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1.3. If a sentence has any other parts to it - adverbs or adverb phrases of time - these usually come in one of the following places:
  - Before the subject
    Example: Yesterday the man wrote a letter.
  - After the object
    Example:  The man wrote a letter on his computer.
   - in the middle of the verb group.
   Example The man has already written   his letter

1.4 In standard English, other parts do not usually come between the subject and the verb, nor between the verb and the object.
  There are a few exceptions. The most important of these are adverbs of frequency and indirect objects without to.
     Example:  The man often wrote his mother a letter.

If you always apply these few simple rules, you will not make too many word order problems in English. The examples above are deliberately simple - but the rules can be applied even to complex sentences, with subordinate and coordinated clauses.
   The director, [who often told his staff (to work harder),]never left the office before [he had checked his e-mail.]

1.5 QUESTIONS:

Remember this simple and common English phrase:
   How do you do?
The structure of almost every simple question in English is based on this same model:
   (Question word) - Auxiliary or modal - subject - main verb - (plus the rest of the sentence):
Examples
   What did Sylvester Stallone do?
   Did Arnold Schwarzenegger  learn English quickly?

2. USING PRESENT AND PAST TENSES
Forms of the present:
English uses two form of the present, the Present Simple and the Present Progressive.

In short, the Present Simple is used to express:
   a) permanent states and permanent truths.
   b) repetitive actions
   c) instant actions.
Examples:
   a1) I like apples, but I don't like oranges.
   a2) I live in London, and I work for a big bank.
   a3) Flowers grow well in a warm sunny climate.
   a4) Tomorrow never comes
   b1) My brother often goes to London.
   b2) It snows in winter in New York.
   b3) I get up at 6 every morning.
   c1) Oh, I understand what you mean.
   c2) And now Owen gets the ball, he shoots, and he scores!
In short, the Present Progressive is used to express:
   a) developing  situations.
   b) actions that are actually taking place.
   c) future actions.
Examples:
   a1) John is getting better.
   a2) The weather is improving.
   b1) This week I am working in New York.
   b2) Look! That man's stealing my car!
   b3) Careful! You're driving too fast!
   c1) He's going on holiday tomorrow.
   c2) He said he's retiring next year.
Note: some verbs are almost never used in the present progressive - notably certain verbs of permanent state, such as know, be, like, exist.
   We can say: I know the train is arriving late.
   We cannot say: I am knowing the train is arriving late.

A contrastive example :
This sentence is a clear example of the difference in usage between the two forms:
  I eat hamburgers, but I'm not eating a hamburger right now.

Forms of the past:
English uses three form of the past, the Simple Past, the Present Perfect, and the pluperfect.
All of these forms can also be used in a progressive form.

The simple past.
This is used to relate past events in a historic context. Often, you will know that it must be used, because the sentence also contains an adverb (or adverb phrase) of time, such as yesterday, or a date or time.
Examples:
   1) Queen Victoria died in 1901.
   2) The Titanic sank when it hit an iceberg.
   3) I told you not to drink too much
   4) Next, they went and cooked dinner.
Here is some examples with a progressive form too: both of the events in the sentence are "historic", but one took place while another longer-lasting situation was true:
    5) John Lennon died while he was living in New York.
    6) The students shouted as the President was speaking.

The Present Perfect
In British English, this is used to situate past events, or the consequences of past events, in relation to the present situation. (that's why we call it the "present" perfect). Americans do not always use the present perfect in this situation.
Examples:
   1) I have ordered a new refrigerator, darling!
          (i.e., the speaker means "A new refrigerator is at this moment coming and will be here soon").
   2) I've eaten too much!
          (i.e. the speaker implies: "At this moment now, I do not feel very well; I have a funny feeling in my stomach!)
   3)  Liverpool have won the Cup (i.e. Liverpool are now, at this moment , football champions).

You do not usually find adverbs of time used with verbs in the present perfect, but there are some exceptions:
    already:
   Come on, we've already started eating!
    adverbs of frequency:
  I've often seen people driving too fast down that road.
   adverbs or adverb phrases of duration related to the present:
  I've lived in London for ten years.
  (Contrast with: I lived in London for ten years (but I don't live there now) - a historic statement)
  I've lived in London since 1985.
  Up to now, I've always refused to eat fish.

The pluperfect.
The pluperfect, as in He had seen,  is normally only used in English when one past event has to be situated in a more distant past than another past event.
  Example:
  I had just put the phone down, when the doorbell rang.
  The man had been drinking before the accident happened.
There are some other uses too, but they are less common. Note, for example, the use of the pluperfect (and inversion) after hardly:
  Hardly had I put the phone down, than the phone rang.
 

