Let’s first take a look at what we mean by comparatives and superlatives.
Comparative adjectives compare two things:
I am happier now
I need a bigger suitcase
My sandwich is tastier than yours
Superlative adjectives compare more than two things, and we use the with superlatives:
John is the tallest man in town – here we’re comparing all the men in town, not just two
It was the happiest day of my life
Sirius is the brightest star in the sky
Now, the basic rules are:
One syllable adjectives take ‘-er’ to form comparatives
Clear > clearer
Fit > fitter
Tall > taller
Bright > brighter
And ‘-est’ to form superlatives
Clear > clearer > clearest
Fit > fitter > fittest
Tall > taller > tallest
Bright > brighter > brightest
Two syllable adjectives ending in consonant + y take ‘-ier’ to form comparatives
Happy > happier
Pretty > prettier
Hairy > hairier
Lovely > lovelier
And ‘-iest’ to form superlatives
Happy > happier > happiest
Pretty > prettier > prettiest
Hairy > hairier > hairiest
Lovely > lovelier > loveliest
Multi-syllable adjectives take ‘more’ to form comparatives
Incredible > more incredible – not incredibler
Horrible > more horrible – not horribler
Terrifying > more terrifying – not terrifyinger
So, clearer or more clear?
The basic rules tell us that because clear is a one syllable adjective there is no need to use ‘more.’ But the reality is that in everyday usage, both are perfectly acceptable, and you’ll often hear and see both being used. Do a Google search and you’ll find millions of uses of both.
It’s really down to your personal preference which one you choose, and different scenarios may favour one over the other. ‘Clearer’ tends to be used more conversationally:
“Thanks, you’ve helped make it clearer for me”
While more clear might be considered to be more formal:
“Thank you, you have helped to make it more clear for me”
But clear is a special case. In most instances the basic rule still stands – a one syllable adjective uses ‘-er’ while longer adjectives require the addition of ‘more.’
Grammar alert! More clearer
One thing to remember is that you either use ‘-er’ or ‘more’ but never both. So you would never say:
More clearer – clearer already means ‘more clear’, so this would be like saying ‘more more clear’, which is incorrect
More clearest – clearest already means the ‘most clear’, and you can’t get and clearer than that, so you cannot have ‘more most clear’
The present perfect is formed by using ‘has’ or ‘have’ and the past participle of the verb. For example, “I have watched the movie” or “She has watched the movies.”
So when do you use the present perfect? That is a great question. We use the present perfect when we are talking about an event that started in the past and the event still has some influence in the present. This influence could be something that you have experienced in your life that still has an impact on your life. It could also be used for things that have changed over a time, or a task that was unfinished in the past and will be completed in the future. Let’s take a look at each example:
An experience: “I have been to India.”
Change over time: “Her English has improved since she joined EF English Live.”
An unfinished task: “He has not finished cleaning the house. “
All of these tasks started in the past, but something about them still applies in the present time. Something about them could change in the present or future.
‘Should’, ‘would’ and ‘could’ are auxiliary verbs that can sometimes get confusing. They are the past tense of ‘shall’, ‘will’ and ‘can’ but are also used in other situations.
‘Should’ can be used:
To express something that is probable
Examples:
“John should be here by 2:00 PM.”
“He should be bringing Jennifer with him.
To ask questions
Examples:
“Should we turn left at this street?”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for work?”
To show obligation, give recommendation or even an opinion
Examples:
“You should stop eating fast food.”
“You should go for walks more often.”
“We should go to the park tomorrow.”
“He should go to the pharmacy first thing in the morning.”
‘Would’ can be used:
To ask ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’, ‘why’ or ‘how’ (not always, but often)
Examples:
“How would you do that?”
“What would you do if…”
“When would we have time to do that?”
“Who would want to wait in that line?”
To make a polite request
Examples:
“Would you like any tea?”
“Would you like anything else?”
In hypothetical situations
Examples:
“If I had a lot of money I would like to own a farm one day.”
“I would love to buy a boat one day.”
To ask questions
Examples:
“Would you like fries or salad?”
“Would you like to join us tonight?”
‘Could’ can be used:
To suggest a possibility
Examples:
“Whose journal is this? It could be Nelly’s journal.”
“Could ‘A’ be the answer? It’s definitely not ‘B’ or ‘D.’”
To make a polite request
Examples:
“Could you please move this box?”
“Could you please pass that paper?”
Using the word ‘could’ to respond to the requests we made in the last example would suggest that you could do it, but you might not really want to. If you agree to the request, then you use the word ‘can’.
Examples:
“Could you please move this box?” “I could, but I am really busy right now.”
“Could you please pass that paper.” “Sure, I can.”
These three words can sometimes cause quite the confusion. So let’s try to change that by getting some more practice in!
‘Can’ and ‘May’
Can – The physical or mental ability to do something.
