GRAMMAR FOR BEGINERS

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Grammar for beginners

A1 Grammar topics

Contents
A1 Grammar topics...............................................................................................................1
Verb “to be” .......................................................................................................................2
Here, there ..........................................................................................................................5
Here: ................................................................................................................................5
There: ...............................................................................................................................5
Personal pronouns .............................................................................................................7
He, she and they ............................................................................................................8
You and they ..................................................................................................................8
It........................................................................................................................................8
Possessive s .......................................................................................................................10
Present simple ..................................................................................................................11
This / that / these / those ................................................................................................13
Adjectives: common and demonstrative ....................................................................14
Special Pairs of Demonstrative Adjectives ...............................................................14
Ordinals Number can act as demonstrative adjectives ........................................14
Verb + ing: like/hate/love...............................................................................................15
Was / were .......................................................................................................................16

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Verb “to be” 2

Use:
Use be with:
Names Hello, I’m John.
How old are you?
Your age
I’m 17.
London is in England.
Places The Pyramids are in Egypt.
The bank is one kilometre from here.
This hotel is nice.
Adjectives
I’m hungry.
I’m a student.
My parents are doctors.
Jobs and family
This is my sister.
Ann and Tom are my children.
Jess is a dog.
Other Nouns
‘Hamlet’ is a play.
That’s a nice dress.
adjective + noun
She’s a good actor.
Form:

Positive sentences
I am / ‘m cold / hungry
You / We / They are / ’re a student / a teacher
He / She / It is / ‘s at home / in the
kitchen
Negative Sentences
am not / ‘m not cold / hungry
I a student / a teacher
You / We / They are not / aren’t / ’re at home / in the
not kitchen
He / She / It is not / isn’t / ‘s not
Questions
I cold / hungry?
Am a student / a teacher?
Are you / we / they at home / in the
Is he / she / it kitchen?
Short answers
I am. No, I’m not.
Yes, you are. you aren’t / you’re
he / she / it is. not.
we are. he isn’t / he’s not.
they are. we aren’t / we’re
not.
they aren’t / they’re
not.

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Contractions 3

The verb be has a full form and a contracted form.

 I am = I’m
 He is = He’s
We normally use the contracted form (‘m / ‘s / ‘re) in speaking and informal writing.
We write the words in full in formal writing.
You can only use one contraction at a time:
 He isn’t
 He’s not
but NOT He’sn’t
You can contract ‘be’ after pronouns (I, you, she etc) and names.

You can contract ‘is’ after question words.

 What is your name? => What’s your name?
But do not contract ‘are’ after question words.
 Where are you from? => Where’re you from?

Do not contract short answers:

Yes, I am NOT Yes, I’m
 Common mistakes
1. In English, every sentence must have a verb. Some students write
sentences with no verb.
I very hungry. => I’m very hungry
My brother in his bedroom. => My brother is in his bedroom.
2. Some students write questions incorrectly.
 She is your sister? => Is she your sister?
Past “To be”
be – past tense
Use:
1) Use was and were to talk about situations in the past.
 It was cold yesterday.
 My mum was a teacher when she was younger.
 The children were late for school yesterday.

2) You can use was and were before:

a) nouns My mum was a teacher.
b) adjectives We were late yesterday.
c) locations The book was in my bag!
 She wasn’t there.

DON’T use was and were before an infinitive verb.

 I was go to the park yesterday. → I went to the park yesterday.

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Form:
Positive 4
I was at school.
You were late.
He / She / It was a doctor.
We / They were

Negative
I wasn’t at school.
You weren’t late.
He / She / It wasn’t a doctor.
We / They weren’t

Question
Was I at school?
Were you late?
Was he / she / it a doctor?
Were we / they

Short answers
Yes, I / he / she / it was. No, I / he / she / it wasn’t.
Yes, you / we / they were. No, you / we / they weren’t.

Common mistakes
1) Some students make questions incorrectly.
 You were at the party? → Were you at the party?
2) Some students use the wrong verb.
 We was very happy. → We were very happy.

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Here, there 5
Use:

Here:
Use here when you find something.
 Where’s my bag? It’s here! Here it is!

Here means that something is near you.

 Is your dad here? Yes, he is.

There:
Use there to talk about what exists.
 There’s a cafe, a bank, a shop and a park in the town.

