CORE Unit 2 Coursebook Language

Section 3: Intermediate Grammar

Overview

Introduction

Question Tags

Indirect Questions

Conditional Clauses

Relative Clauses

Reported Speech

Tasks

Introduction
Intermediate Course books
Intermediate and Upper-Intermediate level course books feature a continuing review and expansion of
previously introduced points, as well as a few new areas, such as reported/indirect speech and relative
clauses.
The first several units of most Intermediate books review all the past, present and future forms, often
grouped as follows:

Present Simple and Present Continuous

Narrative Tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect

The Future: will, be going to, Present Continuous, Present Simple

Regarding The Passive Voice, at Pre-Intermediate course books often introduce just one form, either Past
Simple Passive or Present Simple Passive. At Intermediate many other forms as covered as well. As we
have already looked at the Passive in some detail, we wont look at it again here.
The structures that are likely to be new in Intermediate course books include the following grammar
points:
1.

Question tags

2.

Indirect questions

3.

Future clauses with if and when.

4.

The first conditional

5.

The second conditional

6.

The third conditional

7.

The zero conditional

8.

Relative clauses

9.

Reported/Indirect speech

Question Tags
There are three main types of question tags, covering several different meanings/uses:
1. Positive Statement + Negative Tag

Seeking agreement to a comment: That was fun, wasnt it? Its a nice day, isnt it?

Seeking confirmation: [Having noticed a British accent] Youre from the UK, arent you?

Requesting information: You have a car, dont you?

2. Negative Statement + Positive Tag

Seeking agreement / making a comment: Its not a very nice day, is it?

A polite, or tentative, request: I couldnt borrow a couple of dollars, could I?

3. Positive Statement + Positive Tag

Seeking agreement about information you have just learned or remembered: Hes online? Ah, so
hes finally bought that laptop, has he?

Intonation plays a key role in expressing and recognising some of the different meanings/uses. Falling
intonation suggests that the speaker already believes something is true, i.e. seeking confirmation (doublechecking) or seeking agreement. Rising intonation suggests that the speaker really isnt sure about the
answer - it is a genuine query or request (for information or otherwise).

A. Should each statement have falling () intonation or rising ()

intonation?
Pay careful attention to the situation and meaning/use.
rising

falling

intonation

intonation

1 . You've got your license now, haven't you? [The speaker sees a work
colleague, who mentioned that she didn't have a driver's license before, pull
up in a new car outside work].
2 . She's from the Paris office, isn't she? [At an International conference, two
friends have just been talking to a woman who has a French accent, so she
is most likely from the Paris office; the speaker just wants to double-check].
3 . She's not doing very well, is she? [Parents watching their daughter playing
in a basketball match. She usually plays very well, but has made several
mistakes today; just a comment].
4 . That was really close, wasn't it? [A group of friends have just watched a
football match on TV. The speaker is making a comment and expects his
friends to agree].
5 . They speak Spanish there, don't they? [A young teenage American asking
his Spanish school teacher about Brazil because he's going on a holiday
there but doesn't know anything about the country].
6 . We can't get our pay a day earlier by any chance, can we? [Due to a Public
Holiday on the same day as the usual pay day an employee is making a
carefully polite request to the manager to change the pay day].

*Notice how the tags match the first verb in the main clause but are in the opposite form (except in the
third use mentioned on Page 3):

are => arent

is => isnt

can => cant

will => wont

(do) have => dont

(do) drive => dont

arent => are

isnt => is

cant => can

wont => will

dont have => do

dont drive => do

Similarly the pronoun in the tag matches the first noun phrase in the clause:

You => you

Whales => they

It => it

I => I

Sue => she

Alice and James = they

It is also important to draw students attention to the comma before the tag in the written form, but the
biggest difficulties will be with the intonation (rising or falling), using the opposite type of tag in the two
most common forms (positive -> negative and vice-versa), and using the appropriate verb in the tag
(students will often say things like, You like swimming, areyou?).

Indirect Questions
Common mistakes learners make using questions include How to spell that? for How do you spell that?
and Where she is? for Where is she?. While there are certainly many possible reasons for this kind of
mistake, one thing that reinforces the problem is how native speakers use Indirect Questions.

We form indirect questions by putting a 'stem' before the question. Often we do this to make a request (for
help, information, etc.) sound more polite:

Could you tell me where the nearest bank is?

