English Grammar Map — A1 to C2

Nouns & articles

• Indefinite article (a / an) — Use a or an with a singular countable noun the first time you mention it, and with jobs (She is a nurse). Use a before a consonant sound and an before a vowel sound. There is no plural form: with plurals and uncountables use some, or nothing at all.
• Definite article (the) — The has one single form for every noun: singular, plural, countable or uncountable. Use it when the listener can identify exactly which thing you mean: already mentioned, unique in the world, or made specific by the words that follow.
• Regular plurals (-s / -es) — Add -s to most nouns. Add -es after a hissing sound: -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x. A consonant plus -y becomes -ies, but a vowel plus -y simply takes -s. Many nouns in -f or -fe change to -ves. The ending is pronounced s, z, or as an extra syllable iz.
• Irregular plurals (man/men, child/children) — A small closed group of nouns does not take -s. Some change their vowel: man/men, woman/women, foot/feet, tooth/teeth, goose/geese, mouse/mice. Some keep an old ending: child/children, ox/oxen. Some never change at all: sheep, fish, deer, aircraft, series.
• Uncountable nouns (information, water) — Uncountable nouns have no plural and take no a or an. They use a singular verb and are measured with some, any, much, a lot of, or a unit phrase such as a piece of, a glass of, a bit of. Typical ones: water, bread, money, music, work, time, weather.

Verbs & tenses

• The verb 'be' (am / is / are) — Forms: I am, you are, he/she/it is, we are, they are. Spoken contractions: I'm, you're, he's, we're, they're. Negative: add not (I'm not, she isn't, they aren't). Question: put be first, before the subject. Use be for identity, origin, age, prices and physical states.
• The verb 'have got' / 'have' — Have got and plain have both express possession, family, and illness. Have got: I/you/we/they have got (I've got), he/she/it has got (he's got); it makes questions and negatives with have itself. Plain have uses do and does. In the past, only had is possible.
• Present simple (habits & facts) — Use the base form for I, you, we, they, and add -s for he, she, it: works, goes, watches, studies. Negatives and questions are built with do and does plus the base form. The present simple expresses habits, routines, timetables and permanent truths.
• Present continuous (now) — Form: am / is / are plus the -ing form (I'm working, he's working, they're working). Negative: isn't / aren't plus -ing; question: Is she working? Use it for what is happening now or around now, for temporary situations, and for arranged future plans. Spelling: make becomes making, sit becomes sitting.
• Imperative (commands & instructions) — The imperative is the bare base form of the verb, with no subject and no ending: Wait. Come in. The negative is Don't plus the base form. For a suggestion that includes yourself, use Let's plus the base form. Adding please softens a request.
• 'there is' / 'there are' — Use there is with a singular or uncountable noun and there are with a plural: the verb agrees with the noun that follows it. Contraction: there's. Negative: there isn't / there aren't any. Question: Is there...? / Are there...? Past forms: there was / there were.

Adjectives

• Adjective + noun order (a red car) — An adjective goes immediately before the noun it describes and never moves after it: a red car, expensive shoes. After be, seem, look and other linking verbs the adjective follows the verb instead. When several adjectives pile up, the usual order is opinion, size, age, colour, origin.
• Adjectives are invariable (no plural -s) — An English adjective has one single form. It never changes for gender or for number, whether it stands before a noun or after be. The only endings an adjective can take are the comparative -er and the superlative -est, never a plural -s.
• Possessive adjectives (my, your, his...) — The set is my, your, his, her, its, our, their. They stand directly before the noun and agree with the OWNER, not with the thing owned, so a man says his sister and a woman says her brother. They never take -s and never follow an article.
• Demonstratives (this / that / these / those) — This and that go with singular nouns, these and those with plurals. This/these point to what is near the speaker; that/those to what is further away in space or time. Each one works before a noun (this book) or alone as a pronoun (I want that).

Pronouns

• Subject pronouns (I, you, he...) — The subject pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they. They replace the subject noun and stand before the verb. He and she are for people, it for things, animals, the weather and the time; you is both singular and plural. I always takes a capital letter.
• Object pronouns (me, you, him...) — The object pronouns are me, you, him, her, it, us, them. They replace a noun after the verb (I know her) or after a preposition (with them). Only you and it look the same as the subject form; the others all change.
• Possessive pronouns (mine, yours...) — The possessive pronouns are mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs. They stand alone and replace possessive adjective + noun: my car → mine. They are never followed by a noun and never take an apostrophe. There is no possessive pronoun for it.

