Imagine that you need to start something completely new to you right now. For example, driving a car, baking pies for the first time, giving a newborn a bath. Where do you start? Options:

1. I’ll take it and do it, what’s the problem.
2. First, I’ll read on the Internet or in books how to do it.
3. Call a friend who is experienced in this matter.
4. Help from the audience (I’ll ask someone else).
5. Learn from a professional.
6. I won't do it.

The option you choose characterizes you very clearly. When it comes to English grammar, depending on which method you chose above, the following is expected:

1. Bugaga (the teachers and English people who heard you speak in English are laughing).
2. Adding patience and time to this, you will learn all the rules on your own.
3. Add to this the patience of a friend and his time, under his guidance you will learn all the rules.
4. You won't learn anything, but you will listen to how others do it.
5. Add money to this and you will learn all the rules.
6. You will be able to ski, meet friends in a cafe, sleep, eat - in general, life is good.

As you can see, to understand English grammar, you need, in theory, only three things: a source of rules, time and patience. The first is offered to you in these articles, but you will have to deal with the other two components on your own.

Thus, we give you a fishing rod, and you will catch the fish yourself. What is the beauty of our fishing rod? The fact is that it is light, convenient and easy to use. We will not load you with scary grammar terms, torment you with long lists, flickering arrows, A4 diagrams and other tricks that scare some English teachers.

There is nothing particularly complex about English grammar, unlike many other European languages ​​(not to mention Eastern and African). You can simply read these articles like a fiction book. Even if you master the minimum, at the finish line you will find that you master most of the rules that previously seemed overwhelming.

As an example, let's do something already in the introductory part. What does speech consist of? From phrases. What does the phrase consist of? From the proposals. What does the proposal consist of? Stop! Let's clarify: what does an ENGLISH sentence consist of? Subject and predicate. Usually this is a noun and a verb (just don’t say that you don’t remember these words): the dog is running, the passer-by is screaming, the dog is barking, the owner is yelling. True, a noun can be successfully replaced by a pronoun: she runs, you scream, she barks, I yell.

You have just listened to a news briefing lecture on parts of speech. What do you remember? At a minimum, the words “noun” and “verb” for you are already associated with grammar, and not with cooking or construction work. And for now you don’t need more. Are you ready to continue at the same pace?

Follow me (follow me).

Parts of speech:

1. Numerals(The Numeral)
1.1 Cardinal and ordinal numbers
2. Pronouns(The Pronoun)
2.1 Personal and possessive pronouns
2.2 Demonstrative and negative pronouns
2.3 Indefinite and reflexive pronouns

5. Adjective(The Adjective)
5.1 Degrees of comparison of adjectives

7. Noun(The Noun)
7.1 Noun in English. Classification of nouns

8. Verb(The Verb)
8.1 Verbs in English. General information about verbs
8.2 Regular and irregular English verbs
8.3 Semantic and auxiliary verbs
8.4 Modal and linking verbs

“I don’t want to speak intelligently. I want to speak like a lady,” these words belong to Eliza Doolittle, the heroine of Bernard Shaw’s famous play “Pygmalion.”

Eliza may not have wanted to learn to speak correctly, but without grammar she would not have been able to speak at all. We are now talking about grammar as a system of words and syntactic structures inherent in a particular language. Grammar in this sense is “our main asset,” emphasized Eliza’s mentor, Professor Henry Higgins.

But this is not the only definition of grammar. The systematic study and description of a language or group of languages ​​is also grammar, descriptive grammar. Professor Higgins was mainly concerned with just one aspect of it - phonetics, or the study of speech sounds. Henry Higgins recorded the conversation of ordinary people in his notebook - this is very exact image of what descriptive grammar is.

And yet, for most, “speaking like a lady” means speaking correctly, as prescribed, speaking in accordance with the linguistic norm. Bernard Shaw spoke about the importance of prescriptive grammar when he wrote in the preface to Pygmalion: “The English do not respect their native language and stubbornly refuse to teach their children to speak it.” It is about the need for a prescriptive approach that Rex Harrison, who played the role of Professor Higgins in the musical “My Fair Lady,” said: “And there are places where our language has already been reduced to nothing. It hasn’t been in use in America for God knows how long!”

Why do we need to learn English grammar?

Grammar is a tool that can be used to describe any language. Grammar gives names to the words and word groups that make up sentences. Already in early childhood we learn to compose sentences - the grammar of our native language is subject to everyone. Studying English at school, university, with a tutor or at a university, we are faced with the need to once again independently and consciously go through this path. And here we need to have an idea of ​​the types of words and phrases and how they form sentences.

Literate people are more likely to succeed in relationships with the opposite sex
According to an online survey in which 1,700 people took part, 43% of users on dating sites consider a low level of literacy to be a significant disadvantage to attractiveness.
More than a third (35%) say literacy is sexy. The survey also showed that women are more demanding of their partner’s literacy than men (Michael Sebastian, “43 Percent of Singles Say Bad Grammar Is a Turnoff”).

Parts of speech in English grammar

Depending on their function in a sentence, words are assigned to one or another part of speech. There are 8 parts of speech in English. Just by learning their names, you certainly will not become an English grammar professor. But you will have a basic understanding of the English language and will be ready to start reading other articles on our site - and these articles will help you make significant progress in learning English grammar.

Remember: if a sentence consists of one word, only an interjection can act as that word.

Other parts of speech - nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and conjunctions - appear in combinations. To understand which part of speech a word belongs to, we must look not only at the word itself, but also at its meaning, place and role in the sentence.

Let's consider three proposals:

1. Jim showed up for work two hours late. (Jim showed up at work two hours late).
   Here work is what Jim came to work for.
2. He will not have to work overtime. (He will have to work overtime).
   And here work is the action that Jim will carry out.
3. His work permit expires in March. (His work permit expires in March.)
   Finally, here work denotes the attribute of the noun permit.

In the first sentence the word work acts as a noun, in the second as a verb, and in the third as an adjective.

We hope you are not confused yet? Let's see what functions the 8 parts of speech perform in English.

