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english grammar cheat sheet
Rule 1 - Subject-Verb Agreement
Rule 2 - Noun-Pronoun Agreement
Rule 3 - Pronoun Subjects & Objects
Rule 4 - Pronoun Consistency
Rule 5 - Correct Tense
Rule 6 - Adjectives & adverbs
Rule 7 - Parallel Construction
Rule 8 - Run-on Sentences &
Sentence Fragments
Rule 9 - Dangling Modifiers
(Participles/participial phrases)
Rule 10 - Sentence logic
Rule 11 - Fixing commonly messed
up expressions
Rule 12 - Logical comparison
Rule 13 - Comparative/superlative
forms of words
Rule 14 - Spelling
But before we begin…
Noun —person, place, thing, idea (joy), quality (stickiness), or act (drooling)
Pronoun —word that takes the place of another noun (The Serpent is evil. He is cruel. He
is a pronoun because it takes the place of Serpent.
Verb —word that expresses action (jump) or a state of being (be). Tells what’s happening
in a sentence.
Subject —noun or pronoun that “does” the action of the verb in the sentence ( He drooled.
He is the subject because he is the thing that drooled.)
Object —noun or pronoun that the verb acts on. (He tickled me. Me is the object because
me is the thing that got tickled.)
Preposition —Words like to at, in, up, over, under, after, of. They go with objects. ( in the
house … in is the preposition & house is the object.)
Singular —single thing or unit (noodle)
Plural —more than one thing (noodles)
Rule 1: Subject-Verb Agreement
Subject & verb must agree in number, so isolate the subject & the verb & make sure they
match.
Incorrect: The proctor, as well as the students, were overcome by the tedious ticking of
the timer and fell asleep.
o Isolate subject : proctor (singular) verb : were (plural) combine :
the proctor were overcome
Correct: The proctor, as well as the students, was overcome by the tedious ticking of the
timer and fell asleep.
o Problem: the plural students; it is set off by commas, so it’s not part of the subject.
Three expressions similar to as well are: in addition to, along with, and together with
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
Tense Signal words Use Form Examplesaffirmative^ Examplesnegative^ Examplesinterrogative
Simple Present
every day
sometimes
always
often
usually
seldom
never
first ... then
- something happens repeatedly
- how often something happens
- one action follows another
- things in general
- with verbs like ( to love, to hate, to think, etc. )
- future meaning: timetables, programmes
infinitive
he/she/it: infinitive + s
I work.
He works.
I go.
He goes.
I don't work.
He doesn't work.
I don't go.
He doesn't go.
Do I work?
Does he work?
Do I go?
Does he go?
Present Progressive
now
at the moment
Look!
Listen!
- something is happening at the same time of speaking or around it
- future meaning: when you have already decided and arranged to do it (a fixed plan, date)
be (am/are/is) + infinitive + ing
I'm working.
He's working.
I'm going.
He's going.
I'm not working.
He isn't working.
I'm not going.
He isn't going.
Am I working?
Is he working?
Am I going?
Is he going?
Simple Past
last ...
... ago
in 1990
yesterday
action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present)
regular: infinitive + ed
irregular: (2nd column of table of irregular verbs)
I worked.
He worked.
I went.
He went.
I didn't work.
He didn't work.
I didn't go.
He didn't go.
Did I work?
Did he work?
Did I go?
Did he go?
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
Simple Past Perfect
already
just
never
- mostly when two actions in a story are related to each other: the action which had already happened is put into Past Perfect , the other action into Simple Past
- the past of the Present Perfect
had + past participle*
*(infinitive + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)
I had worked.
He had worked.
I had gone.
He had gone.
I hadn't worked.
He hadn't worked.
I hadn't gone.
He hadn't gone.
Had I worked?
Had he worked?
Had I gone?
Had he gone?
Past Perfect Progressive
how long
since
for
how long something had been happening before something else happened
had + been + infinitive + ing
I had been working.
He had been working.
I had been going.
He had been going.
I hadn't been working.
He hadn't been working.
I hadn't been going.
He hadn't been going.
Had I been working?
Had he been working?
Had I been going?
Had he been going?
will - future
- predictions about the future (you think that sth will happen)
- you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking
- main clause in type I of the Conditional sentences
will + infinitive
I'll work.
He'll work.
I'll go.
He'll go.
