Contractions: I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’re, they’re

When to use it:

1. Identity — name, nationality, job
2. Descriptions — age, size, color, feelings
3. Location — where something/someone is

Subject pronouns:

Possessive adjectives (before a noun):

More examples:

More examples:

Regular rules:

Irregular plurals:

Examples:

When to use: Daily routines, habits, facts.

Spelling rules for he/she/it:

• Most verbs: + -s → works, plays, reads
• Verbs ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -o: + -es → watches, goes, washes
• Verbs ending in consonant + y: change y to -ies → studies, carries

Form: Base verb (no subject)

Form: can + base verb (no “to”, no “-s”)

Place:

Time:

Regular verbs: add -ed

Spelling rules:

Common irregular verbs:

Examples:

When to use: Actions happening right now.

Spelling rules for -ing:

When to use: Plans and intentions for the future.

Countable — can be counted (1 book, 2 books):

Uncountable — cannot be counted (no plural, no a/an):

Common mistakes:

• an advice → a piece of advice
• informations → information (always singular)
• a furniture → a piece of furniture
• two breads → two slices/loaves of bread

Examples:

Rules:

Irregular:

Examples:

Object pronouns (after verb or preposition):

Possessive pronouns (replace noun — no noun after):

Comparison:

• This is my car. (possessive adjective + noun)
• This car is mine. (possessive pronoun, no noun after)

Form: Usually adjective + -ly

Irregular adverbs:

Examples:

Position: Usually after the verb or after the object:

• She sings beautifully. ✓
• He ate his dinner quickly. ✓

More examples:

When to use (A2 basics): Experience, with ever/never/just/already/yet.

ever = at any time in your life (questions)
never = at no time (negative meaning, but verb is positive)
just = a very short time ago
already = before now / sooner than expected
yet = until now (questions and negatives)

When to use it:

1. Habits and routines — things you do regularly
2. Permanent facts and general truths — things that are always true
3. Schedules and timetables — fixed future events (buses, flights, classes)
4. Stative verbs — verbs that describe states, not actions (know, believe, love, hate, want, need, prefer, understand, belong, seem)

Key signal words: always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never, every day/week/month, on Mondays, twice a week

Common mistake:

• He don't like pizza. → He doesn't like pizza.
• She work here. → She works here.

When to use it:

1. Actions happening right now — at this exact moment
2. Temporary situations — happening around now, but not permanent
3. Changing/developing situations — trends
4. Future arrangements — planned events with a specific time/place
5. Annoying habits — with "always" to express irritation

Key signal words: now, right now, at the moment, currently, today, this week/month, tonight, look!, listen!

Stative verbs — DO NOT use continuous:

• I am knowing the answer. → I know the answer.
• She is wanting a new car. → She wants a new car.
• He is believing you. → He believes you.

Common stative verbs: know, believe, understand, want, need, love, hate, like, prefer, remember, forget, belong, seem, mean, exist, own, have (= possess)

Exception: Some stative verbs can be continuous when the meaning changes:

• I have a car. (possession — stative) vs I am having lunch. (activity — action)
• She thinks it's a good idea. (opinion) vs She is thinking about moving. (mental process)

When to use it:

1. Completed actions in the past — with a specific time
2. A sequence of past events — telling a story
3. Past habits — things you did regularly in the past (can also use "used to")
4. Past states — situations that were true in the past

Key signal words: yesterday, last week/month/year, ago, in 2015, when I was young, at that time, then, the other day

Regular verbs (-ed): worked, played, visited, watched, walked, called, cleaned, studied

Irregular verbs (memorize): go→went, see→saw, eat→ate, buy→bought, take→took, give→gave, come→came, make→made, write→wrote, speak→spoke, drive→drove, know→knew, think→thought, find→found, tell→told

When to use it:

1. An action in progress at a specific time in the past — background action
2. Interrupted actions — a long action interrupted by a short one
3. Two simultaneous actions — two things happening at the same time
4. Setting the scene — describing the background in a story
5. Temporary past situations

Key signal words: while, when, as, at that moment, at 6 pm yesterday, all day/morning/evening

Past Simple vs Past Continuous — Key pattern:

While + Past Continuous, Past Simple

Past Continuous + when + Past Simple

• While I was taking a shower, someone knocked on the door.
• I was taking a shower when someone knocked on the door.

Multiple past actions:

• Past Simple + Past Simple = one action after another:

When she arrived, I made tea. (She arrived first, then I made tea.)

• Past Continuous + Past Simple = one action during another:

When she arrived, I was making tea. (I was already making tea; she arrived during it.)

