GRAMMAR IELTS

Parts of Speech
1)Verbs
-Doing words
-Describe actions and states
-Can become nouns (e.g. Cooking is fun)

2)Adverbs
-Describe the verb
-Come after the verb (e.g. quickly, slowly)
-Irregular adverbs (e.g. good -> well, fast, hard, late)

3)Nouns
-Things, people, places
-Singular and plural
-Countable and uncountable

4)Adjectives
-Describe noun
-The adjective comes before the noun (e.g. a refreshing drink)

5)Pronouns
-Replace nouns (people, places, things) or a noun phrase
-Subject pronouns (I, you, they, we, he, she, it)
-Object pronouns (me, you, us, them, him, her, it)
-Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs)

6)Prepositions
-At (specific point or time, space or bubble)
-On (touching a surface or platform, time)
-In (container, in a box, time and season)

7)Conjunctions
-So, because, and

8)Articles
A
-A + consonant sound
-Use with a singular countable noun, in general
-Introduce something for the first time
-Speaking about someone’s job
-Say big numbers
-Say many times

eg
*I need a pen
*I watched a movie last night
*Yesterday I saw a seagull eating a hamburger in the middle of the street
*I’m a teacher
*I need a hundred roses
*I’ve eaten a thousand mangoes in my life
*Hummingbirds can flap their wings 70 times a second

AN
-An + vowel sound 
-Use with a singular countable noun, in general
-Introduce something for the first time
-Speaking about someone’s job
-Say big numbers
-Say many times

eg
*I ate an apple
*She needs an umbrella
*I’m an engineer
Exceptions
*I go to a university (consonant sound Y)
*He is a unique person (consonant sound Y)
*I need an X-ray (vowel sound E)

THE
-Specific
-Mention something for the second time
-With superlatives
-With groups of society (the rich, the poor, the homeless, the youth)
-When there is only 1 of something (the sun, the moon, the government, the Queen, the Alps, the Pacific, the Mediterranean,
the Thames)
-With plural countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, the Netherlands, the Philippines)
-With instruments 
-With morning, afternoon, evening

eg
*I bought the sofa
*The seagull finished the hamburger in about two minutes
*Coffee is the best drink in the world
*You are the smartest person I know
*Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor
*The Orkney Islands lie in the Atlantic
*I can play the piano
*See you in the morning

Exceptions
*Buckingham Palace

0 Article
-Plural countable nouns/uncountable noun
-Streets, towns, cities, countries, specific mountains

eg
*I love dogs
*I live in New York City on Fulham Road
*I want to climb Mount Everest one day

Prepositions
IN
-Position : inside
*My phone is in my bag
*He is waiting in the car

-Location : countries, city, area, directions, 

*I live in England
*My sister is in Paris
*In the north

-Time
*I love reading books set in the 1800s/in the 19th Century (centuries)
*I think music in the 1970s was the best (decades)
*I was born in 1998 (years)
*My birthday is in December (months)
*I go to the gym in the afternoon/in the morning (afternoon/morning)
*My family always goes on holiday in Winter (seasons)
*The lesson starts in 15 minutes (future start)

-Transportation
*In a car, a taxi, a truck, a limousine (can’t move around)

ON
-Position : on top
*A laptop is on my desk
*A bird poop on my desk
-Location : streets and roads
*There is a great Italian restaurant on Park Street
*I used to live on Lennon Road

-Time
*On Sunday (days of the week)
*What are you doing on Valentine’s day? What you like doing on a rainy day?(phrases with the word ‘day’)
*On Thursday the 10th, on the 22nd of February (dates)

-Transportation
*On a train, on a plane, on a boat, on a tram (can walk around)
*On a bike, on a horse, on a camel (literally on top of)

AT
-Position : ac activity in a location (in general)
*I was at the gym for three hours
*My son, he’s at school

-Location : specific address

*I live at 15 Birmingham Road London, LL12 1QP

-Time
*I’ll meet you at 8.30, at 1 o’clock (specific time)
*I don’t sleep very well at night (night, noon -> 12 PM)

TO vs FOR
To + verb 1 -> part of the infinitive 
For + noun
*I started going to bed at 10 to get more sleep 
*I started going to bed at 10 for my health 
*I bought these chimes to hang up on my window
*I bought these chimes for decoration
*Jess quit her job in IT to become a full-time artist
*Jess quit her job in IT for various reasons
*He stepped outside to smoke
*He stepped outside for a cigaratte

TO as preposition
-Can be followed by noun, pronoun, gerund
*Go to the bathroom

FOR + ing (function)

*It’s for making melon balls
*It’s for learning vocabulary
*It’s for sitting, not standing

TO ME? FOR ME?

