English
Grammar
Grammar answers one question: how do words arrange into sentences, and sentences into paragraphs. I first draw the map of the system, then note the core logic and the trap in each part; tense has its own page (see Tenses), and the exam-side statistics plus breakdowns of long, hard sentences are in high-frequency grammar and translation. Key example sentences read aloud on tap.
The map
English grammar
├── Morphology: the job of each word
│ ├── eight word classes + articles
│ └── the verb complex: tense · voice · mood · non-finite forms · modals
└── Syntax: how the jobs combine
├── five basic sentence patterns (the frame)
├── three clause types (frames stacked on frames: noun · relative · adverbial)
└── inversion · emphasis · ellipsis (deformations of the frame)When I take apart a long, hard sentence I move down this map: find the finite verb to fix the main clause's frame, then see which slot a clause hangs from, and only then handle the deformations like inversion and ellipsis.
Eight word classes and the articles
| Class | Job | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Noun n. | the name of a person, thing or concept | city, honesty |
| Verb v. | action and state, the heart of the sentence | run, seem |
| Adjective adj. | modifies a noun | tall, important |
| Adverb adv. | modifies a verb, an adjective, or the whole sentence | quickly, however |
| Pronoun pron. | stands in for a noun to avoid repetition | he, which |
| Preposition prep. | attaches a noun to the rest of the structure | in, despite |
| Conjunction conj. | joins words and sentences | and, although |
| Interjection int. | stands outside the sentence structure | oh, well |
The articles form a separate group, with three core rules: a/an marks one of a kind, unspecified (first mention, any one); the marks something specific (known to both parties, mentioned before, or unique — the sun); the zero article goes with generic plurals and uncountables (Books are cheap.). The most common error: a singular countable used generically must carry an article and cannot stand bare — I like dog means "I like eating dog", while "I like dogs" is I like dogs or the dog.
The five basic sentence patterns
Every English sentence is one of five frames (or an extension of one). To identify the pattern, check exactly one thing: what follows the finite verb.
| Pattern | Formula | Example | How to spot it |
|---|---|---|---|
| SV | S + V | an intransitive verb closes the sentence on its own | |
| SVC | S + V + C | after a linking verb (be / seem / taste …) comes a complement describing the subject | |
| SVO | S + V + O | a transitive verb takes one object | |
| SVOO | S + V + O(ind.) + O(dir.) | the give / tell / show / send family takes two objects, a person and a thing | |
| SVOC | S + V + O + C | the object is followed by a complement describing the object |
Tell double objects from an object complement with be: in He gave me a book, me ≠ a book (you cannot say I am a book), so it is SVOO; in They call him a fool, him = a fool (him is a fool holds), so a fool is an object complement. One copula verb sorts out two patterns.
The three clause types
A clause is "a sentence inside a sentence". It sorts into three kinds by which job it fills in the larger sentence: noun clauses fill a noun slot, relative clauses fill an adjective slot, adverbial clauses fill an adverb slot.
Noun clauses
Sentences introduced by that / whether / a wh-word, which can serve as subject, object, complement or appositive:
- (subject)
- (object; that is often dropped in object position)
- (appositive, spelling out what the news was)
Two common errors. Word order: clauses always take declarative order — Do you know where does he live is wrong, where he lives is right. that vs what: that only connects and takes no grammatical role; what itself functions as the subject or object inside the clause.
Relative clauses
Introduced by the relative pronouns who / which / that, they modify a noun:
- (that is the object of bought)
- (who is the subject of the clause, so its verb agrees with the antecedent)
Four points to keep: when only that is allowed (the antecedent is all / everything / an indefinite pronoun, or is modified by an ordinal or a superlative); not that after a preposition (in which is right, in that is not); non-restrictive clauses (set off by commas, adding commentary) take which / who, not that; and the most common error of all — the relative word must actually do grammatical work. The book that I bought it is good is the classic double-subject of Chinglish, and it has to go.
