Objective: The student will be able to form hypothetical sentences that connect a past condition with a present result, or a present condition with a past result.
Key Concepts:
Past Condition / Present Result: If + Past Perfect, ...would + base verb (e.g., If I had accepted the job, I would be rich now.).
Present Condition / Past Result: If + Simple Past, ...would have + P.P. (e.g., If I weren't so shy, I would have spoken to him at the party.).
Purpose: To express complex hypothetical relationships by linking two different time frames in one logical idea.
Objective: The student will be able to use inversion after negative and limiting adverbials to add emphasis or create a more formal, literary tone.
Key Concepts:
Structure: Negative Adverbial + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb.
Common Adverbials: Not only, Scarcely, Hardly, No sooner, Never before, Under no circumstances, Seldom, Rarely.
Example: Not only did he pass the exam, but he also got the top score. (Instead of: He not only passed...).
Objective: The student will be able to construct more concise and sophisticated sentences by replacing a full relative or adverbial clause with a participle phrase.
Key Concepts:
Present Participle (-ing): Replaces an active voice clause, often showing cause or sequence (e.g., Feeling tired, I went to bed.).
Past Participle (-ed): Replaces a passive voice clause (e.g., Built in the 19th century, the church is a popular landmark.).
Perfect Participle (Having + P.P.): Emphasizes that one action was completed before another (e.g., Having finished her speech, she sat down.).
Objective: The student will be able to use impersonal passive forms and the causative to express ideas more formally and indirectly.
Key Concepts:
Causative (Have/Get something done): To talk about arranging for a service from someone else (e.g., I had my car repaired.).
Impersonal Passive (It is...): It is said/believed/understood that... (e.g., It is believed that the policy will change.).
Personal Passive (Subject is...): Subject + is said to be... / is believed to have... (e.g., The suspect is believed to have left the country.).
Objective: The student will be able to restructure sentences to emphasize a particular piece of information by splitting the sentence into two clauses.
Key Concepts:
It-Clefts: It is/was + [emphasized part] + that/who... (e.g., It was the traffic that made me late.).
Wh-Clefts: What... is/was... (e.g., What I need most right now is a long vacation.).
Purpose: To focus the listener's or reader's attention on new, important, or surprising information, often to correct a misunderstanding.
Objective: The student will be able to understand and use the subjunctive for formal, hypothetical, or non-factual statements.
Key Concepts:
In that-clauses: After verbs of demand, request, or suggestion (`I demand that he be present.* / She suggests that he go.). The verb is always the base form.
Hypothetical Statements: Using were for all persons is a form of the subjunctive (If I were you...).
Fixed Expressions: In phrases like If need be, be that as it may, God save the Queen, suffice it to say.
Objective: The student will be able to create more formal, abstract, and concise text by converting verbs and adjectives into nouns.
Key Concepts:
Process: Turning a verb or adjective into a noun (e.g., analyze → an analysis; difficult → difficulty).
Effect: Creates a more abstract, impersonal, and formal tone, allowing complex ideas to be packaged as single nouns.
Use in Writing: Very common in academic, scientific, and bureaucratic writing (e.g., "The investigation of the causes led to the discovery of a solution.").
Objective: The student will be able to make their speech and writing more fluent and less repetitive by correctly omitting words or replacing them with shorter ones.
Key Concepts:
Ellipsis (omitting words): Leaving out repeated words when the meaning is clear from the context (e.g., "Would you like a coffee?" "Yes, I would.").
Substitution with so/not: Used to avoid repeating a whole clause, especially after verbs of thinking (e.g., "Is he coming?" "I think so.").
Substitution with auxiliaries: Using do/does/did, have/has, etc., to replace a full verb phrase (e.g., She runs faster than he does.).
Objective: The student will be able to use hedging language to soften claims, express politeness, and convey appropriate academic uncertainty.
Key Concepts:
Modal Verbs: Using tentative modals like might, could, may, and would seem to (e.g., This might suggest that...).
Adverbs and Adjectives: Using words like possibly, apparently, likely, somewhat, a little, sort of.
Introductory Phrases: Using phrases like It seems that..., It could be argued that..., There is a tendency to....
50. Advanced Discourse Markers
Objective: The student will be able to use a wide range of sophisticated linking words and phrases to structure arguments and express complex relationships between ideas.
Key Concepts:
Contrast & Concession: Nonetheless, whereas, conversely, albeit, be that as it may, notwithstanding.
Result & Consequence: Consequently, thereby, as a result, hence, thus.
Elaboration & Emphasis: Furthermore, moreover, indeed, to put it another way, in essence.