When to use it:

1. Life experience — at an unspecified time before now
2. Recent actions with present results — something just happened and the result matters now
3. Unfinished time periods — today, this week, this year (the period is not over yet)
4. Actions that started in the past and continue to now — with since/for
5. With just, already, yet, still, ever, never

Present Perfect vs Past Simple — The KEY difference:

Rule: Do NOT use Present Perfect with specific past times (yesterday, last week, in 2020, ago, when...)

• I have seen him yesterday. → I saw him yesterday.
• She has graduated in 2018. → She graduated in 2018.

8a. Will

When to use it:

1. Spontaneous decisions — decided at the moment of speaking
2. Predictions based on opinion/belief — what you think will happen
3. Promises, offers, and threats
4. Facts about the future

Key signal words: I think, I believe, probably, perhaps, I'm sure, I hope, I promise, I expect

8b. Going to

When to use it:

1. Plans and intentions — decided before the moment of speaking
2. Predictions based on evidence — you can see/feel something is about to happen

8c. Present Continuous for Future

When to use it: Fixed arrangements with a specific time and/or place (often involving other people).

8d. Will vs Going to vs Present Continuous — Comparison

can / can't

could

must / mustn't

have to / don't have to

Must vs Have to:

• must = I decide it's necessary (internal) → I must stop eating junk food.
• have to = someone/something else decides (external) → I have to work overtime. My boss told me.

should / shouldn't

may / might

Rules:

Irregular forms:

Examples:

When to use it: Real/possible situations in the future and their likely results.

Variations (instead of "will"):

• If + present, can + base verb → If you finish early, you can leave. (permission)
• If + present, should + base verb → If it rains, you should take a taxi. (advice)
• If + present, might + base verb → If she calls, I might not answer. (possibility)
• If + present, imperative → If you see John, tell him I called. (instruction)

Note: "When" replaces "if" for things you are certain will happen:

When I get home, I will have dinner. (I will definitely get home.)

When to use it: Imaginary, unlikely, or impossible present/future situations.

Important: Use "were" (not "was") for all subjects in formal English:

• If I were rich... (formal and preferred)
• If he were here... (formal)
• If she were taller... (formal)

Variations (instead of "would"):

• If + past, could + base verb → If I had more time, I could learn another language.
• If + past, might + base verb → If she tried harder, she might succeed.

1st vs 2nd Conditional:

When to use it:

1. The action is more important than who did it
2. The doer is unknown, obvious, or unimportant
3. Formal/academic writing
4. Describing processes

Full table of forms:

More examples:

When to use: To give essential information that identifies which person, thing, or place we mean. Without the clause, the sentence doesn’t make sense or changes meaning.

More examples:

Rule: When the relative pronoun is the object of the clause, you can omit it:

• The film (that) I watched was great. ✓
• The man (who) she married is Italian. ✓

When to use: To tell someone what another person said, without using their exact words.

Tense shift (backshift):

Examples:

Time/place changes:

Example with time change:

• Direct: “I will call you tomorrow.”
• Reported: He said he would call me the next day.

used to + base verb (past habits/states — no longer true)

would + base verb (repeated past actions — NOT states)

Rule: “would” is for repeated actions only. “Used to” works for both actions and states.

be used to + verb-ing / noun (accustomed to — present)

get used to + verb-ing / noun (the process of becoming accustomed)

Examples:

When to use it:

1. Duration of an ongoing activity — how long something has been happening (and is still happening or just stopped)
2. Recent continuous activity with a visible result — you can see the evidence
3. Repeated actions from the past until now

Present Perfect Simple vs Present Perfect Continuous:

Verbs NOT used in continuous: know, believe, want, love, hate, own, belong, understand

• I have been knowing her for years. → I have known her for years.

When to use it: To show that one past action happened before another past action. It’s the “past of the past.”

Timeline:

Past Perfect (earlier) ←——— Past Simple (later) ←——— NOW
     had done                     did

Past Simple vs Past Perfect:

When you DON’T need Past Perfect:

• When the order is clear from “before,” “after,” or the sequence:
• I brushed my teeth and went to bed. (clear order — Past Simple is fine)

When to use it: To talk about the duration of an activity that was in progress before another past event. Often explains a visible result in the past.

Past Perfect Simple vs Past Perfect Continuous:

When to use it: To imagine a different result for something that already happened. The situation is impossible to change — it’s in the past.

Variations (instead of “would have”):

• could have (ability) → If I had had more time, I could have finished the project.
• might have (possibility) → If she had applied, she might have gotten the job.

Question form:

• What would you have done if you had been in my situation?
• Where would you have gone if you had had more money?

When to use: When the time in the “if” clause is different from the time in the result clause.

Type 1: Past condition → Present result

The past action affects the present situation.