Part of speech	Main function
noun	names an animate object, place, or thing	pirate, Caribbean, ship (pirate, Caribbean, ship)
pronoun	replaces a noun	I, you, he, she, it, ours, them, who (I, you, he, she, it, our, their, who)
	expresses an action or state	sing, dance, believe, be (sing, dance, believe, be)
adjective	denotes a noun attribute	hot, lazy, funny (hot, lazy, funny)
	denotes the attribute of a verb, adjective or other adverb	softly, lazily, often (gently, lazily, often)
	shows the relationship between a noun (pronoun) and other words in a sentence	up, over, against, for (up, through, against, for)
	connects words, parts of complex sentences and	and, but, or, yet (and, but, or, yet)
interjection	expresses emotions	ah, whoops, ouch (ah! oh!)

NB! Articles (the, a/an) were once considered a separate part of speech. Nowadays they are more often classified as defining words or determinants.

What do we use to build proposals?

TOP 18 grammatical terms with film examples

Brush up on your English grammar with memorable quotes from your favorite movies and show off your knowledge in an interview or exam! We have compiled a “dossier” on 18 of the most common grammatical terms with rather unusual examples:

1. Active voice - Active Voice

A form of a verb that denotes an action performed by the subject (that is, the main character of the sentence, expressed by the subject). In other words, we are talking about how someone does something, produces, accomplishes something, that is, acts actively.

This construction is the opposite of the passive (passive) voice (see below).

“We buy things we don"t need, with money we don"t have, to impress people we don"t like.”	We buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.
It is important to learn how to build big from small: putting words in the correct form and combining them into phrases, arranging parts of a sentence so as to get a meaningful statement. 8556 In contact with Classmates

English grammar is a set of rules that relate to prepositions, various parts of speech, types of English verbs and their tenses, members of sentences, and so on. In a word, everything that allows you to make statements from individual words is English grammar.

Articles

Articles have no analogues in the Russian language. They are used with nouns to show the specificity or uncertainty of the thing being talked about.

There are 3 types of articles:

• Zero article or lack thereof

  Example: Books make people smart. - Books make people smarter.

• The indefinite article a or an, which is used when talking about the subject as a whole, there is no need to focus on a specific thing. The indefinite article is also used when a thing is mentioned for the first time in speech. If the noun or adjective that describes it begins with a consonant, the article “a” is used, and if it begins with a vowel, “an” is used.

  Examples: Could you give me a pen? - Could you give me (any) pen? We watched an amazing film yesterday. - Yesterday we watched an amazing film.

• The definite article the, used with specific objects.

  Example: I want to put on the dress you gave me. - I want to wear the dress you gave me.

Nouns

In English grammar, the rules for using nouns as parts of speech have much in common with the rules of Russian grammar.

• They are also divided into proper and common nouns.

  Examples Own: Russia (Russia), Ann (Anna).
  Common nouns: a toy (toy), a house (house).

• They can vary in number, forming the plural using the ending -s (-es).

  Examples: pencil (pencil) - pencils (pencils), face (face) - faces (faces).

• They have cases, although their number is limited to only two.

  Common case - base/dictionary form
  Example: Have you heard the news? -Have you heard the news?

  Possessive case (apostrophe + s)
  Example: I’m sure it was Jim’s idea. - I'm sure it was Jim's idea.

• They can perform the roles of all members of the proposal.

  Subject: The story made me cry. - This story made me cry.

  Circumstance: We are going to London tomorrow. - Tomorrow we are going to London.

  Addition: He has borrowed some money. - He lent some money.

However, according to the rules of grammar in English, nouns cannot be masculine, feminine or neuter, as in Russian. They are not divided by gender.

Pronouns

Pronouns in English are divided into 9 subgroups, but the most popular are rightfully personal pronouns. They change according to cases, tenses and numbers:

They have no idea you like her. - They don't suspect that you like her.

We told him everything. - We told him everything.

You know me better than anyone else. - You know me better than anyone.

Verbs

The verb (verb) in English grammar is one of the main parts of speech.

• A verb can be personal or impersonal.

  Personal verbs include those verbs that change according to persons, numbers and tenses. They can be used in both active and passive voices.

  Examples
  We learned a lot of new things. - We learned a lot of new things.
  The task should be done.- The task must be completed.

  Impersonal ones include:

  Gerund - V-ing
  Example: I heard you singing. - I heard you sing.

  Infinitive - initial form (to V)
  Example: They want to go home. - They want to go home.

  Participle 1 - V-ing
  Example: Having learned the truth, we couldn’t believe it. “When we found out the truth, we couldn’t believe it.

  Participle 2 - V-ed for regular verbs or changing the root of the word for irregular ones.
  Example: Her heart was broken. - Her heart was broken.

• A verb can be regular or irregular. Both have 3 forms.

  The correct ones are formed as follows:

  Infinitive V1 (Infinitive): start (start)
  Past Simple V2 (Past Indefinite): start + ed = started
  Past Participle V3 (Past participle): start + ed = started

  Irregular ones have 3 individual forms in which the root of the word can change:

  Infinitive V1 (Infinitive): forgive (forgive)
  Past Simple V2 (Past Indefinite): forgave
  Past Participle V3 (Past participle): forgiven

• Verbs in English grammar, as in Russian, have three moods.

  Indicative
  Example: We make a contribution to the scientific development. - We contribute to the development of science.

  Subjunctive
  Example: I wish we made a contribution to the scientific development. - I would like us to make a contribution to the development of science.

  Imperative
  Example: Make a contribution to the scientific development. - Contribute to the development of science.

• A separate group of verbs are modal verbs. They are not used independently; their role is to show the speaker’s attitude towards some action.

  Some of the most commonly used modal verbs are: should, can, must, have to, need, used to.

  You should stop drinking alcohol. - You need to stop drinking.

  Every person can achieve everything he dreams about. - Every person can achieve everything they dream of.

  All students must wear uniform here. - Here all students are required to wear a uniform.

  I have to wake up early on Saturdays. - I have to get up early on Saturdays.

  I need you like no one else. - I need you like no one else.

  I used to watch this cartoon when I was a child. - (I used to) watch this cartoon when I was a child.

Adjectives

An adjective in English grammar, just like in Russian, denotes a feature of an object and answers the questions “which one?”

• Based on their structure, adjectives are divided into 3 groups.

