Sentence transformation

Tense review
1 Rewrite the sentences in the past.
1 Mary speaks Spanish very well. 3 Do you ever play football?

2 He is constantly talking in class. 4 I go to the doctor when I am unwell.

2 Rewrite the sentences.
1 She started playing tennis two years ago. She still plays tennis.
She
2 I had a shower and the telephone rang.
When I
3 Paul did the shopping. After that he went for a coffee.
When Paul had
4 The bus was late. He didn’t arrive on time for class.
He didn’t

3 Rewrite the sentences. Start with the words given and use the correct form of the verb and use the word in brackets.
1 I live in Barcelona now. I started living in Barcelona seven years ago.
I (for)
2 He’s planning to study medicine at university.
He (going)
3 The dog was barking this morning. He is barking now.
The dog (since)
4 We finished playing cricket. Then he phoned us.
We (had)
5 Tomorrow at 11 I’ll relax.
Tomorrow at 11 (be)
6 He appeared at lunchtime.
We (having lunch)

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Sentence transformation

Questions
1 Make questions for the answers.
1 Which ? I was cooking dinner at 7.30 yesterday evening.
My favourite colour was blue when I was nine. 4 Who ?
2 When ? Mary was at the graduation party.
We went on holiday in the last fortnight of August. 5 Where ?
3 What ? When I was in the first year I studied in the library.

2 Make the sentences positive, negative or questions as shown.

1 We’re going camping tomorrow. 4 Susan was wearing a lovely green and blue dress yesterday.
(question) (negative)

2 One day I’ll be famous. 5 Dad went to the cinema last Saturday.
(question) (question)

3 Are you going to study this weekend?
(positive)

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Sentence transformation

Modal verbs
1 Make the sentences negative respecting the intention of the sentence.
1 He must be tired.

2 She could run for many hours.

3 It must be a storm.

4 It might be dangerous.

2 Rewrite the sentences without changing their meaning. Use the modal verbs in brackets.
1 Tom and Mary have a lot of homework and perhaps won’t come to the party.
Tom and Mary (might)
2 He’s studied a lot. It’s impossible for him to fail.
He (can’t)
3 I don’t feel well. Perhaps I’m getting a cold.
I (could)
4 He’s definitely got a lot of money as he’s always buying things.
He (must)

3 Give an answer to the sentences. Use the prompts in brackets.

1 My mum doesn’t know where she left the keys. Perhaps they are in the office.
She (positive speculation)
2 He hasn’t arrived yet. Perhaps the bus was late.
The bus (positive speculation)
3 I was standing in front of you and you didn’t say hello.
You (positive certainty)
4 He seems to be very angry. I think he failed Maths.
He (positive possibility)

4 Rewrite the sentences without changing the meaning.

1 It’s impossible that he’s missed his flight.
He can’t
2 I cannot find my glasses. I left them at home.
I must
3 My parents have seen my school report and perhaps that’s why they are happy.
My parents could
4 Peter hasn’t arrived yet. He’s probably overslept.
Peter may

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Sentence transformation

Conditional possibility
1 Rewrite the sentences. Use the correct form of the conditional.
1 We had no time to visit him. We were late.

2 I bought an expensive dress. I had no money left.

3 He wants to get good marks. He has to study hard.

4 Don’t run so fast. You could break your leg.

5 He doesn’t spend a lot of time with his friends. He is very busy.

2 Complete the second sentence using the words given. The second sentence must mean the same as the first sentence.
1 I’m not going on holiday with you if you carry on complaining.
Unless
2 He will wait for you if he knows you are interested.
Provided / providing (that)
3 Helen wouldn’t want to go out with him if he asked her out.
Even if
4 His parents will let him go camping if he keeps his room tidy for a month.
As long as

3 Write sentences using wish.

1 I can’t play tennis this weekend because I hurt my foot.

2 I think it’s a pity he never learnt to play a musical instrument.

3 I can’t go out because I have to study for my exams.

4 My teacher is always giving us homework.

4 Write sentences using if only.
1 I saw Mike but I didn’t say hello.

2 I didn’t say goodbye to my mother this morning and she was angry.

3 I didn’t study last week and I failed the Science test.

4 I always fight with my sister.

5 Rewrite the sentences. The second sentence must mean the same as the first one.
1 Diego won’t go to France. He doesn’t like the country.
If Diego
2 There aren’t any nice shops where I live.
I wish
3 My sister will be 18 tomorrow and I have no money to get her a present.
If only
4 If Peter doesn‘t tell me what happened, I’ll be very annoyed.
Unless

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Sentence transformation

The passive
1 Rewrite these sentences in the passive.
1 The team played a brilliant match on Saturday.

