English grammar guides

Parts of speech in context

Classify a word by its role, not spelling alone. In “a fast train”, fast is an adjective; in “the train moves fast”, it is an adverb. Identify the main subject and verb before analysing modifiers.

Nouns, countability and determiners

Use many and fewer with countable plurals; much and less with uncountables. Some and any can modify both. A few and a little indicate some quantity; few and little can suggest insufficiency. Uncountable nouns generally do not take a/an or a plural ending.

Common mistake: Treating every noun as countable. Meanings can change countability, as in paper versus a paper.

Articles: a, an, the and no article

Use a/an with a singular countable noun when introducing a non-specific member. Use the for a particular known item, many superlatives and certain geographical names. General plural and uncountable nouns often take no article.

Common mistake: Choosing a/an only from the written first letter.

Subject–verb agreement

The head of the subject controls agreement, not a nearby noun in a prepositional phrase. Each, everyone and neither normally take singular verbs. With either/or or neither/nor, proximity agreement is commonly used; recast awkward mixed-number subjects.

Common mistake: Making the verb agree with the nearest noun regardless of its grammatical role.

Twelve common tense–aspect patterns

V1 means base form, V2 past form and V3 past participle. English expresses future meaning using constructions such as will and be going to. These twelve classroom patterns combine time reference and aspect; context determines the best choice.

Use simple past with a finished past time: “I saw her yesterday”, not “I have seen her yesterday”. Stative verbs such as know usually take simple forms: “I know the answer”.

Questions, negatives and auxiliary verbs

Use do-support for simple-present and simple-past lexical verbs. Be and modal auxiliaries invert directly. In negatives use do not/does not/did not plus the base form. Subject questions do not generally need do-support.

Common mistake: Writing “Did he went?” or “Does she works?” after an auxiliary.

Pronouns and reference

Use subject forms as subjects and object forms after verbs or prepositions. Possessive determiners precede nouns: my book; possessive pronouns stand alone: mine. Reflexives refer back to the subject; singular they is established for unknown or unspecified gender.

Common mistake: Using myself as a formal substitute for I or me, or leaving an unclear pronoun referent.

Prepositions and common combinations

“I have lived here since 2020” gives a starting point; “for six years” gives duration. “Arrive at a station” and “arrive in a city” are common patterns. Prepositions are often idiomatic, so learn them with a complete example.

Modals and meaning

Can expresses ability or permission; could can express past ability or politeness. May/might can express possibility. Must and have to express obligation in context. Should gives advice. A modal does not add -s for third-person singular.

Common mistake: Treating must not and do not have to as equivalent.

Active and passive voice

Use passive when the action or receiver is more relevant than the agent. Preserve time and aspect when changing voice. Transitive verbs with objects can commonly form passives; ordinary intransitive uses cannot.

Common mistake: Changing the tense or creating a passive from an intransitive verb such as arrive.

Direct and reported speech

When reporting from a past viewpoint, backshift is common: present to past, will to would, and past to past perfect where appropriate. Change pronouns and time expressions only as context requires. Still-true statements need not always backshift.

Common mistake: Keeping question inversion in a reported question: “asked where did I live”.

Conditionals

These are useful patterns, not every possible conditional. For hypothetical formal English, “If I were you” is standard. Ordinary first conditionals generally use present rather than will in the if-clause.

Clauses, conjunctions and sentence structure

An independent clause can stand alone. A dependent clause needs a main clause. Use because for reason, although for concession and if for condition. Relative clauses add information about a noun; defining clauses identify the referent, non-defining clauses add extra information with commas.

Common mistake: Joining two independent clauses with just a comma, or writing “Although … but …” unnecessarily.

Gerunds, infinitives and parallel structure

Some verbs select -ing, others an infinitive. Enjoy takes -ing; decide commonly takes to+base. After a preposition, use a noun or -ing form. Parallel items should have matching grammatical form.

Common mistake: Assuming all uses of to are infinitive markers; to in look forward to is a preposition.

Adjectives, adverbs and comparison

Adjectives modify nouns; adverbs often modify actions, qualities or other adverbs. Linking verbs such as seem and feel commonly take adjective complements: “She seems happy”. Use comparative forms to compare and superlatives within a group.

Use “better”, not “more better”; “as tall as”, not “as taller as”. Place modifiers next to what they describe: “She almost solved every question” and “She solved almost every question” have different meanings.

Punctuation and commonly confused words

Use a comma after an introductory dependent clause, a colon to introduce a list after a complete clause, and a semicolon between related independent clauses. Apostrophes mark possession or omissions, not ordinary plurals. A full stop ends a statement; a question mark ends a direct question.

Exam error-spotting method

First identify the subject and finite verb. Check agreement, tense and auxiliary form. Next inspect pronouns, articles and countability. Check preposition combinations and comparisons. Finally check sentence boundaries and intended meaning. Do not change a grammatical sentence simply because an alternative sounds more familiar.

For “Each of the players have arrived”, the head is each, so use has arrived. For “She is senior than me”, the conventional phrase is senior to me. Keep an error notebook with the incorrect form, correction, rule and one fresh example.

Practice with answers

Questions about this guide

Sources and further reading

Original explanations and examples prepared for this website. The following educational and standards resources support further checking; the lessons above can be read without opening them.

• British Council grammar reference