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English Grammar Reference Lessons

This is a list of grammar lessons arranged in different categories:

1. English tenses,

2. clauses,

3. other grammar points.

Study the lessons and then click on the exercises links at the bottom of the pages to
check your comprehension!

Enjoy learning!

English Tenses -Review

Tenses - Review
Examples of tenses
The imperative
Simple present ( "to be")
Simple present (continued)
Present continuous
Simple Past ("to be")
Simple past (continued)
Spelling of the -ed forms (S.Past)
Past continuous
Future plan
Simple future
Future continuous
Present perfect simple
Present perfect continuous
For and since with the present perfect
Past perfect simple
Past perfect continuous
Future perfect simple
Future perfect continuous
Subjunctive
Conditional simple
Conditional progressive
Conditional perfect
Clauses
What are clauses?
The sentence
Adjective clauses
Adverb clauses
Noun clauses
Conditional sentences
If or Unless
Relative clauses
Concessive clause: although/in spite of
Appositive
Either / or and neither / nor
As and like
Who and whom
Purpose
Parallelism
Gerund and infinitive
The infinitive
The gerund
Gerund / infinitive
 Modals
Modals
Modals in the present and past
Must and have to
Shall and will
Object and predicate
Predicate
Direct and indirect object
Parts of Speech
Parts of speech
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives
Participial adjectives
Placement of coordinate and cumulative adjectives
Possessive adjectives
Demonstrative adjectives
Adjectival Nouns
Comparatives and superlatives
Adverbs
Adverbs of frequency
Position of adverbs
Nouns
The noun
Collective nouns
Noun phrases
Plurals
Masculine and feminine nouns
Countable and uncountable nouns
Subject
Dummy subject there
Pronouns
Pronouns
Personal pronouns
Object pronouns
Reflexive pronouns
Possessive pronouns
Relative pronouns
Verbs
The verb
Transitive and intransitive verbs
Finite verb
Non-finite verb
Auxiliary verbs
Linking verbs
Causative verbs
State and dynamic verbs
Phrasal verbs
What are irregular verbs?
List of irregular verbs
Prepositions
Prepositions
Prepositions of place
Prepositions of time
Other kinds of prepositions
Prepositions: at, in and on
Conjunctions and interjections
Conjunctions
Interjections
Determiners
Determiners
Articles
Possessive adjectives
Demonstratives
Quantifiers
Some / any
much / many
A little / a few
Fewer or less
Questions
Yes-no questions
Wh-questions
Tag Questions
Like in questions
Other Grammar Points
Reported speech
Free indirect speech
Passive voice
If only/I wish
Used to, be used to, get used to
Too and enough
Intensifiers
Genitive case
Negation
There, their, they're
Contraction
Clipping
Blending
Abbreviations
Acronyms
GRAMMAR
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Review of English tenses

This is a review of the English tenses. The table is provided to help recall the form
and use of the different English tenses studied in previous lessons.
 Simple Present
Affirmative She drinks.
Negative She does not drink.
Interrogative Does she drink?
Form I, you we they play | he, she, it plays

action in the present taking place once, never or several times

facts
Uses
actions taking place one after another

action set by a timetable or schedule

Present Progressive
Affirmative He is reading.
Negative He is not reading.
Interrogative Is he reading?
Form To be (in the simple present) + verb + ing

action taking place at the moment of speaking

Uses
action arranged for the future

Simple Past
Affirmative I cried.
Negative I did not cry
Interrogative Did I cry?
Regular verbs: Verb + ed | Irregular verbs: forms differ and should be
Form
learned by heart. This is a list of irregular verbs
Uses
action in the past taking place once, never or several times
 actions taking place one after another

