English The Easy Way

English Grammar

1. Adjectives

Adjectives are used to:

• clarify the noun
• describe the noun
• qualify someone or something
• provide more information about the noun

Adjectives usually come before the noun. 

Examples:

• The red ball.
• The big house.
• The yellow bus.

Adjectives answer one of the following questions:

• What kind
• The chocolate cookies.
• The fancy car.
• How something or someone looks
• The big cookies.
• The green car.
• The amount or size
• The five cookies.
• The two cars.
• Which one
• I want the green dress. I don't want the blue dress.
• My car is the black car. I don't know who owns the white car.

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2. Adverbs

Adverbs are used to define verbs.

• The house is partly built.
• The computer is working slowly today.

Adverbs can be used to define adjectives.

• The company my father works for is generally successful.
• There are a lot of people in the world that are shockingly materialistic.
• The floor was always uneven, it has to be fixed.

Adverbs are used to clarify other adverbs.

• The test was really hard today.
• The trains came incredibly quickly today, I was so luckey.

Adverbs can answer questions such as How? What? When? Where? and What?

• My mother always listens to the radio.
• I have to study today.
• People should exercise carefully.
• The students and teachers work closely together on the project.
• The kids are playing ball approximately10 meters from the house.
• There are many people living closely together in the city.

Adverbs can come before the subject.

• Occasionally , we go out for dinner.
• Sometimes, our teacher doesn't give us homework.

Adverbs can be placed between the subject and the main verb.

• The bus slowly moves thought the street.
• The dog quickly runs .

Adverbs can come after the verb.

• The people are treating me nicely.
• The runners ran the race quickly.

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3. Nouns

What is a noun?

The definition of a noun is a word that is used to define a person, an animal or a living object, a place, a thing or a quality.

The different types of nouns are:

Common Nouns - any noun that is not something specific or someone specific; any noun that is not a specific name of something or someone such as cat, bowl, hand, tree clock, etc

Countable Nouns - any noun that you can count; any noun that can be used with a number such as 2 cars, 1 child, 4 Euros, etc

Uncountable Nouns - any noun that you can not count; any noun that can't be used with a number, such as water, rice, money, air, etc

Collective Nouns - a noun that refers to a group such as family, police, a forest of trees, a pack of dogs, a box of cookies, etc

Proper Nouns - nouns that refer to a specific name of a person, corporation, company, product, such as IBM, Microsoft, Mr. David Green, Dr. Mary Jones, etc

Concrete Nouns - are nouns that you can smell, touch, taste, hear, or see such as an animal, a window, a table, a computer, etc

Abstract Nouns - are nouns that you can't not touch, taste, hear, see or smell such as ideas and feelings such as intelligence, love, hate, bravery, etc

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4. Determiners

Determiners are used with nouns to clarify the noun. They are used:

• to define something or someone
• The girl in the red hat.
• The dog with the long tail.
• to state the amount of people, things or other nouns
• There are four people in the room.
• There are a lot of toys on the floor.
• to state possession
• I like my car.
• That is my sisters new dress.
• to state something or someone is specific
• I want the blue pen. I do not want the black pen.
• We live in the big house at the end of the block.
• to state how things or people are distributed
• The dogs each get two cups of food.
• There are more people that live in the city.
• to state the difference between nouns
• Do you want the green car or the white car?
• Do you want the brown dog or the black dog?
• to state someone or something is not specific
• I need a blue pen. I do not care which blue pen.
• I want some cake. I do not care which cake.

The type of determiner used depends on the type of noun.

• Singular Nouns - always needs a determiner
• Plural Nouns - the determiner is optional
• Uncountable Nouns - the determiner is also optional

There are about 50 different determiners in the English language they include:

• Articles: a, an, the
• Demonstratives: this, that, these, those, which etc.
• Possessives: my, your, our, their, his, hers, whose, my friend's, our friends', etc.
• Quantifiers:few, a few, many, much, each, every, some, any etc.
• Numbers: one, two, three, twenty, forty
• Ordinals: first, second, 1st 2nd, 3rd, last, next, etc.

