clockwise. (Same direction as the hands of a clock.)
• John got out of the car. William did likewise. (William did too.)

 

3. Compound adverbs are formed when two words are paired together. This includes words like everywhere, anywhere, sometimes, downstairs, upstairs and meanwhile:

• Sometimes I go swimming.
• I have searched everywhere for my keys.
• Chloe tripped on the rug and fell downstairs.

 

4. Composite adverbs are made up of multiple words. This includes phrases like all of a sudden, at first, by all means, as far as and for ever:

• All of a sudden, I felt very ill.
• I did not understand at first.
• As far as I know she is engaged.

 

Note: Adverbs ending in -ward(s) can end in either -ward or -wards: outward/outwards upward/upwards downward/downwards

Adjectives: order

 

When we have more than one adjective before a noun, to sound naturally, these adjectives should go in a specific order.

1. Opinion adjectives are always put before fact adjectives.
2. The order of fact adjectives depends on the facts they describe.

 

The usual order of adjectives is presented below:

 

General opinion	→	Specific opinion	→	Size	→
Nice Funny		Intelligent Tasty		Large Small

 

Quality	→	Age	→	Shape	→
Clever Happy		Old Young		Round Square

 

Color	→	Origin	→	Material
Green White		African Polish		Paper Glass

 

• Recently I’ve been to a small German town (size → origin).
• Every fashion-monger should have a small black dress (size → color).
• That’s a lovely young grey kitten (opinion → age → color).
• I have a beautiful French wool sweater (opinion → origin → material).
• Tom is a nice, intelligent young man (general opinion → specific opinion → age).
• My grandmother has an old round wooden table in the country (age → shape → material).

 

There are some general rules to remember.

 

1. The most significant adjective should go immediately before the noun:

• He gave me an old grandfather clock.

2. We use ‘and’ where the adjectives are in the same category (or when talking about colors):

• Peter is tall and slim.
• Cool colors such as blue and green have a calming effect.

3. For contrast we use ‘but’:

• The house was charming but rundown.

4. With more than 2 adjectives use ‘and’ before the final one:

• Her dress was green, yellow and orange.

 

Note: In English you should not put more than three adjectives in a row before a noun.

 

Adjectives: fact and opinion

 

Adjectives are words used to tell us more about people or things. They usually describe nouns and are put before the nouns without changing their own forms.

• This is a nice house.
• It’s a rainy day.
• There are many ripe red apples on the tree.

 

Sometimes adjectives are put after the verbs like ‘be’, ‘become’, ‘get’:

• The sky is blue.
• In autumn tree leaves become yellow and red.
• It’s getting late, we need to go.

 

Adjectives can belong to different categories, each containing a number of types.

 

In English adjectives can be fact and opinion.

 

1. Fact adjectives provide factual information about the object they describe, e.g. its color, size, material, etc.

• I saw a big car passing by the street (size type of adjective).
• Young boys and girls go to school (age type of adjective).
• Mary likes to wear white dresses in summer (color type of adjective).
• The box is square, and the ball is round (shape type of adjective).
• Tom brought a small porcelain cup from his trip to China (material type of adjective).
• Do you like Vietnamese food? (origin type of adjective).

 

2. When we need to describe our thoughts about somebody or something, we can use opinion adjectives, such as ‘nice’, ‘beautiful’, ‘friendly’, etc.

     

— Some of them are used to express general opinion (general opinion adjectives):

• I have a beautiful cat. (beautiful can describe various things)
• My lovely dog plays all day round.

 

— Others may be used to express more specific opinion (specific opinion adjectives):

• The meal is delicious (delicious is normally used to talk about food).
• Emily is a kind person (kind is normally used to talk about people).

 

Note: Understanding of fact and opinion adjectives helps to put adjectives in the correct order in a sentence. The general rule says that if fact and opinion adjectives are used in one sentence, opinion adjectives go before fact objectives. Learn more about the correct word order in the following lesson (Adjectives:order).

 

Phrasal verbs:  separable and inseparable

 

Phrasal verbs are multi-word verbs that have two parts: a verb and one or two adverb particles or prepositions that have a special meaning. The most common adverb particles or prepositions are:  at, down, in, off, out, over and up.

• The alarm went off at 6:30. (make a sound)
• My professor can go on for hours about astrology.  (continue)
• The price of gas has gone up over 50%.  (increase)
• We like to go out on Friday nights.  (go to a bar or club)

 

Many phrasal verbs take an object. Some of these phrasal verbs are separable (the verb and the preposition can be separated, putting the object in the middle), while others are inseparable (the object must come at the end because the verb and the preposition must stay together).

‘Write down’ is an example for a separable verb.

• His students write down everything he says.
• His students write everything he says down.

 

Separable	Inseparable
When are you going to ask Melissa out? (ask someone to go on a date)	We need to check out of the room by 1:30. (leave a hotel room)
I am need to drop a package off at the post office. (leave something somewhere)	Do you get along with your parents? (have a good relationship with)
I need you to fill this form in before your appointment. (complete spaces on a form)	She is just starting to get over the flu. (recover)
You should put your clothes away after you fold them. (put in the correct place)	She passed away after a long battle with cancer. (die)
It is hot in here.  I am going to take my sweater off. (remove)	I have decided to take up skydiving. (start a new activity)
Let’s think this over before making a decision. (consider)	Please don’t throw up in here. (vomit)
Please turn the lights off when you leave. (switch off)	Can you look after my dog while I am away? (care for)

 

There is no rule that makes a phrasal verb separable or inseparable, but here are some general tips to take into consideration.  

