English Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about English grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak English and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words English and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in English.

Prepositions
and
above
under
before
after
in front of
behind
far from
near
in
inside
outside
with
without
about
between
but
for
from
to

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun]
she lives near the church [verb + preposition]
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition]
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun]
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun]

Negation in English

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules
I understand you [affirmative form]
I don't understand you [negation + verb]
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective]
don't leave me [imperative negation]
no problem [negation + noun]

Negative Sentences
I don't speak French [negation + present tense]
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense]
he cannot see us [negative modal verb]
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation]
we will not come late [negation + future tense]

Questions in English

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English
how?
what?
who?
why?
where?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules
where do you live? [interrogative + verb]
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb]
how much is this? [interrogative preposition]
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb]
what is your name? [interrogative preposition]

Adverbs in English

It's time to learn the adverbs in English. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs
now
yesterday
today
tonight
tomorrow
soon
quickly
slowly
together
very
almost
always
usually
sometimes
rarely
never

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb]
I need help immediately [noun + adverb]
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective]
I will always love you [verb + adverb]
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question]

Pronouns in English

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in English. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns
I
you
he
she
we
they

Object Pronouns
me
you
him
her
us
them

Possessive Pronouns
my
your
his
her
our
their

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb]
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb]
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb]
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb]
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun]
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun]

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun]
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun]
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun]
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun]
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun]
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun]

Possessive Pronouns
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun]
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun]
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun]
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun]
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun]
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun]

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns
this is my house
that restaurant is far
these apples are delicious
those stars are shiny

I hope you learned a lot about the English grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!