Improve your English Grammar in One Hour | Basic English Grammar

In this essential grammar class, the focus is on prepositions, basic grammar rules, articles (such as 'a' and 'the'), and English tenses. The session aims to clarify common confusions in these areas to improve overall language proficiency.

When learning English, prepositions can be confusing. For example, deciding between 'at' or 'in' the farmer's market and whether a billboard is 'on' or 'in' Times Square. Native speakers will generally understand you regardless of which preposition you use in conversation. However, using the correct preposition becomes crucial when taking tests.

Using 'At' vs. 'In' for Locations 'In' is used with large places like countries, cities, and continents (e.g., in Europe, in Italy). Conversely, 'at' is applied to smaller or specific locations such as buildings or events (e.g., at the farmer's market, at the airport).

All vs. All Of: Pronouns Matter 'All of’ should be used when referring to pronouns (us, them), while ‘all’ applies generally without pronouns (all people). For example: all of us are going; all students must wear masks.

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Using 'In', 'On', and 'At' for Time 'In' is used with general measurements of time, such as minutes, days, or months. For example: "I'll be there in two minutes" or "We're traveling abroad in two months." When referring to specific dates and times, use 'on' and 'at'. Examples include: "I will see you on Monday at 12 pm" or "The classes start on September 21st." Additionally, use ‘in’ when mentioning years like “I was born in 1990.”

Distinguishing Beside from Besides ‘Beside’ means nearby; for instance: “We were camping beside the river,” indicating proximity. On the other hand, ‘besides’ functions as an adverb meaning ‘in addition to’. An example would be: “Besides needing your support in this venture...” which implies adding more information.

Among vs Between Usage 'Among' is used when discussing a group of three or more objects or people. For instance:

Certain words are always followed by 'to,' such as senior, junior, prefer, prior, superior, inferior and preferable. For example: "He is senior to me in service," or "I prefer coffee to tea." These indicate a comparison where one thing is chosen over another without implying hierarchy. In contrast, use 'than' for direct comparisons indicating superiority or inferiority like: "He's better than me" or "She's taller than him."

The distinction between 'in' and 'into' is crucial for proper usage. Use 'in' when referring to a person, animal, or object located within a specific place: "I was sitting in the classroom," "He was in the house." Conversely, use 'into' to describe movement toward something enclosed: "He came into my office," indicating entry and motion towards an interior space.

'For' measures a period, while 'since' marks the start date. For example: "I've been vlogging for five years" versus "I've been blogging since 2014." Practice by writing sentences like: "I’ve been following Lingua Marina for two years," or, "I’ve been following Lingua Marina since 2018 when I first saw her video about TOEFL."

"Agree with" is used to express agreement with a person, such as "I agree with you that we need to practice English daily." It can also be used for agreeing with statements or opinions from others like "I agree with our president that we need to support our economy." On the other hand, "agree to" is utilized when consenting to plans, proposals, or ideas. For example: "I agree to your proposal; let's start a company together," and “You’ll agree to anything.”

The word 'to' is used in various contexts. Firstly, it indicates a destination: "I am going to Germany." Secondly, it denotes time in British English: "It's a quarter to two," meaning 1:45. Thirdly, 'to' compares preferences or actions like preferring one activity over another. Fourthly, it's used for the receiver of an action such as giving something to someone else. Lastly, 'to' explains reasons behind actions like doing something to achieve a goal.

The word 'for' is used in various contexts. It indicates benefits, such as doing something for your health or buying a gift for someone. It also denotes periods of time like living somewhere for years or learning something over months. Additionally, 'for' is used when talking about schedules and appointments set on specific dates. Lastly, it expresses reasons behind actions and purposes of activities.

Understanding the Use of 'To' and 'For' in English The prepositions 'to' and 'for' have distinct uses that can sometimes overlap. Generally, use ‘for’ with a noun (e.g., he learns English for work) and ‘to’ with a verb (e.g., he learns English to get a job promotion). Both can be used but convey different meanings: “My friend brought lunch to me” indicates direction, while “My friend brought lunch for me” emphasizes kindness. Apologize is used as

'Apologize,' Travel,' Wait,' Ask': Specific Preposition Rules Use specific rules when pairing verbs like apologize, travel, wait, ask with prepositions. You apologize for something or to someone; you travel to destinations but for reasons; you wait for events or people but cannot wait to do actions; ask usually pairs with ‘for.’ Belonging always takes ‘to,’ care typically goes with ’for,’ and prepare also follows this pattern.

Using 'At' for Specific Locations The preposition 'at' is used with very specific places, such as small buildings or precise locations. Examples include at the door, at school, and at a bus stop. It contrasts with larger geographical areas like cities or countries where you would use 'in'. For instance, one can be in London but not at London.

'On' for Streets and Transport Use 'on' when referring to streets (e.g., on Park Avenue) unless providing an exact address which requires ‘at’ (e.g., 13 Green Street). Additionally, ‘on’ applies to means of transportation where standing up is possible: on a bus or plane versus in a car due to its enclosed space.

