Grammar - Intermediate

Present Perfect Continuous Structure

To make the present perfect continuous, we use the present perfect of the verb "to be" and then
we use the main verb in the 'ing' form.

She has been working here for almost a year now.

We have been waiting here since over an hour ago!

Here is the verb read in all forms of the present perfect continuous.

Present Perfect Continuous

Positive Negative Question
I have been reading I haven't been reading Have I been reading?
You have been reading You haven't been reading Have you been reading?
He has been reading He hasn't been reading Has he been reading?
She has been reading She hasn't been reading Has she been reading?
It has been reading It hasn't been reading Has it been reading?
We have been reading We haven't been reading Have we been reading?
You have been reading You haven't been reading Have you been reading?
They have been reading They haven't been reading Have they been reading?

Examples:

I have been washing the car. Look at it - isn't it spotless!

They have been wanting to get married for over five years.

You haven't been watching that terrible soap opera again have you!
She hasn't been studying hard enough and will fail the exams.

Have you been sitting here waiting for long?

Why have you been reading my letters?

Present Perfect Continuous Use

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about an action that started in the past and is either
still continuing or recently finshed.

I have been reading that new book of mine all morning.

We are more interested in the activity and cannot be sure from this sentence if the person has
finished reading or not.
We often use this tense to say how long something has been happening.

I have been learning English for about five years.

John has been working for this company since last October.

Present Perfect Simple or Continuous?

Compare these sentences:

I've been repairing the TV for hours.

I've repaired the TV! Are you happy?

In the first, the activity is being spoken about and we are not sure if the TV is fixed yet or not. In
the second, there is no doubt that it has been repaired.

I've been writing letters for two hours.

I've written four letters.

The present perfect continuous is often used to talk about how long. The present perfect
simple to talk about how many.

You can't say I've been writing four letters.

I've lived in this town all my life.

I've been living with my girlfriend for a month.

The difference here is that the simple form is used to show permanence whereas the continuous
form is used for a shorter period of time. There is a similar difference between the present
continuous and the present simple.

Second Conditional
A second conditional sentence is comprised of two halves.

If + Past Simple Then Would + Infinitive

We use the second conditional to say what we might possibly do in an unlikely situation.

We have seen in Pre-Intermediate level how the zero conditional and the first conditional are
used to talk about possibility and result. The second conditional is another structure used to talk
about present or future possibility but it sees the possibility as very unlikely, remote, improbable.

Look at these examples:

If I won the lottery, I would buy a big house in France.

I would take the job if I were you!
The first situation is not very possible. The second is impossible. Both sentences are describing
present/future situations. The second conditional is not used to talk about the past. For that,
see the Third Conditional!

Often, we use were for every person in the second conditional. It's OK to use was for he, she and
it but it is considered "better" to use were:

If she were married, she would understand my situation.

He could play basketball if he were taller.

First or Second Conditional?

We have already discussed how both these conditionals refer to present or future time. So what is
the difference? Look at these sentences:

Milton Jones, Politician: "If I become President, I will cut taxes."

John Smith, taxi-driver: "If I became President, I would cut taxes."

Milton uses the First Conditional as he sees the possibility of becoming President as real. He is,
after all, a politician. John is a taxi driver and has no chance of actually becoming President. So
for him, it is a dream, an imagined situation. And this is where we use the Second
Conditional.

Look at these final examples of "unreal" possibility where the second conditional is necessary.

If I met Michael Jackson at a party, I would speak to his monkey.

I would be so much fitter if I stopped smoking.
If you caught the early bus every week, you would have more time at home.

Passive Overview
Structure

We form the passive using the relevant tense of the verb to be, plus the past participle of the main
verb.

So for the verb clean, we would have:

Passive Summary of Tenses

Present Simple The room is cleaned every day
Present Continuous It is being cleaned now
Past Simple It was cleaned yesterday
Past Continuous It was being cleaned at six yesterday
Future Simple It will be cleaned tomorrow
Going To Future It is going to be cleaned tomorrow
Present Perfect It has been cleaned twice
Past Perfect Simple It had been cleaned before
Can It can be cleaned easily
Should It should be cleaned daily

To form the question, we put the auxiliary verb first:

Is it being cleaned today?

Had it been cleaned before?
Should it be cleaned daily?

Use

Look at this sentence:

They will deliver the letter tomorrow.