-To me (my opinion)
*The cake looks good to me
*To me she seemed a bit nervous
*This is important to me -> personal problem

-For me (effect +-)

*I hate exercising, but I know it’s good for me
*I think meditating would be very therapeutic for me
*Smoking is bad for you
*This is important for me -> eg. work opportunity
*That’s too expensive for me
*The test was too hard for most of the students

Do + something + FOR + someone

-Being nice
*I bought these flowers for you
*A student baked a cupcakes for the whole class

-Instead of
*One of my colleagues was sick, so I had to teach her class for her
*Can you please call the bank for me? I hate speaking on the phone

Confusing Adverbs
Still
-to emphasize something is continuing/ongoing -> surprising
-middle position
-before main verb (still lives)
-in the middle of auxiliary and main verb (can still go)
-in the negative, before the auxiliary (still don’t know, still hasn’t, still can’t)
-after ‘be’ form (am still)

Present
*Now it’s still raining
*My brother still lives with my parents. He’s 38!
*I work from home because of Covid, but I can still go into the office if I need to
*I am still sick. I have been sick for two weeks

Past
*I woke up at 8 AM, and it was still dark out
*My parents divorced when I was 7, but they still had a good relationship

Future
*When you wake up, it will still be dark out
*In two minutes, you will still be watching this video

Already
-earlier than expected -> surprised
-before something else
-before main verb  (already had)
-in the middle of auxiliary and main verb  (is already melting, will already be there)
-after ‘be’ form (is already)

Present
*What? Your son is already 5 years old? Time flies!
*It’s only January and the snow is already melting

Past
*Would you like a tea of a coffee? No thank you, I already had one

Future
*When you arrive in San Francisco, Chloe and Alice will already be there

Informal, emphatic (already at the end)

*Your son is 5 years old already?
*The snow is melting already
*I had one already
*Will be there already

AmE vs BrE
Past simple (AmE)
-I already had one

Present perfect (BrE)

-I’ve already had one

Just
-right before now
-right before something
-1 minutes ago
-15 minutes ago
-before main verb (just bought)
-between verbs (was just talking, has just called)
-after be (was just)

*Rachel (has) just called and left you a message

*I was just there!
*I was just talking to him

Yet
-waiting for something
-expecting something
-at the end of the sentence
-emphasis

*I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten breakfast yet

*You can’t go to the supermarket now. It’s not open yet
*Has the meeting started yet?
*I don’t know why Zoe was complaining about the new intern. She hadn’t even met him yet

I haven’t seen that movie -> general info

I haven’t seen that movie yet -> wants to watch it

Yet in + sentence (formal, not common)

have/has YET TO + infinitive
*The stolen jewels have yet to be recovered -> haven’t been recovered yet
*The judges have yet to announce a winner -> haven’t announced a winner yet

Stative Verbs
-The opposite of dynamic/action verbs (drive, run, take, play, teach)
-Emotional (like, love, dislike, hate, prefer, want)
-Mind/opinions (understand, remember, believe, know, seem, agree, disagree)
-Senses (smell, taste, feel, hear, see)
-States (be, have) -> I am American, I have an older sister
-NOT normally used in a continuous way 

eg
*I understand this lesson
*This bag belongs to me
*I’ve believed in ghosts since I was a child

Modal Verbs (Can/Could)

-Same meaning
-Can/could + bare infinitive

Ability (Present)
+I can run 15 miles
-I cannot run 15 miles
?Can you run 15 miles?

Ability (Past)
+I could run 15 miles
-I could not run 15 miles
?Could you run 15 miles?

Be able to (same meaning, one time condition)

*Will you be able to fix this?
*Being able to speak two languages is useful
*I would like to be able to sing
*My mum is able to pick us up
*If you complete this course, you will be able to apply for a new job

Possibility (Present, Strong)

*Do you need me? I can be at your house in 30 minutes
*I can give you a full refund, or I can give you a gift card to use at a later date

Possibility (Present, Weak)

*It could be a painting of the ocean
*I don’t want to put cream on my rash because it could get worse

Possibility (Past)
Could have + past participle
-Maybe happened in the past
-A past possibility that did not happen

*I could have deleted that email by mistake

*Sabrina could have gone home
*You could have been injured!
*I could have gone to the party, but I decided to stay home

Suggestions
*You could donate them
*We could switch desks. I don’t mind

Permission (Informal)
*Can I have some chocolate? (Yes you can, No you can’t)
*Can we use our phones in class? (Yes you can, No you can’t)

Permission (Formal)
*Could I use your bathroom? (Yes you can, No you can’t)
*Could I leave work early on Wednesday? (Yes you can, No you can’t)

Offers (Strong)
*Can I help you?
*I can send you the minutes

Offers (Weak)
*I could water your plants for you while you’re on vacation

Requests (Informal)
*Can you close the window please?
*Can you mail this letter for me?

