Category: Grammar

Grammar Lesson on Reported Speech

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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.

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Subject-Verb Agreement

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Singular subjects take singular verbs and plural subjects take plural verbs.

Here are some common errors:

1. There are two or more subjects, so you think the verb needs to be plural.

2. There is more than one noun before the verb, so you make the verb agree with the wrong one.

3. There is a pronoun in the sentence that makes it confusing whether to use a singular or plural verb.

Examples:

1. The cat and dog are friends.

Cat and dog are singular, but together they form a plural subject.

2. The keys in the door are stuck.

Door is a singular noun, but is not the subject.

3. Any of them is fine for use in the rain.

Any refers to just one object in a bunch.

Try It:

1. Friday and Saturday ____ my favorite days of the week.

a. is

b. are

2. The library with many computers ____ a good place to study.

a. is

b. are

3. Communities with a park ____ important to have.

a. is

b. are

4. I will take whichever bus ____ first.

a. come

b. comes

Click Read More to see answers.

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Grammar Check – Questions with “Why”

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red letters neon light

Here is a common mistake students make when asking a question with “Why”:

X Why you don’t work?

The mistake is incorrect grammatical structure.

(Question word + Subject + Auxiliary Verb + Main Verb)

The correct structure is: Question word + Auxiliary Verb + Subject + Main Verb

 ✓ Why don’t you work?

What are Auxiliary Verbs?

From: https://englishstudyonline.org/auxiliary-verbs/

Practice More:

https://www.mmmenglish.com/2017/06/11/asking-questions-in-english-question-structure-fix-your-grammar-mistakes/

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Either, Neither, and Both

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either = one OR the otherWould you like tea or coffee? ∼ Either; I don’t mind.
(= ‘You can give me tea OR coffee; I have no preference.’)
neither = not one and not the otherWould you like ham or beef in your sandwich?
∼ Neither; I’m a vegetarian.
(= ‘I don’t want ham and I don’t want beef.’)
both = the first AND the secondI take both milk and sugar in my coffee.
(= ‘I take sugar. I also take milk.’)
We use either with a singular noun.
We use either of with a plural noun.
We use a singular verb with either and either of.		either car
either of the cars
Either day is fine for me.
Either of the days is fine for me.
We use neither with a singular noun.
We use neither of with a plural noun.
We use a singular verb with neither and neither of.		neither house
neither of the houses
Neither day was suitable.
Neither of the days was suitable.
We use both with a plural noun.both houses
both of the houses
Both (of) my brothers are tall.
We use of before the pronouns us, you, them.both of us, both of you, either of them, neither of them, etc.
Between of and a noun we use these, those or my, your, John’s, etc., or the.both of those houses, neither of my brothers, both of John’s sisters, either of the cinemas
from speakspeak

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Count Vs. Non-Count Nouns

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Ready for some more grammar? Good.

This time we’re going to look at count and non-count nouns. Remember that nouns are people, places, or things.

Count nouns can be counted, which means you can also make them plural. Remember that plural means more than one. For example, the word “teacher.” Can you count teachers? Of course – one teacher, two teachers, three teachers, four teachers. The noun “teacher,” then, is a count noun.

Non-count nouns can’t be counted, and they’re almost always singular. Remember that singular means one. For example, the word “air.” Can you count air? Of course not – we never say one air, two airs, three airs, etc. So “air” is a non-count noun.

To learn more, watch the video above, then take the quiz to test your knowledge:

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