3. EXPRESSING THE FUTURE
If you talk to a linguist, he or she may tell you that there is no such thing as the “future” as far as the English language is concerned! We only have two groups of tenses; those that refer to events in past time, and those that talk about the present or the future.

Very often, we use a present tense in English to talk about future events: look at this short dialogue:
 “Where are you going next summer?”
 “We’re staying at home. I’m working all summer!”
 “Oh what a pity. Don’t you even get a week off?”
 “Well perhaps; we may go to Wales for a couple of days.”

Although this dialogue clearly refers to the future, the verbs are all in forms of the present. There is no “will”, no “going to”.
 This does not mean that using a clear future tense would be wrong; it would be possible to add the words going to to stress the future nature of events (remembering that going to is actually the present progressive tense of go .)
 “Where are you going to go this summer?”
 “We’re going to stay at home; I’m going to work all summer.”
 “Oh what a pity. Aren’t you even going to get a week off?”
 “Well perhaps; maybe we'll go to Wales ....”
But in most cases, this would sound heavy. 
 Present forms are the simplest way of expressing future time in many cases: the present progressive often expresses non-defined time in the future, the present simple refers to instant defined moments in time, or events that will occur regularly. A “future” with will is used to imply a deliberate predetermined action: look at this dialogue:
 “Are you coming home tonight, darling?”
 “Yes; my plane gets in at 8.15.”
 “O.K. then, I’ll meet you at the airport.”.
A future form with will is also needed whenever it is necessary to avoid confusion between present and future (for example when there is no adverb of time present) Compare:
 I see / I’ll see  - I’m there / I’ll be there

Will and going to ARE NEVER NORMALLY USED... 
 a) With modal verbs can, must, should, could, would.
If it is essential to mark the future aspect of a modal structure, it is necessary to use have to instead of must, and be able to instead of can, as in:
 You’ll have to do better next time (but you could also say: You must do better next time.)

b) in time clauses after if, when, as soon as, unless, after, before, while etc.
 We’ll have a picnic tomorrow if it’s dry.
 Open the door as soon as you hear the bell.
 I’ll tell you the rest of the story when we get home.

Generally speaking, will is not used in subordinate clauses of any type.
 I’ll sell it to the first person who makes a good offer.
 They’ll mend it for you while you wait.
 You’ll do whatever you’re told to do!

4. VERBS OF ENABLING AND PERMISSION

Verbs of enablement and permission often cause problems for students. In English, they have some rather peculiar structures that may not correspond to structures in your own language. Here are the basic rules, to help you master these important verbs.

1. Verbs of obligation and permission: allow, ask, authorise, forbid, instruct, invite, leave, oblige, permit, require, tell, want, etc.:
After these verbs, the second verb is in the infinitive with to.
   Examples: He told me to hurry. 
 They forbade us to leave the room.
 The man instructed me to come down. 
 I want you to know I love you.
N.B. With all these verbs, the subordinate clause must be introduced by a subject, which is also the object of the main clause: 
for example, we cannot say: 
 ** The man permitted to open the doors **
 ** I told not to do that **
All the verbs listed can be easily used in the passive except want.
   Example: The singer was told to come down.
 He was invited to give a concert.
 She was forbidden to leave the room.
 I was required to fill in a form.
 They were asked to sit down.
2. Verbs of prevention: stop, prevent, hinder: 
These verbs are followed by “from” and an -ing structure. The word “from” is essential with hinder, optional with stop and prevent.
   Examples: He hindered us from starting in time. 
 He stopped me (from) falling in the hole. 
 They prevented me (from) going out.
“Stop” is not usually used in the passive, but hinder and prevent easily accept passive structures:
   Examples: 
    The skinheads were prevented from making trouble.
    We were hindered by the bad weather.

3. Verbs of direct authority: 
let, make, have. With these 3 verbs, the second verb form is the infinitive without to.
   Examples: 
 I let him do it. 
 He made me sit down.
 Have him tell you what he saw!
Of these three verbs, only one can be used in the passive, make :    Example, I was made to take off my skates.

Don’t confuse let and leave: when followed by an object and a subsidiary clause, leave means abandon, quit.
 We left him to get on with his work. (i.e. we went away) does not mean the same as 
 We let him get on with his work (i.e. we allowed him to....)

The ESIP Essential English Grammar is currently being developed.
Further pages will be added in due course.
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