Important rules of the English language. English Grammar: Basic Concepts

IN recent years studying English language has become so popular that some are sometimes even surprised that someone doesn’t know him. This is not surprising, since English can be considered the most “international”, it is spoken in almost all countries of the world (of course, in addition to the native language). Those who want further career prospects for themselves strive to learn it first, and only then can they start learning other languages if they wish. Of course, this is not easy, because the rules of the English language, its grammar, are strikingly different from those inherent in a person’s native language. And, in addition to them, it is necessary to learn many foreign words in order to be able to express yourself so that you are understood. But let’s assume that you have already started studying a long time ago, and you need a list of the most common mistakes made when speaking or writing text. We suggest you take note of the basic rules of the English language, in which mistakes are most often made.

Verbs Present Simple(present indefinite tense): they are used when we are talking about some action (I do - I do) that occurs in general. For example: I drive a bus - I drive a bus. That is, this action does not necessarily happen at this moment, it happens in general, constantly. Remember that such verbs are used in their “pure” form only in relation to the pronouns I, we, you, they (I, we, you, they). With the pronouns he, she, it (he, she, it), the ending -s- is added to the verbs, for example: Henry works in a bank - Henry works in a bank.
The rules of the English language state that the auxiliary verb will(in this case not translated), which serves to form the future tense, is not used with words such as while, when, after, before, as soon as, till, until - while, when, after, before, as soon as, until, until.
to and must, despite the similarity of meaning, still differ in meaning. Thus, I have to do it means “I must/forced to do this,” and I must to do it should be understood as “I am obliged to do this.”
Studying further the rules of the English language, please note that verbs ending in -ing- are used before at, in, of, with, for, instead of, about, in spite of (in, in, from, with, to, a, approximately , despite) and after after, before (after, before). For example: are you interested in reading of this book - are you interested in reading this book?

In addition, you need to remember about the correct construction of sentences. We are accustomed to the fact that the Russian language is so great and powerful that it allows arbitrary rearrangement of words among themselves, and the meaning of the sentence will not change and will be understandable. In English, everything is not like that: if you rearrange it as you please, you will get nothing more than an ordinary set of words that have no connection. It is for this reason that it is important to learn the rules of the English language, in which there are nine types of sentences, each of which is constructed according to its own laws. The classification of species is as follows:

1) narrative (subject - simple predicate - other parts of speech);

2) interrogative (built based on the expected answer: general questions, to which it is quite possible to answer “yes, no”; special, requiring only a complete answer; issues of choice; dividing, consisting of a sentence and the question itself);

3) imperative (the only one that does not have a subject);

4) exclamations (in structure identical to narrative ones, but with greater expression and intonation);

5) negative (have only one negation);

6) answers to questions (based on the question asked);

7) (nominal and verbal, for example: it is cold - cold, or it’s getting warm - it becomes warm);

8) vaguely personal (one can do it easily - it can be done easily);

9) complex sentences (consist of several independent clauses).

Of course, all this is just quick basics English language, because in fact there are much more rules. But, as you know, nothing is impossible. Therefore, if the desire to learn English is very strong, in addition to the rules, do not forget that you need to communicate in this language. The fact is that, having learned a language only on paper, you will hardly be able to understand it in real life. colloquial speech without having any practice. If you have no one to communicate in English, the solution is simple: watch films without translation and try to catch intonations, peculiarities of pronunciation of words and other nuances. This way you will begin to think faster and, therefore, speak English as fluently as possible.

Imagine that you need to start something completely new to you right now. For example, driving a car, baking pies for the first time, giving a newborn a bath. Where do you start? Options:

1. I’ll take it and do it, what’s the problem.
2. First, I’ll read on the Internet or in books how to do it.
3. Call a friend who is experienced in this matter.
4. Help from the audience (I’ll ask someone else).
5. Learn from a professional.
6. I won't do it.

