Information for you!!!!!: Learn English Grammar Step By Step

Adjectives

Adjectives describe or modify nouns.

I like fairy tales. A fairy tale is an imaginary story that has unrealistic characters in a fantastic background. It makes me forget about the real world and refreshes my tired mind.

Adjectives generally appear immediately before the noun.

A pretty girl
Red flowers
A long stick
Heavy boxes
Warm weather

Commonly, adjectives of opposite meaning are formed by adding a prefix such as un, in, or dis.

clear – unclear, important – unimportant, predictable – unpredictable, believable – unbelievable, common – uncommon, aware – unaware, ambiguous – unambiguous, conventional – unconventional, certain – uncertain
definite – indefinite, correct – incorrect, comparable – incomparable, complete – incomplete, evitable – inevitable, expensive – inexpensive
able – disable, assemble – disassemble, content – discontent, similar – dissimilar

When using a string of adjectives, they should appear in a set order: size/shape + age + color + origin + material.

A big brown house
A small old English desk
A beautiful black Italian leather purse
Delicious Chinese food

The + adjective describes a class or group of people and acts as a noun.

the old, the young, the poor, the rich, the oppressed, the homeless, etc.
This popular TV show is loved by the old.

Action Verbs

Action verbs express action and are the most common verbs.

Action verbs need s at the end with third-person, singular subjects.

He eats bread.
She walks to the station.
It floats on the sea.

Negative sentences need do not, does not, or did not.

I do not eat bread.
He does not eat bread.
You did not walk to the station.
It does not float on the sea.

Interrogative sentences begin with do, does, or did.

Do you eat bread?
Does he eat bread?
Does she walk to the station?
Did they finish it?

Do not can be shortened to don't, does not to doesn't, and did not to didn't.

I don't eat bread.
She doesn't walk to the station.
It doesn't float on the sea.
They didn't finish it.

Remember the variations of action verbs:

Affirmative Sentence	Negative Sentence	Interrogative Sentence
I sing a song.	I do not (don't) sing a song.	Do I sing a song?
You sing a song.	You do not (don't) sing a song.	Do you sing a song?
He (she) sings a song.	He (she) does not (doesn't) sing a song.	Does he (she) sing a song?
We sing a song.	We do not (don't) sing a song.	Do we sing a song?
They sang a song.	They did not (didn't) sing a song.	Did they sing a song?

'Be' Verbs

A verb shows action or a state of being.

I go home. Home is my place to rest. I like the smell of my house. I feel totally relaxed. Home refreshes me. At home, I get ready for a new day.

"Be" verbs indicate a state of being.

Verbs must match subjects.

I am a doctor.
He is sleepy.
We are here.

Negative sentences need ‘not' after the verb.

I am not a doctor.
He is not sleepy.
We are not there.

The verb comes first in interrogative sentences.

Am I a doctor?
Is he sleepy?
Are we there?

"Are not" (is not) can be shortened to "aren't" (isn't).

He isn't sleepy.
We aren't there.

Remember the variations of "be" verbs:

Present	Negative	Interrogative
I am	I am not	Am I?
You are	You are not (aren't)	Are you?
He is	He is not (isn't)	Is he?
She is	She is not (isn't)	Is she?
It was	It was not (wasn't)	Was it?
We are	We are not (aren't)	Are we?
You are	You are not (aren't)	Are you?
They were	They were not (weren't)	Were they?

Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of a noun.

Example story:

Mary is one of the heads of the ToJi Corporation. Mary works with Mr. James and Mr. James' son Tom. Mr. James and Mr. James' son Tom are experts in biochemistry. Mary, Mr. James, and Tom researched and invented a drug for cancer treatment.

If the story above is written using pronouns:

Mary is one of the heads of the ToJi Corporation. She works with Mr. James and his son Tom. He and his son Tom are experts in biochemistry. They researched and invented a drug for cancer treatment.

