ENGLISH GRAMMAR BASICS

Use the Semicolon to Join Two Ideas

When it comes to a list of grammar rules, you have to include the scariest of punctuation marks. It might look funny, but don’t be afraid of the semicolon; it’s the easiest thing in the world to use! Say you want to join two ideas but can’t figure out or can’t be bothered to use a coordinating conjunction. The two ideas can be separate sentences, but you think that they are so closely connected; they really should be one. Use a semicolon.

• Mary’s dog is hyperactive; it won’t stop barking or sit still.
• My heart is like a cup of Lapsang Souchong tea; it’s bitter and smoky.
• Mary has to walk her dog every day; it is the most hyperactive dog anyone has ever seen.

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THE PERFECT TENSES.

PRESENT PERFECT:  PRESENT PERFECT WORKSHEET

PAST PERFECT:  PAST PERFECT WORKSHEET

FUTURE PERFECT:  FUTURE PERFECT WORKSHEET

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Use the Simple Present Tense for Habitual Actions

Simple present is the tense you use for any habitual action. For example, the things you always do or do every Tuesday are described with the simple present, which just means you pick the basic form of any verb.

• I run to Shelly’s every other day.
• I walk Mary’s dog on Wednesday.
• Mary and I drink tea every Tuesday together.

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Use the Present Progressive Tense for Current Action

The present progressive tense is for anything that is happening right now. All of the progressive tenses are easy to spot because their verbs always end with -ing and get a helping verb. A helping verb is there so we know who and when the sentence is talking about. In the present progressive, the helping verbs are the present tense conjugations of “to be.”

• I am drinking Lapsang Souchong tea.
• The barking dogs outside are driving me crazy.
• Mary is playing with her hyperactive dog.

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THE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE TENSES

THE PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:  Present Perfect Progressive WORKSHEET

THE PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:  Past Perfect Progressive WORKSHEET

THE FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:  Future Perfect Progressive WORKSHEET

THE PERFECT TENSES REVIEW SHEET  Verb-Tense-Review-2_The-Perfect Tenses

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Add -ed to Verbs for the Past Tense

When we talk about the past, we have to add an -ed to regular verbs to make the past tense form. Irregular verbs are tricky and have their own sets of rules, but most of the time, you make it past tense by adding -ed.

• She walked the dog to the park.
• The dogs stopped barking two seconds ago, and I am feeling better.
• Mary played fetch with her hyperactive dog.

REGULAR AND IRREGULAR VERBS

REGULAR VERBS EXERCISE SHEET:  

IRREGULAR VERBS EXERCISE SHEET:

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Use Present Perfect for the Unfinished Past

The present perfect can be confusing for some, but it is one of the most important rules of grammar. For example, when people talk about things that have already happened but consider the time in which they occurred to be unfinished, they use the present perfect with a helping verb. The helping verb for the present perfect is the present tense conjugation of “to have.”

Use Present Perfect Progressive for Unfinished Action and Past

When the action, as well as the time, is considered unfinished, the verb loads up on present perfect form helping verbs (“to be” and “to have”) and changes to the progressive form. When you use this form, it looks like these examples.

• Western countries have been waging wars in the Middle East for thousands of years.
• I have been drinking tea all day.
• Mary’s dog has been barking like crazy since it was born.

Use Past Perfect for the First of Two Past Actions

When two things happen in the past, we have to mark which one happened first. The one that happened first changes to the past perfect form and gets the helping verb “had.”

• By the time I drank one cup of Lapsang Souchong, Mary’s dog had barked a million times.
• I had not yet eaten breakfast when Mary walked her dog.
• He could not pay for lunch because he had lost his wallet.

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Important Rules of Grammar

Understanding and consistently following the basic English grammar rules will help you speak and write English correctly and with minimal hesitation. And it’s one of the key steps to becoming proficient with the English language. See more English grammar fun by checking out 10 examples of bad grammar.

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Conditionals

Prototypical conditional sentences in English are those of the form “If X, then Y”. The clause X is referred to as the antecedent, while the clause Y is called the consequent. A conditional is understood as expressing its consequent under the temporary hypothetical assumption of its antecedent.

Conditionals Chart

First-Conditional worksheet

First Conditonal Stories

Second Conditionals Worksheet

Second-Conditional-Stories

Third conditional sheet

Third-Conditional-Stories

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Plural Nouns

PLURAL NOUNS   Click this link to see the rules about plural nouns

Most singular nouns are made plural by simply putting an -s at the end. There are many different rules regarding pluralization depending on what letter a noun ends in. Irregular nouns do not follow plural noun rules, so they must be memorized or looked up in the dictionary.  There are many plural noun rules, and because we use nouns so frequently when writing, it’s important to know all of them! The correct spelling of plurals usually depends on what letter the singular noun ends in.

