ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Table of the 8 English Parts of Speech
This is a summary of the 8 parts of speech.
part of function or "job" example words example sentences
speech
Verb action or state (to) be, have, do, like, Düsseldorf is a large city. I like Düsseldorf.
work, sing, can, must
Noun thing or person pen, dog, work, music, This is my dog. He lives in my house. We
town, London, teacher, live in London.
John
Adjective describes a noun a/an, the, 23, some, good, My dog is big. I like big dogs.
big, red, well, interesting
Adverb describes a verb, quickly, silently, well, My dog eats quickly. When he is very
adjective or adverb badly, very, really hungry, he eats really quickly.
Pronoun replaces a noun I, you, he, she, some John is Scottish. He lives in Scotland.
Preposition links a noun to To, at, after, on, but, into, We went to school on Monday. At the
another word out, across, over, in, of, weekend we will sail on the Rhine.
off, under, up, down...
Conjunction joins clauses or and, but, when I like dogs and I like cats. I like cats and
sentences or words dogs. I like dogs but I don't like cats.
Interjection short exclamation, oh!, ouch!, hi!, well Ouch! That hurts! Hi! How are you? Well,
sometimes inserted I don't know.
into a sentence
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THE ALPHABET AND INTERNET SYMBOLS
A B C - D E F _
Dash or Hyphen Underscore
G H I . J K L @
Dot At
M N O / P Q R \
(forward) slash Backslash
S T U : V W X ;
Colon Semi-colon
Y Z ! ? & % + =
Exclamation mark. Question mark. And. Percent Plus Equals
# * (hello) ₤ $ € №
Hash Asterisk “Hello” in brackets Pound Dollar Euro Number
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TIME AND HOW TO TELL IT
If we don’t know what time it is we ask someone to tell us the time. Read these times;
12:30 08:15 11:45
half past twelve quarter past eight quarter to twelve
07:10 02:25 10:35
ten past seven twenty five past two twenty five to eleven
13:20 21:55 17:40
twenty past one five to ten twenty to six
NOTE: We only use the 24 Hour Clock when speaking about future times. For example a flight
departure or railway timetable.A.M. (Morning) andP.M. (Afternoon) can be used instead. Don’t
use this when telling a person the time, because it is usually obvious that it is either the morning
or the afternoon.
The 24 Hour Clock
18:27 20:08 23:00
eighteen twenty-seven twenty oh-eight twenty-three hundred hours (or 11pm)
When to say the MINUTES when telling the time
When telling normal time, we say between every multiple of five after the hour minutes past
until 29 minutes past. You only use minutes to from 51 (nine minutes to) because it is easy to
work this out in your mind. Between half past and ten to we neither say past or to with the
exception of; 25 to, 20 to, quarter to, 10 to, 5 to.
11:08 12:27 20:13
eight minutes past eleven twenty-seven minutes past twelve thirteen minutes past eight
02:33 10:48 12:52
two thirty-three ten forty-eight eight minutes to one
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NUMBERS (Zahlen)
SAY THE FOLLOWING NUMBERS IN ENGLISH
67 536 1,233
sixty seven five hundred and thirty six one thousand two hundred and thirty three
NOTE: We do not say comma in English.
We say and after the hundred before saying the other numbers in groups of hundreds.
22,454,817
twenty two million four hundred and fifty four thousand eight hundred and seventeen.
16,017 102,007
sixteen thousand and seventeen one hundred and two thousand and seven
NOTE: 0 is said in many ways; oh, zero, nil, nought, love, zilch, nothing
Points and Commas; remember that these are the OPPOSITE way around in English speaking
countries and most other countries outside of Europe! The comma is never spoken.
1.5 1.05 1.005
one point five one point oh five one point oh oh five
NOTE: In British English we say oh for (0). In American English zero is used.
In British English we use nought for the (0) before the point. Americans say zero.
0.1 0.01 0.208
nought point one nought point oh one nought point two oh eight
NOTE: Every number after the point is said individually.
