Category: Grammar

Grammar: The Past Perfect Tense

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

What is the Past Perfect Tense and why do we use it?

The past perfect tense is used to talk about an action that happened before another action in the past.

Structure:

had + past participle

The past participle is usually the same as the past tense for regular verbs (e.g., walked, played), but can be different for irregular verbs (e.g., eaten, gone, seen).

“had” stays the same for all subjects (I, you, he, she, etc.).

Why Use the Past Perfect? 🤷‍♂️

It helps show what happened first in the past when there are two past actions.

compare:

Past Simple only:
 I left when he came.
(Not clear which happened first.)

Past Perfect + Past Simple:
 I had left when he came.
(Now it’s clear: I left before he came.)

Here Are Some Common Words with Past Perfect: before, after, when, already, just, never

Example One:

She had finished her homework before she ate dinner.
– First she finished her homework, then she ate dinner.

Example Two:

By the time I arrived at the station, my train had already left.
– First the train left the station, then I arrived at the station (late) 😢

Test yourself: Quiz time

1.By the time we arrived at the theater, the movie _____. 🍿

A. started
B. was starting
C. had started
D. has started

2. She was tired because she _____ all night. 🥱

A. worked
B. had worked
C. has worked
D. works

3. After he _____ lunch, he went out for a walk. 🚶

A. had eaten
B. was eating
C. eats
D. ate

4. They _____ the bus before we got to the stop. 🚏 🚍

A. had missed
B. miss
C. missed
D. were missing

5. I didn’t want to watch the movie again because I _____ it already. 🚫 📽️

A. see
B. was seeing
C. had seen
D. have seen

Answers: 1) C. had started 2) B. had worked 3) A. had eaten 4) A. had missed 5) C. had seen

Share this:

Parts of Speech in Grammar

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

Word class, also known as parts of speech, just means the type of word (noun, verb, adjective, etc.). Some words represent things, others represent actions, and some are just for description. It’s important to know parts of speech in grammar because different word classes have different rules.

  • Noun—represents people, places, things, and concepts
  • Verb—represents actions
  • Adjective—describes nouns
  • Adverb—describes verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
  • Pronoun—represents other nouns to save time
  • Auxiliary verb (helper verb)—a special type of verb used in supportive roles like conjugation
  • Preposition—shows relationships of direction, time, location, and space
  • Determiner—identifies characteristics of a noun and is necessary in certain grammar situations
  • Conjunction—joins together other words, phrases, or clauses
  • Interjection—expresses sudden feelings to mimic speech in writing (used informally)

Example: Wow, he has quickly grown into a beautiful and healthy cat!

InterjectionWow,
Pronounhe
Auxiliary verbhas
Adverbquickly
Verbgrown
Prepositioninto
Determinera
Adjectivebeautiful
Conjunctionand
Adjectivehealthy
Nouncat!

Source – https://www.grammarly.com/blog/test-grammar-prep/

Share this:

Conjunctions: Coordinating Conjunctions

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

A coordinating conjunction is a word that joins two elements of equal grammatical rank and syntactic importance. They can join two verbs, two nouns, two adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses. The seven coordinating conjunctions are for, and, nor, but, or, yet, and so.

The best way to remember the seven coordination conjunctions is by using the acronym FANBOYS:

F = for

A = and

N = nor

B = but

O = or

Y = yet

S = so

from grammarly

Let’s watch the video to learn how to make sentences using FANBOYS and the correct punctuation.

[qsm quiz=9]

Share this:

The Order of Adjectives

US Adult Literacy2 Comments

When we use more than one adjective to describe a noun, we normally have to follow a specific order. Remember the order as NOSASCOMP or DOSASCOMP, Number-Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Origin-Material-Purpose or Determiner-Opinion-Size-Age-Shape-Color-Origin-Material-Purpose.

1. Number or Determiner: Articles and other limiters (e.g., a, your, the, five, her).

2. Opinion: Describes what is thought about the noun (e.g., pretty, expensive, delicious).

3. Size: Describes how big or small the noun is (e.g., small, big, tiny, enormous).

4. Age: Describes how young or old the noun is (e.g., young, old, ancient, new).

5. Shape: Describes what shape the noun is (e.g., round, square, flat).

6. Color: Describes what color the noun is (e.g., blue, pinkish, green).

7. Material: Describes what the noun is made of (e.g., wood, cotton, silver, metal).

8. Origin: Describes where the noun is from (e.g., American, eastern, lunar).

9. Purpose: Describes what the noun is used for or what it does (e.g., racing [as in racing car], sleeping [as in sleeping bag]).

from. Scribendi

Please watch the two videos below to learn more.

Test your knowledge of the order of adjectives with a quiz below!

Read More »
Share this:

Grammar Lesson: Phrasal Verbs

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

What are they?

Phrasal verbs are verbs that contain multiple words.

Like regular verbs, there are thousands, but you can find an extensive list below.

https://www.gingersoftware.com/content/grammar-rules/verbs/list-of-phrasal-verbs/

Now that you’ve seen plenty of examples, it’s time to learn how they can and can’t be used. The video below is very helpful.

Ready to test what you have learned? Try our quiz below.

Read More »
Share this:

Possessive Apostrophe

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

The general rule for forming possessives

The general rule is that the possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and s, whether the singular noun ends in s or not.

Ex) a week’s vacation

Texas’s oil industry

The possessive of a plural noun is formed by adding only an apostrophe when the noun ends in s, and by adding both an apostrophe and s when it ends in a letter other than s.

Ex) the twins’ parents

the alumni’s fundraising

from The Punctuation Guide

Test your knowledge of the possessive apostrophe with a quiz below!

Read More »
Share this:

Grammar Lesson on Reported Speech

US Adult LiteracyLeave a comment

Reported Speech

Today’s lesson is on Reported Speech. 

Have you ever needed to tell a friend or coworker about something that someone said to you or someone else?

This is how to do it. 

We also use reported speech to talk about things said in a movie, book, and other texts. 

Rules:

Reported speech is formed by removing any directly spoken words (in quotation marks) and stating the message as news.

Change verbs in the simple present to the simple past.

Example:

“Can you pass the salt?” she asked him.

Reported speech: She asked him to pass the salt.

If the sentence contains “don’t” then re-write it with “not” and add “to.”

“Don’t arrive late,” the teacher told the students.

Reported speech: The teacher told the students not to arrive late.

[qsm quiz=1]

QUIZ

Change each sentence to reported speech.

1. “The class is on Fridays,” I told him.

2. “Don’t go home,” she said.

3. “What’s your name?” he asked me.

Try our quiz below.

Read More »
Share this: