Pre Course Grammar Module

Pre-Course Grammar

Module

“[G]rammar provides you with the structure you need in order to organize and put your messages

and ideas across. It is the railway through which your messages will be transported. Without it,

in the same way as a train cannot move without railways, you won’t be able to convey your ideas

to their full extension.”

~ Julio Foppoli

International TEFL Academy

PRE-COURSE GRAMMAR MODULE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Objectives

Parts of Speech Nouns

o Regular and Irregular Plural Nouns

o Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Pronouns

Articles

Adjectives

Adverbs

Prepositions

Verbs

o Infinitives

o Regular and Irregular Verbs

o Gerunds and Present Participles

o Stative and Dynamic Verbs

o Auxiliary Verbs

Verb Tense and Aspect Present Simple

Present Continuous

Past Simple

Past Continuous

Present Perfect

Present Perfect Continuous

Past Perfect

Past Perfect Continuous

Future Simple

Future Continuous

Future Perfect

Future Perfect Continuous

Review Questions

Recommended Grammar books and Online Resources

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Pre-Course Grammar Module Objectives

After finishing this chapter, the reader will be able to...

1. Identify and define different parts of speech, including nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,

articles, pronouns, and prepositions.

2. Differentiate between countable and uncountable nouns.

3. Summarize the differences between indefinite and definite article.

4. Demonstrate how comparative and superlative adjectives.

5. Demonstrate how to form comparative and superlative adverbs.

6. Define prepositions and explain why they are difficult for ESL learners.

7. Define verbs and different verb forms, including infinitive, gerund, present participle, past

participle, stative verbs, dynamic verbs, and auxiliary verbs.

8. Name and demonstrate the usage of the twelve tenses of English.

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Parts of Speech

Parts of speech are word categories such as nouns, pronouns, articles, adjectives, adverbs,

prepositions, verbs, conjunctions and interjections. The first part of this chapter discusses

different parts of speech, while the second part of this chapter focuses on English tenses.

Nouns

Nouns denote a person, place, thing, quality, animal, or idea. Nouns can be divided into proper

nouns that refer to particular individuals and are capitalized, such as Willis Tower, Chicago,

International TEFL Academy, and into common nouns, which are not capitalized and refer to

objects in general, such as tower, city, or academy.

In English, nouns are preceded by articles and adjectives:

a happy student

article adjective noun

Regular and irregular plural nouns - All countable nouns have singular and plural forms. To

make a plural form, we usually need to add –s, for example, one apple becomes two apples;

however, some nouns have irregular plurals, such as man becomes men.

Here is a chart that will help you understand regular and irregular plural forms.

Regular Plural Nouns Irregular Plural Nouns**

-s

songs, books, pencils

man men

woman women

child children

person people

mouse mice

-es (words ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, -z)

messes, brushes, churches, boxes

foot feet

tooth teeth

1 goose 2 geese

-es (some words ending in -o)

potatoes, tomatoes, heroes

1 deer 2 deer

1 fish 2 fish

1 sheep 2 sheep

-ies (most words ending in –y preceded by a consonant)*

baby babies, sky skies

-ves (some words ending in –f or –fe)

knifeknives, half halves

*Note that we do not add –ies to words that end in –y preceded by a vowel, for example, toy

becomes toys; key becomes keys.

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**These are just some examples of irregular plural nouns, for a complete list consult a

comprehensive grammar book.

Countable and uncountable nouns -Nouns can also be divided into countable and uncountable

(or also known as non-count nouns or mass nouns). Countable nouns can be singular or plural

(for example: animal/animals, cat/cats, man/men, child/children); while uncountable nouns

cannot be divided into separate elements (for example: money, furniture, coffee, and love).

ESL/EFL students need to memorize which words are countable and which ones are

uncountable. Some nouns can be both depending on their meaning. For example, “Our house has

four rooms” contains a countable version of room. However, “Is there any room for me?”

includes an uncountable version of room.

