English Grammar: Rules, Examples and Exercises

Start with the essential English grammar lessons

If you're unsure where to begin, these seven lessons give you a practical starting point. Together, they help you describe everyday situations, talk about different times and build accurate sentences.

• Present Simple: describe routines, facts and situations that are generally true.
• Past Simple: explain what happened at a finished time in the past.
• Subject-Verb Agreement: match verbs to their subjects, as in She works and They work.
• Question Forms: ask questions using the right word order and helping verbs.
• Future Simple: use will for predictions, promises and decisions made as you speak.
• Modal Verbs: express ability, permission, possibility, advice and obligation.
• Present Perfect: discuss experiences and other situations connecting the past with the present.

If sentence order itself feels uncertain, our Grammar Basics and Sentence Structure guide explains how subjects, verbs and objects fit together.

Once you can use the essential patterns, compare related tenses, then move on to clauses and conditionals. If you already know which point causes you trouble, go straight to its topic section or the complete directory below.

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English verb tenses

Verb tenses and related forms help you place an action in time and show whether you see it as a routine, an activity in progress or something completed. Choose the meaning you want to express before choosing the form.

Present tenses

Use the Present Simple Tense for habits and facts. Compare I work from home with I’m working from home this week: the second presents the arrangement as temporary. Our Present Simple vs Present Continuous lesson explores this difference, alongside actions happening now.

The Present Perfect Tense connects past events or situations with the present. The Present Perfect Continuous often focuses on an activity and its duration, as in I’ve been studying all morning. The activity may still be happening or may have recently stopped.

Study Present Perfect vs Past Simple when you are unsure whether to place an event in a finished past time or connect it to the present.

Past tenses

The Past Simple Tense describes completed past actions and situations. Use the Past Continuous Tense for an activity in progress at a past moment: I was cooking when the phone rang.

The Past Perfect Tense looks back from a later point in the past. In The train had left when we arrived, the departure happened first. Our Past Perfect vs Past Simple lesson explains when this distinction helps and when the past simple is enough.

For past habits and former situations, explore Used To vs Would. It explains why repeated actions and past states need different treatment, and when the two expressions can describe the same habit.

Future forms

Start with the Future Simple Tense to understand common uses of will. Then study Will vs Going To to compare decisions, existing plans and different kinds of predictions.

The Future Perfect Tense is useful when looking ahead to a deadline. By Friday, I’ll have finished the report focuses on completion by that future point.

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Verb forms and structures

Choosing a tense is only part of using a verb correctly. You also need to check which form follows another verb, whether it matches the subject and what you want to emphasise.

Our Gerunds and Infinitives lesson explains patterns such as enjoy reading and want to read. Some verbs accept both forms, sometimes with a change in meaning.

Study Modal Verbs to understand differences in meaning between expressions such as You should leave and You must leave. The lesson covers both their uses and the verb patterns that follow them.

Subject-Verb Agreement helps you choose the right verb with singular, plural and more complicated subjects. This is especially useful when other words separate the subject from its verb.

The Passive Voice changes the focus of a sentence. Compare Someone repaired the road with The road was repaired. The second makes the road the subject and leaves the person doing the work unspecified.

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Conditionals

Conditional sentences connect a condition with a result. They help you discuss possible events, imagine different situations or think about how the past could have been different.

Our First, Second and Third Conditionals lesson compares the main patterns and their meanings. For example, If it rains, we’ll stay inside presents rain as a real future possibility.

Once you understand the basic if patterns, explore Conditionals with Unless, Provided That and As Long As. These expressions let you describe conditions in different ways: You can borrow my bike as long as you bring it back tonight. Learn their differences before treating them as interchangeable alternatives.

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Questions, reported speech and clauses

These topics help you ask for information, pass on what someone said and combine ideas into fuller sentences.

Start with Question Forms in English if you are unsure about word order or when to use do, does and did. The lesson also covers questions with be and modal verbs, plus indirect questions.

Question Tags are short endings used to check information or invite agreement: You’re coming, aren’t you? The guide explains how to choose the verb and pronoun, and how intonation affects the meaning.

Use Reported Speech when telling someone about a statement, question or request. It explains how tense, pronouns and time expressions may change according to the situation.

Relative Clauses add information about a noun. In The woman who lives next door is a teacher, the clause who lives next door identifies which woman you mean. Study the lesson to understand different clause types and their punctuation.

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Nouns, pronouns and quantity

The type of noun you use affects the words around it. Start with Countable and Uncountable Nouns to understand why we can say two suitcases but usually talk about some luggage.

Then explore Quantifiers, including much, many, few and little. Countability helps explain combinations such as many bags and not much luggage. Small changes can also affect meaning: a few and few do not express the same idea.

For choosing a, an, the or no article, use our Articles in English guide alongside these noun lessons.

