Grammar for Teachers

Build your grammar knowledge — and learn how to teach it more effectively. Practical masterclasses for English teachers, in any classroom.

Filter by grammar topic
Level
142 masterclasses
Nouns
A Few, A Little, Few, Little: Quantity with Attitude
A few, a little, few, and little are four closely related quantifiers that cause persistent confusion — not…
Basic
Passive Voice
Active Versus Passive: When and Why to Choose
The most common mistake in teaching the passive is presenting it as a neutral grammatical option — as…
Intermediate
Adjectives & Adverbs
Adjective + Preposition Collocations
Many adjectives in English are followed by a fixed preposition when combined with a noun or -ing form…
Intermediate
Adjectives & Adverbs
Adjective Order: Why Some Combinations Sound Wrong
English speakers follow a strict instinctive order when placing multiple adjectives before a noun — and when this…
Basic
Adjectives & Adverbs
Adjectives in Formal Writing: Compound Adjectives, Nominalisations, and Post-Modification
In formal and academic writing, adjectives operate in ways that go beyond simple pre-noun modification. Compound adjectives (well-established,…
Advanced
Verbs
Adverb Clauses: Because, Although, When, So That, Unless
An adverb clause is a group of words that does the job of an adverb — it modifies…
Advanced
Verbs
Adverbs of Degree: Very, Quite, Rather, and Extremely
Adverbs of degree add precision and nuance to language — they tell us how much, how intensely, or…
Intermediate
Verbs
Adverbs of Time and Place: Yesterday, Soon, Here, Nearby
Adverbs of time and place are among the most frequently used words in English, yet they cause persistent…
Intermediate
Verbs
Adverbs or Adjectives? Avoiding the Most Common Confusion
The confusion between adjectives and adverbs is one of the most persistent grammar problems in learner English, and…
Intermediate
Relative Clauses
All, Both, Half: Whole-Group Determiners
All, both, and half are determiners that refer to whole groups or quantities — all of something, both…
Intermediate
Articles
Articles: Abstract Nouns, Relative Clauses, and Advanced Patterns
This is the final session in the articles series. You have built a complete picture of the core…
Advanced
Articles
Articles: Discourse, World Englishes, and the Full Picture
This is the final session in the articles series — and the one that matters most for teachers…
Advanced
Articles
Articles: Generic Reference, Inventions, and Idiomatic Patterns
This is the fourth and most nuanced session on articles. You have already mastered the core rules, place…
Intermediate
Articles
Articles: Proper Nouns, Unique Nouns, and Fixed Phrases
You have already explored the core logic of a, an, the, and zero article. This session goes further…
Basic
Articles
Articles: Shared Knowledge, Roles, and Trickier Patterns
You have already mastered the core article rules and the patterns with place names, superlatives, and fixed phrases.…
Intermediate
Articles
Articles: a, an, the — and when to use nothing
Articles are one of the hardest parts of English for most learners — and one of the hardest…
Basic
Adjectives & Adverbs
Attributive and Predicative Adjectives
Most English adjectives can appear in two positions: directly before the noun (attributive position — a tired teacher)…
Intermediate
Verbs
Basic Negation: Not, Don't, Doesn't, Didn't, Isn't
Forming a negative sentence in English requires more than simply adding 'not' — the word 'not' must attach…
Basic
Prepositions
By, With, In, Through: Prepositions of Manner and Means
When English describes how something is done — the means, method, instrument, or medium — it uses a…
Intermediate
Nouns
Cohesion and Reference: How Good Writing Holds Together
Cohesion is what makes a text feel like a text rather than a list of unconnected sentences. It…
Intermediate
Nouns
Collective Nouns and Group Agreement
Collective nouns — team, staff, class, government, committee, family, audience, crowd — present one of the most consistently…
Intermediate
Verbs
Comparative Adverbs: More Carefully, Faster, Less Often
Comparative adverbs allow speakers and writers to make comparisons about how actions are performed — 'She explains more…
Advanced
Adjectives & Adverbs
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives
Comparative adjectives compare two things (this classroom is bigger than that one). Superlative adjectives identify the most extreme…
Basic
Nouns
Compound Nouns: Form, Stress, and Meaning
Compound nouns — words like blackboard, staff meeting, textbook, and classroom — are formed by combining two or…
Intermediate
Relative Clauses
Concision: How to Say More with Fewer Words
Concision is not about writing less — it is about achieving the same meaning with fewer words, so…
Advanced
Conditionals
