TYPES OF CONDITIONALS

 A conditional statement is composed of a situation or the condition and the result. 

In this blog, I shall show you the form of each of the types of conditionals. You may as well watch the videos to listen to me discuss each type.

There are two major types of conditionals: REAL and UNREAL. Zero and First conditionals are the subtypes of REAL conditionals while Second, third and mixed are the UNREAL conditionals.

REAL CONDITIONALS

Zero Conditional

Answer the question to exercise how you form a zero conditional statement.

(SITUATION)When it rains, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ when it rains. (SITUATION)

Watch the video to understand better.

First Conditional

Answer the question to exercise how you form a first conditional statement.

(SITUATION)If I miss an exam, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ if I miss an exam. (SITUATION)

Watch the video to understand better.

UNREAL CONDITIONALS

Second Conditional

Answer the question to exercise how you form a second conditional statement.

(SITUATION)If I were the president of the country, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ if I were the president of the country. (SITUATION)

Watch the video to understand better.

Third Conditional

Answer the question to exercise how you form a third conditional statement.

(SITUATION)If I had known you before, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ if I had known you before. (SITUATION)

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You can also contract I and had to form I'd.

(SITUATION)If I'd known you before, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ if I'd known you before. (SITUATION)

Watch the video to understand better.

Mixed Conditional

Answer the question to exercise how you form a mixed conditional statement.

(SITUATION)If I wasn't afraid of spiders, ______________. (RESULT) 

OR

(RESULT) ______________ if I wasn't afraid of spiders. (SITUATION)

Watch the video to understand better.

Word Formation Processes

 

TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES

 

·         Definition / Explanation Clues

-         When the author provides a direct definition or explanation to better understand a word.

 

Example

Melinda is a curator, a person who is responsible for looking after a museum’s collection.

 

The underlined group of words is the definition of the word “curator”. This gives the reader easy understanding on what is read.

 

·         Restatement / Synonym Clues

-         When the author uses words similar in meaning to give a hint on the meaning of another word.

 

Example

Jeremy was sent to the haberdashery to find a new suit. He needed one for the school dance.

 

“Suit” is the synonym for “haberdashery”. North American’s usually use haberdashery to refer to men’s clothing however, for the British, it may simply refer to items used for sewing. The context above would tell you that he is looking for clothing and not sewing materials.

 

·         Contrast / Antonym Clues

-         When the author uses another word opposite in meaning to hint the meaning of another word.

 

Example

The gentleman was portly, but his wife was thin.

 

Looking at the statement it is easy to tell that the gentleman is fat because it gives a contrast introduced by the conjunction “but” to mean that the wife has an opposite appearance. Thus portly, which means fat and round, is the opposite or antonym of thin. The antonym “thin” gave away the hint.

 

·         Inference / General Context Clues

-         When the author provides descriptions or situations only to hint the meaning of an unfamiliar word.

Example

The monkey’s vociferous chatter made me wish I had earplugs.

 

You only wish you had earplugs when you don’t want to hear the noise happening all around, therefore “vociferous” could only mean “noisy, loud or you could even add annoying to it”. That is inference or a conclusion taken from the situation “made me wish I had earplugs”.

 

·         Cause and Effect

-         When the author only provides a situation and the result of such to hint the meaning of a difficult word.

 

Example

Since no one came to the first meeting, attendance for the second one is mandatory for all staff.

 

You can guess the meaning of mandatory as a product of the situation “no one came to the first meeting”. So since no one came for the first one, it is going to be stricter for the second call, hence attendance becomes mandatory, in other words everyone is already obliged to come whether they like it or not.

 

MODALITY

 Modal auxiliary verbs are followed by the base form of a verb to show certainty, necessity, or possibility. Modals and the verbs that follow do not change form to indicate tense or take an “-s” ending. All modal auxiliary verbs can be used in the present, but only “could,” “would,” “should,” and “might” can be used in the past.

