What do you need to know in English? English grammar by levels.

English grammar for beginners seems to be something unbearable. Articles, pronouns, verbs - the English language has a huge number of rules that are not so easy to transfer to Russian. This raises doubts, but is it worth starting at all? Is it worth it to dive into English grammar without a certain certainty that you can master it? No, with such an attitude, you definitely won’t be able to sail far in the study. Therefore, it is important to discard all doubts and stereotypes. Believe me, English grammar can be learned on your own and in the shortest possible time. All that is required of you is constancy and perseverance, and we will help you with everything else.

First, let's figure out what the grammar of this language is. The English grammar or English grammar is a set of all rules that relate to prepositions, prefixes, parts of speech, types of English verbs and their tenses, sentence members, and so on.

In simple words, everything that is in the English language is its grammar. Respectively, frequently asked question how to learn grammar , has a very simple answer: to learn English grammar, you just need to learn the language. Of course, it will not be possible to analyze all the nuances in one article. Why, even books in which they promise to show you the entire grammar of the English language from scratch with exercises, in fact, they will never tell you about all the grammar. Therefore, we have collected only the most basic rules that are best suited for beginners.

How can you learn English grammar without even knowing the rules of pronunciation. Let's start with them. The rules for reading letters in English is a rather extensive topic, since with a certain combination their pronunciation may change. However, let's not go too deep and consider the standard pronunciation of letters, which, by the way, are 26 in English. When mastering the topic of pronunciation, special attention is paid to transcription, which, as a rule, is indicated in square brackets:

English Grammar: Articles

When studying English grammar, there can be a lot of confusion with, since they have no analogues in Russian. Articles are usually used with nouns to show whether the reference is to a specific object (that bag) or an indefinite one ((some) person). In total, there are 3 types of articles:

1. Zero article or its absence:

1. The indefinite article a / an, which is used when you are not paying attention to a specific thing, but simply talking about the subject as a whole. Indefinite article also used when you first mention something to the other person:

Note that if the noun or adjective that describes it begins with a consonant, the article "a" is used, and if with a vowel, "an".

1. The definite article the, expressing specific objects:

In speech, they are constantly encountered, so be sure to remember.

Nouns in English Grammar

English grammar from scratch very often starts with nouns. Perhaps this is because English nouns have a lot in common with Russian ones. For example:

• they are also divided into own and common nouns:

• can change in numbers, forming the plural with the ending -s (-es):

• have cases, although their number is limited to only two:

• perform the roles of all members of the proposal, examples:

The difference lies in the fact that, unlike the Russian language, English nouns do not change by gender. Only pronouns have it.

English Grammar: Pronouns

Pronouns in English are divided into 9 subgroups, but the most popular are rightfully personal pronouns. They change in cases, tenses and numbers:

English Grammar: Verbs

The verb in English is perhaps the most important part of speech. It can be personal or impersonal. Personal verbs include those verbs that are used with all persons and at all times. They can be used in both active and passive voices:

Impersonal include gerund, infinitive and participle:

Both regular and irregular verbs have 3 forms. The correct ones are formed as follows:

Incorrect ones have 3 individual forms that need to be memorized, for example:

It is necessary to know all these forms, since with the help of them the formation of tense verb forms takes place.

In addition, verbs have three moods:

Particular attention should be paid to modal verbs. Modal verbs are verbs that are not used on their own. They are necessary to show the attitude of the speaker to some action. Some of the most used modal verbs are:

English Grammar: Adjectives

An adjective in English denotes a sign of an object and answers the questions “what?” and "whose?". In simple terms, it is used to describe objects and persons. According to their structure, adjectives are divided into 3 groups:

These and other adjectives can be used in 3 degrees of comparison:

English Grammar: Adverbs

The descriptive function is also characteristic of adverbs, which are responsible for the expression of the sign of action. It is of several types:

They can also have degrees of comparison:

English grammar: numerals

Numerals, as in Russian, are quantitative and ordinal:

Except for the first 3 digits, the rest of the ordinal numbers are formed with -th (-eth). In English ordinal numbers can be written using a number and the last two letters of the ending: second - 2nd, ninth - 9th, sixteenth - 16th and so on.

