English Grammar Table of Content
Lesson 1: Introduction
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
What is grammar?
Do we need to study grammar to learn a language?
Why do we/you/I study English grammar?
Sentence.
The 8 Parts of Speech
1.6. Examples of the Parts of Speech
Lesson 2:
Verbs
2.1 What are Verbs?
2.2 Classification of Verbs
2.2.1 Helping verbs and Main (lexical 語彙的) verbs.
2.2.1.1
Helping Verbs
2.2.1.1.1
3 Primary Helping Verbs
2.2.1.1.2
be
have
do
10 Modal Auxiliary Verbs
can, could
may, might
will, would
shall, should
2.2.1.1.3
must
ought to
3 Semi-modal Verbs
need
dare
used to
2.2.1.2 Main Verbs
2.2.1.2.1 Dynamic verbs 動態動詞 and Stative verbs 狀態動詞
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2.2.1.2.2
2.2.1.2.3
Linking verbs
Transitive verbs 及物動詞 and Intransitive verbs 不及物動詞
2.2.1.2.4
Regular verbs and Irregular verbs.
2.3 A List of Verbs
Lesson 3: Verbs and Tenses
3.1 What is Tense?
3.2 The 12 English Tenses
Simple Present Tense
I do do, I do
Present Continuous Tense
I am doing, I am doing tomorrow
Present Perfect Tense
I have done
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
I have been doing
Simple Past Tense
I did do, I did
Past Continuous Tense
I was doing
Past Perfect Tense
I had done
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
I had been doing
Simple Future Tense
I will do
Future Continuous Tense
I will be doing
Future Perfect Tense
I will have done
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
I will have been doing
3.3 Conditional Tenses
3.3.1 Present conditional tense (would + base form verb)
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3.3.2
3.3.3
Perfect conditional tense (would have + past participle)
Use Present conditional tense and Perfect conditional tense to refer to the
present or future (not the past) situations.
3.4 Uses of the 12 Tenses
3.5 Differences between Simple Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense
3.6 Common Confusions
3.6.1 I got, I have, I've got, I've gotten
Lesson 4:
Verbs--Phrasal Verbs, Verb Phrases, and Conditionals
4.1 Phrasal Verbs and other Multi-word Verbs
4.2 3 types of multi-word verbs
4.2.1 phrasal verbs (verb + adverb)
4.2.2 prepositional verbs (verb + preposition)
4.2.3 phrasal-prepositional verbs (verb + adverb + preposition)
4.3 2 differences between the 3 types of multi-word verbs
4.3.1 Transitive and Intransitive
4.3.2 Separable and Inseparable
4.4 Verb Phrases
4.5 Conditionals
4.5.1 First Conditional: real possibility
4.5.2 Second Conditional: unreal possibility or dream
4.5.3 Third Conditional: no possibility
4.5.4 Zero Conditional: certainty
Lesson 5
Verbs--Gerunds, Infinitives, and Participles
5.1 Definitions and Functions
5.1.1 Gerunds 動名詞
5.1.2 Infinitives 不定詞
5.1.3 Participles 分詞
5.2 Uses of Gerunds
5.2.1 Gerund as subject
5.2.2 Gerund as direct object
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5.2.3 Gerund as subject complement
5.2.4 Gerund after preposition
5.2.5 Gerund Phrases
5.2.5.1 Gerund phrase as subject
5.2.5.2 Gerund phrase as direct object
5.2.5.3 Gerund phrase as subject complement
5.2.5.4 Gerund phrase after preposition
5.2.6 Gerunds after Certain Verbs
5.2.7 Use of nouns vs use of gerunds
5.3 Uses of Infinitives
5.3.1 Infinitive as noun (subject)
5.3.2 Infinitive as noun (direct object)
5.3.3 Infinitive as subject complement (noun, pronoun, or adjective)
5.3.4 Infinitive as adjective
5.3.5 Infinitive as adverb
5.3.6 Infinitive Phrase
5.3.6.1 Infinitive phrase as noun (subject)
5.3.6.2 Infinitive phrase as noun (direct object)
5.3.6.3 Infinitive phrase as subject complement (noun, pronoun or
adjective)
5.3.6.4 Infinitive phrase as adjective
5.3.6.5 Infinitive phrase as adverb
5.3.7 Infinitives after Certain Verbs
5.3.8 Infinitives and Prepositional Phrases
5.4
5.5
To do or to doing?
