Grammar reference

Tenses
Present simple  I walk
Use the present simple to talk about:
• things we do regularly
I usually travel to work on the train.
• timetables and schedules
The train leaves at 8 a.m. every morning.
third person singular: add –s to the verb
she walks
• if the verb ends in –ch, -ss, -sh, -o       add –es to the verb
I wish          he wishes
• if the verb ends in a consonant + –y,   add –es and change the y to i
you marry          she marries

Present continuous  I am walking

Use the present continuous to talk about:
• things that are happening now
I am writing this diary at the end of a busy day.
• annoying behaviour + always
They are always eating in class.
• arrangements in the near future
We are going to London tomorrow.
for most verbs add –ing
• if the verb ends in a consonant + –e,  drop the e and add –ing
I am writing
• if the verb ends in a short,
accented vowel and a consonant, double the consonant and add –ing
m mming g gging p pping t tting
They are shopping

Present perfect  I have walked

Use the present perfect to talk about:
• how long current situations have existed
I have lived here for the past three years.
• things that happened at an unstated time (any time) in the past
He has been to Beijing.
• past events that are connected with the present
She has read ‘The Hunger Games’ and now wants to see the film.
• with unfinished time expressions (for, since, already, just, yet)
They have already finished.
and for the negative expression They haven’t finished yet.
to ‘have/has’ add past participle

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 Present perfect continuous  I have been walking
Use the present perfect continuous to talk about:
• actions that began in the past and continue into the present
I have been walking for over five hours now.
• an action that started in the past and lasted some time and the effects
of which are still to be seen
I have been walking all day so am ready to sit down.
to ‘have/has’ add ‘been’ and present participle

Past simple  I walked

Use the past simple:
• to describe actions/events that happened immediately one after the
other in the past
I walked into the shop, picked up a paper and passed the money to the
assistant.
for most verbs add –ed
NB there are a number of irregular verbs for which the past simple and
past participle forms have to be learned.

Past continuous  I was walking

Use the past continuous:
• to set the scene   She was writing every sale in a notebook.
• to describe an action that was in progress when another action interrupted it
As she was writing down my details another man came in.
(the action that interrupts is in the past simple tense)
to ‘was/were’ add present participle

Past perfect  I had walked

Use the past perfect to talk about an event that happened before another
event in the past
I told her my name but she had already written it down
to ‘had’ add the past participle

Future  I shall walk

Use the future to talk about events that are going to take place.
to ‘shall’ (first person) / ‘will’ (second/third person) add verb
For the emphatic form this is reversed
I will have my own way. Don’t you dare stop me!
Cinderella shall go to the ball!
But ‘will’ is increasingly used for all persons, especially in spoken English.

Future continuous  I shall be walking

Use the future continuous for an action which will be in progress at a
stated future time
This time tomorrow she will be walking the Pilgrim Way.
to ‘shall/will’ add ‘be’ and present participle

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 Future perfect  I shall have walked
Use the future perfect for an action which will be ended before a stated future time
By the end of the month we shall have walked over a hundred miles.
to ‘shall/will’ add ‘have’ and past participle

Future time clauses

In future time clauses with when, while, before, until, as soon as, the moment
and after which refer to the future, use the present simple, not the future:
I’ll answer the question when I’m asked.
He will be finishing his breakfast while I have a shower.
Make sure to return the book before they notice it is missing.
I shall keep going until you tell me to stop.
That will be as soon as you start to speak.
The wall will collapse the moment I press this button.
You may watch the film after you finish your homework.

