Learning grammar on the web

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The best way to learn English grammar is the same way that you learned the grammar of your own language; by listening to English and reading it; by speaking it and writing it. But many learners enjoy doing grammar work and think that it helps them to learn English more quickly!
It is certainly true that doing grammar exercises like the ones on these web pages can help a little. For example, if you read and think about the explanations, they may lead you to understand better why a particular grammar form is used in a particular situation. The exercises can also be used to test yourself on what you already know (or think you do!) You need to remember, however, that some people find they are very good at doing grammar work, but make lots of mistakes when they come to write themselves. (And it is even more of a problem when they come to speak.) Others don`t do very well in grammar exercises but can write and speak accurately. So the best thing is not to spend too much time on grammar alone. You would do better to read an interesting book.
And never forget: no-one learns to speak a language without making grammar mistakes. The main thing is that you can communicate what you want to say!

From teacher to teacher
I have produced these grammar notes and testing materials for ESL students at Frankfurt International School (FIS). My day-to-day teaching is based on the theory that students learn a new language most efficiently and enjoyably when they are involved in performing various communicative tasks set in the context of a wider topic that is of interest and importance to them. For example, students might be asked to find out about one of their ancestors and talk about him or her to the rest of the class. Or, at a more advanced level, they may have to research an environmental problem and prepare a written report of their findings for publishing on the Web.
Any focus on grammar results from students discovering a gap in their ability to communicate their ideas effectively and accurately. So, students wishing to talk about the life of an ancestor will clearly need to know how to form and use the past simple tense. And students working on a written report of a scientific nature will need to have good control of the passive forms and an understanding of when the passive is to be preferred to the active. Grammar teaching at FIS, therefore, is rooted in context and arises out of a communicative need.
There are, however, many students who enjoy learning and testing themselves on grammar out of context. This may be what they are used to from from their previous learning experiences or how they expect language should be taught and learned. Others want extra practice or the chance to formalize their knowledge of the grammar they have acquired in the course of their daily exposure to English in the school. It is for such students that these pages have been produced.
The quizzes are based on the principle that learners should be required to make a choice between two or more tenses. So, for example, the pages in the first grammar block contain questions which require the student to choose between the present continuous and the present simple. Later blocks (will) have questions where the choice is much more open. (This approach reflects the findings of a 1992 survey* into self-study grammar practice, in which 89% of the participants preferred exercises which involved a choice of linguistic forms.)
Each of the grammar quiz question pages contains a direct link to a brief explanation of the use of the particular tense in the question, with further examples. The grammar of the English language cannot of course be reduced to a few hard and fast rules; it is vastly more complicated than that. The simplified explanations in this on-line textbook, however, are considered appropriate for school learners in their first year or two of English. Similarly, the examples and situations in both the notes pages and the quiz pages reflect the needs and interests of ESL students at FIS.
If you have any comments on the content of the pages or find any mistakes, please contact me at paul_shoebottom@fis.edu
* Self-study grammar practice: learners` views and preferences Fortune, A ELT Journal 46/2 1992

Auxiliary verbs
Auxiliary verbs are sometimes called helping verbs because they are needed to form many of the tenses. The most used auxiliary verbs are the verbs to be, to do and to have. For example: the auxiliary to do is needed to ask questions in the present and past simple tenses. To be is needed for the present and past continuous, and all the passive forms. The auxiliary to have is used in the present and past perfect tenses. Some tenses, like the present perfect continuous, need more than one auxiliary!

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Here are some examples of the common auxiliary verbs in action:
• Do you like German food?
• Does your mother speak English?
• Did you come to school yesterday?
• Why are you talking? You should be listening to me!
• I was having a bath when you called!
• A new road is being built behind the school.
• Have you done your homework?
• My father has never visited the USA.
• How long have you been living in Germany?
• By this time next year I will have been learning English for 35 years!
Other common auxiliary verbs are: will, should, would, can, must, might, may, could (These verbs are often called modal verbs).
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Contracted auxiliaries
The auxiliary verbs are very often contracted. For example, you can say I`m playing tennis tomorrow, instead of I am playing tennis tomorrow. The contracted form (which needs an apostrophe) is more likely to be used in spoken language*. So, for example, it would be a little unusual to ask your friend: Why did you not call me yesterday? More probable is: Why didn`t you call me ..?
On the other hand, if you are doing a written report or essay, it is more usual to write the full form: Why did America not join the war until 1941? (instead of: Why didn`t America ..?).
The short form itself often has two alternatives, which are equally usual and correct. For example:
• She`s not going to the dance.
• She isn`t going to the dance.
• I haven`t seen him for ages.
• I`ve not seen him for ages.
* The full form is common in spoken language when the speaker wants to emphasize what she is saying. For example:
• Why don`t you call him?
• I have called him.
• I do not want to see him again.

Agreement
Agreement is the word for the correct matching of the subject and the verb in a sentence. (Another way to say this is that the subject and verb go together.) English has very few verb endings and the only one that learners really have to worry about is the -s ending in the present simple tense. As an example, let`s look at the verb to work:
Singular Plural
1st person I work We work
2nd person You work You work
3rd person He works
She works
It works They work
It can be seen that the -s is needed in the 3rd person singular *. It is not correct to say He work .., She like .. etc. And of course, it is also not correct to forget the -s when the 3rd person subject is a noun and not a pronoun. So you have to say: My father works in a bank. My mother drinks green tea for breakfast every day. Oil floats on water. You also need to remember the -s in sentences with relative pronouns. So, for example, it must be: Do you know the man who lives in the next apartment? A carnivore is an animal that eats other animals.
Don`t forget the -s when the verb is used as an auxiliary:
• Does your mother like English food?
• She has forgotten her homework again
(* Modal verbs like will, would, may, must etc. do NOT have an -s in the 3rd person singular.)
Irregular verbs
beat - beat - beaten
become - became - become
begin - began - begun
bend - bent - bent
bite - bit - bitten
blow - blew - blown
break - broke - broken
bring - brought - brought
build - built - built
burst - burst - burst
buy - bought - bought
catch - caught - caught
choose - chose - chosen
come - came - come
cost - cost - cost
cut - cut - cut
dig - dug - dug
do - did - done
draw - drew - drawn
drink - drank - drunk
drive - drove - driven
eat - ate - eaten
fall - fell - fallen
feed - fed - fed
feel - felt - felt
fight - fought - fought
find - found - found
fly - flew - flown
forget - forgot - forgotten
freeze - froze - frozen
give - gave - given
go - went - gone
grow - grew - grown
have - had - had
hear - heard - heard
hide - hid - hidden
hit - hit - hit
hold - held - held
hurt - hurt - hurt
keep - kept - kept
know - knew - known
lead - led - led
leave - left - left let - let - let
light - lit - lit
lose - lost - lost
make - made - made
mean - meant - meant
meet - met - met
pay - paid - paid
put - put - put
read - read - read
ride - rode - ridden
ring - rang - rung
rise - rose - risen
run - ran - run
say - said - said
see - saw - seen
sell - sold - sold
send - sent - sent
shake - shook - shaken
shine - shone - shone
shoot - shot - shot
shut - shut - shut
sing - sang - sung
sink - sank - sunk
sit - sat - sat
sleep - slept - slept
speak - spoke - spoken
spread - spread - spread
stand - stood - stood
steal - stole - stolen
stick - stuck - stuck
strike - struck - struck
sweep - swept - swept
swim - swam - swum
take - took - taken
teach - taught - taught
tear - tore - torn
tell - told - told
think - thought - thought
throw - threw - thrown
wake - woke - woken
wear - wore - worn
win - won - won
write - wrote - written