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Learning advanced English grammar doesn't need to be that difficult. Over the 20 years that
I've been teaching English, I've noticed that some learners of the English Language have
difficulties with "the details."
It always seems to be the 'exceptions to the rules' that can make things a little harder for
them to grasp.
Sound familiar?
If yes, please read on...
When you add to this, phrasal verbs :( infinitives, gerunds, parallel structures, inversion,
dangling modifiers and the like... what do you get? You get intimidated or discouraged
students and frustrated and listless (tired) teachers.
Not exactly the best situation for learning to take place, right? Now, I'm not going to promise
you that I can change any of the above, or that Advanced English Grammar dot com is the
answer to all of the world's problems. Students will learn English grammar in a systematic,
practical, and sometimes entertaining way.
1. a hotel, movie theater, theater, gallery, museum: the Mirage (hotel), the Harbor (theater).
the Multiplex (cinema), the Van Gogh Museum
2. a river, sea, ocean, gulf, desert: the Nile (River), the Red Sea, the Pacific (Ocean), the
Sahara (Desert), the Gulf of Mexico
6. plural nationalities ending in 'sh', 'ch' or 'ese': the English, the French, the Japanese [But
the is optional with plural nationality names ending in 's': (the) Germans, (the) Greeks, etc.
7. a singular countable noun to refer to all things of that type in general: The computer is a
valuable office tool. OR: A computer is OR: Computers are
'The' is optional:
i) with seasons. He is leaving in (the) summer.
ii) with the word TV.
I watched a movie on (the) TV.
Learning English Grammar - Indefinite Articles a/an
3. It is used in expressions like the following: 30 miles an hour, 90 cents a pint, twice a day,
$1.00 a gallon
The indefinite article is generally NOT USED before uncountable or abstract nouns: anarchy,
fun, assistance, lightning, behavior, luck, chaos, permission, confusion, progress, damage,
propaganda, evidence, scenery, excitement thunder, first aid, work (= ones job) etc.
In a sense, punctuation helps put into writing that which we do naturally when we speak.
In other words, we pause, we breathe, we get excited and angry, we communicate with
whole sentences and we ask questions as we speak -- all of which and more is communicated
in the written word through the use of punctuation.
Sadly, for the learner of English, there is no direct correspondence between phrases and
commas, or voice drops and periods.
Question marks, for instance, can tell you that an answer is expected, but they do not tell us
how to read the question. There are three different intonation patterns to questions (voice
rise, voice fall and voice level) which precede question marks.
Some of the punctuation rules can be considered more a matter of style than grammar;
however, many rules do exist and should be understood by the learner of the language.
Modal Verbs
Learning modal verbs can be difficult for some learners of the English language. Of course, it
helps to know what they are, and how they are used, but it's just as important to know the
phrase combinations you'll find them in at the advanced level of the English language.
As an introduction to modal verbs, please look through the following information. It will help
you to get the most out of the modal verb pages on this site.
First off, there are a few things worthy to note concerning these types of verbs.
Typically, the following apply to all modals.
interested
futures
medicines
expres
search
interactive
B.All modals except for ought are followed by the base form of a verb.
I should go visit them.
I think it will rain tomorrow.
Things could have been better.
Someone may have seen them.
They might be home tomorrow.
They may be late.
They should have known.
He can come by anytime.
D. There is no s form for the third person singular of the present tense modal verbs. Also,
there is no -ing or -ed forms.
She can't help him now.
I'm sure he can do it tomorrow.
She ought to have called him yesterday.
** Important Notes **
Modals usually do NOT indicate the time something happens. Shall and will, however, can
often indicate a future event or situation
If you're interested in more information about modal verbs, Wikipedia may be of some help.