Grammar in Use: Tenses, Passive, Reported Speech and More

British & IGCSE › Checkpoint 6 English (Cambridge Primary 0058)

1. Grammar in Checkpoint 6: what you need

This page covers the grammar you use every time you write and the verb forms the reading questions can ask you to recognise. In both Paper 1 (Non-fiction) and Paper 2 (Fiction), Section A Reading is worth 25 marks and Section B Writing is worth 25 marks.

2. Tenses: the main forms

3. Past simple and past progressive together

In stories (Paper 2) you will use these two tenses all the time. The past progressive sets the scene or shows a longer action; the past simple shows the short action that happens in the middle of it.

• *I was reading in bed when the lights went out.* (long action + short interrupting action)
• *While we were eating dinner, the phone rang.*
• *The sun was shining and the birds were singing.* (setting the scene)

4. Present perfect or past simple?

5. Irregular verbs you must spell correctly

6. Keep your tense consistent

Choose one main tense for your writing and stay in it. Most stories, recounts, diaries and news reports are written in the past. Information texts, reviews and persuasive texts are mostly in the present. Changing tense by mistake is one of the most common errors.

7. Active and passive

In an active sentence, the subject does the action. In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action, and the doer moves to the end after by, or disappears.

• Active: *The children painted the wall.* (the children do the action)
• Passive: *The wall was painted by the children.* (the wall receives the action)
• Passive with no doer: *The wall was painted last week.*

How to recognise a passive verb: look for a form of be + a past participle: *is made, was found, were taken, has been opened, have been sold, will be built.*

How to change active into passive (steps):

1. Take the object of the active sentence and make it the subject.
2. Add the correct form of be, in the same tense as the active verb.
3. Add the past participle of the main verb.
4. Add by + the doer only if it is important.

Why do writers use the passive? Learn these answers:

• to focus on the thing or the action, not on who did it (*The pyramids were built over 4,000 years ago.*)
• because the doer is unknown (*My phone was stolen.*)
• because the doer is obvious or not important (*The thief was arrested.* We know it was the police.)
• to make the writing sound formal and factual, as in reports, news reports and science texts
• in stories: to hide who did something, which creates mystery (*The window had been smashed.*)

8. Direct and reported speech

Direct speech gives the speaker's exact words inside inverted commas. Reported speech (also called indirect speech) tells us what someone said without their exact words and without inverted commas. Reported speech is very useful in news reports, recounts and stories.

• Direct: *Hana said, “I am tired.”*
• Reported: *Hana said (that) she was tired.*

Four steps to change direct speech into reported speech:

1. Remove the inverted commas. You can add *that* (it is optional).
2. Change the pronouns to fit who is speaking: *I → he/she, we → they, my → his/her, our → their*.
3. Move the tense one step back if the reporting verb is in the past (*said, told, asked*).
4. Change time and place words if needed.

Questions and commands:

• Yes/no question: *“Are you ready?” he asked.* → *He asked if (whether) I was ready.*
• Wh- question: *“Where do you live?” she asked.* → *She asked where I lived.* (no question mark, normal word order)
• Command: *“Sit down,” the teacher said.* → *The teacher told us to sit down.*
• Negative command: *“Don't run!” Mum said.* → *Mum told us not to run.*

9. Subject-verb agreement

The verb must agree with its subject: a singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb.

10. Comparatives and superlatives

A comparative compares two things (*taller than*). A superlative compares three or more and shows the top or bottom (*the tallest*).

• Comparative: *The Nile is longer than the Thames.*
• Superlative: *The Nile is the longest river in Africa.*
• With *as ... as*: *My bag is as heavy as yours.* / *not as heavy as*
• Adverbs too: *She ran faster than me. / He spoke more quietly than before.*

Fewer or less? Many or much? Use fewer and many with things you can count (*fewer cars, many books*). Use less and much with things you cannot count (*less water, much noise*).

Why do writers use comparatives and superlatives? To compare things clearly, to show which is best or worst, to make something sound better than anything else in persuasive texts and adverts (*the most exciting ride in Egypt*), and to give a clear judgement in reviews.

11. If-sentences (conditionals)

If-sentences talk about a condition and its result. They are not usually asked about directly in the reading questions, but you must use them correctly in your writing.

Where they help your writing: persuasive texts (*If we do nothing, our beaches will disappear.*), instructions and advice (*If the water boils, turn down the heat.*), balanced arguments (*If the centre were built here, traffic would increase.*) and stories (a character's thoughts: *If only I had listened...*).

12. Standard English

Standard English is the correct, accepted form of English used in writing, school and the exam. Some forms are fine when chatting with friends, but they are non-standard and lose marks in writing (except inside a character's speech in a story, where they can show how the character talks).

13. Formal and informal language

Your audience and purpose decide how formal you should be. Choosing the right level is part of Vocabulary and language and Creation of texts in the writing mark scheme.