Uses of Participles
Lesson 6 Verbs--Active and Passive Voices, Direct and Indirect Speeches
6.1 Active Voice and Passive Voice
6.1.1 Active voice
6.1.2 Passive voice
6.1.2.1 Construction of the Passive Voice
6.1.2.2 Use of the Passive Voice
6.1.2.3 Conjugation for the Passive Voice
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6.2 Direct Speech and Indirect Speech
6.2.1 Direct Speech / Quoted Speech
6.2.2 Indirect Speech / Reported Speech
6.2.2.1 No quotation marks in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.2 Tense changes in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.3 Changes of expression of time in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.4 Changes of expression of place in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.5 Changes of pronouns in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.6 Reporting verbs used in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.7 Use of ‘that’ in Indirect / Reported Speech
6.2.2.8
When reporting questions, the word ‘that’ is never used; instead,
we often use the word ‘if’.
Lesson 7 Verb: Be, Being, Been
7.1 Definition
Be is the base form of the verb “be.”
Being is the present participle of the verb “be.”
Been is the past participle of the verb “be.”
7.2 Uses of Be, Being, Been
7.2.1 Uses of Be
7.2.1.1 As the base form of the verb “be,” after an auxiliary verb
7.2.1.2 As the passive auxiliary or the progressive auxiliary in the future tense
7.2.1.3 As the base form of the infinitive
7.2.1.4 As the imperative form
7.2.2 Uses of Being
7.2.2.1 Being is always used after “be,” never after “have”
7.2.2.2
Being is used to form the present continuous (progressive) tense, the
past continuous tense, and the future continuous tense in active voice
7.2.2.3 As the passive auxiliary verb, in continuous tense
7.2.2.4 As a gerund
7.2.2.5 As a noun
7.2.3 Uses of Been
7.2.3.1 Been is always used after “have,” which is its auxiliary verb
7.2.3.2
Been is used to form the present perfect and past perfect tenses
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7.2.3.3 Been is used to form the passive voice in perfect tenses
7.2.4 Being and Been cannot be used as adjectives by themselves
7.2.5 Being as part of a participial phrase can be used as adjective modifying a
noun or pronoun, but been cannot.
7.3 Basic tenses with the verb Be.
Lesson 8 Nouns
8.1 Definition
8.2 Position
8.2.1 Nouns often come after a determiner
8.2.2 Nouns can also come after a quantifier
8.2.3 Nouns often come after one or more adjectives
8.3 Noun phrases
8.4 Functions of a noun in a sentence
8.5 Classification
8.5.1 A noun can be concrete or abstract
8.5.1.1 A concrete noun is something you can touch, see, etc.
8.5.1.2 An abstract noun refers to abstract objects, like ideas, concepts, etc.
8.5.2 A noun can be proper or common
8.5.2.1 A proper noun represents a unique entity, and always begins with a
capital letter no matter where it occurs in a sentence
8.5.2.2 A common noun describes a class of entities
8.5.3 A noun can be countable or uncountable
8.5.3.1 A countable noun has both a singular and a plural form
8.5.3.2 An uncountable noun is also called a non-count noun, or a mass
noun.