Requests (Formal)
*Could you possibly send me the link?

Causative Verb
->kata kerja yng digunakan untuk menunjukkan jika subjek tidak bertanggung jawab langsung terhadap aksi yang terjadi,
melainka seseorang atau sesuatu yang lain yang melakukan aksi tersebut

Active
1)Get .. to inf (persuade)
-I get my sister to study English
-I get my shirts ironed every week
-I get my nails done every week
-I get all of my meals cooked by my very own chef
-I can’t get my 6-month-old son to sleep

2)Have .. V1 (ask/convince/persuade)
-I have my sister study English
-I have my students put their homework on my desk before the lesson starts
-I have my shirts ironed every week
-I’m having my pool cleaned tomorrow
-I had my portrait painted
-I might have my boat repainted

Causative (have + something + v3)

I had my groceries delivered

Past perfect (had + v3)

I had delivered my groceries

3)Make .. V1 (force)
-I make my sister study English
-The robbers made the security guard give them the code
-Sometimes my boss makes us work late on Fridays
-Stop making me laugh!
-My kids make me cut the crusts off of their sandwiches
4)Let .. V1 (permission)
-I let my sister eat my burger
-My professor let us use our phones during the test
-My sister lets me borrow her bag when I need it
-My landlord won’t let me have a pet

5)Help .. V1/to inf (assist)

-I help my sister study English
-My mom will help me to decorate my flat
-I helped my friend move house
-Music helps me to fall asleep

Passive
Have + Object + V3

-Teacher had the exam done by me now

-Father has the room cleaned by my sister

Gerund and To Infinitive

Gerund
Subject-> watching movie makes me happy
Object-> we avoid drinking alcohol
Prep + Gerund-> we go to the cinema by driving car

Special verb + gerund

Avoid, admit, enjoy, quit, recommend

To infinitive
Subject-> to get high score needs big effort
Object-> the principal allows us to join the competition
Adj. + to inf-> we are happy to meet the president

Special verb + to inf

Agree, allow, require, enable, learn

The first + noun + to inf

The first man to go to the moon is Neil Armstrong

The purpose/The goal

The purpose of this event is to learn about art

To inf.. Need/must/require
To joint this event, you must register..

Gerunds
-Infinitive + ing
-Function as a noun
-Focus on the general idea of an activity, not the specific action
eg
-Swimming is good for your body -> swimming as gerund, the subject of the sentence, as general activity
-Eating too much sugar is bad for your teeth

-Use gerunds after be

eg
*The best part of a meal is eating dessert
*The think I love most about Sundays is sleeping

-Gerunds follow specific verbs

eg
*I avoid eating too much sugar
*We’ve deferred signing the contract

List of the specific verbs -> avoid, can’t bear, can’t help, can’t stand, celebrate, consider, contemplate, defer, delay, discuss,
dislike, dread, encourage, enjoy, entail, ..
-Preposition + gerunds
In, on, at, above, under, through, to, for, of
eg
*I’m good at making brownies
*I’m interested in booking an English course
*I went to work in spite of feeling sick

Beside vs Besides
Beside 
*Preposition
*Needs object

eg (def. next to, formal)

*I was standing right beside her
*Beside the cottage, there is a 200-year-old well
*The paper clips are beside the pens

eg (def. compared with)

*Beside Kim’s poster, my poster looks really dull
*My cooking is no good beside my mom’s cooking

Besides
-Def : in addition to 
*Besides glassware and ornaments, this store sells jewelry (less formal)

-Def : except (for)

*Besides the weather, did you have a good time?

-Besides + gerund (preposition)

In addition to -> I’m taking a self-defense class. There are loads of things you can do to defend yourself besides kicking and
punching
-Except (for) -> Besides walking my dog, I don’t get very much exercise

-Besides as adverb
*I don’t want to paint out bedroom gray. Besides, we’re moving in three months
*Stop worrying about the gift 
 bought for your boss. Loads of people will be giving her a gift. Besides, she’ll never remember who gave her what
*We’re going to go hiking, roast marshmallows, and much more besides

Run-On Sentences
-2 or more independent clauses (i.e. complete sentences) joined without an appropriate conjunction or punctuation mark

How to fix it?

-Add a full stop
-Add a semi-colon (connect closely related sentences)
-Add a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS - for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
-Add a subordinating conjunction to make a dependent clause (when, as, while, although, since, unless, if, whereas, because)

Subject-verb Agreement
-Subjects must ‘agree’ with their verbs
-A singular noun needs a singular verb
-Plural nouns need plural verbs