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Introduction to Grammar
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Basic elements of English
a
Parts of speech
b
Phrases and clauses
c
Sentence Structure
Nouns
Pronouns
Tenses
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Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
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Conjunctions
Gerunds
Infinitives
Modal verbs
Conditional sentences
Relative Clauses
Reported Speech
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The basic parts of English
a
Parts of speech
Part
Explanation
Example
Nouns
names of people, things,
places and qualities
Peter, Mary, tables, Hong
Kong, beauty
Pronouns
replace nouns and help us to
avoid repetition
I, me, you, he, him, she,
they
Verbs
describe actions and states
go, swim, study, sleep,
feel
Adjectives
describe nouns
beautiful, naughty
Adverbs
describe verbs
quickly, slowly, carefully
Prepositions
describe the relationship
in, on, at, to
between verbs and nouns
Conjunctions connect two or more actions
together to form compound
of complex sentences
and, but, because
Interjections
Ah, O, Wow, Well, Hey
words or phrases to express a
strong feeling such as shock,
pain or pleasure
b
Phrases and clauses
A phrase is a group of words without a subject and a verb:
eg. I like the monitor of that class.
A clause is a sentence within a sentence which contains a subject and verb:
eg. I like the boy who sits next to Ann.
c
Sentence Structure
A sentence is a group of words which are joined together in correct
grammatical order.
A sentence needs a subject and a verb, it may be followed by an object or a
complement.
i
Simple sentences
Subject + Verb
eg. He is swimming.
My arm hurts.
Subject + Verb + Object
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eg. I have finished my homework
ii
iii
Subject + Verb + Object 1 + Object 2
eg. Mary gave me her pencil.
I told John the good news.
Subject + Verb + Complement
eg. Kevin is honest and hard-working.
Compound sentences
A compound sentence consists of more than one subject and verb. It is
formed by joining two or more simple sentences together. All the
clauses in the compound sentence can stand as a single sentence.
eg. They fished all day but they didn’t catch a thing.
I sang and danced.
Complex sentences
A complex sentence consists of more than one subject and one finite
verb. It is a sentence formed by joining two simple sentences: one
sentence functions as the main clause, and the other functions as the
subordinate clause. Normally, the tense of the verb in the subordinate
clause has to follow that of the verb in the main clause:
eg. While I was cooking in the kitchen, I heard a strange noise.
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Nouns
i
Countable and uncountable nouns
eg. table, chair,
bread, water
ii Common nouns
iii Proper nouns
eg. China, Hong Kong, Mr Wong, Buddhist Wai Yan Memorial College
iv Abstract nouns
- uncountable and therefore have no plural form
eg. beauty, peace, equality, justice
v
Collective nouns
- a word for a group of people, animals or objects which is considered as a
single unit
eg. audience, class, crowd, police, flock, government, team, public
Articles
i
Definite – the/the
refers to a specific noun which can be either countable or uncountable
a
refers to someone or something which is known
b
specifying a noun followed by a clause or phrase
c
ii
eg. The man sitting near the door is the manager of this restaurant.
The little girl over there lives in that house.
refers to a known environment
eg. She picked up the phone.
Indefinite – a/an
refer to people and things in general.
a
used with singular countable nouns when the thing or person referred
to is not mentioned earlier or the reader does not know what or who is
being referred to
b
c
when it means the numeral one
eg. I need a new pen.
when it means every or per
eg. These eggs cost $10 a dozen
d
after such, what + singular countable noun
eg. She is such a hard working student.
e
in the phrases a few / a little / a lot of
eg. I need a few students in this project.
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There are few students in the library.
f
g
used with proper names, meaning a certain
eg. I talked to a Mr Wong yesterday and he said that he knew you.
After so / too + adjective + singular noun
eg. He is too lazy a person to do that.
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Pronouns
Types:
Subject
Object
Adjective
Possessive
Reflexive
I
me
my
mine
myself
You
you
your
yours
yourself / yourselves
He
him
his
his
himself
She
her
her
hers
herself
It
it
its
its
itself
We
us
our
ours
ourselves
They
them
their
theirs
themselves
Usage
eg. I am a student.
Mary gave this book to me.
This is my book.
This book is mine.
I bought this book myself.
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Tenses
There are twelve main tenses in English to describe past, present and future
actions.
Past
Simple
I went to school.
He went to school.
Present
Future
I go to school (everyday).
He / She goes to school.
I shall/will go to school.
He will go to school.
Continuous/ I was going to school.
I am going to school.
progressive He/She was going to school. He/She is going to school.
You were going to school.
You are going to school.
I shall/will be going to
school soon.