Past Progressive
Affirmative He was driving.
Negative He was not driving.
Interrogative Was he driving?
Form to be (in the simple past) + verb + ing

action going on at a certain time in the past

Uses actions taking place at the same time

action in the past that is interrupted by another action

Present Perfect Simple

Affirmative They have slept.
Negative They have not slept.
Interrogative Have they slept?
Have / has + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed |
Form Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by
heart. This is a list of irregular verbs)

emphasis is on the result (not the duration)

action that started in the past & is still going on

Uses
action that stopped recently

finished action that has an influence on the present

Present Perfect Progressive

Affirmative He has been thinking.
Negative He has not been thinking.
Interrogative Has he been thinking?
Form have or has + been + verb + ing
Uses
putting emphasis on the course or duration (not the result)

action that recently stopped or is still going on

 finished action that influenced the present

Past Perfect Simple

Affirmative She had won.
Negative She had not won.
Interrogative Had she won?
had + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed | Past
Form participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by heart.
This is a list of irregular verbs)

action taking place before a certain time in the past

Uses sometimes interchangeable with past perfect progressive

putting emphasis only on the fact (not the duration)

Past Perfect Progressive

Affirmative He had been waiting.
Negative He had not been waiting.
Interrogative Had he been waiting?
Form had + been + verb + ing

action taking place before a certain time in the past

Uses sometimes interchangeable with past perfect simple

putting emphasis on the duration or course of an action

Future Simple
Affirmative I will open the door.
Negative I will not open the door.
Interrogative Will you open the door?
Form will + verb

We use the simple future for instant decisions.

We use the simple future when we predict a future situation

Uses
We use the simple future in conditional sentences type one. (More
on conditional sentences here)

Future Plan
 (going to)
Affirmative He is going to clean the car.
Negative He is not going to clean the car.
Interrogative Is he going to clean the car?
Form to be (in the simple present) + going + to + verb

to express the future when we intend to do something or have

decided to do something but did not arrange it. It is just an
Uses intention.

predictions in the future

Future Plan
(Present Progressive)
Affirmative He is traveling to Egypt next week.
Negative He is not traveling to Egypt next week.
Interrogative Is he traveling to Egypt next week?
Form to be (in the simple present) + verb + ing

when we say what we have planned and arranged to do at a specific

Uses time in the future. These are fixed plans with definite time and/or
place.

Future Progressive
Affirmative She will be listening to music.
Negative She will not be listening to music.
Interrogative Will she be listening to music?
Form will + be + verb + ing

action that is going on at a certain time in the future

Uses
action that is sure to happen in the near future

Future Perfect
Affirmative He will have spoken.
Negative He will not have spoken.
Interrogative Will he have spoken?
will + have + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed |
Form Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by
heart. This is a list of irregular verbs)

Uses action that will be finished at a certain time in the future

 Future Perfect Progressive
Affirmative You will have been studying.
Negative You will not have been studying.
Interrogative Will you have been studying?
Form will + have + been + verb + ing

action taking place before a certain time in the future

Uses
putting emphasis on the course of an action

Conditional Simple
Affirmative We would relax.
Negative We would not relax.
Interrogative Would we relax ?
Form would + verb

Uses action that might take place

Conditional Progressive
Affirmative He would be writing.
Negative He would not be writing.
Interrogative Would he be writing?
Form would + be + verb + ing

action that might take place

Uses
putting emphasis on the course / duration of the action

Conditional Perfect
Affirmative He would have written.
Negative He would not have written.
Interrogative Would he have written?
would + have + past participle (past participle of regular verbs: verb + ed |
Form Past participle of irregular verbs: forms differ and should be learned by
heart This is a list of irregular verbs)

Uses action that might have taken place in the past

Conditional Perfect Progressive

Affirmative She would have been sleeping.
Negative She would not have sleeping speaking.
Interrogative Would she have been sleeping?
 Form would + have + been + verb + ing

action that might have taken place in the past

Uses
puts emphasis on the course / duration of the action

Examples of English tenses

Exercises on tenses.

GRAMMAR

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The Simple Present

The simple present tense

This page will present the simple present tense:

its form

and its use.

Before you continue the lesson read the following passage and try to see how the
verbs are formed and used.
James is a taxi driver. He drives a taxi. But on Sundays he doesn't drive his taxi. Hestays at
home.
The verb be, drive, stay are in the simple present.
(more on the simple present of the verb to be)

The forms of the simple present

The affirmative form of the simple present:

I, you, we, they play.

