English grammar explained using clear and simple explanations.
Basically, must, have to and have got to have the same meanings. Must is more formal, have to can be used when we write and when we speak and have got to is usually used in spoken English. Positive sentences Present Past They must sleep. They have to sleep. They‘ve got to sleep. They had to sleep. They had to sleep. They had to […]
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We use the present perfect continuous when an action started in the past and is continuing. I’ve been teaching English for 15 years. Look at the construction: Subject to have been -ing form of verb I have been living abroad for 20 years. They have been going out together for 3 years. She has been studying English since she was […]
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We use the present continuous when we say what is happening now. I am reading now. She is drinking tea at the moment. Subject to be -ing form of verb I am having lunch. He is talking to me. They are sleeping to me. If the verb finishes with -e and the letter before the -e is a consonant, we […]
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The preposition we use when we talk about a period of time depends on how long the period of time is. Specific day on 18th May Christmas Day my birthday Short period (longer than 1 day less than 1 month) at the weekend Christmas ( the Christmas period not just Christmas day) Long period (at least a month) in June […]
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Generally, after a verb of movement we use to. Examples She drives to work. I’m going to the cinema. They are coming to my party. We walk to the shops. The exceptions are when somebody goes to his or her home. Examples I’m going home (but I’m going to John’s home). They are driving home now. Another exception is the […]
Read morePossessive adjectives and possessive pronouns are used to show who something belongs to. We use a possessive adjective if there is a noun after it. Possessive Adjectives Possessive adjective Noun 1st person singular 2nd person singular 3rd person sing. (m) 3rd person sing. (fem) 3rd person sing. (obj) 1st person plural 2nd person plural 3rd person plural This is my […]
Read moreWe use the past simple when the action and time period are finished. So we can say: I went to America in 1990. If we don’t say when it happened we cannot use the past simple and we have to use the present perfect. The past tense of regular verbs is easy – we add –ed. Present simple Past Simple walk work […]
Read moreWe use the past perfect when there are 2 actions in the past. The first action is the past perfect and the second action is the past simple. I had had breakfast before I went to work. He had already finished school by the time he was 16. We went to Wembley last night. We had never been there before. Look at the construction: Subject had past participle […]
Read moreWe use the past perfect continuous when there are 2 actions in the past. The first action lasted a long time and we use the past perfect continuous to describe it. The action stops when the second action takes place. For the second action we use the past simple. I had been living in Italy for 3 years before I went to Rome. […]
Read moreWe use the present simple to talk about things which happen in general, when we talk about things which we do every day, always, sometimes or often (see also adverbs of frequency). I get up at 7 am. I play tennis three times a week. You drink two cups of coffee a day. You sleep out every night (Big Rock Candy Mountain) The present simple of regular verbs uses the base form for all its forms except the 3rd person […]
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