English Grammar

Parts of Speech ‫أقسام ال ﻼم‬

What is a Part of Speech?

English words can be categorised into 9 basic types called "parts of speech" or "word classes". It's
important to recognise parts of speech. This helps you to analyse sentences and understand them.
It also helps you to construct good sentences.
categorise: ‫يصنف‬
regognise: ‫يميز بين‬
Parts of Speech Table analyse: ‫يحلل‬
This is a summary of the 9 parts of speech. Construct: ‫يشكل‬
Indication or
part of speech Job example words example sentences
‫الدﻻلة أو العمل‬
driver, Ali, Idlib,
refer to a This is my uncle. He lives in a
tree, flower, dog,
1 Nouns person, plant, big house. He lives in Ariha.
horse, book, farm.
animal or thing He likes roses.
work, poem
good, big, excited, He lives in a big house. It is
2 Adjective describe a noun
red, interesting very beautiful.
be, have, do, eat,
express an Idlib is a nice city. We like it.
3 Verbs like, work, sing,
action or state We study at Idlib University.
will, can, must
describe a verb, luckily, constantly, My friend eats quickly. When
4 Adverbs adjective or well, badly, very, she is very hungry, she
adverb really, sometimes eats really quickly.
Lara and Nuha are sisters.
I, you, he, she, her,
5 Pronouns replace a noun Both are beautiful. Lara is my
him, some, both
friend. She is kind. I like her.
a/an, the, two, 5, I have three brothers.
determine or
6 Determiners some, many, few, This water is fresh.
limit a noun
much, this, those There is little petrol in the car.
link a noun to I went to the café with my
7 Prepositions to, at, after, on, but
another word friends on Thursday.
join words, I like chocolate but I don't
and, but, or, when,
8 Conjunctions clauses or like cappuccino. She likes
because, so
sentences chocolate and cappuccino.
express short Ouch! It hurts!
exclamation, oh!, ouch!, hi!, Hi! How are you?
9 Interjections
feeling or well, ugh! Well, I don't know.
emotion Ugh! This soup sucks!
Note!
*Some grammarians traditionally categorise English words into 8 parts of speech. They classify
determiners into adjectives instead of treating them as a separate part of speech.
*Other grammarians categorise them into 10 parts of speech. They classify verbs into two
categories:
 Lexical Verbs (work, like, run) Lexical Verbs : (‫أفعال تـامـة )لها معنى‬
 Auxiliary Verbs (be, have, must) Auxiliary Verbs: (‫أفعال ناقصة )مساعدة‬

However, the more recent categorization is classifying English words into 9 parts of speech.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Examples of sentences made with different English parts of speech:

verb
Read!
noun verb
Tala reads.
noun verb verb
Tala is reading.
pronoun verb noun
She reads books.
noun verb noun adverb
Tala speaks English fluently
noun verb adjective noun
Tala writes short stories
pronoun verb preposition deter. noun adverb
She went to the park yesterday
pronoun verb adjective noun conj. pronoun verb pron.
She writes interesting stories and I enjoy them
Here is a sentence that contains all parts of speech:
interj. pron. conj. det. adj. noun verb prep. noun adverb
Well, Tala and her young sister walk to school daily.

Words with more than one job

Many words in English can have more than one job so that they can be classified into more than
one part of speech. For example, "clean" can be a verb and an adjective; "but" can be a
conjunction and a preposition; "well" can be an adjective, an adverb and an interjection. In
addition, many nouns can act as adjectives.
To analyze a sentence and recognise what part of speech is a certain word, ask this question:
"What job is this word doing in this sentence?"
In the table below you can see a few examples. Of course, there are more, even for some of the
words in the table. In fact, if you look in a good dictionary you will see that the word "but" has
six jobs to do:
 verb, noun, adverb, pronoun, preposition and conjunction!
word part of speech example sentence
verb I clean my room every day.
clean
adjective The children messed the clean room up!
conjunction Tala came but Mariam didn't come.
but
preposition Everyone came but Mary.
noun We ate in the afternoon.
afternoon
noun acting as adjective We had afternoon tea.
adjective Are you well?
well adverb She speaks well.
interjection Well! That's expensive!

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Exercises
Exercise 1 - Decide the part of speech of the word in bold; choose the correct answer a), b) or c).
1. I bought a beautiful dress at the mall.
a) preposition b) adjective c) noun
2. What did she ask you to do?
a) conjunction b) preposition c) pronoun
3. I left my shoes under the kitchen table.
a) adjective b) preposition c) pronoun
4. If we finish our work quickly, we can go to the park.
a) adverb b) conjunction c) verb
5. On Tuesdays I work from nine to five.
a) verb b) preposition c) adverb
6. I want to go to a university in the UK.
a) adjective b) preposition c) noun
7. I'm sure I've met your sister before.
a) verb b) preposition c) interjection
8. Well, I don't think I'll be home before 6.
a) interjection b) preposition c) pronoun
9. Andy knocked on the door but nobody answered.
a) adverb b) preposition c) conjunction
10. After lunch let's go out for a coffee.
a) conjunction b) preposition c) adverb
Your score is: / 10
Exercise 2 - Identify and underline the VERB in the following sentences.
1. She is a good girl.
2. I was looking for that book.
3. The candle is kept in the drawer.
4. Please, pick up Nour and me on your way home.
5. She phones me every day.
6. Tom lives in New York.
7. My brother came home late.
8. Tony was so sleepy that he could hardly keep his eyes open
9. I did not go to school yesterday.
10. Can you please come quickly?
Your score is: / 10
Exercise 3 - Identify and underline the ADJECTIVE in the following sentences.
1. The place we visited yesterday was charming.
2. Did you see how big that cat was?
3. The weather is pleasant today.
4. The red dress you wore on your birthday was lovely.
5. My brother had two sandwiches for breakfast.
6. The film was amazing.
7. I am feeling very tired.
8. His fiancée is really beautiful.
9. Did you have your breakfast?
10. My friends visited me last week.
Your score is: / 10

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Exercise 4 - Identify and underline the ADVERB in the following sentences.