Use there to talk about how many things there are.

 There are three people in my family.
 There are ten students in the class.

And use there to talk about where things are.

 There is a bathroom opposite the bedroom.
 There’s a cash machine near the cafe.

Use there, or over there, to talk about something that is not near you.
 Where’s my bag? It’s over there, near the door.

Form:

1) Use here and there with be.

 Here is your bag. Your bags are here.
 There is a nice restaurant in town. There are some good
shops in town.

2) You can contract is after here and there. You cannot contract are.
 Here is Joe! => Here’s Joe!
 There is a great café near here. =>There’s a great café near here.

 Here are your bags! => Here’re your bags.

 There are three kids in my family. => There’re three kids in my
family.

3) Make questions by inverting here / there and be:

 Is there a nice restaurant in town?
 Are there any good shops in town?

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 How many shops are there in the town?

6
Common mistakes
1. Some students do not use there to talk about things that exist.
 A restaurant is in my town. => There is a restaurant in my town.
 Ten students are in my class. => There are ten students in my class.

2. Some students forget to invert there and be in questions.

 How many students there are in your class?
=>How many students are there in your class?

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Personal pronouns 7
We have both subject pronouns and object pronouns:
Subject Object
I me
you you
he him
she her
it it
we us
you you
they them

We use subject pronouns as the subject of a verb:

 I like your dress.

 You are late.
 He is my friend.
 It is raining.
 She is on holiday.
 We live in England.
 They come from London.

Be careful!
English clauses always have a subject.
 His father has just retired. > He was a teacher. (NOT Was a teacher.)
 I'm waiting for my wife. > She is late. (NOT Is late.)
The imperative, which is used for orders, invitations and requests, is an
exception:
 Stop!
 Go away.
 Please come to dinner tomorrow.
 Play it again, please.
If there is no other subject, we use it or there. We call this a dummy subject.

We use object pronouns as the object of a verb:

 Can you help me, please?

 I can see you.
 She doesn't like him.
 I saw her in town today.
 We saw them in town yesterday, but they didn't see us.

and after prepositions:

 She is waiting for me.

 I'll get it for you.

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 Give it to him.
 Why are you looking at her? 8
 Don't take it from us.
 I'll speak to them.

He, she and they

We use he/him to refer to men, and she/her to refer to women. When we are not
sure if we are talking about a man or a woman, we use they/them:

 This is Jack. He's my brother. I don't think you have met him.
 This is Angela. She's my sister. Have you met her before?
 You could go to a doctor. They might help you.
 Talk to a friend. Ask them to help you.

You and they

We use you to talk about people in general, including the speaker and the hearer:

 You can buy this book everywhere. = This book is on sale everywhere.
 You can't park here. = Parking is not allowed here.

We use they/them to talk about institutions and organisations:

 They serve good food here. (they = the restaurant)

 Ask them for a cheaper ticket. (them = the airline)

especially the government and the authorities:

 They don't let you smoke in here.

 They are going to increase taxes.
 They are building a new motorway.
 They say it’s going to rain tomorrow.

It
We use it to talk about ourselves:

-on the telephone:

 Hello. It's George.

-when other people cannot see us:

 It's me. It's Mary. (Mary is knocking on the door.)

We also use it to talk about other people:

-when we point people out for the first time:

 Look. It's Paul McCartney.
 Who's that? I think it's John's brother.

-when we cannot see someone and we ask them for their name:

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 Hello. Who is it? (someone answering the phone)

 Who is it? (someone about to answer the door) 9

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Possessive s 10
Use:
Possessive adjectives after a name and before a noun.
They tell you who owns something.
 This is John’s coat.
 Is this Tina’s bag?
Don’t use ‘s after things.
 I clean the garden’s pond every week. => I clean the pond in the garden
every week.
 What’s the book’s name? => What’s the name of the book?
You can usually use ‘s after organisations and groups of people.
 It’s the government’s decision. OR It’s the decision of the government.
 Tom is the company’s new director. OR Tom is the new director of
the company.
You can use ‘s after time expressions.
 What time is tomorrow’s meeting?

You can sometimes use ‘s after countries and cities.

