PART I

This part 1 talks about English parts of speech. Part of speech is also called word
class. Learning part of speech is a must for language learners as words used in
arranging phrases and sentences are all included in parts of speech. Of course not
all parts of speech must exist in our phrases or sentences, but at least verb for
example, must be available in constructing any single clause or sentence. An
imperative sentence for instance may have only a verb such as go!, come in!, look!,
etc. Besides, a word class of noun or pronoun is also a must in any clause since
every clause must have a subject and every subject must be a noun or pronoun.
There are basically eight different kinds of word in parts of speech: Noun (N),
pronoun (Pro), adjective (A), adverb (Adv), verb (V), preposition (Pre),
conjunction (Conj), determiner (Det), and interjection (Inter). Each part of speech
except interjection will briefly be introduced in part 1 of this book.
2 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 1

Nouns and
Pronouns
This chapter will help you to:
 Identify and distinguish kinds of nouns
 Identify and distinguish singular and plural nouns
 Identify and distinguish countable and uncountable
nouns
 Identify and distinguish personal nouns

“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support

each other.”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 3

1.1 Introduction

Nouns and pronouns are basically the same functioning as a subject or an

object in a clause or sentence. The slight difference is that a pronoun cannot
act as an adjective in which it can modify another noun, while a noun can as
in the following examples;

(1) My father is sitting on his arm chair.

(2) The rector is planning to renovate the office building of the
university.

The words arm in (1) and office in (2) are nouns modify the nouns
following. When a noun precedes another it can act as a determiner to form
a compound word (Burton-Herbets, 2011). Both nouns and pronouns will
be discussed in this chapter.

1.2 NOUN
Words that tell people, things, animals or places are called nouns. Here are
some examples;
People = Harizon, Ahmad, Aisyah, etc.
Things = desk, plate, cup, spoon, etc.
Animals = lizard, lion, deer, chicken, etc.
Place = school, office, stadium, bank, etc.
Generally a noun can function as both a subject and an object as the
following examples.

(3) A lion is called a king of forest.

(4) Prophet Mohammed is a messenger of God, Allah.
(5) The teenages love chicken very much.
(6) Students spend their time in the library.

In the above sentences, the words lion, Mohammed, teenages, and students
are all nouns functioning as subjects. Meanwhile, the nouns such as king
and messenger function as subject complements, and chicken or time
function as objects of verbs in the sentence (2) and (4). In (4) we also find a
common noun, library which functions as an object of preposition in.

Sargeant (2007) divides two main types of nouns: common nouns and
proper nouns. A common noun is a noun that tells something general
rather than specific. Things, animals, and common places such as house,
book, pencil, computer, goose, bird, hospital, etc are included in this type. A
common noun is always written without capital letter except at the
beginning of a sentence or a title. A proper noun is a noun that tells
4 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

something specific and is always capitalized such as names of people,

names of months, names of days, names of places. The following are some
examples of proper noun;

Names of people = Ahmadinejad, Erdogan, Ibrahim, Mohammed, etc.

Names of days = Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
Names of months = January, February, March, etc.
Names of places = Palembang, Maninjau, Sumedang, etc.

Actually there is also another type of noun called an abstract noun. An

abstract noun is a noun that cannot be tangible and it usually shows
characteristics, concept, feelings or emotion, etc. for examples;
 honesty
 ability
 power
 communication
 friendship
 patience
In addition, Altenberg and Vago (2010, p.5) offer the term concrete, the
opposite of abstract, for a common noun. A noun is called concrete if our
senses can perceive it, while if it cannot be perceived, it must be abstract.

1.2.1 Singular and Plural Nouns

A noun can be divided into singular and plural in accordance with
its form such as in the following.

Singular Plural

drug drugs
suitcase suitcases
dress dresses
orange oranges
sheet sheets
child children

There are several ways to make plural nouns. The following Table 1
provides some examples with brief explanation. See Azar (2002) for
complete and more explanation as well as some more examples.

Table 1 Summary of how to form plural nouns

No Examples Description
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 5

(1) pen —› pens To make plural nouns, we just

book —› books add s after singular nouns as in
ruler —› rulers (1)

(2) dress —› dresses When a noun ends with s, ch, o,

watch —› watches x, and sh, we usually add es to
radio —› radios make it plural. . Few nouns may
box —› boxes have suffix s only or both s and es
dish —› dishes (especially the ones ending with
o) such as video —› videos
tomatoe —› tomatoes or tomatos
lady —› ladies When a noun ends with y
(3) lily —› lilies preceded by a consonant, change y
lory —› lories into i and add suffix es as
examples in (3).

