Grammar reference
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- Present simple The base form of the verb, with -s for he / she / it. One form, nine jobs: learn them one rule at a time.
- Linking verbs Verbs like be, look, feel and get join the subject to a description: the word after them is an adjective or a noun, not an adverb.
- There is / there are Say that something exists or is somewhere: there is + one thing or an uncountable noun, there are + more than one.
- Can One form for every person, followed by the base verb. Use it for ability, possibility, requests, offers and permission.
- Articles A / an, the, or no article: the choice depends on whether the listener knows which one you mean.
- Nouns: plural and uncountable Countable nouns have a plural (-s, -es or an irregular form); uncountable nouns have no plural and no a / an.
- Pronouns Pronouns replace nouns: I and me, mine, myself, someone. Each form has its own place in the sentence.
- Possessives My, your, his, her, our, their before a noun; mine, yours, hers, ours, theirs without one; 's for owners that are nouns.
- This, that, these, those This / these point to things that are near; that / those to things that are far. The word matches the noun: one or many.
- Adjectives Adjectives describe nouns. They never change for number, and they have fixed places: before a noun, or after be, look, feel and similar verbs.
- Questions In English a question changes the word order: the verb or helper goes before the subject. With verbs other than be and modals you add do / does / did.
- Negation Add not (n't) after be, have and modal verbs; with other verbs use don't, doesn't or didn't + the base verb. One negative word per sentence.
- Prepositions Prepositions link a noun, a pronoun or an -ing verb to the rest of the sentence. They show time, place and movement, and many words need a fixed one.
- Some, any, much and many Quantifiers tell how much or how many: some, any, much, many, a few, a little, enough. Which one fits depends on the noun — countable (books) or uncountable (water).
- Present continuous am / is / are + verb-ing. It shows what is happening now or around now, not what happens every day.
- Past simple One form for finished actions in the past: verb + -ed, or an irregular form. With did, the verb goes back to the base form.
- Will Will + the base verb, the same for every person. Use it for decisions made now, promises, offers, predictions and results after if.
- Adverbs Adverbs add information to verbs and adjectives: how often, where, when, how. Their position in the sentence is fixed, and the form depends on the word they describe.
- Conjunctions: and, but, because, although Conjunctions join words and clauses: and adds, but contrasts, or gives a choice, because gives a reason and so gives a result.
- Verb + to or -ing When two verbs go together, the second one is either to + base verb or the -ing form. The first verb decides which one.
- Phrasal verbs A verb with a small word (up, off, in, to) often has its own meaning. Some take an object, some do not, and some let the object sit in the middle.
- Would Would is for wishes, polite questions and imagined situations. One form for every person, and the verb after it is always the base form.
- Imperatives The base form of the verb, with no subject, to give instructions, say what not to do and make suggestions.
- Be going to Be (am / is / are) + going to + base verb, for plans and for predictions based on what you see now.
- Past continuous Was / were + verb + -ing, for actions that were in progress at a time in the past.
- Present perfect Have / has + past participle, for experiences and for the past that still matters now.
- Comparatives and superlatives Add -er or more to compare two things, and the + -est or the most for the top of a group.
- Could One form for every person, followed by the base verb. Use it for polite requests, suggestions, ability in the past and things that are possible.
- Should One form for every person, followed by the base verb. Use it for advice, what is right, what you expect, and regrets about the past.
- Must and have to Two ways to say something is necessary. Have to changes like a normal verb (has to, had to, don't have to); must has one form and no past.
- May and might One form for every person, followed by the base verb. Use them when something is possible but not sure, and may I to ask for permission.
- Shall Shall goes before I or we, followed by the base verb. Use it to offer help, make suggestions and ask what to do.
- Be able to, be allowed to, be supposed to Be + able / allowed / supposed + to + base verb. Be changes with the person and the tense, and the verb after to stays in the base form.
- Future continuous Will be + verb-ing: an action that will be in progress at a certain time in the future.
- Passive voice In the passive the thing that receives the action becomes the subject: be + past participle. Use it when the action matters more than who does it.
- Conditionals An if-clause and a main clause. The tense in the if-clause shows how real the situation is: present for real ones, past for imagined ones.
- Relative clauses A relative clause adds information about a noun with who, which, that, where or when: the man who lives next door.
- Comparing: than, the same as, like, as if Beyond -er and more, English compares with a whole clause after than, with the same as and like, with as if, and with so … that for results.
- Purpose: to, for, so that Say why you do something with to + base verb. Use so that + clause when the reason has its own subject, and for + noun or -ing for what a thing is used for.
- Exclamations What or how, then the word you want to stress, ending with an exclamation mark. What goes with a noun, how goes with an adjective.
- Reported speech Reported speech tells what someone said without quoting them. The tense usually moves one step back, and the pronouns and time words change to fit the new situation.
- That-clauses After verbs like think, know, hope and say, and after adjectives like sure and glad, you can put a whole sentence. That is optional, and the sentence keeps statement word order.
- Linking words in writing Words like first, also, however and unfortunately show how your sentences connect. Each has its own place in the sentence and its own punctuation.
- Maybe, probably, definitely and 'it's possible to' Adverbs like maybe, probably and definitely say how sure you are. Their place in the sentence matters, and it's possible / necessary to + verb gives an opinion about an action.
- Fronting for focus Put the part you want to stress at the start of the sentence. The rest keeps its normal word order: subject + verb.
- Adjectives with to and that Many adjectives are followed by a to-infinitive or a that-clause: it is easy to learn, I am sure that he is right.
- Need Need to is an ordinary verb: it takes -s and uses do / does / did. Needn't is a modal: no -s, no to, and the base verb follows it directly.
- Past perfect Had + past participle, for something that had already happened before another moment in the past.
- Present perfect continuous Have / has been + verb-ing for an activity that started in the past and goes on now, or has just stopped.
- Past perfect continuous Had been + verb-ing. Use it for an action that had been going on before a moment in the past.
- Get Passive Say get + past participle when something happens to a person or thing, often by accident. It is informal and common in speech.
- Ought to One form for every person, always with to and the base verb. It means the same as should: advice, what is right and what you expect.
- Used to Used to + base verb for habits and states in the past that are not true now. One form for every person; in questions and negatives it becomes use to.
- Future in the Past Future in the past is a future seen from a moment in the past: she said she would call, I was about to leave. For plans that did not happen, see was going to in Going to.
- Be likely to and other be + to expressions Some adjectives with be work like modal verbs when they are followed by to + base verb: be likely to, be bound to, be meant to, be obliged to.
- Future with be: about to, due to, to Three set phrases with be talk about the future: be about to (very soon), be due to (scheduled) and be to (arranged or ordered). Each is followed by to and the base verb.
- Future perfect Will have + past participle says that something will be finished before a point in the future. Will have been + -ing adds how long it will have been going on.
- Have and get something done Use have or get + object + past participle when someone else does a job for you, and get + person + to + verb when you make someone do something.
- Dare Dare means to be brave enough to do something. As a modal it has no -s and no to (daren't go); as an ordinary verb it takes to (dares to go, didn't dare to go).