Conditionals: Inversion, Wish, and Formal Patterns
Advanced conditional patterns appear constantly in formal writing, literature, business English, and academic texts — but are rarely…
Advanced
Conditionals
Conditionals: Mixed Types and Alternative Conjunctions
Not all conditional sentences fit neatly into one of the standard types. Sometimes a past condition has a…
Intermediate
Conditionals
Conditionals: Second — Unreal and Hypothetical Situations
The second conditional describes imaginary, unreal, or hypothetical situations in the present or future. It is used for…
Intermediate
Conditionals
Conditionals: Third — Unreal Past, Regrets, and Hindsight
The third conditional describes imaginary situations in the past — things that did not happen, and imagines what…
Intermediate
Conditionals
Conditionals: Zero and First — Real Situations
Conditionals are sentences with 'if'. They describe what happens, or what will happen, under certain conditions. Two of…
Basic
Grammar
Conjunctions in Writing: Choosing, Varying, and Avoiding Common Traps
Knowing what conjunctions mean is necessary but not sufficient — students also need to know when to use…
Advanced
Articles
Conjunctions of Cause and Result: Because, Since, So, Therefore
Cause and result are among the most frequent logical relationships in English — students use them to explain,…
Intermediate
Relative Clauses
Conjunctions of Condition: If, Unless, Provided That, As Long As, Even If
Conditional conjunctions introduce clauses that set out a condition under which something will, would, or might happen. 'If'…
Advanced
Grammar
Conjunctions of Contrast: Although, However, Despite, While, Whereas
Contrast is one of the most important logical relationships in both spoken and written English — we use…
Intermediate
Grammar
Coordinating Conjunctions: And, But, Or, So, Yet, For, Nor
Coordinating conjunctions are the simplest and most frequently used conjunctions in English. They join two words, phrases, or…
Basic
Relative Clauses
Correlative Conjunctions: Both…And, Either…Or, Neither…Nor
Correlative conjunctions work in pairs — both parts must appear in the sentence, and the grammatical structures they…
Intermediate
Nouns
Countable and Uncountable Nouns
The distinction between countable and uncountable nouns is one of the most practically important in English grammar —…
Basic
Nouns
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives: This, That, These, Those
This, that, these, and those are called demonstratives — they point to or indicate specific people, things, or…
Intermediate
Grammar
Determiners in Formal Writing: Precision and Register
In formal and academic writing, determiner choice is not simply a matter of correctness — it is also…
Advanced
Grammar
Double Negatives: Why Two Negatives Make a Positive
A double negative occurs when a sentence contains two negative signals that both refer to the same clause:…
Intermediate
Articles
Each, Every, Either, Neither: Distributive Determiners
Each, every, either, and neither are distributive determiners — they refer to members of a group individually or…
Intermediate
Grammar
Emphasis and Focus: How Grammar Makes Things Stand Out
Neutral word order in English conveys information without signalling that any particular part is especially important. But skilled…
Advanced
Grammar
Enough, Too, Such, What: Degree Determiners and Exclamatory Forms
Enough, too, such, and what are four determiners with distinct and important uses. Enough signals sufficiency — there…
Intermediate
Passive Voice
Formality and Register: How Grammar Changes with Context
Register is the variety of language we use for a particular situation. The grammar of a text message…
Intermediate
Passive Voice
Forming the Passive: Present and Past Simple
The passive voice is not simply an alternative way of saying the same thing as the active —…
Basic
Verbs
Future Continuous: Actions in Progress at a Future Moment
The future continuous — will be + verb-ing — is used to describe an action that will be…
Intermediate
Verbs
Future Forms in Formal Writing, Conditionals, and Reported Speech
Future forms in English do not only appear in straightforward statements about what will happen. They also play…
Advanced
Verbs
Future Perfect: Completed Before a Future Moment
The future perfect — will have + past participle — is used to look forward to a point…
Intermediate
Verbs
Gerunds and Infinitives: Advanced Patterns and the Full System
This final lesson on gerunds and infinitives addresses the most subtle remaining patterns — the ones that catch…
Advanced
Verbs
Gerunds and Infinitives: After Prepositions, As Subjects, and For Purpose
Beyond the verb + gerund / verb + infinitive patterns, there are three other situations where the choice…
Basic
Verbs
Gerunds and Infinitives: Introduction — Which Form Goes Where?
