Category: Grammar

Use

This:                    to talk about one thing which is near
                                                This fruit is an apple.

These:                 to talk about two or more things which are near
                                                These are the books I borrowed.

That:                    to talk about one thing which is far
                                                Is that your house on corner of the street?

Those:                  to talk about two or more things which are far
                                               What are those birds over there?

Use This, That, These and Those:

• Before a be-verb.

                This is my mother. / Those are my friends.

• Before a noun:

That painting looks beautiful! / These cupcakes are delicious!

Interrogative

                Is this / that his teacher?               
                Are these / those their notebooks?

Contraction

IS can be contracted after that.
That is my car.            =>           That’s my car.
But not after this.
This’s my car.              =>           This is my car.
ARE after These / Those can’t be contracted.

Common Mistakes

A verb must always be used in sentences with this, that, these and those.
This amazing show.           =>           This is an amazing show. / This show is amazing.

Compound Nouns

Compound nouns are words that consist of two or more words. Every part of them is part of the meaning of the nouns.

Separated Compound Nouns

• Compound nouns are more commonly written with two separate words.

real estate – He works in real estate.                   

post office – Did you go to the post office?                  

light year – A light year is a way to measure distance.

water tank – How many water tanks are there?            

full moon  – Look out your window to see the full moon tonight.                

swimming pool – We have a swimming pool in our country house.

Hyphenated Compound Nouns

• Some compound nouns are hyphenated.

mother-in-law – Do you get on with your mother-in-law?     

master-at-arms  – Who is the master-at-arms of this ship?         

commander-in-chief – He is the commander-in-chief.               

single-mindedness – I can’t stand his single-mindedness.

• Hyphenated compound nouns typically function as adjectives.

six-pack – Buy a six-pack beer.

free-for-all – They want free-for-all income for the poor.

Separated or Hyphenated?

• Without a doubt, the easiest way to determine whether you need separated or hyphenated compound nouns is that we use separated compound nouns as nouns while hyphenated compound nouns usually function as adjective in sentences.

Open air vs open-air

We enjoy hanging out in the open air in summer.

The afternoon was so hot my friends and I decided to go to an open-air bar.

Air traffic vs air-traffic

Air traffic was so heavy last night.

The air-traffic control had a hard time managing the situation.

Compound Adjectives

• Compound adjectives are normally structured in three different ways. Many compound adjectives are hyphenated.

noun + adjective | noun + participle | adjective + participle

Noun + Adjective  

• These compound adjectives are a combination of a noun and and an adjective.                                 

camera-shy – I am camera-shy.                                         

accident-prone – Be careful. This is an accident-prone area.                    

sugar-free – I prefer sugar-free coffee.                                                    

Noun + Participle   

• These compound adjectives are a combination of a noun and and a participle.

computer-assisted – They are using computer-assisted instruction.

user-generated – These are user-generated contents.

custom-built – It is a custom-built car.

Adjective + Participle

• These compound adjectives are a combination of an adjective and and a participle.

brown-haired – My girlfriend is the brown-haired woman.

ill-tempered – Andy is a little ill-tempered.

fair-skinned – Ana is a fair-skinned girl.

• Compound adjectives formed by combining well + participle or a phrase should be hyphenated when the compound is before the noun.

He created some well-known artworks.

He just checked his up-to-date account.

• However, do not hyphenate when the compound is after the noun.

His artworks are also well known around the world.

His account is up to date.

• Compound adjectives that describe ages and lengths of time are also hyphenated.

I have a five-year old daughter.

They found some two-centuries old relics.

A clause always has a subject.

Her grandmother has just retired. Was an accountant.     =>     She was an accountant.
I’m cooking for my sister. Is sick.      =>       She is sick.
Look at the sky! Is very sunny.     =>     It’s very sunny.

Except Imperative Sentences

Come back tomorrow.
Say that again.

In case there is no other subject, use there or it.

THERE

Use there as an empty subject, followed by the verb be and then a noun phrase.

