Articles and Demonstratives

Short descriptive words used before nouns.  Technically, they function as adjectives.
Indefinite articles:  a or an
Definite articles:  the
Demonstrative adjectives: this, that, these, those

Nouns

Person, place, thing or idea usually preceded by articles or demonstratives.  Nouns can be proper or
common.  In the English language, all proper nouns are capitalized (such as John, Houston, and Eaton
Centre).  Nouns can be used in certain cases depending on their function in the sentence.  The four main
cases are:
Nominative (subject):  The dog is running.  She has to go now.  
Accusative (direct object):  I love you.  They feed the animals.
Dative (indirect object):  Give the ball to me./Give me the ball.  I bought this for him./I bought him this.
Genitive (possessive):  That is Michael's house.  William is the prince of Wales.

Adjectives

Words that describe the attributes of nouns, such as beauty, color, age, goodness and size. In English,
adjectives precede the noun they describe. Examples of adjectives include: pretty, red, old, nice, large.
Comparative Form:  This form adds either -er to the adjective or more before the adjective to show
comparisons.  He is taller than Susie.  I think I am more intelligent than my brother.
Superlative Form:  This form adds either -est to the adjective or most before the adjective to show
superiority.  She is the smartest student in the class.  This is the most beautiful painting I've ever seen.
Possessive adjectives:  These show personal possession before a noun; my, your, his, her, its, our, their.

Pronouns

Words that substitute for nouns to prevent redundancy. The demonstrative pronouns are the same as
the demonstrative adjectives except they are followed by a verb and not a noun.
Personal pronouns:  These show whether a person is represented as speaking, being spoken to, or
spoken of; I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them.
Possessive pronouns:  These show possession; mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs.
Relative pronouns:  These relate to an antecedent, or a preceding noun or phrase; who, whose, whom,
that, which, what.
Interrogative pronouns:  These are used in asking questions; who, which, what.
Indefinite pronouns:  These forms refer to no one person or thing in particular; each, every, either,
neither, all, any, few, some, several, one, other, another, none, both, such.

Verbs

Words that express action or emotion. Verbs can be conjugated in many tenses of past, present, and
future. The six forms that verbs are conjugated into are first, second, and third person singular and
plural. Some examples of verbs include: run, laugh, write, think.
Transitive verbs:  Verbs which have direct objects (no prepositions are needed to connect verb and
object); He sees the house.  We believe you.
Intransitive verbs:  Verbs which do not have a direct object. This includes both intransitive verbs which
take an indirect object (usually with a preposition), such as I spoke to him, and intransitive verbs which
have no object at all, such as I aged slowly. Note that the same verb may be used in one context as a
transitive verb (I read the green book), in another context as an intransitive verb with an indirect object
(I read to my little sister), and in yet another context as an indirect verb with no object (I happily read all
day).
Active voice:  When the subject is represented as acting; The boy loves his mother.
Passive voice:  When the subject is acted upon; The mother is loved by the boy.
Indicative mood:  Makes a direct statement or declaration, in the form of fact. The river flows
westward.  The girl is very pretty.  He was bad today.  I will be ready tomorrow.
Imperative mood:  Expresses commands, requests, permission and always has the subject in the second
person (you) which is understood. Be on time.  Talk to your mother.  Give me the book.
Subjunctive mood:  Indicates doubt, supposition, uncertainty and presumes or imagines an action or
state. If he were here, he would know what to do.  It is necessary that you be on time.

Simple Past tense:  I cried

Past Progressive (or Continuous): I was crying
Past Emphatic: I did cry
Present Perfect: I have cried
Present Perfect Progressive: I have been crying
Past Perfect: I had cried
Past Perfect Progressive : I had been crying

Simple Present tense:  I love

Present Progressive: I am loving
Present Emphatic: I do love

Simple Future tense:  I will write

Future Perfect: I will have written
Future Perfect Progressive: I will have been writing

Conditional: I would speak

Past Conditional: I would have spoken

Auxiliary verbs:  The "helper" verbs are used before infinitives (can, could, may, will, would, should,
must, might) or participles (have).  Have is also used in the compound tenses (you have seen, they had
been.)
Participles:  Present and past participles are derived from the verb and act as a verb form, adjective or
noun.  Present participles are formed by adding -ing to the verb, while past participles are formed by
adding -ed to regular verbs.  Present participles imply a continuance of action, state or being.  She is
reading the book.  Past participles imply the completion of an action, state or being.  I have loved.
Participles can also act as adjectives when placed before nouns.  He is a reading man.
Gerunds:  Gerunds are also formed by adding -ing to the verb, but they function as a verbal noun and
are normally preceded by articles or demonstratives.  The singing was excellent.