The option you choose characterizes you very clearly. When it comes to English grammar, depending on which method you chose above, the following is expected:

1. Bugaga (the teachers and English people who heard you speak in English are laughing).
2. Adding patience and time to this, you will learn all the rules on your own.
3. Add to this the patience of a friend and his time, under his guidance you will learn all the rules.
4. You won't learn anything, but you will listen to how others do it.
5. Add money to this and you will learn all the rules.
6. You will be able to ski, meet friends in a cafe, sleep, eat - in general, life is good.

As you can see, to understand English grammar, you need, in theory, only three things: a source of rules, time and patience. The first is offered to you in these articles, but you will have to deal with the other two components on your own.

Thus, we give you a fishing rod, and you will catch the fish yourself. What is the beauty of our fishing rod? The fact is that it is light, convenient and easy to use. We will not load you with scary grammar terms, torment you with long lists, flickering arrows, A4 diagrams and other tricks that scare some English teachers.

There is nothing particularly complex about English grammar, unlike many other European languages (not to mention Eastern and African). You can simply read these articles like a fiction book. Even if you master the minimum, at the finish line you will find that you master most of the rules that previously seemed overwhelming.

As an example, let's do something already in the introductory part. What does speech consist of? From phrases. What does the phrase consist of? From the proposals. What does the proposal consist of? Stop! Let's clarify: what does an ENGLISH sentence consist of? Subject and predicate. Usually this is a noun and a verb (just don’t say that you don’t remember these words): the dog is running, the passer-by is screaming, the dog is barking, the owner is yelling. True, a noun can be successfully replaced by a pronoun: she runs, you scream, she barks, I yell.

You have just listened to a news briefing lecture on parts of speech. What do you remember? At a minimum, the words “noun” and “verb” for you are already associated with grammar, and not with cooking or construction work. And for now you don’t need more. Are you ready to continue at the same pace?

Follow me (follow me).

Parts of speech:

1. Numerals(The Numeral)
1.1 Cardinal and ordinal numbers
2. Pronouns(The Pronoun)
2.1 Personal and possessive pronouns
2.2 Demonstrative and negative pronouns
2.3 Indefinite and reflexive pronouns

5. Adjective(The Adjective)
5.1 Degrees of comparison of adjectives

7. Noun(The Noun)
7.1 Noun in English. Classification of nouns

8. Verb(The Verb)
8.1 Verbs in English. General information about verbs
8.2 Regular and irregular English verbs
8.3 Semantic and auxiliary verbs
8.4 Modals and linking verbs

English grammar for beginners seems overwhelming. Articles, pronouns, verbs - the English language has a huge number of rules that are not so easy to transfer to Russian. This raises doubts: is it worth starting at all? Is it worth diving into English grammar without some confidence that you can master it? No, with such an attitude, you will definitely not be able to swim far in your study. Therefore, it is important to discard all doubts and stereotypes. Believe me, English grammar can be studied independently and in the most short terms. All you need is consistency and perseverance, and we will help you with everything else.

First, let's figure out what the grammar of this language is. The English grammar or English grammar is a set of all rules that relate to prepositions, prefixes, parts of speech, types of English verbs and their tenses, members of sentences, and so on.

In simple words, everything that is in the English language is its grammar. Respectively, frequently asked question about how to learn grammar , has a very simple answer: to learn English grammar, you just need to learn the language. Of course, it will not be possible to analyze all the nuances in one article. Why, even books that promise to show you the entire grammar of the English language from scratch with exercises, in fact, will never tell you about the entire grammar. Therefore, we have collected only the most basic rules that are best suited for beginners.

How can you learn English grammar without even knowing the rules of pronunciation? Let's start with them. The rules for reading letters in English is a fairly broad topic, since with a certain combination their pronunciation can change. However, let's not go too deep and consider the standard pronunciation of letters, of which, by the way, there are 26 in English. When mastering the topic of pronunciation, special attention is paid to transcription, which, as a rule, is indicated in square brackets:

