Subject-Verb Agreement

What does "subject verb agreement" mean?

It means: don't forget about the third person singular and just about everyone makes mistakes with this in writing.

There are a few things to remember that will help you to avoid (or fix) mistakes...

The verb “to be” has a few different forms to remember:

I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are

I was, you were, he/she/it was, we were, they were

Therefore, we will say…

•  John and his family were at the park.
• Everybody is happy at the party.

In addition, in the present simple form, we have to remember that little “S” when our subject is he, she, or it.

That's easy, right?

• I write, you write, but she WRITES
• We go, they go, but he GOES

• But what about subjects like EVERBODY (works), the INFORMATION (tells) or POLICE (work)? (that's kind of difficult to remember!)
• ...or when we have an adjective clause such as “the teacher who works in the city”? (confusing!)
• ...or when our subject is a whole phrase with multiple nouns? The group of women often plays soccer together. (oh no!)

Yes… that’s where the problems occur.  But confusion here is normal.

For more information on subject-verb agreement, check out these resources:

Rules of subject-verb agreement
(Please Note: there are three quizzes at the bottom of the above-linked page, but Quiz #1 may not be working)

Common subject verb agreement errors- and practice

And here are some good internet practice activities from some great internet sites: 

Practice 1 (For this one, you'll need to write your answers on a piece of paper)
Practice 2
Practice 3
Practice 4

These are also good exercises, but you will have to print them first… (Good to bring to a tutor or use to study with classmates!)

Worksheet 1
Worksheet 2
Worksheet 3

And, if you want to try some challenging exercises, these are also great!

Practice 7
Practice 8
Practice 9
Practice 10
Practice 11
 Practice 12
 Practice 13
 Practice 14

Present Simple and Present Continuous

Those are easy, right?

Although these are often the first verb forms we learn when we begin to study English, they do present a few challenges, and students of all levels make mistakes with these.

What do you remember about the present simple?

Click below for a clear list of rules and other information:

• PRESENT SIMPLE RULES

What about the present continuous? (*This is also called the "present progressive")

Click below for a clear list of rules and other information:

• PRESENT CONTINUOUS RULES

Here is a movie that explains both:

• PRESENT VERBS VIDEO PRESENTATION

Don't forget about the "non-continuous" verbs! Those are important too!
(*These are also called "non-action verbs" or "stative verbs")

Click below to view a list of these verbs.

• LIST OF NON-CONTINUOUS VERBS

There are also some challenging verbs that can be "normal" as well as non-continuous, depending on the situation...

Look a the examples on the bottom half of these pages for more information about these....

• TRICKY VERBS INFO 1
• TRICKY VERBS INFO 2

Now, for some practice with present simple and present continuous...

• THIRD PERSON SINGULAR PRACTICE
• PRACTICE 2
• PRACTICE 3
• PRACTICE 4
• PRACTICE 5
• PRACTICE 6
• PRACTICE 7 (A FAVORITE!)

Articles, Part 1 (A and AN: The Indefinite Articles)

A, An, and The:

Little words that we use everywhere...

But they are quite complex to figure out!

Many languages don’t have them, which makes them especially challenging for learners.

And many other languages do have articles, but they don’t follow the same rules.

And, on top of all that, articles are hard to “pick up” in spoken English because they are often pronounced weakly and hard to hear.

First- these are two terms that you should know:

1) A and AN are called “indefinite articles” in grammar books
2) THE is called a “definite article” in grammar books

*This post will focus on A and AN, the indefinite articles*

What is the difference between A and An?

• A is used before a consonant sound (a hamburger, a dog, a successful student, a very good apple)
• AN is used before a vowel sound (an egg, an unusual book, an awful headache)

* BUT... be careful of words that start with H or U! Remember...

• A hotel, A hamburger, a happy child (we hear the H sound, so we use “A”) BUT
• AN hour, AN hourly wage (the H is silent, so we use “AN”)
• AN umbrella, AN unusual man, AN unhappy person (the U makes a short, vowel sound, so we use AN) BUT
• A university, A useful computer program, A united group (the U makes a long sound…and we hear more of a Y sound at the beginning, so we use A)

To practice with A and AN, try these exercises:

• Practice 1
• Practice 2
• Practice 3
• Practice 4

 

 

Present Perfect

The present perfect is NOT perfect. It can be difficult and complicated, but is a VERY important verb form in both spoken and written English.

Grammar books (and teachers) often disagree on how to best teach this form; however, I think the best way to learn it is to study these three rules and gets LOTS of practice

Click here to view my RULES document with examples and explanations

And now, to get some basic practice with FORM for the present perfect, try these web sites:

Practice 1
Practice 2
Practice 3
Practice 4

Now, you can try these web sites to practice with the present perfect and past simple together (these are a bit harder but great practice!)

These first few exercises are fairly easy, but a great place to start for review:
Practice 5
Practice 6
Practice 7
These exercises are a bit more challenging!
Practice 8
Practice 9
Practice 10
Practice 11
Practice 12
Practice 13
Practice 14
Practice 15

Do you like music? Have you heard any songs lately that use the present perfect? We use it a lot!  Here are links to a few that I like:

Rod Stewart: Have I Told You Lately? (live)
Click here to view the lyrics to this song.