Do you know what time the meeting is?

Can I ask you how old you are?

I was wondering if you can help me fix my car.

There are other kinds of 'stem', too, including those which lead to the question being embedded within a
statement:

I was wondering how this works.

We need to know what time he left.

Im trying to find out where the leak is coming from.

In all cases, the structure of the question clause itself is different from normal questions. In a standard
question we say, Where is the nearest bank? but in an indirect question the word is comes at the end

Could you tell me where the nearest bank is? Compare the following to see why students might make
the mistakes mentioned above:

How do you spell kangaroo?

Could you tell me how to spell kangaroo?

Where is she?

I demand to know where she is!

Conversely, learners can produce incorrect Indirect Questions which use the syntax they have learned for
Direct Questions, such as: Could you tell me how do you spell kangaroo? and I demand to know where
is she!
There are two main differences between the question clause in an Indirect Question and a Direct
Question:

The subject and the auxiliary verb dont change places

in Indirect Questions, but

they do change in Direct Questions:

Statement: Tom has seen a doctor.

Direct Question: Has Tom seen a doctor.

Indirect Question: I want to know if Tom has seen a doctor.

This is also true when there is a question word (e.g. what, when, where, how, etc).

Statement: Tom went to Paris.

Direct Question: Where did Tom go?

Indirect Question: I want to know where Tom went?

We use to + V in Indirect Questions but use do you + V or do we +V in normal questions. This

happens with a few wh questions when you and we arent being used to talk about a specific person:

Question: Where do we go from here?

Indirect Question: I want to know where to go from here.

Question: How do you use this programme?

Indirect Question: Could you tell me how to use this programme?

C. Complete the questions using the appropriate final clause.

1

Where __________________________?

Could you tell me where ____________?

Could you tell me if ____________?

I was wondering if __________.

I want to know how ________________.

is the post office

the post office is

the post office is on Peak St

you can help me fix my car

to fix a car

I'm trying to find out whose___________.

sandw ich this is

Conditional Clauses
A conditional sentence is made up of two clauses, one that expresses a situation (the condition), often
using the word if; another that expresses what happens/would happen if that condition is/was fulfilled,
(the result). Many combinations of verb forms are possible across the two clauses, but 4 combinations are
particularly common:

The First Conditional is used to talk about something that might or might not happen in the near
or distant future:

If it rains, Ill catch a taxi home.

If we aren't more careful, itll fall.

Ill be thrilled if I get the job.

This pattern is often used to make offers, threats, and promises:

Ill carry those if you like.

If you dont do your homework, Ill tell your mother.

If I get the job, Ill take you all for dinner.

The Second Conditional is used to talk about an unreal, impossible or imaginary situation;
something that is not true, is not going to be true in the future, or is very unlikely to be true in the future:

If I won the lottery, Id buy a big house by the sea.

If you were the CEO, the whole company would go bust.

If she ate meat, she wouldnt get sick so often.

This (the second conditional) is crucial for a couple of reasons - firstly, that it is essential for any discussion
of the abstract (which itself, many would argue, is a key part of human communication), and secondly,
that past tenses are used to talk about the present and future, a grammatical quirk of English that many
learners find problematic.

The Third Conditional is used to talk about an unreal past condition; something different from
what really happened in the past:

If I had been more careful, I wouldnt have lost it.

If wed known it was your birthday, we wouldve paid for dinner.

If you hadnt suggested going back to University, I wouldve ended up working in the supermarket
forever!

The third conditional is often used to express regrets (as in the first example, and arguably the second).

The Zero Conditional is used to two actions that normally follow on from each other, for example
in expressing facts about the world:

If you heat water to 100 degrees, it boils.

If I dont leave it plugged in, the battery goes flat by the next morning.

Preparation for task

In conditional sentences, when expressing possible or imaginary consequences, we usually

use will and would (these are called modal auxiliary verbs). For example:
1. If it rains, we will stay at home. (First conditional to express possible situations in the future)
2. If I won the lottery, I would do some amazing things. (Second conditional to express
unreal/imaginary/hypothetical situations in the present or future)
3. If I had known the answer, I would have told you. (Third conditional to express
unreal/imaginary/hypothetical situations in the past)
However, it is also possible to use other modal auxiliary verbs, such as might and could. For example:
1. If it rains, I might not go out.
2. If I won the lottery, I could do some amazing things.
3. If I had won the competition last night, I might have celebrated.
Here is a quick review of the conditional structures, including the zero conditional. Note that when the if
clause comes first, there is a comma between the two clauses. When the if clause comes last, there is
no comma.