№	Letter	Transcription	Pronunciation
1	A a		Hey
2	B b		bi
3	C c		si
4	D d		di
5	E e		And
6	F f		ef
7	G g		ji
8	H h		HH
9	I i		ah
10	Jj		Jay
11	K k		kay
12	Ll		el
13	Mm		Em
14	Nn	[ɛn]	en
15	O o	[əʊ]	oh
16	P p		pi
17	Q q		Cue
18	R r	[ɑː]	A
19	Ss		es
20	T t		you
21	U u		yu
22	Vv		vi
23	W w	[‘dʌbljuː]	double
24	X x		ex
25	Y y		wy
26	Z z		zed

English Grammar: Articles

When studying English grammar, a lot of confusion may arise with, since they have no analogues in Russian. Articles are usually used with nouns to show whether we are talking about a specific object (that bag) or an indefinite one (a person). There are 3 types of articles:

Zero article or its absence:

The indefinite article a/an is used when you are not paying attention to a specific thing, but are simply talking about the subject in general. Indefinite article also used when you mention something to someone for the first time:

Note that if the noun or adjective that describes it begins with a consonant, the article “a” is used, and if it begins with a vowel, “an” is used.

Definite article the, expressing specific objects:

They occur constantly in speech, so be sure to remember.

Nouns in English grammar

English grammar from scratch very often begins with nouns. Perhaps this is because nouns in English have a lot in common with Russian ones. For example:

they are also divided into proper and common nouns:

can change in number, forming the plural using the ending -s (-es):

have cases, although their number is limited to only two:

perform the roles of all members of the sentence, examples:

The difference is that, unlike the Russian language, English nouns do not change by gender. Only pronouns have it.

English Grammar: Pronouns

Pronouns in English are divided into 9 subgroups, but the most popular are rightfully personal pronouns. They change according to cases, tenses and numbers:

English Grammar: Verbs

The verb in English is perhaps the main part of speech. It can be personal and impersonal. Personal verbs include those verbs that are used with all persons and in all tenses. They can be used in both active and passive voices:

Impersonal ones include the gerund, infinitive and participle:

Both regular and irregular verbs have 3 forms. The correct ones are formed as follows:

Irregular ones have 3 individual forms that need to be memorized, for example:

It is necessary to know all these forms, since with their help the formation of tense verb forms occurs.

In addition, verbs have three moods:

Particular attention should be paid to modal verbs. Modal verbs are verbs that are not used on their own. They are necessary to show the speaker’s attitude towards some action. One of the most used modal verbs are:

should (should)	You should stop drinking alcohol. (You need to stop drinking.)
can (can)	Every person can achieve everything he dreams about. (Every person can achieve anything he dreams of.)
must (must)	The pupils must wear uniforms here. (Here students are required to wear a uniform.)
have to (need / have to)	I have to wake up early because of work. (I have to get up early because of work.)
need (needed)	I need you like no one else. (I need you like no one else.)
used to (formerly)	I used to watch this cartoon when I was a child. ((Previously) I watched this cartoon when I was a child.)

English Grammar: Adjectives

An adjective in English denotes an attribute of an object and answers the questions “which?” and “whose?” In simple words, it is used to describe objects and persons. According to their structure, adjectives are divided into 3 groups:

These and other adjectives can be used in 3 degrees of comparison:

English Grammar: Adverbs

The descriptive function is also characteristic of adverbs, which are responsible for expressing a characteristic of an action. It comes in several types:

They can also have degrees of comparison:

English Grammar: Numerals

Numerals, as in Russian, are quantitative and ordinal:

With the exception of the first 3 digits, the remaining ordinal numbers are formed with -th (-eth). In English ordinal numbers can be written using a number and the last two letters of the ending: second - 2nd, ninth - 9th, sixteenth - 16th and so on.

English Grammar: Interjections

It is impossible not to note the independent part of speech, the use of which helps to convey emotions and one’s feelings, namely interjections. They can be divided into 3 groups:

Functional parts of speech

Functional parts of speech English grammar are used quite often. Let's look at some of them:

Conjunctions connect the members of the sentence, as well as simple sentences as part of a complex By structure they are divided into:

According to their functions, they are divided into coordinating and subordinating:

Prepositions are used no less often than conjunctions. According to their structure, they are divided into exactly the same groups:

In addition to their main purpose, prepositions are always used with the following verbs:

One more service part speech are particles. There are 5 types of particles in English:

English Grammar: Word Order in a Sentence

Sentences in English are affirmative, negative and interrogative. They are built as follows:

Based on these tables, sentences are drawn up at any time.