For example; “Can you play the violin?”
May – Authorization or permission to do something.
For example; “May I please use your stapler?”
Now unfortunately, these two words can cause trouble. The meanings of ‘can’ and ‘may’ are often confused, and even native speakers sometimes use them incorrectly. Because this is a common mix-up it can make it a bit difficult to realize when there is actually a mistake being made. Let’s look at another example:
“Can I borrow your book?”
“May I borrow your book?”
Which do you think is correct? If you use “Can I…” you are literally asking if you have the ability to pick the book up from the person’s hands, walk away with it, and return it later.
If you use “May I…” then you are asking permission to use the book and bring it back at a later time. Therefore you would hopefully say that “May I…” is the correct choice here. Your ability is assumed, so you really just want to ask permission. Right? However, like we have discussed, it would not be uncommon to hear a native English speaker ask “Can I borrow your book?”
Might
‘May’ and ‘might’ are a bit easier. Besides being a request for permission, the word ‘may’ can also refer to something that is likely to happen. ‘Might’ has a similar meaning, but refers to something a bit less likely to happen. It’s a small difference, but a difference nonetheless. Let’s look at a few examples:
“Do you think it will rain tonight? I don’t know, it might.” (small possibility)
“You’re head is warm. You may be coming down with a cold.” (a possibility )
It’s Finished – The Part Participle
Finally, we can use all verbs in three basic past participle forms. The first is called the present perfect.
‘I’ve finished.’
As we can see, the action has just happened, it is in the present. Usually, but not always, the addition of ‘ed’ turns the verb into the present perfect.
We can use the passive form, which is preceded by an auxiliary (or helping) verb such as ‘was’. ‘It was finished.’
Finally, we can use the verb as an adjective, ‘The song is finished.’
We have worked on two verbs in these examples, ‘sing’ and ‘finish’. The second of these, ‘finish’ follows the rules to a tee and is therefore a regular verb. The other, though, starts to go wrong in the past participle. We would expect it to be ‘singed’, but the word changes to ‘sung’.
Regular Verbs
Regular verbs are easy. We simply add ‘ed’ – ‘d’ if the verb already ends in an ‘e’ to turn the verb from its base form to the past simple or past participle form. If the verb ends in a ‘y’ we change the last letter to an ‘I’ and then add the ‘ed’. For example: ‘Marry – Married’. (We still add ‘ing’ when we use the gerund, and add ‘to’ when turning it into).
Do, for example, the verb ‘call’ is ‘call’ in its base form, then ‘called’ in both the past simple and past participle. The same is true for ‘arrive’, for ‘wait’ and so forth,
Regular verbs are easy to learn.
Irregular Verbs
But these are not! Because, like oddly shaped piece of furniture which does not fit easily into a room, so the 200 or so irregular verbs do not fit easily into a sentence.
A top tip is to learn irregular verbs in four separate groups. We have called each group by a name which will help us to remember them. Sadly, there is no way beyond the hard grafts of learning and practising because, as the name suggests, irregular verbs do not follow a pattern.
1. Group One – The Constant Group
These are irregular verbs where the same form is used in the base, past simple and past participle. Let us take the verb ‘hurt’.
Base form: ‘I have just hurt my leg.’
Past simple: ‘Yesterday, I hurt my leg.’
Past Participle (passive tense here): ‘My leg was hurt.’ (adjective use) ‘My hurt leg was painful.’
Other verbs which fit into this constant group include ‘let’, ‘cost’, ‘put’ and so on. Practice using these by putting them into sentences using the base form, simple past and past participle.
2. Group Two – The Common Past
As the name we have given them suggests, for these verbs the two past forms (past simple and past participle) are the same but the base form differs. For example, the verb ‘find’.
Base Form: ‘Can you help me to find my glasses?’
Past Simple: ‘I found my glasses.’
Past Participle: ‘My glasses were found.’
This is a very large group of irregular verbs. Other examples include the following verbs: ‘buy or bought’, ‘feel or ‘felt, ‘hear or heard’, ‘keep or kept’, ‘say or said’, ‘sell or sold’ and so on. A good exercise is to try to find as many verbs as you can that fit this group.
3. Group Three – Simply Different
The simply different group contain verbs where the simple past tense form of the word differs from the base and past participle use. This time we will use the verb ‘run’ as our example.
Base Form: (here we are using the infinitive version) – ‘I love to run.’
Past Simple: ‘He ran to the finish line.’
Past Participle: ‘His race was run.’
Other verbs in this group include ‘become or became’ and ‘come or came’. Try to use these two verbs in their different forms in different sentences.