1. We have seen this before.
2. The postman comes to her daily.
3. The man repeated the same thing thrice.
4. Your friend called again.
5. Please walk forward.
6. The thief ran away.
7. My brother writes clearly.
8. This tea is too hot.
9. The oranges are almost ripe.
10. Are you feeling well?
Your score is: / 10
Exercise 5 – Identify the Part of Speech of the underlined words.
1. Fatima is not coming today.
2. My cousin will be leaving to Turkey tomorrow.
3. The teacher asked the students to stand.
4. He is my brother.
5. There is a cat under the table.
6. The clothes did not dry as it was raining all night.
7. Sheena and her sister dance well.
8. I am going to wear a purple dress for the party.
9. Oh! That is really sad.
10. She is coming with me.
Your score is: / 10
Exercise 6 – Fill the blanks with correct pronouns.
1. Siham is my sister. ________study in the same class
2. Between Rita and me, _______ am the younger one.
3. Do you see this book with my name on it? It is ________.
4. Miss Nada is our new class teacher. ________ is very sweet.
5. While cutting vegetables, Muna cut __________.
6. The committee got divided among ________.
7. I’m coming too. Please wait for _______.
8. Nobody but _____was present.
9. _________ book is better than the other.
10. Is this mug ________? It was on your table.
Your score is: / 10

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Verb Forms
What is a verb form?
A verb form is a verb shape in which a verb is modified to suit the context that speaks about a state
that existed or an action that is performed at a specific time. There are five verb forms in English.
They are base (root) form, present simple form, past simple form,
past participle form and present participle form. The following past participle: ‫ماض مشارك‬
table shows the different verb forms: present participle: ‫مشارك‬ ‫مضارع‬

Present simple / Past simple / Past participle / Present participle /

Verb type base form
(-s) form (-ed) form (-en) form (-ing) form
visit visit/visits visited visited visiting
Regular
open open/opens opened opened opening
write write/writes wrote written writing
Irregular
cut cut/cuts cut cut cutting
have have/has had --- ---
Main
do do/does did --- ---
Auxiliary
be am/is/are was/were been ---
have have/has had had having
Lexical do do/does did done doing
be am/is/are was/were been being
--- will would --- ---
Modal
--- can could --- ---
Auxiliary
--- ought to --- --- ---
Modal 1. 'have' (in 1. 'be' in continuous
Used auxiliary perfect tenses) tenses
--- ---
with: or 2. 'be' (in the
infinitive to… passive voice)
Notes!
* The main auxiliaries 'have' and 'do' do not have participle forms. The main auxiliary 'be' has no
present participle form.
* The lexical verbs 'have', 'do' and 'be' have all verb forms. they may have the following meanings:
have = possess do = perform, work, execute, clean … be = become, turn out
* Modal auxiliaries have no base form nor past or present participle forms.
* The past participle form is so called because some verbs participate in being a verb and an
adjective. However, the past participle form often participates as a verb preceded by the auxiliary
'have' in the perfect tenses to indicate that the action started or happened in the past time. It can be
also preceded by the auxiliary verb 'be' in the passive voice. E.g.,
- She has written the letter. (verb - perfect tense)
- The letter was written by Lily. (verb - passive voice)
- They send written letters to other companies. (adjective)
* The present participle form is so called because some verbs participate in being a verb, an
adjective and a noun. However, the present participle form often participates as a verb preceded by
the auxiliary 'be' in the continuous/progressive tenses to indicate that the action is/was still going on
or in progress. It participates as a noun, called the gerund, to refer to an action. E.g.,
- He is walking in the park. (verb - progressive tense)
- The walking man is my friend. (adjective)
- Walking is very useful for health. (noun - gerund)

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Exercise 7 – Fill in the blanks with the suitable form of the verb in the following sentences.
1. I ___________ (go) to school every day.
2. Taima ____________ (love) ice cream.
3. Did you _____________ (find) the pink dress I asked for?
4. I will ____________ (come) to the party tomorrow.
5. My mom _____________ (clean) the house yesterday evening.
6. My name _____________ (be) Shaza.
7. That bag ______________ (belong) to me.
8. My grandson, Safi, can ______________ (count) up to fifty.
9. Fareed will be ______________ (go) to work tomorrow.
10. Jabir _____________ (play) football.

Your score is: / 10

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Sentence Structure
Learning about sentence structure makes you familiar with the grammatical components of the
sentence and allows you to know exactly where and how each word should be placed in a sentence
to make it meaningful. The Collins Dictionary defines sentence structure as “the grammatical
arrangement of words in sentences.”
Basic Parts and Components of a sentence
Before we look into the sentence structure, we will first learn about the basic structure of a sentence
and the components that make up a sentence.