List of irregular verbs

Verb Past Simple Past Participle Verb Past Simple Past Participle
arise arose arisen drink drank drunk
babysit babysat babysat drive drove driven
be was/were been eat ate eaten
beat beat beaten fall fell fallen
become became become feed fed fed
bend bent bent feel felt felt
begin began begun fight fought fought
bet bet bet find found found
bind bound bound fly flew flown
bite bit bitten forbid forbade forbidden
bleed bled bled forget forgot forgotten
blow blew blown forgive forgave forgiven
break broke broken freeze froze frozen
breed bred bred get got got
bring brought brought give gave given
broadcast broadcast broadcast go went gone
build built built grow grew grown
buy bought bought hang hung hung
catch caught caught have had had
choose chose chosen hear heard heard
come came come hide hid hidden
cost cost cost hit hit hit
cut cut cut hold held held
deal dealt dealt hurt hurt hurt
dig dug dug keep kept kept
do did done know knew known
draw drew drawn lay laid laid

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 Verb Past Simple Past Participle Verb Past Simple Past Participle
lead led led sit sat sat
leave left left sleep slept slept
lend lent lent slide slid slid
let let let speak spoke spoken
lie lay lain spend spent spent
light lit lit spin spun spun
lose lost lost spread spread spread
make made made stand stood stood
mean meant meant steal stole stolen
meet met met stick stuck stuck
pay paid paid sting stung stung
put put put strike struck struck
read read read swear swore sworn
ride rode ridden sweep swept swept
ring rang rung swim swam swum
rise rose risen swing swung swung
run ran run take took taken
say said said teach taught taught
see saw seen tear tore torn
sell sold sold tell told told
send sent sent think thought thought
set set set throw threw thrown
shake shook shaken understand understood understood
shine shone shone wake woke woken
shoot shot shot wear wore worn
show showed shown win won won
shut shut shut withdraw withdrew withdrawn
sing sang sung write wrote written
sink sank sunk

Adjectives and adverbs

Comparison
Use the comparative for comparing two, the superlative for three or more.
Suzi is older than Eva but Jana is the oldest of the three sisters.
The comparative and superlative of adjectives or adverbs with one syllable
is formed by adding –er and –est. The same is true for two syllable
adjectives that end in –y, with the y changing to i followed by –er and –est.
He walks faster than me.
She is the fastest.
Tom is busier than me.
If the one syllable is a short, accented vowel and a consonant, double the
consonant before adding –er or –est
m mmer, mmest g gger, ggest d dder, ddest t tter, ttest
The light got dimmer quickly.
He is bigger than Jack.
His face was the reddest of them all.
July is the hottest month.

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 Similes and Metaphors
A Simile is a comparison made using ‘like’ or ‘as’ in which the point
of comparison is usually the only similarity between the things being
compared. For example:
John ran like the wind
compares John and wind. But the only similarity between the two is their speed.
A Metaphor makes the same kind of comparison but without the linking
words ‘like’ or ‘as’.
John blew past them and disappeared round the corner.

Collective nouns
A collective noun is a word for a group of particular animals, people or things.
a herd of cattle, a team of players, a bunch of bananas
Collective nouns are singular and take a singular verb
The herd is in the nearest field
unless the reference is to individuals in the group acting separately
The audience took their seats

Defining relative pronouns

Defining relative pronouns introduce relative clauses that give essential
information about the noun they immediately follow. They are:
who/whom/that for people, which/that for things, where for places, whose
for possessions
Who or which can refer to the subject or object of a sentence. When they
refer to the object they may be omitted.
He is the man who helped me find my passport.
The book which I am reading is over there.
The house where I am staying has a blue door.
The man whose passport it is went home.
He is reading the one I bought earlier.
that can be used instead of which and, in informal English, instead of who.
The book that I am reading is over there.
He’s the man that helped me find my passport.

Non-defining relative pronouns

Non-defining relative pronouns introduce relative clauses that give extra (non-
essential) information about the noun they immediately follow. They are:
who for people, where for places, which for things, whose for possessions
(but never that)
Thomas, who helped me find my passport, is a security guard.
Durham, where I am staying, is a beautiful city.
The dog, which was called Eli, had an important job.
The man, whose fortune ran into millions, was dressed in rags.
The clause which gives extra information is always divided off from the
rest of the sentence by commas, or a comma and a full stop.