Adverbs & negation

• Negation with 'not' / don't / doesn't — With be and with modals, put not straight after the verb: she is not, we cannot. With every other verb use do not (don’t) or does not (doesn’t) plus the base form: I don’t work, he doesn’t work. The -s of the third person moves onto does.
• Adverbs of frequency (always, often, never) — The main ones are always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never. They go before a main verb (I often walk), but after be (He is often late) and after an auxiliary (I have never been there). Sometimes and usually may also open or close the sentence.

Syntax & discourse

• Word order (SVO) — An English statement follows subject + verb + object: Anna eats an apple. Nothing is placed between the verb and its object; adverbs and phrases of place and time come after it, place normally before time: I saw a film at the cinema last night.
• Yes/no questions (do / does, be) — With be, simply put the verb before the subject: Are you ready? With all other verbs, begin with do or does + subject + base verb: Do they live here? Does she work? The -s sits on does, so the main verb has none. Short answers repeat the auxiliary.
• Wh- questions (what, where, when, who) — Put the wh- word first, then build a yes/no question after it: wh- + do/does/be + subject + verb. What do you want? Where is she? When the wh- word is itself the subject (who, what), no auxiliary is added and the order stays normal: Who lives here?
• Basic connectors (and, but, or, because) — And adds, but contrasts, or gives an alternative, because gives a reason. All four can join two complete clauses, each with its own subject and verb: I stayed at home because I was ill. And, but and or can also link single words or phrases.

Number & quantity

• Cardinal numbers (0–100) — One to twelve are separate words; 13 to 19 end in -teen (thirteen, fifteen, eighteen); the tens end in -ty (twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, seventy, eighty, ninety). In between, join tens and units with a hyphen: twenty-one, forty-six. 100 is a hundred.
• some / any — Some and any stand before plural or uncountable nouns and mean an unspecified quantity. Use some in positive statements (I have some questions) and any in negatives and questions (I haven’t got any money). Some also appears in offers and requests: Would you like some tea?

Nouns & articles

• Possessive 's (Saxon genitive) — Add ’s to a singular noun: my sister’s car, the dog’s name. A plural already ending in -s takes the apostrophe alone: my parents’ house. Irregular plurals take ’s: the children’s toys. The possessor comes first, the thing possessed second.
• Zero article (general plurals & uncountables) — Use no article before plural countable nouns and before uncountable nouns when you speak in general: Dogs are loyal. Water boils at 100 degrees. Zero article is also normal with most countries, languages, meals, sports and abstract nouns.

Verbs & tenses

• Past simple (regular -ed) — Add -ed to the base verb; the form is the same for every person: I worked, she worked. Spelling: a final -e takes only -d (live → lived); consonant + y becomes -ied (study → studied); a single short stressed vowel doubles the consonant (stop → stopped). Use it for finished actions at a definite past time.
• Past simple (irregular verbs) — Many frequent verbs make the past with a vowel change or a completely different word instead of -ed: go → went, see → saw, take → took, buy → bought, come → came, have → had. Some do not change at all: put, cut, let. The form is identical for every person, and be is the only verb with two forms, was and were.
• Past continuous — Form: was/were + verb-ing (I/he/she/it was, you/we/they were). Use it for an action in progress at a past moment, for a longer background action interrupted by a shorter one, usually with when, and for two actions running side by side, usually with while. Negative: wasn’t/weren’t + -ing.
• 'going to' future (plans & predictions) — Form: am/is/are + going to + base verb. Use it for a plan or intention decided before the moment of speaking, and for a prediction based on evidence you can see right now. Negative: I’m not going to…; question: Are you going to…? Note the fixed to, which never disappears.
• 'will' future (decisions & predictions) — Form: will + bare infinitive, the same for every person, contracted to ’ll and won’t; questions are made by inversion, with no do. Use it for a decision taken while you speak, for offers and promises, and for predictions and opinions, often after I think, I’m sure or probably.
• Present perfect (experience & recent past) — Form: have/has + past participle (worked, seen, been). Use it for experience at an unstated time, with ever and never; for a recent event, with just, already and yet; and for a situation that started in the past and is still true, with for (a period) and since (a starting point).
• Modals: can / can't (ability & permission) — Can is followed by the bare infinitive and is identical for every person. The negative is can’t (cannot), and questions are made by putting can first: Can you swim? Use it for ability, for permission and for polite requests and offers. The past form is could / couldn’t.
• Modals: must / have to (obligation) — Both express obligation and are followed by the base verb. Must is the speaker’s own obligation and never changes: I must go, she must go. Have to points to an outside rule and behaves like an ordinary verb: I have to, she has to, do you have to. Only have to has a past and a future: I had to wait, I’ll have to wait.
• Modals: should (advice) — Should is followed by the bare infinitive and is the same for every person: you should rest, he should rest. Negative shouldn’t; question by inversion: Should I call her? Use it to give advice, an opinion or a recommendation, and to say what is right or expected. Ought to has the same meaning.
• Zero conditional (general truths & instructions) — If + present simple in the if-clause, present simple in the main clause. It describes a result that is always the same: scientific facts, rules, habits and automatic reactions. The two clauses can change places, and the comma disappears when the if-clause comes second. For instructions, the main clause is an imperative.