He, she, it plays.

Remember the verbs in the third person singular (he,she and it) always take an "s".
For example, "he plays, she sings,it works..."

Examples:

Nancy and James speak good German.

Nancy works in a restaurant downtown.

The children play in the garden every weekend.

The interrogative form of the simple present:

Do I, you, we, they play?

Does he, she, it

Examples:

Do you speak good German?

Does Nancy work in a restaurant downtown?

The negative form of the simple present:

I, you, we,they do not play.

don't
He, she, it does not

doesn't

Examples:

No, I don't speak German.

No, she doesn't work in a restaurant downtown

The use of the simple present:

The simple present is used:

to give your opinion - I like ice cream. I don't like spicy food.

to talk about schedules - The library opens at eight. It doesn't open at 7.

to talk about daily habits (routine actions)- Sara eats a cheese for breakfast every day.
Shedoesn't eat cereal.

to give facts - The earth circles the sun. The moon doesn't circle the sun.

The spelling of the third person singular form of the simple present:

All the verbs take an "s" in the simple present when conjugated in the third person
singular (he, she, it) form:

Examples:

I visit my parents every summer holiday. But my wife visits her parents every weekend.

My brother meets his girlfriend everyday.

So the rule is:

He / she / it + Verb + S

There are however some special cases. Here are the spelling rules:

Silent e Vowel + y Consonant Verbs ending Verbs ending

 +y ino in s, z, sh, tch,ch

close = play = study = go = goes miss = misses

closes plays studies do = does buzz = buzzes
note = notes say = says marry = hatch = hatches
marries finish = finishes
teach = teaches

Examples:

She drives to work every morning.

He says he plays football on the weekends

Exception:

The verb to have changes its forms as follows:

I have two sisters and two brothers. But she has one sister and two brothers.
I have = he / she / it has

Things to remember about the simple present:

1.In the interrogative forms, we use "do" or "does".

"Do you like the house?"

"Does she go to school?"

2; Verbs never take an "s" in the the negative and interrogative forms.

"Does he speak German?"

"Do they play soccer?"

She doesn't like ice cream.

3. don't is the short form of "do not". You can say either:

I do not speak Italian, or

I don't speak Italian.

4.doesn't is the short form of "does not". you can say either:

He does not listen to jazz music, or

He doesn't listen to jazz music.

Exercises on the simple present.

GRAMMAR

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The Present Continuous / Progressive

 John is in his car. He is in his way to work.

He is driving to work
This means he is driving now: at the time of speaking
This is the present continuous.

The past continuous (progressive) tense

This page will present the present continuous:

its form

and its use.

You may also be interested by the past continuous

The form of the present continuous tense

The verb to be (in the simple present) verb + ing

The affirmative forms of the present continuous:

I am eating.

You, we, they are

re

He, she, it is

's
The interrogative forms of the present continuous
Am I eating?

Are you, we, they

Is he, she, it

The negative forms of the present continuous

I am not eating.

m not

You, we, they are not

aren't

He, she, it is not

isn't

The use of the present continuous tense

The present continuous is used to talk about actions happening at the time of
speaking.

Example:

o Where is Mary? She is having a bath. (Not she has a bath)

o What are you doing at the moment in front of your screen? Don't you know?
Well you are reading this lesson. You are learning English.

The present continuous can also be used when an action has started but hasnt
finished yet.

Example:
 o I am reading a book; its a nice book. (It means = I am not necessarily reading
it; I started reading it but I havent finished it yet

Special verbs

There are verbs which are normally not used in the present continuous.

Examples:
be, believe, belong, hate, hear, like, love, mean, prefer, remain, realize, see, seem,
smell, think, understand, want, wish

It's not correct to say:

He is wanting to buy a new car.*

You must say:

He wants to buy a new car.

Exercises on the present continuous

Listen to the song "Sailing" by Rod Stewart.