Personal Pronouns

Personal pronouns refer to a person:

I go to school.
You are a student.
They are Koreans.
He works here.
We gave her food.

The word ‘it' refers to an object:

I drank it.
It is big.
They cut it into halves.

Memorize the personal pronouns:

		Singular Subject	Singular Object	Singular Reflexive	Plural Subject	Plural Object	Plural Reflexive
First		I	me	myself	we	us	ourselves
Second		you	you	yourself	you	you	yourselves
Third	Male	he	him	himself	they	them	themselves
Third	Female	she	her	herself	they	them	themselves
Third	Neutral	it	it	itself	they	them	themselves

Possessive Nouns

Possessive nouns are used to indicate ownership.

Possessive nouns usually are formed by adding an apostrophe (') and s.

John's book
Kerry's car
Grandma's mirror

When a noun is plural and ends in s, just add an apostrophe (').

The kids' toys
My parents' house
The teachers' lounge

If two people own one thing, add the apostrophe and s to the second person only.

John and Mary's new house
David and Sue's wedding
Tom and Doug's car

If two people own separate things, add the apostrophe and s for each person.

Susan's and Beth's books
Jean's and Dan's pants
Ben's and Jim's offices

Count Nouns vs. Non-Count Nouns

Count nouns

Can be counted as one or more.

pen, computer, bottle, spoon, desk, cup, television, chair, shoe, finger, flower, camera, stick, balloon, book, table, comb, etc.

Take an s to form the plural.

pens, computers, bottles, spoons, desks, cups, televisions, chairs, shoes, fingers, flowers, cameras, sticks, balloons, books, tables, combs, etc.

Work with expressions such as (a few, few, many, some, every, each, these, and the number of).

a few pens, a few computers, many bottles, some spoons, every desk, each cup, these televisions, the number of chairs, a few shoes, a few fingers, many flowers, some cameras, every stick, each balloon, these books, the number of tables, many combs, etc.

Work with appropriate articles (a, an, or the).

a pen, the computer, a bottle, the spoon, a desk, the cup, a television, the chair, a shoe, the finger, a flower, the camera, a stick, the balloon, a book, the table, a comb, etc.

Do NOT work with much (for example, you would never say much pens or much computers).

Non-count nouns

Cannot be counted. They usually express a group or a type.

water, wood, ice, air, oxygen, English, Spanish, traffic, furniture, milk, wine, sugar, rice, meat, flour, soccer, sunshine, etc.

Generally cannot be pluralized.

Work both with and without an article (a, an, or the), depending on the context of the sentence.

Sugar is sweet.
The sunshine is beautiful.
I drink milk.
He eats rice.
We watch soccer together.
The wood is burning.

Work with expressions such as (some, any, enough, this, that, and much).

We ate some rice and milk.
I hope to see some sunshine today.
This meat is good.
She does not speak much Spanish.
Do you see any traffic on the road?
That wine is very old.

Do NOT work with expressions such as (these, those, every, each, either, or neither).

Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun names a person, place, thing, or idea.

Usually, the first page of a grammar book tells you about nouns. Nouns give names of concrete or abstract things in our lives. As babies learn "mom," "dad," or "milk" as their first word, nouns should be the first topic when you study a foreign language.

For the plural form of most nouns, add s.

bottle – bottles
cup – cups
pencil – pencils
desk – desks
sticker – stickers
window – windows

For nouns that end in ch, x, s, or s sounds, add es.

box – boxes
watch – watches
moss – mosses
bus – buses

For nouns ending in f or fe, change f to v and add es.

wolf – wolves
wife – wives
leaf – leaves
life – lives

Some nouns have different plural forms.

child – children
woman – women
man – men
mouse – mice
goose – geese

Nouns ending in vowels like y or o do not have definite rules.

baby – babies
toy – toys
kidney – kidneys
potato – potatoes
memo – memos
stereo – stereos

A few nouns have the same singular and plural forms.

sheep – sheep
deer – deer
series – series
species – species