The chart below further illustrates the main differences between countable and uncountable

nouns.

Countable Nouns

Uncountable Nouns (non-count nouns)

May be preceded by indefinite article a/an:

a banknote

May not be preceded by indefinite article a/an:

a money (some money or no article)

Take final –s/-es in the plural:

2 banknotes

Have no plural form; do not take a final –s/-es:

moneys

May be followed by a verb in singular or plural

form:

This banknote is green.

These banknotes are green.

Are always followed by a verb in singular

form:

Money is important.

Use the following expressions:

many, a few / few

o How many banknotes do you have?

o I have a few banknotes.

o I have few banknotes left.

Use the following expressions:

much, a little / little

o How much money do you have?

o I have a little money.

o I have little money left.

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Pronouns

Pronouns replace nouns in order to avoid repetition. In the sentence below, she is a pronoun that

replaces the proper noun Lizzy:

Lizzy is a happy girl. She smiles all the time.

The chart below contains personal subject pronouns.

Person Singular Plural

1st I we

2nd

you you

3rd

she/he/it they

Next, the chart below exemplifies other types of pronouns.

Person Subject

Pronoun

Possessive

Adjective

Possessive

Pronoun

Object

Pronoun

Reflexive

Pronoun

First person

singular

I my mine me myself

Second person

singular

you your yours you yourself

Third person

singular

he his his him himself

Third person

singular

she her hers her herself

Third person

singular

it its its it itself

First person

plural

we our ours us ourselves

Second person

plural

you your yours you yourselves

Third person

plural

they their theirs them themselves

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Articles

Articles are types of adjectives that give information about nouns. The English language has two

articles:

the = definite article

a/an = indefinite article

We use the to modify specific or particular nouns, while we use a/an to refer to non-specific or

non-particular nouns.

For example, if we say, "Let's go to the restaurant," we mean a specific restaurant. If we say,

"Let's go to a restaurant," we mean any restaurant rather than a specific one.

However, there are many more rules governing the use of definite and indefinite articles. Read

the chart below for a general overview of these rules.

Indefinite Article: a/an Definite Article: the

Use a before a consonant sound.

a pear, a raincoat, a horse

a university

Use the before both a vowel and a consonant

sound.

the apple, the pear

Use an before a vowel sound.

(a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y in English)

an apple, an umbrella

an hour, an X-Ray image

Use when objects are not specifically

identified.

There is a laptop on the table.

Used when the noun is specific or particular.

There is a laptop on the table. The

laptop has many colorful stickers on it.

Use only with singular countable nouns.

a chair

Used with countable and uncountable nouns.

the chair, the furniture

Some other uses:

Membership in a group

o a teacher, an American citizen

Expressions of quantity

o a number of, a lot of, a couple

Certain numbers and fractions

o a hundred, a thousand

When giving a price

o $2.00 a pound

Some other uses:

When the object is unique

o the earth, the sun, the Statue of

Liberty

Before superlatives

o the best, the most talented

With singular nouns to represent a class

o the Bengal tiger, the stingray

With certain geographical names

o Rivers and oceans: the Nile, the

Atlantic Ocean

o Points on the globe: the South Pole

o Geographical areas: the Middle East

o Certain countries: the United States

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Adjectives

Adjectives are descriptive words that modify nouns. Adjectives usually precede nouns:

This is a cute baby.

There is a beautiful flower.

She is wearing a colorful dress.

Sometimes adjectives may follow a describing verb, or copula, as in the following sentences:

This baby is cute.

This flower is beautiful.

The dress is colorful.

Adjectives have three forms: the base form, a comparative used to compare two items, and a

superlative used to compare three or more items. The chart below shows how to form

comparatives and superlatives.

Base form of

adjective

Comparative Superlative

One syllable small

old

smaller

older

smallest

oldest

Two syllables

ending in -y

happy

pretty

happier

prettier

happiest

prettiest

Two or more

syllables

difficult

beautiful

more difficult

more beautiful

most difficult

most beautiful

Irregular

adjectives

good

bad

better

worse

best

worst

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Adverbs

Adverbs are describing words that usually modify verbs. Adverbs may also modify adjectives,

other adverbs, or the whole sentence:

She walked slowly.