 India’s population is rising.
But you cannot do this if it refers to a person.
 I met London’s mayor last week. => I met the mayor of London
last week.
 England’s Queen is well-known. => The Queen of England is well-
known.
Form:
To make the possessive form, add ’s to the end of the name.
 Is that Jack’s bag?
With two names, only add ‘s to the second name.
 That’s Jane and Harry’s house. NOT That’s Jane’s and Harry’s house.

If something belongs to two or more people, put the apostrophe(‘) after the plural
s. Do not write a second s.
 My parents’ house is really big. NOT My parents’s house is really big.
However, if the plural noun is irregular, write the apostrophe (‘) before the S.
 The children’s party was great. NOT The childrens’ party was great.

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Present simple 11
Use:
Sentences in the present simple tense are true all the time.
 I come from Japan.
 I live in Paris.
 I like animals.
 I have three sisters.
Form:
1) Form the present simple this way:
Positive
I like
you
he animals
she likes
it
we like
they
Negative
I don’t
you
he like animals
she doesn’t
it
we don’t
they
Questions
I
Do you
he like animals?
Does she
it
Do we
they
Short answers
I do I don’t
you you
Yes, he No, he
she does she doesn’t
it it
we do we don’t
they they

Spelling Rules for 3rd person (he / she / it)

If a verb ends in consonant + y, change y to i and add es.
 I study English. He studies English.

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If a verb ends in tch, ss, x, sh or z, add es.

 She watches television. 12
 Susan misses her family.
 He fixes the television.
 My dad washes the car on Sundays.

Some verbs have irregular spellings:

 I go → he / she / it goes
 I do → he / she / it does
 I have → he / she / it has

Common mistakes
1) Some students forget to add s for he/she/it.
 My mother like chocolate. → My mother likes chocolate.
2) Some students make the negative form incorrectly.
 Tom no work here. → Tom doesn’t work here.
 Tom isn’t work here.
 Tom don’t work here.
3) Some students forget to use Do and Does to make questions.
 You like this song? → Do you like this song?
 Is your father work here? → Does your father work here?

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This / that / these / those 13

We use this/that/these/those to explain what we are talking about. We sometimes
use them with nouns and we sometimes use them on their own.
We use this (singular) and these (plural) to talk about things close to us, and that
(singular) and those (plural) to talk about things at some distance away from us.
 What about this shirt for Oliver?
 No, hold on, what about that one over there?
 Wow, that market looks amazing. (= there. I'm not in the market, it's at some
distance away from me)
 This market is amazing. (= here. I'm in the market)
We use that to show distance in time as well as distance in space.
 This is a good film. (we're watching it now)
 That was a good film. (we saw it at some time in the past)
This and that can refer to what somebody has said or what has happened. This
could be several things or ideas.
 That's right. (everything you said)
 This is work you know! (all the things I'm doing)
 That was a great concert! (something that has just happened)
In phone language
 When you explain who is talking you say, 'Hi, this is Dan.'
 And to check who is speaking, you can say, 'Is that Jenny?'
 'This is me'? (No. If you're phoning someone ) 'It's me.'
When we are introducing people to each other
 'Juliette, this is Marc'.

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Adjectives: common and demonstrative 14

The most common demonstrative adjectives are this, that, these and those. The
demonstrative adjective in a sentence will come just before a noun or pronoun
and tell you which one it is specifically modifying.
The primary singular forms of demonstrative adjectives are:
 This - used for a person or thing that is nearby or current
Example: This day could not get any better!
 That - used for a person or thing that is further away
Example: That house across the street is so adorable.
The primary plural forms of demonstrative adjectives are:
 These - used for more than one thing that's nearby
Example: These shoes fit me very well.
 Those - used for more than one thing that's farther away
Example: Those boots are too expensive.
SHAKESPEAREAN (Not commonly used on the modern English)
 Yonder - used for a thing or things at a distance
Example: The storm has scared yonder ponies.
 Yon - used for a thing or things at a distance
Example: I had to cross yon field to get home.
Special Pairs of Demonstrative Adjectives
Along with these common demonstrative adjectives there are some special pairs of
demonstratives: "the one" (sometimes just "one") and "the other;" and "the former"
and "the latter." These pairs are used to refer to two things that have already been
named in a sentence. Here are some examples:
 Do I stay in or go out? On the one hand, I have lots of homework to do, but
on the other, the weather is too nice to stay indoors.
 Our two options are buying a new house or renting a new apartment, the
former is preferable for the family, but the latter is less expensive.
Ordinals Number can act as demonstrative adjectives
 The first paycheck I received was for $500.
 The seventh day of the week is Sunday.
 In the late nineteenth century, the Civil War in the United States was fought.
 After my third piece of pizza, I was stuffed.

