Grammar in Use: Tenses, Voice, Speech and Accuracy

British & IGCSE › Checkpoint 8 English (Cambridge Lower Secondary 0861)

1. Grammar in use: what is tested and how

This page covers the grammar that Checkpoint 8 tests through reading questions and through the accuracy of your own writing. Some topics appear as direct reading questions (for example, *identify the sentence in the passive voice*, *what does 'it' refer to?*, *find two features that make this text formal*). Others are almost never asked by name but cost you marks in Section B Writing if you get them wrong, because the Grammar and punctuation category (7 marks) checks that your verb forms are accurate.

2. The 12 tenses at a glance

You do not need to name tenses in the exam, but you must use them accurately. Learn the form and the main use of each.

Tense and effect in reading:

• Present tense in a story makes the action feel immediate, as if it is happening now, which increases tension: *I open the door. Something moves.*
• Past perfect signals a flashback: the story steps back to an earlier time (*Years before, he had lived here*).
• Present tense in non-fiction (travel writing, reviews, information texts) makes the facts sound current and true.
• Future tense in persuasive writing makes promises and predictions sound certain: *This plan will save lives.*
• A change of tense often marks a change of time in the text (a memory, or a return to the present).

3. If-conditionals

• Use If I were (not *If I was*) in formal second conditionals: *If I were you, I would apologise.*
• Never put *will* in the if-clause: *If it rains, we will stay inside.* (not *If it will rain*)
• In persuasive writing, first conditionals make consequences sound real: *If we ignore this problem, our beaches will disappear.*
• In stories, third conditionals show regret: *If only I had listened to her, none of this would have happened.*

4. Active and passive voice

Active: the subject does the action. *The workers built the bridge in 1902.*

Passive: the subject receives the action. *The bridge was built (by the workers) in 1902.* The doer moves to the end after *by*, or disappears.

How to form the passive: the right form of be + the past participle (V3).

1. Take the object of the active sentence and make it the subject.
2. Add the verb *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 matters.

Why writers use the passive (all the answers you can write):

• The doer is unknown: *My phone was stolen.*
• The doer is obvious or unimportant: *The thief was arrested.* (by the police, obviously)
• To focus on the action or on what is affected, not on who did it: *Hundreds of homes were destroyed.* (puts the victims first)
• To sound formal, objective and impersonal, as in reports, science and news: *The samples were tested.* rather than *I tested the samples.*
• To avoid blaming someone directly: *Mistakes were made.*
• In fiction, to create mystery or suspense by hiding the doer: *The door had been unlocked.* (By whom?)
• To vary sentences and keep the topic of a paragraph as the subject.

Exam-style example. *The ancient tomb was discovered in 1922. Inside, thousands of objects had been carefully arranged around the coffin.*

Question: Why has the writer used the passive voice? (1 mark) Answer: To focus on the tomb and the objects themselves (what was found) rather than on the people who found or arranged them, which also makes the text sound formal and factual.

5. Reported speech

Direct speech gives the exact words in inverted commas: *Laila said, "I am tired."* Reported speech tells us what was said without the exact words: *Laila said (that) she was tired.*

Four steps: remove the inverted commas → change the pronouns → move the tense one step back (backshift) if the reporting verb is past → change time and place words.

• say / tell: *say* has no person after it (*She said that...*); *tell* needs one (*She told me that...*).
• Yes/no questions: use *if* or *whether* + statement word order: "Are you ready?" → *He asked if I was ready.*
• Wh- questions: keep the question word, use statement order: "Where do you live?" → *She asked where I lived.*
• Commands: told + person + (not) to + V1: "Don't touch it!" → *He told us not to touch it.*
• Requests and advice: asked / advised + person + to + V1: "Please wait." → *She asked me to wait.*
• No backshift for facts that are still true or general truths: *The teacher said that light travels faster than sound.*

Why writers use reported speech: to summarise what someone said quickly, to keep the focus on events (common in news reports and recounts) and to vary dialogue in stories. Direct speech, by contrast, makes a moment vivid and lets us hear the speaker's own voice.

6. Subject-verb agreement

7. Pronoun reference: what does 'it', 'this' or 'they' refer to?

A pronoun replaces a noun. Reading questions often ask you what a pronoun refers to (its antecedent). In your own writing, every pronoun must point clearly to one noun.

1. Look backwards from the pronoun to the nearest noun that matches it in number (singular *it* → a singular noun, plural *they* → a plural noun).
2. Check meaning: put your answer in place of the pronoun. Does the sentence still make sense?
3. This / that / these / such can refer to a whole idea or sentence, not just one word. Then your answer should sum up the idea.
4. Write the full noun phrase, not just one word (*the old lighthouse on the cliff*, not *lighthouse*).

