Basic Grammar

Review-II
Verb tense

Subject-verb agreement

Articles/determiner

Word order

Prepositions
 WHAT IS VERB TENSE?
In English, there are many ways to
express time. Words like early, late, last
week, yesterday, today, tonight,
tomorrow, and next year help us
1. Verb Tense specifically identify a period of time; in
addition to these, verbs play an
important role in communicating the
“when” of an idea.
• Tense defined: It is the form of a verb
which shows the time at which an event
occurs. Briefly speaking Tense shows:
• The time of an action
• Its degree of completeness
 HOW MANY TENSES ARE
THERE?

and to indicate shades of

meaning , each tense has
English verbs have three
four different forms:
main tenses: the Present,
Indefinite, Continuous,
the Past, and the Future
Perfect, Perfect
Continuous.
 Active Voice

Tense Indefinite Continuous Perfect Perfect

Continuous

Present I do my I am doing I have done I have been

work my work my work doing my
work

Past I did my I was doing I had done I had been

work my work my work doing my
work

Future I shall do I shall be I shall have I shall have

my work doing my done my been doing
work work my work
 Passive Voice

Tense Indefinite Continuous Perfect Perfect

Continuous

Present My work is done My work is being My work has been (No passive
by me done by me done by me voice)

Past My work was done My work was being My work had been
by me done by me done by me
“

Future My work will be (No passive voice) My work will have

done by me been done by me
“
 The four present tenses are
1. the simple present ("I go")
2. the present continuous ("I am going")
3. the present perfect ("I have gone")
4. the present perfect continuous ("I have been going")
The four past tenses are
1. the simple past ("I went")
2. the past continuous ("I was going")
3. the past perfect ("I had gone")
4. the past perfect continuous ("I had been going")
 The four future tenses are
1. the simple future ("I will go")
2. the future continuous ("I will be going")
3. the future perfect ("I will have gone")
4. the future perfect continuous ("I will have been going")
Verb Tense: Aspect

Three aspects:
Aspect refers to the indefinite (or simple),
nature of the action complete (or perfect),
described by the verb. continuing (or
progressive).
Insert the correct form of Verb

1. Ronnie, I ________________ you in a long time. How have you been? (haven't seen,
hadn't seen )
2. Yesterday I ____________ to see my grandparents. (go, went, have gone)
3. Some people say that it is better to _________ for today. (living, lives, live)
4. Have you ever ____________ to Canada? (been, have been)
5. Albert doesn't like ___________ on weekends. (working, to work)
6. He occasionally _______________ a headache in the morning. (has, have, having)
7. The time on the clock ____________ correct. (is, could be, should be)
8. We never ________________ Mr. Barrientos anymore. He's too busy. (see, sees, have
seen)
9. Did you ____________ early today? (left, will leave, want to leave)
10. She _____________ six days a week. (usually works, works usually, is usually works )
DETERMINERS
 • Determiners are words which introduce a
noun.
• One or more determiners can be found
before a noun.
• They do not have comparatives or
What are •
superlatives.
big bigger biggest adjective
determiners? • the - - determiner
• that - - determiner
• my - - determiner
• five - - determiner
 1. Articles
2. Demonstratives
Types of 3. Possessives
determiners 4. Quantifiers
ARTICLES
What is an article?
• Basically, an article is an adjective.
Like adjectives, articles modify nouns.

• English has two articles: the and a/an.

• Two kinds of articles: the definite article
(the) and the indefinite article (a or an)
• Nouns can be found with or without
articles.

• Dogs need to be walked every day.

• The dogs need to be walked every day.
• A dog needs to be walked every day.
1. Indefinite Article (a/an)
Used before singular countable
and non specific nouns.
• E.g. a book, an orange, a girl
Choice between a and an is
determined by sound. Word
beginning with a vowel sound
takes the article an before it.
• e.g. an enemy, an inkpad, an
hour, an heir
Before a word beginning It is unknown as to which
with a consonant sound a the noun is referring to;
is used; as, for example:
• a boy, a reindeer, a • a teacher in the hall, a
woman, a yard, a horse, letter in the mail box, a
a unicorn, university, a car in the street.
union, a European, a
useful article
 The Definite article the is used when;
1. We talk about a particular person or
thing; as,

2. Definite a. The book you want is out of print.

b. Let’s go to the park.
Article (the) c. The girl cried.
d. Let's read the book
2. A singular noun is meant to represent
the whole class; as,
b. The cow is a useful animal.
c. The horse is a noble animal.
d. The cat loves comfort.
e. The banyan is a kind of fig tree.

