Chapter 1 of 525% of exam
Grammar for ESOL
LanguageCert International ESOL rewards control of structures across levels, from everyday tenses to reported speech and the passive. This chapter reviews the grammar points that most often decide a use-of-English item.
Reported Speech
When we report a question, we use statement word order and often shift the tense back: 'Where do you live?' becomes 'She asked where I lived.' No auxiliary 'do/did' is used in the reported clause.
The Passive
Use the passive when the receiver of the action matters more than the doer: 'The bridge was repaired.' The agent, if mentioned, follows 'by'.
Conditionals and Subjunctive
The second conditional uses 'if + past' with 'would + base verb', and 'if I were' is the standard subjunctive form for hypothetical situations.