14. Proofreading: the last few minutes

Proofreading means reading your writing again to find and fix mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation. Leave the last few minutes of your 30 minutes of writing time for it. Check in this order:

1. Sentences: every sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with . ? or ! (no comma splices or run-ons).
2. Tense: the same main tense all the way through.
3. Agreement: *we were, he doesn't, there are, everyone has*.
4. Standard English: no *we was, could of, me and him went*.
5. Punctuation: commas in lists and after opening clauses, speech punctuated correctly, apostrophes in the right place (*its/it's, their/they're/there*).
6. Spelling: check tricky words, especially irregular past forms and *-er/-est* spellings.

Worked example. This original paragraph has at least ten mistakes. Try to find them before you look at the correction.

*last saturday me and my cousin goes to the zoo, we was very excited. The lions was sleeping but the monkeys were the most funniest animals there. Their was a sign that said “dont feed the animals.”*

Corrected: *Last Saturday, my cousin and I went to the zoo. We were very excited. The lions were sleeping, but the monkeys were the funniest animals there. There was a sign that said, “Don't feed the animals.”*

• *last* → *Last* (capital at the start of a sentence)
• *saturday* → *Saturday* (days need capitals)
• *me and my cousin* → *my cousin and I* (standard English)
• *goes* → *went* (past tense)
• *zoo, we* → *zoo. We* (comma splice fixed)
• *we was* → *we were* (agreement)
• *The lions was* → *The lions were* (agreement)
• *the most funniest* → *the funniest* (double superlative)
• *Their was* → *There was* (homophone)
• *dont feed* → *Don't feed* (apostrophe for omission, and a capital letter at the start of the speech)
• *said “* → *said, “* (a comma before the speech)

15. Practice A: tenses

1. Complete: *While I ______ (walk) home, I ______ (find) a wallet.*

   Show answer

   *While I was walking home, I found a wallet.* (past progressive + past simple)

2. Complete: *I ______ (never / see) snow.*

   Show answer

   *I have never seen snow.* (present perfect: life experience)

3. Correct the mistake: *We have gone to Alexandria last summer.*

   Show answer

   *We went to Alexandria last summer.* (finished time → past simple)

4. Complete: *By the time we arrived, the film ______ (start).*

   Show answer

   *the film had started.* (past perfect: it happened before we arrived)

5. Which tense? *They are planting trees in the park this week.*

   Show answer

   Present progressive (am/is/are + -ing).

16. Practice B: active and passive

1. Active or passive? *The letter was delivered this morning.*

   Show answer

   Passive: *was* + past participle *delivered*.

2. Which verb form is it? *Three new classrooms have been built.*

   Show answer

   Present perfect passive (*have been* + past participle).

3. Which verb form is it? *The winners were chosen by the judges.*

   Show answer

   Simple past passive (*were* + past participle).

4. Change to passive: *A strong wind knocked down the tree.*

   Show answer

   *The tree was knocked down by a strong wind.*

5. Change to passive (no doer needed): *Someone has broken the window.*

   Show answer

   *The window has been broken.*

6. Why does a news report say *A man has been rescued from the river* and not name the rescuers?

   Show answer

   The passive focuses on the man and the rescue, which is the important news; it also sounds formal and factual.

17. Practice C: reported speech

1. Report it: *“I am going to the market,” said Mum.*

   Show answer

   *Mum said (that) she was going to the market.*

2. Report it: *“We have finished the project,” the boys said.*

   Show answer

   *The boys said (that) they had finished the project.*

3. Report it: *“Will you help me tomorrow?” Ali asked his brother.*

   Show answer

   *Ali asked his brother if (whether) he would help him the next day.*

4. Report it: *“Don't touch the oven!” Grandma told us.*

   Show answer

   *Grandma told us not to touch the oven.*

5. Change to direct speech: *The coach said that the match had been cancelled.*

   Show answer

   *The coach said, “The match has been cancelled.”*

18. Practice D: agreement, comparatives, standard English and formality

1. Choose: *Neither my brother nor my sisters (like / likes) fish.*

   Show answer

   like: the verb agrees with the nearer subject, *sisters* (plural).

2. Choose: *Each of the players (has / have) a shirt.*

   Show answer

   has: *each* is singular.

3. Correct: *This is the most best day of my life.*

   Show answer

   *This is the best day of my life.*

4. Write the comparative of *busy* and the superlative of *thin*.

   Show answer

   *busier* and *the thinnest*.

5. Correct: *There is less people here than yesterday.*

   Show answer

   *There are fewer people here than yesterday.* (people are countable and plural)

6. Correct: *If it will snow, we will build a snowman.*

   Show answer

   *If it snows, we will build a snowman.*

7. Make formal: *The new sports hall is awesome and loads of kids use it.*

   Show answer

   *The new sports hall is excellent, and many pupils use it every day.*

8. Correct all the non-standard English: *Me and Hassan done the washing up but we was tired.*

   Show answer

   *Hassan and I did the washing-up, but we were tired.*