ENGLISH GRAMMAR BASICS IN A NUTSHELL

By Bibi Baxter

(An overview for native & non-native speakers of English)

SECTION 1

The above sentence becomes a CLAUSE when it is not the only one in the sentence, eg: 

SECTION 2

• To find the adverb, ask HOW did he VERB (how did he eat?  answer: greedily)

• To find the object of the sentence ask WHAT did he VERB (what did he eat?  answer: the bone)

• To find the subject of the sentence ask WHO/WHAT VERB OBJECT (what ate the bone?  Answer:  The dog)

• To find the verb, ask WHAT did he do to THE OBJECT (what did he do to the bone?  Answer:  he ate it.)

SECTION 3

 RELATED PAGES ON THIS WEBSITE

• Adjectives

• Pronouns

• Nouns:  Anagram Cupboard

• Practice:  Using text

• Practice:  Using music

SECTION 4

VERBS-1: Transitive & Intransitive Verbs

Verbs are words which describe mental or physical actions or feelings, etc.:  eg: wonder, walk, hate, etc.  Verbs are usually preceded by a subject, but not always followed by an object, eg:

VERBS-3:  Tenses Overview

The following 12 tense names are not taught in English schools, but are necessary when non-native speakers are learning English.   Most native speakers of English learn and use the tenses naturally and could not explain how or when they are used, because they have not learnt English grammatically.

TENSE NAME

EXAMPLES

• Simple Present Tense

• I/we/you/they eat

• he/she/it eats 

• I/we/you/they do not eat 

• he/she/it does not eat

• Simple Past Tense

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they ate
• I/he/she/it/we/you/they did not eat

• Simple Future

•   I/he/she/it/we/you/they will (not) eat

• Present Continuous

•  I am (not) eating
• he/she/it is (not) eating
•  we/you/they are (not) eating

• Past Continuous:    

• I/he/she/it was (not) eating
• we/you/they were (not) eating

• Future Continuous:   

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they will (not) be eating

• Present Perfect 

• I/we/you/they have (not) eaten
• he/she/it has (not) eaten

• Past Perfect

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they had (not) eaten

• Future Perfect

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they will (not) have eaten

• Present Perfect Continuous

• I/we/you/they have (not) been eating     
• he/she/it has (not) been eating

• Past Perfect Continuous

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they had (not) been eating

• Future Perfect Continuous 

• I/he/she/it/we/you/they will (not) have been eating

FOR NON-NATIVE SPEAKERS OF ENGLISH

MASTERING THE TENSES

The tenses are extremely important in the English language.  Efficient use of the tenses can only be acquired through constant practice.  For non-native speakers, another presentation layout of the tenses can be accessed, using this link  Tenses Diagram  (The same colour scheme is used to illustrate the different components of the tenses)

The present perfect tense causes many difficulties for non-native speakers of English, as their own languages often contain a similar-looking tense (eg: j'ai mangé, ich habe gesehen, etc), but the way the tense is used is quite different.  Refer to Speaking Tips for help in avoiding the use of the present perfect.

VERBS-4:  Conjugating Tenses

(AUXILIARY VERBS & MODAL AUXILIARIES)

In order to make the above tenses, it is necessary to combine more than one verb,

EG: the PRESENT PERFECT    (have eaten) is made up of two verbs (HAVE/EAT)

EAT is the MAIN VERB, because that is the action which is being talked about.

HAVE is referred to as the AUXILIARY VERB, because it is only necessary to complete the formation of the PRESENT PERFECT tense.

The only ORDINARY VERBS used as auxiliaries are: 

• DO (do/does/did)

• HAVE (have/has/had)

• BE (am/is/are/was/were/be/been)

There are also MODAL AUXILIARIES which can be interchanged

• may

• might

• will

• must

• should 

eg:  I will/may/might/must/should be eating dinner tonight

RELATED PAGES ON THIS WEBSITE

• Irregular Verb List

• Tense Diagrams

• Grammar: Pronouns

• Grammar: Tenses

• Grammar: Adjectives

• Grammar: Queries

• Practice (listed grammatically)

• Practice using text

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This website contains mostly British-English spellings. Most American software does not recognise/recognize all British-English spellings

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