10 Grammar Rules Every Non-Native Speaker Should Know

English grammar is essential in making sentences coherent; without it, your sentences would resemble nothing but an array of jumbled words.

English learners may become confused by grammar rules as native speakers tend to break them casually in casual conversation. This article will detail the most essential grammar rules that non-native speakers should know.

1. The Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense (also referred to as past simple or preterite) indicates that an action was completed at some point in the past. Regular verbs usually form this tense by adding “-ed”, while irregular verbs have various endings for their simple past tense verbs.

Negative statements in the simple past require using did (or the contraction did not), while questions use either did or were. This rule can be easily learned for regular verbs; however, irregular ones require further consideration.

2. The Past Participle

Past participles of verbs can be used as adjectives and to form perfect verb tenses, typically ending in “-ed.” For irregular verbs, different endings may apply.

Past participle forms can be combined with auxiliary verbs to form different tenses, such as present perfect. They may also serve as adjectives modifying nouns.

Just like regular adjectives, conjunction adjectives typically appear after linking verbs or before nouns. Furthermore, they can also be attached to another word to form an adverb.

3. The Past Perfect

The past perfect is used to discuss events which occurred prior to a given time in the past, using had and its past participle of main verb as its two auxiliary verbs. It is also sometimes known as pluperfect.

Learning English can be challenging and it can be easy to become frustrated with grammar rules that native speakers seem to ignore. However, remember that formal communication requires strict adherence to these rules while casual conversations may allow more leeway for interpretation of these guidelines. Don’t allow these rules stop you from communicating with people; rather, don’t let these restrictions prevent communication among people.

4. The Past Continuous

English grammar rules can seem complex at times, making the task of understanding them dauntingly complex. Thankfully, however, there are exceptions to these rules and many native speakers break them as well.

Example: Past continuous is a useful way of talking about actions which began occurring in the past but continue happening now — like studying for an exam — such as, for instance. You can also use it with interrogative adverbs and pronouns.

5. The Past Perfect Continuous

The past perfect continuous is a verb tense that indicates an action began in the past and continued through to another point in the past. It is formed using had been+the present participle of its base verb.

Example: She had been running regularly for one year when she fractured her ankle.

Grammar is an essential element of English, and understanding it will enable you to write clearer, more cohesive sentences. Furthermore, learning grammar will protect you against making embarrassing errors such as using too instead of too much or mismatching modal verbs in your writing.

6. The Past Simple

The past simple is used to describe an action or event that took place and finished at a specific point in time in the past, for instance: Wolfgang won the hula hoop contest.

Regular verbs ending in “e” can simply add “-ed” to form the past simple. For irregular verbs, however, look for an auxiliary such as was or weren’t; alternatively you could also utilize present perfect tense instead.

7. The Past Perfect

The past perfect (also referred to as pluperfect) is an advance tense used to discuss past events in an engaging manner. It shows how one action occurred prior to another in time.

Use it with conjunctions such as “as far as”, “as soon as”, and “as long as”; use it in questions and negative statements for clarity – it is an integral tense to know!

8. The Present Perfect

The present perfect is a verb tense that uses both an auxiliary (helping) verb and its past participle, to express past actions that had an influence over present circumstances.

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9. The Present Perfect Continuous

Learning English may appear to be daunting at times, with so many grammatical rules. But in reality, only a handful of key rules need to be understood in order to speak and write effectively in English.

The present perfect continuous is used to describe actions or situations that began in the past and have continued into the present. This tense emphasizes duration, with questions being formed by adding “not” after “has/have + subject + been + present participle”. Examples: John is convinced he has been followed for three miles.

10. The Present Perfect Simple

The present perfect is used to express completed actions or events which influence current situations, using be/have and the past participle form of main verbs such as She has been working since Monday; He has enjoyed drinking beer since college.

Ginger can help you master English perfect tenses. Present perfect is used to describe actions which occurred at any unspecified point in time in the past using unspecific time expressions like already, many times, before, so far etc.