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The Best Guide to Wishes and Hypotheses in English

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In English, you can use “wish” and “if only” to talk about wishes and hypotheses.[1]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/intermediate-to-upper-intermediate/wish-and-if-only

The main difference is that “if only” is a stronger expression for wishes and hypotheses.  

Wishes in the Past

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the past perfect tense to talk about what you would like to change about the past.

For example:

  • They wish
    they had studied more for the test.
  • If only
    I had closed my window before I
    left, then the robbers wouldn’t have been able to get into the house.
  • She wishes
    that she had prepared more for the
    driving test.

Wishes in the Present

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the past simple and past continuous to talk about what you would like to change in the present.[2]https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/english-grammar-reference/wishes-and-hypotheses

For example:

  • I don’t like this food. I wish I chose something
    different.
  • I don’t like this seat in the car. If only I were sitting in the front seat.
  • I’m dying here. If only it was not so hot
    here!

Wishes in the Future

You can use “wish” or “if only” with the modal verbs “would” and “could” to talk about what you would like to do in the future.

For example:

  • I don’t like my job. I wish I could quite, but if I quite then I won’t have any money!
  • If only I would have studied more, then I would have easily passed the test.
  • I wish I could stop smoking. It is a very bad habit.

Conclusion

Understanding grammar rules is just the first step — the real progress happens when you practice using them in real conversation. A private lesson is the fastest way to get there.

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References[+]

The Best Guide to Expressing Past Habits

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In English, you can use both “used to” and “would” for expressing past habits to emphasize that they are not true anymore.[1]https://blog.off2class.com/habits-and-repeated-actions-past/

Because they are used to talk about habits, it is slightly different than the past simple tense or the past continuous tense.

expressing past habits

Would

You can use the word “would” to talk about repeated actions in the past. A repeated action is an action that happens at a specific moment in time in the past.

You can use “would” for:

  • Moral formal situations
  • Events that happen many times

Examples include:

  • I would
    practice the piano every day.
  • She would
    hide every time I tried to find her.
  • They would
    have loud parties every Friday evening.

Used to

You can use the words “used to” to talk about states in the past. A state is a condition that happens over a period of time in the past.

You can use “used to” for:

  • Questions
  • Negatives
  • Stative verbs

Examples include:

  • We used
    to     live in Paris when I was younger.
  • He didn’t use
    to     be shorter than me.
  • Did she use
    to     go to school with us?

Expressing Past Habits Practice Exercises

Choose the correct the correct form between “would” and “used to” for expressing past habits.

 13%

Question 1 of 8

1. She ________ like dancing.

Question 1 of 8

Question 2 of 8

2. Susie ________ to live in New York City.

Question 2 of 8

Question 3 of 8

3. When I was younger, I ________ go surfing during the summer.

Question 3 of 8

Question 4 of 8

4. When he was younger, he ________ play baseball with his friends.

Question 4 of 8

Question 5 of 8

5. When I was a child, I ________ often dream of becoming an actor.

Question 5 of 8

Question 6 of 8

6. They ________ live in Los Angeles.

Question 6 of 8

Question 7 of 8

7. My dog ________ chew on everything in the house.

Question 7 of 8

Question 8 of 8

8. They ________ have a dog.

Question 8 of 8


 

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.

book an english lesson

References[+]

The Best Guide to Narrative Tenses

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Narrative tenses are verb tenses used to talk about things in the past.

Normally you can use them in stories, descriptions of past events, and personal anecdotes.[1]https://prezi.com/ja2fl95x7feq/narrative-tenses/

Some common narrative tenses that are used in the narrative tense are the past simple, past continuous, and past perfect.[2]https://www.test-english.com/explanation/b1/past-simple-past-continuous-past-perfect/

Present Tenses

Do not mix the present and past tense when narrating past events.

This will only confuse the reader or listener as to when an event happens.[3]https://www.slideshare.net/marolmedo/narrative-tenses-10054596

For example, avoid using the present simple, present continuous, or the present perfect.

Past Simple

For regular verbs, the past simple is formed by adding –ed to the end of a verb such as talked, walked, and played.[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYVfYRzdTF0

For irregular verbs, you must memorize the past simple such as for eat (ate), go (went), and buy (bought).

If you would like to learn more about the past simple tense, check out:

Past Continuous

The past continuous tense is formed in the following way.[5]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYVfYRzdTF0

Was/were + verb – ing

For example:

  • They were
    walking.
  • She was
    eating.
  • I was
    sleeping.

If you would like to learn more about the past continuous tense, check out:

Past Perfect

The past perfect is formed in the following way.

Had + past participle

For example:

  • I had
    eaten breakfast.
  • Susie had
    studied for the exam.
  • We had lived there for 5 years.

If you would like to learn more about the past continuous tense, check out:

Conclusion

Understanding grammar rules is just the first step — the real progress happens when you practice using them in real conversation. A private lesson is the fastest way to get there.

book an english lesson

References[+]

The Best Guide to Modals – Can’t Have/Needn’t Have

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Modal verbs are a type of verb that allows the speaker to express things such as advice, obligation, order, suggestions, capacity, request, permission, ability, and likelihood. Two important ones are “can’t have” and “needn’t have”.[1]https://phoneenglish.es/blog/2017/04/modals-cant-have-and-neednt-have/

While they seem similar they actually express quite different things.

Can’t Have

This modal verb expresses something that you are very sure didn’t happen in the past or when you believe something was impossible in the past.