Adverbial clauses
Nine kinds by meaning (time, place, condition, cause, purpose, result, concession, manner, comparison), each with its own set of connectors. Learn the four high-frequency ones first:
| Type | Connectors | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Time | when / while / as / before / until | |
| Condition | if / unless / as long as | |
| Concession | although / though / even if | Although he is young, he is reliable. |
| Cause | because / since / as | Since you are here, let's start. |
Main future, subordinate present: adverbial clauses of time and condition use the simple present for future reference, which is what allows the main clause to use the future. If it will rain is wrong (see the tense page for the detail).
The three non-finite forms
A verb that is not the predicate has to change shape: the infinitive to do, the gerund doing, the participle doing / done. The whole division of labour in one table:
| Form | Core meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| to do | purpose, something still to come | (he went in order to study) |
| doing | active, in progress | (we were standing — active) |
| done | passive, completed | (the town is seen — passive) |
Learn the classic pairs: stop to do (stop in order to do something else) / stop doing (stop what you are doing); remember to do (remember to do it — not done yet) / remember doing (remember having done it). The logical subject of a participle must be the same as the main clause's subject. Walking in the street, a car hit him is a dangling participle (the car was not walking) — fix it as While he was walking, …
Mood and the subjunctive
Three moods: indicative (stating facts), imperative (giving orders), subjunctive (stating the counterfactual — a supposition that runs against fact or against what is realistically possible). The rule for the subjunctive is that the tense steps back one notch:
| Type of supposition | Clause | Main clause | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against the present | past form (be is always were) | would + bare infinitive | |
| Against the past | had done | would have done | |
| Against the future (unlikelily) | should / were to do | would + bare infinitive | If it were to snow tomorrow, we would cancel it. |
Wish-clauses step back the same way: I wish I knew (present) / I wish I had known (past). Another frequent exam point is the object clause after "request" verbs like suggest / insist / order / demand, which takes (should) + bare infinitive — He suggested that she (should) leave early. Note that suggest takes the subjunctive only when it means "to advise"; when it means "to indicate" it does not (The smile suggests that he is happy).
The passive
Passive = a tense form of be + a past participle, with the receiver of the action as the subject. The eight common cells (matching the 16-cell matrix on the tense page):
| Tense | Passive form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Simple present | am/is/are done | English is spoken here. |
| Present progressive | am/is/are being done | The road is being repaired. |
| Simple past | was/were done | The bridge was built in 1900. |
| Past progressive | was/were being done | The house was being painted. |
| Present perfect | has/have been done | The work has been finished. |
| Past perfect | had been done | The letter had been sent. |
| Simple future | will be done | A new school will be opened. |
| With a modal | can/must be done | The rule must be followed. |
Two habits worth remembering: intransitive verbs have no passive (you do not say was happened for happen / take place); get + done is a colloquial passive variant (He got hired last week), often carrying a sense of being caught up in something or of an outcome.
Modal verbs
Certainty of inference comes on a gradient: must (certain) > may (possible) > might (less possible); for a negative inference use can't (impossible), not mustn't. He must be tired means "he is certainly tired"; He can't be tired means "he cannot possibly be tired". Modal + have done infers about the past: must have done (certainly did it), should have done (ought to have done it but didn't — carries blame), needn't have done (did not need to but did it anyway).
Inversion, emphasis and ellipsis
- Partial inversion: when a negative adverbial is fronted, the auxiliary moves before the subject. Never have I seen such a mess. / Not only does he sing, but he also dances. / Only then did I realize the truth.
- So / neither inversion: So do I (me too) / Neither do I (I don't either) — the auxiliary matches the tense of the previous sentence.
- Cleft sentences: It is/was + emphasized part + that/who + the rest. Test: if the sentence is still complete after removing It is … that, it is a cleft. It was in Paris that they met → In Paris they met ✓.
- Ellipsis: in a comparative adverbial clause, whatever duplicates the main clause may drop out: She is taller than I (am). / He runs faster than she (does). Adverbial clauses reduced to just their subordinating conjunction (When asked, he nodded = When he was asked) are the norm in writing.
Further reading
- Tenses: the largest block of the verb complex — the 16-cell matrix and the nine tenses in detail.
- High-frequency grammar and translation: grammar points counted across the real papers, plus breakdowns of long, hard sentences.
- Pronunciation: the other half of the fundamentals outside grammar; the example sentences read aloud.