5. Prepositions

Prepositions have basically 2 functions.

1. The 1st function of the preposition is to connect the noun (all types of nouns) to the rest of the sentence
2. The 2nd function of the preposition is specify the position of the nouns (person or object)

There are basically 3 types of prepositions:

1. Time Prepositions - Time prepositions are used to clarify the time of that something or someone of an action. An example of time prepositions are at, on, in, while, during etc.
2. Place prepositions - specify the place someone or somebody. Example of time prepositions are: at, on, in, while, during etc
3. Direction Prepositions - Direction prepositions are used to clarify the direction of someone or something. Examples of direction prepositions are: under, over, right, left etc.

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6. Past Tense

a. The past simple verb tense is used when the:

• the action happened in the past
• the action/event is completed/finished at the time of speaking
• the time or/and place is stated or understood
• the length of the event/action is not important

Examples:

• I went to school last week.
• We did not go to English class today.
• They ate lunch at school.
• Did you miss the bus this morning.

Note:The following phrases are often used:

• yesterday -- last year
• last night -- two years
• two months -- ago
• many years -- ago
• a long time -- ago

b. The past continuous verb tense, which is also know as the past progressive tense. The past continuous verb tense is one of four tenses that are used in the past.

The past continuous verb tense is used in the following situations:

1. the action happened at a specific time
• We were studying English yesterday at 10:00 AM.
• I was sleeping yesterday at 11:00 PM.
• The girls were playing till 4:00 PM yesterday afternoon.
2. there was an interruption while performing an action
• I was eating dinner, when the phone rang.
• The dogs were sleeping, when someone came to the door.
• We were sitting in class, when the fire bell rang.
• My sister was watching television, when I came home.
3. two actions that were happening at the same time
• I was eating dinner, while John was doing the dishes.
• We were listening to music, while we were doing our homework.
• My dog was barking, while I was talking on the phone.

c. The past perfect verb tense is used:

• to state "how many"
• to clarify the order of two past non-continuous events
• to state a past action was completed before an other action
• interchangeably with the past perfect continuous verb tense
• with the exact time or an unexpected time can be stated (unlike when using the simple present prefect verb tense)

The past perfect verb tense is used to to clarify the order of two past actions.

The first action uses the simple past perfect verb tense

The second action uses that past simple verb tense.

Examples:

• I wasn't hungry when I came home from school. I had eaten on my way home from school.
• We had already left for school, when I found out that the my English class was cancelled.

The past perfect verb tense be used to state an action that occurred in the past was completed, before a 2nd action in the past started.

• I was very tired when my friends came to pick me up. I had worked all day.
• We slept only a few hours, when we had to wake up to go to school.

The past perfect tense can be used to answer the question "how many".

Examples:

• I had lived in in Europe, so many years ago.
• We had visited so many different places, before we came home.

There are many cases where the past perfect continuous verb tense can be interchangeable with the simple past perfect tense.

Examples:

• I had slept all night. - past perfect simple tense
• I had been sleeping all night. - past perfect continuous verb tense
• I have lived in this house many years. - past perfect simple tense
• I have been living in this house for many years. - past perfect continuous verb tense

d. The past perfect continuous verb tense is a one of four past tenses in English. The past perfect continuous verb tense is used to:

• represent the "past in the past"
• repeated actions
• clarify the order of 2 past actions
• answers the question "how long"
• clarifies the order of two past actions
• states that an action was in progress, when a second action stared
• represents the conclusion of an event action
• states the duration of an event, before a past action

The past perfect continuous verb tense can be used to state that an action was still in progress when the 2nd action started.

When is the past perfect continuous verb tense used?

There are 6 ways the past prefect continuous verb tense is used:

The past perfect continuous verb tense is used to state the first action had been happening over a period of time, when more then one or more actions occurred.

When 2 actions happened in the past, the past perfect continuous verb tense is used to clarify which action happened first.

• The first action is clarified by using the past perfect continuous verb tense.
• The second action is clarified by using the past simple verb tense.

Examples:

• Mary looked tired. I could see that she had been studying for her English test recently.
• The children were soaking wet.I knew they had been swimming in the lake.