• use when introducing a new topic

There is a conference this week. It will start on Monday.
There has been a mistake. I hope this gets corrected.

• use with numbers or quantities

There was a lot of people at the museum yesterday.
There must have been more than twenty thousand fans who watched the concert.

• use when talking about location

There used to be a big oak tree on this spot.
There are cookies on the jar.
I hope there will be someone at his house later.

• use with indefinite pronoun or to express quantity and the to-infinitive

There is nothing to see at the exhibit.
There was a lot to do in my previous project.
There was nothing to learn in that class.
There are a lot of things to discuss.

• use “for” to show the subject of the to-infinitive

There is nothing for the team members to discuss in the meeting.
There was plenty for them to play with in the nursery.
There was nothing for him to do at his grandparents’.
There are a lot of questions for you to answer.

• use with an indefinite pronoun or when expressing quantity and an -ing verb

There is someone calling to talk to you.
There were a lot of babies crying and shouting.

If the noun phrase is singular, use a singular verb.

There is an exam today.
There were a lot of people at the stadium.
There is someone calling to talk to you.

If the noun phrase is plural, use a plural verb.

There are more than two dishes to cook.
There were some papers on the table.
There were a lot of guests singing and dancing.

IT

Use it when talking about:

• times and dates

It’s almost six o’clock.
It’s 18th of July.

• weather:

It’s snowing.
It’s a very windy day.
It was getting warm.

• when giving an opinion about a place

It’s very dark in here.
It will be better when we get to our destination.
It’s very warm in his room.

• when giving an opinion followed by to-infinitive:

It’s good to talk to you.
It will be nice to spend the weekend on the beach.
It was interesting to learn about proper driving techniques.

• when giving an opinion followed by an -ing verb:

It’s fun spending time with friends.
It’s horrible driving at night.
It can be hard taking care of a sick baby.

Use it when talking about people.

Use it when talking about ourselves.

• when talking on the phone

Good day. It’s Elizabeth.

• when people cannot see you

[Anne knocks on the door] It’s me. It’s Anne.

Use it to talk about other people:

• when pointing them out for the first time:

Look. It’s Beyonce!
Who is she? I think it’s Adam’s boss.

• when we cannot see them and we ask them for their name:

[when the phone rings and you pick it up]

Hello. Who is it?

[when someone knocks on your door]

Who is it?

A group of related words that does not have a subject and a verb functioning as a single part of speech is called a phrase. A participial phrase is composed of a group of words with a participle together with all its modifiers and complements. In the following examples, a noun is modified by each of the phrases.

How to Diagram Participial Phrases

The first step is to determine the participle and the noun it intends to modify.

Then put the participle on a bent, slanted line right under the noun it intends to modify.

Determine the rest of the phrases and diagram it correspondingly.

Here are the step by step procedure using this example sentence:

Smelling flowers at the garden, Jane sneezed.

Step 1: Find the participle. (smelling)

Step 2: Determine the noun it modifies. ( Jane)

Step 3: Determine the rest of the phrase. ( flowers at the garden)

Step 4: Find out what the rest of the phrase is doing.

At this stage, your grammar knowledge will be put into test.
In the process of diagramming this sentence, you need to know that flowers is a direct object and at the garden is a prepositional phrase. This prepositional phrase is modifying smelling. As a result, we diagram the prepositional phrase underneath smelling.

Dangling

When there isn’t a noun or pronoun to modify, the participial phrase dangles. It is called a dangling participle.

What are they?

• They are adverbs that tell us how often or how frequently an action is done.

What are the two types of adverbs of frequency?

Definite adverbs of frequency

Used to describe definite frequency

Examples:

• hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly
• every second, once a minute, twice a year
• once, twice, once or twice, three times

We usually put it in end position of the sentence.

Examples:

• My sister checks up on me Every hour.
• We go abroad yearly.
• We hang out weekly.

Sometimes we put it at the front.

Example:

• Every day, millions of people suffer from pollution.

Indefinite adverbs of frequency

Used to describe indefinite frequency

We usually put it in the middle position of the sentence.

They go before the main verb (except the main verb “to be”)

• We usually hang out on Saturday.
• I have often done that.
• They are always late.

Prefix

-A group of letters added before the root of a word. It usually changes the meaning of the
word.

For example:

WORD                  PREFIX  and Meaning                                               New word

Happy                   Un – not                                                                         Unhappy

Work                     Over -Excessively,extreme                                         Overwork

Understand         Mis-Bad,wrong                                                             Misunderstand

Social                    Anti -Against                                                                 Antisocial

Cursor                  Pre- Before,prior                                                          Precursor

Suffix

– A group of words added at the end of a root word.

For example:

WORD                  SUFFIX and Meaning                                             New Word

Like                       Able-able to be                                                         Likeable

Happy                  Er-comparative                                                         Happier

Sad                       Ness-denotes state or condition                           Sadness

Taste                     Less- Not including                                                 Tasteless

Two clauses form mixed conditionals. They pertain to different times. In some cases, you can combine unreal conditional sentences. In addition, the time in the if-clause is different from the time in main or consequence clause.

First

• A variety of modal verbs can be used in mixed first conditional sentences.

If + present simple, can / may / might / will / should + verb (infinitive)

If you help me finish my task on time, I will take you out for dinner.
I can lend you some money if you want to see the concert badly,
If I let you go out with your friends tonight, you should be home by 11PM.

• Next, use going to and will in mixed first conditional sentences.

If + present simple, going to + verb (infinitive)

If you don’t take things seriously, you’re going to miss this opportunity.

• Additionally, you can use present continuous and going to in the If-clause.

If you’re going home, can you pick up Lucas along the way?
If you’re going to your hometown, make sure to pay him a visit.

• Lastly, you can use present perfect in the If-clause.

If you’ve read the first novel, you can start working on the second one.

Third and Second

• To start off, it is important to know that this pattern of mixed third and second conditional describes a present result of an envisioned past action.

If + past perfect, would + verb (infinitive)

If they had taken the train instead of the bus, they wouldn’t still be stuck in traffic.
They wouldn’t still be stuck in traffic if they had taken the train instead of the bus.

Second and Third

• This pattern of mixed second and third conditional describes a probable result in the past of an unreal action or situation.

If + past simple, would have + verb (infinitive)

If I was a good singer, I would have been more popular.
I would have been more popular if I was a good singer.

Mixed Conditionals Exercise

Answer this exercise on Mixed Conditionals.

1. They ________ dinner with us tonight if their appointment _______ canceled.

a. will not have … was not canceled

b. would not be having … had not been …

c. can’t have … were not canceled

2. If she _______ to move abroad next month, she would have accepted his marriage proposal.

a. weren’t going 

b. weren’t gone 

c. wasn’t going

3. If Carlo were delivering the speech tomorrow, he _______ very honored.

a. can be 

b. would be

c. will be

4. If they ______ part of the EU, they wouldn’t need a visa to travel here.

a. had been

b. were

c. could be

5. If we were rich, we _______ on more vacations last year.

a. will have gone 

b. would have gone

c. could go

6. If she _______ to work so much, she would have gone home earlier.

a. didn’t have

b. wasn’t 

c. shouldn’t

7. If I didn’t need so many things, I _______ all of these things this weekend.

a. wouldn’t bring

b. couldn’t bring

c. would have brought

8. If I ______ better, I ______ a scholar.

a. had studied …. would be …

b. study … would have been …

c. could study … would have been …

9. If I sang well, I _____ a song for you.

a.  would have sung

b. would have sing

c. could sing

10. If she _______ her homework, she can start watching TV.

a. were finished

b. finished

c. has finished

Find the answers to this exercise here.

See also: Zero and Type 1 Conditional and When and If

For additional information on this topic, check out this Education First lesson.

For other English grammar lessons, go to this page.

Causative verbs are action words that cause another thing to happen. The verbs let, help, have, make and get are causative verbs.

The following examples show the usage and purpose of causative verbs in English sentences.

How To Use Causative Verbs in English

LET = Allow something to happen

Structure:

LET + PERSON/THING + base form of the VERB

Examples:

I don’t let my toddler play at the dining table.

She doesn’t let us go on a trip alone.

They won’t let her see John again.

I let all these unfortunate events happen.

Don’t let them get to you.

Good to know: Let is also the past tense of let.

If the aim is to express a more formal sentence, the verbs allow and permit can be used. With the use of allow and permit, we have to use to + verb:

I don’t allow my toddler to play at the dining table.

She doesn’t permit us to go on a trip alone.

MAKE = Require or Force Someone To Do Something

Grammatical structure:

MAKE + PERSON + base form of the VERB

Examples:

They made him clean the entire house by himself. Afterall, he was the one who made all the mess.

My teacher made me read seven novels in one month.

Just the same with the use of allow and permit, we must also use to + verb when using the verbs force and require.

The company requires the employees to wear their company ID.
“Require” is usually used when there is a rule that has to be followed.

She was forced to surrender all her valuables at knife point.
“Force” is usually used when there is coercion and a threat of violence.

HAVE = Hand over The task to Someone else

Structure:

• HAVE + PERSON + base form of the VERB
• HAVE + THING + PAST PARTICIPLE of the verb

Examples of structure #1:

• The leader had his assistant arrange the meetings for his colleagues.
• I’ll have my business partner send you an email regarding the proposal.

Examples of structure #2:

• I’m going to have my nails done later.
• I need to have my clogged sink fixed soon.

Good to know:  We often use “get” in informal speech.

• I’m going to get my nails done later.
• I need to get my clogged sink fixed soon.

GET = Persuade/Motivate Someone To Do Something

Structure:

GET + PERSON + TO + VERB

Examples:

• My friends got me to wear a summer dress that is not my style.
• The couple got a wedding coordinator to take care of all their wedding needs.

HELP = Be of Assistance to Someone/Aid Someone in Doing Something

Structure:

• HELP + PERSON + base form of the VERB
• HELP + PERSON + TO + VERB

It is unnecessary but “to” can be used after the verb “help”. It is more common not to use “to” after “help”.

• They helped her clean her house.
• They helped her to clean her house.
• Sally helps me do my homework every night.
• Sally helps me to do my homework every night.

It

It is a pronoun used to refer to a specific thing, fact, place, and situation.

Example:

I visited John’s farm. It was big and clean.

My dog ate my biscuit. It was probably hungry.

We also use it to refer to time, distance, and weather.

Example:

What time is it now?

How far is it from here to your hometown?

It was rainy yesterday.

That, This

That is used to refer to an object that is far from the speaker.

Example:

That red box is used to keep my children’s toys. (Pointing to a box)

This is used to refer to an object which is close to the speaker.

Example:

This is my latest invention. (The speaker is either holding the object or has the object near him/her)

These, Those

These – used to refer to objects that are near the speaker.

Example:

These samples are well-made.

Those – used to refer to objects that are far from the speaker.

Example:

Those apples in that stall look delicious!

Sometimes, we use this, that, these, and those, as pronouns.

Example:

Who owns this (book)?

What are these (fruits)?

Please hand me those (boxes)

When or If

Look at the following sentences:

a. We will go home when it stops raining.
b. If it stops raining, we will go home.

What is the difference between the two sentences?

• When is used for things which we are sure to happen.

Example:

I will go jogging this afternoon. (Plan) When I go jogging, I will drop by Susan’s place.

• If is used for things that will possibly happen.

Example:

Don’t call me if I am late this evening. My meeting might get extended.

If the company doesn’t call me, I will send them an email.

I might attend the conference tomorrow. If I attend the conference, I will try to find a chance to show our new proposal.

Going back to the two sentences presented at the beginning, sentence A implies that the rain is sure to stop, thus they will go home (after it stops). Sentence B, on the other hand, implies that the speaker is not sure whether the rain will stop later or not.