English Grammar: Tenses

There are 12 tense forms in English. They are formed using 3 tenses and 4 tense forms:

Times/Species	Simple	Continuous	Perfect	Perfect Continuous (perfect continuous)
Past (past)	V2	to be (past) + V-ing	had + V3	had + been + V-ing
Present (present)	V1	to be (in the present) + V-ing	have / has + V3	have / has + been + V-ing
Future (future)	will + V1	will be + V-ing	will + have + V3	will + have + been + V-ing

Knowing these forms, you can form any sentences.

English Grammar: Types of Sentences

By the way, about proposals. As in Russian, English sentences are divided into simple and complex. Complex ones are divided into complex and complex.

It is worth noting that, despite the fact that most sentences in English are complete, it is permissible to use incomplete sentences. As a rule, this option is used in colloquial speech, so this is rather a practical grammar of the English language:

These were the basic rules of grammar. Of course, it is unfortunately impossible to fit all the material here. However, knowing at least the mentioned rules of the English language, you will already feel quite confident during a conversation. As for conversations. A collection of English exercises or another version of descriptive information is, of course, good. However, believe me, practical English grammar cannot be compared with anything in its effectiveness. Language learners can learn much more by communicating than by sitting in front of a book. Therefore, do not hesitate to communicate with native speakers.

We present to you the first article in the “English Grammar for Beginners” series. In this series of materials, we decided to present all the rules briefly and in simple words so that beginners “from scratch” or those who do not remember the basics of English well can independently figure out the grammar, understand it and apply it in practice.

Plural in English

In English, as in Russian, all words are divided into countable and uncountable. This is important to understand when forming the plural of a word. Countable nouns denote those objects that can be counted, for example: table (table), book (book), apple (apple). Uncountable nouns are abstract concepts, liquids, products, etc., that is, things that cannot be counted. For example: knowledge, water, meat, flour. These words have no plural or singular.

Countable nouns can be used in the singular and plural. A singular noun denotes one thing, this is the form of the word that is indicated in the dictionary: apple - apple. A plural noun denotes several objects: apples - apples.

How to form the plural of nouns:

Usually the plural of nouns is formed by adding the ending -s to the word: book – books (book – books). However, there are several spelling features:

If the word ends in -o, -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, then add the ending -es: hero – heroes (hero – heroes), bus – buses (bus – buses).
Exceptions: photo - photos (photo - photographs), video - videos (video recording - video recordings), radio - radios (radio - several radios), rhino - rhinos (rhino - rhinoceroses), piano - pianos (piano - several pianos), hippo - hippos (hippopotamus - hippopotamuses).
If the word ends in -f, -fe, then change the ending to -ves: knife – knives, leaf – leaves, wife – wives.
Exceptions: roof - roofs (roof - roofs), giraffe - giraffes (giraffe - giraffes), cliff - cliffs (cliff - cliffs).
If a word ends in -y, preceded by a consonant, then we change -y to -ies: body – bodies (body – bodies).
If the word ends in -y, preceded by a vowel, then add the ending -s: boy – boys (boy – boys).

In English there is also exception words, which form the plural irregularly. You just need to learn such words by heart; fortunately, there are not very many of them.

Singular	Plural
man - man	men - men
woman - woman	women - women
child - child	children - children
person - person	people - people
foot - foot	feet - feet
mouse - mouse	mice - mice
tooth - tooth	teeth - teeth
sheep - sheep	sheep - sheep

Try our test to see how well you have understood the material.

English Plural Noun Test

Articles in English

There are two types of articles in English: definite and indefinite. They are not translated into Russian. In the vast majority of cases, one of these articles must be placed before a singular noun.

The indefinite article a/an is used only with countable nouns in the singular: a girl (girl), a pen (handle). If a word begins with a consonant sound, we write the article a (a girl), and if the word begins with a vowel sound, we write the article an (an apple).