Worked example. *Every spring, storks arrive in the Nile Delta after a journey of thousands of kilometres. They build huge nests on rooftops and poles. Local farmers welcome this, because the birds eat insects that damage their crops.*

In your writing, avoid unclear pronouns: *Omar told Karim that he had won.* (who won?) → *Omar told Karim, "You've won!"* Make pronouns agree: *The blankets were dirty, so we washed them.* For a singular word like *every student*, the safest choice in formal writing is *his or her*, or make the subject plural: *All students should bring their notebooks.*

8. Standard and non-standard English

Standard English follows the accepted rules of grammar and vocabulary. It is used in exams, books, news and formal writing. Non-standard English breaks one or more of these rules. It is common in everyday speech, dialects and text messages.

Why a writer uses non-standard English on purpose: in fiction, in dialogue, to make a character sound realistic, to show the character's age, background, region or personality, to create a casual, informal voice and sometimes for humour. In your own writing, use Standard English everywhere except inside a character's speech.

9. Formal and informal language

Question style: *Identify two features that make this text formal.* Name the feature and quote an example for each: *1. No contractions, e.g. 'it is not possible'. 2. The passive voice, e.g. 'visitors are requested to...'.*

Worked example. *Visitors are requested to remain on the marked paths at all times. Failure to do so may result in damage to rare plant species.* Two formal features: (1) passive voice, *Visitors are requested*. (2) Formal, precise vocabulary, *Failure to do so may result in*. Also (3) no contractions and no direct address to *you*.

10. Modifiers

A modifier is a word or phrase that describes something. Put it next to the thing it describes, or the meaning changes (often comically).

11. Parallelism

Parallelism means that items joined in a list or pair use the same grammatical form: equal ideas, equal grammar.

In reading: parallel structure is a technique, especially in speeches and persuasive writing: *We will build it, we will protect it, and we will never give it up.* Its effect: it creates a strong rhythm, builds emphasis towards a climax and makes the message memorable and persuasive. (It may also be described as repetition or a pattern of three.)

12. Proofreading: the last five minutes

Keep about five minutes at the end of Section B to proofread. Read slowly, sentence by sentence, checking one thing at a time:

1. Sentences: every sentence complete, with no comma splices or run-ons.
2. Verbs: tense consistent, subject-verb agreement, correct past forms (*saw*, not *seen*).
3. Punctuation: capitals, full stops, apostrophes (*its/it's*), speech marks.
4. Spelling: homophones (*their/there/they're, your/you're, where/were*) and words you often get wrong.
5. Clarity: pronouns clear, modifiers in the right place, lists parallel.
6. Register: Standard English. Formal or informal to match the task.

Practice text with errors (find and correct all fourteen errors):

*last weekend me and my cousin visited the national museum, we was amazed by the mummies. Walking through the main hall, the golden mask caught our eyes. The guide told us that the mask has been found in 1922. There was hundreds of visitors, and everyone were taking photos. My cousin wanted to see the jewellery, buying a souvenir and to have lunch. We should of stayed longer, its the best trip I ever had.*

1. Show the corrected text.

   Show answer

   *Last weekend, my cousin and I visited the National Museum. We were amazed by the mummies. As we walked through the main hall, the golden mask caught our eyes. The guide told us that the mask had been found in 1922. There were hundreds of visitors, and everyone was taking photos. My cousin wanted to see the jewellery, buy a souvenir and have lunch. We should have stayed longer; it's the best trip I have ever had.*

2. List the fourteen errors and what was wrong.

   Show answer

   1. *last* → *Last* (capital at the start). 2. *me and my cousin* → *my cousin and I* (Standard English subject). 3. *national museum* → *National Museum* (name of a place). 4. Comma splice after *museum* → full stop. 5. *we was* → *we were* (agreement). 6. *Walking through the main hall, the golden mask...* is a dangling modifier → *As we walked through the main hall, ...*. 7. *has been found* → *had been found* (backshift in reported speech). 8. *There was hundreds* → *There were hundreds* (agreement). 9. *everyone were* → *everyone was* (agreement). 10. *to see..., buying... and to have* → *to see..., buy... and have* (parallelism). 11. *should of* → *should have*. 12. Comma splice after *longer* → semicolon (or full stop). 13. *its* → *it's* (it is). 14. *I ever had* → *I have ever had* (present perfect with *ever*).