 

MODAL AUXILIARY VERB	USAGE	EXAMPLE
can , could	To show or infer general ability	You can come and visit any time. She could solve the problem mentally.
	To make a polite or informal request	Can we take the train instead? Could you take me to school early tomorrow?
	To give permission	You can take a day off tomorrow if you’re still feeling sick. If necessary, I could give you a longer extension.
	To make a prediction	If you work hard, you can easily land a job. If you continue to study hard, you could graduate with flying colors.
will , would	To make a polite or informal request	Will you see me tonight? I would gladly appreciate your help.
	To make a formal request	Will you be nice! Would you please help!
	To make a prediction	If she hears news about you, she will recover in no time. I would be surprised if she did not win.
shall	To show intention	We shall not surrender.
	To make a polite or an informal request	Shall we dance?
should	To indicate expectation	You should receive an email by next week.
	To suggest or provide advice	If you expect to get their full attention, you should give extra effort to your presentation.
	To infer responsibility or obligation	We should work hand in hand for the success of our community project.
may, might	To make a formal request	May I speak with you after office hours? You might want to reconsider your decision.
	To request permission	May I go to the dance tonight? Might I have a word with you?
	To show possibility	I may want to hear more of what you can offer. We might show up in the party.
	To make a prediction	We may win this contest if we craft a solid strategy. I might not see you in class, but I’ll wait for you in the stadium at lunch.
must	To indicate necessity	We must do something right now, or lose everything then next day.
	To infer a logical assumption	I couldn’t find her anywhere, she must have gone home already.

 

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in March 2019.

Reference

GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS Using Modal Auxiliary Verbs

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/rwc/repository/files/grammar-and-mechanics/verb-system/Using-Modal-Auxiliary-Verbs.pdf  

THE BASICS OF CHANGING DIRECT TO INDIRECT SPEECH

 In reporting an idea or a message using the exact words of the speaker, use direct speech; However, in reporting an idea or a message using your own words, use indirect speech. But what is the most appropriate way to change direct speech to indirect?

Sentences in the indirect speech are already free of the quotation marks and must always end with a period.

The sentence inside the quotation mark is called the REPORTED SPEECH. When the verb in the reported speech is in the present tense, change it into its simple past tense when changing into indirect. 

In the sentence above, "like" is the verb in the reported speech and "like" is also present. In changing it to indirect "like" becomes "liked".

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

1. Direct: Melissa said, "I eat bread for breakfast."

    Indirect: _________________________

If the verb in the reported speech is in the past tense, in this case, "met" , change it into the past perfect tense which is "had met".

So, what is really the form of a past perfect tense? Simple: had +verb pp. Meaning had plus the past participle of the verb. The past participle form of the verb is generally the third column in conjugating verbs.

The verbs in the past participle column are the verbs to pair with had to form the past perfect tense of the verb. They would look like this: had liked; had talked; had eaten; had sung.

Notice also the time indicator in the example above; yesterday is changed to the previous day in the indirect form. This means that time expressions also change when the statement is transformed into indirect.

Be reminded of these changes:

now - then

tomorrow - the next day

today - that day

yesterday - that previous day

tonight - that night

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

2. Direct: Melissa said, "Robert drank the milk in the 

               fridge last night."

    Indirect: _________________________

This means that not everything in the reported speech has to be changed when you want to use the indirect speech. This one is an example. 

There is no need to change "All people have equal rights" because that is a universal truth. That is something everyone knows and should be known.

It would sound unnatural if you insist on changing it: ‘He said that all people had equal rights.’ You cannot change that because even when the speaker said that in the past, that idea is still true even after she said it.

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

3. Direct: Melissa said, "We are all created equal."

    Indirect: _________________________

This part could be tricky. You have to make sure that the pronouns used  refer to the correct antecedent. Antecedents are what pronouns refer to.

Let us examine the sentence above: "John told Mary that he had told her that they do not have money." It is very important that you do not interchange the pronouns. It should also be taken into consideration that some names do not suggest gender anymore so it is wise to clarify it.

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

4. Direct: Melissa told Pedro, "I needed you to listen 

    to me last night."

    Indirect: _________________________

The reporting verb refers to the verb before the reported speech or outside the reported speech; the verb outside the quotation marks. In the sentence above -  She says, "I will come." - "says" is the reporting verb. When the reporting verb is in the present or future tense, there is no need to change the tense of the verb in the reported speech. In the example above, the only changes made were the pronoun "I to she" and the addition of the word "that".

YOUR TURN

Directions: Change the given direct speech into indirect.

5. Direct: Melissa says, "Pedro and I will be leaving 

               soon."

    Indirect: _________________________

You can also watch this video. 

Originally published at jeanillec.blogspot.com

in 2020

References:

Direct to indirect speech: General rules. (9 February 2016). Retrieved from

https://www.englishgrammar.org/direct-indirect-speech-general-rules/

Cogtas, J. (3 March 2019). How to change direct to indirect speech. Retrieved form

https://jeanillec.blogspot.com/2019/03/how-to-change-direct-to-indirect-speech.html