He/She will be going to
school soon.
Perfect
I shall have gone to school
I had gone to school.
I have gone to school.
He/She had gone to school.
He/ She has gone to school. by 8:00am.
He will have gone to
school when you come
back.
Perfect
I had been going to school.
continuous He/She had been going to
school.
I have been going to
school(for ten years).
He / She has been going to
school( since 1990).
I shall have been going to
school for ten years by
September.
He will have been going to
school for fifteen years by
next month.
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Uses
Present Simple –
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Present continuous – i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Present perfect –
habitual actions
facts/truths
instructions
talking about the future
actions happening now
indicating change
talking about temporary situations
talking about the future
i) links the past with the present actions happening now
ii) describes a finished action that has present result indicating
change
Present perfect continuous –
i)
ii)
iii)
to talk about the duration of an action using a
time expression
the time period indicated by the time
expression is not finished at the time of
speaking
to talk about an action that started in the past
and is still continuing or has just stopped at the
time of speaking
Past Simple – i)
ii)
Past continuous – i)
ii)
Past Perfect – i)
ii)
to talk about a finished action in the past ( with or without a time
expression
to talk about an action that happened right before another action
in the past
eg. When the bell rang, everyone got up.
temporary action in progress in the past
a simultaneous continuous action + when
for the earlier of two past actions
in reported speech
Past Perfect Continuous – describing an action in progress in the past before another
action
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Simple Future – i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
Future Continuous – i)
ii)
making decisions / threats / promises
expressing opinions
making offers, requests, suggestions
stating intentions / plans / predictions
describing future events, plans or intentions
expressing expectations
Future Perfect – i) talking about actions that we know will be completed by a certain
time in the future
ii)
talking about actions that we think will be completed by a
certain time in the future
Future Perfect Continuous – talking about the duration of a continuous action or
event up to a future point of time
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Adjectives
i
An adjective is a word that describes a noun, it gives us more information
about the noun.
ii
Adjectives are placed before the noun they describe. When using more
than one adjective to describe a noun, place the adjectives in the following
order:
Number + quality / opinion + size + age + shape + colour + origin +
composition + purpose + noun
iii Comparative and superlative adjectives
-er / more _____ than
the -est / the most _____
iv as…….as
We use as…as to say that two people, things, etc are the same in some way.
eg. Mary is as tall as John.
The test was as difficult as I’d expected.
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Adverbs
- an adverb is a word used to give more information about an action. Many
adverbs are formed by adding ly to the end of adjectives.
i Adverbs of manner
- describe how something happens
eg. She sings beautifully.
He works slowly.
ii Adverbs of place
- describe where something happens
eg. He lives here.
We saw Johnny in the park.
ii Adverbs of time
- describe when something happens
eg. He bought a camera yesterday.
We played football last weekend.
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Prepositions
A preposition is a word or group of words that we place before a noun, noun
phrase or pronoun. The preposition expresses a relationship between the word
that precedes it to noun, noun phrase or pronoun that follows it.
Preposition of place:
in, on at
Prepositions of place and movement:
in, into, out of, on, onto, off,
inside, outside, above, below
over, under, underneath, on top
of, in front of, behind,
opposite, between, near, next
to, by, beside, along, across,
Prepositions of time:
through, over, up, down, past,
round, from, towards
in, on, at, during, for, while, by,
Prepositions of means of transport:
until, from, to/ until, before,
after, since, ago, before
by, on, in
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Conjunctions
Conjunctions are joining words. We use them to join words, phrases or
sentences.
i
Coordinating conjunctions
and, or, but
ii
Correlative conjunctions
both….and, either….or, neither…. nor, not only….but also,
whether….or
iii
Subordinating Conjunctions
after, although, as, as soon as, because, before, even though, how,
if, since, so, that, though, till, unless, until, when, whenever, where,
wherever, while, why
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Gerunds
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-
-
-
A gerund is a verbal noun. It is like a verb but is used as a noun.
It is the –ing form of the verb.
It can be the subject or object of a sentence.
eg. Eating too much makes you fat.
I don’t like reading.
Gerunds can also have their own objects.
eg. Eating fried food makes you fat.
I don’t like reading history book.
-ing is used instead of the infinitive after prepositions.
eg. You should undo your shoelaces before taking off your shoes.
I look forward to meeting you.
You can use gerunds to describe habitual events.
A gerund can be usually found after one of the verbs below:
admit
adore
avoid
consider
delay
deny
dislike
-
dread
fancy
feel like
finish
give up
go
imagine
involve
keep on
mention
mind
miss
postpone
practice
put off
recall
resist
risk
spend time / money
suggest
understand
A passive form ( being + a past participle) can also be used.
eg. I dislike being stared at.
