Overview of English Grammar

Tense, Voice, Mood

English Grammar System

Sentences in the English Language can be defined in the most general way by three things:

• Mood: Does the sentence express a statement or question, an order, a possibility or wish etc.?
• Tense: Is there an indication of time in the verb phrase? If so, what is it?
• Voice: Is there an agent that is doing something to something else? Or is the agent having something done to it? Any tensed transitive verb can be in either voice.

Note 1: Relevance

In technical / workplace writing, the vast majority of what you write will be in the indicative mood and in one of five specified tenses, so those are the main areas we will focus on in mood and tense. But the other tenses and moods are important context to understand.

Both active and passive voice are commonly used in this type of writing; however, due to time constraints, the passive will not be covered in detail and will be considered also as overall context.

Note 2: Categorisation

Grammatical categorisation is not a settled matter in English. There are different ways to approach it.

For example: • Some grammar books will say there are 6 tenses and some 12 or even 16 (e.g. the British Council categorises conditionals as tenses) • There are also different categorisations of mood

Where there are differences, we will follow the dominant / most common / most easily understood categorisation rules.

Note 3: Importance of Getting it Right

In speaking, it is generally ok to be inaccurate with grammar, including tense, as long as your meaning is clear.

In writing, it is not so acceptable:

• Basic errors can easily be seen by native speakers
• Writing is permanent
• You can use AI to fix many things. But that is like putting a bandage on a broken bone. It does not fix the problem, just hides it
• International employers want people who really know English rather than those faking it

We only have time to point you in the right direction today. It's up to you to keep going along that path!

Concept Check - Overview: T/F

1. The English grammar system can be divided into three major areas
   • True: tense, voice, mood
2. Grammatical mood relates to how someone feels (someone's mood) when they write or speak something
   • False, nothing to do with the mood at all!
3. Grammatical voice applies to some tenses but not others
   • Can we make any tense active and passive voice?
   • False, it can be done, but we don’t usually need to do that
4. Most of what you write will be in the indicative mood, which includes statements and questions
   • True, statements and questions, we rarely write an order or something!
5. There are 12 tenses, even though some grammar books get it wrong by saying there are 16
   • False, it’s a choice not right or wrong
6. Accuracy is less important in speaking than writing
   • True, when you speak, just speak!
7. AI should be used wherever possible to correct your mistakes
   • False, in life we have to develop skill!

1. Mood

What is Grammatical Mood?

ไม่ได้เกี่ยวกับอะไรกับ feeling เลยนะ

Grammatical mood is a feature of verbs that shows the speaker's attitude toward the action or state described by the verb.

It helps express different meanings or intentions, like:

• Making a statement
• Asking a question
• Giving a command
• Showing a wish or possibility

Indicative Mood

This is the most common mood. It is used to make factual statements or ask questions.

For example:

• She walks to school every day. (statement)
• Do you like ice cream? (question)

Imperative Mood

This mood is used for giving commands or making requests. It normally doesn't have a subject because the subject is understood to be "you."

For example:

• Close the door. (command)
• Please pass the salt. (request)

Subjunctive Mood

This mood is used to talk about wishes, doubts, suggestions or situations that are not real or are uncertain. It is less common in English but still important.

For example:

• I wish I were taller / I wish I tried harder
• I suggest you try this one instead / I suggest you be satisfied.

Conditional Mood

This mood expresses what would happen under certain conditions. It normally uses "if" and often uses "would" or "could."

• There are four conditionals:
  1. Zero - Scientific or general facts e.g. If you heat ice, it melts
  2. First - What will happen under certain conditions. If it rains, I will bring an umbrella
  3. Second - An imaginary situation now: If I were the Prime Minister, I would do more about global warming (clear overlap with subjunctive)
  4. Third - An imaginary situation in the past: If I had not broken my leg last summer, I would have played football

#FinalExam ให้คำมาเช่น If it rains, I will bring an umbrella เป็น zero, first,second หรือ third

MOOD / FUNCTIONS Table

Concept Check - Mood

Identify the mood of each of the following sentences:

1. He will not pass the test if he doesn't study hard. — Conditional
2. My boss ordered me to finish the report by Friday — Indicative
3. Don't worry! — Imperative
4. I suggest you be patient. — Subjunctive
5. Do you think this will help? — Indicative
6. I agree. — Indicative
7. I wish I were the boss. — Conditional or Subjunctive
8. But you're not… — Indicative
9. … So, deal with it! — Imperative
10. OK! — Imperative/Indicative

2. Tense

The 12 tenses

|Past|""|""|"I had drunk coffee"|"I had been drinking coffee"|
|Present|"I drink coffee"|"I am drinking coffee"|"I have drunk coffee"|"I have been drinking coffee"|
|Future|"I will drink coffee"|"I will be drinking coffee"|"I will have drunk coffee"|"I will have been drinking coffee"|

• The 5 Most Commonly Used English Verb Tenses
  1. Simple Present - 57.51%
  2. Simple Past - 19.7%
  3. Simple Future - 8.5%
  4. Present Perfect - 6.0%
  5. Present Progressive - 5.1%

Simple Present

INTRODUCTION

The Simple Present, despite its name, often does not refer to the present "now" in a simple way.