I won't work.
He won't work.
I won't go.
He won't go.
Will I work?
Will he work?
Will I go?
Will he go?
going to - future
- when you have already decided to do sth. in the future
- what you think what will happen
be (am/are/is) + going to + infinitive
I'm going to work.
He's going to work.
I'm going to go.
He's going to go.
I'm not going to work.
He's not going to work.
I'm not going to go.
He's not going to go.
Am I going to work?
Is he going to work?
Am I going to go?
Is he going to go?
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
englisch-hilfen.de – LEARNING ENGLISH ONLINE
Future Progressive
- An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action has begun before the certain time.
- Something happens because it normally happens.
will + be + infinitive
I'll be working.
He'll be working.
I'll be going.
He'll be going.
I won't be working.
He won't be working.
I won't be going.
He won't be going.
Will I be working?
Will he be working?
Will I be going?
Will he be going?
Future Perfect Simple sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future
will + have + past participle*
*(infinitive + ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)
I'll have worked.
He'll have worked.
I'll have gone.
He'll have gone.
I won't have worked.
He won't have worked.
I won't have gone.
He won't have gone.
Will I have worked?
Will he have worked?
Will I have gone?
Will he have gone?
Future Perfect Progressive
sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future
emphasis: length of time of an action
will + have + been + infinitive + ing
I'll have been working.
He'll have been working.
I'll have been going.
He'll have been going.
I won't have been working.
He won't have been working.
I won't have been going.
He won't have been going.
Will I have been working?
Will he have been working?
Will I have been going?
Will he have been going?
Conditional Simple
- sth. that might happen
- main clause in type II of the Conditional sentences would^ +^ infinitive
I would work.
He would work.
I would go.
He would go.
I wouldn't work.
He wouldn't work.
I wouldn't go.
He wouldn't go.
Would I work?
Would he work?
Would I work?
Would he work?
Rule 2: Noun-Pronoun Agreement
Singular subjects take singular nouns; plural subjects take plural nouns. The 13 singular subjects above each take a singular pronoun.
Incorrect : Not one of the boys read their SAT book. Correct : Not one of the boys read his SAT book.
Rule 3: Pronoun Subjects & Objects
You must know when to use the words in the column on the left & when to use those on the right:
Subjects Objects I Me He Him She Her They Them We Us Who Whom
o Examples o I like hotdogs, but hotdogs don’t like me. o She is good enough for Grape-Nuts, but are Grape-Nuts good enough for her?
Rule 4: Pronoun consistency
Pronouns should be consistent throughout a sentence.
o Incorrect : The more you study for the SAT, the more one thinks about moving to Mongolia. o Correct: The more you study for the SAT, the more you think about moving to Mongolia.
Rule 5: Correct Tense
Make sure the action is consistent. Look for key “time words” such as when, as, after, and so forth.
o Incorrect: After he ate the newt and brushed his teeth, I will kiss him. o Correct: After he eats the newt and brushes his teeth, I will kiss him.
Rule 6: Adjectives & Adverbs
Adjectives describe a noun or pronoun and answer three questions : What kind? Which one? How many?
o The _____ wombat (lascivious)
Adverbs tell where , when , how , or to what extent ( how often or how much )
o The wombat did it ___ (lasciviously)
Rule 7: Parallel Construction
Ideas that are parallel (related) should be expressed the same way.
o Incorrect: I like spitting, drooling, and to slurp. o Correct: I like spitt ing , drool ing , and slurp ing.
Rule 8: Run-on Sentences & Sentence Fragments
A run-on is usually tow complete sentences that are incorrectly joined by a comma in stead of separated by a period or semi-colon.
o Incorrect: JP ate the mysterious object, it was a noodle. o Correct: JP ate the mysterious object ; it was a noodle. OR JP ate the mysterious object. It was a noodle.
Sentence fragments are parts of sentences that are made up to look like real sentences.
o Incorrect: All the kids had rashes on their bodies. Especially those with uranium lunch boxes. o Correct: All the kids had rashes on their bodies , e specially those with uranium lunch boxes.
Rule 9: Dangling Modifiers (Participles/participial phrases)
Incorrect : Taking the test, his copy of the cheat sheet was in his pocket. o The sentence implies that the cheat sheet was taking the test. Correct : Taking the test, he had his copy of the cheat sheet in his pocket.