 Parts of a sentence
A sentence is a group of words expressing a complete meaningful thought or idea. It consists of at
least a subject and a predicate. In other words, a sentence should at least have a subject and a verb.

Subject and Predicate

The subject of a sentence is the The predicate of a sentence is the
part about which something is part which says something about
being said. the subject.

The baby slept.

Sami went to the park.
Nader has gone.
My friend Plays the piano well.
The girls in my class are all good students.

The predicate of a sentence can be made up of only a verb, or a verb and a complement.
The roses bloomed.
Subject Predicate (verb)

I watched an interesting film.

Predicate
Subject
Verb Complement

The simple subject is the main word in the The simple predicate, or verb, is the main word
complete subject. or group of words in the complete predicate.
The complete subject is the main word and The complete predicate is the verb and the
all its modifiers. E.g., complement. E.g.,
- The four new students arrived early. - Salem showed us his new car yesterday.
Simple subject: students Simple predicate: showed
Complete subject: the four new students Complete predicate: showed us his new car
yesterday

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

The Subject
The subject can be a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun. For example:
 Water is necessary for life. (noun)
 The sun is shining. (noun phrase)
 It is hot today. (pronoun)

The Predicate
The predicate can be a verb, a verb phrase or a verb and complement. For example:
 The baby slept.
 Aisha can draw.
 I love macaroni and cheese.

 Components of a sentence
A sentence has five main components that make up the structure of a sentence. They are:
 Subject
 Verb
 Object
 Complement
 Adjunct

Subject
The subject of a sentence is the person, place, or thing the sentence is about. A subject can be
identified by asking the question ‘who’. A subject takes the first place in most cases, especially in
declarative sentences. For example:
 The child kept crying.
 Our team won the match.
 My son is in the eighth grade.
 Hard work pays.
 No one came to the meeting.

Verb
In every sentence the most important word is the verb. A verb shows state, action or activity or
work done by the subject. All verbs including main verbs, helping verbs, stative verbs and action
verbs come under this category. Most often, verbs appear immediately after the subject. For
example:
 Reema is writing a letter.
 It was too dark.
 I feel tired.
 My phone is not working.
 The thief ran away.

Object
An object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action done by the subject. Objects are of two
types:
1. Direct Object
2. Indirect Object

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English Grammar

Direct Object
The direct object is a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun that receives the action in the sentence
directly. It answers the question ‘what’. Direct objects mostly appear immediately after the verb
and are the primary objects in the sentence. For example:
 She cut herself.  I met my friend.
 He drank juice.  She knows all the rules.
 Mary bought a new car.  We watched a film.
 My mom made a cake.

Indirect Object
An indirect object is a noun, a noun phrase or a pronoun that is a secondary object. It can be
identified by asking the question ‘whom’. When there is an indirect object in a sentence, it is
mostly placed after the verb and before the direct object. For example:
 Fareeda gave Katreen a cake.  They gave us coffee with breakfast.
 My mom bought me a new dress.  He lent his friend a pen.
 I gave him a chocolate.
More Examples
Direct Objects Indirect Objects
 Ula had bread and butter for breakfast.  Nathan bought his sister a new watch.
 Bassim came home yesterday.  Rania’s mother read her a story before
 Madiha likes chocolates. she went to bed.
 We bought some roses for the party.  Nabeel taught us Arabic.
 There is a big house on the that street.  I wanted to get my dad a gift.
 Jumana asked Nabeela a question.

Exercise 8 – Identify the objects in the following sentences and also state if they are direct or
indirect objects.
1. Radwan has a big house.
2. Aisha wished her sister on her birthday.
3. Tariq and Samia bought Marwan a bicycle.
4. Nahla called me yesterday evening.
5. Amal visited the museum in Idlib.
6. Jabir plays tennis.
7. Shadi opened the door for us.
8. His mom gave him some pocket money for the trip.
9. Karam asked Reema and Samar to help him with the sofa.
10. I have read Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet’.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Complement
The complement is a word or words used to complement the noun or pronoun in a sentence, i.e.,
to complete the meaning of a sentence. A complement includes any type of word that can
qualify a noun or pronoun. Different parts of speech can be used as complements in a sentence.
A complement can be an adjective, a noun a name, a position or a profession. For example:
Complements are divided into two types based on which component they speak about, namely,
1. Subject Complement
2. Object Complement
1- Subject Complement
A subject complement is a word or phrase that modifies the noun or pronoun that acts as
the subject in the sentence. For instance, the adjective ‘new’ in the sentence, 'This dress
is new' is a subject complement.
2- Object Complement
An object complement is a word or phrase that modifies the noun or pronoun that acts as
the object in the sentence. For instance, the word ‘Sara’ in the sentence, 'We named our
daughter, Sara' is the object complement.
Examples:
Subject Complement Object Complement
1. I am Syrian. 1. That’s her son, Tamir.
2. She is clever. 2. She makes me mad.
3. The students are very excited. 3. They made her angry.
4. My brother is a teacher. 4. The students elected Sedra the class
5. It grew dark. leader.
6. He is a dentist. 5. They named their daughter, Sara.
7. Today is Wednesday. 6. Marley met her friend, Ryan.
8. Your car is amazing. 7. Nobody found the film interesting.
9. She seems nice. 8. Mariam made her mom happy.
10. We were exhausted after a day of 9. She painted her nails pink.
tiring work. 10. This makes the problem even more
complicated.

