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English grammar can often be difficult for students, but there are two areas that can be especially tricky: conditional sentences and direct versus reported speech. There are a variety of different kinds of conditional, which can confuse students. There are also a lot of rules to keep in mind when changing to reported speech from direct speech, which can trip up students. It’s important for teachers to introduce these ideas carefully and slowly. There are 5 different types of conditional sentences. The Zero Conditional is used when explaining simple facts that can’t be argued. “If/when A, B.” For example, “When the temperature gets low enough, water will freeze. When the conditions of “A” are met, “B” will happen. Next is the First Conditional. This is used when talking about a “real” future situation that will most likely happen, if certain conditions are met. “If A, I will B.” “If I’m cold, I will come back for my jacket.” After the First is the Second Conditional. This is used when conveying hypothetical situations that would never happen or are extremely unlikely. “If I was A, I would B.” For example, “If I was rich, I would quit my job.” Or, “I wouldn’t go there if I were you.” Next is the third conditional. This is used when talking about hypothetical past actions, that if done could have had hypothetical past results. Since the past action never actually happened, the result could have never happened either. “If I had A-ed, I could have B-ed.” So such as, “If I had lived in France, I could have learned French.” The last type is the mixed conditional. This involves a hypothetical past action, that could have had a hypothetical present result. “If I had A-ed (past), I would be B.” For example, “If I had gone to law school, I would be very rich.” Students can often mix up these five types and their uses, so it’s crucial to give them many examples of each, and ample practice time. Reported speech can also be tough for students, since when changing to reported speech, the verb tense often changes as well. For instance, present simple becomes past simple, present continuous becomes past continuous, and so on. Past tense can also change as well. Past simple becomes past perfect, and past continuous becomes past perfect continuous. To make things even more confusing, there are some verb tenses that don’t change! These are past perfect and past perfect continuous. Not only does the tense usually change, but pronouns frequently change as well. It’s important to remember who was saying what to whom, and how that can change when reporting the speech to other people. Another issue that needs to be kept in mind is the issue of time. If someone said “I’m going to the doctor tomorrow” it wouldn’t make sense to tell someone else “tomorrow,” when you’re telling them a week later! Tomorrow becomes “the next day,” yesterday becomes “the day before,” and so on. Since there are so many parts of reported speech to pay attention to, it’s imperative that teachers introduce each topic to their students slowly and thoroughly. Time graphs can also give students an idea in their mind when forming reported speech. Conditional sentences and reported speech can be a bit daunting to students. There are many different forms of conditional sentences, as well as many rules and intricacies for reported speech. Because of this teachers should introduce these topics at a measured pace, along with clear examples and instructions. Allowing students to understand the differences and to practice making their own sentences will allow them to get a handle on these tough pieces of English grammar.