When two verbs appear together in English, the second verb must take a specific form — either the…
Basic
Verbs
Gerunds and Infinitives: Object Patterns, Adjectives, and Bare Infinitives
Some of the most common English structures involve a verb, then an object (a person), then an infinitive…
Intermediate
Verbs
Gerunds and Infinitives: Verbs That Take Both — Same and Different Meanings
Some verbs accept both the gerund and the infinitive — with little or no change in meaning. Others…
Intermediate
Verbs
Going To: Plans and Evidence-Based Predictions
Going to is one of the most natural and frequent ways to talk about the future in English.…
Basic
Adjectives & Adverbs
Gradable and Non-Gradable Adjectives
Most adjectives in English can be intensified — you can say very tired, extremely busy, or a little…
Intermediate
Verbs
Hardly, Barely, Scarcely: Near-Negative Adverbs
Some adverbs carry a near-negative meaning — they do not mean 'not', but they express something so small…
Advanced
Modal Verbs
Hedging and Certainty: How Grammar Signals What We Know
Every time we speak or write, we signal how certain we are about what we are saying. 'It…
Intermediate
Articles
Indefinite Pronouns: Someone, Anyone, Everyone, and Related Forms
Indefinite pronouns — someone, anyone, everyone, no one, something, anything, everything, nothing, somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere — refer…
Intermediate
Articles
Information Structure: Why Word Order Carries Meaning
English word order is not as fixed as students sometimes believe, and the choices speakers and writers make…
Advanced
Adjectives & Adverbs
Intensifiers, Downtoners, and Degree
The words that modify adjectives for degree — intensifiers like very, extremely, and absolutely, and downtoners like fairly,…
Advanced
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Can and Can't — Ability and Permission
Can is one of the most common words in English — and one of the most useful. It…
Basic
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Deduction — The Probability Scale
One of the most sophisticated and natural uses of modal verbs is expressing how certain we are about…
Advanced
Verbs
Modal Verbs: May, Might, and Could — Possibility and Uncertainty
English has three common ways to say that something is possible but not certain: may, might, and could.…
Intermediate
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Must and Have To — Obligation and Necessity
Must and have to both express obligation — the idea that something is necessary or required. They are…
Basic
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Past Modals — Should Have, Could Have, Would Have, Must Have
Past modals — should have, could have, would have, must have — are among the most expressive structures…
Intermediate
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Should and Ought To — Advice and Recommendation
Should is one of the most useful and versatile modal verbs in English. It is softer than must…
Basic
Verbs
Modal Verbs: Would and Will — Requests, Offers, and Past Habits
Will and would are two of the most frequent modal verbs in English — and also among the…
Intermediate
Nouns
Much, Many, A Lot Of: Quantifying Countable and Uncountable Nouns
Much, many, and a lot of are all used to talk about large quantities, but they are not…
Basic
Grammar
Negation in Context: Register, Softening, and Writing Quality
Knowing how to form a negative sentence correctly is necessary but not sufficient. At advanced level, the challenge…
Advanced
Grammar
Negative Prefixes and Suffixes: Un-, In-, Dis-, Non-, -less
English has a rich system of negative prefixes and suffixes that allow single words to carry a negative…
Intermediate
Questions
Negative Questions: Don't You? Isn't She? Didn't They?