4. Group Four – The Full Mix
Our final group of irregular verbs are in some ways the easiest, and in others the hardest ones to learn. The simple side is that each form is different so we will not become confused between the base form, the past simple and the past participle. Depending on which version of the verb is used, we will know how it is being employed. However, because there are three different forms of the verb (plus, of course, the gerund, or ‘ing’ form) there are more words to learn. For our example here, we will use the verb with the base form ‘write’.
Base Form: ‘I write with pleasure.’
Past Simple: ‘I wrote the letter.’
Past Participle: ‘The written word is a joy to read.’
Other verbs in this group include the following:
Be, Was/Were, Been
Choose, Chose, Chosen
Eat, Ate, Eaten
Wake, Woke, Woken
Speak, Spoke, Spoken
Base FormPast SimplePast Participle
1.Begin Began Begun
2.Do Did Done
3.Drive Drove Driven
4.Fall Fell Fallen
5.Give Gave Given
6.Go Went Gone
7.Know Knew Known
8.See Saw Seen
9.Swim Swam Swum
10.Take Took Taken
Everyday vs Every day
Like many compound words, “everyday” and “every day” are typically more confusing in spoken English than in written English since most speakers do not parse the words correctly.
Everyday – This is an adjective; which means “mundane”, “typical”, “ordinary”, or “standard”. The phrase “everyday routine” refers to a normal, ordinary day where nothing unusual occurred. As the English language becomes even less formal, you will occasionally hear people use the word as a noun, sort of a shorthand version of “everyday chores.”
Every day – When written as two words it means “each day”, “every” is an adjective for “day.” One easy way of checking your usage is the replace the work “every” with the word “each” and checking that your sentence still makes sense. For example, “each day routine” is not correct whereas “each day I drink a glass of milk” does.
Anytime vs Any time
This compound word is an example of how the English language has changed. A few decades ago, the accepted standard was to always write “any time” as two words. A few scholars still consider using the compound version to be lazy writing.
Anytime [any time] is an adverb which means whenever.
In almost all cases the two word version and the compound version mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably.
For example:
– I am available anytime if you’d like me to help with your move.
– I am available any time if you’d like me to help with your move.
“Any time” [or anytime] can also serve as a conjunction.
– Anytime we had the chance we would go for a swim.
– Any time we had the chance we would go for a swim.
There are a few instances where any time should be two words.
When the phrase is used with a preposition like “at” two words should be used.
– I will gladly help at any time of the day or night.
When you are referring to an amount of time the two word version is used.
– Do you have any time to review my test today?
A While vs Awhile
A while – This is a noun phrase meaning an amount of time. One test to ensure that you are using the words correctly is to replace “a while” with another unit of time. If the sentence still makes sense you are using the phrase correctly.
– It has been a while since I last drank coffee.
– It has been a month since I last drank coffee.
The compound word awhile means “for a time” and is an adverb. One way to check that you are using the word correctly is to replace the word with another adverb.
– The dog waited awhile for his dinner.
– The dog waited patiently for his dinner.
Sometime vs Some time
Once again this is an example of the compound word and the two word version being different types of words and having different meanings.
Sometime – Sometime can be both an adverb and an adjective.
As an adverb “sometime” means “at some point”.
– I will finish my landscaping project sometime.
“Sometime” can also be used as an adjective meaning “former.”
– Tony, a sometime UPS driver, now plays professional poker for a living.
Some time – When written as two words “some time” means a “period of time” and is typically used to refer to a long period of time.
– Jack has lived in this neighbourhood for some time.
Someday vs Some day
Someday – This compound word is an adverb and means “at an indefinite time in the future.”
– Someday I will invest in a new mobile phone but the old one will be ok until I do so.
Some day – Some day is an adjective, some, and a noun, day. Some means “unknown” or “unspecified”. When paired with day it means a single day that is unknown.
– The term paper is due some day in May.
Subordinate, But Important
Like a fine garlic sauce (food is another joy in life, so it features heavily in this!), the relative clause adds to the quality of our sentence meals, without providing full sustenance by itself.
This is because a relative clause is a type of subordinate clause, one that adds information but does not make sense as a sentence in itself.
Consider the sentence below, the relative clause is in bold and is clearly subordinate in the sentence:
‘John, who had just passed his driving test, made his way to the car showroom.’
While the main clause – ‘John made his way to the car showroom’ can stand alone as a sentence, the subordinate part – ‘who had just passed his driving test’ makes no sense without the context of John heading off to get himself some new wheels. By the way, he needed them to get to his favourite restaurant!
Information About the Noun
The relative clause begins with a relative pronoun. A pronoun being an alternative for a noun, it then gives extra information about the noun in the sentence.
‘Jill, whose experience as a chef made her house a favourite destination for her friends, cooked a glorious chilli.’
In the sentence above the relative clause is in italics, and the relative pronoun is underlined. There are a limited number of words in English that act as a relative pronoun. These include:
Who – The waitress, who was a bit disorganised, forgot the customer’s order and delivered pizza instead of paella.
