For learning English Grammar, this site will be most helpful at upper middle and middle levels (where almost all of the objects will be important), and can provide both as a foundation for reviewing new structures. It might also be helpful for some advanced learners who have troubles with English Grammar and require something for reference. This site is proposed to be utilized by fundamental learners as well.

The elements are not prepared according to difficulty, so this site needs not to be worked through from starting to end. It can be used flexibly and selectively according to the English Grammar curriculum being used as well as the difficulties learners are having in English Grammar.

Unit 1

know about----How long..? and When..? Since and For----of English Grammar.

Compare How long..? (+present perfect) and When..? (+past simple):

1. When did he start reading English Grammar?

2. He started reading English Grammar two hours ago.

1. How long has he been reading English Grammar?

2. He has been reading English Grammar for two hours/since 2 o’clock.

We use since and for to say how long something has been happening.

We use for when we say a period of time (three hours, seven weeks etc.).

And we use since when we say the start of a period (7 o’clock, Sunday etc.).

Unit 2

Know about----Past and present perfect (I have gone and I went) ----of English Grammar.

The present perfect is a present tense. Always it tells us something about now. “Jony has lost his pen” = Jony doesn’t have is pen now.

The past simple always tells us only about the past. If someone says “jony lost his pen”, we don’t know whether he has it now or not. We only know that he lost the pen at some time in the past.

As appropriate English Grammar don’t use the present perfect if there is no connection with the present (for example, things that happened a long time ago):

· The English invented cricket. (not have invented)

Unit 3

Know about----Past perfect (I had gone) ----of English Grammar.

Sometimes we talk about something that happened in the past:

· Karan came to the school.

This is the starting point. Then, if we want to talk about something that happened before this time, we use the past perfect (had..).

· When Karan came to the school, I had already gone to the playground.

Had gone (past perfect) is the past of have gone (present perfect).

Unit 4

Know about----Used to----of English Grammar.

Let’s see the example situation:

Jony stopped reading English Grammar three years ago. He doesn’t read English Grammar any more.

But he used to read English Grammar.

“He used to read English Grammar” = he read English Grammar regularly for some time in the past, but he doesn’t read now.

Something used to happen = something happened regularly in the past but no longer happens:

· I used to go abroad a lot but I don’t go very often now.

· She used to travel a lot. These days she doesn’t go away very often.

Don’t confuse I used to do and I am used to doing. The structures and meanings are different:

I used to smoke = I smoked in the past but I no longer smoke.

I am used to smoking = I smoke and I don’t find it strange or new because I have been smoking for sometime.

Unit 5

Know about----Present continuous tense (I am going) for the future----of English Grammar.

Present continuous (I am going) with a future meaning

Let’s see this example situation

Jony has decided that he is going to do these things below:

· He is playing cricket on Sunday morning

· He is having breakfast with Monir on Monday

· He is going teach English Grammar on Sunday.

In all these examples, Jony has already decided and arranged to do these things.

It means we can use the present continuous to say what we have already arranged to do. Don’t use the present simple.

One more example:

What are you doing on Sunday morning? (not ‘what do you do)

Unit 6

Know about----When I go----of English Grammar.

Let’s see these examples:

1. What time will you meet me tomorrow?

2. I’ll meet you when I get home from work.

The second sentence is a sentence with two parts:

The main part: “I will meet you”

The when part: “when I get home from work (tomorrow)”

The time in the sentence is future, but we use a present tense (get) in the when part of the sentence.

Don’t use will in the when part of the sentence:

· I will go to English Grammar class when it stops raining. (not “when it will stop”)

· When you are in London again, you must phone me.

The same things happens after: while, before, after, as soon as, until or till.

· I am going to buy a English Grammar book while I’m on holiday. (not “while I will be”)

Unit 7

Know about----Can, could and be able to----of English Grammar.

Can has only two forms, can (present) and could (past). So sometimes it is necessary to use (be) able to.

Examples:

· I can’t write.

· But - I haven’t been able to write recently. (can has no present perfect)

· Parul can go tomorrow.

· But- parul might be able to go tomorrow. (can has no infinitive)

Could do and could have done

Compare could (do) and could have (done):

· I’m so tired. I could sleep for a week. (now)

· I was so tired. I could have slept for a week. (past)

According to English Grammar, most often, we use could have (done) for things which were possible but did not happen:

· The situation was bad but it could have been worse.

Unit 8

Know about----May and might----of English Grammar.

Usually it doesn’t matter whether you use may or might. So you can say:

· He may go to England. Or he might go to England.

· She may be able to go with you to English Grammar class. Or she might be able to go with you to English Grammar class.

But we use only might (not may) when the situation is not real:

· If I new him better, I might invite him to lunch. (not “may invite him”)

The situation here is not real because I don’t know him very well, so I’m not going to invite them. May is not possible in this example.

Unit 9

Know about----Must and have to----of English Grammar.

We use must and have to to say that it is necessary to do something. But there is a difference between must and have to and sometimes this is important:

Must

Must is personal. We use must when we give our personal feelings.

“You must know English Grammar” = ‘I (the speaker) say it is necessary’:

· She is a really nice girl. You must see her.