Reflexive Pronouns covers forms such as myself and themselves, including sentences where the subject and object refer to the same person: She introduced herself.

Study Either, Neither and Both when discussing two people, things or options. The lesson connects their meanings with sentence patterns and agreement rules.

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Adjectives, adverbs and comparisons

Adjectives describe nouns, while adverbs can add information about actions and descriptions. Compare a careful driver with She drives carefully: the words perform different jobs.

Our Adverbs of Frequency lesson explains where to place words such as usually, often and never. Compare I usually walk to work with She is often early: the position changes with the verb structure.

Comparisons help you describe differences, using forms such as taller or more expensive. Study Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives for common forms such as better, worse and best. The lesson also reviews regular patterns before explaining the exceptions.

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Prepositions of time and place

The same small words can describe when something happens or where something is. Learn the two uses separately so their patterns do not become mixed together.

Use Prepositions of Time: In, On and At for expressions such as at 7 o’clock, on Monday and in September.

For location, study Prepositions of Place: In, On and At, including at home, on the table and in the room.

Keep the whole expression in your notes. The choice depends on meaning and established usage, so translating the preposition alone from your first language can be misleading.

Prepositions of time and place

The same small words can describe when something happens or where something is. Learn the two uses separately so their patterns do not become mixed together.

Use Prepositions of Time: In, On and At for expressions such as at 7 o’clock, on Monday and in September.

For location, study Prepositions of Place: In, On and At, including at home, on the table and in the room.

Keep the whole expression in your notes. The choice depends on meaning and established usage, so translating the preposition alone from your first language can be misleading.

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How to improve your English grammar

Make each study session answer a specific question, such as when to use a tense or where to put an adverb. Then test that point in sentences of your own.

1. Compare one contrast at a time.

Take these two sentences:

• I went to London in 2024.
• I have been to London three times.

The first places the visit in a finished past year. The second describes experience up to now without naming a finished time. Comparing meaning makes the choice clearer than memorising two forms separately.

2. Keep the rule beside an example.

A note saying “use the base form after did” becomes more useful beside Did she go? and She didn’t go. Mark the part that changes, then explain the pattern in your own words.

3. Notice grammar when reading and listening.

Find a short article or conversation and collect two examples of your target structure. Look at the surrounding sentences: they often explain why a speaker chose that form. Avoid choosing a tense from one time word alone.

4. Produce sentences without copying.

After studying a pattern, close the lesson and write three examples about your life. Change one into a question or negative where appropriate. Say the sentences aloud too, so you practise retrieving the form during speech.

5. Use exercises to check your reasoning.

Complete the questions before looking at the answers. For each mistake, decide whether you misunderstood the meaning, formed the verb incorrectly or used the wrong word order. Revisit the explanation that addresses that particular problem.

6. Keep a small record of repeated mistakes.

Save your original sentence, the correction and a short reason. For example: She work here becomes She works here because the present simple verb needs -s with she. Add another example using the same pattern.

7. Return to grammar in context.

A few days later, use the structure in a short message, description or voice recording. Try it without your notes, then check. If you can complete exercises but still struggle to use the form yourself, practise producing more examples before adding another topic.

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Practise English grammar

When you understand a rule but want to apply it in longer texts, visit Grammar Practice. Its short reading articles and gap-fill activities let you use context to choose the right form.

For exam preparation, our IELTS Grammar hub focuses on grammatical accuracy and range in IELTS Writing and Speaking. Use the lessons on this page to understand general grammar, then choose contextual practice or exam guidance according to your goal.

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Browse all English grammar lessons

Use this directory to find a specific lesson or return to a topic you have studied before.

Verb tenses

• Present Simple Tense
• Present Simple vs Present Continuous
• Present Perfect Tense
• Present Perfect Continuous
• Present Perfect vs Past Simple
• Past Simple Tense
• Past Continuous Tense
• Past Perfect Tense
• Past Perfect vs Past Simple
• Future Simple Tense
• Will vs Going To
• Future Perfect Tense

Verb forms and patterns

• Gerunds and Infinitives
• Modal Verbs
• Subject-Verb Agreement
• Passive Voice
• Used To vs Would

Conditionals

• First, Second and Third Conditionals
• Conditionals with Unless, Provided That and As Long As

Questions, reported speech and clauses

• Question Forms in English
• Question Tags in English
• Reported Speech
• Relative Clauses

Nouns, pronouns and quantity

• Countable and Uncountable Nouns
• Quantifiers in English Grammar
• Reflexive Pronouns
• Either, Neither and Both
• Articles in English

Adjectives, adverbs and comparisons

• Adverbs of Frequency
• Irregular Comparatives and Superlatives

Prepositions

• Prepositions of Time: In, On and At
• Prepositions of Place: In, On and At

Choose the grammar point you currently find difficult, study its rule and examples, then use it in a few sentences of your own. Return to the lesson to check your choices and practise again in a situation that matters to you.