Essential English Language Skills: Grammar & Usage

Posted on Aug 5, 2025 in English

Essential English Language Skills: Grammar & Usage

Part 2: Common Words & Structures

Conjunctions, Prepositions & More

  • As / Since / Because / When
  • Such
  • Other
  • Would, Could / May / Might
  • Despite
  • If / When / Whenever
  • Nothing / Little
  • No
  • By / In
  • At
  • Put
  • Than
  • With / By
  • Like
  • Least
  • Without
  • Last / Previous / Past
  • Enough
  • Ago
  • Can
  • This / That
  • Rather / Sooner
  • Or
  • With
  • Not / Hardly
  • Themselves
  • All
  • And
  • One
  • The, A, An, Another
  • At, In, Into, Instead, For, Behind, Of, Off, From, Over, Above, Beyond, Across, To, Too, On, Down
  • Every / Any
  • Whether / Either
  • So
  • Most, More, Less
  • Than
  • But / Although
  • However
  • Yet
  • Be, Were, Are, Did, Had
  • As
  • During
  • There
  • Much

Question Words & Gerunds

  • What, Which, Who, How, Where, Whose, Why, When
  • Setting, Having, Being, Getting, Becoming

Part 3: Word Formation & Advanced Vocabulary

Adverb Suffixes

  • -ly

Noun Suffixes

  • -age, -al, -ance, -ence, -cy, -dom, -ful, -hood, -iety, -ity, -ing, -ment, -ness, -ship, -sis, -sion, -son, -atio, -tion, -th, -ure, -y

Irregular Noun Forms

  • Behave – behaviour
  • Choose – choice
  • Complain – complaint
  • Die – death
  • Give – gift
  • Know – knowledge
  • Laugh – laughter
  • Lose – loss
  • Prove – proof
  • Receive – receipt
  • Respond – response
  • Sell – sale
  • Succeed – success
  • Think – thought
  • Try – trial
  • Weigh – weight
  • High – height

Adjective Suffixes

  • -able, -ible, -al, -ial, -ant, -ent, -ate, -ative, -ive, -ing / -ed, -ous, -ful / -less, -ic, -ary, -ory, -ly, -y

Verb Prefixes & Suffixes

  • -ate, -ify, -en, -ize, en-, up-, down-, over-

Advanced Vocabulary Examples

Pursuit, unpredictable, enthusiasts, distinguish, competitors, increasingly, replacements, innovative, overcome, fitness, endurance, beneficial, inability, strength, typically, severity.

Part 4: Inversions & Fixed Expressions

Inversions in English

  • Under no circumstances are credit cards accepted.
  • Not until much later did we find out about his research.
  • Only when we arrived back at the lab did we realize what had happened.
  • Not only did we lose our passports but also all our money.
  • Only after she died did I learn her secret.
  • Never could I have imagined how many arrangements were necessary.
  • Not only was the host family kind, but it was also helpful.
  • On no account should this door be kept locked.
  • Seldom has a film won as many awards as this one did today.

Common Phrases & Collocations

  • Turn down our request for
  • We had never gone
  • You had kept my new secret
  • I would prefer to have given up
  • It were not for his strange sense of humour
  • If you happen to come
  • He will keep on turning up
  • She probably wouldn’t have come
  • Might have given him a second chance
  • It’s several years since I last drove
  • I have warned you not to be
  • She would not wear
  • It looks as if she has been dieting
  • I didn’t use to like
  • It is no use asking
  • It took me a while to get used to driving
  • Having gone to see the apartment
  • We would like to have continued
  • Would you like me to carry
  • I would like to express my dissatisfaction with
  • I would sooner have asked
  • Would you rather hadn’t told
  • He would rather not do
  • Maria is hardly going to turn down
  • You will take more chance of getting into
  • He has almost no chance of winning
  • It looks as if the fridge has broken down
  • It’s years since I have beaten my brother
  • I wish I had kept quiet about my day off
  • They may have been set on fire
  • It is thought to have been done
  • If it hadn’t been for
  • She has a tendency to panic in
  • His refusal to work overtime came as a surprise
  • It is not worth reading
  • He made a big effort to give up
  • I couldn’t help laughing
  • You had better leave now
  • I have difficulty remembering
  • She had great difficulty persuading her boss
  • We were made to clean
  • He made a full recovery
  • It was only seeing him on stage that made me
  • She objected to him being treated
  • If there hadn’t been so much noise
  • There was a fall in the number
  • He is making a name for himself
  • I would be grateful if you could help me
  • Does this bag belong to you?
  • There hadn’t been a single book left
  • He claimed not to have been
  • She denied having seen
  • He spent 5 minutes looking for
  • It will be a pleasure to take you for
  • In spite of never having travelled
  • To be unable to keep
  • To get my passport renewed
  • It is in such good condition that it is hard to believe
  • It calls for a great deal of patience
  • No support from
  • To offer in terms of
  • To be on the point of leaving
  • I can’t see the point of learning
  • It is scheduled to take place
  • You notify us of any change
  • It is the lack of leadership which caused
  • The decision to attend
  • To slow down the amount of
  • No time to start on
  • To come up with new ideas
  • To put the fire out
  • To put in your money
  • To put up with rudeness from
  • No intention of staying for long
  • To make up his mind
  • To be prevented from
  • Failure to pay on time will result in your booking being cancelled
  • He is in danger of being fired
  • To go ahead according to plan
  • He has given up hope of finding
  • Took notice of
  • It is a matter of time before
  • To have any recollection of phoning
  • To make it impossible for him to
  • I am obliged to take into consideration
  • Don’t hesitate to call me
  • To make any difference to me whether
  • To break into a house