You can see this by adding the word "now" to some typical Simple Present sentences:

• Two plus two equals four now. (You mean it used to equal something else?)
• I eat breakfast now. (You mean you are "eating" breakfast now, right?)

Both sentences are confusing and the first is definitely ungrammatical.

But what about these:

• "I study English now." (Grammatical or not? Why?)
• "I am interested now." (Grammatical or not? Why?)

In order to know the answer, you need to understand the FUNCTIONS of the (not so) Simple Present

Answer:

They are both grammatical:

• "I study English now"
  • Function 2: + Add "now" to emphasise that before you did not study English or studied something else (a change in routine).
• "I am interested now"
  • Function 3: + Add "now" to show a change in attitude

MAJOR FUNCTIONS

1. Scientific / Mathematical / General Facts
   • E.g. "The earth revolves around the sun.", "She heads the Finance Department."
2. Current routines
   • E.g. "I study English", "I don't eat meat", "I go to town on Thursdays".
3. Current Feelings
   • E.g. "I feel good", "I am not impressed."
4. Identity
   • E.g. "I am a student", "I am French.".
5. Future plans
   • E.g. "I meet him next week" - That’s a plan, formal, will do it (told three things na)
6. Narratives (esp U.S. Eng) / jokes etc.
   • E.g. "So, a priest and a bear walk into a bar and…"

Simple Present: Structure varies

Concept Check - Simple Present

Identify the function of each of the following Simple Present sentences:

1. She studies music on the weekends. — Function 2
2. They are engineers. — Function 1 Function 4
3. I fly out on Wednesday. — Function 5
4. He really appreciates that. — Function 3
5. Thailand is located in Southeast Asia. — Function 1

Simple Past

INTRODUCTION

The Simple Past is more straightforward than the Simple Present and has fewer distinct functions.

It generally identifies and describes a single moment or event in the past.

The two major issues to be aware of are that:

1. It has many irregular forms.
2. It can be confused with and sometimes can legitimately replace the Present Perfect (esp in U.S. English).

Issue 1: Irregular forms

A: Verb "to be"

• This is the most irregular form as it is the only one where there is a difference dependent on subject (was / were).

B: Many other common verbs (eat, think, do, go, have etc).

• Often a vowel will change (eat>>ate, do>>did, think>>thought) but there are many variations (have>had = consonant change only, go>went = complete change).
• You just need to learn them!

Issue 2: Confusion or replacement with Present Perfect

We will discuss the meanings of Present Perfect in detail later.

But one function: a past event that affects the present is carried out with both.

E.g. "I lost my keys" vs "I have lost my keys"

• If you still don't have your keys, you can say either (esp in U.S. English). But if you found them, you cannot use Present Perfect!

Simple Past (regular): Base form +ed

Concept Check - Simple Past

Identify which of the following Simple Past sentences are correctly formed:

1. They were studied English all weekend.
   • They studied English all weekend.
2. She was disappointed.
3. He flied to Chiang Mai because it was quicker.
   • He flew to Chiang Mai because it was quicker.
4. They didn't realized the problem.
   • They didn't realize the problem.
5. I bet him five dollars that I would win.

Simple Future

INTRODUCTION

As with past tense, it is quite straightforward. It refers to the future by use of the modal "will".

This is the most common, but definitely not the only way to refer to the future:

• We already saw that Present Simple tense can refer to the future
• Present Progressive can also refer to the future
• Other modal forms, such as "shall"

It is always formed with "will" or "won't" + the base form of the verb.

Simple Future: Will + Base form

Present Perfect

INTRODUCTION

In terms of complexity, this is more like the Present Simple as there are several distinct ways to use it that should be understood.

There is some overlap between the meanings of each function, and there are different ways to categorise them, but the following should be reasonably logical and easy to remember.

Function 1:

==Expressing recent completion of an action==
"I have painted the room", "I have washed my hair"

There are two main possible implications:

1. The action is finished
   • E.g. No more painting is necessary
2. The effect of the action is current
   • E.g. My hair is clean

Function 2:

Describing an experience that expresses something about your current personality, skills etc, but does not have to have a physical effect now

Note: The experience does not have to be recent and when you had the experience is not specified. The point is that it is something about you that affects who you are now.