"the letter" is the object of the sentence. "they" is the subject. We can make "the letter" the
subject:

The letter will be delivered tomorrow.

And if we want, we can include the subject of the first sentence:

The letter will be delivered by them tomorrow.

So we use the passive to say what happens to the subject of a sentence.

The bridge was painted in 1999.

Military jets are usually flown by men.
The flight to Boston will be delayed because of striking ground crew.

And we use an active sentence to say what a subject does:

John Exmoor painted that bridge in 1999.

Air Force pilots, usually men, fly military jets.
Striking ground crew will delay the departure of the Boston flight.

Sometimes, active sentences sound unnatural because who does the action is not important or not
known. The action itself is important.

Tickets can be purchased from the booth at the entrance.

Spanish is spoken in much of South America.
Edward Moore was killed at his farm late last night.
The same sentences rewritten using the active would not be wrong, but the subject of these
sentences would sound strange:

You can purchase tickets from the booth at the entrance.

People speak Spanish in much of South America.
Someone killed Edward Moore at his farm late last night.

Passive Present
Remember that the verb "to be" has to be used in all passive sentences and must be plural if the
subject is plural:

This phone is made of plastic.

but
These chairs are made of wood.

After the verb "to be", you must use the past participle in all tenses.

Vintage wine is sold on the second floor.

not
Vintage wine is sell on the second floor.

The passive is used in the present often to describe processes:

The half-finished machine is then sent to Room 4 for painting.

The wine is then taken and put into bottles.

Passive Past
Remember with the passive that the past participle is always the same. You can see a list of
common irregular verbs on this page.

It is the verb "to be" that changes:

I was driven around in the taxi at high speed.

We were treated terribly at the hotel last year.
I had to be taken to hospital immediately.

Note how the passive in English is more flexible than in other languages. Look at these two
sentences:

The letter was sent by Express Post and arrived at 9am.

I was sent a letter by my wife.
In the first, it's clear that the subject of the passive sentence is the letter. In the second, it is not
"I" that is sent, but, again, the letter. English allows for this type of construction. Other examples:

They were given a new TV for Christmas. (the TV is given, not 'they')
She was promised a pay rise by the boss. (the pay rise is promised, not 'she')

Get Passive
In English, the passive can always be made using the verb "to be". In informal English, "get" is
also often used to construct passive sentences. But it's not always possible.

We use "get" in a passive sentence when we talk about something that happened or something
that changed, so it is NOT used for verbs such as 'like', 'believe' or 'say'.

It also changes the focus from "what happened" to "the person/thing something happened to". It's
not usual to see a "by" clause saying who did it. Look at the difference between:

The window was broken by those naughty children. (focus on event)

The window got broken. (focus on "window")

Note: It's not normal to use a "by" clause with the "get" passive.
The computer was stolen by a thief. OR The computer got stolen, NOT The computer got stolen
by a thief.

Past Perfect Structure

We make the past perfect using had + the past participle. Here is the verb "go".

Past Perfect
Positive Negative Question
I had gone I hadn't gone Had I gone?
You had gone You hadn't gone Had you gone?
He had gone He hadn't gone Had he gone?
She had gone She hadn't gone Had she gone?
It had gone It hadn't gone Had it gone?
We had gone We hadn't gone Had we gone?
You had gone You hadn't gone Had you gone?
They had gone They hadn't gone Had they gone?

Examples:

She had written a letter to me.

The newspaper had arrived an hour before.
My parents had treated me differently from my sister.
Past Perfect Use
We use the past perfect to talk about something that happened before another event in the past.
It's like a double past.

Take this sentence in the past simple.

I arrived home at about 6 o'clock and sat down on the sofa to watch the big football game.

Poor John doesn't realise that the television doesn't work. Why doesn't the TV work? The TV
exploded at 5pm - one hour before he arrived home:

His wife explained that the TV had exploded at 5pm.

Look at these two sentences. What is the difference?

When John arrived home, his wife cooked dinner.

When John arrived home, his wife had cooked dinner.

In the first, we use past simple and past simple for a sequence of events in the past. So his wife
waited for John to arrive home, then started cooking dinner.

In the second sentence, "his wife had cooked dinner" tells us that this had happened before
John arrived. It means the dinner was waiting for John on the table when he arrived.