Whose – The parents, whose children were fond of fast food, took their family to MacDonald’s.
Whom – The cook, whom we will tell tomorrow, must remember his cookbook.
Whomever – “My sandwich, whomever borrowed it, needs to be returned forthwith,” announced the pompous office manager.
These four tend to relate to people, individuals or groups. It is worth noting that ‘whom’ is rarely used in American English. It is not wrong to use it, and when writing it makes our pieces grammatically correct, but the relative pronoun ‘who’ tends to replace it. ‘Whomever’ is quite an old word, and is rarely used in English unless a particularly formal effect is required.
(The difference between ‘who’ and ‘whom’ is that ‘who’ is the subject of the verb, while ‘whom’ is the object. If that is a little complex, then a good trick is to try replacing the words with ‘he/him’ or ‘they/them’ and see which one fits best. If the replacement ends with ‘m’, then it is ‘whom’ that should be used.)
That – ‘The chicken Kiev that I ordered was perfect’. (Note, in this sentence the relative clause specifies the noun rather than describes it, so does not need to be enclosed by commas.)
Which – ‘Pasta, which we eat most days, is both healthy and filling (especially covered in tomato sauce.)
These two relative pronouns tend to relate to objects.
Where – This word is sometimes used as a relative pronoun, if so, it will refer to location: ‘China, where there is a Great Wall, is home to the world’s finest food.’
When – Again, this can be used to perform the function required and introduce a relative clause. It will relate to time. For example: ‘The Neolithic period, when mankind began to develop tools for cooking, is one of the most interesting in history.’
Direct Speech
Although this piece is mainly focussed on reported speech, in order to understand this fully a good knowledge of how to write direct speech is really important.
Direct speech refers to the actual words that are spoken by a person, or character, in a story. We have rules to show this.
Punctuation of Direct Speech
There are many rules and conventions of punctuating direct speech (sometimes called dialogue):
Speech Marks: The actual words spoken appear between speech marks (it does not matter whether these are single or double, as long as the writer is consistent). All other punctuation appears within the speech marks.
‘How do you feel today?’ I asked.
End of dialogue: Often, when writing direct speech, the speaker will be identified with something like he said, or cried Joan. If this comes after a piece of direct speech, then that direct speech will usually end with a comma, although it can use a question mark, ellipses or exclamation mark, but not a full stop.
Sentences: Direct speech is considered a sentence within its own right, and is punctuated accordingly.
Paragraphing: Every time there is a change of speaker there should be a new paragraph. Normally, unless just a few words are being spoken, direct speech should begin a new paragraph.
Reported Speech
However, often a writer simply wants to carry the gist, or meaning, of the actual words a person uses. This is when indirect speech comes into play. Not only is this punctuated differently (none of the rules specific to direct speech apply – reported speech is punctuated as normal prose), but sometimes the tense of verb forms can change.
In reported speech tenses, pronouns and adverbial phrases often (but not always) change. The tables and examples below illustrate this. Firstly, we look at tense.
TenseDirect speechReported Speech
Present ‘I regularly exercise,’ he said.He said that he exercises regularly.
Present Continuous‘I am repairing the car,’ said John.John said that he was repairing the car.
Past‘He ate his dinner,’ said Mum.Mum said that he had eaten his dinner.
Present Perfect‘I have been shopping,’ said my wife.My wife told me that she had been shopping.
Past Perfect‘I just finished the test,’ said the boy.The boy said that he had just finished the test.
Present Perfect ContinuousThey stuttered, ‘We have been waiting for your call.’They stuttered that they had been waiting for her call.
Past Continuous ‘I was working,’ he explained.He explained that he had been working.
Future ‘I will be paying in my salary on Tuesday,’ he said.He said that he would be paying in his salary on Tuesday.
Future Continuous ‘I’ll be visiting on Thursday,’ she explained.She explained that she would be visiting on Thursday.
Pronouns in Reported Speech
Next we will consider how pronouns can be changed when shifting from direct to reported speech. There are rules to remember. They are complex, but can soon be learned.
First Person Pronoun – we, I, me, mine, us, our
If we are talking about a third person pronoun (for example: she, it, he, their etc) then the pronoun changes.
‘I love football,’ he told me.
He told me that he loves football.
If we are talking about another first person then the pronoun, then the pronoun does not change.
I said, ‘I love football.’
I said that I love football.
Second Person Pronoun – you, yours
The pronoun changes to fit with the object of the sentence.
She said to me, ‘You are my hero!’
She said to me that I was her hero.
‘You are my hero,’ she said to him.
She said to him that he was her hero.
Third Person Pronoun – she, he, it, they, his, him, them, his
The pronoun is not changed when direct speech is switched to reported speech.
‘It will fall over,’ he said.
He said that it would fall over.