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HELPFUL TIPS AND RESOURCES FOR ADULT ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS

 

English Grammar

On this page, you will find videos and documents relating to some common problem areas for English language learners.

Grammar Quick Links

WordOrder

Word Order - Sentence Structure

Sentence structure in English is usually: Subject + Verb + Object

Adjective and Noun Word Order

Don't forget: adjectives in English come before the noun. (There are a few rare exceptions, but most English language learners will never come into contact with them.)  For more information on adjective position, please click here: link.  

VerbTenses

Verb Tenses

MakeVsDo

'do' versus 'make'

UsedToVsWould

'used to' versus 'would'

PhrasalVerbs

Phrasal Verbs

Prepositions

Prepositions

AdjWordOrder

Adjectives - Word Order

The workbook English Grammar in Use has excellent explanations and exercises on prepositions, as well.

Exercises for Conjunctions and Prepositions - Units 113-120

Exercises for Prepositions - Units 121-136

 Note:  Before the adjectives + noun, there is usually a determiner: a, an, the, my, your, these, those, some, etc.

Examples: 

The funny, little, old lady ate a sweet, bite-sized, chocolate cake.

The big, brown, energetic puppy played with the tiny, yellow, lazy cat.

  1. Opinion Opinion / Attitude / Observations

    • Examples: funny, tasty, nice, mean

  2. Size Size / Height

    • Examples: big, small, tall, short

  3. Shape Shape / Weight / Length

    • Examples: square, long, round, fat, skinny

  4. Condition Condition / State

    • Examples: healthy, sick, rich, poor, hungry

  5. Age Condition / State

    • Examples: old, young, ancient, antique

  6. Color Color / Approximate Color

    • Examples: red, blue, greenish, purplish

  7. Pattern Pattern / Design

    • Examples: checkered, striped, spotted, zigzag

  8. Origin Where is it from?

    • Examples: American, French, English

  9. Material What is it made of?

    • Examples: plastic, wooden, metal, gold, silver

  10. Purpose What is it used for?

    • Examples: riding, shopping, teaching, learning, gardening

Adj&Adv

Adjectives & Adverbs

The workbook English Grammar in Use has excellent explanations and exercises on adjectives and adverbs, as well.

Exercises for Adjectives and adverbs - Units 98-112

Adj-Ing-Ed

Adjectives - Do I add -ing or -ed?

Articles

Articles - the, a, an

The workbook English Grammar in Use has excellent explanations and exercises on articles and nouns.

Exercises for Articles and nouns - Units 69-81

FamilyTreeVocab

Family tree vocabulary

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