Grammar
Grammar hot links: Phrasal Verbs | Prepositions | Verb Tenses | Present Perfect | Present Simple
Word-level Grammar
The 9 English Parts of Speech
Many English verbs are action words, expressing what is happening (do, work). Some verbs are state words, expressing a situation (be, have).
Nouns
Nouns represent people (teacher, Mary), places (town, Asia) and things (table, music).
Adjectives
An adjective is a word that tells us more about a noun (big, red, expensive).
Adverbs
An adverb tells us more about a verb, an adjective or another adverb (loudly, very).
Determiners
Determiners are words like the, an, this that start a noun phrase.
A preposition expresses the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word (at, in, on, from).
Pronouns
Pronouns are small words like you, ours, some that can take the place of a noun.
Conjunctions
Conjunctions join two parts of a sentence (and, but, though).
Interjections
Interjections are short exclamations with no real grammatical value (ah, dear, er, um).
Sentence-level Grammar
Phrases
The five main types of phrase in English. With quiz
What is a Sentence?
When is a sentence not a sentence? With quiz
The 4 Types of Sentence
Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamative
The 4 Types of Sentence Structure
Simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences. With quiz
Linking, Intransitive and Transitive Verbs
To understand sentence construction, it helps to know about these verbs. With quiz
Direct Object
The direct object receives the action of the verb directly. With quiz
Indirect Object
The indirect object receives the direct object. With quiz
Reported Speech
Here is the structure that we use to "report" what another person has said. With quiz
Parenthetical Expression
Words added to a sentence without changing its meaning or grammar. With quiz
Grammatical Category
Including number, case, gender, tense, aspect etc. With quiz
Grammar Theory
Universal Grammar ![]()
The idea that the ability to learn a language is built into the human brain
Whenever you correct someone's grammar just remember that nobody likes you. Jim Gaffigan