3. Use “The” with Centuries

• Millions left Ireland in the 19th
century.
4. Before some proper names; kinds of place-
names; as,
a. Oceans and seas, e.g. the Pacific, the
Black Sea
b. Rivers, e.g. the Nile, the Indus
c. Canals, e.g. the Suez Canal
d. Deserts, e.g. the Sahara
e. Groups of islands, e.g. the West Indies
f. Mountain ranges, e.g. the Himalayas, the
Alps
g. Very few names of countries, which
include words like republic and
kingdom (e.g. the Irish Republic, the
United Kingdom, the Ukraine, the
Netherlands)
5. Before the names of certain books; as,
• The Quran
• The Vidas
• The Iliad
• The Bible

But we say – Homer’s Iliad, Valmiki’s

Ramayana.

6. With repeated noun or thing or person

was mentioned before
• My mother bought a book for me.
I daily read the book.
7. Before names of things unique of their
kind; as,
• The sun, the sky, the ocean, the sea,
the earth.
8. Before a proper noun when it is
qualified by an adjective or a defining
adjectival clause; as,
• the great Caesar : the immortal
Shakespeare.
• The Mr. Roy whom you met last night
is my uncle.

9. Use “The” with Decades

• I was born in the 80’s.
10. With Superlatives; as,
• The darkest cloud has a silver lining.
• This is the best book of elementary
chemistry.
11. With ordinals; as,
• He was the first man to arrive.
• The ninth chapter of the book is very
interesting.
12. Before musical instruments; as,
• He can play the flute.
 1. When Joe was a child, he went to school in
_____ Bristol.
2. My brother is _ doctor in a hospital in
Manchester.
3. I need _____ new shoes. These ones are
old and they have holes in them.
4. Could you pass me ___ pepper please?
5. I don't know why they are building _
hospital in the city centre. Bristol already
Insert the has three hospitals.

correct 6. Sally, Pete is on ___ telephone.

7. I don't think people will ever live on ___
Article moon because there is no air up there.
8. Guilherme wanted to visit _ European city
so he decided to go to Paris.
9. Every Monday, our teacher gives us __ MP3
player with all our listening for the week on
it.
10. Charlie can't afford to go to another
country on holiday this year. So he's going
to have _ UK holiday this year.
Solution
1. When Joe was a child, he went to school in ------ Bristol.
2. My brother is a doctor in a hospital in Manchester.
3. I need ------- new shoes. These ones are old and they have holes in them.
4. Could you pass me some pepper please?
5. I don't know why they are building a hospital in the city centre. Bristol
already has three hospitals.
6. Sally, Pete is on the telephone.
7. I don't think people will ever live on the moon because there is no air up
there.
8. Guilherme wanted to visit a European city so he decided to go to Paris.
9. Every Monday, our teacher gives us an MP3 player with all our listening for
the week on it.
10. Charlie can't afford to go to another country on holiday this year. So he's
going to have the UK holiday this year.
WORD ORDER
 The most common order of words in
sentences is as follows:
Subject + Verb + Object

1. Verb + Examples:
Object • Sally speaks English.
• John reads the newspaper.
 • In English, the place is usually
mentioned before the time.
Examples:
• I go to the supermarket every
2. Place & Saturday.
(NOT: I go every Saturday to the
Time supermarket)
• Bill has lived in London for 10 years.
(NOT: Bill has lived for 10 years in
London)
 • Adverbs of frequency such as always,
never, sometimes, often, rarely, etc.
3. Adverbs of generally go before the verb.
Examples:
Frequency • Susan often goes shopping.
• They always sleep early.
However, with the verb to be, they go
after the verb.
Examples:
• She is rarely late.
• He is never home before dark.
• They can also go between two verbs.
Examples:
• I will always remember my brother.
• I have never been to Japan.