Now it's time to join the Class 6 and 7 rules together to build longer sentences. First a Class 7 review, then 9 new games. Each part says which earlier rule it builds on.
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Before you start
Pronouns, many/much, the, present perfect, at/on/in, modals and conjunctions: you can't build Class 8's longer sentences without them. Get 4 out of 5 right and move on; if not, take another look at the Class 7 page.
Play: you get 5 different questions every time.
Game 1
You learned: the past participle (eaten, seen) in the present perfect; and I → me, they → them in pronoun forms. Now put the two together for the passive.
In the passive, the object comes first, then a form of be + the past participle, and at the end by + the doer. The form of be follows the tense of the original sentence. See the animation here: Active and passive voice.
| Tense | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| Present simple | Rina writes a letter. | A letter is written by Rina. |
| Past simple | Rina wrote a letter. | A letter was written by Rina. |
| Present continuous | Rina is writing a letter. | A letter is being written by Rina. |
| Present perfect | Rina has written a letter. | A letter has been written by Rina. |
| Future (will) | Rina will write a letter. | A letter will be written by Rina. |
Play: choose the right passive form.
Object first + a form of be (by tense) + past participle + by + the doer in its object form.
Game 2
In Class 7: someone's own words go in quotation marks (Punctuation). Now: telling someone else those words in your own way.
In direct speech, the speaker's exact words stay inside quotation marks. In indirect speech, we report the words in our own way: the quotation marks go, and the pronouns, the tense and the time words change.
| What changes | Examples |
|---|---|
| The tense moves one step back (when said is in the past) | am/is → was, are → were, will → would, can → could, played → had played |
| Time and place words | now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, yesterday → the previous day, here → there |
| Questions | said to → asked; if for yes/no questions, the same wh- word for wh- questions, and the sentence in normal order (where I lived, not where did I live) |
| Orders and requests | said to → told / ordered / requested + to + verb |
| Universal truths | The tense doesn't change: He said that the earth moves round the sun. |
Play: choose the right indirect speech.
No quotation marks, pronouns from the speaker's side, the tense one step back, and today → that day.
Game 3
You learned: present simple, past simple and will (Tense), and could, may (Modal). Now: "if … then …".
| Type | if part | Result part | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Always true | present | present | If you heat ice, it melts. |
| Possible future | present | will + verb | If it rains, we will stay home. |
| Imaginary | past (were) | would + verb | If I were a bird, I would fly. |
Play: keep the two parts matching and choose the right form.
Possible: if + present, will + verb. Imaginary: if + past, would + verb. Never will after if.
Game 4
You learned: he → has, they → have (Subject and verb) and can, will (Modal). Now: a tiny question at the end of a sentence.
When we talk, we often add a short question at the end of a sentence so the listener agrees: "You're a student, aren't you?" In English this is a question tag.
Play: choose the right tag.
Positive sentence, negative tag; negative sentence, positive tag; with the sentence's helping verb and the subject's pronoun.
Game 5
In Class 7: after a modal, the base form of the verb (Modal). Now: which form after other verbs?
When a verb with -ing works like a noun, it is called a gerund (Swimming is fun.). to + verb is the infinitive (I want to swim.). The word before it decides which one to use.
| After | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| enjoy, finish, mind, avoid, stop | -ing | I enjoy reading. |
| preposition (of, at, in, for) | -ing | She is good at drawing. |
| want, decide, hope, plan, learn | to + verb | We decided to leave. |
| let, make | The base form of the verb | Let me go. |
Play: look at the word before, then choose the right form.
After enjoy, finish and prepositions: -ing. After want, decide, hope: to + verb. After let, make: the base form.
Game 6
In Class 7: pronoun forms (I, me, my, mine) and joining two sentences (Conjunction). Now: pronouns that do the joining themselves.
"I met a boy. The boy won the prize." The two sentences can become one: "I met the boy who won the prize." Here who refers back to the noun (boy) and also joins the two parts.
| Word | Used for | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | People (subject) | The man who lives next door is a doctor. |
| whom | People (object) | He is the teacher whom we all respect. |
| which | Things or animals | This is the book which I bought. |
| whose | Whose (belonging) | I know a girl whose father is a pilot. |
| where | Places | This is the village where I was born. |
that can often replace who and which: the book that I bought.
Play: is the word before the gap a person, a thing, a place, or about belonging?
People: who/whom. Things: which. Belonging: whose. Places: where.
Game 7
In Class 6: tall, taller, tallest (Degree of comparison). Now: saying the same thing three ways.
| Superlative | Comparative | Positive |
|---|---|---|
| Rahim is the tallest boy in the class. | Rahim is taller than any other boy in the class. | No other boy in the class is as tall as Rahim. |
Play: choose the sentence with the same meaning.
the tallest = taller than any other = no other … as tall as: all three say the same thing.
Game 8
In Class 6: one subject, so the verb takes -s (Subject and verb). Now: subjects where it's hard to tell singular from plural.
Play: find the real subject.
Find the real subject: each, every, one of, the number of and news take a singular verb.
Game 9
In Class 7: abstract nouns (Kinds of noun). Now: new words made by adding small parts before or after a word, such as kind → kindness.
| Part | What it does | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| un-, dis-, im-, in-, ir- | Opposite meaning (prefix) | unhappy, dishonest, impossible, incorrect, irregular |
| -ness, -ship, -ity | abstract noun | kindness, friendship, ability |
| -er, -or | Someone who does the action | singer, teacher, actor |
| -ful, -less | Adjective: full of / without | careful, careless, harmless |
| -ly | adverb | beautifully, slowly |
Work out which form the sentence needs from the job of the gap: an adjective before a noun, an adverb after a verb to say how, a noun after his/her/the.
Play: choose the right form of the word in brackets.
Added before (un-, dis-, im-), the meaning turns opposite; added after (-ness, -ful, -ly), the word's job changes.
Class 7 games · Class 6 games · All English concepts · All Class 8 chapters