We just missed being run over by a bus.
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-
-
Infinitives
An infinitive is a non-finite verb that can be used as a noun, adjective
or adverb, or as part of a noun, adjectival or adverbial phrase.
An infinitive can exist in active or passive voice forms.
eg. active voice: to do
to have done
to be doing
passive voice: to be done
to have been done to have been
doing
A few of the more common verbs normally followed by an infinitive
include:
afford
decide
intend
pretend
wish
agree
determine
learn
promise
appear
arrange
ask
-
expect
fail
help
manage
mean
offer
refuse
seem
threaten
attempt
hope
prepare
want
A few of the more common verbs normally followed by an object + an
infinitive include:
eg. The doctor advised me to take a complete rest.
advise
help
teach
allow
invite
tempt
ask
know
tell
encourage
order
warn
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Modal verbs
We use modals to talk about: ability, capability, possibility, probability, permission,
necessity, obligation, promises, threats, warnings, advice, criticism, intentions,
requests and preferences.
They are :
can, could, may, might, must, will, would, shall, should and ought
to, and need.
- Ability:
can, could, be able to
- Permission:
can, could, may, might, be allowed to
- Obligation and necessity:
must, have to, have got to
mustn’t, don’t have to, don’t need to, haven’t
got to, needn’t
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Obligation and advice:
-
Possibility:
should, ought to, had better, be supposed to,
shall
may, might, could, can
-
Probability:
Requests:
should, ought to
can, could, may, will, would
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12 Conditional sentences
Conditional sentences consist of a conditional ( if ) clause and a main clause.
eg. If I meet Paul, I will kill him.
if clause
main clause
Type 1: To express facts that do not change.
eg. If you heat water, it boils.
simple present
simple present
Type 2: To express a possible future event.
eg. If you don’t get up soon, you will be late for school.
simple present
simple future
Type 3: To express an unlikely or unreal event or situation.
eg. If I met Mr Chan, I would kill him.
simple past
would + bare infinitive
eg. If I were to meet Mr Chan, I would kill him.
were + to + bare infinitive would + bare infinitive
Type 4: To express impossible actions and situations
eg. If I had met Mr Chan I would have killed him.
past perfect
would + have + past participle
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13 Relative Clause
Defining and non-defining relative clauses
a. A defining clause identifies somebody or something:
eg. The man who followed me was middle-aged.
I want to teach you a method which will help you improve your
English.
b. A non-defining clause gives us more information about the person or
thing being described:
eg. 1
Michael, who is supposed to be the best singer in Hong Kong,
can hardly sing a note.
2
My cousin, who’s a committed Christian, is very hard-working
and honest.
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Reported Speech
Speech can be written directly by using quotation marks ( “……“) or
indirectly.
Forming indirect speech
．we can use the word that when reporting statements, (may be left
out )
．we can use: if, whether, what , where, how etc. when reporting
questions
．Pronouns change:
eg. ‘ This isn’t our car.’ She said that it wasn’t their car.
．Verb tenses usually change:
eg. ‘ I like apples.’  He said that he liked apples.
‘Tommy ate my apple.’  She said Tommy had eaten her apple.
．Sometimes the tense can stay the same:
- when the thing reported is a universal truth
- when the thing reported is still true at the time of reporting it
．Infinitives stay the same
eg. ‘ I want to go home.’  The boy said that he wanted to
go home.
Summary of change of tenses:
-
for references only – some flexibility is possible in changing
some of the tenses and some of the adverbs of time and place.
Direct speech
Indirect speech
Present simple
I like milk.
Past simple
He said he liked milk.
Present continuous
Are you listening?
Past continuous
She asked if I was listening.
Past simple
I didn’t do it.
Past perfect
He said he hadn’t done it.
Present perfect
Past perfect
You’ve eaten my moon cake.
He said I’d eaten his moon cake.
Past continuous
I was sleeping.
Past continuous or past perfect continuous
He said he was sleeping.
He said that he had been sleeping.
Past perfect
I hadn’t realized.
Past perfect
He said he hadn’t realised
shall/ will
I’ll kill them.
should/ would
He said he would kill them.
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can/ may
could / might
I can’t hear you
I may come.
She said she couldn’t hear me.
He said he might come.
Direct speech
Reported speech
this
that
these
those
now
then, at that time
here
there
come
gone
today
that day
yesterday
the day before, the pervious day
tomorrow
the next day, the following day
last week/month/year
the week/ month/ year before
the previous week/ month/ year
next week/ month/year
the week/ month/ year after