Adjectives

• Comparatives (-er / more ... than) — One-syllable adjectives add -er: taller, faster (big → bigger, nice → nicer). Two-syllable adjectives in -y take -ier: happier, easier. Longer adjectives take more: more expensive, more careful. The second term follows than. Irregular: good → better, bad → worse, far → further.
• Superlatives (the -est / the most) — Short adjectives take -est: the tallest, the biggest, the easiest. Long adjectives take the most: the most expensive. Irregular: the best, the worst, the furthest. A superlative singles out one member of a group, so it is normally followed by in with places and groups, or of with periods and quantities.
• Adjective order (opinion-size-age-colour) — When several adjectives come before a noun, English keeps a fixed order: opinion, then size, age, shape, colour, origin, material and purpose. No commas and no and inside the chain: a lovely little old round brown Italian wooden table. In real speech two or three adjectives is the usual maximum.

Pronouns

• Reflexive pronouns (myself, yourself...) — The forms are myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves — note the singular yourself against the plural yourselves. Use one when the subject and the object are the same person, to emphasise who acted, and after by to mean alone, without help.
• 'one' / 'ones' (substitution) — To avoid repeating a countable noun already mentioned, replace it with one (singular) or ones (plural). It is used after an adjective (the red one), after this, that, these, those, which, and after the, another, each: I need a bigger one.

Adverbs & negation

• Adverbs of manner (-ly) — Adverbs of manner say how an action is done and are normally formed from the adjective + -ly. Watch the spelling: happy → happily, gentle → gently, automatic → automatically. A few keep the adjective form with no -ly: fast, hard, late, early, straight. The adverb usually follows the verb or the object.
• too / enough — too means more than you want or need: too + adjective or adverb, too much + uncountable, too many + plural. enough means the amount needed: adjective or adverb + enough, but enough + noun. Both are often completed by for + person or by a to-infinitive.
• already / yet / just (with present perfect) — just and already go between have/has and the past participle: just marks something finished a moment ago, already something that happened sooner than expected. yet means up to now and closes the clause. Compare still, which keeps a situation going: I am still waiting.
• Prepositions of time (in, on, at, for, since) — at + clock times and the expressions at night, at the weekend, at Christmas; on + days and dates; in + months, seasons, years and parts of the day (in the morning). For duration, for + a length of time and since + the point at which it started.
• Prepositions of place & movement (in, on, at, to, into) — For position: in = inside an area or volume, on = on a surface or a line, at = a point, an address or a place seen as an event. For movement: to gives the destination, into movement to the inside of something, and onto movement to a surface.

Syntax & discourse

• Question words + auxiliary — A wh- question follows the order question word + auxiliary + subject + main verb: Where do you live? What has he done? With be as the main verb there is no extra auxiliary, only inversion: Where is she? The question word stands for the missing information.
• Sequencers (first, then, after that, finally) — Sequencers put the steps of a story or a process in order. A typical chain is first (of all), then, next, after that, and finally or in the end. They normally open the clause and are followed by a comma; the verb order after them does not change.
• Defining relative clauses (who, which, that) — A defining relative clause tells you which person or thing is meant, so it takes no commas. Use who for people, which for things, that for either, and whose for possession. When the relative pronoun is the object of the clause, you can leave it out.
• Question tags (isn't it? don't you?) — A tag repeats the auxiliary of the sentence plus a pronoun subject: positive sentence, negative tag; negative sentence, positive tag. If there is no auxiliary, use do, does or did. Special forms: I am ... aren’t I?, Let’s ... shall we?, imperative ... will you?

Number & quantity

• Quantifiers (much / many / a lot of) — much goes with uncountable nouns and many with plural countable nouns, above all in questions and negatives. In positive statements English prefers a lot of or lots of, which suit both kinds of noun. The questions are How much...? and How many...?
• Ordinal numbers (first, second...) — Ordinals give position in a series and are usually the number + -th: four → fourth, six → sixth. Irregular forms: first, second, third, fifth, eighth, ninth, twelfth; -y becomes -ieth (twenty → twentieth). In compounds only the last part changes, and the is normally used before them.