So we can use the past perfect to make it clear that something had happened before something
else.

She failed her exams because she hadn't studied.

We could also write:

She failed her exams because she didn't study.

But using the past perfect emphasises the fact that she hadn't studied before the exam.

The past perfect is often used, therefore, to talk about the reasons for a past situation.

She was crying because Philip had written her a terrible letter.
He was late because he had missed his train.
They felt sick as they had eaten too much.

'Make', 'Let' and 'Allow'

These three words are used to talk about permission and obligation.

MAKE

If someone obliges, forces someone to do something, we use "make". The construction is:

make someone do something.

Unlike most verb, then, we don't use "to" in the infinitive.

Examples:

My teacher made me do extra homework because of the trouble I caused.

Some banks make you pay too many bank charges.

In the passive, we add "to" after make.

She was made to leave the room while the plans were discussed.

LET

If we have permission from someone to do something, we use "let". The construction is:

let someone do something.

Again, we don't use "to" in the infinitive.

Examples:

My mother lets me stay out till midnight on a Saturday.

Let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone.

In the passive, let is not possible. We must use allow to:

I was allowed to leave early.

ALLOW TO

If someone gives us permission or the possibility to do something, we use "allow to". The
construction is:

allow someone to do something.

Examples:
Working from home allows me to spend more time with my family
My father never allows me to stay out too late.

It is used very often in the passive. In this way, the person given the permission is made the
subject of the sentence.

You're not allowed to smoke in this room.

They're not allowed to get married yet. Their parents say they are too young.

Used To
"Used to" in English fulfills the function that, in many languages, is covered by a whole tense!
We use "used to" to express something which happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen
anymore. A past routine, a past habit.

I used to drink three whiskeys a day ten years ago, but then I stopped.
She used to be a teacher, but now works as a lawyer.

Questions

The question form uses "use to":

Did you use to live in this house, Tony?

How many cigarettes did you use to smoke before you gave up?

Negatives

I didn't use to like eating salad, but I love it now.

She didn't use to study hard and so she failed all her exams every year.

Pronunciation

The past of the verb "use" is "used" which is spelt the same as "used to" but the pronunciation
is very different. The past of "use" is pronounced with a /z/ sound - while "used to" is
pronounced with an /s/ sound.

Phonetically:

He used a computer. /u:zd/

He used to work here. /u:st/

Past Simple or 'Used To'?

We can also use past simple to talk about past habits or routines:
I lived in that house for ten years.
She was a librarian for a year before quitting.

Just as we can use "used to":

I used to live in that house for ten years.

She used to be a librarian.

The difference is that we can't use "used to" for something that happened once.

I went to Lithuania in 1999.

NOT I used to go to Lithuania in 1999.

Would or 'Used To'?

We can also use "would" in a similar way to "used to".

Every day as a child, she would pedal that old bike to school.
Even when he was really young, he would play that piano for hours every day.

But we don't use "would" for state verbs:

I used to have a teddy bear when I was young.

NOT I would have a teddy bear when I was young.

Gerund Or Infinitive
Here is a brief summary of when we use the infinitive and the gerund in English.

Also, check out our page on simple verb patterns.

Gerund Infinitive
After certain verbs
After certain verbs
(e.g. enjoy, hate)
(e.g. want, decide)
As the subject of a sentence
After adjectives
After prepositions

GERUND

After certain verbs

She always enjoys seeing a good thriller at the cinema.
I hated going to school when I was young.

As the subject of a sentence

Watching TV every day isn't healthy for children.

Staying in bed late is one of the pleasures of Sundays.

After prepositions

You shouldn't eat too much before going to bed.

He frightened us by jumping out of the cupboard.
I was interested in seeing your stamp collection.

INFINITIVE

After certain verbs

I want to go to Mexico for a year after university.

I hope to find a job near Acapulco.
I have decided to become an English teacher.

After adjectives

He was pleased to see we had finished our work.

The police were happy to answer the journalists' questions.
It is often hard for children to make new friends.

Some verbs can be followed by the infinitive and the gerund. but with a different meaning. For
more on this, go to the second part of Infinitive or Gerund.

She stopped smoking two years ago.

He stopped to smoke and we talked for a while.

Needn't
We use needn't in the same way as we use don't have to. It means something is not necessary.

