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Languages are natural
forms of communication; children learn them, and they master
basic grammar quite fast. So why do learners of English as a foreign language
often have such difficulty?
Often it is because they have not mastered the simple
and fundamental rules of grammar.
Here are some fundamental rules of English, that will help you
to write and speak English well. These pages do not aim to offer a complete
reference grammar of English; their aim is just to explain and clarify
some of the important points of English that can cause problems for the
student.
Please note: the ESIP is being developed; this site is not complete,
and new topics will be added from time to time. If the subject you want
is not here, we're sorry! Return later, and you will perhaps find the answer
to your question.
| CONTENTS:
on the subject that interests you. |
These pages are still being developed: more topics will be added later.
1. WORD ORDER
Word order is very important in English; but it is not complicated.
Here are the main rules.
1.1 The subject of a sentence
comes directly in front of the verb.
The direct object comes directly after
it:
Examples: The man wrote
a
letter.
People
who live in glasshouses shouldn't throw
stones.
1.2. Note that by the subject, we
mean not just a single word, but the subject noun or pronoun plus descriptive
phrases that go with it.
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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