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Unit 16 covers conditionals and reported speech.
Conditionals contain 'if' (and sometimes 'when') to refer to possibilities. There are five types of conditionals: zero, first, second, third, and mixed.
Zero conditionals present in the form of 'if/when' + present tense, present tense. They are used to refer to irrefutable facts.
First conditionals present in the form of 'if' + present simple, will. They refer to situations in the future that are possible or plausible if the conditional is satisfied.
Second conditionals present in the form of 'if' + past simple, 'would/could/might' + base verb. Second conditionals present a hypothetical situation that is not true and not likely to be true.
Third conditionals present as 'if' + present perfect, 'would/could/might' + 'have' + past participle. These refer to hypothetical past actions and the hypothetical past consequence.
Mixed conditionals mix second and third conditional clauses. They present as 'if' + past perfect, 'would' + base form. This type of conditional is used for a hypothetical past action and a hypothetical PRESENT consequence.
This unit also covered reported and direct speech. Direct speech is actual speech. Reported speech ( or indirect speech) is speech that is not actually spoken at the time that the speakers are speaking with each other, usually speech that was spoken in the past.
When direct questions are turned into reported speech, question words remain, but the verb form changes into the positive form. Verb tenses and pronouns also change when turning direct speech into reported speech. Often, present becomes past which is a phenomenon that is referred to as backshifting. Time expressions are also backshifted.
This was a very important lesson about conditionals as well as reported speech. Students who have a firm understanding of the various tenses should have an easier time learning and using reported speech.