'In', Enclosed Spaces and Larger Areas ‘In’ denotes being inside something enclosed like cars or boxes and also refers to larger areas such as cities ('in New York'), states ('in California'), countries ('in Russia') etc. The distinction between using ‘at’ vs. ’in’, especially regarding institutions like hospitals depends if someone is there receiving treatment (‘in’) versus visiting (‘at').

This class covers essential grammar concepts that are foundational for effective communication in English. It revisits parts of speech such as nouns, pronouns, and verbs, explains basic tenses necessary for constructing sentences correctly, and discusses the importance of word order. Mastering these elements will significantly improve your ability to express yourself clearly in both personal and professional contexts.

Parts of speech include nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and articles. Nouns are objects or subjects like cat or table; pronouns substitute nouns to avoid repetition such as he for a cat. Verbs express actions (go), while adjectives describe nouns (beautiful) and adverbs modify actions often ending in -ly but not always (fast). Prepositions come before a noun to modify phrases (on the table), conjunctions join sentences or parts thereof (and), and articles ('a', 'an', 'the') specify whether something is known previously.

A comprehensive grammar book has been created, covering essential aspects of English grammar such as articles, nouns, prepositions, and adjectives. It includes life hacks for better memorization and understanding through real-life examples and explanations. The book has received excellent reviews from students. Additionally, a workbook is available to practice new knowledge with exercises and answers for self-checking.

Basic tenses and buying this One-Stop shop book that would answer all of your questions now let's talk about basic tenses we're going to talk about three tenses present past and future some people would argue these three tenses are enough to speak English they are kind of enough but of course native speakers use all the tenses doesn't mean they understand the construction because they learn everything as kids but I'm gonna explain the basic structure to you because you know we're not native speakers and we don't have this Advantage now present simple tense is used to describe habits I drink coffee every morning schedules the train leaves at 5 pm and general truths ice is cold one thing to remember is that in English there should always be noun a pronoun in a sentence and there always should be a verb so for example if we say I drink coffee every morning then the action is drink sometimes we don't have actions sometimes we just describe something and uh in this case ice is cold a verb is "is". We use past tense to describe something that happened in the past so basically your verb gets either Ed on end like walked or if it's an irregular verb then you just have learned it she went home he drank glass beer, future tense describes our future by putting will.

In English sentences, the basic word order is subject-verb-object. The subject can be a noun or pronoun, followed by a verb (action), and then an object if needed. Adverbs that describe verbs are placed before the verb: 'She briefly smiled at a boy.' Adjectives describing nouns come right before the noun: 'She smiled at a little boy.' Avoid placing adverbs between verbs and objects as it disrupts sentence structure.

Understanding the Use of Articles in English In Russian, there are no articles like 'a' or 'the', which can make using them in English challenging. The article 'a' is used when mentioning an object for the first time and refers to any one item from a group. Conversely, 'the' specifies something particular that has already been mentioned or is unique.

Rules for Using Articles with Specific Nouns 'The' is always used with objects that are one-of-a-kind (e.g., the Moon) and uncountable nouns do not use articles unless specified by context (e.g., some milk). Plural countable nouns also typically don't require articles unless referring to specific items known to both speaker and listener.

Exceptions and Special Cases Involving Articles 'The United States,' proper names starting with capital letters, languages, meals without specifics—these all follow special rules regarding article usage. Abstract concepts generally don’t need an article but become definite ('the') when specifying certain information previously discussed.

Recognizing Marker Words for Present Simple and Past Simple Tenses Understanding tenses in English involves recognizing marker words that indicate which tense to use. For example, present simple is used for regular actions and scheduled events with markers like 'every day' or 'always'. Past simple describes past actions without focusing on current results, using markers such as 'yesterday', 'last week', or specific years.

Differentiating Future Simple from Present Progressive Tense Future simple discusses future actions when there's some uncertainty involved, marked by words like ‘tomorrow’ or ‘next year’. In contrast, present progressive (or continuous) describes ongoing activities happening now with indicators such as ‘now’, ‘at the moment’, and commands like ’look’ or ’listen’.

Present perfect focuses on the result of an action at this moment rather than details of a past event. It uses marker words including

Understanding Present Perfect Tense Present perfect is often misunderstood as a past tense, but it actually focuses on actions in the past with results that are still relevant now. The key to using present perfect correctly is not caring about when exactly something happened but rather its current impact. For example, 'I've lost my keys' emphasizes being unable to enter the house now.

Forming and Using Present Perfect To form present perfect, use 'have/has' followed by a verb's third form (e.g., played or run). Regular verbs add -ed for their third forms while irregular verbs must be memorized. Words like ever, never, since indicate usage of this tense; avoid exact times like 1990 which require simple past instead.

Practical Applications and Differences from Past Simple 'I have been there,' without contractions in formal writing tests such as TOEFL or IELTS contrasts casual speech where contractions are fine. Use negative forms by adding ‘not’ (haven’t seen) and questions start with ‘Have’. This tense describes life experiences ('I've studied'), ongoing periods ('this year'), contrasting subtly yet significantly from simple past: 'worked here for five years' implies no longer working versus currently working if stated differently.