The very old lady walked quite slowly.

Consequently, she missed the bus.

Like adjectives, adverbs have three forms: the base form, a comparative used to compare two

items, and a superlative used to compare three or more items. The chart below shows how to

form comparatives and superlatives.

Base form

of Adjective

Base form of

Adverb

Comparative

Adverb

Superlative

Adverb

Adverbs formed

from adjectives

by adding -ly

slow

beautiful

slowly

beautifully

more slowly

more beautifully

most slowly

most beautifully

Adverbs that

have the same

form as

adjectives

hard

fast

hard

fast

harder

faster

hardest

fastest

Irregular

adverbs

good

bad

well

badly

better

worse

best

worst

Prepositions

Prepositions show a relationship between words in a sentence. Prepositions of place, such as on,

in, next to, above, and below, describe the spatial relationship between two or more objects.

Prepositions of place are relatively easy to teach; however, difficulty arises when teaching higher

levels as specific words and phrases are followed by certain prepositions. Here are some

examples:

I am on a bus, but I’m in a car.

I’ll see you at 10:00 AM on Monday in 2015.

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There is a mistake in the picture on page 12.

I’m bad at math. (NOT with math)

But I’m bad with children. (NOT at children)

I’m interested in math. (NOT at math)

She accused me of everything. (NOT for)

But she blamed me for everything. (NOT of)

Verbs

Most verbs are action words (sing, watch, run, jump). Sometimes verbs may express the state of

being (be, exist) or occurrence (happen, become).

Infinitives - Base form or bare infinitive is the form of the verb that one can find in a dictionary,

e.g., walk, study, or draw. Sometimes teachers write a verb preceded by the particle to (to walk,

to study, to draw) to indicate that it is an infinitive form of the verb.

Regular and irregular verbs - Verbs can be divided into regular and irregular depending on

how they form the past tense. See the chart below for examples:

Base form /

bare infinitive

Past Simple Past Participle

Regular

verbs

work worked worked

listen listened listened

decide decided decided

study studied studied

Irregular

verbs

be (am, is, are) was/were been

have had had

do did done

eat ate eaten

break broke broken

put put put

Gerunds and present participles - Other forms of verbs include a gerund and a present

participle:

Gerund = verb + -ing that functions as a noun

Present Participle = verb + -ing that functions as a verb

walk walking

read reading

swim swimming

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Compare:

I like reading. (Here like is a verb and reading is a noun.)

Reading is my favorite leisure activity. (Here reading is a noun.)

I am reading now. (Here reading functions as a verb.)

I have been reading for the past three hours. (Here reading functions as a verb.)

Verbs followed by gerunds and infinitives. Certain verbs in English are always followed by

infinitives, while other verbs are followed by gerunds. Look at the examples below:

Infinitives vs. Gerunds

Verbs followed by infinitives Verbs followed by gerunds

want: I want to eat. enjoy: I enjoy eating.

decide: He decided to dance. practice: He practiced dancing.

choose: I chose to go home. mind: I don’t mind going home.

agree: She agreed to dance with me. resume: We resumed dancing.

Some verbs can be followed by either gerund or infinitive, such as like, start, or begin.

I like to read books. / I like reading books.

We began to study. / We began studying.

It started to rain. / It started raining.

Stative and dynamic verbs - Stative verbs (or non-continuous verbs) are verbs that cannot be

converted to a present participle, e.g., you cannot add an –ing ending. These verbs are things you

cannot see someone doing such as emotion verbs (e.g., like, love, hate), abstract verbs (e.g.,

want, need, be), and possession verbs (e.g., possess, own, belong).

I want some fruit now.

I’m wanting some fruit now. (incorrect)

She needs your help now.

