Entries Tagged as 'Grammar'

Puzzling Plurals: Stairs

Upstairs and downstairs have an -s ending, but they actually refer to one location:  another floor of the building.  If stairs, upstairs, or downstairs is the subject, the verb should agree with a singular noun.

  • The upstairs has a home theater. (upstairs in this example is the subject – have agrees with upstairs)
  • Upstairs, there is a home theater. (upstairs in this example refers to the location only – it’s not the subject here)

If the word stair appears first in a compound word, it will not take an -s.

  • staircase, stairwell

If there is just one stair, call it a step (not a stair).  If there is one or a few steps, use the:

  • up the step(s), down the step(s), up the stairs, down the stairs
  • These expressions imply movement rather than location.
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Tags: Grammar, How To, Puzzling Plurals, Speaking in General, Vocabulary by Debra
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Activity: Past Simple vs. Past Progressive

Here’s an activity you can use to practice the difference between the Past Simple and the Past Progressive.  Remember: use the past simple if the action happened once in the past;  use the past progressive if the action happened over a period of time in the past.

Past Simple and the Past Progressive

This activity is also available in PDF.

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Tags: ESL Activities, Grammar, Speaking in General, parts of speech, verb tenses by Debra
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Future Tense Activity: “will”

In my experience, it’s always been easier to teach the future with will after a couple of grueling semesters of drilling irregular past forms and mastering the verb to be with the present participle for the present progressive.  The ease of this verb tense is a welcome change.

Learning the future with will is like a vacation!  So, as summer comes to an end, and you think about your future classes, here’s an activity to help you practice changing verbs from the present simple tense to the future tense.

Future Tense Activity: will

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Tags: ESL Activities, ESL Quick Lessons, Grammar, verb tenses by Debra
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Sense and Sentence Ability: Noun Clauses

Test yourself:  Write a sentence in which both the subject and the object are noun clauses.  One thing to remember is that noun clauses can appear in declarative and interrogative sentences, so don’t forget to punctuate correctly.

Examples:

  • What you see is what you get.
  • Did what you just said answer how we can fix the problem?

Practice with this Noun Clause Activity. (also in PDF)

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Tags: ESL Activities, Grammar, Reading, Sense and Sentence Ability, Speaking in General, Writing by Debra
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Puzzling Plurals: Nouns with No Singular Form

There are some nouns in English that are only plural.  In other words, they don’t have a singular form.  If they only have a plural form, the verb agrees with a plural.

  • clothes
  • glasses (as in eye glasses or sunglasses)
  • pants
  • scissors

If you want to use the singular form, here are some suggestions:

  • some clothes = an outfit
  • some glasses = a pair of glasses
  • some pants = a pair of pants
  • some scissors = a pair of scissors
Schoenberg, I.E. (2000). Focus on grammar: A basic course for reference and practice.  2nd Ed. Longman.
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Tags: Grammar, Puzzling Plurals, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing, parts of speech by Debra
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Sense and Sentence Ability: Nouns and Pronouns

Test yourself:  write a sentence with 3 proper nouns, 2 common nouns, and 1 pronoun.

Example: I ate at restaurants in both Kansas and Oklahoma, but not in the state of Nebraska.

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Tags: Grammar, Sense and Sentence Ability, Writing, parts of speech by Debra
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Present Perfect Progressive ESL Activity

Although it’s not the most frequently studied verb tenses, the present perfect progressive is used quite frequently in speech.

It is used to describe the beginning of an ongoing action in the past that is continuing now and will continue into the future.  Here is an activity to help you recognize how it is used in everyday speech.

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Tags: ESL Activities, Grammar, Speaking in General, Writing, verb tenses by Debra
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Puzzling Plurals: Each and Every

Using the words each and every causes confusion because the reference is always more than one.  However, when each, every (and words that start with every) are used, the verb will agree with a singular subject.

Each member has arrived. = Each one has arrived. = Each has arrived.

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Tags: Grammar, Speaking in General, Vocabulary, Writing by Debra
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Past Simple or Past Progressive? ESL Activity

When deciding whether to use the past simple or the past progressive, consider this:

The past simple is used to describe an action that happened once and now it’s finished.  The past progressive describes an ongoing action in the past that is now finished.

Read this dialogue and decide which verb tense fits the context better:

Past Simple vs. Past Progressive

This activity is also available in PDF.

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Tags: ESL Activities, Grammar, Speaking in General, Writing, parts of speech, verb tenses by Debra
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Now or Later? Activity with the Present Progressive

Students learning English tend to use only will or going to to express the future, but did you know that the present progressive can also be used to express events in the near future?

The present progressive form of the verb (to be + ___-ing) stays the same;  all you have to do is add context, and you’re finished!  Until you get comfortable using the present progressive to express the future, you can become familiar with the form and meaning with this activity:

This activity is also available on a combined PDF document.

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Tags: ESL Activities, Grammar, Writing, parts of speech, verb tenses by Debra
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