  Simple: happy (happy)

  Derivatives: there is a suffix or prefix: expressive (expressive)

  Complex: two basics or more: six-page (six-page)

• Adjectives are used in three degrees of comparison.

  Positive: sad (sad)

  Comparative: sadder (sadder)

  Excellent: the saddest (the saddest)

Adverbs

Adverbs, like adjectives, also have a descriptive function.

According to the expression of the sign of action, they are divided into adverbs:

• Places: here (here), there (there), nowhere (nowhere), anywhere (anywhere), inside (inside), outside (outside)

  Time: now, then, when, today, yesterday, tomorrow, before, always, rarely, usually )

  Measures and degrees: much, little, very, enough, almost, approximately, nearly

  Mode of action: fast, slowly, easily, well

• Adverbs can also have degrees of comparison.

  Positive: easy (easy)

  Comparative: easier (easier)

  Excellent: the easiest (easiest of all)

Numerals

Numerals in English grammar occupy the same place as in Russian grammar.

• They are quantitative and ordinal.

  Quantitative: one (one), two (two), three (three), four (four), five (five), etc.

  Ordinal: first (first), second (second), third (third), fourth (fourth), fifth (fifth), etc.

Starting with the number four, ordinal numbers are formed by adding the ending -th (-eth).

Interjections

In English grammar there is also an independent part of speech, the use of which helps to convey emotions and sensations, namely interjections. Interjections are divided into many groups, but these divisions are conditional.

Examples of interjections: Hurray! (Hurray!), Ouch! (Ouch!), Wow! (Wow!), Hush! (Hush!), Hey! (Hey!), Hist! (Shh!), Hello? (Hello?), Bye! (Bye!).

Functional parts of speech

Unions

They connect parts of sentences in English grammar, as well as simple sentences within a complex sentence.

• By structure they are divided into:

  Simple: and (and)

  Derivatives: because (because)

  Complex: whereas (while)

  Compounds: in order to (in order to)

• By function they are divided into:

  Essays

  Example: We meet every Monday and learn the rules from a book called Math For Dummies. - We meet every Monday and learn the rules from a book called “Mathematics for Dummies.”

  Subordinates

  Example: You should learn the language because it’ll help you to find a job in the future. - You should learn the language, as it will help you find a job in the future.

Prepositions

• By structure they are divided into the same groups as unions:

  Simple: about (about)

  Derivatives: depending on (depending on)

  Complex: within

  Compounds: instead of (instead of)

In addition to their main purpose, prepositions are always used with some verbs: to wait for, to listen to, to look for, to belong to.

Particles

Particles are used to form phrasal verbs and phrases. There is no exact classification of particles in English.

Examples of particles: along, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on, out, over, round, under, up..

Offers

English grammar, unlike Russian, maintains a strict word order in sentences.

• Sentences in English are affirmative, negative and interrogative.

  Affirmative:

  1. Subject
  2. Predicate (semantic verb or auxiliary + semantic)
  3. Secondary members of the sentence

  Negative:

  1. Subject
  2. Auxiliary verb
  3. Particle not
  4. Semantic verb
  5. Secondary members of the sentence

  Interrogative (general question):

  1. Auxiliary verb
  2. Subject
  3. Semantic verb
  4. Secondary members of the sentence

  According to this scheme, proposals are drawn up at any time.

• English sentences are divided into simple and complex. Complex ones are divided into complex and complex.

  Simple

  Example: John has many friends. - John has many friends.

  Compound

  Example: John has many friends, and he likes them very much. - John has many friends and he loves them very much.

  Complex

  Example: John has many although friends he isn’t really popular at school. - John has many friends, although he is not very popular at school.

Time

There are 12 tenses in English grammar, which are formed from 3 tenses and 4 tenses (aspects):

What does English grammar look like by level?

In this post we will discuss in detail what grammar is covered at different levels of learning English - from beginner to advanced. Let's see examples of this grammar and do a little test.

Just in case, let me remind you that grammar is just one aspect of language learning. Necessary, useful, yes. But far from the only one.

How nice it would be if I learned grammar and, consider myself, mastered English))

English grammar by level

You will see that the same grammar is often repeated at different levels. Read more about why this happens. In short:

• not all grammatical structures are learned the first time (repetition is the mother of learning)))
• at low levels phenomena are considered separately from each other, and at higher levels they are compared with each other
• As the level of English improves, it turns out that each grammatical structure has nuances and subtleties, which insidious teachers are silent about for the time being, so as not to create confusion

English grammar by level - in different textbooks - looks approximately the same. Therefore, I will take as a basis one of the most popular textbooks - English File.

By the way, this English grammar by levels can be a kind of test. Look at any section and see if you understand sentences with grammar examples? But - more importantly - do you use such constructions in your speech? If not, it may not be your level yet. If yes, go to the next level and do the same.

English grammar by level - a short way to the desired section:

Beginner/Starter level grammar

The Beginner level covers the basics - the simplest constructions. At the same time, they are also the most important, because all the complex grammar of higher levels will be based on them.

At this level, a lot of attention is paid to forms - again, to achieve a certain automaticity in simple things, like I am, you are, he is. Grammatical constructions at the Beginner level are mainly treated separately from each other to avoid confusion of comparisons and nuances.

What grammar pass at the level Beginner/Starter	Grammar example
statements denial questions	I"m from Russia / You"re in class 2 / He"s 30 years old. I"m not from Moscow / You aren't late / He isn't French. Am I late? Are you from the UK? Is he French? How are you? Where is he from?
The only and plural number	a book - books a watch - watches an umbrella - umbrellas
this, these that, those	What's that? What are those?
Possessives pronouns	he - his / she - her / it - its
Possessive "s	Maria"s children, John"s birthday, my parents" car
Adjectives	It"s a fast car - This car is fast They"re expensive shoes - These shoes are expensive
statements denial questions	I have breakfast at home / She lives in a flat. I don"t go to work by bus / She doesn"t have a pet. Do you understand me? /Does she work here? Where do you live? / When does she start work?
Adverbs (adverbs of frequency)	always, usually often, sometimes, hardly ever, never
Questions with be and do	Where are you from? /Where do you live?
can, can"t	I can play the guitar / I can"t sing. / Can I park here?
like, love, hate with gerund	I like swimming / I love reading I hate doing housework
Present Continuous	I"m driving to the airport at the moment What are you doing?
There is / there are	There is a bar in this hotel but there aren't any restaurants.
Past Simple: was / were regular verbs (regular verbs) irregular verbs (Irregular Verbs)	I was born in 1988. Where were you at 7 o"clock last night? I arrived in Stockholm early in the morning. What time did you arrive? I bought some souvenirs. What did you buy?
Present Continuous for future tense	I"m arriving in Venice on April 10. Where are you staying?

Elementary level grammar

The Elementary level is very similar to the previous level. I will say more, often instead of Beginner, my students and I take on Elementary right away, we just go through it a little more thoroughly.

The Elementary grammar is almost identical to the grammar of the previous level.

What grammar pass at the level Elementary	Grammar Examples
to be: am / is / are statements denial questions	My name"s Anna / You"re early / My email address is... I"m not English / It isn"t far Where are you from? / What's your phone number? How old are you?
Possessives pronouns	I - my / you - your / we - our / they - their he - his / she - her / it - its
The only and plural number	a book - books / a watch - watches an umbrella - umbrellas a man - men, a woman - women, a person - people
this, these that, those	What's this? What are these? How much is this bag? What's that? What are those?
Adjectives	It"s an empty box- This box is empty. They"re cheap / quite cheap / really cheap
Imperative imperative Let's	Open the door / Sit down / Turn off your mobile. Let's take a break / Let's go to the cinema.
statements denial questions	I wear glasses / They drink tea / It rains a lot I don"t have children / They don"t live here / It doesn't work Do you live in a flat? / Does she speak German? What time does it open?
Possessive "s Whose	Justin Bieber's sister, George Clooney's father Whose bag is it?
Prepositions of time and places	at 7am, in the morning, at the weekend, in March on Monday, at school, in the park
Adverbs	always, usually, often, sometimes, hardly ever, never every day, twice a week, three times a year
can/can't	Where can I park? / I can't hear you.
Present Continuous	What's happening? What are you looking at?
Object pronouns	I - me / we - us / they - them he - him / she - her / it - it
like/love/enjoy don't mind hate with gerund	I like / love / enjoy reading in bed. I don't mind cooking. I hate getting up early.
	Are you a fan of any band? When do you usually listen to music?
Past Simple was / were regular verbs (regular verbs) irregular verbs (wrong verbs)	Where were you? I was at a party last weekend / They were angry They chatted and listened to music. What did they do? I wore a black dress. What did you wear?
there is / there are some/any	There's a dining room. There are three bedrooms. Are there any neighbors? There are some paintings.
there was / there were	Was there a mini-bar in your room? There were 3 other guests.
Countable and uncountable nouns	an apple, a banana some sugar, some rice We need some sugar / There isn't any milk.
How much / how many a lot of, some, none	How much free time do you have? How many friends do you have on Facebook?
Comparative adjectives	A proton is heavier than an electron. Mosquitoes are more dangerous than sharks. good - better / bad - worse / far - further
Excellent adjectives	It's the longest river in the world. It's the most popular art gallery in the world.
Going to for plans	I'm going to travel round Europe.
Going to for forecasts	You're going to like it.
Adverbs	speak fast, know him well, drive carefully
Verbs with infinitive	want to talk to you, would like to learn to cook need to stop
Articles	I"m a student / It"s the oldest university in Europe.
Present Perfect	I"ve seen Harry Potter but I haven"t read the book. Have you ever eaten sushi?

Pre-intermediate level grammar

At the Pre-intermediate level they are already beginning to compare different designs with each other and find out the nuances. Why is it better to say somewhere I study economics, and somewhere - I"m studying economics.

What grammar pass at the level Pre-intermediate	Grammar example
Word order in questions	Do you speak English? What languages ​​do you speak? Did you go out last night? Where did you go?
Present Simple	She has a lot of hobbies. We don't get on very well.
Present Continuous	John is wearing a suit today! He usually wears jeans.
Past Simple	Where did you go on holiday last year? We went to Italy.
	When you called me, I was talking to my boss.
unions	although, but, so, because
Going to plans forecasts	What are you going to do when you leave school? We are going to be late for work!
Present Continuous for future agreements	I"m meeting Joe at 3 o"clock. When are you coming back?
Relative clauses	This is the restaurant where they make great pizza.
Present Perfect yet, just, already	I"ve just started a new job. I"ve already seen this film. / Have you finished yet?
Present Perfect and Past Simple	Have you ever been to Mexico? When did you go there?
something/anything nothing (where / one)	Did anyone phone? No, no one. Is there anywhere to park?
Comparative adjectives and adverbs	Driving is more dangerous than flying. I"m as tall as my brother. Can you speak more slowly, please?
Excellent adjectives	It's the best film I've seen this year. It's the worst meal I've ever eaten.
Quantifiers	how much / how many / too / enough
will / won't / shall forecasts, spontaneous decisions promises, etc.	Shall I open the window? You'll like it. I think I"ll go home now. I"ll always love you.
Use infinitive	Try not to talk about politics. I came to this school to learn English. Be careful not to drive too fast.
Using -ing form (gerund)	Waking up early in the morning makes me happy. He left without saying goodbye.
Modal verbs have to, don't have to must, mustn't	I have to get up at seven every day. I don't have to wear a uniform. You mustn't leave your bags here.
should	What do you think I should do? You should see a doctor.
First Conditional (first conditional)	If I miss the last train, I"ll get a taxi.
Possessives pronouns	mine, yours, theirs, ours his, hers, its
Second Conditional (second conditional)	I"d do more exercise if I had more time. What would you do if you won a million dollars?
Present Perfect for, since	How long have you lived here? I "ve known her for 15 years / since we were children.
Passive present and past	Nowadays a lot of toys are made in China. This morning I was woken up by the neighbor's dog.
used to	She used to wear glasses.
might	She might come with us, she"s not sure yet.
	into, out of, over, along, across, through
So do/am/did I Neither do / am / did I	I "m married. - So am I. I don't know him. - Neither do I.
Past Perfect	The show had already finished by the time I arrived.
Reported speech (indirect speech)	He said that he was hungry. She told me that her car had broken down.
Questions without auxiliary verbs	How many people came to the meeting? Who invented the radio?