English Grammar: Interjections

It is impossible not to note the independent part of speech, the use of which helps to convey emotions and feelings, namely interjections. They can be divided into 3 groups:

Service parts of speech

The service parts of speech of English grammar are used quite often. Let's consider some of them:

• Unions connect the members of the proposal, as well as simple sentences within the complex. By structure, they are divided into:

According to their functions, they are divided into coordinating and subordinating:

• Prepositions are used at least as often as conjunctions. According to their structure, they are divided into exactly the same groups:

In addition to their main purpose, prepositions are always used with the following verbs:

• Particles are another service part of speech. There are 5 types of particles in English:

English grammar: word order in a sentence

Sentences in English are affirmative, negative and interrogative. They are built as follows:

According to these tables, offers are made at any time.

English Grammar: Tenses

There are 12 temporary forms in English. They are formed using 3 tenses and 4 temporary types:

Knowing these forms, you can form any sentences.

English grammar: types of sentences

By the way, about the proposals. As in Russian English sentences divided into simple and complex. Complex ones are subdivided into compound and complex.

It is worth noting that, despite the fact that most sentences in English are complete, the use of incomplete sentences is also acceptable. As a rule, this option is used in colloquial speech, so this is rather a practical grammar of the English language:

These were the basic rules of grammar. Of course, it is impossible to fit all the material here, alas. However, knowing at least the mentioned rules of the English language, you will already feel quite confident during the conversation. As for conversations. A collection of English exercises or another version of descriptive information is, of course, good. However, believe me, the practical grammar of the English language is incomparable in its effectiveness. By communicating, language learners can learn much more than by sitting at a book. Therefore, do not hesitate to communicate with native speakers.

Language was created so that people can communicate and understand each other. In order for the interaction to be most effective, the first native speakers had to agree on the rules in English, otherwise everyone would speak their own. Over time, the set of these rules grew, acquired additional nuances and exceptions, and then turned into thick English textbooks that now flood the shelves of bookstores and libraries. We will not delve into the wilds of studying British speech, so as not to list all the rules in English, but we will focus on 10 basic rules of the English language. Check it!

Order of words in a sentence

Russian speech allows you to compose phrases in any order in which we like. The sentences “He bought a car,” “He bought a car,” “He bought a car,” and other variations will sound equally organic and grammatically correct. But the English are a pedantic people, so in their sentences, as well as in life, there is a strictly observed order:

Subject(who?) + predicate(What is he doing?) + addition(with whom? over whom? etc.) + circumstance(when? where? how? etc.).

He bought a car. - He bought a car.

Secondary members may be absent, but the presence of a subject and a predicate is mandatory, therefore the existence impersonal proposals impossible in English. If in the Russian analogue the subject performing the action is absent, then in English it is replaced by the pronoun " it».

It's cold outside. - It's cold outside.

Auxiliary verbs

It is very important to remember to use auxiliary verbs in negative and interrogative sentences. In Russian, we do not need any helpers, except for the main verb-predicate. But in classical English, the construction of a question and a negation requires the indispensable presence of a helper verb.

Do you like music? - Do you like music?
I'm not going to this party. - I won't (will not) go to the party.

Which auxiliary verb to use depends on the tense, but that's another story with 16 separate chapters.

Basic forms of English verbs be, have, do

There is a "holy trinity" of verbs in English - words that can express most of the actions. These are the verbs: be"(to be, to be, to be)," have" (to have) and " do" (make). Due to such frequent use, in the present tense they have their own special forms:

• « Be"divided into am (for I)," is" (for he, she, it) and " are” (for we, you, they).
• "Have" has a special form for third person only singular(he, she, it) - " has».
• BUT " do", using general rule for "he", "she", "it" in the present tense, uses the ending " es» — « does».

Having memorized these basic rules about verbs and their forms, you can already express your thoughts and explain to a foreigner what you need from him.

No double negative

The famous game I never..." in English is called " I've never(done)...". As you can see, in Russian there is a double negation - the pronoun " never" and the negative particle " not". In English we only see the negative pronoun " never”, and before the verb “done” there is no and cannot be the usual negative particle “not”. Why it happened and who is to blame for this is unknown to history, but we like the version that business residents of Foggy Albion simply do not like to repeat themselves. And we should remember that in English you cannot use double negation.

Articles

You can talk about these mysterious guys for hours. What makes this conversation especially long is the fact that there are no articles in the Russian language. But we will not repeat the multi-volume material of textbooks, but will concentrate only on when articles are not needed:

• When a noun is preceded by a possessive pronoun or a noun in the possessive case:

This is a dog. This is my dog. It isn't my sister's dog.- This is a dog. This is my dog. This is not my sister's dog.

• When a noun is preceded by a cardinal number (answers the question "how much?"):

I have two sisters and one brother.- I have two sisters and one brother.

• When a noun is preceded by the negation "no":

I have no idea what to do.- I have no idea what to do.

• When a noun is preceded by a demonstrative pronoun (this, these, that, those):

Give me that pencil, please.- Give me that pencil, please.

Plural

Basic rule of education plural is the addition of the ending s» to the singular form:

a dog - dog s, a cat - cat s, an insect - insect s

If the noun ends in hissing sound or letter about", then you should add the ending " es»:

bus - bus es, glass - glass es, bush - bush es, box - box es, branch - branch es, potato-potato es

When a word ends in " y", and in front of her stands consonant, « y"" in the plural changes to " ies»:

ba by-bab ies, ci ty- cit ies, la dy- lad ies
But: b oy- boy s, t oy- toy s,pl ay- play s.

When at the end of a word is " f" or " fe”, when adding the ending “ s» letter « f' changes to ' v»:

lea f-lea v es, wi f e-wi v es

These are the main English rules formation of the plural form, but one should not forget about exceptions that go against the rules, for example:

child- children,man- men,mouse- mice etc.

Degrees of comparison

There are two ways to form degrees of comparison: with the help of suffixes and with the help of additional words. The choice of method is influenced by the number of syllables and the last letter in the word:

If the word has 1 syllable, then you should add a suffix:

cold- colder - coldest, cool- cooler -the coolest, big- bigger -the biggest

If the word is two or more syllables, then we use an additional word:

beautiful- more beautiful- the most beautiful

When a word ends in " y”, we again use the first method with endings, but at the same time “y” changes to “ ie».

funny - funny ier- funn iest, sunny-sunn ier- the sunn iest

Don't forget the article the" before superlatives comparisons, and doubling the last consonant letters in monosyllabic words with "consonant/vowel/consonant" alternation.

Gerund after the verb "like"

Gerund is a verb with the ending " ing". If you need to express the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bits preferences using the verb “like”, then it is preferable to use the gerund after it:

I like watch ing films.
Do you like jogg ing?
You don't like play ing chess, do you?

Past tense forms of verbs

The basic rule is that to express the past tense, you should use second verb form. This is where the nuances begin, because the main verbs of the English language are divided into regular and irregular, and the ways of forming the second form are different for them. For correct verbs use the ending " ed", but each wrong the verb has its three forms that you need to remember - there is no separate rule for irregular verbs. Fortunately, many of them are formed according to similar word-building models, and modern teaching methods have funny rhymes aimed at quickly memorizing the forms of irregular verbs. Our online tutor will be happy to introduce you to them.

Many, much, a lot

English nouns, like Russian ones, are divided into two classes: countable and uncountable. The class affects the use of cardinal pronouns:

• With countable should use " many».

I have many dresses.- I have a lot of dresses.

With uncountable, which are liquids, substances and substances that cannot be counted, we use " much».

I don't drink much water.- I don't drink much water.

If a define a classdifficult, then you can use a lot (of)”, which goes equally well with both uncountable nouns and those that can be counted

He doesn't watch a lot of TV, but he reads a lot of books.- He doesn't watch TV much, but he reads a lot of books.

Small clue in the definition of a class of nouns, the ending " s» for plural countable nouns.

Conclusion

When learning English, remember that rules are there to be broken. All the rules above are just the "skeleton" of British literary speech. Alive colloquial has a lot of nuances and exceptions, which can only be known by plunging into the atmosphere of an English-speaking society. English songs and films, as well as live interlocutors, will help to do this!

Embark on an exciting journey through the sections of our site, and in a few days the 10 most important rules of the English language will become as natural as breathing. Breathe in English!

Big and friendly family EnglishDom

Are you still wondering where to start learning English? Start with the basics - learn the alphabet, sounds and rules for reading words, and then just move on to learning the words, phrases and grammar of the English language.

These 24 tables are arranged in such a way that you can smoothly progress in learning English from the simplest to the most difficult.

1. Let's start with the most elementary - with articles. Here are the situations in which each is used.

2. We recommend that you first familiarize yourself with the correct use of prepositions of place in English.

3. If you still don't understand the meaning of prepositions of place, look here.

4. The prepositions in and on, together with the preposition at, are also used to indicate time. Just learn all these phrases by heart.

5. And try to remember these.

6. Here are the cases in which you should use for, since, during and until in English.

The preposition for is usually translated as "during, continuing". As a rule, for is used with an indication of the period, the period of time during which something is done, happens, for example: for 1 year, for 8 months, for 5 years. It also indicates the duration of the action.

The preposition since is translated as "from" and is used to indicate the exact time, the moment in time from which something began, for example: since October, since last year, since 9:19 a.m.

The preposition during is translated as “throughout” and indicates that something happens within a certain period of time: during summer, during the lesson, during films.

7. Here are more examples of these prepositions.

Until is also used as a time indicator. This word means that the action continued / continues / will continue until some point: until 10 o "clock.

8. This table will show you the difference between than and then.

Then translates as "then, at that time, then, then, in that case."

Than is used solely to compare one with the other. It can be replaced with the phrases “compared with” (comparing with ...) or “in comparison to” (compared to ..).

9. Not sure what to choose whether or if? Here's a hint.

Whether is used to express doubt (I don "t know whether I can come to your party - I don't know if I can go to your party) or in questions: Do you know whether it will rain tomorrow? - You don't know - tomorrow it will be raining?

If in some cases has the same meaning as whether: I don "t know if I can come to your party. The preposition if is used in complex sentences (2) and in requests (3).

10. You will definitely need knowledge of irregular verbs. These are the easiest to remember - all three forms are the same and are pronounced the same.

11. These irregular verbs will be more difficult to remember. The first form of the verb - the infinitive - differs from the other two - Past Simple and Past Participle.

12. The third group of irregular verbs is the most difficult. All three words in the series differ both in spelling and pronunciation. Only cramming will help them remember.

13. You need to memorize not only regular verbs, but also a number of nouns that form the plural in a special way.

14. Let's expand our vocabulary further. Here is a selection of the most popular phrasal verbs that are often used when discussing the topic "Clothes".

• Put on - put something on yourself.
• Take off - take off a piece of clothing.
• Try on - try on something.
• Dress up - dress up, dress up for a special occasion, put on the best outfit.
• Do up - fasten (with buttons or other fasteners), tie shoelaces.
• Zip up - fasten with a zipper.
• Hang up - hang clothes on a hook, hanger.
• Slip on - put on (clothes).
• Throw on - throw, throw.
• Wrap up - wrap yourself in warm clothes.

15. After replenishing the vocabulary, you can begin to build sentences. A characteristic feature of sentences in English is a solid word order!

16. Interrogative sentences are built using question words. Here are the most popular ones.

• What: A question asking for information about something.
• When: specifying the time when something happened or will happen in the future.
• Where: Specifies a place or location.
• Which: Clarification of information about countable items.
• Who: Clarification of who exactly is being referred to.
• Whom: Clarification of who exactly did the action.
• Whose: specifying whether something belongs to someone.
• Why: clarification of the reasons.
• How: How the action was performed.

17. Here are more examples of using question words.

Note!

How many and How much translate the same - How much? Difference from what: the pronoun much is applied to uncountable noun, and many to countable.

• How long - How long? / What time is it?
• How far - How far?
• How often - How often?

18. Here's how to use modal verbs would, could, can, will in interrogative sentences.

Modal verbs would, could, can, will are used in requests. The difference between them is only in the degree of politeness.

Would and could are considered more "polite" verbs, use them when referring to someone older, respected or in a higher social position.

19. You are now ready to learn English tenses. Each of them has its own meaning and is translated differently.

20. This is how tenses are formed in English.

21. There are not many tables showing the peculiarity of English times.

22. Learn the difference between personal and possessive pronouns in English.

23. You can convey someone else's speech in English using direct speech (Direct Speech) or indirect speech (Indirect Speech).

Verbs in direct speech in the form of Present Tense are used in indirect speech in the form of Past Tense.

Verbs in direct speech in the Past Tense form are used in indirect speech in the Past Perfect form (or may not be used).

Verbs in direct speech in any future tense pass into the corresponding future in the past in indirect speech.

24. For general development, you can familiarize yourself with the differences in the formation of nouns that have a different gender.

The words in the table are divided into two columns: in the first - nouns that refer to masculine(masculine gender), in the second - nouns denoting the female gender refer to feminine(feminine gender).

Keep these useful tables for yourself so as not to lose them. You can print them out or save them on your gadget so that you can refer to them if necessary.

AT last years learning English has become so popular that some are sometimes even surprised that someone does not know it. This is not surprising, since English can be considered the most “international”, it is spoken in almost all countries of the world (of course, in addition to mother tongue). Those who wish for further career prospects seek to learn it in the very first place, and only then can, if desired, begin to study other languages. Of course, this is not easy, because the rules of the English language, its grammar, are strikingly different from those that are inherent in a person's native language. And besides them, you need to learn a lot foreign words in order to be able to express yourself in a way that you are understood. But, let's say that you have already begun to study a long time ago, and you need a list of the most common mistakes made when speaking or writing a text. We suggest taking into account the basic rules of the English language, in which mistakes are most often made.

1. Verbs present simple(the present indefinite time): they are used when we are talking about any action (I do - I do) occurring in general. For example: I drive a bus - I drive a bus. That is, this action does not necessarily occur at this moment, it occurs in general, constantly. Remember that such verbs are used in a "pure" form only in relation to the pronouns I, we, you, they (I, we, you, they). With the pronouns he, she, it (he, she, it), the ending -s- is added to the verbs, for example: Henry works in a bank - Henry works in a bank.
2. The rules of the English language state that the auxiliary verb will (not translated in this case), which serves to form the future tense, is not used with words such as while, when, after, before, as soon as, till, until - while time as, when, after, before, as soon as, while, until then.
3. to and must, despite the similarity of meaning, still differ in meaning. Thus, I have to do it means "I must / have to do this", and I must to do it should be understood as "I must do this."
4. Studying further the rules of the English language, note that verbs with the ending -ing- are used before at, in, of, with, for, instead of, about, in spite of (in, in, from, with, to, a, approximately , despite) and after after, before (after, before). For example: are you interested in reading of this book - are you interested in reading this book?

In addition, it is necessary to remember about the correct construction of sentences. We are used to the fact that the Russian language is so great and powerful that it allows an arbitrary rearrangement of words among themselves, and the meaning of the sentence will not change from this and will be clear. In English, everything is different: if you rearrange it as you like, you get nothing more than an ordinary set of words that have no connection. It is for this reason that it is important to learn the rules of the English language, in which there are nine types of sentences, each of which is built according to its own laws. The classification of species is as follows:

1) narrative (subject - simple predicate - other parts of speech);

2) interrogative (built based on the expected answer: general issues, to which it is quite possible to answer “yes, no”; special, requiring only a complete answer; choice questions; separating, consisting of a sentence and the question itself);

3) imperative (the only one that does not have a subject);

4) exclamatory (they are identical in structure to narrative ones, but with greater expression and intonation);

5) negative (have only one negation);

6) answers to questions (are built depending on question asked);

7) (nominal and verbal, for example: it is cold - cold, or it's getting warm - it becomes warm);

8) indefinitely personal (one can do it easily);

9) complex sentences (consist of several independent sentences).

Of course, all this is just brief basics English, because the rules, in fact, are much more. But nothing is impossible, as you know, nothing happens. Therefore, if the desire to learn English is very strong, in addition to the rules, do not forget that you need to communicate in this language. The fact is that, having learned a language only on paper, you will hardly be able to understand it in colloquial speech without practice. If there is no one to communicate in English with, the solution is simple: watch films without translation and try to catch intonations, peculiarities of pronunciation of words and other nuances. So you will quickly start to think, and, therefore, speak English as fluently as possible.