 

1. Longer objects go after the particle.

• I don’t want to take on more than I can handle right now.

 

2.  For separable phrasal verbs, objects that are personal pronouns (me, you, him, her, us, them) always go between the verb and particle.

• Do you want to take them off?

 

3.  Phrasal verbs that have two particles/prepositions are always inseparable.  

• I don’t get along with my sister.
• I will catch up with you later.
• She has to put up with a lot of trouble from her boss.

 

4.  There are some phrasal verbs that cannot take an object, so these are always inseparable.

• The alarm goes off at 7:30.
• I wake up at 8:30.

 

Phrasal verbs are a common part of spoken English and informal written English, so it is necessary to learn them a little bit at a time.  

 

 Common separable and inseparable phrasal verbs to remember:

 

Separable

Write down – to make a note of something with a pen and paper, for example. Jane has so many ideas! She wants to write them all down before she forgets them!

Pick up – to go and get someone in your car. It can also mean to lift something up with your hands. Ron is driving to the airport. He’s going to pick his daughter up at 8pm.

Put on – used for clothing. Once we have put something on, we are now wearing it. Henry was in such a rush before work this morning that he left without putting his jacket on!

Turn down – to refuse an offer. Doug proposed to Claire! He sure hopes she won’t turn him down.

Make up – to invent a story or an excuse. She always has some excuse for arriving late, but I think she makes them up.

 

Inseparable

Get on/off – to enter or exit a bus, a boat, a plane, a bike, etc. Get off that motorcycle if you don’t have a helmet!

Run into – to meet someone by chance when you were not expecting to. I’m always amazed when I run into someone I know on the street.

Run out of – when we had something, but we have used it all, and now it is all gone. Chet was having a lovely afternoon drive until he ran out of gas!

Look after – to take care of. Lisa and Matthew are going to look after the kids this weekend.

Put up with – to endure a person or situation that we don’t like. Alfred smokes outside so that his co-workers don’t have to put up with the smell of his cigarettes.

 

Modal verbs:  obligation (‘need’)

 

One common way to express obligation or a lack of obligation is with the semi-modal ‘need’. A semi-modal is a word that acts like both a modal verb and a main verb.

 

Present and Future

 

As a modal verb, ‘need‘ is most typically used in negative sentences or in affirmative sentences with a negative meaning. It expresses absence of obligation or necessity, and it is followed by a bare infinitive:

• Nobody need think that we are rich. 
• She need not arrive (needn’t arrive) so early.
• If you want good results, you will need to work harder.

‘Need‘ as a modal verb also occurs in interrogative sentences, but this use is much more formal:

• Need you make so much noise?

 

We can use main verb ‘need‘ as an alternative to semi-modal ‘need’. Main verb ‘need’ is followed by to and it changes with person, number and tense:

• I, you, we, they – need to
• She, he, it – needs to
• I, you, she, he, it, we, they – needed to

‘Need‘ as a main verb expresses that something is necessary. It can be used in affirmative, negative and interrogative sentences.

• Do you have a minute? I need to talk to you about something.
• I don’t need to be told that I should lose weight.
• Do you need to use the hairdryer?

 

Compare:

Semi-modal need	Main verb need
Need it be so dark in here? (formal)	Does it need to be so dark in here?
You needn’t mention this to your father.	You don’t need to mention this to your father.

In these examples, the meaning is the same for semi-modal need and main verb need + to.

 

Past

 

The past tense of the main verb ‘need to’ is ‘needed to‘:

• I needed to have my hair cut.
• Why did they need to change the lock?

In the simple past negative form, we use ‘didn’t’ with ‘need’ to denote no obligation in the past.

• I didn’t need to arrive so early. 

‘Need‘ as a modal does not have a past tense form. ‘Needn’t + perfect bare infinitive‘ (have + past participle), however, is used for actions which were performed but were unnecessary:

• We needn’t have bought any milk. We still have plenty at home. (we bought some milk, but it wasn’t necessary)
• She needn’t have given me such an expensive present.

 

 

Passive Voice

 

‘Need’ can also be used with the passive voice. It is used to refer to tasks that the speaker is probably not going to do personally or when it is not important to know who is going to complete the action.

• My car needs to be washed.
• The dog needs to be fed.
• The building needs to be inspected by the city.
• My hair doesn’t need to be cut yet.

 

Note: The negative form uses ‘do/does/did’.

 

We can use a gerund with ‘need’. This structure is used in the same way as above. In this case, the gerund carries a passive meaning. Usually, the situations involve fixing or improving things:  

• My house needs painting.
• My house needs to be painted.
• This floor needs fixing.
• This floor needs to be fixed.
• The house doesn’t need painting right now.

Future Perfect Continuous

 

The Future Perfect Continuous is normally used to predict the length of an activity — as if looking back at such activity from some finished time in the future:

• By July, Cindy will have been working in this office for a year (‘for a year’ is an imagined finished time in the future, but Cindy will still continue her work after it).

 

To make the Future Perfect Continuous, use will have been + the ‘-ing’ form of the verb.

 

Singular	Plural
I will (’ll) have been doing You’ll have been doing He/she/it’ll have been doing	We’ll have been doing You’ll have been doing They’ll have been doing

 

• By the time I arrive home, I will have been driving for six hours.
• By this time next month, I’ll have been studying English for a year.
• Melissa will have been cooking all day long before the wedding cake is ready.