Exercise 9 – Identify the complements in the following sentences and also mention if it is a
subject complement or an object complement.
1. Malik and Laila named their daughter Rana.
2. What I said made my uncle angry.
3. The chief guest was late to the meeting.
4. I am exhausted.
5. All the members of the team were not happy with the decision.
6. They elected her the class leader.
7. The cupboard was broken.
8. My neighbour is French.
9. Yesterday, the whole city was on red alert.
10. Deema is an architect.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Adjunct
An adjunct is a word or a phrase that gives more information about an action, an event, a quality
and so on. In short, adjuncts include adverbs and adverb clauses. Adjuncts can be identified by
asking questions ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’, ‘how’, ‘how often’ and ‘to what extent’.
Adjuncts can be used in the beginning, middle or end of the sentence and there can be more than
one adjunct in a sentence.
 Yesterday, we met at the park.
 He is very tired.
 Due to his ill-health, he could not come home for Christmas.
 My father reads the newspaper every day.
 This workout routine is extremely exhausting.

Adverbs
Adverbs are classified into different types in accordance with what kind of information they
provide or what they describe. The main different types are:
1. Adverbs of manner
2. Adverbs of time
3. Adverbs of place
4. Adverbs of frequency
5. Adverbs of degree
6. Conjunctive adverbs
Adverbs of Manner: These adverbs describe the manner in which an action is done. Basically,
the adverbs of manner answer the question ‘how’. They include:
quickly, promptly, clearly, slowly, gradually, eventually, rapidly, seriously, instantly, etc.

Adverbs of Time: Adverbs of time are used to tell when some action occurs. They can be
identified by asking the question ‘when’. They include general time periods and specific times:
now, soon, today, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, next month, recently, forever, etc.

Adverbs of Place: These adverbs indicate where the action mentioned in the sentence is taking
place. They can be identified by asking the question ‘where’. They include:
somewhere, anywhere, nowhere, here, there, outside, inside, wherever, elsewhere, left, right,
north, east, south, west, etc.

Adverbs of Frequency: These adverbs denote how often an action or event happens. They can
be identified by asking the question ‘how often’. They include:
always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, rarely, never, weekly, monthly, yearly, annually,
occasionally, constantly, frequently, etc.

Adverbs of Degree: These adverbs indicate how intense an action or to what degree a quality
is. They describe adjectives and adverbs. They include:
very, too, extremely, much, more, most, little, less, incredibly, totally, greatly, hardly, deeply,
barely, etc.

Conjunctive Adverbs: Conjunctive adverbs perform a little differently from the other types of
adverbs. These adverbs act like a conjunction to link two sentences or clauses together and
hence the name, ‘conjunctive adverbs’. They include:
however, therefore, in addition to, nevertheless, meanwhile, instead, likewise, notably,
subsequently, rather, namely, on the other hand, incidentally, etc.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

 Different Types of Sentence Structures

There are a number of sentence structures that you can use to make your English more organised,
interesting and professional. Here are some of the commonly used sentence structures:
Structure Example
- The stars / are shining.
Subject + Verb
- The birds / are chirping.
(SV)
- It / is raining.
- Children / love / ice cream.
Subject + Verb + Object
- Noha / does not like / bitter chocolate.
(SVO)
- I / have / a pencil.
- I / am / Syrian.
Subject + Verb + Complement
- Sana' / is / a hair dresser.
(SVC)
- My name / is / Jana.
- Adil / reached / early.
Subject + Verb + Adjunct
- All of us / are leaving / for Germany.
(SVA)
- He / went / upstairs.
- We / met / our cousin, / Kareema.
Subject + Verb + Object + Complement
- My friends / make / me / happy.
(SVOC)
- Everyone / found / the novel / interesting.
- I / will have / a party / next month.
Subject + Verb + Object + Adjunct
- The teacher / reached / school / after 9 a.m.
(SVOA)
- My brother / plays / football / every day.
Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct - The company / offered / me / the job.
Object - Rudaina / gave / Rama/ her favourite book.
(SVIODO) - Najwa / bought / herself / a dress.
- Suddenly, / it / grew / dark.
Adjunct + Subject + Verb + Complement
- Normally, / the weather / is / good.
(ASVC)
- Occasionally, / my brother / gets / restless.
- Last week, / we / celebrated / Eid Al Fitr.
Adjunct + Subject + Verb + Object
- Usually, / she / wears / jeans.
(ASVO)
- Every year, / we / visit / the orphanage.
- Today, / the teacher / gave / us / our papers.
Adjunct + Subject + Verb + Indirect Object
- Yesterday, / my mom / bought / me / a bicycle.
+ Direct Object
- Every time he comes home, / my brother / gets /
(ASVIODO)
my mom / her favourite chocolates.
- They / go / to work / by bus.
Subject + Verb + Adjunct + Adjunct
- We / meet / every evening / on the way back home.
(SVAA)
- Jinan / went / to the grocery store / last Saturday
- Normally, / she / comes / by bus / to university.
Adjunct + Subject + Verb + Adjunct +
- Last year, / we / went / to Ifreen / for a month.
Adjunct
- Usually, / Fahd / would go / to the sea / as soon as
(ASVAA)
he has a leave.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Exercise 10 - Identify the adverbs in the following sentences and specify which type of adverbs
they are:
1. She often visits the camps in different parts of the country.
2. The tea was very hot; I almost burned my tongue.
3. It is most likely expected to rain in the month of January in Syria.
4. I find it difficult to keep going to the library every day.
5. I had not completed my assignment; therefore, I decided to stay back home and complete it.
6. Can we go somewhere so that I can relax my mind?
7. The girl became too restless because of the rumour.
8. Jihan was putting the children to sleep; meanwhile her brother cleaned the house.
9. My father went outside.
10. Next month, we will be in London.