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 Prefixes
Use prefixes to change the meaning of words.
pilot = someone flying a plane
autopilot = a plane flying automatically
A prefix + noun makes a new compound word
Understanding the meaning of the prefix can help us with the meaning of
the compound word
Some common prefixes and their meanings:
auto self de away from
dis not ex out of
inter between micro small
mono one post after
sub under trans across
Giving us:  
autopilot, disappear, interval, monopoly, subway, detract,
extract, microscope, postpone, transport

Adjective prefixes
Prefixes can be added to adjectives to describe the opposite of the original word.
But care is needed to select the right one.
responsible – behaving well irresponsible – behaving badly
mature – adult immature – juvenile
tolerant – allowing intolerant – not allowing
legal – lawful illegal – unlawful
honest – fair and lawful dishonest – unfair and unlawful
literate – can read illiterate – can’t read
believable – sounds true unbelievable – sounds untrue
credible – believable incredible – unbelievable
friendly – welcoming unfriendly – unwelcoming
possible – can be done impossible – can’t be done
obedient – does what is told disobedient – doesn’t do what is told
rational – makes sense irrational – doesn’t make sense

Homophones
A homophone sounds the same as another word but has a different spelling
and meaning.
Learn them so that you can avoid confusing mistakes.
Some common homophones are:

deer/dear their/they’re/ allowed/aloud past/passed ware/wear/

their where
pair/pear/pare blew/blue scene/seen which/witch rite/right
sight/site wear/ware sale/sail to/two/too see/sea
flour/flower/ new/knew plain/plane meat/meet bare/bear
cellar/seller heal/heel peace/piece rap/wrap hole/whole
your/you’re grate/great lead/led coarse/course
There are many more.

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 Open and closed questions
Use closed questions to ask for one particular piece of information, often
answered by a simple ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
Do you take sugar in your tea?
Do you like sport?
Open questions are asked to open up a conversation and expect a
developed answer.
What kind of food do you enjoy?
What sort of things do you do to relax?

Question tags
Use question tags to ask someone to confirm what you are saying
If your statement is affirmative, then the tag is negative and vice versa.
You take sugar in your tea, don’t you?
You don’t take sugar in your tea, do you?
To the verb ‘be’/’do’/’have’/’will’ or ‘would’ add pronoun, depending on
the tense of the statement
Present simple: do/don’t + pronoun You like jazz, don’t you?
third person singular doesn’t + pronoun He likes jazz, doesn’t he?
Present continuous:
first person singular am/aren’t + pronoun I’m not winning, am I?
third person singular is/isn’t + pronoun He’s winning, isn’t he?
otherwise are/aren’t + pronoun They’re winning, aren’t they?

Past simple: did/didn’t + pronoun He didn’t win, did he?

Present perfect: have/haven’t + They have started,

pronoun haven’t they?
third person singular has/hasn’t + pronoun She hasn’t started, has she?
Future: will/won’t + pronoun You will write, won’t you?
would/wouldn’t + He would write,
pronoun wouldn’t he?

Conjunctions
Use conjunctions to connect words, phrases, clauses and sentences.
Co-ordinating conjunctions  and, but, or, nor, for, yet, so 
Use co-ordinating conjunctions to connect items of equal importance in a sentence
She likes cheese and onion but doesn’t like vinegar.
They visited the supermarket and called to see their friends.
Subordinating conjunctions  because, although, since, unless, until, as
Use subordinating conjunctions to connect subordinate clauses to the
main clause of a sentence
I shall not go because none of my friends will be there.
Do not sit in the sun unless you want to be sunburnt.
Conjuncts  because, since, as, also, therefore, however

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 Use conjuncts to relate what is said in a sentence to another sentence or statement.
They are not part of the structure of the sentence and can be removed without
affecting its grammatical accuracy.
None of my friends will be there. However, I shall go.
Conjunct phrases 
due to, as a result, ever since, following on from, as a
consequence
These are used in exactly the same way as single word conjuncts and broaden
the range of linking words available.
Ever since I saw an eagle close to me, I have been a keen birdwatcher.

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