She’s needing your help now. (incorrect)

Dynamic verbs Stative verbs Mixed verbs

Dynamic verbs express an

action or a process:

wash, watch, walk, sit, talk

Opinion verbs:

know, recognize

Possessive verbs:

own, belong

Emotion verbs:

like, love, need, hate

Sensory verbs:

taste, smell, see

Some verbs can be either

dynamic or stative depending

on its meaning, e.g., have

I have a car. (have=own)

I am having fun.

(have=experiencing)

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Auxiliary verbs - Auxiliary verbs are helping verbs as they “help” the main verb express the

tense of the sentence. Auxiliary verbs do not carry semantic meaning. Examples of auxiliary

verbs include be, do, have, and will.

She is teaching. (Here the verb is is helping the main verb teaching, so is is an auxiliary

verb.)

She is a teacher. (Here the verb is carries sematic meaning, so it is the main verb and not

an auxiliary verb.)

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Verb Tense and Aspect

Usually when we think about tenses, we think of three basic categories: the past, the present and

the future. English also has two aspects: perfect and progressive. Tense and aspect are often

combined to indicate a specific time reference. Tense and aspect are best understood through

examples that will be presented in the rest of this chapter.

Some languages, however, do not have tenses as we understand them. For example, Mandarin

Chinese uses time expressions, such as yesterday or last week, to indicate time reference. A

translation from Mandarin Chinese might look like “I have pizza for lunch yesterday.” In

English, we have to conjugate the verb (change eat to ate) to express the same thought: “I had

pizza for lunch yesterday.”

Different languages have different number of tenses. English has a total twelve tense and tense-

aspect combinations. This is summarized in the table below:

Simple Continuous* Perfect Perfect

Continuous*

Present Present Simple:

I do my homework

on the weekends.

Present

Continuous:

I am doing my

homework now.

Present Perfect:

I have done my

homework. Here it

is.

Present Perfect

Continuous:

I have been doing

my homework since

6:00 AM this

morning.

Past Past Simple:

I did my

homework

yesterday.

Past Continuous:

I was doing my

homework when

the telephone rang.

Past Perfect:

I had done my

homework before I

went to bed last

night.

Past Perfect

Continuous:

I had been doing

my homework for

three hours before I

submitted it.

Future Future Simple:

If I have time, I

will do my

homework

tomorrow.

Future Continuous:

I will be doing my

homework

tomorrow morning.

Future Perfect:

I will have done

my homework by

11:59 PM next

Sunday.

Future Perfect

Continuous:

I will have been

doing my

homework for five

hours by the time I

finish it.

*Continuous aspect is also known as progressive, for example, present continuous = present

progressive. Similarly, present perfect continuous = present perfect progressive.

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Present Simple

The present simple uses the bare infinitive of the verb, except for the third person singular where

you need to add -s/-es ending:

Subject + VERB (+ s/es in third person singular):

I like apples.

He likes apples.

The present simple can be used to describe specific situations as summarized in the table below:

Present Simple

Description Explanation Examples

Routines To describe repetitive personal actions or habits. I play football on

Sundays.

He always wears a tie

for work.

She is never late.

Does he bike to work

every day?

Generalizations To describe generalizations, facts, and beliefs

that are true over time. Birds fly.

Cows do not fly.

Paris is the capital of

France.

Iron is heavy.

Feathers are light.

Do dogs fly?

Schedules To describe near future events governed by

timetables e.g., bus/train/plane/boat/class

schedules.

The train for Paris

leaves at 8:30pm.

The flight from

Toronto arrives at

11:25 am.

The chemistry class

begins at 9:00am.

Does the bus from

London arrive at

10pm?

At present

(stative verbs

only)

To describe events happening now. I am here now.

Are you warm now?

She does not like

broccoli.

Tom loves ice-cream.

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Present Continuous

The present continuous uses the conjugated form of the verb to be + present participle (bare

infinitive + -ing):

Subject + am/is/are + VERB + -ing:

I am eating a sandwich.