Nouns & articles

• Articles: a/the/zero (systematic review) — Use a/an to introduce a singular countable noun for the first time or to classify it (she is a nurse). Use the once the noun is identified: mentioned before, unique, or defined by the context. Use no article with plural and uncountable nouns taken generally, and with most names, meals and languages.
• Compound nouns (bus stop, toothbrush) — A compound noun is most often noun + noun: the first word says which kind, the second carries the meaning and the plural ending (a bus stop, two bus stops). The main stress falls on the first word. Spelling varies: open (bus stop), hyphenated (T-shirt) or one word (toothbrush).

Verbs & tenses

• Present perfect continuous — Form: have/has been + verb-ing (I have been waiting, she has been working). It links the past to now: an action that started earlier and is still going on, or one that has just stopped and explains the present situation. It stresses the activity and its duration, while the present perfect simple stresses the finished result.
• Past perfect — Form: had + past participle, the same for every person (I had gone, she had gone; negative hadn't gone). Use it for the earlier of two past events, when you are already talking about a past moment and need to step back before it. It is often introduced by after, before, when, because or by the time.
• Future continuous — Form: will be + verb-ing, unchanged for every person (I will be working, they'll be waiting; negative won't be working). Use it for an action in progress at a stated future moment, for something that will happen anyway as part of the normal course of events, and for polite enquiries about people's plans.
• used to / would (past habits) — Both take the base verb: used to live, would walk. Used to + base verb describes repeated past actions AND past states that are no longer true; would + base verb describes only repeated past actions, and normally needs a past time frame already set. Questions and negatives use did: did you use to, didn't use to.
• Passive voice (present & past) — Form: the right tense of be + past participle. Present: am / is / are + participle (the room is cleaned every day). Past: was / were + participle (the bridge was built in 1890). The object of the active sentence becomes the subject; name the doer only if it matters, with by + agent.
• First conditional (real future) — Form: If + present simple, will + base verb (If it rains, we will stay in). The two clauses can swap order, and no comma is needed when the if-clause comes second. Use it for a future situation you consider realistically possible and its likely result. Will can be replaced by may, might, can, should or an imperative.
• Second conditional (hypothetical) — Form: If + past simple, would + base verb (If I had more time, I would learn Greek). The past tense here is not past time: it marks the situation as imaginary, unlikely or contrary to the present facts. With be, were is used for all persons in careful English, especially in the advice pattern If I were you.
• Reported speech (statements) — Report a statement with say or tell someone, plus optional that, and move the verb one step back in time: present simple goes to past simple, present continuous to past continuous, past simple and present perfect to past perfect, will to would, can to could. Pronouns and words of time and place change with the new speaker's viewpoint.
• Gerunds vs infinitives (verb patterns) — After a verb, a second verb appears either as an -ing form or as to + base verb, and the first verb decides which. Enjoy, avoid, finish, mind, suggest, keep and practise take -ing; want, decide, hope, promise, offer, learn and agree take to + base. After all prepositions, only the -ing form is possible.
• Past ability (could / was able to / managed to) — Could + base verb states a general ability that lasted over a period of past time (she could swim at four). For one particular occasion when the action actually succeeded, use was/were able to or managed to. With verbs of perception and thinking (see, hear, feel, understand, remember) could is normal even for single moments.
• Phrasal verbs (separable & inseparable) — A phrasal verb is verb + particle, often with an idiomatic meaning. Separable ones allow either order with a noun object (turn off the light / turn the light off), but a pronoun object must go in the middle: turn it off. Inseparable ones keep verb and particle together: look after the baby, look after her.
• Reported questions, commands & requests — In a reported question the word order becomes that of a statement, do/does/did disappears, and the sentence ends with a full stop: he asked where I lived. Yes/no questions need if or whether. Commands and requests use tell or ask + person + to + base verb, with not before to for the negative.

Adjectives

• Gradable vs non-gradable adjectives — Gradable adjectives (big, cold, tired, interesting) describe a quality that can vary in degree, so they combine with very, quite, rather, a bit and take comparatives. Non-gradable adjectives are either extreme (enormous, freezing, exhausted, fascinating) or absolute (dead, perfect, digital); they take absolutely, completely or totally instead.
• -ed vs -ing adjectives (bored / boring) — Both come from verbs of feeling. The -ing form describes the thing, person or situation that causes the feeling (the film was boring); the -ed form describes the person who experiences it (I was bored). The same pair works for interested/interesting, tired/tiring, excited/exciting, surprised/surprising, confused/confusing.