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Verb + ing: like/hate/love 15

Verbs of Preference + gerunds
Use:
We can use several different words and phrases in English to talk about things we
like and dislike.

 like love enjoy

 don’t mind
 dislike hate can’t stand
Form:
After these words you can use a noun or a verb in the –ing form.

 I like water
 I like swimming.
 I love sports
 I love running.
 We enjoy good food
 We enjoy eating out.

 I don’t mind housework. I don’t mind cooking.

 I dislike buses. I dislike waiting.
 I hate housework I hate cleaning.
 I can’t stand planes. I can’t stand flying.

Spelling rules
Remember the spelling rules when you make the –ing form.

If a verb ends in e, delete the e before you add –ing.

 have => I love having breakfast in bed.

If a verb ends one vowel and one consonant, double the consonant.
 swim => I don’t like swimming.

Exceptions: words that end in w or y.

 row => I love rowing.
 sew => I don’t like sewing.
 play => I like playing football.

Other exceptions:
 iron => My mum hates ironing.
 open => I don’t mind opening the window for you.

 A:Where’s my cup of tea?

 B: It’s there, next to you, on the little table!

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Was / were 16

The form of the verb to be is am (contracted to 'm), is ('s) and are ('re) in the
present tense and was/were in the past. To be is used as an auxiliary verb, to form
continuous tenses and the passive, and as a main verb. Here we are looking at it as
a main verb.
After the verb to be we use an adjective phrase, a noun phrase, a preposition
phrase or an adverb phrase.
Here are some examples with adjectives or adjective phrases:

 I'm a bit tired.

 He was late last time too.
 The journey was fantastic.
 My brother isn't very tall.

Here are examples with nouns or noun phrases:

 She was an English teacher for years.

 They're both teachers at our school.
 That's my laptop.

And here are examples with adverb and preposition phrases:

 I'm here at the café, and you're not!

 Are you there yet?
 Your phone's in my bag.
 Where were you at 5 o'clock?

we don't contract was or were.

 I was just like you when your Dad and I were together.
For questions, you just change the order of the subject and the verb. Sometimes
you need to add a question word.

 Is he in his room?
 Where are you?
 What was that noise?

For negatives, you just add not. If you're speaking, don't forget to use a contraction.

 We aren't ready yet.

 Is Daisy at home? ~ No, she isn't.
 Those books weren't on the table. I don't know where they are.

Other types of contractions

 Is Daisy at home? ~ No, she's not.

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But there's only one form of the first person negative: 17

 I'm not interested in football.

And there's only one way to contract the past negative form:

 She wasn't always a writer.

 There weren't any peppers in the supermarket.
Common Questions
Age How old are you? I'm 18.
Place Where are you from? I'm from Beijing.
Nationality What's your nationality? I'm Brazilian.
Health How are you? I'm very well, thanks.
People What's she like? She's really nice.
Prices How much is it? It's £3.50.

Use:
Use the past simple to talk about finished events in the past. Use it to tell stories,
jokes and anecdotes.

Form:
1) Many past tense verbs are formed by adding -ed to the end of the verb.
 want => wanted
 start => started

If a verb ends in e, just add d (liked, hoped).

If a verb ends in y, delete y and add ied (studied, carried). But don’t do this if the
verb ends in a vowel + y (played, NOT plaied. stayed, NOT staied)

But a lot of past tense verbs are irregular. You need to learn each one separately.
Here are some examples.
 have => had
 make => made
 take => took
 sit => sat
 get => got
 feel => felt

Past simple verbs are the same for all persons.

I went; you went; he went; she went; they went; we went...

2) Form negatives this way:

I, you, he , she, we, they... didn’t infinitive verb
know, see, go

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Don’t use the past verb in negative sentences. 18

 I didn’t had dinner. => I didn’t have dinner.
3) Form questions this way:
I, you, he , she, we, they... infinitive verb
Did know, see, go
Common mistakes:
Some students use the past verb in questions.
 Did you saw the film? => Did you see the film?

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