THE GRAMMAR LAB
APUNTESPRO
This notebook contains all the necessary material to pass the
B2 English exam. It includes all the grammatical topics with
corresponding solved exercises. It's a very comprehensive
resource that you can't miss if you're preparing for the First
Certificate exam. At the end, there is the oral section "Topics
for Practice" so you can write and practice orally some of the
most popular topics that are included in the exam.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Punctuation Rules
Clauses of Concession
Clauses of Purpose
Clauses with provided/unless
Prefer/would rather/would prefer
Modal verbs of Obligation: Must/Have to/should/ought to/need/mustn´t/don´t have to/
Needn´t/needn´t have done/didn´t need to
Modal verbs of Speculation and Deduction: Might/May/Could/Could not
Modals: Can/Could/Be able to
Translation sentences – Modal verbs
Conditional sentences
Verbs + gerund/infinitive
, Modal verb: Should
Causative have/yet something done
Specifying verbs used in reported speech.
Some specifying verbs. How they work.
Phrasal verbs VS Multiword verbs.
GENERAL PUNCTUATION RULES FOR EXAMS
In exam dictations and compositions will be taken off for punctuation error whether
they are repeated or not. The following errors will be penalized in an exam:
1. Sentences fragments, i.e. dependent clauses or phrases standing alone:
*Tom listened. Although he was very angry.
* Having worked hard all day and played basketball most of the evening.
2. Commas
Comma splices, i.e. joining two independent clauses only by a comma:
* We were an hour early for the meeting, we thought it started at eight. ( we were
an hour early for the meeting; we thought it started at eight).
* Rachel was having difficulty, she had never studied English before.
The lack of comma in: *Yes I do. * No he didn´t. etc. (Yes, I do.)
The use of comma after a subject clause: * My mother and I, ( My mother and I.)
The incorrect use of comma after but and so.
3. The use of a full stop/period after another form of punctuation:
* What was I thinking). * She had to do it. (what was I thinking? She had to do it)
4. The inappropriate use of ellipsis:
* Last year I went to Paris, Rome, London …..( Las year I went to Paris, Rome,
London, etc.)
* The teacher called on me, so… I had to read out loud in English. (so I had)
5. The lack of question mark at the end of a question.
6. Failure to capitalize the first word of a sentence.
,7. The use of Spanish inverted exclamation or question marks at the beginning of a
sentence:
*¿wow! ¿ you what? (Wow! You what?)
CLAUSES OF CONCESSION
Although
Even though + subject + verb
Despite
In Spite of + pronoun (this/that)
+ noun
+ gerund
+ the fact that + subject +verb
Examples
Although he was ill, he went to work.
Even though he was ill, he went to work.
Despite being ill, he went to work.
In spite of being ill, he went to work.
In spite of his illness, he went to work.
Despite his illness, he went to work.
In spite of the fact that he was ill, he went to work.
In spite of the fact that he was ill, he went to work.
Despite the fact that he was ill, he went to work.
N.B. If the sentence begins with the main clause, there is not usually a comma before the clause of
concession.
Eg. He went to work although he was ill
Look at the following sentences and notice what we do in constructions with in spite of and despite +
gerund in cases where it is necessary to make it clear who the subject is.
Although was ill, we went to the beach.
In spite of his/him being ill, we went to the beach.
(In spite of being ill, we went to the beach. = Although we were ill, we went to the beach.)
Although I was tired, we stayed up all night.
Despite my/me being tired, we stayed up all night.
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATIONS (answer key below)
1. Even though he doesn´t earn much, he always gives us nice presents.
Despite………….
2. Although his leg was broken, he managed to get out of the car.
In spite………….
, 3. Despite the government’s promises to keep prices down, they continued to rise.
Although ……….
4. Although he loved her passionately, she refused to marry him.
Despite …………
5. Although there are a lot of TV channels, the programmes aren´t very good.
In spite ……….
Answer key:
1. Despite not earning much, he always gives us nice presents.
2. In spite of his broken leg, he managed to get out of the car.
3. Although the government promised to keep prices down, they continued to rise.
4. Despite loving her passionately, she refused to marry him.
5. In spite of there being a lot of TV channels, the programmes aren’t very good.
CLAUSES OF PURPOSE
We use clauses of purpose to talk about people´s purposes, the reasons why they do things.
The infinitive purpose
The infinitive of purpose can only be used when the subject of the main clause and the subject of the
purpose clause are the same:
Why did you get up so early?
To go jogging. / In order to go jogging. (more formal)
Use the words in parentheses to answer the questions.
1. Why are you going to the chemist´s? (buy some cough medicine)
2. Why did you go to the police station? (report the theft of my son´s bicycle)
3. Why are you going to the bookshop? (buy a good dictionary)
4. Why is Michael saving up? (go to Canada)
The negative infinitive of purpose
You´ll have to get up early so as not to miss / in order not to miss the train.
I wrote her address down immediately so as not to forget / in order not to forget it.
Rewrite the underlined sections of the following sentences, using the negative
infinitive of purpose.
1. They left home early because they didn´t want to be late for the meeting.
2. James left work before the rush hour because he didn´t want to get stuck in a traffic jam.
3. The burglar wore gloves because he didn´t want to leave his fingerprints in the house.
4. We only drank bottled water in India because we didn´t want to get ill.
Clauses of purpose with “so that”
We use so that:
a) When the subject of the main clause is different from the subject of the purpose
clause:
