Comparative

When we compare two things or people we look at what makes them different from each other.

For example:

Tall / Short

The man on the left is taller than the man on the right. The man on the right is shorter than the man on the left.

Fast / Slow

A car is faster than a bicycle.
A bicycle is slower than a car.

Comparative adjectives are used to show what quality one thing has more or less than the other. They normally come before any other adjectives.

For example:

Big / Small

The red bag is bigger than the blue bag.
The blue bag is smaller than the red bag.

Forming the comparative

The following adjectives are exceptions to this rule:

'good' becomes 'better'

'bad' becomes 'worse'

'far' becomes 'farther' or 'further'

!Note - When comparing two things like this we put than between the adjective and the thing being compared.

For example:

"Mount Everest is higher than Mount Snowdon."

"Arguably, Rome is more beautiful than Paris.

Referent:

http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/adjectivecomp.htm

imperative sentence

Learn About It

An imperative sentence gives a command. It usually end with a period, but it may also end with an exclamation point (!).

Commands ask or tell people to do something.

"Please pass the salt." is a command, that does not sound as commanding as, "Get out of my way!" But, both of these sentences are imperatives because they are both asking or telling someone to do something.

Finding the Subject

This may sound strange, but every single command has the same subject! Yikes! How is that even possible?

Well, since commands are always speaking to someone or something (you've got to address them if you're going to ask them to do something), the subject is always the word you.

You may have noticed, the word "you" is not even in a command. Because of this, the subject is actually called you understood, and it is written like this: (you)

This means that the subject is the word you, but since it is not written or spoken in the sentence, it is understood and is therefore in parentheses.

Present simple

   

Simple Present

FORM

[VERB] + s/es in third person

Examples:

You speak English.

Do you speak English?

You do not speak English.

USE 1 Repeated Actions

Use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

Examples:

I play tennis.

She does not play tennis.

Does he play tennis?

The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.

The train does not leave at 9 AM.

When does the train usually leave?

She always forgets her purse.

He never forgets his wallet.

Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.

Does the Sun circle the Earth?

USE 2 Facts or Generalizations

The Simple Present can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

Examples:

Cats like milk.

Birds do not like milk.

Do pigs like milk?

California is in America.

California is not in the United Kingdom.

Windows are made of glass.

Windows are not made of wood.

New York is a small city. It is not important that this fact is untrue.

USE 3 Scheduled Events in the Near Future

Speakers occasionally use Simple Present to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.

Examples:

The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.

The bus does not arrive at 11 AM, it arrives at 11 PM.

When do we board the plane?

The party starts at 8 o'clock.

When does class begin tomorrow?

USE 4 Now (Non-Continuous Verbs)

Speakers sometimes use the Simple Present to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.

Examples:

I am here now.

She is not here now.

He needs help right now.

He does not need help now.

He has his passport in his hand.

Do you have your passport with you?

ADVERB PLACEMENT

The examples below show the placement for grammar adverbs such as: always, only, never, ever, still, just, etc.

Examples:

You only speak English.

Do you only speak English?

ACTIVE / PASSIVE

Examples:

Once a week, Tom cleans the car. Active

Once a week, the car is cleaned by Tom. Passive



References:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/simplepresent.html

Preposition

The Preposition

Recognize a preposition when you see one.

Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the physical world. Check out the three examples below:

On, in, and beside are all prepositions. They are showing where the puppy is. Prepositions can also show location in time. Read the next three examples:

At midnight, Jill craved mashed potatoes with grape jelly.

In the spring, I always vow to plant tomatoes but end up buying them at the supermarket.

During the marathon, Iggy's legs complained with sharp pains shooting up his thighs.

At midnight, in the spring, and during the marathon all show location in time.

Because there are so many possible locations, there are quite a few prepositions. Below is the complete list.

about, above, according to, across, after, against, along, along with, among, apart from, around
as, as for, at, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but*
by, by means of, concerning, despite, down, during, except, except for, excepting, for, from
in, in addition to, in back of, in case of, in front of, in place of, inside, in spite of, instead of
into, like, near, next, of, off, on, onto, on top of, out, out of, outside, over, past, regarding
round, since, through, throughout, till, to, toward, under, underneath, unlike, until, up, upon
up to, with, within, without

* But is very seldom a preposition. When it is used as a preposition, but means the same as except—Everyone ate frog legs but Jamie. But usually functions as a coordinating conjunction.

Understand how to form a prepositional phrase.

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrases. Prepositional phrases look like this:

PREPOSITION +OPTIONAL +NOUN,PRONOUN,OR GERUND n

Here are some examples:

At school

At = preposition; school = noun.

According to us

According to = preposition; us = pronoun.

By chewing

By = preposition; chewing = gerund.

Under the stove

Under = preposition; the = modifier; stove = noun.

In the crumb-filled, rumpled sheets

In = preposition; the, crumb-filled, rumpled = modifiers; sheets = noun.