TELEPHONE NUMBERS: We say double for two same numbers, of sets of two, like this;
0049 211 844472222
Double-oh, four, nine, two, double-one, eight, four double-four, seven, double-two double-two
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DAYS, MONTHS, and YEARS
There are many different ways of writing dates, but definite rules on how to say them. Firstly, how to
correctly say the years.
1964 1999 2000
nineteen sixty-four nineteen ninety-nine two thousand
2006 2012 2064
two thousand and six twenty twelve twenty sixty-four
Months and Days of the week
JANUARY MONDAY
FEBRUARY TUESDAY
MARCH WEDNESDAY
APRIL THURSDAY
MAY FRIDAY
JUNE SATURDAY
JULY SUNDAY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
NOTE: A fortnight in British English means 2 weeks. Americans don’t use this word.
All the dates below mean the same; the third of October twenty-twelve
3rd Oct ‘12 03.10.12 10.3.12
rd
3/10/12 3 October 2012 03-10-12
NOTE: When saying the date you must always say the before the day and of before the month,
although this is never written. The exception is in the U.S. where the month comes before the
day. e.g; September Eleventh.
Read the following in Britsh English
3rd Sept 1977 22.08.01 12/12/02 10-04-64
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SHAPES (Formen)
TRIANGLE (Dreieck)
The ships sail was triangular in shape. The sides of a pyramid are triangular in shape.
SQUARE (Viereck)
The field is square. The gift was square in shape. John has a square-looking face.
CIRCLE (Kreis)
My birthday cake was circular in shape. The people held hands and made a big circle.
OVAL / ELLIPSE (Oval/Ellipse)
The eggs of a chicken are ovular in shape. The orbit of Pluto is elliptical around the Sun.
RECTANGLE (Rechteck)
Tables and football pitches are usually rectangular in shape.
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SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Use the following groups of words to make short sentences, or even short stories.
You can use different tenses of the verbs and the words can be used more than once in any order
you wish.
1.
WALK SHOP BUY PIZZA STREET QUICKLY
2.
BUS FARE PAY HAPPY LATE OFFICE
3.
WOMEN DRINK FUNNY DISCO MOVE DANCE
4.
HOLIDAY MONEY FLY FOOD ANGRY LATE
5.
CHRISTMAS SNOW PLAY SMILE RUN COLD
6.
CLOTHES WASH SINCE BROTHER DO SEE
7.
LADY GO HOUSE AGO MONTH TELL
8.
POLICE FOR SPEED FINE HOUR SAY
9.
SWIM FAST FINISH GREAT SUPRISE WIN
10.
ALWAYS PROMISE HOMEWORK TELL ANDY ME
11.
ENGLAND DRIVE CAR STRANGE WRONG DIFFERENT
12.
WATCH TELEPHONE ALWAYS VIDEO RELAX TEA
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BRING and TAKE
The Differences
Usage Note: In most dialects of English bring is used to denote motion toward the place
of speaking or the place from which the action is regarded: Bring it over here. The prime
minister brought a large present to Washington with him.
Take is used to denote motion away from such a place: Take it over there. The President
will take several advisers with him when he goes to Europe. When the relevant point of
focus is not the place of speaking itself, the difference obviously depends on the context.
We can say either The labour leaders brought or took their requests to the mayor's office,
depending on whether we want to describe things from the point of view of the labor
leaders or the mayor. Perhaps for this reason, the distinction between bring and take has
been blurred in some areas; a parent may say of a child, for example, She always takes a
pile of books home with her from school. This usage may sound curious to those who are
accustomed to observe the distinction more strictly, but it bears no particular stigma of
incorrectness or illiteracy.
The form brung is common in colloquial use in many areas, even among educated
speakers, but it is not standard in formal writing.
Could you please take these letters to the post office and bring me some stamps
back ?
Will you bring me some asparagus from Lidl if you’re going shopping ?
If you’re going to the library could you take my books back for me ?
Take tram number 704 into the city. Phone me to bring you home in the car later
I took your books to the library and brought you some new ones.
Fetch: Basically means to go after something and bring it back, usually very quickly.
There’s been an accident, fetch help quickly !
Could you fetch me the newspaper from the kitchen please ?