Pronouns

• Relative pronouns (whose, where, when) — Use whose + noun for possession (his, her, their), where for a place and when for a time. The clause comes straight after the noun it describes: the girl whose father is a doctor, the café where we met, the year when she left. Whose works for people and for things.
• Reciprocal pronouns (each other) — Each other and one another show a mutual action: two or more people each do the same thing to the other. They stand in object position, after the verb or after a preposition, and take an apostrophe for possession: each other’s.

Adverbs & negation

• Adverbs of degree (quite, really, a bit) — Degree adverbs go before the adjective or adverb they modify and set its strength: a bit and slightly, then quite, fairly and pretty, then very and really, then absolutely and completely. Before a main verb they take mid position: I really enjoyed it.
• Comparative & superlative adverbs — Short adverbs with the same form as the adjective add -er and -est: fast, hard, late, early (earlier, earliest). Adverbs ending in -ly take more and most: more carefully, most quickly. Irregulars: well, better, best; badly, worse, worst; far, further, furthest. Use than after a comparative.
• Linking adverbs (however, therefore) — Linking adverbs such as however, therefore, moreover, nevertheless, otherwise and instead join ideas between sentences rather than inside one clause. They usually open the second sentence and are followed by a comma, but they can also sit in mid position between commas, or at the end.

Syntax & discourse

• Non-defining relative clauses — A non-defining clause adds extra, non-essential information about a noun that is already identified. It is marked off by commas and introduced by who, whom, which, whose or where, and the relative pronoun is always kept. Which can also refer back to a whole clause.
• Time clauses (when, while, as soon as) — After when, while, as soon as, until, before, after and by the time, a present tense carries future meaning, because the main clause already shows the future. Use the present perfect to stress that one action finishes before the other. If the time clause comes first, put a comma after it.
• Reason & result (because, so, since) — Because, since and as introduce a clause giving the reason; because of, due to and owing to are followed by a noun phrase. So introduces the result, and so or such … that expresses result with intensity. Since and as often open the sentence; because typically answers a Why question.
• Purpose clauses (to / in order to / so that) — Purpose is normally expressed with to + infinitive, or with the more formal in order to and so as to; the negatives are in order not to and so as not to. Use so that + subject + modal (can, will, could, would) when the person performing the second action is different.

Number & quantity

• few / a few / little / a little — A few and few go with countable plural nouns; a little and little go with uncountable nouns. With a, the meaning is positive: some, enough. Without a, the meaning is negative: hardly any. Very few and very little sharpen the negative sense; only a few and only a little sound limiting.
• both / either / neither — Both means the two together and takes a plural verb. Either means one or the other and neither means not one and not the other; both take a singular verb. Use both, either or neither of + the, my or these + plural noun, and the pairs both … and, either … or, neither … nor.

Nouns & articles

• Abstract & collective nouns (agreement) — Abstract nouns such as information, advice and progress are uncountable: singular verb, no plural -s, no a or an. Collective nouns (team, government, family) take a singular verb when the group acts as one unit and, in British English, a plural verb when the members act individually.
• Article nuances (institutions, generalisations) — Drop the article with institutions used for their purpose: at school, in hospital, in prison, at university, in bed. Use the when you mean the building or a specific one: at the school. Generalisations take a plural or uncountable noun with no article, while the + singular names a whole class in formal style.

Verbs & tenses

• Future perfect — Form: will have + past participle. It looks forward to a point in the future and says the action will already be over by then, typically with by, by the time, before or in two weeks. For a duration lasting up to that point, use will have been + -ing.
• Third conditional (past unreal) — If + past perfect, then would / could / might have + past participle. It imagines a past that did not happen and its unreal result, so the facts are always the opposite of the sentence. In formal writing, if can be dropped and had inverted: Had I known…
• Mixed conditionals — Each half keeps the form of its own time. Past cause with a present result: If + past perfect … would + base verb (now). Present or permanent cause with a past result: If + past simple … would have + past participle. Time markers such as now or yesterday show which mix you need.
• Passive (all tenses; passive reporting) — Passive = be, carrying the tense of the active verb, + past participle; the agent follows by only when it adds information. Reporting structures: It is said / thought / believed that + clause, or subject + is said + to + infinitive, with to have + participle for an earlier time.
• Modals of deduction (must/might/can't have) — must / may / might / could / can’t + have + past participle judges how likely a past event was. must have = you are sure it happened; can’t have or couldn’t have = you are sure it did not; may / might / could have = it is one possibility; may not / might not have = possibly not.
• Causative (have/get something done) — have or get + object + past participle says that you arrange for somebody else to do the job. All the tense and modal changes fall on have or get: I have my hair cut, I had it cut, I am getting it cut, I must get it cut. get is more informal; add by + agent only when the doer matters.
• 'wish' / 'if only' — wish and if only take a step back in tense: past simple for a present situation you want to be different, past perfect for a regret about the past, and would + base verb to complain about somebody else’s habit or an irritating situation. were is possible for every person after wish.