Realize that some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions.

Some prepositions also function as subordinate conjunctions. These prepositions are after, as, before, since, and until. A subordinate conjunction will have both a subject and a verb following it, forming a subordinate clause.

Look at these examples:

After Sam and Esmerelda kissed goodnight

After = subordinate conjunction; Sam, Esmerelda = subjects; kissed = verb.

As Jerome buckled on the parachute

As = subordinate conjunction; Jerome = subject; buckled = verb.

Before I eat these frog legs

Before = subordinate conjunction; I = subject; eat = verb.

Since we have enjoyed the squid eyeball stew

Since = subordinate conjunction; we = subject; have enjoyed = verb.

Until your hiccups stop

Until = subordinate conjunction; hiccups = subject; stop = verb.

If you find a noun [with or without modifiers] following one of these five prepositions, then all you have is a prepositional phrase. Look at these examples:

After the killer calculus test

After = preposition; the, killer, calculus = modifiers; test = noun.

As a good parent

As = preposition; a, good = modifiers; parent = noun.

Before dinner

Before = preposition; dinner = noun.

Since the breakup

Since = preposition; the = modifier; breakup = noun.

Until midnight

Until = preposition; midnight = noun.

References:

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm

Auxiliary Verbs or Helping Verbs (Part 2)

The Verb To Have

Have is one of the most common verbs in the English language. It functions in various ways.

To have as a main verb

As a main verb “to have” implies the meaning of possession.

For example: “I have a job.” “I have a car.“ "I don't have any time."

In this form it does not take the continuous form (for that you have to use the auxiliary verb be).

For example: “I am having a shower.” “Are you having a good time?"

The forms of the verb “to have” are have and has for the present and had for the past.

As mentioned about "have" is often used to indicate possession (I have) or you might see (I have got).

Examples

To have as an auxiliary verb

The verb “to have” is used as an auxiliary verb to help other verbs create the perfect tense - auxiliary verb have [+ past participle].

For example, “I have studied English for five years;” or “I have never been to America.” "I have eaten."

For example:

The use of have to

In addition to the two forms, there is another use for have as a modal verb; have to or have got to. This, of course, must be followed by another verb "We have to do something".

To have something done

If something is done for you, in other words you haven't actually done it yourself, we use the structure "to have something done".

For example:-

"I have my hair cut once every six weeks." (I don't cut my own hair, my hairdresser cuts it for me.)

"My husband has the car serviced once a year." (He wouldn't have a clue how to service a modern car so, he takes it to the garage and they service it for us.)

Modal Verbs

All the auxiliary verbs except be, do and have are called modals. Unlike other auxiliary verbs modals only exist in their helping form; they cannot act alone as the main verb in a sentence.

Be, do, and have also differ from the other auxiliaries in that they can also serve as ordinary verbs in a given sentence.

The modal verbs are:-

CAN / COULD / MAY / MIGHT / MUST / SHALL / SHOULD / OUGHT TO / WILL / WOULD

!Note The modal auxiliary verbs are always followed by the base form.

The verb used to, which is explained here, can also be used like a modal verb.

References
http://www.learnenglish.de/grammar/verbaux.htm
http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/auxiliary-verbs

Auxiliary Verbs or Helping Verbs (Part 1)

Auxiliary verbs are used together with a main verb to give grammatical information and therefore add extra meaning to a sentence. Information that is not given by the main verb.

They are used to form the passive voice.

They are used to form the continuous tense.

They are used to form the perfect tense.

Be, Do and Have are auxiliary verbs, they are irregular verbs and can be used as main verbs. The verbs 'to be' and 'to have' are the most commonly used auxiliary verbs and work alongside the main verbs in any statement.

Modal verbs are also auxiliary verbs, but will be treated separately, these are can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, and would, they differ from the others in that they can never function as a main verb.

The Verb To Be

Probably the best known verb in the world: "To be or not to be..."

Normally we use the verb to be to show the status or characteristics of something or someone (as a stative verb). It says what I am, what you are or what something is.

When used with the present participle of other verbs it describes actions that are or were still continuing - auxiliary verb be [+ ing form of the main verb].

Am/Is/Are

The verb to be is used to create simple yes/no questions by simply inverting the order of subject and the “To be” verb.

For example:-

I am a teacher. (Statement)
Am I a teacher? (Question)

Examples

!Note - The verb to be is also used when forming the passive voice

The Verb To Do

The verb to do is another common verb in English. It can be used as an auxiliary and a main verb. It is often used in questions.

As an auxiliary verb do is used with a main verb when forming interrogative or negative sentences, or for adding emphasis. It is also called the dummy operator or dummy auxiliary.  

Examples

When using the continuous tense do becomes doing and it doesn't change.

When using the simple past tense do becomes did and it doesn't change.

When using the perfect tense do becomes done and it doesn't change.