· Jony hasn’t phoned me for ages. I must phone him tonight.

Have to

Have to impersonal. We use have to for facts, not for our personal feelings.

‘You have to do something’ because of a rule or the situation:

· We can’t turn right here. We have to turn left. (because of the traffic system)

· She can’t come out with me this evening. She has to work.

Unit 10

Know about----Needn’t do and needn’t have done----of English Grammar.

Compare need not do and need not have done:

· That shirt isn’t dirty. You need not wash it. (This time you know that it is necessary to wash it)

· Why did you wash that shirt? It wasn’t dirty. You needn’t have washed it. (you washed the shirt but this was not necessary. You didn’t know this when you washed it.)

Didn’t need to (do) and needn’t have (done)

I didn’t need to…=it was not necessary for me to… (and I knew this at the time):

· I didn’t need to get up early, so I didn’t.

I needn’t have done something…=I did something but now I know that it was not necessary:

· I got up very early because I had to get ready to go English Grammar class. But in fact it didn’t take me long to get ready. So, I needn’t have got up so early. I could have stayed in bed longer.

Unit 11

Know about----Had better----of English Grammar.

I had better go = it is advisable to go. If I don’t, there will be a problem or a danger:

· I have to meet Rony in 5 minutes. I had better go now or I will be late.

· Shall I take an umbrella? Yes, you had better. It might rain.

The negative is I had better not:

· Are you going out tonight? I had better not. I have got a lot of work to do.

You can use had better when you warn somebody that they must do something:

· You had better know English Grammar very well. (or I will be very angry)

Unit 12

Know about----If I do… and if I did----of English Grammar.

Compare these examples:

1. Ann has lost her watch. She thinks it may be at Salma’s house.

· Ann: I think I left my watch at your house. Have you seen it?

· Salma: No, but I’ll have a book when I get home. If I find it, I’ll tell you.

In this example, Salma feels there is a real possibility that she will find the watch. So she says: If I find…, I’ll…

2. Salma says: If I found a English Grammar book in the street, I would take it to the library.

This is a different type of situation. Here, Salma is not thinking about a real possibility; she is imagining the situation and doesn’t expect to find a English Grammar book in the street. So she says: if I found…, I would… (not ‘if I find…,I’ll…,).

Unit 13

Know about----If I had known----of English Grammar.

When you are talking about the past, you use if + had… :

· I didn’t see you when you passed me in the street. If I had seen you, of course I would have said hello. (but I didn’t see you)

· I decided to stay at home last night. I would have gone out if I hadn’t been so tired. (but I was tired)

· If he had been looking where he was going, he wouldn’t have walked into the wall. (but he wasn’t looking)

Compare:

· I’m not hungry. If I was hungry, I would eat something. (now)

· I wasn’t hungry. If I had been hungry, I would have eaten something. (past)

Unit 14

Know about----Be supposed to----of English Grammar.

Sometimes it is supposed to… =it is said to….

· Let’s go and see that film. It’s supposed to be very good. (=it is said to be very good)

But sometimes supposed to has a different meaning. ‘Something is supposed to happen’ = it is planned, arranged or expected. Often this is different from what really happens:

· I had better hurry. It’s nearly 7 o’clock and I’m supposed to be meeting Salma at 7.15. (= I have arranged to meet Salma, I said I would meet her)

· You were supposed to go to English Grammar class. Why didn’t you do it?

You are not supposed to do something = it is not allowed or advisable for you to do it:

· You’re not supposed to park your car here. It’s private parking only.

Unit 15

Know about----Would rather----of English Grammar.

After would rather we have to use the infinitive without to:

· Shall we go by train? ‘I would rather go by car’ (not ‘to go’)

The negative is ‘I’d rather not (do something)’:

I’m tired. I’d rather not go out this evening, if you don’t mind.

I would rather you did something

When you want somebody to do something, you can say ‘I’d rather you did something’:

‘Shall I stay here?’ ‘I’d rather you came with us.’

‘Shall I tell them the news?’ ‘No. I’d rather they didn’t know.’

In this structure we use the past (came, did etc.), but the meaning is present or future, not past.

Compare:

· I would rather cook the dinner now.

· But- I would rather you cooked the dinner now. (not ‘I’d rather you cook’)

The negative is ‘I’d rather you didn’t…’:

· I’d rather you didn’t tell anyone what I said about English Grammar.

· ‘Do you mind if I smoke?’ ‘I’d rather you didn’t.

Unit 16

Know about----See somebody do and see somebody doing----of English Grammar.

Let’s see the example situation:

Aman got into his car and drove away. You saw this. You can say:

· I saw Aman get into his car and drive away.

In this structure we use get/drive/do etc. (infinitive without ‘to’)

Somebody did something + I saw this = I saw somebody do something

Note that we use the infinitive without to:

· We saw them go out. (not ‘to go’)

But after a passive (‘they were seen’) etc., we use to:

· They were seen to go out.

Let’s see another example situation:

Yesterday you saw Salma. She was reading English Grammar.

You can say:

· I saw Salma reading English Grammar.

In this structure we use –ing (reading):

Somebody was doing something + I saw this = I saw somebody doing something.

***We collected these English Grammars from Raymond Murphy’s book.