2 How many books has he written?

3 Do they sell furniture in that shop?

4 The authorities jailed two nurses for falsifying health records.

5 Thieves have stolen 190 Christmas trees in Manchester.

6 The government won’t allow 16 year olds to vote in the next EU election.

7 A US pop artist has donated a collection of prints to the Tate.

8 The storm destroyed hundreds of homes across Cumbria.

2 Rewrite these passive sentences in the active voice.
1 These lemons have just been picked from the tree.
We
2 He asked to be picked up at midnight.
He asked me
3 It has to be done!
You
4 All his old books were sold.
He
5 Is breakfast being prepared?
Are
6 Deck chairs are sold on the beach.
They
7 The mathematical problem could not be solved.
Nobody
8 Their passports were lost.
They

3 Rewrite these sentences in the passive using the verbs in bold to start the passive sentences.
1 Everybody knows he’s a great singer.

2 We didn’t expect them to arrive so early.

3 People don’t believe that there is life in outer space.

4 They say he’s a multimillionaire!

5 Everyone predicts that global warming will destroy our planet.

6 People estimate that the first driverless car will be available on the market in 2020.

7 They report that pay rises will fade fast!

8 People have considered it as one of the best films the world has ever seen.

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Sentence transformation

Reported speech
1 Complete these sentences in reported speech.
1 ‘I’ve never liked chocolate ice cream!’ said Carmen.
Carmen said
2 ‘My headache got worse and worse as the day went on!’ Peter told his mum.
Peter
3 ‘They speak Welsh in Wales as well as English,’ Olivia pointed out.
Olivia
4 ‘Harry was talking to the next door neighbour this morning,’ said Jake.
Jake
5 ‘Sophie and Greg will be arriving in Prague in half an hour,’ Lucy told her dad.
Lucy
6 ‘Claire has been cleaning the house all morning and no one has helped her!’ Daniel said.
Daniel
7 ‘I may invite Tim and Nick to my birthday party, but I’m not sure yet,’ Will told me.
Will
8 ‘My mum and dad will give me some money if I pass all my exams,’ said Alex.
Alex

2 Look at the questions below and then complete the second sentence with reported questions.
1 Head teacher: ‘Where are you going?’
The head teacher wanted to know
2 Grandma: Did you get my birthday card and the money?
My grandma wondered
3 Sophie: ‘How long does the train take to Liverpool?’
Sophie wanted to know
4 Claire: ‘What time does their flight arrive?’
Claire asked
5 Charlotte: ‘When is Sam’s birthday?’
Charlotte wondered
6 Josh: ‘What are you doing here?’
Josh wanted to know
7 George:’ Did anybody see you go in to the house?’
George asked
8 Hannah: ‘When do you think they’ll come and visit us again?’
Hannah wondered

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3 Rewrite the sentences either in direct or indirect speech.

1 ‘What time do we have to leave today?’ Emma asked.

2 She apologised for being late.

3 He phoned the bank and asked what time he could see the bank manager.

4 ‘The maths teacher never explains things properly,’ David complained.

5 ‘You had better not forget to do your homework again or you’ll be in trouble!’ Gemma warned.

6 He promised that he would think about taking me to the cinema the following weekend.

7 ‘You really should read that book, it’s absolutely fantastic!’ Laura advised.

8 ‘It was me who broke the radio,’ Matt admitted.

9 She suggested that I find out about the injections I might need before travelling to India.

10 Frank was telling me that he was going to buy a new car.

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Sentence transformation

Relative clauses
1 Join the two sentences using a relative pronoun to make one sentence.
1 This book is really good. I am reading it at the moment.

2 My aunt and uncle live in Ireland. They have two dogs.

3 The museum closes at 8 o’clock. We want to visit it.

4 The lady is from Japan. She lives next door.

5 My dad has a computer. It is very old.

6 My best friend doesn’t go to my school. She is 18.

7 I saw Steve. He went to university with you.

8 James works for a company. They sell bicycles.

9 The train goes to the airport. It leaves every 20 minutes.

10 I lost my glasses. They were on top of the television.

2 Rewrite these sentences using relative clauses. Make sure you use the verb and preposition in the original sentence and
that they sound formal!
1 Martha and William work for that company.

2 Katie is very proud of her brother, Jack.

3 They talked to those union workers about the demonstration.

4 Jenny would apply for that sort of job.

5 The children will participate in that competition.

6 Clara was listening to that radio programme.

7 Who did you discuss the issues with?

8 We’re thinking of moving to a bigger house.

9 The company made a profit on that sale.

10 You can’t rely on that type of information.

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Sentence transformation

3 Rewrite the sentences starting with the words given.

1 That man’s sister is my new English teacher.
That is the man
2 Most of the hotels we stayed in were excellent.
We stayed in a lot of hotels
3 The new office on the first floor is enormous.
The new office
4 That lady over there is my new doctor.
That is the lady
5 A friend of mine recommended a hotel for us to stay in.
That is the hotel
6 My brother lives in Oxford, a famous university town.
Oxford
7 Andrew travels a lot for his job and is often away from home.
Andrew
8 The new sports centre will offer lots of different sports and is going to open next week.
The new sports centre

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