The indefinite article a/an is used in the following cases:

We name any indefinite object, and we have only one, which is why we use the article a, which comes from the word one (one):
It is a book. - This is a book.
We mention the subject for the first time in speech:
I see a shop. - I see (some, one of many) store.
We talk about a person’s profession or indicate his belonging to a certain group:
He is a teacher. - He's a teacher.
She is a student. - She's a student.

We use the definite article the when we are talking about a specific object that is familiar to us. This article can appear before a singular or plural noun.

The definite article the is used in the following cases:

We have already mentioned the subject earlier in our speech:
I see a shop. The shop is big. - I see a store. (This) The store is big.
The definite article is believed to have originated from the words that(that), therefore it is intended to point to some specific object familiar to the interlocutors.
We are talking about an object that in this context is one of a kind and cannot be confused with something else:
Honey, I'm washing the car. - Honey, I'm washing the car. (the family has one car, so we are talking about a specific item)
Look at the girl in the red dress. - Look at the girl in the red dress. (we point to a specific girl in a specific dress)
We are talking about a one-of-a-kind object, there is no other like it: the sun, the moon, the world, the President of France, etc.:
The earth is our home. - The earth is our home.

Verb to be

There is always a verb in an English sentence. And if in Russian we can say “I am a doctor,” “Mary is beautiful,” “We are in the hospital,” then in English this is unacceptable: in all these cases, the verb to be must appear after the subject. Therefore, you can remember a simple rule: if there are no ordinary verbs in a sentence, then the verb to be is needed.

The verb to be has three forms:

Am is added to the pronoun I when we talk about ourselves:
I am beautiful. - I'm handsome.
Is is placed after the pronouns he, she, it:
She is beautiful. - She's beautiful.
Are is used after you, we, they:
You are beautiful. - You are handsome.

The verb to be in English is most often used in the following cases:

We inform you that by whom is a person (name, profession, etc.):
I am a doctor. - I'm a doctor.
We inform you that what a person or thing has a quality:
Mary is beautiful. - Mary is beautiful.
We inform you that Where there is a person or object:
We are at the hospital. - We're in the hospital.

Sentences with the verb to be in the present tense are constructed as follows:

Affirmative sentences	Negative sentences	Interrogative sentences
Principle of Education
I + am	I + am not ('m not)	Am+I
He/She/It + is	He/She/It + is not (isn’t)	Is + he/she/it
We/You/They + are	We/You/They + are not (aren’t)	Are + we/you/they
Examples
I am a manager. - I am a manager.	I am not a manager. - I'm not a manager.	Am I a manager? - I am a manager?
It's awesome. - He's great.	It's not awesome. - He's not great.	Is he awesome? - Is he great?
She is a doctor. - She's a doctor.	She isn't a doctor. - She's not a doctor.	Is she a doctor? - Is she a doctor?
It (ball) is red. - It (the ball) is red.	It (ball) isn't red. - It (the ball) is not red.	Is it (ball) red? - Is it (the ball) red?
We are the champions. - We are champions.	We aren't the champions. - We are not champions.	Are we the champions? - Are we champions?
You are ill. - You're sick.	You are not ill. - You're not sick.	Are you ill? -Are you sick?
They are at home. - They're at home.	They aren't at home. - They are not at home.	Are they at home? -Are they at home?

We think you are now ready to take the test and test your knowledge.

Test for the use of the verb to be

Present Continuous Tense - present continuous tense

Present Continuous Tense most often shows that the action takes place in at the moment.

Every English sentence has a subject and a predicate. In the Present Continuous the predicate consists of the auxiliary verb to be in in the required form(am, is, are) and the main verb without the particle to, to which we add the ending -ing (playing, reading).

She is playing tennis now. - She is now plays to tennis.
I am reading a novel at the moment. - I'm currently I'm reading novel.

The verb to be in this tense is auxiliary verb, that is, this is the word that comes before the main verb (playing, reading) and helps to form tense. You will find auxiliary verbs in other tenses; these types of verbs include to be (am, is, are), do/does, have/has, will.

