English Grammar Guides

Beginners should start with the English Grammar for Beginners guide, which covers sentence structure, basic tenses, articles, and prepositions with jargon-free explanations. Once comfortable, move on to individual topic guides like English Tenses or English Articles.

The 12 English tenses are: Simple Present, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Simple Past, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, Simple Future, Future Continuous, Future Perfect, and Future Perfect Continuous. Each expresses a different time relationship — see the English Grammar Tenses guide for full explanations and examples.

In the active voice, the subject performs the action (e.g. The chef cooked the meal). In the passive voice, the subject receives the action (e.g. The meal was cooked by the chef). The passive is formed with be + past participle and is commonly used in academic and formal writing when the agent is unknown or unimportant.

Use 'a' before singular countable nouns starting with a consonant sound, 'an' before a vowel sound, and 'the' when referring to something specific or previously mentioned. The zero article is used with plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns in general statements. The English Articles guide covers all rules with examples and common exceptions.

Modal verbs are auxiliary verbs — can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would — that express ability, possibility, permission, obligation, or prediction. They are followed by the base infinitive and do not take -s in the third person singular. The Modal Verbs guide covers all nine modals with usage tables and examples.

There are five main conditional forms: Zero (general truths), First (real future possibility), Second (unreal present/future), Third (unreal past), and Mixed (combining past condition with present result or vice versa). Each uses a specific if-clause + result clause tense combination covered fully in the English Conditionals guide.

Direct speech quotes the exact words spoken, enclosed in quotation marks (e.g. She said, 'I am tired'). Indirect (reported) speech conveys the meaning without quoting exactly, often requiring tense backshift, pronoun changes, and time/place expression changes (e.g. She said she was tired).

English adjectives follow the order: Opinion – Size – Age – Shape – Colour – Origin – Material – Purpose. For example: a lovely small old round green French silver whittling knife. Native speakers apply this order instinctively; the English Adjectives guide provides memory aids and plenty of practice examples.

Adjectives modify nouns (a quick decision), while adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (she spoke quickly; incredibly fast). Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective, though some are irregular (well, fast, hard). The English Adverbs guide covers types, formation, and position in a sentence.

Yes. Every grammar guide on LexFizz links to free interactive exercises including grammar quizzes, complete-the-sentence activities, and word-order games. No registration is required. Visit the Exercises section at lexfizz.com/exercises/ to browse all available practice activities by skill and level.