English Grammar

English Grammar

Grammar is the way we arrange words to make proper sentences. Word-level grammar covers verbs and tenses, nouns, adverbs etc. Sentence-level grammar covers phrases, clauses, reported speech etc.

Word-level Grammar

9 Parts of Speech

These are the words that you use to make a sentence.
Verbs and Verb Tenses
Action verbs, express what is happening (do, work). State verbs express 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
Adverbs tell us more about verbs, adjectives or adverbs (loudly, really, extremely).

Determiners
Determiners are words like the, an, this that start a noun phrase.

Prepositions
A preposition expresses the relationship of a noun or pronoun to another word (at, in, 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
Short exclamations with no real grammatical value (ah, dear, er)

Sentence-level Grammar

Phrases
The five main types of phrase in English.
With Phrases Quiz

What is a Sentence?
When is a sentence not a sentence?
With What is a Sentence? Quiz

The 4 Types of Sentence
Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative, Exclamative.
With Sentence Types Mini Quiz and Sentence Types Quiz

The 4 Types of Sentence Structure
Simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences.
With Sentence Structure Quiz

Linking, Intransitive and Transitive Verbs
To understand sentence construction, it helps to know about these verbs.
With Linking, Intransitive and Transitive Verbs Quiz

Direct Object
The direct object receives the action of the verb directly.
With Direct Object Quiz and Direct Object FAQ

Indirect Object
The indirect object receives the direct object.
With Indirect Object Quiz

Reported Speech
Here is the structure that we use to "report" what another person has said.
With Reported Speech Quiz

Parenthetical Expression
Words added to a sentence without changing its meaning or grammar.
With Parenthetical Expression Quiz

Grammatical Category
Including number, case, gender, tense, aspect etc.
With Grammatical Category Quiz

People often ask

FAQ: Frequently Asked Grammar Questions

Grammar Theory

Universal Grammar 🔈
The idea that the ability to learn a language is built into the human brain

More Grammar Articles

5 Common Subject-verb Agreement Mistakes of ESL Students
It’s not always easy to get the verb and the subject to agree in terms of number. Even native speakers sometimes get that wrong.

8 Ways to Use the Preposition BY
Andrew Forrester looks at different uses of “by” as a preposition, and gives you practical examples.

What's IN a Preposition?
When is a preposition not a preposition?

Grammar is Your Friend
How grammar can help you to learn a language more easily

mobile-friendly ESL games

Grammar Games and Quizzes Online

Test your knowledge of English grammar with these fun online activities:

Recommended Grammar Links

Whenever you correct someone's grammar just remember that nobody likes you. Jim Gaffigan