Negative questions are questions that contain 'not' in the question form: 'Don't you know?', 'Isn't she coming?', 'Didn't…
Basic
Articles
No, Another, Other, Others: Often-Confused Determiners
No, another, other, and others are four high-frequency determiners that are typically taught in isolation but benefit greatly…
Intermediate
Nouns
No, None, Nothing, Nobody, Nowhere, Never
English has a group of words — no, none, nothing, nobody, nowhere, never — that carry negation within…
Intermediate
Nouns
Nominalisation: Turning Verbs and Adjectives into Nouns
Nominalisation — the process of turning verbs and adjectives into nouns — is one of the defining features…
Advanced
Nouns
Noun Phrases: Building Complex Noun Phrases
A noun phrase is more than just a noun — it is the full construction built around the…
Intermediate
Nouns
Nouns in Formal Writing: Abstract Nouns, Noun Strings, and Precision
The most advanced aspect of noun grammar is not about forms or rules — it is about making…
Advanced
Adjectives & Adverbs
Participial Adjectives: -ed and -ing
Participial adjectives — the -ed and -ing forms used as adjectives — are one of the most common…
Intermediate
Passive Voice
Passive Across Tenses: Continuous, Perfect, and Future
Once you understand that all passives follow the same core pattern — the right form of be plus…
Basic
Passive Voice
Passive Voice in Academic and Formal Writing: Precision, Objectivity, and Register
In academic and formal writing, the passive is not merely a grammatical option — it is a register…
Advanced
Passive Voice
Passives with Reporting and Thinking Verbs
English has a distinctive way of reporting what people think, believe, know, or say — using a passive…
Intermediate
Verbs
Past Continuous: Actions in Progress
The past continuous tense describes an action that was happening — in progress — at a particular moment…
Basic
Verbs
Past Perfect: The Earlier Past
The past perfect tense is used to talk about something that happened earlier than another past event. When…
Intermediate
Verbs
Past Tenses in Conditionals, Reported Speech, and Formal Writing
Past tenses do not only describe past events. They also appear in conditional sentences, reported speech, and formal…
Advanced
Verbs
Past Tenses in Narrative: Using All Four Tenses Together
Real English — in stories, reports, and conversations — uses different past tenses at the same time, often…
Intermediate
Nouns
Personal Pronouns: Subject and Object
Personal pronouns are among the first grammar points learners encounter in English — yet errors with them persist…
Basic
Nouns
Possessive Nouns: Apostrophe -s and s- Apostrophe
The apostrophe is one of the most consistently misused punctuation marks in English, and errors with possessive nouns…
Intermediate
Nouns
Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives
English has two sets of possessive words that learners frequently confuse. Possessive adjectives — my, your, his, her,…
Basic
Prepositions
Prepositional Phrases and Fixed Expressions
Many of the most important prepositional expressions in English cannot be predicted from the meaning of the preposition…
Intermediate
Prepositions
Prepositions After Verbs and Adjectives: Key Collocations
Many verbs and adjectives in English require a specific preposition when followed by a noun or -ing form…
Intermediate
Prepositions
Prepositions in Formal Writing: Precision and Register
In formal written English, preposition choice is one of the clearest markers of register. Certain prepositions are preferred…
Advanced
Prepositions
Prepositions of Movement and Direction: To, Into, Onto, Through, Across, Along, Towards
Prepositions of movement describe how someone or something travels — where they go, what they pass through, and…
Basic
Prepositions
Prepositions of Place
Prepositions of place are among the first things English students learn — and among the last things they…
Basic
Prepositions
Prepositions of Time: At, On, In
At, on, and in are the three most fundamental prepositions of time in English. They follow a clear…
Basic
Prepositions
Prepositions of Time: During, For, Since, By, Until, Within
The time prepositions covered in this lesson — during, for, since, by, until, and within — are frequently…
Intermediate
Verbs
Present Continuous: Now and Temporary Situations
The present continuous tense describes what is happening at this exact moment, or what is true for a…
Basic
Verbs
Present Perfect Continuous: How Long and How Recently
The present perfect continuous — formed with have or has been plus the -ing form — is used…
Intermediate
Verbs
Present Perfect vs Simple Past: Has It Finished or Does It Still Matter?