Please note the following tense words Present Continuous: now (now), at the moment (at the moment), today (today), tonight (tonight), these days (these days), currently (these days), at present (currently), still (still).

Affirmative sentences in the Present Continuous are formed as follows:

Usually in this tense you just need to add the ending -ing to the main verb: walk – walking (walk), look – looking (look). But some verbs change like this:

If the verb ends in -e, we remove the -e and add -ing: write – writing, dance – dancing.
Exception: see – seeing (to see).
If the verb ends in -ie, we change -ie to -y and add -ing: lie – lying (lie), die – dying (die).
If the verb ends stressed syllable with a short vowel that comes between two consonants, the final consonant is doubled by adding -ing: begin – beginning (begin), swim – swimming (swim).

In negative sentences in the Present Continuous, you just need to insert the particle not between to be and the main verb.

She isn't cooking at the moment. - At the moment she doesn't cook.
You are not listening to me now. - You don't listen me now.

IN interrogative sentences In the Present Continuous, you need to put the verb to be in the first place, and after it put the subject and main verb.

Is she cooking at the moment? - She cooks at the moment?
Are you listening to me now? - You me now are you listening?

Now we suggest you take a test on the use of Present Continuous tense.

Test for use of Present Continuous

We presented you with the first 5 basic topics English language. Now your task is to thoroughly understand them and work through them as productively as possible with the help of exercises. In order not to burden you with a large amount of grammar at once, we will release the next article in this series in a few weeks. Subscribe to our newsletter, then you definitely won't miss out important information. We wish you success in learning English!

The first native speakers of English had to agree on the basic rules of speech. Over time, the set of these rules grew larger, acquired nuances and exceptions, and then turned into thick textbooks. At school they did not delve into the jungle of studying British speech, but remembered the ten most important rules English language. Check it!

For those preparing for the main school exam

1. Word order in a sentence

Russian speech allows us to compose phrases in any order we like. The sentences “He bought a car”, “He bought a car”, “He bought a car” and other variations will sound equally organic and correct from a grammatical point of view. But the English are a pedantic people, so in their sentences, as in life, there is a strictly observed order.

Subject (who?) + predicate (what is he doing?) + object (with whom? over whom?) + circumstance (when? where? how?)

He bought a car. - He bought a car.

Minor members may be absent, but the presence of a subject and predicate is mandatory, therefore the existence of impersonal sentences in English is impossible. If in the Russian analogue the subject performing the action is absent, then in English it is replaced by the pronoun “it”.

It's cold outside. - It's cold outside.

2. Auxiliary verbs

It is very important to remember to use auxiliary verbs in negative and interrogative sentences. In Russian, we do not need any helpers other than the main predicate verb. But in classical English, the construction of questions and negations requires the indispensable presence of an helping verb.

Do you love music? - Do you like music?

I won't go to this party. - I won't (will not) go to the party.

Which auxiliary verb you should use depends on the tense, but that's a whole other story with 16 separate chapters.

3. Forms of verbs be, have, do

There is a “holy trinity” of verbs in the English language - words that can express most actions. These verbs are: “be” (to be, appear, be), “have” (to have) and “do” (to do). Due to such frequent use, they have their own special forms in the present tense.

"Be" was divided into "am" (for I), "is" (for he, she, it) and "are" (for we, you, they).

"Have" has a special form only for the third person singular (he, she, it) - "has".

And “do”, using general rule for “he”, “she”, “it” in the present tense, uses the ending “es” - “does”.

Having remembered these rules about verbs and their forms, you can already express your thoughts and explain to a foreigner what you need from him.

4. Prohibition of double negatives

The famous game “I have never...” in English is called “I"ve never (done)...” As you can see, in the Russian language there is a double negative - the pronoun “never” and the negative particle “not”. In English we see only a negative adverb “never”, and before the verb “done” the usual negative particle“not” does not exist and cannot exist. Why this happened and who is to blame for this is unknown to history, but we like the version that business residents of Foggy Albion simply do not like to repeat themselves. And we should remember that in English you cannot use double negatives.