Exercise 11 - Identify the sentence structure of the following sentences:

1. My son is acting weird lately.
2. It is getting too cold here.
3. The sky is blue.
4. Every year, the company updates its registry.
5. My sister bought me a pair of shoes.
6. Nobody knows the answer.
7. The movie was great.
8. I will come home as soon as I finish work.
9. In September, she will be travelling to Rome.
10. My brother’s phone is not working.

Task 1 – Make sentences following the required structure:

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…….…………………….
1 (SVO)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………….………………….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………….………….
2 (SVC)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………….….

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..
3 (SVA)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..
4 (SVOA)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..
5 (SVIODO)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..

………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..
6 (SVAA)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………………………..

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Verb, Time and Tense
What is a verb?
A verb is a word used to refer to a state, situation, action, event, occurrence or incident. It forms the
main part of the predicate of a sentence, such as have, seem, visit, work and watch.

state
situation
refers to action
Verb
event
incident
What is an action?
An action is an activity, event, or a process of doing something. It is the accomplishment or
performance of a thing usually over a period of time, with the possibility of repetition. It can also be
timeless such as habits, facts and routines.

What is time?
Time is a concept which is related to our perception of reality. It can be measured in seconds,
minutes, hours, days, etc. Time can be divided into three divisions: past, present and future.

We usually talk about actions and events in relation to one of these three divisions OR talk about
timeless actions and situations (permanent facts and routines).

What is tense?
A tense is a grammatical category marked by verb inflection. Its form changes depending on when
and how a situation, event or action occurs in the flow of time from the speaker's point of view. In
other words, TENSE IS A FORM of a verb that expresses three things:
(1) time (when the action takes place)
(2) aspect (how the action takes place) Verb Inflection: ‫تصريف الفعل‬
(3) mood (the specific attitude or intent of the speaker). ‫شكل الفعل الصرفي‬

There are TWO types of tenses in English: PRESENT TENSES and PAST TENSES. There is
NO FURURE TENSE but there are ways to express future actions.

PAST TENSES TENSE PRESENT TENSES

A tense expresses 3 things

Time Aspect Mood ‫أسلوب‬

Past Simple Indicative ‫خبري‬
Present Continuous/Progressive Imperative ‫أمري‬
Future Perfect Subjunctive ‫إنشائي‬
Perfect Continuous

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
State-Time Relation and Action-Time Relation
A state is a particular condition that someone or something is in permanently or a situation which is
temporarily unchangeable. Hence, a state is not related to any of the three divisions of time. It is
timeless.
On the other hand, since actions can occur repeatedly, they have a close relation with time. In other
words, they may happen in either of the three divisions of time, namely, in the past time, in the
present time or in the future time. The time in which an action occurs is decided by the speaker's
purpose and the tense of the verb.

Tenses
There are ONLY EIGHT BASIC TENSES in English. They are:
1. Present simple tense 5. Past simple tense
2. Present continuous tense 6. Past continuous tense
3. Present perfect tense 7. Past perfect tense
4. Present perfect continuous tense 8. Past perfect continuous tense
Note that it is very important not to mix between tense and time, because certain tenses in English
may refer to a different time than that expressed by their names. For example, the present continuous
tense may refer to either present or future time, depending on the context.
What are you doing? I'm reading a book.
(Present reference)

What are you doing on Thursday? I'm visiting my grandma.

(Future reference)

Similarly, the past simple tense, in a type 2 conditional sentence, refers to the present, any time or
extremely near future:
- If I had enough money, I would buy this car. (Present reference)
- If I lived in Idlib, it would be great. (Any time reference)
- If my aunt came, we would have a party. (Near future reference)
The best way to understand and use tenses correctly is to study which tense is used for talking about
actions which occur in each division of time and what it indicates or expresses. The following table
shows examples of tenses and forms which are used to talk about actions in each division of time.
Past Present Future Timeline
1. Present simple tense 1. Present simple tense 1. Present simple tense
2. Present continuous tense 2. Present continuous tense 2. Present continuous tense
3. Present perfect tense 3. Past simple tense 3. Past simple tense
4. Present perfect continuous tense 4. past perfect 4. be going to + base form
5. Past simple tense 5. will + base form
6. Past continuous tense
7. Past perfect tense
8. Past perfect continuous tense

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Tense Forms
The forms of the eight tenses of the English language are as follows:
1. The Present Simple Tense
Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I / You / We / They base verb do not + base verb Do … base verb
He / She / It base verb + s does not+ base verb Does … base verb

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I live in Idlib. I do not live in London. Do I live in London?
She lives in Idlib. She does not live in London. Does she live in London?
They live in Idlib. They do not live in London. Do they live in London?
Short forms:
do not = don't does not = doesn't

2. The Present Continuous Tense

Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I am am not am …
You / We / They are verb-ing are not verb-ing are … verb-ing
He / She / It is is not is …

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I am working in Idlib. I am not working in London. Am I working in London?
She is working in Idlib. She is not working in London. Is she working in London?
They are working in They are not working in London. Are they working in
Idlib. London?
Short forms:
I am = I'm You/We/They are = You're, We're, They're He/She/It is = He's, She's, It's
am not = NO Short form is not = isn't are not = aren't

3. The Present Perfect Simple Tense

Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I / You / We / They have V3 (P.P.) have not V3 (P.P.) Have … V3 (P.P.)
He / She / It has V3 (P.P.) has not V3 (P.P.) Has … V3 (P.P.)