“I don’t want to speak properly. I want to talk like a lady,” these words belong to Eliza Doolittle, the heroine famous play Bernard Shaw Pygmalion.

Eliza may not have wanted to learn to speak literately, but without grammar she would not have been able to speak at all. We are now talking about grammar as a system of words and syntactic constructions inherent in a particular language. Grammar in this sense is “our main asset,” emphasized Eliza’s mentor, Professor Henry Higgins.

But this is not the only definition of grammar. The systematic study and description of a language or group of languages ​​is also a grammar, a descriptive grammar. Professor Higgins was mainly concerned with just one aspect of it, phonetics, or the study of the sounds of speech. The speech of the common people Henry Higgins carried into his notebook is a very accurate picture of what a descriptive grammar is.

And yet, for the majority, “talking like a lady” means speaking correctly, as prescribed, speaking in accordance with the language norm. The importance of prescriptive grammar was stated by Bernard Shaw when he wrote in the preface to Pygmalion: “The English do not respect their native language and stubbornly refuse to teach children to speak it.” It is about the need for a prescriptive approach and the remark of Rex Harrison, who played the role of Professor Higgins in the musical “My Fair Lady”: “And there are places where our language has already been reduced to nothing. In America, it has not been used for God knows how many years!

Why do we need to learn English grammar?

Grammar is a tool that can be used to describe any language. Grammar gives names to words (words) and phrases (word groups), which form sentences (sentences). Already in early childhood we learn how to make sentences - the grammar of the native language is subject to everyone. When studying English at school, university, with a tutor or at home, we are faced with the need to once again walk this path on our own and consciously. And here already we need to have an idea about the types of words and phrases and how they add up to sentences.

Literate people are more likely to succeed in relationships with the opposite sex
According to an online survey of 1,700 people, 43% of users on dating sites say they low level literacy is a fat minus to attractiveness.
More than a third (35%) say that literacy is sexy. The survey also showed that women are more demanding of partner literacy than men (Michael Sebastian, “43 Percent of Singles Say Bad Grammar Is a Turnoff”).

Parts of speech in English grammar

Depending on the function in the sentence, words are assigned to one or another part of speech (part of speech). There are 8 parts of speech in English. Just by learning their names, you certainly won't become an English grammar professor. But you will have a basic understanding of the English language and will be ready to start reading other articles on our site - and these articles will help you make significant progress in learning English grammar.

Remember: if the sentence consists of one word, only an interjection (interjection) can act as this word.

Other parts of speech - nouns (nouns), pronouns (pronouns), verbs (verbs), adjectives (adjectives), adverbs (adverbs), prepositions (prepositions) and conjunctions (conjunctions) - appear in combinations. To understand which part of speech a word belongs to, we must look not only at the word itself, but also at its meaning, place and role in the sentence.

Consider three suggestions:

1. Jim showed up for work two hours late. (Jim showed up for work two hours late).
   Here, work is what Jim came to work for.
2. He will have to work overtime. (He will have to work overtime).
   And here work is the action that Jim will perform.
3. His work permit expires in March. (His work permit expires in March).
   Finally, here work denotes the sign of the noun permit.

In the first sentence, work is used as a noun, in the second as a verb, and in the third as an adjective.

We hope you are not confused yet? Let's see what functions the 8 parts of speech perform in English.

NB! Articles (the, a/an) were once considered a separate part of speech. Now they are more often classified as defining words or determinants (determiners).

What do we build proposals from?

TOP 18 grammar terms with movie examples

Refresh your English grammar with catchy quotes from your favorite movies and show off your knowledge in a job interview or exam! We have compiled a "dossier" on 18 of the most common grammatical terms with rather unusual examples:

1. Valid (active) voice - Active Voice

A form of the verb that denotes an action performed by the subject (that is, the main actor sentence expressed by subject, subject). In other words, we are talking about how someone does something, produces, accomplishes, that is, acts actively.

This construction is opposite to the passive (passive) voice (see below).