Intermediate grammar

At the Intermediate level, they also compare already familiar phenomena with each other and, of course, study new ones.

What grammar pass at the level Intermediate	Grammar example
action / non-action	I never cook vs What are you cooking? I have a dog vs I"m having lunch I think it "s a good idea vs I"m thinking about you
Future: will/won't going to Present Continuous	I"ll help you. Do you think it"ll rain? You"ll love this film! I"m going to buy a new car. Barcelona are going to win. They are getting married in October.
Present Perfect vs Past Simple	I"ve been to London before. He hasn"t found a new job yet. When did you go there? How did the interview go?
Present Perfect Pres. Perf. Continuous for, since	They"ve known each other for 5 years / since 2010. I"ve been studying English for 10 years. How long have you been waiting?
Degrees of comparison adjectives (comparative adj., superlative adj.)	My brother is a bit / much taller than me. This chair isn't as comfortable as that one. It's the most expensive city in the world. He"s the smartest person I"ve ever met.
Articles	I saw a nice house with a fancy porch. The porch was decorated with plants.
can, could, be able to	I can sing. I could swim when I was 4. I"ve never been able to dance. I"d like to be able to draw.
must / mustn't have to / don't have to should/shouldn't	You must wear a seatbelt / You mustn"t exceed the speed limit. Do I have to pay now? / You don't have to come. You should stop smoking / You shouldn't drink so much coffee.
Past Simple Past Continuous Past Perfect	When I got home, my family had dinnner. When I got home, my family were having dinner. When I got home, my family had dinner.
usually vs used to	I usually get up at 6am. I used to get up at 11 when I was unemployed.
The Passive (all times)	A lot of films are shot on location. The film is being shot. The film has been shot. The film will be shot on location.
might, must, can("t) for guesswork	She might like the idea. This must be difficult for you! You can't be serious!
First Conditional Future time clauses	The boss won't be happy if you are late for work again. As soon as you get your exam results, call me.
Second Conditional	What would you do if you met a celebrity? If I were you, I"d buy a new car.
Reported speech (indirect speech)	I asked him if he wanted to join us. She told me she had lost her wallet.
Gerund and infinitive (gerund and infinitive)	I"m not good at remembering names. I don"t mind getting up early. Shopping is my favorite pastime. I don't know what to do. My house is easy to find. Try not to make a noise.
Third Conditional	If I had known about the party, I would have gone.
Quantifiers	I eat a lot of chocolate. She earns a lot. We have plenty of time. There aren't enough parks. There's too much traffic.
Relative clauses	That's the house where I was born.
Question tags	They live in New York, don't they? You aren't angry, are you?

Upper-intermediate level grammar

By the advanced Upper-intermediate level, enlightenment usually sets in; the basics have already been covered. All that remains is to repeat them a little and move on to the interesting and subtleties of grammar.

What grammar pass at the level Upper-intermediate	Grammar Examples
Question formation (word order in questions)	Are you talking about me? What are you talking about? What time does it open? Do you know what time it opens?
Auxiliary verbs (auxiliary gverbs)	I like dogs, but my wife doesn't. - I loved the film! - So did I. - I've finished. - Have you?
the...the... comparatives	The sooner, the better. The longer you wait, the worse it gets.
Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous	She has been writing novels since she was a student. She"s written 30 novels.
Adjectives as nouns Adjective order (adjectives as nouns, adjective order)	The Chinese invented paper. The poor are getting poorer. They need to create more jobs for the unemployed. I bought a beautiful Italian leather bag.
Narrative tenses: Past Simple, Past Continuous, Past Perfect Past Perfect Continuous	We had been flying for about two hours when suddenly the captain told us to fasten our seat belts because we were flying into a thunderstorm. When this happened, passengers most hadn't finished their meals yet.
so...that such...that	There was so much traffic that we nearly missed the flight. It was such a great show that I want to see it again.
Position of adverbs and adverbial phrases (adverbs)	He walks slowly. I've almost finished. Ideally, we should leave at 8.
Future Perfect Future Continuous	They will have finished painting the house by Monday. Don't phone between 6 and 7, we'll be having dinner then.
Zero and First Conditionals Future time clauses	If you haven"t been to Paris, you haven"t lived. If we are lucky, we"ll have sold the house by Christmas. I"ll call you as soon as I"ve talked to the boss.
Unreal conditions	If you exercised more, you"d be much healthier. He would have died, if he hadn't been wearing a helmet.
Constructions with wish	I wish I was 20 years younger! I wish I hadn't bought this car! / If only I hadn't bought ... I wish you would stop calling me at night.
Gerunds and infinitives (gerund and infinitive)	Remember to lock the door VS I remember locking the door. I stopped to smoke VS I stopped smoking.
Used to, be used to, get used to	I used to live in the countryside. I was used to the peace and quiet. I can"t get used to the noise of the city.
must have been/done might have been/done can"t have been/done	It must have been difficult for you. They might have left. I can't have lost it.
Verbs of the senses (verbs of perception)	It smells good. It feels comfortable. You look tired. Sounds interesting.
(passive voice) + it is said that... + have something done	My car has been stolen. You can be fined for making noise. The church was being renovated when I last saw it. The criminals are believed to have fled the country. I need to have my car fixed.
Reporting verbs	He persuaded me to quit my job. She apologized for not being on time.
Clauses of contrast and purpose (subordinate clauses oppositions and goals)	I went to work even though I wasn't feeling well. Although I was tired, I didn't want to go to bed. In spite of / Despite the fact that she"s 85, she"s very active. I went to the bank in order to speak to my bank manager. I wrote it down so as not to forget.
whatever, whenever whoever	Have a seat wherever you like. Whatever happens, stay calm.
Uncountable and plural nouns (uncountable nouns and noun in multitudes. number)	I need some advice. I"ll give you two pieces of advice. It"s made of glass. Can I have a glass of water? The hotel staff is very friendly / The hotel staff are very friendly. The police are canvassing the area.
Quantifiers	All fruit contains sugar VS All the animals in this zoo look sad. She wanted to study either physics or mathematics.
Articles	My father is in hospital. They"re building a new hospital.