Conditional

If clause

The other clause

Zero

If V(s)

V(s)

First

If V(s)

will V

Second

If V-ed

would V

Third

If had pp

would have pp

E. Are the following example sentences 1st, 2nd, 3rd or Zero

Conditionals?
Zero Third Second First
1 . If I was just a bit taller, I could reach it.
2 . If only I had saved it when I planned to, I wouldn't have lost all my work.
3 . When the rain stops, we can start the barbecue. As long as we get there
before 8pm, they'll still let us in. Unless the traffic is worse in the city,
we're going to be early.
4.

When the weather gets cold, they fly south.

Relative Clauses
Relative Clauses are used to add extra information about someone or something, in a similar way to
adjectives. Compare the following:

The man finished his drink.

The tall man finished his drink. (tall = adjective).

The man, who was tall, finished his drink. (who was tall = relative clause).

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that cannot stand alone. In a sentence, the relative clause
describes the preceding noun of the main sentence. In the sentence above, who was tall describes the
preceding noun man.
Relative clauses are usually introduced by a relative pronoun (such as which, who or that) and contain a
verb.

They are often divided into two categories:

A Defining Relative Clause is usually used to:
1) Identify someone or something. For example, in a room with 10 other boys The boy who sat in the
corner isnt here identifies exactly which boy the speaker is talking about. The sentence The boy isnt
here wouldnt make sense alone in this context - the information in the Defining Relative Clause is
essential in understanding which boy I am talking about. A

Defining Relative Clause

is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas.
Non-Defining Relative Clauses are usually used to:
1 )Add more information about someone or something. For example, in: The bag, which we had bought
just a few days earlier, fell apart the main content is simply The bag fell apart, which makes sense on its
own - we can assume that it is clear which bag is being referred to from the context. The speaker (or, more
likely in this case,writer) is telling us something important about the bag, but is not telling us which bag he
is referring to. A

Non-Defining Relative Clause is separated from the rest of the

sentence by commas.
Often Defining Relative Clauses are introduced at Intermediate level and Non-Defining Relative Clauses
are introduced at Upper-Intermediate; some course books introduce both around the same time, however.

Think about whether the relative clauses (in italics) are defining or non-defining in the following sentences:
1) Bananas, which contain potassium, are yellow.
2) Bananas which are not ripe are green.
3) Hamburgers which do not contain meat are suitable for vegetarians.
4) Hamburgers, which are usually made with a meat patty and a bread roll, are sold at MacDonald's.

Discussion: In sentence number 1 the relative clause (which contain potassium) is non-defining because
does not perform the function of identifying which bananas are yellow, because generally speaking, all
bananas are yellow. The relative clause here simply adds additional information much like information in
parenthesis. However, in sentence number 2 the relative clause (which are not ripe) serves to identify
which bananas are green. If we removed the relative clause (which are not ripe) then the sentence would
read, Bananas are green. Thus, we need the relative clause (which are not ripe) in order to identify, or
define, which bananas are green.
Similarly, in sentence 3 the relative clause is defining, because it is identifying which hamburgers are
suitable for vegetarians because not all hamburgers are suitable for vegetarians, but those which do not
contain meat are. In sentence 4 the relative clause is simply extra information; it does not define which
hamburgers are sold at MacDonald's. It is therefore non-defining.

F. For each of the following is the underlined information identifying

(defining - D) or is it adding extra information (non-defining - N)?
N
1
.
2
.

A few men were standing by the table, but I saw the man who was wearing the red
jacket put something in his pocket.
He handed me the umbrella that was broken and took the good one for himself.

3
.
4
.
5
.
6
.

Our new car, which we've driven only once, has already broken down.
The man in the middle, who was taller than his friends, said nothing.
Three women, who just happened to be walking by, stopped to help.
What's the name of that singer who forgot to introduce herself before the audition?

Note that the three sentences with non-defining clauses each make sense without the clause:

Three women stopped to help.

The man in the middle said nothing.

Our new car has already broken down.

In the sentences with defining clauses, because the clause identifies the person or thing, if the clause is
removed there is either no longer enough information or the clause no longer makes sense:

A few men were standing by the table, but I saw the man put something in his pocket.
=> Which man?

He handed me the umbrella and took the good one for himself. => the suggests there was
only one umbrella, but if he handed one away and took one for himself, then there must have been
two.

Whats the name of that singer? => It was an audition - there must have been more than one
singer. Sowhich singer?

Be very careful when giving examples to show this distinction to learners, as a lot of context is often
needed to make the distinction clear.
Points to consider regarding Relative Clauses:

A. Does the relative pronoun refer to a person or a thing?

1.

A classmate who was really good at maths helped me.

2.

A website which had some very useful articles helped me.

In number one the relative clause refers to a person, and in number two it refers to a thing.
For people we use: who, whom (very formal), that (particularly in speaking) or whose (for possessives).
For things we use: which, that or whose (for possessives, especially for countries or organisations).

B. Does the relative pronoun refer to the subject or object of the relative
clause?
Sometimes, we need to know if the relative pronoun (who, which, that, whom) is a subject relative
pronoun or an object relative pronoun. Consider this sentence:

The man who phoned me lives in London. (i.e. The man phoned
me.)
Here, the relative clause is who phoned me. In this relative clause, the pronoun (who) refers to
the subject (the man) of the verb in the relative clause (phoned). So here, the relative pronoun is a subject
relative pronoun.
Now, consider this sentence:

The man who I phoned lives in New York. (i.e. I phoned the man.)

Here, the relative clause is who I phoned. In this relative clause, the pronoun (who) refers to the object (the
man) of the verb in the relative clause (phoned). So here, the relative pronoun in an object relative
pronoun, and is therefore not necessary. So, both of these sentences are correct:

The man who I phoned lives in New York.

The man I phoned lives in New York.
For subject relative pronouns we can use: which, who or that
For object relative pronouns we can use: which, who, whom, that or nothing

C. Is the relative clause Defining or Non-Defining?

For defining clauses we might use any of the pronouns, or in certain cases, such as above, nothing.
For non-defining clauses we can only use: who, whom or which (i.e. we cannot use that or nothing). It is
also worth noting that non-defining relative clauses are more usually a feature of written than spoken
English.

G. For each of the following choose the statement that is TRUE about
which word can fill in the gap.
Use the clarifying information below each example to help you.
1
2
3

I think he was wearing the T-shirt ______ Susan

bought for him.
The weather was really cold, _______ we hadn't expected.

The waitress, _______ had also served me the day before,

gave us a discount.

The waitress _______ I really like often gives us a

discount. The other waitresses don't.

The young man, ______ dog had been missing for days,
called the police.

We can use nothing.

We can use that.

We can use w ho.

We can use w hom.

We can use w hose.

Reported Speech
Reported Speech, also known as Indirect Speech (not to be confused with Indirect Questions), is used
when we want to use our own words to report what someone says:

Direct Speech: Tom said, I dont want to go.

Reported Speech: Tom said he didnt want to go.

We can use Reported Speech to repeat all of the information or we can summarise the information using
our own words and our own point of view, using a reporting verb:

Tom said, Theres no way Im going.

Tom said theres no way he was going.

Tom refused to go.

We often use a combination of direct speech and reported speech. This is particularly common in
newspaper articles, for example:

Dr Allen Hult says, This is an amazing discovery and it will change the way people think about
household lighting. He expects there to be one in every American home within 10 years.

We often use common verbs like tell, say and ask, but there are many more. Here is a very small
sample: add, agree, beg, claim, complain, demand, explain, guarantee, hear, inquire, mention, offer,
predict, refuse, remind, scream, suggest, thank, threaten, want to know, etc.
It is usually more useful and expressive to use the appropriate verb and summarise the information in
your own words than to produce an accurate report. For example, He apologised, The students
complained again, I decided not to go, etc., is more common than a full report; and choosing which
verb to use, for example, They said Tom did it, They think Tom did it, They swore Tom did it, They
blamed Tom, allows us to express our views more accurately.
The way the words and sentence structure change in indirect speech can be very complicated. The three
main changes we make relate to person, place and time. Compare the following:
Andy and a few friends are at a bar together in a pub on Friday evening.
Ellis arrives, and Andy says to him:
This pub is great. We are going to meet here at 7pm tomorrow night too.