When using this modal verb, it follows the following formula:

  • Can’t have + Past Participle

For example:

  • The prisoner can’t have escaped through that window because it is too small.
  • The kid can’t
    have been     at the movie theater. He was at home all weekend studying for the
    exam.
  • Susie can’t
    have said     that. She is too nice and wouldn’t say such mean things.

Needn’t Have

“Needn’t have” expresses when an action was done but was most likely a waste of time and unnecessary.

When using this modal verb, it follows the following formula:

  • Needn’t have + Past Participle

For example:

  • You needn’t
    have cooked     so much food. We already ate before we came here.
  • She needn’t
    have bought     a new car. I was going to give one to her for her birthday.
  • We needn’t
    have studied     so hard for the test. It ended up being canceled.

Conclusion

Understanding grammar rules is just the first step — the real progress happens when you practice using them in real conversation. A private lesson is the fastest way to get there.

book an english lesson

References[+]

The Best Guide to Relative Clauses

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Relative clauses give extra information about a noun or pronoun in a sentence.[1]https://www.st-agnes.manchester.sch.uk/year-6-circles/relative-clauses/https://www.st-agnes.manchester.sch.uk/year-6-circles/relative-clauses/

They usually start with a relative pronoun.

Who

“Who” is a relative clause used as the subject or object pronoun for people.[2]https://englishstudyhere.com/grammar/relative-clauses-detailed-expressions/

For example:

  • People who
    do sports are fit.
  • The student who
    studies in the library will do well on the test.
  • The person who
    does yoga is flexible

Whom

“Whom” is a relative clause that refers to the people used as the object of a sentence.[3]https://www.slideshare.net/Ifahanwar/passive-voice-relative-clauses-causative-and-subordinating-conjungtion

For example:

  • He is the person whom I told you about.
  • From whom
    did you receive this present?
  • To whom
    did you give the cake?

Which/That

“Which” or “that” is used as the subject or object pronoun for animals or things.

For example:

  • The car that
    I was driving is very old.
  • The horse,
    which you were feeding,     was very hungry.
  • The house that
    she lives in is very big.

Where

“Where” is used to refer to a place.

For example:

  • I found the house where I used to live when I was little.
  • The school where
    I went to is very small.
  • The town where
    she lives is very far away.

When

“When” is used to refer to time.

For example:

  • I will never forget the day when I first met you.
  • When
    I was young, I used to go to the beach every summer.
  • She was very short when she was young.

Whose

“Whose” is used for possession for things, animals, and people.

For example:

  • The dog whose
    master is not home is very sad.
  • The little girl whose birthday is today is very happy.
  • The father whose
    son is graduating today from university is very proud and happy.

Example Exercises

Choose the proper relative clauses to complete the sentences.

Please go to The Best Guide to Relative Clauses to view this quiz

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.

book an english lesson

References[+]

The Best Guide to the Future Perfect Continuous

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In English, the future perfect continuous tense is used to talk about actions that will continue up until a point in the future.[1]https://7esl.com/future-perfect-continuous-tense/

Conjugation

The tense uses the verbs “will”, “have”, “been”, and the present participle (+ing).

future perfect continuous

When to Use the Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Event that continues up to a specific time in the future

You can use this tense to talk about an event in the future that will continue up to a particular time or event.

For example:

  • Susie will
    have been working     at this company for 5 years by December of this year.
  • I will
    have been     studying English for 6
    months by the end of this month.
  • We will
    have been living     in the same apartment for 3 years by the time we finally
    fixed the leak in the ceiling.

Event that just finished before another action or event

You can use this tense to talk about an event in the future that has just finished before something else.

For example:

  • I will be tired when I get home this evening
    because I will have been working nonstop
    for 36 hours.
  • Susie will be energized on Monday because she will have been relaxing for the previous week on vacation.
  • He will be sad because he will have been studying all weekend and not had any time to relax.

Example Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the future perfect continuous tense of the verbs.

Please go to The Best Guide to the Future Perfect Continuous to view this quiz

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.

book an english lesson

References[+]

The Best Guide to the Future Perfect Tense

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In English, the future perfect tense describes an event that is planned or expected to happen before something else that is coming.[1]https://7esl.com/future-perfect-tense/

Conjugation

This tense uses the verb “will” to indicate the future and the verb “have” to indicate the perfect tense.

future perfect tense

When to Use the Future Perfect Tense

Action that will finish before a certain time in the future

You can use this verb tense to talk about an action that will finish before a specific time in the future.

For example:

  • By 10:30 am tomorrow, I will have completed my final test.
  • By 8 pm tomorrow, she will have already departed
    on her vacation.
  • By 7:30 am tomorrow, we will have finish the project.

Action that will be done before a certain event in the future

You can also use this tense to talk about actions that will take place before another event in the future.

For example:

  • I will have learnt French before I move to France.
  • They will have finished the project before they leave to go home.
  • Susie will have eaten dinner before she cleans the dishes.

To express belief that something happened in the near past

You can also use this tense to talk about the near past when you are convinced something has happened.

For example:

  • They will
    have arrived     by now. (I am sure that they have arrived by now)
  • Frank will
    have finished     his test already. (I am sure that Frank has already finished
    his test)
  • Elisabeth will
    have cleaned     the dishes by now. (I am sure that Elisabeth has cleaned the
    dished by now)

Example Exercises

Fill in the blanks with the future perfect conjugation of the verbs.

Please go to The Best Guide to the Future Perfect Tense to view this quiz

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.

book an english lesson

References[+]