Main Verbs, Auxiliary Verbs (Helping Verbs) and Compound Verbs. English sentences can have main verbs, auxiliary verbs (also called helping verbs) and compound verbs. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses Let's go over each group. Auxiliary Verbs (also called "helping verbs") Auxiliary verbs are verbs that are used together with another verb (called the main verb of the sentence) to express the action or state. Main verb + auxiliary verb = complete idea The most common auxiliary verbs are: be, am, is, are, was, were, do, did, have, has, had. Are singing The main verb is "singing. " Example sentences (the auxiliary verb is in bold, and the main verb is underlined):They arejogging.She wassitting.We werewaiting for hours.Is she sleeping? Click here to learn more about helping verbs.
Practice with an Illustrated Worksheet on English Helping Verbs. Compound Verbs A compound verb = auxiliary verb + main verb. Examples: was playing, has eaten, doesn't want. She will fall. "Will fall" is a compound verb. Correct Grammar and the Proper Use of Homophones. What do homophones have to do with correct grammar? Here we will discuss one of the biggest mistakes you can make when using English in speech or writing. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses What are homophones? Homophones are a tricky part of correct grammar. They can even be spelled the same way, leading to even greater confusion.
I got a great present (gift) for Christmas. Why is it important to correctly use homophones? Some of the most commonly used homophones end up being some of the most common grammar mistakes in the English language. Homophones are a little confusing at first for ESL students, but learning how to properly use homophones will help you: Avoid making common English grammar mistakes Give you confidence in your English Improve your overall understanding of the English language. Difficult homophones These homophones are some of the most difficult there are.
Their, there and they're Examples: Their books are very heavy. 1. Phonology in the English Language. Phonology is the study of the basic sounds and speech patterns of a language. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses The English language is full of words and sounds borrowed from other languages, giving it a mixture of sound patterns.
Examples: Vowel sounds: There are only five vowels in the American English language. Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu Depending on the word and blend, these five vowels can make up about 21 unique sounds. Consonant sounds: There are 21 consonants in the American English language. Bb Cc Dd Ff Gg Hh Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz Note: the letters c and g can have a hard sound or a soft sound.
The same sounds The consonants only make 18 unique sounds individually. Examples: city and snake cake and kids zip and rose Blended consonants Blended consonants make many more sounds. Dialects A dialect is a form of the language that is spoken in a certain area. There are eight major identified dialects in North America and Canada.
Learn English Parts of Speech - Explanations, Examples and Exercises. There are eight different English parts of speech, but before we continue any further... Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses What is a Part of Speech? A part of speech is a group of words that are used in a certain way. For example, "run," "jump," and "be" are all used to describe actions/states. In other words, all words in the English language are divided into eight different categories. The English parts of speech are: Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.
Click here to learn the different parts of a sentence. Same Word – Several Parts of Speech In the English language many words are used in more than one way. For example, in the sentence "I would like a drink" the word "drink" is a noun. Click here for video grammar lessons (including the Parts of Speech Made Simple Videos) Nouns Click here for the complete illustrated page on English nouns. Abstract Nouns Concrete Nouns Common Nouns Verbs. How to Improve Your Spelling, a Guide for Students.
A Guide for Students If you want to know how to improve your spelling, read the suggestions right here. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses Even if you have good speaking, listening, and reading skills, or even good grammar, your written English can be badly affected by your spelling. Bad spelling can leave a bad impression on the person reading your work, so it's good to get it right. (Just think about how you feel when you encounter spelling errors in a piece of writing...) In English sometimes the same groups of letters, such as ough, can have a number of different pronunciations. But there are some things you can do to help.
English spelling: learn the rules English spelling keeps to the spelling rules more than English grammar keeps to its grammar rules! There are other articles on this site that detail some of the spelling rules, so it's a good idea to learn as many as you can: English Spelling Rules Practice makes perfect Read more Why? English Spelling Rules. Here are some of the basic English spelling rules you should definitely know about. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses The complete list of English spelling rules Lesson 1: the "Magic" E Lesson 2: Homophones Lesson 3: Kn- and Wr- at the Beginning of Words Lesson 4: Silent H Lesson 5: -mn and -mb Combinations at the End of Words Lesson 6: Silent G and Silent P Lesson 7: Pronunciations of -ough Lesson 8: Common English Prefixes Lesson 9: Common English Suffixes Lesson 10: C, K, CK, and QU Lesson 11: Word Ending Sounds V, J, and Long E Lesson 12: Double Letter Endings -ll, -ff, -ss, -zz Lesson 13: I Before E Except After C Lesson 14: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives Lesson 15: Forming Adverbs Lesson 16: -able or -ible Lesson 17: -ance or -ence and -ancy or -ency Lesson 18: -ious or -eous Lesson 19: -sion, -tion, or -cion Lesson 20: Differences between British and U.S.