5. Articles

We can talk about these mysterious guys for hours. What makes this conversation especially long is the fact that there are no articles in the Russian language. But we will not repeat the multi-volume material of textbooks, but will concentrate only on when articles are not needed.

When a noun is preceded by a possessive pronoun or a noun in the possessive case.

This is a dog. This is my dog. It isn't my sister's dog. - This is a dog. This is my dog. This is not my sister's dog.

When a cardinal number precedes a noun (answers the question “how much?”).

I have two sisters and one brother. - I have two sisters and one brother.

When a noun is preceded by the negation “no”.

I have no idea what to do. - I have no idea what to do.

When a noun is preceded by a demonstrative pronoun (this, these, that, those).

Give me that pencil, please. - Give me that pencil, please.

6. Plural

The basic rule for forming plurals is to add the ending “s” to the singular form.

a dog - dogs, a cat - cats, an insect - insects

If a noun ends in a sibilant sound or the letter "o", then the ending "es" should be added.

bus - buses, glass - glasses, bush - bushes, box - boxes, branch - branches, potato –potatoes

When a word ends in "y" and is preceded by a consonant, the plural "y" changes to "ies".

baby - babies, city - cities, lady - ladies

But: boy - boys, toy - toys, play - plays

When a word ends with "f" or "fe", adding the ending "s" changes the "f" to a "v".

leaf - leaves, wife - wives

These are the main ones English rules formation of the plural form, but we should not forget about exceptions that go against the rules, for example:

child - children, man - men, mouse - mice

7. Degrees of comparison

There are two ways to form degrees of comparison: using suffixes and using additional words. The choice of method is influenced by the number of syllables and the last letter in the word.

If the word has one syllable, then a suffix should be added.

cold - colder - the coldest, cool - cooler - the coolest, big - bigger - the bigges

If the word consists of two or more syllables, then we use an additional word.

beautiful - more beautiful - the most beautiful

When a word ends in "y", we use the first ending method again, but the "y" changes to "ie".

funny - funnier - the funniest, sunny - sunnier - the sunniest

Don't forget the article "the" before superlative comparisons, as well as doubling the last consonant in monosyllabic words with the alternation “consonant / vowel / consonant”.

8. Gerund after the verb “like”

A gerund is a verb ending in "ing". If you need to express your preferences using the verb “like”, then it is preferable to use a gerund after it:

I like watching films.
Do you like jogging?
You don't like playing chess, do you?

9. Past tense forms of verbs

The basic rule is that the second form of the verb should be used to express the past tense. This is where the nuances begin, because English verbs are divided into regular and irregular, and their methods of forming the second form differ. For regular verbs the ending “ed” is used, but each irregular verb has its own three forms that need to be remembered - a separate rule for irregular verbs does not exist. Fortunately, many of them are formed according to similar word-formation models, and modern teaching methods have funny rhymes aimed at quickly memorizing the forms of irregular verbs. Our online tutor will be happy to introduce you to them.

10. Many, much, a lot

English nouns, like Russian ones, are divided into two classes: countable and uncountable. Class influences the use of quantitative pronouns:

With countables you should use "many".

I have many dresses. - I have a lot of dresses.

With uncountables, which are liquids, substances and substances, we use “much”.

I don"t drink much water. - I don’t drink a lot of water.

If it is difficult to determine the class, then you can use “a lot (of)”, which goes equally well with both uncountable nouns and those that can be counted.

He doesn't watch a lot of TV, but he reads a lot of books. - He doesn't watch a lot of TV, but he reads a lot of books.

A small hint in determining the class of nouns can be the ending “s” in plural countable nouns.

When learning English, you should remember that rules are meant to be broken. All the rules above are just the “skeleton” of British literary speech. Alive spoken language has a lot of nuances and exceptions, which can only be known by immersing yourself in the atmosphere of an English-speaking society. English songs and films, as well as live interlocutors, will help you do this!

Embark on an exciting journey through the sections of our website, and within a few days the ten most important rules of the English language will become as natural as breathing. Breathe in English!

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