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I have worked in Idlib. I have not worked in Paris. Have I worked in Paris?
She has worked in Idlib. She has not worked in Paris. Has she worked in Paris?
They have worked in Idlib. They have not worked in Paris. Have they worked in Paris?
Short forms:
I/You/We/They have = I've, You've, We've, They've He/She/It has = He's, She's, It's
have not = haven't has not = hasn't

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
4. The Present Perfect Continuous Tense
Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I/You/We/They have been verb-ing have not been verb-ing Have … been verb-ing
He / She / It has been verb-ing has not been verb-ing Has … been verb-ing

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I have not been working in Have I been working in
I have been working in Idlib.
London. London?
She has not been working in Has she been working in
She has been working in Idlib.
London. London?
They have been working in They have not been working Have they been working in
Idlib. in London. London?
Short forms:
I/You/We/They have been = I've been, You've been, We've been, They've been
He/She/It has been = He's been, She's been, It's been
have not been = haven't been has not been = hasn't been

5. The Past Simple Tense

Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I / You / We / They
__V__ed (V2) did not __V__ did ….. __V__
He / She / It

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I lived in Idlib. I did not live in London. Did I live in London?
She lived in Idlib. She did not live in London. Did she live in London?
They lived in Idlib. They did not live in London. Did they live in London?
Short forms:
did not = didn't

6. The Past Continuous Tense

Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I was was not was …
You / We / They were verb-ing were not verb-ing were … verb-ing
He / She / It was was not was …

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I was working in Idlib. I was not working in London. Was I working in London?
Was she working in
She was working in Idlib. She was not working in London.
London?
They were not working in Were they working in
They were working in Idlib.
London. London?
Short forms:
I was = NO Short form You/We/They were = NO Short form He/She/It was = NO Short form
was not = wasn't were not = weren't

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
7. The Past Perfect Simple Tense
Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I / You / We / They
had V3 (P.P.) had not V3 (P.P.) Had … V3 (P.P.)
He / She / It

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I had worked in Idlib. I had not worked in Paris. Had I worked in Paris?
She had worked in Idlib. She had not worked in Paris. Had she worked in Paris?
They had worked in Idlib. They had not worked in Paris. Had they worked in Paris?
Short forms:
I/You/We/They had = I'd, You'd, We'd, They'd He/She/It had = He'd, She'd, It'd
had not = hadn't

8. The Past perfect Continuous Tense

Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I/You/We/They
had been verb-ing had not been verb-ing Had … been verb-ing
He / She / It

Examples
Affirmative Negative Question
I had not been working in Had I been working in
I had been working in Idlib.
London. London?
She had not been working in Had she been working in
She had been working in Idlib.
London. London?
They had been working in They had not been working Had they been working in
Idlib. in London. London?
Short forms:
I/You/We/They had been = I'd been, You'd been, We'd been, They'd been
He/She/It has been = He'd been, She'd been, It'd been
had not been = hadn't been

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Talking About States and Timeless Actions

What is a state?
A state is a condition or a situation in which someone or something is, feels, or appears. It is usually
permanent though it may change with time. A state can be a general fact, a truth or a temporarily
unchangeable situation.
 General facts
States  Truths
 Temporarily unchangeable situations
Examples:
1. I am Mahmoud.
2. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
3. She looks young. / My father works for a big company.

What is a timeless action?

Timeless actions are actions that are not normally related to a particular division of time. When we
talk about timeless actions, we, in fact, refer to routines, or repeated activities.

Timeless  Routines
Actions  Repeated or frequent activities
Examples:
1. She goes to university by bus. / My mother cooks our food; we rarely eat out.
2. Nader sometimes runs in the park. / Salim plays football on Mondays and Fridays.

Notably, the present simple tense is used to express states and timeless actions.
The present simple tense has the following form clarified with examples:
Pronoun Affirmative Negative Question
I I speak English. I don't speak Spanish. Do you speak English?
He He speaks English. He doesn't speak Spanish. Does he speak English?
She She speaks English. She doesn't speak Spanish. Does she speak English?
It It eats meat. It doesn't eat meat. Does it eat meat?
You You speak English. You don't speak Spanish. Do you speak English.
We We speak English. We don't speak Spanish. Do we speak English.
They They speak English. They don't speak Spanish. Do they speak English?
I/You/We/They ---- verb ---- don't ---- verb ---- Do + S+ ---- verb ----
He/She/It ---- verb+s ---- doesn't ---- verb ---- Does + S+ ---- verb ----
(don't = do not / doesn't = does not)

Exercise 12 - In the following sentences, identify whether the verb refers to a state or to an
action and to what type:
1. I'm nineteen years old.
2. I play football every weekend.
3. He lives in London.
4. The human body contains 206 bones.
5. I'm a student.
6. Light travels at almost 300,000 kilometres per second.
7. I sometimes go to the cinema.
8. She never plays football.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

State (Stative) verbs

State verbs describe permanent states and situations rather than actions. (They are NOT usually
used in a continuous tense). They are:

1. Verbs related to activities of the mind (thoughts and opinions)

believe, think, know, realise, forget, remember, imagine, suppose, understand, mean,
recognise, agree, doubt, suspect, guess ...
- The guides know all the best routes and best places to camp.
-They understand our needs.