8.5.3.2.1 An uncountable noun usually cannot be expressed in a plural
form
8.5.3.2.2 We usually treat uncountable nouns as singular
8.5.3.2.3 We do not usually use the indefinite article a/an with
uncountable nouns
8.5.3.2.4 We can use some, any, a little, and much with uncountable
nouns
8.5.3.3
Nouns that can be both countable and uncountable
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8.5.4 Compound nouns
8.5.4.1 Open or spaced - space between words
8.5.4.2 Hyphenated - hyphen between words
8.5.4.3 Closed or solid - no space or hyphen between words
Two or more nouns together – noun as adjective (see also 9.2.5 Noun
as Adjective)
8.5.6 Collective noun
8.5.6.1 It is generally accepted that collective nouns can take either singular
or plural verb form depending on the context.
8.5.6.2 However, certain collective nouns customarily use plural verb form.
8.5.5
8.5.6.3 When people is used as a countable noun, it refers to a race.
8.5.6.4 When poultry is used as an uncountable noun, it refers to meat of
domestic fowls.
8.5.7
Verbs acted as nouns (see also Lesson 5
and Participles)
8.5.7.1 Use of nouns vs use of gerunds.
Verbs: Gerunds, Infinitives,
8.6 The possessive form
8.6.1 When we want to show that something belongs to somebody or something,
we usually add ‘s to a singular noun, whatever the final consonant.
8.6.2 Exception: when adding ‘s to a singular noun is awkward to pronounce,
then we add only an apostrophe ‘ (see also 8.6.5.3).
8.6.3 For plural nouns that end in –s, the possessive form is to add an apostrophe
‘.
8.6.4 For plural nouns that do not end in –s, the possessive form is to add ‘s.
8.6.5 Possessive with names
8.6.5.1 We very often use possessive ‘s with names
8.6.5.2 When a name ends in s, we usually treat it like any other singular
noun, and add ‘s
8.6.5.3 But it is possible (especially with older, classical names) to just add
the apostrophe ‘ (see also 8.6.2).
8.7 Noun ending
8.8 Plural or Singular noun after “No”.
8.9 Common Confusions
8.9.1 Art vs Arts
8.9.2 Sport vs Sports
8.9.3 Vehicles
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Lesson 9 Adjectives
9.1 Definition
9.2 Kinds of Adjectives
9.2.1 Determiners 限定詞
9.2.1.1 Articles (A / An or The)
9.2.1.1.1 Uses of the indefinite article a/an
9.2.1.1.1.1 To talk about something for the first time
9.2.1.1.1.2 To describe “one of many”
9.2.1.1.1.3 With jobs and professions
9.2.1.1.1.4 With certain expressions of quantity
9.2.1.1.1.5 Only with singular count nouns
9.2.1.1.1.6 Use a for nouns and adjectives which begin with a
consonant sound, and an for nouns and adjectives
which begin with a vowel sound
9.2.1.1.2 Uses of the definite article the
9.2.1.1.2.1 To talk about something again
9.2.1.1.2.2
9.2.1.1.2.3
9.2.1.1.2.4
9.2.1.1.2.5
With certain places and names
When there is only one
To refer to a specific or particular member of a group
When information given in the sentence limits the
plural count noun to all the members in a specific
category: (see also 9.2.1.1.4)
9.2.1.1.2.6 Use of the in front of abbreviations and their full forms
but not before acronyms and their full forms.
9.2.1.1.3 Uses of a/an/the for singular countable nouns
9.2.1.1.4 Uses of the for plural countable nouns
9.2.1.1.4.1 When the plural countable noun does not represent all
the members in a specific category, no article comes
before it (see also 9.2.1.1.2.5)
9.2.1.1.4.2 When information given in the sentence limits the plural
countable noun to all the members in a specific
category or group, the definite article the is used (the
same as 9.2.1.1.2.5)
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9.2.1.1.5 Uses of the for uncountable nouns
9.2.1.1.6 You don’t use any article:
9.2.1.1.6.1 With certain expressions, such as “at home”.
9.2.1.1.6.2 With meals, languages, most countries, cities and
towns, streets, mountains (but mountain
ranges 山脈 use the), most islands, continents,
sports, academic subjects, parts of body.