Simple Past and Present tenses of Regular and Irregular Verbs

 to be (irregular)
I am we are I was we were
you are you are you were you were
he, she, it is they are he, she, it was they were
to have (irregular)
I have we have I had we had
you have you have you had you had
he, she, it has they have he, she, it had they had
to play (regular)
I play we play I played we played
you play you play you played you played
he, she, it plays they play he, she, it played they played

Past and Past Participles for Irregular Verbs

Infinitive Simple Past Past Participle
awake awoke awaked or awakened
bear bore borne
beat beat beaten or beat
become became become
begin began begun
bite bit bitten or bit
bleed bled bled
blow blew blown
break broke broken
bring brought brought
build built built
buy bought bought
catch caught caught
choose chose chosen
come came come
dig dug dug
do did done
draw drew drawn
drink drank drunk
drive drove driven
eat ate eaten
fall fell fallen
fight fought fought
fly flew flown
forbid forbade forbidden
forget forgot forgotten or forgot
freeze froze frozen
get got got or gotten
give gave given
go went gone
grow grew grown
hang hung hung
hang hanged (executed) hanged (executed)
have had had
hide hid hidden or hid
hurt hurt hurt
know knew known
lay laid laid
lead led led
leave left left
lend lent lent
let let let
lie lay lain
make made made
pay paid paid
put put put
ride rode ridden
ring rang rung
rise rose risen
run ran run
say said said
see saw seen
seek sought sought
sell sold sold
set set set
shake shook shaken
shrink shrank or shrunk shrunk or shrunken
sing sang sung
sink sank sunk
sit sat sat
slay slew slain
speak spoke spoken
spin spun spun
 spring sprang sprung
steal stole stolen
sting stung stung
strike struck struck
swear swore sworn
swim swam swum
swing swung swung
take took taken
teach taught taught
tear tore torn
think thought thought
throw threw thrown
wear wore worn
write wrote written
Adverbs
Words that describe a verb, an adjective, or even another adverb. Simply put, an adverb is to a verb
what an adjective is to a noun. Most adverbs in English end in -ly. Examples of adverbs include: quickly,
happily, loudly, often, sometimes, never.

Conjunctions

Words that connect two words, phrases or sentences. Coordinating conjunctions connect two
independent clauses (sentences that can stand alone) together, while subordinating conjunctions
combine a subordinate to a principal element in the sentence.  Examples of coordinating conjunctions
include: and, or, nor but, for. Examples of subordinating conjunctions include: after, although, as, as if,
as much as, as though, because, before, how, if, in order that, provided, since, than, that, though, unless,
until, when, where, while.

Prepositions

Short words that show the relationship between the objects which the words express. Nouns and
pronouns most often follow prepositions. Examples of prepositions include: about, above, across, after,
against, along, among, around, at before, behind, below, beneath, beside(s), between, beyond, but, by,
concerning, down, during except, for, from, in(to), like, of, off, on, over, past, since, through(out),
toward, under(neath), until, unto, up, with, within, without.

Sentences

Sentences are made up of two parts - subjects and predicates.  Simply put, the predicate is the verb and
everything that follows it, while the subject is whatever comes before the verb.
Independent Clause:  A subject and predicate that can stand on its own as a sentence.
Dependent or Subordinate Clause:  Part of a sentence that cannot stand on its own, usually introduced
by a subordinating conjunction.
Phrase: Consists of two or more words expressing some relation of ideas, but does not contain a subject
and a verb and most often found after prepositions.

Spelling Rules

Rule 1: Use i before e, except after c or when pronounced as a, as in neighbor or weigh. Exceptions:
either, foreign, forfeit, height, leisure, neither, ancient, efficient.

Rule 2: Form the plurals of nouns and the -s forms of verbs ending in y in these ways:
a. When a noun or verb ends in a consonant + y, change the y to i and add -es.
b. When a word ends in a vowel + y, just add -s.
c. When a proper noun ends in y, add -s.

Rule 3: Do the following when adding a suffix (ending) to a word that ends in a silent e:
a. If the suffix begins with a vowel, drop the silent e; if the suffix begins with a consonant, keep the final
e
b. If the word ends in ce or ge, keep the silent e when it is needed to maintain the soft sound of c or g.

Rule 4: When adding a suffix that begins with a vowel, sometimes you must double the consonant.
a. When a one-syllable word ends with a consonant preceded by a single vowel, double the consonant.
This only applies, however, when the suffix begins with a vowel.
b. When a word of two or more syllables ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, and
when the final syllable is accented, double the consonant when adding a suffix.
c. When a word of two or more syllables does not have the accent on the final syllable, the consonant
should not be doubled.

Rule 5: To form noun plurals and the third-person singular form of present tense verbs:
a. In most cases, add -s.
b. When the word ends in -s, -sh, -ch, -x or -z, add -es instead.

Homophones

This list is mostly for learners of English as a second language, to help with pronunciation (American
English pronunciation):

aisle isle
ant aunt
ate eight
bare bear
be bee
blew blue
brake break
buy by
capital capitol
cell sell
cellar seller
cent sent scent
chord cord
dear deer
die dye
fair fare
flea flee
flour flower
foul fowl
guest guessed
heal heel
hear here
heir air
hole whole
hour our
in inn
its it's
knew new
knot not
know no
lead led
loan lone
made maid
mail male
meat meet
night knight
one won
pail pale
pair pare pear
peace piece
plain plane
pray prey
principal principle
rain rein reign
read red
real reel
right write rite
road rode rowed
role roll
sail sale
scene seen
sea see
sew sow so
shone shown
sight site cite
soar sore
sole soul
some sum
son sun
stair stare
stake steak
stationary stationery
steal steel
tail tale
their there they're
threw through
to too two
vain vane vein
waist waste
wait weight
way weigh
week weak
whose who's
wood would
your you're