English Grammar

Introduction

Around 10 years ago, during my secondary school years, I noticed a lack of emphasis on English grammar in the school syllabus. With the internet not being as easily accessible as it is today, I was fortunate enough to stumble a book called "English For Malaysians".

I am still grateful to have found this resource, and I highly recommend it to any Malaysian who wants to improve his understanding on English grammar.

Articles

"The" is called the definite article because it points to a definite or particular person, thing or place.

E.g. I went to Paris and climbed the Eiffel Tower, The computers in this office are all too slow.

"A" or "An" is called the indefinite article. It refers to any one person or thing.

Singular countable nouns must always have an article before them.

E.g. a cat or the cat.

Use "a" before a word beginning with a consonant or the sound of a consonant.

E.g. a problem (NOT an problem), a tear (NOT an tear), a university (NOT an university), a one-day holiday (NOT an one-day holiday).

Use "an" before a word beginning with a vowel or the sound of a vowel.

E.g. an apple (NOT a apple), an hour (NOT a hour).

It is incorrect to modify uncountable noun with "a", "each", "every", "either" or "neither".

E.g. Do you have knowledge (NOT a knowledge) of Greek?

Noun

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea. It can be classified as either countable or uncountable.

Examples of countable nouns: cat, dog, book, chair and table.
Examples of uncountable nouns: water, air, sand, love and happiness.

Countable nouns should be added with "s" when is in plural forms. E.g. writing many books (NOT book), one of the factors (NOT factor), a few days (NOT day) ago.

Adding "es" to nouns that is ending in a hissing sound, that is ending in -x, -sh, -s. E.g. branches, boxes, buses, dishes, glasses, watches, wishes.
Adding "es" to nouns ending in -o. E.g. potatoes, tomatoes, mosquitoes.

There are exceptions to this rule. E.g. pianos, shampoos, bamboos, photos, scenarios.

Changing -y after a consonant into "ies". E.g. armies, babies, beauties, cities, duties, ladies, spies, stories, theories.
Adding "s" to -y after a vowel (a, e, i, o, u). E.g. boys, days, plays, keys, toys, ways, guys.
Changing -f or -fe into "ves". E.g. calves, halves, knives, leaves, lives, thieves, wives.

There are exceptions to this rule. E.g. beliefs, chiefs, cliffs, dwarfs, proofs, staffs.

Changing the inside vowel. E.g. feet, fungi, geese, men, lice, mice, teeth.
Some words take "en" or "ren". E.g. children, oxen.

Uncountable nouns cannot be pluralised.

E.g. many jewels or jewellery (but NOT jewelleries), advice, baggage, furniture, information, music, scenery.

Capitalize the first word of a sentence or proper noun (special name of a particular person, place, etc.).

E.g. Selangor (NOT selangor), Lake Michigan (NOT lake michigan).

The noun immediately following "between" should be plural.

E.g. between the students (NOT student).

Number Agreement

A noun and the words that modify that noun must agree in number.

E.g. this book but these books, five boys (NOT boy).

Many and few modify plural countable nouns. Much and less modify nouns that cannot be counted or divided.

E.g. many books (for countable) but much stamina (for uncountable)

Verbs and Tenses

A verb is a word that describes an action or a state or being. Verbs can be classified as either regular or irregular.

Examples of regular verbs

walk, walked, walked
talk, talked, talked
paly, played, played

Examples of irregular verbs

go, went, gone
see, saw, seen
make, made, made

The tense of a verb refers to the various forms a verb takes to express the distinctions of time when an action occurred.

Simple present tense is used to show a habitual action, to state a general truth, to express thoughts and feelings and to show planned action or schedules.

E.g. she always sings in the shower, the sun rises in the east, the English paper starts at 9.00 a.m.

Use the correct agreement between the noun and the verb, especially in the present tense. Either, neither, everyone, everybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody, each and every are followed by a verb in the singular.

With verbs ending with "-sh", "-ch", "-o", "-ss","-x" and "-z", "-es" is added to the verb for singular noun.
E.g. Tom likes (NOT like), they eat (NOT eats), everyone has (NOT have), he is (NOT are), they are (NOT is), I am (NOT is), I eat (NOT eats), you are (NOT is), he goes (NOT go), she does not play (NOT do not play), You and I are (NOT am), we drink (NOT drinks), every day (NOT days).

Simple past tense is used to show a completed action in the past (with a definite past time), to show a habitual past action and when using indirect or reported speech.

E.g. we went to the football match yesterday, Tom washed his car on last Tuesday, Peter shaved off his beard yesterday.

Most verbs in the past simple do not change with the subject.

E.g. he watched or we watched.

Simple future tense is used to show a future action.

E.g. we will start our trip tomorrow, I will take my umbrella.

"Going to" (the main verb is in base form) for future plans and make predictions when there is evidence in the present moment.