9.2.1.1.7 Geographical use of the
9.2.1.1.7.1 Do not use the before:
9.2.1.1.7.1.1 Names of most countries/territories
9.2.1.1.7.1.2
9.2.1.1.7.1.3
9.2.1.1.7.1.4
9.2.1.1.7.1.5
9.2.1.1.7.1.6
9.2.1.1.7.1.7
Names of cities, towns, provinces, or states
Names of streets
Names of lakes and bays
Names of mountains
Names of continents
Names of islands
9.2.1.1.7.2 Do use the before:
9.2.1.1.7.2.1 Names of rivers, oceans and seas
9.2.1.1.7.2.2 Points on the globe
9.2.1.1.7.2.3 Geographical areas
9.2.1.1.7.2.4 Deserts, forests, gulfs, and peninsulas
9.2.1.1.8 Pronunciation
9.2.1.1.8.1 A is used before a consonant sound, even if it is written
as a vowel.
9.2.1.1.8.2 An is used before a vowel sound, even if it is written as
a consonant.
9.2.1.1.8.3 The is pronounced “the” before a consonant sound, but
pronounced “dee” before a vowel sound
9.2.1.2 Possessive Adjectives / Possessive Determiners
9.2.1.3 Other determiners / Indefinite Adjectives
9.2.2 Demonstrative Adjectives
9.2.3 Proper Adjectives
9.2.4 Common Adjectives
9.2.4.1 Comparative Adjectives
9.2.4.1.1 Formation of Comparative Adjectives
9.2.4.1.1.1 Two normal ways:
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short adjectives: add “-er”
long adjectives: use “more”
9.2.4.1.1.2 Exception 1: With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can
use “-er” or “more”.
9.2.4.1.1.3 Exception 2: Irregular forms (good → better).
9.2.4.1.2 Use of Comparative Adjectives
9.2.4.2 Superlative Adjectives
9.2.4.2.1 Formation of Superlative Adjectives
9.2.4.2.1.1 Two normal ways:
short adjectives: add “-est”
long adjectives: use “most”
9.2.4.2.1.2 Exception 1: With some 2-syllable adjectives, we can
use “-est” or “ the most,”
9.2.4.2.1.3 Exception 2: irregular forms (good → the best)
9.2.4.2.2 Use of Superlative Adjectives
9.2.4.2.2.1 We use a superlative adjective to describe one thing in a
group of three or more things.
9.2.4.2.2.2 When we compare one thing with itself, we do not use
“the”.
9.2.4.3 Incomparable adjectives
9.2.5 Noun as Adjective (see also 8.5.5
noun as adjective)
Two or more nouns together –
9.3 Position of Adjectives
9.3.1 Before the noun
9.3.2 After certain verbs, such as be, become, get, seem, etc.
9.3.3 Adjectives are sometimes placed after nouns for the sake of emphasis.
9.3.4 Some adjectives can be placed before or after a noun, with different
meanings.
9.3.5
9.3.6
9.3.7
With some verbs, the adjective follows the object.
In certain phrases, the adjective always follows the noun.
When an infinitive is used as adjective, it is (sometimes?) placed after the
noun (see also 5.3.4 Infinitive as adjective & 5.3.6.4 Infinitive phrase as
adjective).
9.4 Order of Adjectives
9.4.1 When using more than one adjectives before the noun, place opinion before
fact.
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9.4.2
When two adjectives come after a verb, they are separated by and. When
more than two adjectives come after a verb, the last two are separated
9.4.3
by and.
When two or more adjectives come before a noun, they are not usually
9.4.4
9.4.5
separated by and.
Place numbers before adjectives.
Possessive adjectives come before any (genuine) adjectives.
9.5 Common confusions between adverbs, adjectives and some expressions (see
also 10.5).
9.5.1
Bad or Badly?
9.5.2
9.5.3
9.5.4
9.5.5
9.5.6
9.5.7
9.5.8
Good or Well?
Double-negatives
Sure or Surely?
Real or Really?
Near or Nearly?
