English Grammar - Elementary
Could
Go To Quizzes >>> Could
Could is the past tense of Can. The negative is could not or couldn't.
|
I You He/She/It We You They |
+ | Could / Couldn't | + | INFINITIVE VERB |
Examples:
I could speak French very well when I was young.
My father could drive when he was eighteen, but my mother couldn't.
Could you dance when you were ten or did you learn later?
I couldn't open the window last night, it was frozen closed!
Could is also a modal verb and can be used to make polite requests.
Examples:
Could you tell me the time, please?
Could I borrow the newspaper for just a minute?
Present Simple For Future
The Present Simple can be used to talk about scheduled future events, often related to timetables. We used the present simple as the event is considered "fixed" and unlikely to change time/place.
Examples:
My train leaves at 7pm tomorrow and I arrive in Toronto at 9pm.
The conference begins on Monday and finishes on Thursday afternoon.
Bob Palmer retires next year, we have to think about his replacement.
Note: Only use the Present Simple to talk about the future for this type of "timetabled" events.
Contractions
Go To Quizzes >>> Contractions
A contraction in English is when two words are joined together and shortened using an apostrophe. The most common use is for subjects are verbs, especially 'to be' and 'to have'.
Examples:
I'm a builder.
We're not sisters.
They're very unhappy.
We've got three dogs.
Contractions are also used to make negatives in English, using auxiliary verbs such as "do", "be" and "have".
Examples:
I don't like Mondays!
We aren't very happy today.
My uncle Jack doesn't work anymore.
They haven't been to the museum.
Note: Contractions are not used in short answers.
Q: Are you from Italy?
A: Yes, I am. NOT Yes, I'm.
Be careful how you make the contraction. Usually, the apostrophe takes the place of the vowel.
No, we aren't. NOT No, we are'nt.
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Plurals
Go To Quizzes >>> Plurals
Generally, most nouns in English are regular and you simply add -s to the word.
car → cars
laptop → laptops
bottle → bottles
wall → walls
If the word ends in a s-type sound (s/sh/z/ch, etc), you add -es to the word.
catch → catches
kiss → kisses
buzz → buzzes
watch → watches
Most words ending in -y remove the 'y' and add -ies in the plural.
cherry → cherries
lady → ladies
curry → curries
potatos → potatoes
hero → heroes
child → children
woman → women
wife → wives
sheep → sheep
foot → feet
tooth → teeth
person → people
Spelling
Go To Quizzes >>> Spelling
Spelling can seem to be very complicated to those studying English. But there are some basic rules you can follow to make things a little easier:
1. Y as a long "i": The letter Y makes a long sound of I when it comes at the end of a short word that doesn't have any other vowel.
Examples: by, fly, cry, try, my, hi.
2. Y as a long "e": When 'y' or 'ey' ends a word in an un-stressed syllable, the y has the long sound of e.
Examples: key, money, honey, many, funny.
3. I before E: The spelling is 'i' before 'e' when the sound is long 'e' except after the letter 'c'.
Examples: relieve, relief, reprieve. Notice the change when there is a c preceding the ie: deceive, receipt, receive, ceiling, conceive.
4. E before I: Write e before i when the sound is a long 'a'.
Examples: reign, weight, freight.
5. Oi or Oy: Use "oi" in the middle of a word and use "oy" at the end of a word.
Examples: soil, boil, foil, ahoy, boy, toy.
6. Ou or Ow: Use "ou" in the middle of a word and use "ow" at the end of words other than those that end in n or d.
Examples: house, mouse, mount, borrow, throw, cow.
7. The "ch" sound: At the start of a word, use "ch." At the end of a word, use "tch." When the "ch" sound is followed by "ure" or "ion", use t.
Examples: champion, choose, pitch, watch, catch, picture, rapture.
8. Double Consonants: When b, d, g, m, n, or p appear after a short vowel in a word with 2 syllables, you should double the consonant: b, d, g, m, n, or p.
Examples: manner, rabbit, dagger, banner, drummer.
9. Short-Vowel Rule: When one-syllable words have a vowel in the middle of the word, the vowel normally has a short sound:
Examples: hat, mom, dog, cat, dad, got. If the letter after the vowel is f, l, or s, this letter is often doubled. Examples: staff, ball, pass.
10. Two-Vowels Together: When two vowels are next to each other, the first vowel is usually long (the sound is the same as the sound of the letter) and the second vowel is silent.
Examples: mean, seam, plain, jeans, rain, goat, road, lie, pie.