Adjectives

• Adjectives as nouns (the rich, the unemployed) — the + adjective, with no noun after it and no plural -s, names a whole class of people: the rich, the poor, the young, the elderly, the homeless, the unemployed, the injured. The same pattern covers nationality adjectives ending in -sh, -ch or -ese: the British, the French, the Chinese.
• Order & modification of adjectives (intensifiers) — Before a noun, adjectives line up as opinion, size, age, shape, colour, origin, material, purpose: a lovely small old round brown Italian leather bag. Gradable adjectives take very, quite, rather, extremely; ungradable ones (extreme or absolute) take absolutely, completely, utterly, totally.

Pronouns

• Indefinite pronouns (someone, anything, no one) — Build them from some-, any-, no- or every- plus -one and -body for people, -thing for things, -where for places. some- goes in positive statements and in offers or requests, any- in questions and after a negative verb or with the sense of it doesn’t matter which, no- with a positive verb, every- for the whole set.
• 'it' & 'there' as dummy subjects — there + be introduces the existence of something new, and be agrees with the noun that follows: There is a problem, There are two problems, There was, There will be. it fills the empty subject slot for weather, time, dates, distance and temperature, and before an adjective + to-infinitive or that-clause.

Adverbs & negation

• Adverb position & focus adverbs (only, even) — Adverbs of frequency and degree stand before the main verb, but after be and after the first auxiliary. Adverbs of manner, place and time go at the end, in that order. Focus adverbs such as only, even, also and just come immediately before the word or phrase they pick out.
• Negative & limiting adverbs (hardly, rarely) — hardly, scarcely, barely, seldom, rarely, never and little already carry the negative, so the verb after them stays positive. Put one of them at the front of the sentence for emphasis and the subject and auxiliary invert. Hardly and no sooner are completed by when and than.

Syntax & discourse

• Concession (although, despite, in spite of) — These link two ideas that clash. although, though and even though are followed by a subject + verb; despite and in spite of by a noun, an -ing form, or the fact that + clause; however, nevertheless and even so open a new sentence after a full stop or semicolon and take a comma.
• Cause & result connectors (consequently, due to) — Cause has two patterns: a full clause after because, since and as, or a noun phrase after because of, due to and owing to. For result, so joins two clauses inside one sentence, while therefore, consequently, as a result and thus normally open a new sentence and are followed by a comma.
• Cleft sentences (It was... / What...) — A cleft splits one clause into two to spotlight a single element. It-cleft: it + be + focus + who/that + the rest (It was Anna who paid). Wh-cleft: what + clause + be + focus (What I need is time). The verb be agrees with it or what, and the focused part carries the new information.
• Participle clauses — A participle clause has no subject and no tense of its own: it borrows both from the main clause. Use the -ing form for active meaning (Feeling tired, she left), the past participle for passive meaning (Built in 1890, the house needs work), and having + past participle for an action completed earlier.

Number & quantity

• Quantifiers review (all/most/none of) — Use all, most, some, few, none with a bare noun for general statements (Most students work hard). Before a determiner or a pronoun you must add of: most of the students, none of them, all of us. With all and both, of is optional before the. None of takes a singular or a plural verb.

Nouns & syntax

• Complex noun phrases (pre/post-modification) — A noun phrase is built round a head noun. Premodifiers precede it in a fixed order: determiner, adverb plus adjective, then noun modifier (a badly designed safety system). Postmodifiers follow it: prepositional phrases, relative and participle clauses, to-infinitives. Only postmodification can be expanded indefinitely.
• Nominalisation (academic style) — Nominalisation turns a verb or an adjective into a noun (reduce → reduction, able → ability) so that a whole clause becomes a noun phrase: prices rose sharply → the sharp rise in prices. Adverbs become adjectives, and the participants reappear in of or by phrases. It compresses information and hides the agent.

