Sooner or Later
Sooner or Later = Eventually, certainly although one cannot be sure when, at some time in future. To explain further, you don’t know exactly when something will happen but you are certain that it will happen. If you do such a mean thing, you will be punished sooner or later. The culprit will be brought to book sooner or later. You will have to tell the truth sooner or later. The accused has escaped from the police custody. But he will be caught by the…
Could have(done)
Could have (done): (1) When you do not really mean what you say: I was so tired. I could have slept for a week. When I saw the result I could have wept.( i.e I felt like weeping but I didn’t ) I was so hungry. I could have eaten a horse. He behaved so stupidly. I was annoyed terribly. I could have beaten him. (2) Most often we use ‘ Could have (done) ‘ for things which were possible but did not happen or…
‘ As soon as ‘ and ‘ No sooner than ‘
‘ As soon as ‘ and ‘ No sooner than ‘ These two structures are used to talk about something that happens immediately after something else. When ‘ No sooner ‘ comes at the beginning of a sentence, we use inverted word order. That means the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. ( Example : No sooner had I received her call , than I left for her place . We do not say, ” No sooner I had received her call…) The structure ‘…
At, On, In
At, On, In : Grammatical explanations will be unnecessary in this case. The examples given will clarify the usage. AT : He arrived at 10 o’ clock. I will meet you at Bolgatty Palace. At present I have no idea to marry her. He is very busy at the moment. I am afraid you can’t meet him now. At midnight, at sunset, at lunchtime etc Note : We don’t usually say, ‘ At what time…? What time are you going out this evening? ON :…
Present Perfect and Past Simple ( compared)
Present Perfect and Past Simple (compared) Present Perfect : We use present perfect for a period of time that continues from the past until now. For example, today, this week, since 1990 etc. The Present Perfect always has a connection with ‘Now ‘. The manager has lost his keys. He can’t open the office. (Here, we are not thinking of the past action. We are thinking of the present result of the action. He doesn’t have his keys with him now.) I ‘ve not seen…
Present Simple ( I do ) with a future meaning.
Present Simple (I do) with a future meaning. We can use the Present Simple when we talk about timetables, programmes, etc. (For example, for public transport, cinemas etc) The train leaves Mumbai at 9.30 a.m and arrives at Bilaspur within 16 hours. What time does the film begin? The film begins at 6.00 p.m. We have a bus now going to Thiruvanathapuram. It leaves at 9 a.m.
Can/ Could/ Would you…………..?
Can/ Could/Would……….you? (1) Requests : Can (or could) you wait for a moment, please? Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the railway station? Could ( or would) you lend me some money until next week? (2) Asking for things: Can I have these postcards, please? Yes of course, you can have them. Could I have the salt, please? (3) Asking for and giving permission: Could I use your phone? Yes of course. May I come in? Yes, please do. You can…
SOMEONE would have liked or preferred.
SOMEONE would have liked or preferred. (1) If you say that SOMEONE would have liked or preferred something, you mean that they wanted to do it or have it but they did not, often because it was not possible. I would have liked a year more in the pleasant climate there in Europe. ( i.e I really liked to have a longer stay there , but it was not possible) I would have preferred to stay at home. ( i.e that was my desire but…
Hearing / Seeing etc
Hearing / Seeing etc is used with the meaning as ‘As somebody heard / saw ‘ OR ‘When somebody heard / saw ‘. We can combine two sentences using this structure. It is to be specially noted that the subjects of both the sentences to be combined will be the same in this structure. He felt the gas leaking. At once he turned off the cylinder valve. Feeling the gas leaking, he turned off the cylinder valve.(combined) The thief saw the police jeep coming. Suddenly…
Hardly / Scarcely
Hardly / Scarcely : This usage shows how quickly two actions take place. The second action takes place immediately on or after the first action takes place. We can combine two sentences using ‘Hardly ‘ or ‘ Scarcely’ . Normally ‘ Hardly’ or ‘ Scarcely’ is used at the beginning of the sentence. When the two sentences are in the simple past, the first sentence is converted into past perfect and the tense of the second sentence is left unchanged on combining the sentences. Words…