The present perfect and the simple past are perhaps the most commonly confused tenses in English grammar teaching.…
Intermediate
Verbs
Present Perfect: Experience and Current Relevance
The present perfect is one of the most useful and most misunderstood tenses in English. It is formed…
Intermediate
Verbs
Present Simple vs. Present Continuous
These are two of the most common tenses in English — and two of the most commonly confused.…
Basic
Verbs
Present Simple: Facts, Habits, and Routines
The present simple is one of the first tenses learners encounter, but it is not as simple as…
Basic
Verbs
Present Tenses for the Future: Continuous and Simple
English does not have a single future tense — it uses several different forms to talk about the…
Intermediate
Verbs
Present Tenses in Academic and Formal Writing
Present tenses in academic and formal writing do not always behave in the way learners expect. The present…
Advanced
Nouns
Pronoun Agreement and Reference
A pronoun needs to agree with the noun it refers to — its antecedent — in number and,…
Intermediate
Nouns
Pronouns in Formal Writing: Precision, Inclusivity, and Register
In formal writing, pronoun choices carry significant weight. A vague pronoun reference, an inappropriate personal pronoun, or a…
Advanced
Punctuation
Punctuation: Capitalisation — What Gets a Capital and What Doesn't
Capitalisation is one of the first writing conventions students encounter — and one of the last they fully…
Basic
Punctuation
Punctuation: Dash, Hyphen, Parentheses, Ellipsis, and Square Brackets
This final lesson covers five punctuation marks that are less frequent than commas and full stops but essential…
Advanced
Punctuation
Punctuation: Full Stop, Question Mark, and Exclamation Mark
Every sentence in English ends with a mark. The choice of mark — full stop, question mark, or…
Basic
Punctuation
Punctuation: Hyphens, Dashes, and Brackets
Most teachers and writers know that there is a mark called a 'dash' — but fewer know that…
Advanced
Punctuation
Punctuation: Inverted Commas and Direct Speech
Inverted commas (also called speech marks or quotation marks) do several different jobs in English writing. Their most…
Intermediate
Punctuation
Punctuation: The Apostrophe — Contraction and Possession
The apostrophe does two completely separate jobs: it signals that letters have been left out (contraction), and it…
Basic
Punctuation
Punctuation: The Comma — Advanced Uses
The most fundamental comma uses — lists, introductory phrases, and coordinating conjunctions — were covered in Lesson 2.…
Intermediate
Punctuation
Punctuation: The Comma — Lists, Introductions, and Conjunctions
The comma is the most used and most misused punctuation mark in English. It appears in many different…
Basic
Questions
Questions: Indirect Questions — Could You Tell Me Where...?
Indirect questions are a more polite and formal way to ask for information. Instead of asking directly ('Where…
Intermediate
Questions
Questions: Negative Questions, Echo Questions, and Questions in Real Communication
This final session on questions moves beyond form into function — how questions work in real communication. Three…
Advanced
Questions
Questions: Subject Questions — When There Is No Inversion
There is one important situation in English where questions do NOT use inversion — where the word order…
Intermediate
Questions
Questions: Tag Questions — It's Cold, Isn't It?