The past perfect continuous verb tense is used to state actions happen repeatedly.

Examples:

• The bus has been coming late everyday this week.
• The teacher has been giving us exams every week for the past few weeks.

The past perfect continuous verb tense is used to make conclusions.

Examples:

• There was a leak in the pipes, that is why the water bill had been getting higher and higher each month.
• The teacher looks very tired. She has been marking test all day.

The past perfect continuous verb tense is also used to state a past action that occurred over a period of time.

Example:

• I have been playing the violin, since I was a child.
• We have been working in the university for many years.

There are many cases where the past perfect continuous verb tense can be interchangeable with the simple past perfect verb tense.

Examples:

• I had slept all night. - past perfect verb tense
• I had been sleeping all night. - past perfect continuous verb tense
• I have lived in this house many years. - - past perfect verb tense
• I have been living in this house for many years. - past perfect continuous verb tense

The past perfect continuous verb tense can be used to answer the question "how long".

Examples:

• How long had you been waiting for the bus to come?
• How many year had you been studying to be a teacher?

Tips:

The past perfect continuous verb tense is also known as "past perfect progressive tense".

The past perfect continuous verb tense is used in English is used to emphasize:

• the action/activity
• the length of time

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7. Present Tense
a. The present simple is the tense used to describe actions that are timeless. The time and/or place is stated or understood. 

The present simple tense is used in the following situations:

• permanent actions -
• actions that happen on a regular basis
• facts
• statements that are always true
• to state existence
• to state feeling
• static verbs
• general actions

	Past	Present	Future
I go to school everyday	x	x	x
I live in New York.	x	x	x
Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius	x	x	x
I love to go to my English class.	x	x	x
This is a pen.	x	x	x

Note: The x represents the time of the action.
Note: the present simple tense is also used in other parts of English grammar, such as conditional statements and the future tense.

b. Present Continuous Verb Tense - is used to for actions that are happening

Now - at the time of speaking

• I am going to the store now.
• We are eating now.
• The girls are sleeping now.

Temporary Actions - actions that are not permanent

• I am learning to drive a car. I hope soon I will have my drives license.
• My dog is growing very fast. In a few months she will stop growing.
• We are painting the house. It will take a few weeks.

Planned Future Actions - actions that are planned for the future

• We are going to the mall next week.
• My sister is not going to school on Friday.
• The girls are going to the beach this weekend.

c. When is the present perfect tense used?

The present perfect tenseThe present perfect tense is also sometimes called the present perfect simple tense. The auxillary verb "have" is always used with the present perfect tense.

The present prefect tense is used in the following situations:

The exact time of the action is not known, we know about when something happened, but not the exact time.

• I have been to New York.
• We have been married a long time.
• Have you gone to France?

Actions that are not finished, at the time of speaking/writing

• I have not finished painting the house.
• We have finished some of the work that we have to do, but we still have a lot more to do.
• The bus has not came to pick us up.

When actions are repeated in the past, and are expected to continue to repeat into the future.

• The prices of food have gone up.
• You have came late all week.
• We have gotten really good grades this year.

An action that happened in the past but has a effect on the present.

• Keven has broken his arm. Now he feels better.
• I have looked for my keys all over the place. I am not sure where I put my keys.
• I am not hungry. I have eaten at work.

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8. Future Tense
a. How is the future simple verb tense used?

Decisions - to make decisions that are made at the time of speaking

• We will eat dinner today at 6:00PM
• You will clean your room when you come home from school.

Desires - Willingness - to state desire or willingness for something or someone

• The girls will be happy to go on holiday for a few weeks.
• I will be happy to help you today.

Facts - to state a fact about the future

• My teacher will be happy the whole class passed the test.
• The phone bill will be very very high, my father will be very upset.

Predictions - to predicate a future event or action

• I think it will rain this afternoon.
• My sister will be a great teacher.

Formal Statements - to make a formal statement about a future action or event

• The president will make a public announcement on Tuesday at 8:00PM.
• The school will be closed for a few days.