13. Practice A: passive voice

1. Which sentence is in the passive voice? (a) The guards were watching the gate. (b) The gate was locked at midnight. (c) The guards have left the gate. (d) The gate looked old.

   Show answer

   (b) *was locked* = be + past participle, and the gate receives the action. (a) is past continuous active. (c) is present perfect active. (d) is a linking verb with an adjective.

2. Change to the passive: *Scientists will publish the results next month.*

   Show answer

   *The results will be published (by scientists) next month.*

3. Change to the passive: *Someone is repairing the old fountain.*

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   *The old fountain is being repaired.*

4. Change to the active: *The prize was presented by the head teacher.*

   Show answer

   *The head teacher presented the prize.*

5. *Several houses were badly damaged in the flood.* Why has the writer used the passive? (1 mark)

   Show answer

   To focus on the houses that were damaged (the effect of the flood) rather than on what caused it; the doer (the flood) is less important than the damage.

6. *When Nadia returned, she saw that her drawer had been opened.* Why has the writer used the passive here?

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   To hide who opened the drawer, which creates mystery and suspense: Nadia and the reader do not know who has been there.

14. Practice B: reported speech and tenses

1. Report: *"I am leaving tomorrow," said Sami.*

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   *Sami said (that) he was leaving the next day.*

2. Report: *"Have you finished your project?" the teacher asked me.*

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   *The teacher asked me if/whether I had finished my project.*

3. Report: *"Don't run in the corridor!" the guard told the boys.*

   Show answer

   *The guard told the boys not to run in the corridor.*

4. Report: *"Where did you buy that bag?" asked Mona.*

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   *Mona asked where I had bought that bag.*

5. Correct the tense error: *Hana walked to the window and sees a light in the garden.*

   Show answer

   *Hana walked to the window and saw a light in the garden.* (keep the past tense)

6. Complete with the right conditional: *If I ______ (know) about the party, I would have come.*

   Show answer

   *had known* (third conditional: unreal past).

7. Why might a writer suddenly change from the past tense to the present tense in a story (*I ran. I hid. Now I am waiting in the dark.*)?

   Show answer

   To make the moment feel immediate, as if it is happening right now, which increases tension and draws the reader into the scene.

15. Practice C: agreement, pronouns, standard and formal English

1. Choose: *The basket of oranges (was / were) on the table.*

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   was: the subject is *basket* (singular).

2. Choose: *Neither the players nor the coach (was / were) happy.*

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   was: the verb agrees with the nearer subject, *the coach*.

3. Text: *The old mill stood beside the river for two hundred years. It ground flour for the whole valley. When it closed, many families lost their income.* What does *It* refer to, and what does *their* refer to?

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   *It* = the old mill. *their* = the many families (the income belonged to them).

4. Text: *The school replaced its plastic cups with metal bottles. This saved over ten thousand cups a year.* What does *This* refer to?

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   The whole action of replacing the plastic cups with metal bottles (the idea in the previous sentence), not just the bottles.

5. Rewrite in Standard English: *Me and him seen the accident but we didn't say nothing.*

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   *He and I saw the accident, but we didn't say anything.*

6. In a story, a character says: *"Ain't nobody gonna stop me now!"* Why has the writer used non-standard English? (1 mark)

   Show answer

   To make the character's speech sound realistic and show their confident, casual personality (and perhaps their background).

7. Identify two features that make this text formal: *Residents are advised that the swimming pool will be closed for maintenance. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.*

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   Any two: passive voice (*Residents are advised*, *will be closed*). Formal vocabulary (*maintenance*, *inconvenience*). No contractions (*will be*, not *'ll*). Polite, impersonal tone (*We apologise for any inconvenience caused*).

8. Rewrite in a formal register: *Hey, we're gonna need loads of help with the fair, so grab your mates and come along!*

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   *We will require a large number of volunteers for the fair. Students are invited to attend with their friends.*

16. Practice D: modifiers and parallelism

1. Correct: *Running for the bus, my phone fell out of my pocket.*

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   *While I was running for the bus, my phone fell out of my pocket.*

2. Correct: *Barking loudly, the postman ran away from the dog.*

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   *The postman ran away from the dog, which was barking loudly.*

3. Correct: *The new park is safe, clean and has a lot of space.*

   Show answer

   *The new park is safe, clean and spacious.*

4. *We will clean our streets, we will protect our parks, and we will plant our future.* What is the effect of this pattern? (2 marks)

   Show answer

   The three clauses have the same structure (*we will* + verb + *our*...), creating a strong rhythm that builds to a climax. It makes the message memorable and persuasive and makes the speaker sound determined and united with the audience.