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1. Change the condition or aspect.

1. A conditional statement indicates possibility or necessity.
To make conditional statements regarding the present, use: “can”, “shall”, “will” or “may” with the verb.
To make conditional statements regarding a hypothetical scenario, use: “could”, “should”, “would” or “might”.
To make conditional statements regarding a hypothetical scenario in the past, use: “could’ve”, “should’ve”, “would’ve” or “might’ve”.

    Examples:
    Present: He “can win” the race.
    Hypothetical: If he hydrates enough, he “could win”.
    Past: If he practiced more, he “could’ve won”.

2. Aspect indicates whether the action is perfect (completed) or progressive (continuing).
-To make a verb perfect, add have/has/had before the verb. Add -ed after.
-To make a verb progressive, add am/is/are/be before the verb. Add -ing after.
-To make a verb past progressive, add was/were/be before the verb. Add -ing after.

    Examples:
    Perfect (completed): I “have studied” Geography.*
    Progressive (continuing): I “am studying” Chemistry.
    Past progressive: Last year, I “was studying” Marketing.

Note: *Use the perfect aspect if you want to emphasize that the action was completed. Otherwise, just saying the past tense, “I studied geography”, is fine.

3. You can add aspect to conditional statements.

    Examples:
    By tomorrow, she “will help” you.
    → By tomorrow, she “will have helped” you.
    At that school, he “could study” engineering.
    → At that school, he “could be studying” engineering.

4. To add emphasis to a verb in a simple (non-conditional/non-command/non-interrogative) sentence, add does/do/did before the verb.

    Example:
    I remember them.
    → I “do” remember them.

The main action of any sentence is usually in a verb phrase. Make it meaningful.


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