English Grammar
English Grammar
English Grammar
THE VERB
I-Introduction
A verb is a word or a combination of words that indicates action or a state of being or condition. A verb is
the part of a sentence that tells us what the subject performs. Verbs are the hearts of English sentences.
Examples:
o Jacob walks in the morning. (A usual action)
o Mike is going to school. (A condition of action)
o Albert does not like to walk. (A negative action)
o Anna is a good girl. (A state of being)
Verbs are related to a lot of other factors like the subject, person, number, tense, mood, voice, etc.
3-Modal Verbs:
A modal verb is a kind of an auxiliary verb. It assists the main verb to indicate possibility, potentiality,
ability, permission, expectation, and obligation.
The modal verbs are can, could, must, may, might, ought to, shall, should, will, would.
Example:
o I may want to talk to you again.
o They must play their best game to win.
o She should call him.
o I will go there.
Modal verbs Modal verbs are used to talk about ability, possibility, obligation,
prohibition, or to make requests or offers. Form Modal verb + Verb (bare infinitive)
Modal verbs Usages Examples
Ability I can play the piano very well.
Permission Can I go now?
Possibility It can be a very good day tomorrow.
Offer I can help you with this homework. Don’t worry!
Can Request Can you please pass me the salt?
Ability in the past I could play the piano well when I was 9.
Polite permission Excuse me, could I come in?
Possibility A hailstorm could come here tomorrow.
Polite offer No problem. I could give you a lift.
Could Polite request Could you please move to the next slide?
Permission May I leave early?
May Possibility Astronauts may discover life in other planets.
Polite permission Might I take you home?
The past simple tense and past participles of irregular verbs, on the other hand, have many different forms
that do not adhere to a distinct or predictable pattern. Much of the time, their past tense and past participle
forms are completely different from one another. Unfortunately, this means that there is no way of
determining how to conjugate irregular verbs—we just have to learn each one individually.
In all of the previous examples, the only alteration to the verb has been the addition of “-d” or “-ed.” Notice,
too, that the past tense and past participle forms are identical in each case—this is a defining feature of
regular verbs.
For example:
Example sentences
“I walk around the park each evening.” (base form)
“I walked around the park in the afternoon.” (past simple tense)
“I have walked around the park a few times this morning.” (past participle)
“I’m going to chop some vegetables for the salad.” (base form)
“He chopped some vegetables for the salad before dinner.” (past simple tense)
“He had already chopped some vegetables for the salad.” (past participle)
“Don’t copy other students’ answers or you will get an F.” (base form)
“I think he copied my answers.” (past simple tense)
“The only answers he got right were the ones he had copied.” (past participle)
B-Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs, by their very definition, do not have spelling rules that we can follow to create the past simple tense
and past participles. This means that the only way of knowing how to spell these forms is to memorize them for each
irregular verb individually. Below are just a few examples of some common irregular verbs.
As you can see, irregular verbs can have endings that are dramatically different from their base forms; often,
their past simple tense and past participles forms are completely different, too. Again, the only way to learn
these variations is to memorize them.
Examples
Let’s look at some sentences that use irregular verbs in their various forms:
The simple present is a verb tense with two main uses. We use the simple present tense when an action is
happening right now, or when it happens regularly (or unceasingly, which is why it’s sometimes called
present indefinite).
Form :Depending on the person, the simple present tense is formed by using the root form or by adding -s
or -es to the end.
Usages
Signal words:
Always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, never, every day, every week, every month, every year, on
Sundays, after school, before school
For most regular verbs, you put the negation of the verb before the verb, e.g. “She won’t go” or “I don’t
smell anything.”
ENGLISH 2019-2020: GRAMMAR –2: THE PRESENT TENSE
First-person singular: I am
Second-person singular: You are
Third-person singular: He/she/it is
First-person plural: We are
Second-person plural: You are
Third-person plural: They are
Next, here's the negative. It's very easy. You only add 'not'.
Negative Negative short form
he is not he isn't
it is not it isn't
And finally let's talk about the question form of the present simple with 'be'.
Firstly, here's the 'yes / no' question form:
Yes / No Questions
am I ?
are you ?
is he ?
is she ?
is it ?
are we ?
are they ?
ENGLISH 2019-2020: GRAMMAR –2: THE PRESENT TENSE
Typically, when we want to describe a temporary action that is currently in progress, we use
the present continuous: Pauline can’t come to the phone right now because she is brushing her teeth.
Form : The present continuous of any verb is composed of two parts - the present tense of the verb to be +
the present participle of the main verb.
Usages
Signal words:
Exercice 1
Entourez la bonne réponse:
Exercice 2
Mettez le verbe entre parenthèses au Present Simple ING:
Exercice 3
Construisez des questions au Present Simple ING:
The present perfect is used to indicate a link between the present and the past. The time of the action
is before now but not specified, and we are often more interested in the result than in the action itself.
Form
ENGLISH 2019-2020: GRAMMAR –2: THE PRESENT TENSE
To talk about things which happened in the past, and continue to the present
My parents have lived in England for 20 years.
To talk about things which happened in the past, but not at a specific time
My mom has gone to work.
To talk about things we have done many times in the past and continue to do
She has practiced the piano since she was 6.
To talk about an experience which is connected to the present
This is the most beautiful flower I have ever seen.
Signal words:
Already, yet, ever, never, just, only just, recently, so far, until now, up to now
You always use the simple past when you say when something happened, so it is associated with certain
past time expressions
Note: the word ago is a useful way of expressing the distance into the past. It is placed after the period of
time: a week ago, three years ago, a minute ago.
II-FORMING THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE
PATTERNS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE FOR REGULAR VERBS
1-Affirmative
Subject + verb + ed
I skipped.
2-Negative
Subject + did not + infinitive without to
They didn't go.
3-Interrogative
Did + subject + infinitive without to
Did she arrive?
1
ENGLISH 2019-2020: GRAMMAR –3-:SIMPLE PAST TENSE (preterite)
4-Interrogative negative
Did not + subject + infinitive without to
Didn't you play?
TO WALK
Affirmative Negative Interrogative
I walked I didn't walk Did I walk?
You walked You didn't walk Did you walk?
He walked He didn't walk Did he walk?
We walked We didn't walk Did we walk?
They walked They didn't walk Did they walk?
2
ENGLISH 2019-2020: GRAMMAR –3-:SIMPLE PAST TENSE (preterite)
Note: For the negative and interrogative form of all verbs in the simple past, always use the auxiliary 'did''.
V-SIMPLE PAST, IRREGULAR VERBS
Some verbs are irregular in the simple past. Here are the most common ones.
TO GO
TO GIVE
TO COME
Complete the sentences. Use the negative form of the underlined verbs.
Yesterday ...