E.g. I am going to buy a new car, we are going to cook dinner tonight, it is going to rain soon.

Perfect tense is often used to show an action that just completed or to show an action that is began in the past and is continuing up to the present/past.

E.g. we have lived in Selangor since 1991, John has just washed the dishes.

Use the past participle form of the verb (usually -ed, -t, -en) after the auxiliary has/have/had/having.

E.g. I have worked (NOT work) here for six years.

Also use the past participle with the passive voice.

E.g. the lesson was taught well, the book is studied by many people, new house are being built in the area.

Continuous tense (present, past, future) is often used to explain an action that is happening over a period of time.

E.g. he is now studying for tomorrow examination, they are fighting with each other, Harry is always lying to his mother, my mother is baking us a cake, he was working late.

Use the base verb + ing for continuous tenses.

E.g. we are playing.

Mind on irregular verbs. For examples,

Begin, began, begun.
Break, broke, broken.
Choose, chose, chosen.
Do, did, done.
Drive, drove, driven.
Eat, ate, eaten.
Give, gave, given.
Go, went gone.
Grow, grew, grown.
Forget, forgot, forgotten.
Lose, lost, lost.
Put, put, put.
Say, said, said.
See, saw, seen.
Sing, sang sung.
Swim, swam, swum.
Take, took, taken.
Write, wrote, written.

Modal Verbs

Modal verbs are used to talk about a variety of things, particularly possibilities, obligations and deductions.

Ability - can or cannot, could or could not (for past abilities).

E.g. I cannot climb threes now, but I could when I was younger.

Asking permission or request and making offers - can, could, may.

E.g. can I have some popcorn, may I make an appointment.

To offer suggestions and advice - should, ought to

E.g. you should not drink alcohol today.

Talking about obligations - have to, must or must not.

E.g. you do not have to come again, you must not use a calculator during this exam.

Talking about possibility - might

E.g. she might have a cold, we might be lost.

Use the base verb after the auxiliary do/does/did, the modals will/would, can/could, shall/should, may/might, must, and infinitive to.

E.g. can eat, to study, does not make.

Adjectives

An adjective is a word that describes a noun.

The usual order of adjectives is

Demonstrative, possessive or quantitative (e.g. this, her, several)
Sense-perception, qualitative (e.g. attractive, expensive)
Physical description (size, shape, age, colour)
Classification (origin, material, qualifier)

May form the comparative and superlative using "-er" and "-est" OR "more" and "most".

For most one-syllable adjectives and adjectives ending in a consonant preceded by a single vowel, simply double the final consonant before adding "-er" or "-est".

Big, bigger, biggest.
Hot, hotter, hottest.
Thin, thinner, thinnest.

For adjectives ending in "e", drop the silent "e" before adding "-er" or "-est".

Nice, nicer, nicest.
Large, larger, largest.

For adjectives ending in "y" preceded by a consonant, change the "y" to "i" before adding "-er" or "-est".

Funny, funnier, funniest.
Happy, happier, happiest.
Pretty, prettier, prettiest.

For adjectives with two or more syllables, use "more" and "most" before the adjective for comparison.

Intelligent, more intelligent, most intelligent.
Beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.

Irregular adjectives

Good, better, best.
Bad, worse, worst.
Far, further, furthest.

Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb. It can be classified as

Manner - quickly, slowly, carefully, quietly
Place - here, there, above, below
Time - now, then, soon, later
Frequency - often, sometimes, rarely, never
Degree - very, quite, somewhat, hardly

Adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding -ly.

E.g. he speaks loudly (NOT loud).

Prepositions

A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in a sentence.

Simple prepositions - in, on, at, to, from
Compound prepositions - in front of, behind, next to

Redundant prepositions.

E.g. demand (NOT demand for), emphasize (NOT emphasize on), return (NOT return back), discuss (NOT discuss about), raised (NOT raised up), requested (NOT requested for), voiced (NOT voiced out), repeat the question (NOT repeat the question again).

Wrong prepositions.

E.g. is married to (NOT with), in December (NOT on), full of (NOT with), in my opinion (NOT on), came at 8 o'clock (NOT in), among the ten children (NOT between).

Omitted Prepositions.

E.g. meet (with) an accident, reply (to) a letter, dispose (of) his old car.

Conjunction

Some words work together in pairs, such as "both/and", "either/or" and "neither/nor". It is incorrect to interchange the parts of these different pairs.

When the subjects joined by "or" or "nor", are in different persons, the verb agrees in person with the subject nearest to it.

E.g. Either you or I am (NOT are).

Apostrophes

Omission of apostrophe when necessary.

E.g. Aini's brother (NOT Aini brother), it's (NOT its) a long way to the station.

Putting the apostrophes wrongly for plural words.

E.g. ladies' shoes (NOT ladies's), many companies (NOT company's).

Should not use apostrophes to non-living objects.

E.g. piano legs (NOT piano's legs).

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