Art vs Arts (see also 8.9.1)
Few vs A few
9.6 List of Adjectives
Lesson 10
Adverbs
10.1 Definition
10.2 Forms of Adverbs
10.2.1 Many adverbs end in -ly. We form such adverbs by adding -ly to the
adjectives.
10.2.2 Some adverbs have no particular form.
10.3
Position of Adverbs
Front (before the subject)
Middle (between the subject and the main verb)
End (after the verb or object)
10.4 Kinds of Adverbs
10.4.1 Adverbs of Frequency (How often?)
10.4.2 Adverbs of Time (When?)
10.4.3 Adverbs of Place (Where?)
10.4.4 Adverbs of Manner (How?)
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10.4.5
Adverbs of Purpose (Why?)
10.5 Common confusions between adverbs, adjectives and some expressions
(see also 9.5)
10.5.1 Bad or Badly?
10.5.2 Good or Well?
10.5.3 Double-negatives
10.5.4 Sure or Surely?
10.5.5 Real or Really?
10.5.6 Near or Nearly?
10.5.7 Maybe or May be? (see also 4.4.1)
10.6 List of Adverbs
Lesson 11 Pronouns
11.1 Definition
11.2 Types of Pronouns
11.2.1 Personal Pronouns
11.2.2 Possessive Pronouns
11.2.3 Demonstrative Pronouns
11.2.4 Indefinite Pronouns
11.2.5 Relative Pronouns 關係代名詞
11.2.6 Interrogative Pronouns
11.2.7 Reflexive Pronouns 反身代名詞
11.2.8 Reciprocal Pronouns 相互代名詞
11.3 Pronouns and determiners
11.4 Pronoun Case
Subjective case (they act as the subject)
Objective case (they act as the object)
Possessive case (they show possession of something else)
11.5 Some problems of pronouns and pronoun cases.
11.5.1 Mary and I or Mary and me?
11.5.2. In comparisons.
11.5.3. In formal and semiformal writing.
11.5.4 Everybody, anybody, everyone, anyone, each, neither, either, neither of,
either of, neither…nor, either…or, nobody, someone, a person.
11.5.5
For a single person, sometimes we don't know whether to use he or
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she.
11.5.6. “None” should take a singular or a plural verb?
11.5.7. When referring to people, both that and who can be used.
11.6 List of English Pronouns (totaling 73)
Lesson 12
Preposition
12.1 Definition
12.2 Function
12.3 2 Rules of using Prepositions
12.4 Number of Prepositions (There are about 150 prepositions in English)
12.5 Simple and Compound Prepositions
12.6 Prepositions of Place
12.6.1 at, in, on
12.6.2 over, above
12.6.3 under, underneath, beneath, below
12.6.4 near, by, next to, between, among, opposite
12.6.5 Use at to introduce objects of the verbs: glance, laugh, look, rejoice,
smile, stare.
12.6.6 Use of to introduce objects of the verbs: approve, consist, smell.
12.6.7 Use of or about to introduce objects of the verbs: dream, think.
12.6.8 Use for to introduce objects of the verbs: call, hope, look, wait, watch,
wish.
12.6.9 Use into to denote motion towards.
12.7 Prepositions of Time
12.7.1 at, in, on
12.7.2 Use since, for, by, from…to, from…until, during, within to
express extended time.
12.7.3 In the future vs in future
12.8 List of Prepositions (totaling 185)
Lesson 13 Conjunctions and Interjections
13.1 Conjunctions
13.1.1 Definition
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13.1.2 Types of Conjunctions
13.1.2.1 Coordinating Conjunctions
13.1.2.2 Subordinating Conjunctions
13.1.2.3 Correlative Conjunctions
13.1.3 List of Conjunctions
13.1.4
When, while, as
13.2 Interjections
13.2.1 Definition
13.2.2 Interjections and examples
13.2.3 List of Interjections
Lesson 14 10 Basic Sentence Patterns of the English Language
Lesson 15 20 Basic Rules of English Grammar
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