Advanced Grammar

What grammar pass at the level Advanced	Grammar Examples
Have - auxiliary or main verb (have like auxiliary and main verb)	Do you have any money on you? Have you got any cousins? I haven't a clue. Do I have to pay now? I need to have my eyes tested.
Discourse markers and linkers (conjunctions and connectives)	Despite / In spite of her age, she"s still very active. Despite / In spite of the fact that she"s 85, she"s very active. I keep checking my email in case there"s an urgent message.
Pronouns (pronouns)	They say it's never too late to change your life. We decorated the house ourselves.
Past events: habitual or specific Habitual and single events in past	I"d wanted to buy a new car for a long time. I"d been saving up for 2 years and when I finally bought it, I was over the moon. I used to have a car but I don"t anymore. Every night my mom would tell me a bedtime story.
Get Values and use	Let"s get a taxi. / It"s getting dark. / He might get sacked. I need to get my passport renewed. Get Jane to call me.
Discourse markers: adverbial expressions	As a matter of fact, I don't like football. On the whole, I believe women are better drivers than men. As far as the price is concerned...
Speculation and deduction Guess and assumptions	I must have forgotten to lock the door. You might have been injured. It can't have been easy. It ought to have arrived by now.
Inversion (change order words in a sentence)	Never have I heard such a ridiculous argument. Not only is he attractive, (but) he"s also smart. Little did I know.
Distancing	It appears that the situation is going to get worse. There seems to be a mistake in the bill. There is thought to be some tension between them.
Unreal uses of past tenses	If only you hadn't forgotten the map! I"d rather you left the dog outside. It's time we stopped arguing.
Verb + object + infinitive/gerund	We expect the bus to arrive at 7. I want Real Madrid to win.
Conditional sentences + mixed conditions	They won't get a table unless they've booked it in advance. Provided the bank lends us the money, we"re going to buy it. If I"d listened to your advice, I wouldn"t be in trouble now.
Permission, obligation necessity	You don"t need to take a jacket VS You needn"t lock the car. You aren't supposed to park here.
Verbs of the senses	You seem to have made a mistake. I saw him cross the street VS I saw him crossing the street.
Complex gerunds and infinitives	She thanked him for having helped her. By the time I"m 30, I hope to have started a family.
Future plans and arrangements	My brother is due to arrive at 8. I am about to get promoted. The Prime Minister is to visit India next week.
Ellipsis	- You must see his latest film. - I already have. He did it even though I told him not to. - It wasn't my fault. - Well, if you say so...
Nouns -s" of compound nouns	I borrowed my mother's car / She's at the hairdresser's. She "s got ten years" experience. Can you remember the name of the film? I opened the car door, got in and fastened the seat belt.
Adding emphasis (gain) Cleft sentences	What I need is some rest. What happened was we left our umbrellas in the taxi. The reason why I bought it was because it was cheap.
Relative clauses	My brother who lives in Australia is a programmer. VS My brother, who lives in Australia, is a programmer. I haven't seen him for 2 weeks, which is a bit worrying.

That's all English grammar by levels.

Does English grammar really end after the Advanced level? No, of course)) If you look at the levels, there is also the Proficiency level, but the line of conversation courses really ends at the Advanced level.

Perhaps this is because:

• even an ambitious user of English rarely needs a level higher than Advanced (not to mention the average learner who stays in the Intermediate area)
• at high levels, people already know how to find the necessary authentic materials on their own and independently organize their training
• at high levels, many people think about a more practical and targeted use of English - for example, preparation for international exams (IELTS, TOEFL and others) or specialized courses in the profession

And there are still a lot of subtleties left even after the Advanced level!

How do you like English grammar by levels?

Did you manage to determine your level with its help? Share in the comments!

This short grammar reference book or, if you prefer, an abbreviated tutorial will help you start learning English from scratch and save your precious time. It is worth noting that professors of linguistic universities are unlikely to find anything interesting here, although...

It's no secret that in order to talk, that is, communicate, grammar is not needed at all, but in order to start speaking, especially for an adult, knowing grammar is highly desirable, as this will significantly speed up the process of learning the language. But the question immediately arises, to what extent do you need to know this very grammar?? Serious grammatical works contain hundreds of pages of complex definitions, formulations and explanations. Whether you personally need this, decide for yourself. It all depends on your goals - do you want to become a professional linguist or do you just need to speak the language. And these, as they say in Odessa, are two big differences.

I tried to compress English grammar into the volume of a small booklet and collect the necessary minimum so that you can quickly speak English without delving too deeply into the wording and without going into the difficulties of predicative clauses and other gerunds with imfinite forms of verbs. How successful this was is up to you to judge.

But isn't the preface to the shortest grammar too long?

Grammar, phonetics and spelling - who's in charge?

English has incredibly simple grammar, but a very complex, one might say confusing spelling, which is not very friendly with phonetics. Let me remind you that spelling is how we write, and phonetics is what we pronounce. Writing and reading English words you have to learn almost like Chinese characters; in theory, it is believed that there are rules for English reading, but in practice the number of exceptions is frightening, especially for beginners. However, not everything is so scary, the English alphabet exists for a reason, and sometimes you can guess the pronunciation from the letters. In order to get an idea of ​​English phonetics, spelling and transcription, as well as listen to typical examples, take a look at the section of our website dedicated to English transcription and phonetics. And we move on and move on to the basis of any language - nouns.

Nouns

Nouns in English(oh joy!) practically do not decline, and in the plural the letter “sticks” to their tail -s or to make pronunciation easier two letters -es:
dog - dog, dogs - dogs
bush - bush, bushes - bushes

If a word ends with a letter -y, then in the plural it usually turns into two letters ie:
country –countries (country - countries)

Nouns ending in -f, or -fe, plural change f on v, and the same suffix is ​​added to them -es:
leaf - leaves (leaf - leaves)
thief - thieves (thief - thieves)
life - lives (life - lives)

But nouns ending in -ief, -oof, -ff, -rf, in the plural they receive the usual suffix -s.
chief - chiefs (chief - leaders)
hoof - hoofs (hoof - hooves)
cliff - cliffs (cliff - cliffs)
scarf - scarfs (scarf - scarves)

These plural rules apply to the vast majority of English nouns, but there are a few exceptions, you need to remember them:

foot - feet (foot - feet)
goose - geese (goose - geese)
louse - lice (louse - lice)
mouse - mice (mouse - mice)
man - men (man - men)
woman - women (woman - women)
person - people
child - children (child - children)
tooth - teeth (tooth - teeth)
ox - oxen (bull - bulls)
fungus - fungi (fungus - fungi, mold)

If the English need to show that something belongs to someone, then a letter is added to the singular noun 's, but now with an apostrophe:

dad's car - dad's car

And in the plural, - and only one apostrophe, because the letter s, as we know, is already at the end of the word:

her relatives" house - the house of her relatives.

If it is necessary to show that an object belongs to something inanimate, then the following construction is more often used:

the root of the tree - the root of the tree

Here, as you can see, the preposition is used of, while the noun itself does not change again!

By the way, about prepositions: in English, prepositions in general are very often used not only to connect words in a sentence, but also to replace Russian case endings. In this function they are not translated at all:
to dig with shovel - dig with a shovel ( verbatim: dig With shovel).

This could be the end of our story about nouns, if not for one thing But.

Article

Articles are those tiny words that stick to nouns like a sheet of paper. For some reason, the British insert them where they are needed and where they are not needed; they are almost never translated into Russian. Why almost? Because Russian also has articles, but they are used a little less often. Don't believe me? Here's an example: (In the first sentence, the numeral is used as the indefinite article one, and in the second, - demonstrative pronoun this, but already as a definite one.) I know one guy. This the guy will definitely help you. In English it looks about the same. I know a guy. The guy will help you for sure. But make no mistake, this is where the similarities end. Our English-speaking brothers in mind are so accustomed to articles that they almost always use them, therefore in the sentence “A book is on the desk” (the book is on the table) both articles are not translated into Russian at all. You can read more about English articles.

English verbs are regular and irregular.

Regular verbs have only 3(!) forms:
1. Basic (dictionary, also infinitive) - love - to love
2. Participle I - loving - loving (s)
3. Past tense (and participle II) - loved - loved (-a/-o); beloved
Participle II for regular verbs, coincides with the past tense form, which means that the word loved, depending on the context, can be translated as loved, beloved, beloved, etc.

Notice that in the world famous phrase "I love you" the dictionary form is used, i.e. English or Americans say: "i love you", and even more precisely: "I love you". No changes in shape, no generic endings!

Future is formed even more simply - using an auxiliary verb will - I will, you will, we will, will, will, will. Moreover, the verb itself, used with will, does not change at all, this often happens in Russian: I will work or we will work . Please note that in English there are no such forms as I'll go, I'll go, let's go etc., is always used here will go, i.e. I will, you will, we will... go.

Examples:
1. Present tense: change - to change
2. Participle I (present tense): changing - changing (s), changing (s)
3. Past tense and participle II (past tense): changed - changed (-s) (-axis), changing, changed
4. Future tense: will change - will change, will change

Remember that in the third person singular all English verbs receive a suffix -s (-es):
divide - to divide; he (she) divides - he (she) divides. Suffix -es usually added for euphony in words ending in -s, -sh, -x and some others:
he (she) fixes - he (she) fixes.

In order to show in a sentence that the verb is used in indefinite form the particle "to" is added to it. I have to go. - I need (what to do?) to go.

Irregular Verbs changes are somewhat more complex, for example:
drink - drank - drunk = drink - drank - drunk
And in some cases, on the contrary, they do not change at all:
cost - cost - cost = cost - cost - cost

Since irregular verbs are an integral part of learning English, they must be learned by heart.

There are a lot of tenses in English, and since the format of our “grammar in a robe” does not allow us to dwell on them in detail, look at the table with the sounded examples, try to understand the meaning of their use, and, believe me, everything will work out for you! In the table you will also find most verb forms in typical examples.

It should be noted here that many English Times are used quite rarely, so don’t try to memorize everything, just read and pay attention to when and how often this or that tense is used.

In order to make it clear in a sentence that the verb is used in an indefinite form, a particle is added to it to, which in spelling and pronunciation completely coincides with the preposition of the same name to.
For example:
I have to go. - I have to go.

Verbs "to be, to have, to do"

We exist, we have something and we are always doing something. I'm sleeping- this is also an action! Accordingly verbs be, have, do- these are the three pillars of any language. In English, these verbs are conjugated in a non-standard way, so you need to remember them first.

Verb conjugations to be - to be in present time:
I am - I am
you are - you / you are
he/she/it is - he/she/it is
we are - we are
they are - they exist

Verb conjugations to have - have in present time:
I have - I have
you have - you have, you have
he/she/it has - he/she/it has
we have - we have
they have - they have

To conclude the conversation about verbs, one cannot help but recall a very important construction, without which it is impossible to speak English correctly.
There is... (singular), there are... (plural).
There is a lipstick on your collar. - You [have] lipstick on your collar.
There are two sides to every coin. - Every coin [has] two sides.

As you can see, in the present tense this phrase should not be translated into Russian. Past tense - there was (singular number) And there were (plural) just like in Russian it means was (was, was) or were: There was a big party at Buckingham Palace. - There was a big party at Buckingham Palace. (not a party!)

Pronouns

Pronouns, as the name suggests, are needed to replace the names of objects, living beings or their characteristics. Pronouns are:

Personal:
I - I; me - me, me
he - he; him - to him, him
she - she; her - to her, her
it - it (he, she), his, him, etc. (used with inanimate objects or in relation to animals, when translated into Russian it can get any gender)
we - we; us - to us, us
you - you, you, you,
they - they; them - theirs, to them The pronoun “I” is always written with a capital letter, oh, and they love themselves, and maybe they’re doing it right?

Possessives(and their corresponding absolute forms):
My -> Mine - mine
His -> His - his
Her -> Hers - her
Its -> Its - his/her
Our -> Ours - ours
Your -> Yours - yours
Their -> Theirs - theirs

The absolute form of the pronoun is used without a noun:
"Whose house is this?"
"It's ours."
- Whose is this house?
- Our.

Reflexive pronouns are often, but not always translated into Russian with a reflexive suffix -s, or -xia
I - myself
you - yourself
he - himself
she - herself
it - itself
we - ourselves
you - yourselves
they - themselves

Examples:
I have lost myself. - I'm lost. (literally: I lost myself)
She believed in herself. - She believed in herself.

Demonstrative pronouns That's why they exist, to point something out to someone...
However, they do not need comments, just remember them:

this - this, this, this
that - that, that, then
these - these
those - those

Who is one?

One in English it means one, but the word is also often used as a pronoun. At the same time, the translation of the word “one” into Russian in one sentence can be completely different:
Don't take this one, take that one. - Don't take this one, take that one.

It's getting ridiculous, word one used in the plural, for example:
Don't buy the red apples, buy the green ones. - Don't buy red apples, buy green ones. And in Russian, as you apparently noticed, this word is not translated here at all, so you just need to get used to using it this way. By the way, when learning a language in general you have to get used to many things, so develop the right habits through practice!

Adjectives, gender, number, declension.

English adjectives, unlike Russian ones, do not change according to gender and numbers and do not decline, which means that everything with them is outrageously simple! For example, the same word young can be translated as young, young, young, young, young and even as a plural, young, young, etc. Plus, the vast majority of adjectives derived from nouns do not differ at all from their “ancestors”. For example, to say paper towel in English, you just need to say: paper towel - paper towel.

Comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives, and at the same time adverbs. Adverb it's almost the same adjective, it just answers questions How? Where? When? how?. And in English, they often coincide in form (cool - cool, cool), so we will consider their degrees of comparison together.

Long comments are not needed here, it is only worth mentioning that the superlative degree of adjectives and adverbs is used with the definite article the. Now you can go to examples:
long - longer - the longest = long - longer - the longest
easy - easier - the easiest = simple - simpler - the simplest (the simplest)
cool - cooler - the coolest = cool - cooler - coolest

It must be said that in youth slang the word “cool” is more often used in the meaning of “cool, cool, cool”

Polysyllabic adjectives and adverbs form comparative and superlative degrees using words more - more, most - most (most) And less - less, least - least:

more interesting - more interesting
the most important - the most important
less expensive - less expensive
the least comfortable - the least comfortable (the most inconvenient)

Numerals

Numerals are a very important part of any language, so be sure to learn counting in English, at least up to a hundred, preferably up to a thousand (the difference is small, because after a hundred tens and ones are repeated), then everything will go like clockwork. And you will find the numerals themselves in the Russian-English phrasebook, where you can also listen to them.

Word order in an English sentence

It’s not for nothing that the English language is called structured, because, unlike Russian, the words in a sentence must be arranged in a strict order. This is due to the almost complete absence of case endings in nouns and adjectives, as well as the invariance of verb forms. For now, without going into details, just remember that in a declarative sentence the subject always comes first- a subject or object (a noun or pronoun, often with an article), to which is attributed the action expressed by the predicate (verb).
For example: The train arrived at the station on time. - The train arrived at the station on time.

In an interrogative sentence, the first place is occupied by an auxiliary verb (be, have, do, shall/should, will/would) in the required form, or a question word (who, what, where, when, why, etc.). In a foreign country you have to ask a lot of questions, so here are some a few typical examples:

Are you sure? - You are sure? (Are you sure?)
Do you like jazz? - Do you like jazz?
Where have you been? - Where have you been?
What are you talking about? - What are you talking about? (As you can see, prepositions can easily end up at the very end of a sentence)
Who is this young lady? - Who's that girl?
What are you waiting for? - What are you waiting for?
Why do you leave? - Why are you leaving?
What are you going to keep the water in? - How are you going to store water?
Where to? - Where to go? (this is a question you can often hear from a taxi driver in New York)

And here is a masterpiece of sentence construction (although here, from the point of view of English syntax, everything is correct):
What are you going to keep the thermostat set to? - At what temperature are you going to keep the thermostat?

If you come across unfamiliar words, take a dictionary and translate these sentences word for word. Feel the difference. It is by understanding and feeling this difference that you will very soon speak English.

Briefly about prepositions

The use of prepositions often does not coincide with their Russian counterparts, so it is recommended to study the topic in more detail and learn prepositions under any pretext.

To avoid getting completely confused with the –s (-es) suffixes, repeat the following:
Rules for adding a suffix -s (-es) to a verb completely coincide with the rules for adding this plural suffix to a noun. But!

Nouns receive a suffix -s (-es) plural:
dog - dog, dogs - dogs.

Verbs receive a suffix -s (-es) vice versa singular third party:
divide - to divide; he (she) divides - he (she) divides.
-es just like with nouns, it is added for convenience: he (she) fixes - he (she) fixes.

Someone's smart head even came up with a rule of mutually exclusive or opposite suffixes. Its essence is that the presence of the plural suffix “-s (-es)” on the subject noun excludes the “-s (-es)” suffix on the predicate verb and vice versa:
My baby sleeps soundly. - My child is fast asleep.
My babies sleep soundly. - My children are fast asleep.

To reinforce this rule, try saying the tongue twister:
She sells (unit third person) sea ​​shells (plural noun). - She sells seashells.

Well, it seems that’s all you need to know about grammar in order to quickly master English.
It remains to learn a few stable (or established) expressions:

the more the better - the more, the better
the less the worse - the less, the worse
sooner or later - sooner or later
better late than never - better late than never
it rains cats and dogs - the rain is pouring like buckets
in order to... - in order to...
as soon as possible (abbreviated as ASAP) - as soon as possible
as you like - as you want
hurry up - hurry up
take your time - don't rush

And a few more expressions in the subjunctive mood:

I would have done this... - I would do this...
I could have done this... - I could do this...
I should have done this... - I had to do this...

And in negations it looks something like this:
You shouldn't have done this. - You shouldn't have done this. / You shouldn't have done it.
I couldn't have done this if you weren't by my side. - I couldn't do this if you weren't there.

If you have learned these phrases, then consider English in your pocket. Did you believe it? Just kidding, although this is probably enough to get started, but now, if you want not to get stuck at the beginning, you need to read, write, listen and speak a lot in English. If you want more phrases, read and listen to our Russian-English phrasebook. And for those who want to move further and significantly expand their vocabulary, we have a special gift - a voiced vocabulary trainer.

We are all living people, and people tend to make mistakes, so if you notice a mistake, or you think that something can be improved or added, write! You can leave your feedback about this grammar, or about the entire site, in