Wish and if only for the past: express regret accurately
Describe a past you would like to change with wish or if only plus past perfect. Practise negative regrets, had been doing and hope when the outcome is unknown.
Read and practiseAdventure journal
All English lessons
Choose a topic, read the examples and try the exercises before revealing the answers. Follow a related lesson when you are ready to use the same idea in a new situation.
Adventure journal
Your lesson journal
Choose your level
The lesson search could not load. You can still browse the pages.
No matching lesson. Try a shorter search or another topic.
Reported speech without backshift
A past reporting verb can introduce a present form when a fact remains true or a situation is relevant now.
Read and practiseWish with would: ask for a change without confusing states
Use wish plus would for a desired change, repeated annoyance or lack of response. Contrast a wish about knowledge and notice when your wording sounds critical.
Read and practiseModal perfect continuous: may have been working
A light left on or a wet road can suggest an activity in progress earlier. Express possibility and deductions about a past situation.
Read and practisePerfect and continuous passives: been or being?
Distinguish has been repaired from is being repaired. Build past perfect and continuous passives, ask questions, and recognise a state that continues in the perfect.
Read and practiseWould have for unreal past outcomes
An earlier choice or missing opportunity can lead to an imagined past result; express outcomes and willingness that never became reality.
Read and practiseGet passive: got approved, got damaged and did it get sent?
Use get plus a past participle for events affecting people or things, especially in conversation. Form questions and negatives without assuming every event is bad.
Read and practiseWas to have done: plans that did not happen
A past arrangement can be described from a later point when it is clear that the expected event did not take place.
Read and practiseReporting verb patterns: admit, deny, suggest and persuade
Choose ing, to-infinitive or object plus infinitive after common reporting verbs. Report admissions, denials, suggestions and persuasion accurately.
Read and practiseActions on the point of happening
An imminent departure or an interrupted intention can be described from either a present or a past reference point.
Read and practiseNon-defining relative clauses: extra information and commas
Add information about an identified person or thing with who, which or whose. Use commas, retain the relative pronoun and recognise whole-clause which.
Read and practiseStrong expectations about an outcome
A crowded road or a question may seem very likely without being guaranteed; express that expectation with a compact verb pattern.
Read and practisePrepositions in relative clauses: with whom or who ... with?
Compare everyday relative clauses ending in a preposition with formal preposition-plus-whom or which. Keep the required preposition and choose the right register.
Read and practiseMandative subjunctive after demands
Formal requests and essential conditions can take a base verb in a that-clause. See how the pattern works with negation and passive forms.
Read and practisePerception verbs: see someone do or doing something
Describe a whole observed event or an action noticed in progress with see, hear and watch. Use bare infinitives actively and recognise passive was seen to leave.
Read and practiseWhether or if: choices inside indirect questions
Choose whether before an infinitive, after a preposition and directly before or not. Learn where if is also valid in an indirect yes/no question.
Read and practiseIt's time with a past form
An overdue action can be expressed with a past form after it's time; explore the added urgency of high time and practise present meaning.
Read and practiseParticiple clauses: connect actions and identify their subjects
Connect actions with walking, damaged and having checked. Practise active and passive participle clauses, earlier actions and clear subject references.
Read and practiseWould sooner: preferences about actions
Express a preference for your own action or someone else's, and see why the second pattern uses a past form for a present choice.
Read and practiseHowever and whereas: contrasts with clear sentence structure
Compare however, whereas, while and but. Practise contrasts between facts, sentence boundaries and punctuation without joining complete sentences by a comma alone.
Read and practisePlace expressions and subject–verb inversion
Front a place expression to introduce a noun subject after the verb, and compare the normal order retained with a pronoun.
Read and practiseIt-cleft sentences: focus on the person, thing or time
Use it was and it is to highlight one part of a message. Compare person, object and time focus, ask a focused question and avoid repeated pronouns.
Read and practiseAuxiliary ellipsis: leaving out a repeated verb phrase
A repeated action can disappear after an auxiliary. Practise short answers, contrasts and agreement without losing the intended meaning.
Read and practiseWhat-clefts: highlight a need, action or important point
Build sentences with what I need is and what we did was. Practise statement word order, action focus and identifying the information after is or was.
Read and practise