Verbs & modes

• Inversion after negative adverbials (Never have I...) — When a negative or restrictive adverbial is fronted, the clause takes question word order: adverbial + auxiliary + subject + main verb. If there is no auxiliary, supply do, does or did. Triggers include never, rarely, seldom, little, hardly, no sooner, not only, under no circumstances and only + time phrase.
• Subjunctive & 'were to' / 'be to' — The mandative subjunctive uses the bare base form in a that-clause after verbs and adjectives of demand or advice (insist, recommend, essential): I insist that he be told; negative: that he not be told. Were is the past subjunctive of be in unreal conditions, and were to + infinitive marks a remote hypothesis.
• Future in the past — To look forward from a point in the past, backshift the future forms: will → would, is going to → was/were going to, is about to → was about to, is to → was to. Was going to and was about to often imply the event never happened, while was to reports destiny seen in hindsight.
• Modal nuances (habits, willingness, criticism) — Beyond permission and possibility, modals carry attitude: would and used to for past habits; will and would for typical or irritating behaviour (He will interrupt); will and would for willingness or refusal (The door won’t open); should have, could have and might have + past participle for criticism or regret about the past.
• Advanced aspect (perfect vs simple contrasts) — Perfect forms are relational: they place an event before a reference point and make it relevant there (present perfect — before now; past perfect — before a past point). Simple forms simply locate a complete event on the timeline. Choose the perfect when the connection matters, the simple when the time or the sequence does.

Adjectives

• Adjective complementation (keen on, eager to) — Many adjectives require a fixed complement. Some take a preposition + noun or -ing (keen on sailing, good at maths, afraid of falling), some take a to-infinitive (eager to help, likely to rain, easy to use), and some take a that-clause (glad that you came). The pattern belongs to the adjective and is learnt with it.

Pronouns & reference

• Cohesion & substitution (do so, such) — Substitution replaces a repeated element with a shorter pro-form: one and ones for a count noun, do so or do that for a whole verb phrase, so or not after think, hope and expect, and such (a) for a previously mentioned kind. The text stays short while the link back to the earlier idea is preserved.
• Ellipsis (auxiliary & to-infinitive) — Ellipsis omits repeated words the listener can recover. After an auxiliary, drop everything that follows but keep the auxiliary itself (She hasn’t finished, but he has). After a verb taking a to-infinitive, keep the bare to (I wanted to). In coordination, the repeated subject or verb can also be dropped.

Adverbs & modality

• Epistemic adverbs (apparently, presumably) — Epistemic adverbs show how certain you are and where your information comes from. High certainty: certainly, clearly, undoubtedly. Inference: presumably, evidently, seemingly. Hearsay: apparently, reportedly, allegedly. Low certainty: possibly, perhaps. They stand at the start of the clause or just before the main verb.
• Comment & viewpoint adverbs (frankly, technically) — A sentence adverb modifies the whole clause, not the verb. Comment adverbs (frankly, obviously, unfortunately) give the speaker's attitude and unpack as “to be frank”, “it is obvious that”; viewpoint adverbs (technically, financially, politically) limit the claim to one domain. Both usually stand first, marked off by a comma.

Syntax & discourse

• Fronting & emphasis — Fronting moves a non-subject element to the head of the clause for emphasis or cohesion. Fronted objects, complements and ordinary adverbials keep normal word order. A fronted negative or restrictive adverbial (never, rarely, seldom, little, not only, only then) forces auxiliary inversion, with do-support if there is no auxiliary.
• Cleft & pseudo-cleft (advanced) — A cleft splits one clause in two to spotlight a single element. It-cleft: It + be + focus + that/who clause. Wh-cleft: What + clause + be + focus, which puts the focus at the end. Reversed wh-clefts and the all-cleft work the same way; whatever is left outside the focus is presented as already known.
• Discourse markers (moreover, nevertheless) — Discourse markers are adverbials, not conjunctions: they link a sentence to what came before and are set off by a comma, after a full stop or a semicolon. Choose one by the relation you mean — addition (moreover, furthermore), contrast (however, nevertheless), result (hence, consequently), concession (admittedly), reformulation (that is).
• Hedging & academic register — Hedging weakens a claim so that it can still be defended. The main devices are modals (may, might, could), reporting verbs (suggest, indicate, appear, tend to), adverbs (arguably, largely, relatively), approximators (some, around) and impersonal frames (It could be argued that). One hedge per claim is normally enough.

Nouns & stylistics

• Genitive & possession nuances (of vs 's; double genitive) — Use 's with people, animals, groups and time or measure phrases (the manager's decision, a day's work); use of with inanimate things and long noun phrases (the roof of the building). The double genitive — a, that or some + noun + of + 's form or possessive pronoun — selects one item from a set.
• Marked noun forms (foreign plurals: criteria, phenomena) — Learned nouns from Latin and Greek keep their source plurals in careful use: -on gives -a (criterion, criteria; phenomenon, phenomena), -um gives -a (datum, data; medium, media), -us gives -i (stimulus, stimuli), -is gives -es (analysis, analyses), -ex/-ix gives -ices (index, indices). Some also have a regular plural with a different sense.