He is eating a sandwich.

The present continuous can be used to describe the following situations:

Present Continuous


At present To describe events happening right now. I am listening to the radio

now.

He is having breakfast.

They are running.

I am cleaning the kitchen

now.

What are you doing?

Actions in

progress

To describe actions that are temporary. I am living in Chicago for the

duration of this course.

I am taking a biology class

this semester.

She is not reading any books

right now.

Near/

immediate

future

To describe near future events. I am leaving in 10 minutes.

She is going out tonight.

Is he flying to Boston today?

Are they coming for dinner

this Saturday?

Repetition

and irritation

To describe annoying actions or habits. She is always teasing him.

He is constantly interrupting

me.

They are always making me

wait.

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Past Simple

The past simple uses the bare infinitive of the verb + -ed or irregular verb form:

Subject + VERB + -ed or irregular form:

I watched TV yesterday.

I went to the theater last Friday.

The past simple can be used to describe the following situations:

Past Simple


Past actions To describe an event that happened in the past. I watched a good

movie yesterday.

She went shopping last

Sunday.

They moved here from

Boston 3 years ago.

Where did you go last

night?

Past habits To describe personal habits that are no longer

true. I studied Spanish in

high school.

She played the guitar

when she was a

teenager.

What sports did you

play when you were a

child?

Longer actions

in the past

To describe actions that took time to complete. She talked to her

friend for two hours

yesterday.

It took me two years to

learn how to play a

guitar.

Did you really spend

seven years in Tibet?

Sequence of

past events

To describe past actions that happened in order.

When I got home I

had dinner and went

to bed.

After he finished

breakfast, he went for

a walk.

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Past Continuous

The past continuous uses the past from of the conjugated verb to be + present participle (bare

infinitive + -ing):

Subject + was/were + VERB + -ing:

I was watching TV.

We were having breakfast.

The past continuous can be used to describe the following situations:

Past Continuous


Interrupted

action in the

past

To describe a longer event that was interrupted

by a shorter action. I was having breakfast

when Tom called.

She was listening to the

radio when the lights

went out.

They were working in

the garden when the

storm started.

What were they doing

when the police arrived?

Specific time as

an interruption

To describe a longer action at a specific time in

the past. At midnight, the kids

were still playing with

the new toy.

Yesterday at 8pm, I was

reading a book in my

bed.

At what time were you

walking your dog

yesterday?

Parallel actions To describe two actions which were happening

at the same time. The kids were setting

the table while I was

making dinner.

What was he doing

while you were

cleaning?

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Repetition and

irritation

To describe irritating or annoying past habits. He was always

whistling. It annoyed

everyone.

She was constantly

complaining about the

rain.

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Present Perfect

The present perfect uses the conjugated form of the auxiliary verb to have + past participle (bare

infinitive + -ed or irregular form):

Subject + have/has + VERB + ed or irregular form:

I have visited Canada several times.

He has been to Paris many times.

The present perfect can be used to describe the following situations:

*To better understand the idea of unspecified time, watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkln8PfE1xE

Present Perfect


Unspecified

time in the past

To describe a past action that happened in

unspecified or unfinished time*.

1. Experience

2. Change over time

3. Achievements

4. Uncompleted action you are expecting

5. The same action repeated at different times

1. Experience:

Have you ever been

to Mexico?

I have never had

sushi before.

He has read that

book many times.

2. Change over time:

She has grown a lot

since the last time I

saw her.

3. Achievements:

I have taught ESL

students before.

4. Uncompleted action:

I have not done my

homework yet.

5. Same action:

They have attacked

this city many times.

Duration of past

action until now

(stative verbs)

To describe actions that have started in the past

and have continued until now. I have been sick for the

last three days.

He has been away for

five years.

I have owned this car

since 2005.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dkln8PfE1xE

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The present perfect continuous uses the conjugated form of the auxiliary verb to have + been +

present participle (bare infinitive plus -ing):

Subject + have/has + been + VERB + -ing:

I have been watching TV for over three hours.

She has been waiting for the last hour.

The present perfect continuous can be used to describe the following situations:



Duration of

action until

now

To describe an action that started in the past and

lasted specific amount of time until now. I have been cleaning

the kitchen for two

hours.

He has been working

on this assignment for

two weeks.

How long have you

been reading this

book?

Recent, late

events

To describe recent events. Recently, I have been

eating too much

chocolate.

She has not been

exercising lately.

What have you been

doing?

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Past Perfect

The past perfect uses the past from of the auxiliary verb to have + past participle (bare infinitive

+ -ed / irregular form):

Subject + had + VERB + -ed or irregular form:

I had lived in Boston before I moved to Chicago.

She had studied Spanish before she moved.

The past perfect can be used to describe the following situations:

Past Perfect


Completed past

action before

another action

To emphasize that an event happened before

another event in the past. They had lived in

Poland before they

moved to the U.S.

She had read the book

before she saw the

screen adaptation.

Duration before

something in

the past (stative

verbs)

To emphasize that an action started in the past

and continued until another past action. Olivia had owned this

car for 5 years before

she sold it.

I had had that

necklace for many

years before it got

stolen.

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The past perfect continuous uses the past from of the auxiliary verb to have + word been +

present participle (bare infinitive plus -ing):

Subject + had + been + VERB + -ing:

I had been living in Boston before I moved to Chicago.

She had been studying Spanish before she moved to Spain.

The past perfect continuous can be used to describe the following situations:



Duration before

another action

in the past

To describe the duration of an event that

happened in the past before another past action. He had been driving

this car for many years

before it broke down

How long had you

been living in Toronto

before you moved?

Reason for

something in

the past

To show cause and effect of actions in the past. I was hungry because I

had been working all

day long.

They failed the test

because they had not

been studying.

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Future Simple

The future simple uses the auxiliary verb will plus + the bare infinitive:

Subject + will + VERB:

I will bring you some water.

Mark will help him tomorrow.

The future simple also uses the form be going to:

Subject + am/is/are going to + VERB:

I am going to get some ice-scream.

It is going to rain tonight.

The future simple can be used to describe the following situations:

Future Simple


Voluntary

actions:

will

To describe the speaker’s willingness to do

something. I will do my

homework by myself.

He will help her

tomorrow.

Will you go out with

me?

Promise:

will

To promise something to someone. I will let you know

when I get there.

I will clean the

bathroom when I have

time.

I will not tell anyone.

Plan:

be going to

To express one’s planned actions. I am going to buy

some wine for dinner.

I am going to be a

doctor when I grow

up.

What are you going to

do with all those

flowers?

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Prediction:

will or

be going to

To express prediction about the future. It is going to rain Or

It will rain.

In ten years’ time, the

climate is going to get

much warmer.

Or In ten years’ time,

the climate will get

much warmer.

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Future Continuous

The future continuous uses the auxiliary verbs will + be + present participle:

Subject + will + be + VERB + -ing:

I will be travelling to Paris when the game starts.

The future continuous also uses the form be going to:

Subject + am/is/are going to + be + VERB + - ing:

I am going to be travelling to Paris when the game starts.

The future continuous can be used to describe the following situations:

Future Continuous


Interrupted

future action:

will or

be going to

To describe that a continuous action in the

future will be interrupted by a short event. I will be doing my

homework when you

come back from work.

I am going to be

sleeping when you

arrive.

Time:

will or

be going to

To describe that a continuous action in the

future will be interrupted by a specific time. At 7 PM, I will be

having dinner.

At noon, they will be

studying at the library.

What are they going

to be doing at 5:30

PM tomorrow

afternoon?

Parallel future

actions:

will or

be going to

To describe two actions that will be happening

at the same time in the future. My sister will be

doing the dishes and I

will be making a

dessert.

While she will be

reading a book, he

will be watching a

game.

