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Quick- Reference Grammar Guide
Below are some brief points on some of the areas of grammar that you might encounter within your-day-to-day teaching:
Simple Present Tense
l Used to talk about permanent situations or about things that happen regularly, repeatedly or all the time.
l Used to talk about completed actions and events that happen as we speak or write.
l E.g. Rains falls in April; I eat breakfast at 8am every morning; Firstly, I take notes and then I read through them like this; lastly, I practice the structures like so.
Present Progressive
l Used to talk about temporary actions and situations that are going on `around now`: before, during and after the moment of speaking.
l Also used to talk about the future
l Used to talk about developing and changing situations even if they are long-lasting.
Can refer to repeated actions if happening around the time of speaking.
l E.g. Why are you acting like this?; I'm reading the newspaper; If he`s eating his breakfast then he doesn't like to be disturbed.
Simple Present Perfect
l To say that a finished action or event is connected with the present in some way.
l Give news of recent events
l Use it for past events when we are thinking of a period of time continuing up until the present.
l E.g. I have finished my lessons; My friend has gone overseas; It has given me an insight into a different world.
Present Perfect Progressive
l Used to talk about situations, which started in the past and are still going on.
Has an `up to now` focus.
l E.g. I have been writing a book; It has been cold since December.
Simple Past Tense
l To talk about many kinds of past events: short, quickly finished actions and happenings, longer situations, and repeated events.
l E.g. I ate my breakfast; I stayed there all summer; Every summer I went to the beach.
Simple Past Perfect
l Means 'earlier past' or 'completed in the past'.
l We go back when we are already talking about the past tense. This is to make it clear that something had already happened at the time we are talking about.
l E.g. I realised that we had met before; I had learnt of his promotion before I left work for the day;
Past Continous/Progressive
l To say that something was in progress (going on) around a particular past time.
l Used for temporary actions and situations.
l E.g. I was swimming at 11 o'clock yesterday; They were dancing until the early hours of the morning.
Modal Auxialiary Verbs
l Used before infinitives of other verbs and add meaning connected with certainty or obligation and freedom to act.
l Modal verbs have no s in the third person.
l After modal auxiliary verbs, we generally use the infinitive without to of other verbs. Exceptions are *
l Modal verbs DO NOT have infinitives or participles and do not normally have past forms.
l Modal verbs convey either: degrees of certainty or obligation, freedom to act.
l These verbs are: can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must, ought*.
l Need* ,dare* and expression 'had better' can sometimes be used like modal auxiliary verbs too.
l E.g. I can meet you there this evening; I might be late; I will be alone; you should wait for me; I need to* eat before I leave; I ought to* let them know.
Countable/ Uncountable nouns
l Countable nouns: names of separate objects, people, ideas etc. which can be counted
l Uncountable nouns: names of materials, liquids, abstract qualities, collections etc.
l E.g. a dog; 2 trees; a fact; weather; water; rice; news
Question tags?
l They are small questions that often come at the end of a sentence in speech, and sometimes in formal writing.
l Used to check whether something is true, or to ask for agreement.
l Used after affirmative and negative sentences, but not after questions.
This，That, These, Those
l Can be used as determiners with nouns that refer to either people or things.
l When used as pronouns without nouns, they normally only refer to things.
l This etc. can be used as pronouns when we are identifying people.
l This/these used to talk about people and things close to the speaker.
l That/those used to talk about people and things which are more distant from the speaker or not present.
Basic prepositions (In/At/To/On/Under/By/Onto/Into etc.)
l Prepositions of Place
E.g. The vase is on table (preposition of place);
E.g. The show is at the theatre (preposition of place)
E.g. The milk is in the refrigerator (preposition of place)
l Prepositions of Time
E.g. The show starts at 3pm (preposition of time)
E.g. I'll be there by 7pm (preposition of time)
E.g. I'll see you in 5 minutes (preposition of time)
Some, Any
l Refer to an indefinite quantity or number.
l Some is used in affirmative clauses.
l Any is used in questions and negatives.
l Some is used for positive replies.
l Any is used in affirmative clauses after never/hardly/without/little
l Some/Any used in if clauses.
l E.g. There are some apples in the bowl; Are there any oranges in the kitchen? There are never any matches left; They left without any bags; Some people think so; IF I had some I would give them to you; IF I knew any of them I would introduce you.
Much/Many
l Much used with singular nouns.
l Many used with plurals.
l Much/Many + noun
l Much/Many of + determiner + noun
l Much/Many can be used without a noun.
l Used mostly in questions and negative clauses.
l E.g. there was not much sun; How many people were there?; He didn't have much to say.
There is/ There are
l Used as a preparatory subject in sentences to say that something exists ( or does not exist) somewhere ( the real subject comes after the verb).
l There is used for singular subjects
l There are used for plural subjects.
l E.g. There are many boats on the Thames; There is a river down there
Always, Often, Sometimes, Never
l Always used to talk about things which happen very often (perhaps more often than expected), but which are unexpected or unplanned.
l Often used to mean 'frequently, on different occasions'.
l Sometimes used to mean 'on some occasions', 'more than once' (past, present or future).
l Never used to mean 'not ever'- usually followed by the present perfect/ past simple or imperative form of the verb.
My, Your, His, Her, Its, Our, Their
l Used at the beginning of noun phrases. They are not adjectives although they are sometimes referred to as 'possessive adjectives'.
l E.g. My bag is in your car; Their house is in the countryside; It was my understanding that you would be there.
I, Me, You, He, Him, She, Her, It, We, Us, They, Them
l Called `personal pronouns`
l Used when it is not necessary to use or repeat more exact noun phrases.
l It, They, Them used to refer to things as well as people.
l One is also used as a personal pronoun.
l Who is an interrogative personal pronoun.
l E.g. I gave it to him; They took it from them; One does what one is told to do; Who left before 6 o'clock yesterday?
Telling the time
l British people use minutes past/to for times between the 5 min division. E.g. It`s 3 minutes past four; It's 2 minutes to twelve.
l Expression o'clock is only used on the hour. E.g. It's 3 o'clock.
l Past is often dropped from half past in informal speech. E.g. It's half five now.
l In the USA after is often used instead of past. E.g. It's ten past/after six.
l 24-hour clock is used mainly in timetables, programmes and official announcements.
l In ordinary speech, people usually use the 12-hour clock.
Definite,/Indefinite articles
l A/an is called the `indefinite article`- i.e. not known to either listener/speaker
l The is called the `definite article`- i.e. known to both listener/speaker.
l Some/Any are often used as the plural of a/an.
l E.g. There was a car parked over there; There was an art exhibition
l E.g. I went to see the doctor this morning.
Comparatives and Superlatives
l Comparatives used to compare one person, thing or action, event or group with another person thing etc.
l Superlatives used compare somebody/something with the whole group that he/she/it belongs to.
l E.g. Tom's taller (comparative) than his two brothers; Tom's the tallest (superlative) of the 3 boys; Your accent is better than mine; Your accent is the best in the whole class; You were luckier than they were; You were the luckiest of the lot.
The above is courtesy of Michael Swan: "Practical English Usage"(1995)
for comprehensive grammar point explanations
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