2. Verbs related to feelings (feelings and emotions)

like, love, enjoy, prefer, adore, care, dislike, hate, want, need, hope, wish, desire…
- I like going sightseeing.
- Some people prefer to spend their time on the coast.

3. Verbs related to senses (senses and perceptions)

(they describe an appearance or state that we perceive by our senses): hear, see, smell, taste,
feel, sound, look, seem, appear, resemble…
 They are usually followed by adjectives)
- This food tastes fantastic.
- The flowers look beautiful.

4. Verbs of being and measurement

(they describe a permanent state, appearance - where things come from - what things are made
of):
be, (look, sound, seem, appear) come from … cost, weigh, measure, include, contain, consist
of…
- Mount Everest is very high.
- It looks spectacular.
- Pierre is French. / He comes from Paris.
- Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen.

5. Verbs of having
have, possess, own, belong to…
- This car belongs to Salwa.
-Huda has a modern car.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Verbs that are sometimes stative

A number of verbs can refer to states or actions, depending on the context.
- I think it's a good idea.
- I'm thinking about the company's new plan.
The first sentence expresses an opinion. It is a mental state, so we use present simple. In the second
sentence the speaker is actively processing thoughts about the company's new plan. It is an action in
progress, so we use present continuous.
Some other examples are:
have
I have an old car. (state – possession)
I'm having some donuts. (action – having some donuts is an activity)
see
Do you see any problems with that? (state – opinion)
I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow afternoon. (action – I'm seeing my doctor)
be
He's so funny! (state – his permanent quality)
He's being very nervous these days. (action – he is temporarily behaving nervously)
taste
This cake tastes delicious. (state –perception of the cake)
Look! Peter is tasting the soup. (action – tasting the soup is an activity)

Other verbs like this

include: agree, appear, doubt, feel, guess, hear, imagine, look, measure, remember, smell, weigh,
wish.

Exercise 12 - Choose the correct verb form to complete the sentences:

1. Are you making bread? It _____ amazing.
a) smells b) 's smelling
2. I _____ they'll be here quite soon.
a) imagine b) 'm imagining
3. We _____ coffee with Xavier later today.
a) have b) 're having
4. I'm sorry, I _____.
a) don't understand b) 'm not understanding
5. Sam thinks it's a good idea, and Ben _____.
a) agrees b) 's agreeing
6. I _____ this avocado to see if it's ready to eat.
a) feel b) 'm feeling
7. She _____ the dentist at 4 p.m. today.
a) sees b) 's seeing
8. Do you know what I _____?
a) mean b) 'm meaning

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar

Talking About Past Actions

Past actions are actions that are finished or completed in a time before now. They could be in the
recent past or the distant past or over a period of time in the past. The tense used to express such
actions depends on the attitude of the speaker and on how they happened. Hence, different tenses
are used to express past actions.

1. something that happened once in the past (We arrived home before dark.)
2. something that was true for some time in the past (We stayed with our friends in London.)
3. something that happened several times in the past (Most evenings, we stayed at home and
watched DVDs.)( Sometimes they went out for a meal.)
used to (We used to go for a swim every morning.)
OR would (They would often visit friends in Europe.)
We do not normally use would with stative verbs. We use the past simple or used to instead:
4. something that happened before and after a specific time in the past:
It was just after ten. I was watching the news on TV.
At half-time we were losing 1–0.

5. something that happened before and after another action in the past:
He broke his leg when he was playing rugby.
She saw Jim as he was driving away.

Write the verbs using the correct forms (past simple or past continuous).
1. This time yesterday we _________________ on the beach. Now it's pouring with rain!
a) lay b) were lying
2. On our last holiday, we _________________ every night in a different city.
a) spent b) were spending
3. I'm afraid Derek isn't here. He ________________ about an hour ago.
a) went out b) were going out
4. I don't know where Derek is now, but half an hour ago he _______________in the canteen.
a) sat b) was sitting
5. I'm sorry we ________________ the doorbell. We _____________in the garden.
a) didn't hear / weren't hearing b) ate / were eating
6. I ______________ a book in the bath when suddenly all the lights ___________.
a) read / was reading b) went off / was going off
7. When they _____________the fire alarm, everyone __________running towards the exit.
a) heard / were hearing b) started / was starting
8. At six o'clock, the house was empty. Marie __________late and Pierre _______ his parents.
a) worked / were working b) visited / was visiting

6. We use the past perfect when we are looking back from a point in the past to something
earlier in the past:
Helen suddenly remembered she had left her keys in the car.
When we had done all our shopping, we caught the bus home.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
They wanted to buy a new computer, but they hadn't saved enough money.
They would have bought a new computer if they had saved enough money.