You needn't come with us. You can stay at home if you want.
I needn't bring my umbrella, it will be a lovely day.

We use needn't have for something that wasn't necessary in the past:
I needn't have come to school today! There is a teachers' strike!!
The car wasn't dirty - you needn't have washed it!

Needn't have, as in the two sentences above, tells us something in the past that wasn't necessary
in the past, but we did it. We can use "didn't need to" to say what wasn't necessary in the past
that we knew before wasn't necessary.

It was Sunday yesterday and I wasn't working so I didn't need to get up early.

Compare these two situations:

I bought 2kg of sugar yesterday but my wife tells me now that we have a lot of sugar already so I
needn't have bought the new bag. It was my mistake because I didn't check first.

I bought 2kg of sugar yesterday. I knew we had some sugar and that I didn't need to buy more
but this new bag was on special offer at the supermarket so I bought it anyway.

Subject And Object Questions

Look at this sentence:

Mary looked at somebody.

Here, "somebody" is the object of the question. We want to know who the "somebody" is so
we ask the question:

Who did Mary look at?

Now look at this sentence:

Somebody looked at Mary.

Now, "somebody" is the subject of the sentence. If we want to know who the "somebody" is,
we have to ask:

Who looked at Mary?

When we use who, what or which as the subject of a question, we don't use do, does or did.

Sandra made something. - What did Sandra make? (Object)

Someone made a cake. - Who made a cake? (Subject)

Something happened. - What happened? (Subject)

Someone killed JFK. - Who killed JFK? (Subject)
One bank opens on Sunday. - Which bank opens on Sunday? (Subject)
Relative Pronouns and Relative Clauses
Here are three pieces of information.

There is a man. He lives next to the bank. He is a postman.

Now, we can join these three sentences together using a relative pronoun:

The man who lives next to the bank is a postman.

A relative clause is part of a sentence which tells us more information about a person or thing.
Here are three other sentences.

There is a restaurant. We went there last night. It was very expensive.

Which we can combine using a different relative pronoun:

The restaurant where we went last night was very expensive.

We can use different relative pronouns depending if we are talking about a person, a place or a
possession.

The man whose car was stolen last night is at the police station.
The town where Copernicus was born also invented gingerbread.
The politician who won the election was a communist.
The dog that/which bit me was a labrador.

Now look at these sentences.

You looked at a girl. She was blonde.

A girl looked at you. She was blonde.

In the first pair of sentences, the blonde girl is the object of the sentence. In the second pair of
sentences, the blonde girl is the subject. When we use relative pronouns to join sentences like
this, we don't have to include the relative pronoun that is the object:

You looked at a girl. She was blonde. (object)

We can write: The girl you looked at was blonde.

but

A girl looked at you. She was blonde. (subject)

We must write: The girl who looked at you was blonde.
We have to include the relative pronoun if it is the subject of a sentence.

The restaurant you like is near the bank. (relative pronoun omitted - object)
The restaurant which opens late is near the bank. (relative pronoun included - subject)

"Can" And "Be Able"

These two are both used to talk about ability, but in different ways.

General Ability

I can swim.
I am able to swim.

Both these sentences mean the same thing but "can" is usually used as it is shorter and more
concise.

Also in the past, we use "could" instead of "was able to" to talk about general ability.

Mozart could play the piano when he was four years old.
NOT Mozart was able to play the piano when he was four years old.

Remember, it's not wrong - it's just better to use "can" or "could" in these examples.

Specific Ability

If we want to talk about someone's ability to do something at a specific time in the past, we must
use "to be able to".

I studied a lot for this exam and I was able to finish it easily.

Here we cannot use "could". This is not a general ability - this exam was only on one day, at a
specific time in the past. We can also use other expressions such as "succeeded in" or "managed
to" to talk about what someone was able to do at a specific time in the past.

I managed to see John for five minutes when he wasn't busy.

It was a difficult shot but Tiger Woods succeeded in playing it perfectly.

However, even when we are talking about a specific occasion in the past, for negative sentences,
we can use "couldn't".

It was a hard exam and I couldn't finish it in time.

As before, using "wasn't able to" in this sentence is possible, but is considered too long.
Nouns and Quantifiers
Few / A Few - Little / A Little

With these expressions of quantity, using the indefinite article gives the sentence a basically
positive meaning, whereas using only few/little without the article gives a more negative
meaning. Look at these examples:

Examples:

We have a few potatoes. Let's make a stew for dinner.