Tag questions are the short question phrases added to the end of statements — 'It's hot today, isn't…
Intermediate
Questions
Questions: Wh- Questions — What, Where, When, Who, Why, How
Wh- questions ask for specific information — not just yes or no, but who, what, where, when, why,…
Basic
Questions
Questions: Yes/No Questions — Be and Do/Does/Did
Forming questions in English requires a structural change that does not exist in many languages — moving the…
Basic
Nouns
Reflexive and Emphatic Pronouns
Reflexive pronouns — myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves — are used in two main situations:…
Basic
Nouns
Relative Pronouns: Who, Which, and That
Relative pronouns — who, which, and that — are used to introduce relative clauses: parts of a sentence…
Intermediate
Reported Speech
Reported Questions and Commands: She Asked If, He Told Her To
Reporting questions and commands introduces two new challenges beyond the statement backshift covered in Lesson 1. For questions,…
Intermediate
Reported Speech
Reported Speech: Reporting Statements
Reported speech — also called indirect speech — is how we tell someone else what another person said,…
Basic
Reported Speech
Reporting Verbs and When Not to Backshift
The first two lessons in this series established the core backshift system and the structures for reporting questions…
Advanced
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Cohesion and Coherence — How Sentences Work Together
A text is not just a collection of sentences — it is a network of connected ideas. Cohesion…
Advanced
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Complex Sentences — Because, Although, When, and More
A complex sentence contains one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. The subordinate clause adds information…
Basic
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Noun Clauses — That, What, Whether, and Wh- Words
A noun clause is a subordinate clause that functions as a noun — it can be the subject…
Intermediate
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Relative Clauses — Who, Which, That, and Whose
A relative clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun — it gives additional information about a…
Intermediate
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Simple and Compound Sentences
Every piece of English writing is built from sentences. Understanding what a sentence is — and how sentences…
Basic
Word Order
Sentence Structure: Variety, Emphasis, and Effect
Grammatically correct writing is not the same as effective writing. A text made entirely of simple sentences feels…
Intermediate
Verbs
Simple Past vs Past Continuous: Choosing the Right Tense
The simple past and the past continuous are both used to talk about the past, but they give…
Basic
Verbs
Simple Past: Regular and Irregular Verbs
The simple past tense is one of the most important and most used tenses in English. We use…
Basic
Nouns
Singular and Plural: Regular and Irregular Forms
Forming the plural of a noun sounds simple — just add -s — but the full picture is…
Basic
Verbs
Stative Verbs: Why Some Verbs Resist the Continuous
In English, some verbs describe states — how things are — rather than actions — what is happening.…
Intermediate
Grammar
Subordinating Conjunctions: Because, Although, When, If, Unless
Subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent clauses — clauses that cannot stand alone as complete sentences. Words like 'because', 'although',…
Basic
Questions
Tag Questions: She Works Hard, Doesn't She?
A tag question is a short question added to the end of a statement to check information, seek…
Basic
Passive Voice
The Get-Passive: Get + Past Participle
English has two passive constructions: the be-passive (the window was broken) which is formal and neutral, and the…
Intermediate
Adjectives & Adverbs
What Are Adjectives? Form, Position, and Basic Use
Adjectives are one of the most familiar word classes — every language has ways of describing things —…
Basic
Nouns
What Are Nouns? Types, Function, and Basic Use
Nouns are the words we use to name things — people, places, objects, ideas, qualities, and events. They…
Basic
Verbs
What Is an Adverb? Manner and Frequency Adverbs
Adverbs are words that give extra information about verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Two of the most common…
Basic
Verbs
Where Does the Adverb Go? Adverb Position in Sentences
One of the most persistent sources of error in learner English is not which adverb to use but…
Basic
Verbs
Will vs Going To: Choosing the Right Future Form
Will and going to are the two most common future forms in English, and they are among the…
Basic
Verbs
Will: Decisions, Predictions, and Promises
Will is the most widely taught future form in English, but many learners — and some teachers —…
Basic