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Future Perfect

The future perfect uses the auxiliary verbs will + have + the past participle (bare infinitive +

-ed or irregular form):

Subject + will + have + VERB + -ed or irregular form:

By the time I move to Denver, I will have lived in San Diego for ten years.

The future perfect also uses a form be going to:

Subject + am/is/are going to + have + VERB + -ed or irregular form:

By the time I move to Denver, I am going to have lived in San Diego for ten years.

The future perfect can be used to describe the following situations:

Future Perfect


Completed

future action

before another

one

To describe an event that will happened in the

future before another future action. By the time you are

50, you will have

learned from your

mistakes.

You are going to have

saved some money by

the time you buy such

expensive car.

By the time I finish my

workout, I will have

burned 500 calories.

Duration of

future action

until another

one

To highlight that an action will continue until

another future action. By Sunday, Tom will

have had my tennis

rackets for nearly two

weeks.

I will have learned a

thousand words by the

time my French course

finishes.

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The future perfect continuous uses the auxiliary verbs will + have + been + the present participle

(bare infinitive + -ing):

Subject + will + have + been + VERB + ing:

I will have been learning Spanish for two years by the time I arrive to Madrid next year.

The future perfect continuous also uses the form be going to:

Subject + am/is/are going to + have + VERB + -ed or irregular form:

I am going to have been learning Spanish for two years by the time I arrive to Madrid next year.

The future perfect continuous can be used to describe the following situations:



Duration of

future action

until another

one

To highlight the duration of the action until

another future action. You will have been

driving for over five

hours by the time you

reach Vermont

tomorrow.

They are going to

have been shopping for two hours by the

time the store closes

tonight.

Reason for

something in

the future

To highlight the cause and effect of future

actions. Tom will be tired by

the time he gets home

because he will have

been driving for over

five hours.

They will win all the

games when they go

to the World Cup

because they are

going to have been

practicing for over

four years.

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Review Questions

1. What is a noun? How do we form plural form?

2. What are some differences between countable and uncountable nouns?

3. Name all the personal pronouns.

4. What is the difference between possessive adjectives and possessive pronouns? Form a few

sentences to illustrate the difference.

5. What part of speech adjectives modify? How do we form comparative and superlative

adjectives?

6. What parts of speech adverbs modify? How do we form comparative and superlative

adverbs?

7. When do we use indefinite and definite article? Name five different rules and give examples.

8. What are prepositions? Why are they difficult for ESL/EFL learners?

9. Define the following terms:

verb

infinitive

gerund

present participle

past participle

auxiliary verb

10. What are regular and irregular verbs?

11. Name a few stative verbs. How do we use them?

12. Explain the main difference between the present simple and present progressive.

13. Explain the main difference between the past simple and present perfect.

14. Explain the main difference between the past simple and past progressive. Can we use both

of these tenses in one sentence?

15. When do we use past perfect?

16. Which two present tenses can be used to talk about the future? In what situations do we use

them?

17. Give a few examples of future simple tense. When do we use this tense?

18. What is the difference between the future progressive and future perfect? Give a few

examples of sentences.

19. Articles are one of the hardest grammar points to master for the vast majority of ESL/EFL

students. Consult your grammar book and/or online resources and search for more rules

about definite and indefinite article.

20. Which tense/aspect is the hardest for you? Consult your grammar book and/or online

resources and search for more explanations and examples of sentences in this tense.

27

Recommended grammar books and online resources

American English grammar:

Understanding and Using English Grammar (with Answer Key and Audio CDs) by Betty

Azar

British English grammar:

English Grammar in Use with Answers and CD-ROM by Raymond Murphy

A Practical English Grammar by Audrey Thomson and Agnes Martinet

Practical English Usage by Michael Swan

Tenses

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

Articles

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/

Guide to Grammar and Writing

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.htm

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/verbtenseintro.html

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/540/01/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/index2.htm

Documents

Pre Course Grammar Module