To make regular nouns plural, add ‑s to the end.

cat – cats

house – houses

2 If the singular noun ends in ‑s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z, add ‑es to the end to make it plural.

truss – trusses

bus – buses

marsh – marshes

lunch – lunches

tax – taxes

blitz – blitzes

3 In some cases, singular nouns ending in -s or -z, require that you double the -s or -z prior to adding the -es for pluralization.

fez – fezzes

gas –gasses (note that gases is also an acceptable, and more commonly used, spelling of this plural noun)

4 If the noun ends with ‑f or ‑fe, the f is often changed to ‑ve before adding the -s to form the plural version.

wife – wives

wolf – wolves

Exceptions:

roof – roofs

belief – beliefs

chef – chefs

chief – chiefs

5 If a singular noun ends in ‑y and the letter before the -y is a consonant, change the ending to ‑ies to make the noun plural.

city – cities

puppy – puppies

6 If the singular noun ends in -y and the letter before the -y is a vowel, simply add an -s to make it plural.

ray – rays

boy – boys

7 If the singular noun ends in ‑o, add ‑es to make it plural.

potato – potatoes

tomato – tomatoes

Exceptions:

photo – photos

piano – pianos

halo – halos

With the unique word volcano, you can apply the standard pluralization for words that end in -o or not. It’s your choice! Both of the following are correct:

volcanoes

volcanos

8 If the singular noun ends in ‑us, the plural ending is frequently ‑i.

cactus – cacti

focus – foci

9 If the singular noun ends in ‑is, the plural ending is ‑es.

analysis – analyses

ellipsis – ellipses

10 If the singular noun ends in ‑on, the plural ending is ‑a.

phenomenon – phenomena

criterion – criteria

11 Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized.

sheep – sheep

series – series

species – species

deer –deer

You need to see these nouns in context to identify them as singular or plural. Consider the following sentence:

However, when it comes to fish, things can get a little complicated.

Plural Noun Rules for Irregular Nouns

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary.

child – children

goose – geese

man – men

woman – women

tooth – teeth

foot – feet

mouse – mice

person – people

Plural noun FAQs

What is a plural noun?

A plural noun is the form of a noun used to show there are more than one. Most nouns simply add –s or –es to the end to become plural.

What is an example of a plural noun?

“Kids” is the plural noun form of “kid.” Some nouns have an irregular plural form; for instance, the plural noun of “child” is “children,” not “childs.”

What is the difference between singular and plural nouns?

Singular nouns represent only one thing, but plural nouns represent more than one. If someone stands alone we call them a “person” (singular), but if there’s more than one person, we call them “people” (plural).

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When to double the final consonant of a word before adding a suffix (ed or ing)

RULE:

In a word with 1 syllable, double the final consonant ONLY if the word ends in 1 vowel + 1 consonant.

In a word with 2 or more syllables, double the final consonant ONLY if the word ends in 1 vowel + 1 consonant AND the final syllable is stressed. At the end of a word, don’t count w, x, or y as a consonant.

FOR EXAMPLE:

Question:  When do you double the consonant at the end of a verb, before adding –ed or –ing?

Answer:  When a verb ends in a consonant, sometimes the consonant is doubled before adding the –ed or –ing ending, like this:

stop –> stopped, stopping          (one syllable) 

• Lucy stopped the car.
• Why was Lucy stopping the car?

And sometimes the final consonant is not doubled, like this:

shift –> shifted, shifting

• Sandy shifted the gears.
• Sandy was shifting the gears too much.

To know when to double the final consonant, follow the rules below.

RULES

1. In a word with 1 syllable, double the final consonant ONLY if the word ends in 1 vowel + 1 consonant.
2. In a word with 2 or more syllables, double the final consonant ONLY if the word ends in 1 vowel + 1 consonant AND the final syllable is stressed.
3. At the end of a word, don’t count w, x, or y as a consonant.

APPLYING THE RULES

These verbs get a doubled final consonant:

• tip / He tipped the waiter. /He isn’t tipping the waiter.  (single consonant)
• cram / The students crammed for the test. /The students were cramming for the test.  (single consonant)
• regret / Carl regretted the things he had said. /Carl was regretting the things he had said. (two consonants)

These verbs do not get a doubled final consonant:

• vote –> voted, voting (vote ends in a vowel)
• instruct –> instructed, instructing (instruct ends in 2 consonants)
• listen –> listened, listening (listen has 2 syllables and the final syllable is not stressed)

CONCLUSION:

Double the final consonant only when you have a one syllable short word that ends in a single consonant.

FOR EXAMPLE:  

1. Run   +   ning
2. Drip   +   ping
3. Swim   +   ming

“Run” is a short one syllable verb that ends in a consonant so add  “n” and “ing” RUNNING

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