Verbs — full mastery

• All tenses & aspects (controlled production) — English crosses two tenses (present, past) with two aspects (perfect, progressive), giving twelve active forms. The perfect marks anteriority and relevance to a reference point; the progressive presents the event as ongoing, temporary or incomplete; the simple form views it as a whole. Keep one reference time across a passage.
• Rare/literary structures (inversion in conditionals) — In formal or literary style if can be dropped and the clause inverted, but only with had, were and should. Had + subject + past participle equals if + had; Were + subject (+ to + infinitive) equals if + were (to); Should + subject + bare infinitive marks a remote possibility. The negative is never contracted.
• Tense shifts in narrative & backshift subtleties — In reported speech backshift is optional when the content still holds or the report is immediate. Unreal past forms and the modals would, could, might and should do not shift again. In narrative, the past perfect marks a flashback and only the first verbs need it; switching to the present tense makes an episode vivid.
• Aspectual nuance (stative vs dynamic, habitual) — Stative verbs (know, own, contain, resemble, believe) describe unbounded states and normally take the simple form; dynamic verbs take the progressive to show an action in progress. A stative in the progressive forces a dynamic reading: temporary behaviour or a deliberate activity. Habits take the simple present, or used to and would in the past.

Adjectives — extreme cases

• Adjective compounds & hyphenation — Hyphenate a multi-word modifier when it stands before its noun and the words function as one unit: a well-known writer, a state-of-the-art lab, a six-month delay (the noun stays singular). The hyphen disappears when the same phrase follows the noun, and a first element in -ly never takes one.
• Adjectives in fixed expressions & idioms — Many adjectives are locked into fixed strings whose wording and order cannot be altered: binomials (safe and sound, short and sweet), intensifying collocations chosen by the noun (heavy rain, strong coffee, deep sleep) and idioms (a close shave, sheer luck). Learn them whole; the usual rules of substitution and order do not apply.

Pronouns — marginal cases

• Generic & impersonal 'one' / 'you' / 'they' — Three impersonal subjects state a general truth. One is formal and includes the speaker, with the forms one's and oneself. You is its informal spoken equivalent and addresses nobody in particular. They points to unidentified people or authorities. A passive or a general noun avoids all three.
• Logical & anticipatory 'it' — Anticipatory it holds the subject or object slot while the real content is extraposed to the end, normally a that-clause or a to-infinitive: It is obvious that he lied; I find it hard to refuse. After find, think, make and consider, this it is obligatory before an adjective plus clause. Logical (empty) it also covers weather, time and distance.

Adverbs & style

• Stylistic inversion & rhetorical syntax — In formal or emphatic style, fronting a negative or restrictive adverbial (never, rarely, seldom, little, not only, no sooner, only then, under no circumstances) forces subject–operator inversion: Only then did he realise. Fronted place adverbials invert fully with intransitive verbs, and conditionals may drop if: Had I known, Were it not for you.
• Pragmatics: irony, implicature, understatement — Speakers mean more than they say. Understatement and litotes soften or intensify by negating the opposite (not bad, hardly ideal, a bit of a problem); irony conveys the reverse of the literal wording, signalled by stress, exaggeration or clash with context. Implicature is inferred, so the surface form stays literally polite.

Syntax & metalanguage

• Grammatical metalanguage — Precise description separates three questions: word class (noun, verb, determiner, preposition), function in the clause (subject, object, complement, adjunct) and form (finite or non-finite, active or passive, count or uncount). One item carries a label on each level at once, and a single class can fill several functions.
• Register & variation (BrE/AmE, formal/informal) — Two axes vary independently. Variety: colour/color, centre/center, travelled/traveled, have you got/do you have, gotten only in AmE, at the weekend/on the weekend, The team are/The team is. Formality: contractions, phrasal verbs and get belong to informal registers; full forms, Latinate verbs and nominalisation to formal ones.
• Disambiguating complex sentences — Most ambiguity comes from attachment (which head a phrase modifies), scope (negation, quantifiers, coordination) and unclear reference. Repair it structurally rather than by explanation: put the modifier beside its head, add a comma or a relative pronoun, repeat the determiner or preposition across coordinated items, or split the sentence.
• Formal written rhetoric & cohesion — Cohesion in formal prose rests on reference (this argument, the latter, such a view), connectors that name the logical relation (however, consequently, by contrast, admittedly) and information order: given material first, new and heavy material last. Passives, clefts and fronting exist to preserve that given-to-new flow.