Grammar and Usage

Grammar is the system of rules that lets us build correct, precise and natural English, and in the Grade 12 Compulsory English paper it is tested through one controlled grammar question that mixes several usage points into a single task. You may be asked to put verbs in the right tense, change the voice, turn direct speech into indirect, add a question tag, complete a conditional, rewrite a sentence with a causative, join ideas with the right connective, or transform a sentence while keeping its meaning. The examiner is checking one thing: can you apply a rule accurately and write the whole answer in full. Grade 12 sits a step above Grade 11, so alongside tenses and articles you are expected to control causatives, question tags, cohesive devices and more demanding transformations. This chapter gathers every usage point you need and gives the method for each.

The single most useful habit is to read the whole sentence before you write anything. Almost every grammar item contains a signal, a time word, a linking word, a word like yet, unless or ago, that decides the answer for you. Find the signal, apply the matching rule, and write the answer as a complete, correctly punctuated sentence.

Tenses

A tense shows the time of an action (past, present or future) and its aspect (simple, continuous, perfect or perfect continuous). You do not need to name the tense in the exam; you need to choose the form that the sentence's time signal demands.

The present simple is used for habits, routines and general or universal truths, and it takes the third-person s after he, she, it or a single name: "Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius" and "She catches the six o'clock bus every morning." The present continuous (am/is/are + verb-ing) describes an action happening now or a temporary arrangement, and is signalled by now, at the moment, look, listen, currently: "The committee is currently reviewing the proposal." The present perfect (have/has + past participle) links a past action to the present and is signalled by yet, already, just, ever, never, so far, recently, since and for: "She has worked here since 2078" and "They have not submitted the report yet." The present perfect continuous (have/has been + verb-ing) stresses the duration of an activity still going on: "It has been raining for three hours."

The past simple is for a finished action at a definite past time, forced by yesterday, ago, last week, in 2070, then: "The company launched the product last year." The past continuous (was/were + verb-ing) sets a background action, often interrupted by a shorter past action: "I was cooking when the phone rang." The past perfect (had + past participle) marks the earlier of two past actions: "The plane had taken off before we reached the airport." The future is expressed with will + base verb for predictions and instant decisions and with going to for plans and intentions.