Rod Stewart (again!): Have You Ever Seen the Rain?
Click here to view the lyrics.

U2: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. (Live in Italy!) (Oh, I like this one a lot!)
Click here to view the lyrics.

Prepositions

Prepositions, those tricky little words like "in," "on," and "at," that give all English learners some trouble, are among the most challenging aspects of our language to master.

How well do you know your prepositions?

Start be CLICKING HERE for an easy "usingenglish.com" quiz!

Next, CLICK HERE to view a list of English prepositions and some rules.


For more good practice quizzes, click the links below:

Quiz 1

Quiz 2


For more information about the rules, (how many did you already know? how many are new for you?) click below:

Comprehensive preposition rules

Rules for ON, IN, AT


The sites below include a number of other good practice activities:

Better English.com practice

Practice site 2


Finally, prepositions are made even more complicated by the fact that they are an essential part of phrasal verbs and many idioms and collocations.  Click the links below to learn more and practice with these:

Prepositions and phrasal verbs practice


Time prepositions, in idioms, etc.


Prepositions in expressions

Best OF luck TO you WITH your preposition practice!

Transition Words

Transition words, also known as “conjunctive adverbs,” are excellent additions to a writer's toolbox.  INDEED, they are especially useful for improving the clarity and quality of a piece of writing.

These words and phrases allow us to connect ideas (mainly in formal, written English) in a variety of ways.  FOR EXAMPLE, we might use them to add information, contrast ideas, or inform the reader of time relationships between events.  IN ADDITION, transition words can be used to introduce a summary of ideas and connect clauses that show cause and effect. There are so many possible ways to use them!

Transition words are particularly important in written communication. HOWEVER, if they are used incorrectly, they can do more harm than good.  THEREFORE, let’s get some practice and make sure we know how to use them…

Some Transition Word Videos:

• Adding information (Engvid)
• Cause and effect (Engvid)
• However(LearnAmericanEnglish Online)
• Nevertheless (Learn AmericanEnglishOnline)

Additional information: 

• All About Transition Words (Grammarly)

For Practice:

• Here is a useful Quizlet page to review these words (*Note- this also includes some coordinating and subordinate conjunctions)
  
• Practice from "to Learn English" (Multiple choice activity)
  
• Another Practice from "to Learn English" (Multiple choice activity)
• 4 Linking word practice exercises from "Flo Joe"
• Chart and printable exercises, from MDC.EDU
  
• Practice using a variety of connecting words in writing (English Hints)
  

 

 

Adjective Clauses, Part 1

An adjective clause (also called a ”relative clause”) is a group of words that modifies a noun. It is used to link two ideas, to give us more information about a noun in the sentence.

A few things to remember:

1. Adjective clauses begin with a word called a “relative pronoun.” These include: who, whom, which, that, whose (and also where and when).
 
2. Each adjective clause should have a subject (see notes 7 and 8 below), a verb, and express some kind of  idea.
 
3. Apart from the adjective clause, the sentence should also have a main clause with its own subject, verb, and ”complete” idea.

• CORRECT: The scientist who researched DNA in the 1980s made many important discoveries. (modifies “scientist”)

• INCORRECT: The scientist who researched DNA in the 1980s. (the main clause in not complete- has only a subject)

4. An adjective clause is (generally) placed directly after the noun (or noun phrase) it modifies.

• CORRECT: The scientist who researched DNA in the 1980s made many important discoveries. (modifies “scientist”)

• INCORRECT: The scientist made many important discoveries who researched DNA in the 1980s. (OOPS! Does not modify “discoveries”!)

5. Because of rule number 4, adjective clauses sometimes fall at the end of a sentence…

• EXAMPLE: The researcher made many important discoveries that changed the world’s view of human evolution. (OK- this one modifies “discoveries”)

6. Or sometimes the adjective clause will split the main clause and fall in the middle of the sentence. (see “the scientist” example in #7)

7. Sometimes a relative pronoun acts as the subject of the adjective clause…

• EXAMPLE: The scientist who researched DNA in the 1980s made many important discoveries. (who=subject, researched=verb)

8. And sometimes a relative pronoun acts as the object of the adjective clause…

• EXAMPLE: The scientist whom he assisted made many important discoveries about DNA. (he=subject, assisted=verb, whom=object)

9. WHOSE is a possessive relative pronoun.  It is always followed by a noun and can act as either subject or object…

• EXAMPLE: The scientist whose research changed the world’s view of human evolution is recognized around the world. (Her research=subject, changed=verb)

• EXAMPLE: The archaeologist whose program we watched on the History Channel discovered a lost Greek city. (we=subject, watched=verb, his program=object)

Try this exercise to practice with subject and object relative pronouns:

• Exercise 1

Here is one to practice combining sentences with adjective clauses:

• Exercise 2

With this one, you can practice with “who” (subject) and “whom” (object):

• Exercise 3

And here are a few to practice with the relative pronouns who, which, and whose:

• Exercise 4
• Exercise 5
• Exercise 6
• Exercise 7 (also includes "who's," and is not only relative clauses)