We have a little water, enough until tomorrow.
There's little reason he'd consider us for the job.
If you are bankrupt, there are few options for you. You'll have to sell the house.

Note: "A few" means "a small number, but more than zero". "Few" means less than you were
expecting, less than you need, etc.

No / None / Not

"No" means "there isn't any" and is used before nouns. Not the difference in the verb before
countable and uncountable nouns.

Examples:

There's no beer left! What a terrible party!

There are no trees in the garden.

"None" means "not any, zero" and is a pronoun that can be used to substitute both countable and
uncountable nouns.

Q: How many children do you have?

A: None.

Note: "None" can take either a singular or plural verb form after.

Examples:

None of the boys are very intelligent.

None of the paintings is expensive.

These words should not be confused with "not" which is used to make verbs negative.

I do not like you.

We have not left yet!
You can't use "not" in front of nouns to mean "not any" although you can use with verbs before
the noun. See these examples:

There are not any apples. / There aren't any apples. NOT There are not apples.

Somewhere/Anywhere/Nowhere/Everywhere

The rules for these words are the same as "some" and "any".

Positive Negative Question

somewhere anywhere anywhere

somebody anybody anybody
someone anyone anyone
something anything anything

We use the prefix "every" to talk about "all" people, places, etc.

Everyone laughed at me. (every person in the room)

Everywhere was full, so we stayed at home. (every bar or restaurant)

We use the prefix "no" to mean the same as "not any". See how these examples are similar:

I didn't see anybody.

I saw nobody.

And "no-" type words can also be used as subjects of sentences.

Nobody came to the party.

Nowhere feels like home!

Adjectives and Adverbs

Prefixes and Suffixes

These can be used to make words negative, stronger, weaker and many more things. Learn
prefixes and suffixes to improve your vocabulary. Suffixes are often used to turn nouns into
adjectives:

Examples:

Helpful
Joyless
Friendly
Active
Truthful
Adverb Position

Adverbs of frequency come before the verb, but after the verb "to be" or an auxiliary verb.

I am often hungry by 8pm.

I sometimes swim at the weekends.
He doesn't always understand the questions.

Adverbs of manner usually come after the direct object. They can also come directly before the
verb.

He picked up the gun slowly.

He slowly picked up the gun.

But never usually after the verb:

He picked up slowly the gun.

Adverbs of time and place usually come at the end of a clause/sentence.

I saw him in the office yesterday.

She was reading there, on the couch.

When you are reading, it's good to take note of where you see certain adverbs.

Note: Many adverbs will have at least two good positions in a sentence. It's important to learn
where they can't go.

Examples:

Yesterday, I saw Jane. OR I saw Jane yesterday. NOT I yesterday saw Jane.

Adjective or Adverb?

Some adjectives and adverbs are irregular. Look at "hard".

It was a hard game. He played hard.

Here, "hard" is both an adjective and an adverb. "Fast" also acts like this.

Sometimes, a verb will be followed by an adjective instead of an adverb. Look at the verbs "to
feel" and "to seem".

He felt tired. NOT He felt tiredly.

That man seems strange. NOT That man seems strangely.
Note: When you meet adverbs/adjectives that act like this or verbs that take adjectives when you
are expecting an adverb, make a note of it so you remember!

Some verbs can take BOTH adjectives and adverbs after, but the meaning changes.

The grass grew quickly. (increase in size)

The man grew tired. (slowly became)

Reflexive Pronouns
What is the difference between these two sentences?

Sam and Dan looked at each other in the mirror.

Sam and Dan looked at themselves in the mirror.

In the first sentence, Sam looked at Dan and Dan looked at Sam. In the second sentence, Sam
looked at his own reflection and Dan did too.

"Themselves" is a reflexive pronoun. English doesn't use reflexive pronouns as often as many
other languages. We say:

I shaved this morning. NOT I shaved myself this morning.

We use reflexive pronouns to make it clear the subject and the object of the verb are the same.

You take yourself too seriously.

He looked at himself in the mirror and began to cry.
The cat bit itself and everyone laughed.

We can also use them for emphasis. Look how these are used:

I didn't drive, I walked there myself!

Did you clean the kitchen yourself or did someone help you?
The Queen herself signed the letter.