And typically.... when throwing a stick for a dog you would shout... FETCH!
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MAKE and DO
The Differences
We use DO when we talk about work.
We use DO when we don’t say exactly what the activity is.
We use DO before determiner + ing form, to talk about longer or repeated activities such as
jobs and hobbies.
Breaking the rules: DO: good, harm, business, one’s best, someone a favour, the
dishes, one’s hair, one’s duty, 120 kph, homework
Can you do the shopping?
Could you do the ironing and the washing up?
I would like to do some reading.
I think it’s time to do some work.
What shall we do now?
We use MAKE to talk about building and creating things.
Breaking the rules: MAKE: an attempt, an effort, an offer, an excuse, a decision, a
phone call, a mistake, a suggestion, a fuss, a noise, an exception, a journey, a profit, a
fortune, enquiries, arrangements, progress, money, love, a bed, a fire, war, peace
Make a copy of this letter.
He enjoys making model cars.
She’s always making crazy plans.
My wife makes wonderful pizzas.
Oh dear! The dog’s made a mess on the carpet again.
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MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS
The modal auxiliary verbs are..,
can
could
may
might
shall
should
will
would
must
ought to
They are used before other verbs, and in tags and short answers.
CAN kann CAN’T kann nicht
COULD könnte und konnte COULDN’T könnte und konnte nicht
MAY darf und könnte MAY NOT darf und könnte nicht
MIGHT dürfte und könnte MIGHTN’T dürfte und könnte nicht
SHALL soll und werde SHAN’T darf nicht
SHOULD sollte SHOULDN’T sollte nicht
WILL werde (äußerst selten: will) WON’T werde nicht
WOULD würde und wurde WOULDN’T würde und wurde nicht
MUST muss MUSTN’T darf nicht
OUGHT TO sollte (eigentlich) OUGHTN’T TO sollte (eigentlich) nicht
Replacements (Ersatzverb)CAN, COULD be able to WILL be going to MAY be allowed to
MUST have to SHOULD be supposed to. NEEDN’T muss nicht.
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GIVING AND RECIEVING DIRECTIONS:
The following list of useful phrases and prepositions can be used to find your way around any town or city in
most English speaking countries. The list is not comprehensive!
GO STRAIGHT ON / AHEAD
TURN RIGHT
TURN LEFT
TAKE THE SECOND TURNING RIGHT
TAKE THE THIRD TURNING LEFT
GO THROUGH THE LIGHTS (Ampel)
GO RIGHT / LEFT AT THE LIGHTS
GO OVER THE CROSSROADS (Straßenkreuzung)
GO OVER THE ROUNDABOUT (Kreisverkehr)
GO LEFT AT THE ROUNDABOUT
AT THE ROUNDABOUT TAKE THE THIRD EXIT
TAKE THE LEFT / RIGHT FORK (Gabelung)
KEEP IN THE LEFT HAND LANE
GO OVER THE BRIDGE
GO UNDER THE RAILWAY BRIDGE
GO OVER THE LEVEL CROSSING (Bahnübergang)
GO LEFT / RIGHT AT THE T-JUNCTION
THE ROAD BENDS TO THE RIGHT / LEFT
GO ALONG SHORE DRIVE
KEEP GOING STRAIGHT ON
YOU WON’T MISS IT!
IT IS ON YOUR LEFT HAND SIDE
IT IS ON YOUR RIGHT HAND SIDE, JUST AFTER THE....
IT IS OPPOSITE......
IT IS ACROSS FROM.....
IT IS NEXT TO THE......
IT IS ON / AT THE CORNER
IT IS IN SEAVIEW ROAD
IT IS ON SHORE DRIVE
IT IS AT THE END OF PARK CLOSE
THE ENTRANCE IS ON STATION ROAD
Example dialogue from A to B:
From the corner of Shore Drive and Broad Street, go straight on up the street leaving the sea
behind you. Take the first left and go straight on over the next two sets of crossroads. At the T-
junction go right, follow the road around the bend, go through the lights, and it’s directly on
your right-hand side.
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Prepositions of description – Where are the cats?
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