Ten minutes later, Ellis talks to another friend who has just arrived at the pub:
Andy said this pub is great. He said they are going to meet here at 7pm tomorrow night too.

The next morning, at home, Andy, not Ellis, tells his wife:
I said that pub was great. I said we are going to meet there at 7pm tonight too.

The next evening, at the pub at 7.30pm, Ellis and a few friends are waiting but Andy isnt there.
Ellis says:
Andy said this pub was great. He said they were going to meet here at 7pm tonight too.

Several years later, the friends are recalling the day that Andy didnt show up and laughing about
it:
Andy said that pub was great. He said they were going to meet there at 7pm the following night too.

Note the differences for person, place and time:

Person

Andy always uses we.

Ellis uses they.

Place

While in the pub mentioned they use this pub and here.
From elsewhere they use that pub and there.

Time

Just after the comment they use is great.

Later they use was great.

The day before the day in question they use tomorrow night.
On the day in question they use today.
Years later than the day in question they use the following night.

Before the time in question they use are going to meet.

After the time in question they use were going to meet.

H. Choose the best words to fill in the gaps given the comments on
person, place or time.

Andy says, 'I will do it next week.'

Two weeks later, Andy's wife says: You said you ____

w ould, last

do it _____ week!

Mary said, 'I think Ben's idea is the best.'

A few minutes later, Ben says: Mary said she _______

thought, my

_____ idea is the best.

The weather report on Friday night: It is going to be

sunny on Saturday but not on Sunday.

that day, the follow ing day

On Saturday evening, Jim says: 'The weather report

said it was going to be sunny ________ but not
_________.'

The cat died over 2 months ago, but Jane is

still upset.
An uncle reminding Jane about something
from years ago: Your mum said that the cat
had died over 2 months ___________, but
___________still upset.
Tom's Mum said, 'You have to do your homework right
now!' The next day, Tom says: 'My mum told me I _____

ago, Jane w as

had to, right then

do my homework __________!'

Billy says, 'I've been waiting in the cafe for hours.'

In the cafe, an hour later, Billy's girlfriend says: 'He said

he, here

____ had been waiting ______ for hours.'

When using indirect speech the tense often changes from that originally used. For example, when
reporting the comment, The government made the decision weeks earlier several years after the
comment, we would say, He said the government had made the decision weeks earlier. The past simple,
made, changes to past perfect had made.
The exact change (or lack of change) depends on the people, place and time, and the views or beliefs of
the person speaking, but a few rules

of thumb can be a useful start for learners. Some examples:

E.g. I can swim => You said you could swim but I would hate it => You said you would hate
it.

E.g. It is going to rain => The forecast said it was going to rain.

E.g. I have lived here for years => He said he had lived here for years.

E.g. I finally bought one => He said he had finally bought one.

E.g. They had arrived earlier => They said they had arrived earlier.

E.g. I can play the piano => She said she can play the piano or She said she could play the
piano.

With regard to reported speech, two particularly tricky areas for learners are:

Reporting questions:
Where is the bank? => He asked where the bank was.
Is the bank near here? => He asked if the bank was near here.

Verb patterns with reporting verbs:

He warned us that the restaurant wasnt very good. (warn + somebody + that + something)
He insisted that we go to the restaurant. (insist + that + somebody + do + something)
He asked us to go to the restaurant. (ask + somebody + to + do + something)

The syntax for reporting questions is very reminiscent of (in fact, could be said to be identical to) that for
Indirect Questions Compare:

Where is the bank? => Could you tell me where the bank is? (Indirect Question)

Where is the bank? => He asked where the bank was. (Reported Speech)

Is the bank near here? => I wonder if the bank is near here. (Indirect Question)

Is the bank near here? => He asked if the bank was near here. (Reported Speech)

Regarding verb patterns, it is a matter of learning the patterns for each verb separately. A verb that is
followed by another verb 'requires' a particular form, e.g. I want to go home, not I want going home. This
is true in general, and it is especially common in reporting verbs - see the above examples.
A good learners dictionary will tell the learner (and the teacher!) what the pattern is for a particular verb,
either by giving the pattern explicitly, or by giving example sentences. Also, a good grammar book will
have a list of common patterns for reporting verbs under the section on Reported Speech (or Indirect
Speech).