Suggestions - to make suggestions or state ideas

• We will be happy drive you to the store.
• Will we go to the store tonight or tomorrow morning.

Requests - to make a request

• Will you come with me to the store?
• You will do your homework now.

There are a few different ways of state future simple verb tense but it is common to use other present continuous or the verb "going to" to state an action or activity is in the future tense.

b. The future simple verb tense "going to" is used in the following situations:

Planned Events - When a future event that has been planned before the time of speaking.

• I am going to Mexico in a few days.
• We are not going to work next week.
• They are going to university next year.

Predictions - To make a future prediction based on facts.

• There is going to be a really big storm in a few hours.
• The test next week is going to be really hard.
• The puppies are cute. I am sure someone is going to adapt them.

Intentions - To state the something that is intended to take place in the future, in informal conversations.

• I am going to be a rich person someday.
• We are going to pass the test.
• The puppies are going to make a big mess in house.

c. Why is the future continuous verb tense is used?

The future continuous verb tense is used to emphasize an action or an event that will be in progress at sometime in the future.

• Next week we will be hiking in the mountains.
• Tomorrow my parents will be coming to visit out new house.

Events - for events or activity's that are planned for a future time.

Specific Time - the specific time of the future event or the future activity can be stated or understood.

Approximate Time - the approximate time of the future event or the future activity can be stated or understood.

Present continues tense with "going to" and the future continues tense can be used interchangeable.

How is the future perfect continuous verb tense is used?

The future perfect continuous tense is used when you want to emphasize an event or activity that be continuous after specific future time.

The future perfect continuous verb tense is used to:

• Emphasize - how long an event will be in progress at a future time
• Stress - the the length of time an event or action in the future
• Results - used to state the results of an action or event in the future.
• Represents A Continuous Action - that stated at some point, and continues into some point in the future

Rules for using the future perfect continues verb tense:

The future period of time if usually states:

• next year
• next week
• next month etc.
• the exact came can be stated
• the approximate can can be stated

The future perfect continuous verb tense is usually not used with static verbs.

The future perfect continuous verb tense can't be used with "time clauses" such as when, while, "by />

d. Understand how the future simple perfect verb tense is used.:

• The future simple perfect verb tense often used with "by" and "not", "for" and "until" to state that the action or event will be completed at time in the future.
• The future simple perfect verb tense is used to state an action that occurs into the future until a later time in the future.
• To state an event or action that will finish before an other action event in the future.
Rules for using the future simple perfect verb tense:
• The future simple perfect verb tense is used for actions that are non continuous.
• A specific time is usually stated or is understood.
• It is common to use the future simple perfect verb tense to clarify the order of 2 future events.
• The future simple perfect verb tense can't be used with "time claueses" such as when, while, "by the time ", soon, before, after, if, unless, until etc.
• The future simple perfect verb tense is also known as the "future perfect verb tense".

The future period of time if usually states :

• next year
• next week
• next month etc.
• the exact came can be stated
• the approximate can can be stated

Examples:

• We will have worked at the school 25 years next week.
• The students will have finished all their exams tomorrow. I sure they will be happy.

e. How is the future perfect continuous verb tense is used?
The future perfect continuous tense is used when you want to emphasize an event or activity that be continuous after specific future time.
The future perfect continuous verb tense is used to:

• Emphasize - how long an event will be in progress at a future time
• Stress - the the length of time an event or action in the future
• Results - used to state the results of an action or event in the future.
• Represents A Continuous Action - that stated at some point, and continues into some point in the future

Rules for using the future perfect continues verb tense:
The future period of time if usually states:

• next year
• next week
• next month etc.
• the exact came can be stated
• the approximate can can be stated

The future perfect continuous verb tense is usually not used with static verbs.
The future perfect continuous verb tense can't be used with "time clauses" such as when, while, "by the time", soon, before, after, if, unless, until etc.
Examples:

• In the fall, I will have been studying here for 2 years.
• My son will have been in teaching for 10 years next month.
• The teacher will have been teaching my children for 5 years next month.
• Tammy will be very tired when she comes home, because she will have been flying over 24 hours.

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