Specific spelling rules for verb tenses Spelling rule #1: S or ES? For example: Learn English Parts of Speech - Explanations, Examples and Exercises. There are eight different English parts of speech, but before we continue any further... Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses What is a Part of Speech? A part of speech is a group of words that are used in a certain way. For example, "run," "jump," and "be" are all used to describe actions/states. In other words, all words in the English language are divided into eight different categories. The English parts of speech are: Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections.
Click here to learn the different parts of a sentence. Same Word – Several Parts of Speech In the English language many words are used in more than one way. For example, in the sentence "I would like a drink" the word "drink" is a noun. Click here for video grammar lessons (including the Parts of Speech Made Simple Videos) Nouns Click here for the complete illustrated page on English nouns. Abstract Nouns Concrete Nouns Common Nouns Verbs.
English Grammar Phrases. What are English grammar phrases? In grammar, a phrase is a group of words without a finite verb. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses But what is a finite verb? When something is finite it means it has a clear limit. A finite verb is a verb that has a particular tense, person and number. Example: In the sentence "She has a dog," the verb has shows a tense (simple present), a person (third person) and a number (singular).So has is a finite verb. " A non-finite verb is a verb that does not have a particular tense, person and number. In the sentence "I like to sing," the verb to sing doesn't show a tense, person or number.So to sing is a non-finite verb. " Here are some more examples of finite verbs and non-finite verbs: So now that we know what a finite verb is, let's get back to the explanation on English grammar phrases: In grammar, a phrase is a group of words without a finite verb.
These are all groups of words without a finite verb. Easy English Grammar Explanations and Exercises. English grammar can be easy! Read this for simple and easy English grammar explanations and exercises. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses What does GRAMMAR mean? Grammar is simply the way we combine words together so that other people can understand us.
For example, if I want to say this: Then I should say: "She is drinking a bottle of water. " What happens if I say: "She is bottling a drink of water"? The listener can understand that she is doing this action: And this is not true! This is why grammar is important. So as time went by, people made rules about how to use the words together. All these rules are important because they help us communicate our ideas and understand the ideas of other people. But, if you don't know these rules, then grammar can seem quite complicated.
This is why we are here! First of all, an excellent book on the subject: Grammar and Communication for children/English learners (There are examples below each link) Syntax. English Verb Tenses. Sometimes English verb tenses seem complicated, don't they? But they don't have to be, not if you really understand them. Make sure to visit our English Grammar Tenses Collection for stories and exercises for all English tenses. Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses What does TENSE Mean? A tense is a form of a verb which shows the time at which an action happens. It comes from the Latin word "tempus", which means "time". Examples "Sang" is a form of the verb "sing". "Sleeps" is a form of the verb "sleep". In fact, English verb tenses are not much more complicated than that. We will start with the Simple English Tenses. A Simple tense is a form of a verb that simply shows when the action takes place.
The Simple Past is a form of the verb that shows the action took place in the past. For example: Lisa danced yesterday. The Simple Present is a form of the verb that shows the action takes place in the present. For example: Lisa dances every day. Yes! English Spelling Rules. English Word Pronunciation: Improve that Accent! Why is English word pronunciation important? Click Here for Step-by-Step Rules, Stories and Exercises to Practice All English Tenses Why is English word pronunciation important? Have you noticed that sometimes, even though you can speak English well, have a good vocabulary, and use grammar properly, something still does not sound natural?
Or in other words, your foreign accent is just too obvious… This can also make understanding you more difficult for other people. This could be a common problem among English learners. However, is it unchangeable? That depends on how hard-working you are in practicing the new sounds. Click Here for the American Accent Audio Course.
What Makes an Accent? Accent seems so natural to us, that we sometimes forget what makes an accent. Basically, the way you pronounce each sound of the language affects your overall accent. For example, the sound of the letter R is pronounced differently by Spanish, German and English speakers. So do this tutorial! List of Lessons. Present Progressive Rules.