Write the verbs using the correct forms (past simple, past continuous or past
perfect).
1. My computer crashed while I ______________ the document.
saved was saving had saved

2. After I ___________a full breakfast, I went for a walk along the beach.
ate was eating had eaten

3. The old lady closed the door and ____________it behind her.
locked was locking had locked

4. I remember it clearly. It was midnight and we ____________ the late film.

watched were watching had watched

5. We arrived at the conference on time, but then I realised that I ________ my presentation on my
laptop at home.
left was leaving had left

6. The young couple walked from their hotel to the train station and then _________ the metro to
the airport.
took were taking had taken

7. When I came back from holiday, everyone in the office ________about our new boss.
talked was talking had talked

8. The man's face was very familiar. I was sure I ________ him somewhere before.
met was meeting had met

7. for something that started in the past and continues in the present:
We have lived here since 2017. [and we still live here]
I have been working at the university for over ten years.

8. for something that happened in the past but is important in the present:
I can't open the door. I've left my keys in the car.
Jenny has found a new job. She works in a supermarket now.

We do not use the present perfect with adverbials which refer to a finished past time:
yesterday last week/month/year in 2010 when I was younger etc.
I have seen that film yesterday.
We have just bought a new car last week.
When we were children we have been to California.
but we can use the present perfect with adverbials which refer to a time which is not yet
finished: today this morning/week/year now that I am eighteen etc.

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Have you seen Helen today?
We have bought a new car this week.

Look at the time adverbial (in CAPITALS) in each sentence. Does it refer to a finished past time
or to a time which is not yet finished?

My grandparents moved to the United States IN 1968.

finished past time not finished
They're still in the US, so they've lived there FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS.
finished past time not finished
My grandparents came to visit us LAST WEEK.
finished past time not finished
They've visited us every summer SINCE I WAS BORN.
finished past time not finished
Sorry, Greg hasn't come to work TODAY. Can I take a message?
finished past time not finished
Sorry, Greg went out FIVE MINUTES AGO. Can I take a message?
finished past time not finished
I've received 25 emails THIS MORNING, most of them spam!
finished past time not finished
I received 25 emails THIS MORNING, most of them spam!
finished past time not finished

Write the correct forms of the verbs in brackets ( ), present perfect or past simple.
1. My grandparents (move) __________ to the United States in 1968.
2. They're still in the US, so they (live) ___________there for more than 50 years.
3. My grandparents (come) ___________to visit us last week.
4. They (visit) ___________us every summer since I was born.
5. Sorry, Greg (come) _____________to work today. Can I take a message?
6. Sorry, Greg (go out) ___________ five minutes ago. Can I take a message?
7. It's 11 a.m. – I have (receive) ___________25 emails this morning, most of them spam!
8. It's 6 p.m. – I (receive) ___________25 emails this morning, most of them spam!

Mahmoud Daboul
English Grammar
Key answers
Exercise 1 Exercise 2 Exercise 3 Exercise 4 Exercise 5
1. adjective 1. is 1. charming 1. before 1. noun
2. pronoun 2. was looking for 2. big 2. daily 2. verb, adverb
3. preposition 3. is kept 3. pleasant 3. thrice 3. noun
4. adverb 4. pick up 4. red 4. again 4. adjective
5. verb 5. phones 5. two 5. forward 5. preposition
6. noun 6. lives 6. amazing. 6. away 6. conjunction
7. verb 7. came 7. tired. 7. clearly 7. conjunction, adverb
8. interjection 8. was/ could…keep 8. beautiful. 8. too 8. adjective
9. conjunction 9. did not go 9. your 9. almost 9. interjection
10. preposition 10.Can…come 10. last 10. well 10. preposition

Exercise 6 Exercise 7 Exercise 8

1. We 1. go 1. a big house – Direct object
2. I 2. loves 2. her sister – Indirect object
3. mine 3. find 3. Marwan, – Indirect object
4. She 4. come a bicycle – Direct object
5. herself 5. cleaned 4. me – Direct object
6. themselves 6. is 5. the museum in Idlib – Direct object
7. me 7. belongs 6. tennis – Direct object
8. he/she 8. count 7. the door – Direct object
9. This 9. going 8. some pocket money – Direct object
10. yours 10. plays 9. Reem and Samar – Indirect object
10. 'Hamlet' – Direct object
Exercise 9 Exercise 10
1. Rory – Object Complement 1. often – Adverb of Frequency
2. angry – Object Complement 2. very – Adverb of Degree
3. late – Subject Complement 3. most – Adverb of Degree,
4 exhausted – Subject Complement likely Adverb of Manner
5. not happy – Subject Complement 4. every day – Adverb of Time
6. the class leader – Object Complement 5. therefore – Conjunctive Adverb
7. broken – Subject Complement 6. somewhere – Adverb of Place
8. French – Subject Complement 7. too – Adverb of Degree
9. on red alert – Subject Complement 8. meanwhile – Conjunctive Adverb
10. architect – Subject Complement 9. outside – Adverb of Place
10. Next month – Adverb of Time
Exercise 11
1. (SVCA)
2. (SVACA)
3. (SVC)
4. (ASVO)
5. (SVIODO)
6. (SVO)
7. (SVC)
8. (SVAA)
9. (ASVA)
10. (SV)

Mahmoud Daboul