Type 2: Present condition → Past result

A present state would have changed a past outcome.

When to use: To express regret, dissatisfaction, or desire for things to be different.

Wish about the present (I want it to be different NOW)

Wish about the past (I regret something that DID/DIDN’T happen)

Wish about annoying habits / things you want someone else to change

Note: We do NOT say “I wish I would...” — use “I wish I could...” instead.

• I wish I would speak French. → I wish I could speak French.

Passive with reporting verbs (impersonal):

Common reporting verbs used in passive: say, believe, think, know, report, expect, consider, understand, claim, allege, estimate, suppose

When to use: To add extra, non-essential information about a noun. Removing the clause does NOT change who/what we’re talking about.

Always use commas. Never use “that.”

Examples:

Defining vs Non-Defining:

When to use: When someone else does something for you (you arrange/pay for it).

Examples:

Different tenses:

Have done vs Get done:

• have something done = more formal / neutral
• get something done = more informal / spoken English

When to use: In formal English or writing to add emphasis or dramatic effect.

When to use: To make sentences shorter and more sophisticated. They replace relative or adverbial clauses.

Present participle (-ing) — active meaning

Past participle (-ed / 3rd form) — passive meaning

Perfect participle (having + past participle) — earlier action

When to use: To emphasize a specific piece of information in the sentence.

It-cleft: It + be + focused element + who/that/when/where

What-cleft: What + subject + verb + be + focused element

All-cleft and The thing/reason/person cleft

When to use: To express how certain you are about something (present or past).

Present deduction

Past deduction

Present continuous deduction

Reporting verbs + patterns:

Full transformation examples:

Prefixes

Suffixes — forming nouns

Suffixes — forming adjectives

Suffixes — forming adverbs

Suffixes — forming verbs

When to use it:

1. An action in progress at a specific time in the future
2. Things that will happen as a matter of course — expected, routine future events
3. Polite inquiries — softer than “will you…?”

Future Continuous vs Will (simple):

When to use it: To talk about something that will be completed before a specific time in the future.

Key signal words: by (next week/2030/then), by the time, before, by this time next year

When to use it: To emphasize the duration of an activity up to a specific point in the future.

Future Perfect vs Future Perfect Continuous:

When to use: Formal alternatives to “if” — dropping “if” and inverting the subject and auxiliary.

More examples:

When to use: After certain verbs, adjectives, and expressions to talk about demands, suggestions, or hypothetical situations. More common in formal/written English.

Form: Subject + base verb (no -s, no “to”, no past form)

After verbs of demand/suggestion/recommendation:

After adjectives (it is + adjective + that):

Fixed expressions with subjunctive:

Key patterns to master:

Verbs followed by gerund (-ing) only:

Verbs followed by infinitive (to + base) only:

Verbs that change meaning with gerund vs infinitive:

Preposition + gerund patterns:

Zero article (no article):

The (specific / unique):

Common article mistakes at C1:

When to use: To avoid repeating words already mentioned. Essential for natural, fluent English.

Ellipsis (leaving words out)

Substitution (replacing with another word)

Verbs commonly used with “so”: think so, believe so, hope so, expect so, suppose so, I’m afraid so, it appears so, it seems so

When to use: To sound less direct, more tentative, or diplomatically uncertain. Very important in academic writing, business English, and polite conversation.

Hedging expressions

Vague language (spoken English)

When to use: C1 learners must switch between registers depending on context (academic essay vs text message).

Phrasal verbs → Formal equivalents:

When to use: To add emphasis or draw attention to a specific part of the sentence. Common in formal and literary English.

Fronting (moving an element to the front)

do/does/did for emphasis

Other emphasis structures

Key transformations C1 learners should master:

Active ↔ Passive

Direct ↔ Reported

Conditional ↔ Wish

Cause/Result transformations

Purpose transformations

Binomials — fixed pairs of words joined by “and” or “or”:

Advanced verb + noun collocations

When to use: To express contrast, unexpected results, or concessions at an advanced level.

Concessive conjunctions & adverbs

as…as constructions (advanced)

Complex concession patterns

                        PAST                          PRESENT                      FUTURE
                         |                               |                            |
Past Perfect         Past Simple          Present Perfect        Present Simple      will
  had done             did                  have done               do/does         will do
  had been doing       was doing            have been doing         am/is/are doing  will be doing
                                                                                    going to do
Past Perfect Cont.   Past Continuous      Pres. Perf. Cont.     Pres. Continuous
  had been doing       was/were doing       have been doing        am/is/are doing

EARLIER PAST ←——— PAST ←——— RECENT PAST / UP TO NOW ←——— NOW ——→ FUTURE

Summary of all tenses: