English Grammar Guide: Tenses, Irregular Verbs, and More
English Grammar Guide
Tenses
Present Simple
Use the present simple for habitual actions or general truths.
- Form: base verb (add -s or -es for he/she/it)
- Negative: do not/does not + base verb
- Question: Do/Does + subject + base verb
- Time expressions: every day, always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never
Present Continuous
Use the present continuous for actions happening now or around now.
- Form: am/is/are + verb + -ing
- Negative: am/is/are + not + verb + -ing
- Question: Am/Is/Are + subject + verb + -ing
- Time expressions: now, at the moment, today, this week, etc.
Note: Some verbs are not usually used in continuous tenses, such as verbs of state (be, want, need, know, prefer, etc.) and verbs of perception (see, hear, smell, etc.).
Past Simple
Use the past simple for completed actions in the past.
- Form: base verb + -ed (or irregular past form)
- Negative: did not + base verb
- Question: Did + subject + base verb
- Time expressions: yesterday, last week, two days ago, etc.
Past Continuous
Use the past continuous for actions in progress at a specific time in the past.
- Form: was/were + verb + -ing
- Negative: was/were + not + verb + -ing
- Question: Was/Were + subject + verb + -ing
- Time expressions: while, when
Present Perfect Simple
Use the present perfect simple for actions that started in the past and continue to the present or for actions that happened at an indefinite time in the past.
- Form: have/has + past participle
- Negative: have/has + not + past participle
- Question: Have/Has + subject + past participle
- Time expressions: ever, never, already, yet, so far, recently, etc.
Present Perfect Continuous
Use the present perfect continuous for actions that started in the past and continue up to the present moment.
- Form: have/has been + verb + -ing
- Negative: have/has not been + verb + -ing
- Question: Have/Has + subject + been + verb + -ing
- Time expressions: for, since, lately
Past Perfect Simple
Use the past perfect simple for actions that happened before another action in the past.
- Form: had + past participle
- Negative: had + not + past participle
- Question: Had + subject + past participle
Past Perfect Continuous
Use the past perfect continuous for actions that started in the past and continued up to another point in the past.
- Form: had been + verb + -ing
- Negative: had not been + verb + -ing
- Question: Had + subject + been + verb + -ing
- Time expressions: for, since
Future Simple
Use the future simple for actions that will happen in the future.
- Form: will + base verb
- Negative: will not + base verb
- Question: Will + subject + base verb
Future Continuous
Use the future continuous for actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future.
- Form: will be + verb + -ing
- Negative: will not be + verb + -ing
- Question: Will + subject + be + verb + -ing
Conditionals
Zero Conditional
Use the zero conditional for situations that are always true.
- Form: If + present simple, present simple
First Conditional
Use the first conditional for possible future situations.
- Form: If + present simple, will + base verb
Second Conditional
Use the second conditional for unlikely or hypothetical present or future situations.
- Form: If + past simple, would + base verb
Third Conditional
Use the third conditional for unreal past situations.
- Form: If + past perfect, would have + past participle
Irregular Verbs
Here are some common irregular verbs:
- be (was/were, been)
- begin (began, begun)
- break (broke, broken)
- bring (brought, brought)
- build (built, built)
- burn (burnt/burned, burnt/burned)
- buy (bought, bought)
- can (could, been able to)
- catch (caught, caught)
- choose (chose, chosen)
- come (came, come)
- cost (cost, cost)
- cut (cut, cut)
- do (did, done)
- dream (dreamt/dreamed, dreamt/dreamed)
- drink (drank, drunk)
- drive (drove, driven)
- eat (ate, eaten)
- fall (fell, fallen)
- feel (felt, felt)
- fight (fought, fought)
- fly (flew, flown)
- forget (forgot, forgotten)
- get (got, got)
- give (gave, given)
- go (went, gone)
- have (had, had)
- hear (heard, heard)
- know (knew, known)
- learn (learnt/learned, learnt/learned)
- leave (left, left)
- lose (lost, lost)
- make (made, made)
- must (had to, had to)
- pay (paid, paid)
- put (put, put)
- read (read, read)
- run (ran, run)
- say (said, said)
- see (saw, seen)
- show (showed, shown/showed)
- sing (sang, sung)
- sleep (slept, slept)
- speak (spoke, spoken)
- spend (spent, spent)
- take (took, taken)
- teach (taught, taught)
- think (thought, thought)
- understand (understood, understood)
- win (won, won)
Useful Expressions
- See you anon – See you later.
- That’s what I mean – That’s what I’m trying to say.
- The sooner the better – The earlier, the better.
- To sum up… – In conclusion…
- Watch out! – Be careful!
- Who is this? – Who is speaking? (when answering the phone)
- To feel blue – To feel sad or depressed.
- Some other time – Maybe another time.
- Really? – Is that true?
- Oh dear! – Oh no!
- Not my business – It’s not my concern.
- No worries – No problem.
- My bad – My mistake.
- Look out! – Watch out!
- It’s worthless – It has no value.
Connectors
Connectors help to link ideas and sentences together. Here are some common connectors:
- Addition: also, too, and, as well as, moreover, furthermore, in addition, besides
- Example: such as, like, for example
- Contrast: but, however, nonetheless, nevertheless, yet, even so, still
- Cause and effect: because, because of, for, since, as
- Sequence: first/firstly, second/secondly, next/then, after/afterwards, in the beginning/in the end, at first, finally/eventually
Email Writing
Here is an example of an informal email:
From: John
Subject: Your visit!
Hi Jane,
How are you? I’m really happy about your visit. I haven’t seen you in a long time.
The museum is closed because they’re changing the exhibition. But we can go to the cinema, park, castle, shopping centre, restaurants, beach, mountains… There are lots of things to do in my city. Don’t worry, we’ll always find something to do.
I can’t pick you up because I don’t have a car.
Kisses,
Lourdes
Article Writing
Here is an example of an article for a magazine or blog:
Music: What kind of music do you enjoy?
Do you prefer listening to music at home or in a concert? Why?
Listen to music, what are you waiting for?
Music is fantastic, and everyone has their own preferences. There’s music for all types of people, regardless of age, gender, or background. You can always find something you like.
Personally, I prefer pop music, especially Selena Gomez songs. This type of music helps me relax, and I often listen to it to fall asleep.
I definitely prefer listening to music at home. There are many downsides to concerts: they can be noisy, hot, and crowded, making it difficult to truly enjoy the music.
Whatever your musical taste, music can enrich your life. So I encourage you to listen to music – I assure you that your days will be better.
Vocabulary
Here are some common English words:
- Time: time, year, day, week, month
- People: person, man, woman, child
- Places: world, place, work, home, city, country
- Things: thing, hand, part, eye, car, book, phone, computer
- Actions: cook, eat, drink, sleep, work, study, play, travel
- Descriptions: big, small, old, young, good, bad, happy, sad
- Colors: black, white, red, blue, green, yellow
- Numbers: one, two, three, four, five, etc.
- Days of the week: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
This is just a small sample of the many words and grammar rules in the English language. Keep practicing and learning, and you’ll be fluent in no time!