Examples:

1. I've been to Chiang Mai (e.g. you want to express you know something first hand about Chiang Mai).
2. I've had my hair permed too (e.g. you want to express something in common with a friend, BUT in contrast to function 1, your hair might NOT be still permed. To avoid any ambiguity, you can say "I once had my hair permed" or just let them look at your hair!
   • ก็น่าจะเหมือนกับ I’ve had my hair cut!
3. I've studied English (We don't know when or for how long though!)

Function 3:

With "since" or "for" to describe actions that happened at a past time and continued until now

• If the focus is on the specific past time, use "since"
  • E.g. "I've lived in Bangkok since 2019"
  • (We often use the Present Perfect Progressive here "I've been living.. etc" because it implies continuation)
• If the focus is on the duration of time, use "for"
  • E.g. "I've lived in Bangkok for five years"
  • (If the endpoint isn't now, use the past simple "I lived in Bangkok for five years." You can then add e.g. "from 2010 to 2015 for more specificity).

Function 4 (closely related to functions 2 and 3):

With other adverbials

1. Ever: For questions and negatives ONLY (+see func. 2)
   • E.g. Have you ever eaten Pad Thai?
   • I have never drunk sake.
2. Yet:
   • E.g. Have you eaten your dinner yet?
   • Can you put yet in positive statements? Yes → I have yet to do something
     • ก็จะแปลเป็น negative แปลว่ายังไม่ได้ทำ
3. So far:
   • E.g. I'm early in my career. I've only done an internship so far.

Present Perfect: Subj + to have + Past Participle

Concept Check - Present Perfect

Identify the functions of the following Present Perfect sentences (1,2,3, or 4) + find the sentence that is NOT in the Present Perfect:

1. I have washed the dishes. — Function 1
2. Have you ever been Bungee jumping? — Function 4
3. I have been interested in music since I was a child. — Function 3
4. They have adjusted the temperature. — Function 1
5. I have travelled all over the world. — Function 2
6. I have been taking photographs for over ten years. — Function 3 Not the present perfect

Present Progressive

Introduction

This a medium level complexity tense with three major functions:

1. Actions happening right now
   • E.g. I am writing an email.
2. Actions that express an activity I am involved in around this time
   • E.g. I am studying English (it does not have to be right now!)
3. Future reference (planned)
   • E.g. Sorry, I can't play football this Saturday, I'm meeting a friend.

Potential Confusion

• Do not use the present progressive with state verbs like "love" or "like", use the present simple instead
• Do not use with "since / for", use present perfect instead
• Remember that the action can be right now or can be around now and can be now or in the future

Examples:

• "Can you meet me now?"
• "Sorry, I'm preparing a presentation (around now)"
• "Can you meet me next Saturday?"
• "Sorry, I'm preparing a presentation" (next Saturday and possibly also now)"

Present Prog: Subj + to be + Present Participle

Concept Check - Present Progressive

Fix any mistakes in the following sentences to make them correct Present Progressive constructions or change the tense to Simple Present. (Not all have mistakes).

1. I am seeing you do that. Please stop!
   • I saw you do that. Please stop!
   • I see you doing that. Please stop!
   • I’m looking at you doing that. Please stop!
2. I am meeting a friend in Bangkok next Tuesday.
   • I will meet a friend in Bangkok next Tuesday. (Actually both are correct!)
3. She isn't being interested in that now.
   • She isn’t interested in that now.
4. They are changing the rules soon.
5. We are loving this restaurant.
   • We love this restaurant.
6. I am trying hard to get this right.

MCQ Sample Test

• Similar to the grammar in the mid-term which will focus on tense.
• The results should help you to identify your weak points.
• Other information from these slides may be asked about on the information part of the final exam.
• Do it as if it is a real test (don't get help) to give you a good idea of your weak points.

3. Voice

Active and Passive

Active Voice:

• The subject of the sentence performs the action
• Structure: Subject + Verb + Object
• Example: The teacher (subject) explains (verb) the lesson (object)

Passive Voice:

• The subject of the sentence receives the action
• Structure: Object + form of "to be" + past participle + (by + agent)
• Example: The lesson (object) is explained (form of "to be" + past participle) by the teacher (agent)
• The agent (the doer of the action) can be omitted if it is unknown or unimportant
  • เช่นเหลือแค่ The lesson is explained by the teacher

When to Use

• Active Voice: When the focus is on who is doing the action. It's more direct and often clearer.
• Passive Voice: When the focus is on the action itself or when the doer is unknown or irrelevant. It is often used in formal writing.

Key Tips

Identify the subject: Ask "who is doing the action?"

• Active sentences are usually clearer and preferred in most cases
• Passive sentences can be useful in certain contexts, especially in academic or formal writing