(4) knife —› knives Nouns ending with f, or fe must

wife —› wives be changed into v and add es to
calf —› calves make it plural such as in (4).
However, some nouns that end
with f just simply add s to form
plural such as
cliff —› cliffs
roof —› roofs
(5) ox —› oxen Few plural nouns end with neither
child —› children s nor es, and this is usually called
louse —› lice irregular plural nouns such as in
tooth —› teeth (5)
goose —› geese
(6) deer —› deer Some nouns have the same form
fish —› fish for both singular and plural such
shrimp —› shrimp as in (6)
sheep —› sheep
(7) fungus —› fungi Some plural nouns taken from
criterion —› criteria other languages such as Greek and
medium —› media Latin have special forms as in (7).
curriculum—› curricula
hyphotesis —› hyphoteses

If we look at the nouns in group (5) of the table above, there is no rule of
forming an irregular plural noun. In other words, to form irregular plural
nouns will have different ways (Altenberg and Vago, 2010, p.9).
It should be noted that to identify whether a noun with the same form is
singular or plural in a sentence is to see a modifier in front of it or a pronoun
6 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

that appears to substitute the previous noun as a reference. Examine these

examples;

(7) There are many deer in the national park of Routaria, New Zealand.
(8) A baby deer is put in the ranch for nursery.
(9) Our deer nurses its young during the day.
(10) Mother deer bathe their young by licking.

The word deer in (5), (6), (7), and (8) have the same form. In (5) the noun
deer is modified by a determiner many, so, it is a plural noun, while in (6) it
is singular since it is preceded by a determiner a. Many is used to modify a
plural noun, and a is used for a singular noun. Similarly the word deer in
(7) is singular determined by the word its in its young to refer to our deer,
but deer in (8) is plural as a pronoun their in their young refers to mother
deer.

All abstract nouns do not have plural in form. Most common nouns except
mass noun have both singular and plural forms. Mass nouns belong to non-
count nouns which cannot be pluralized (Radford, 2004, p. 19) such as
furniture, coffee, gas, etc. When a proper noun is preceded with the, it
shows people and is plural such as English (language), the English (people
of England) or Japanese (language) the Japanese (people of Japan).

1.2.2 Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Any noun that can be counted or can be made into plural is countable
noun. Grammatically, an uncountable noun refers to a thing or an item that
can be separated or counted such as table, pen, pencil, etc. When something
is treated as a whole mass and cannot be separated, it is called an
uncountable noun or mass noun for another term. Some grammarians use
the terms count for countable and non-count for uncountable. Here are
some examples of both countable nouns and uncountable nouns.

Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns

ruler, duster, typewriter, slipper, water, ink, tea, coffee, sugar, salt,
stick, louse, box, hat, cap, bag, powder, gas, air, fruit, furniture,
chair, plate, bottle, pan, spoon, fork, steam, smoke, homework,, luck,
pole, jacket, belt, etc. information, etc.

1.3 Expression of Quantity

Many nouns in a sentence or clause are usually modified by articles a, an,
and the, or numbers such as:
- the teacher, the students, the book, etc.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 7

- a tiger, a cat, a lion, etc.

- an elephant, an umbrella, an orange, etc.
- two children, four cars, ten fingers, etc.

In fact, there are other possibilities that a noun is modified by an expression

of quantity as a part of determiners such as in the folowing sentences;

(11) There are many chairs in the classroom.

(12) There isn’t much water in the bottle.
(13) The teacher asked all students to watch the 30 S PKI movie.
(14) We saw some of the children playing in the yard.
(15) Very few participants went home before the ceremony was over.

The words many, much, all, some, and few in sentences (11), (12), (13),
(14), and (15) are included in the expression of quantity.

The following Table 2 contains some expressions of quantity with

explanation.

Table 2 Use of Expression of quantity

Expression For For Uses
of Quantity Countable Uncountable
Noun Noun
some √ √ to specify amount of
something with unknown
exact number
any √ √ to specify amount of
something with unknown
exact number in negative or
interrogative sentence
many √ to specify a large of
quantity
much √ to specify a large of
quantity
a lot of √ √ to specify a large of
quantity
several √ to specify something more
but less than many
all √ √ to specify the whole group
few √ to specify something more
but less than several
little √ to specify something not
much
less to specify something not
mcuh, comparative of little
every √ to specify individual in the
group
8 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

both √ to identify two people or

things

Sometimes we use a preposition of after certain words of quantity such as

some of, all of, many of, most of, half of, etc. If this preposition is used, we
need to add determiner such as article THE or possessive adjective before
the nouns. For examples:

- Some of the water

- All of your books
- Most of our friends
- Many of the nurses

The pattern of this is:

many
some
most of + THE / POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE+ Noun
all
half
etc

Table 3 The use of Articles

A, AN and THE
A A is used for a singular noun with a consonant sound

AN An is used for a singular noun with a vowel sound

THE THE is used for specific idea of both singular and plural
nouns and mass nouns

It should be careful that if the words begin with letters such as u, o, e, x, or

h, they may begin with either a vowel or a consonant sound (Philips, 2002).
Therefore, we use AN instead of A or A instead of AN for singular nouns
without specifc idea. For examples;

- an hour instead of a hour*

- an orange a orange*
- an error a error*
- a university an university*
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 9

1.4. PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word that takes place of a noun. The noun that is referred to
is said to be antecedent. For example:

The lady whom you told me about is now in the office. She is a new teacher
in this school.

In this example, she is a pronoun referring to the noun lady (antecedent).

A pronoun can be generally divided into many types such as personal,
possessive, reflexive, intensive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative,
indefinite, and reciprocal.

1.4.1. Personal Pronouns

Personal Pronouns are pronouns that talk about a specific person or thing.
These pronouns can function as subjects or objects as they stand on their
own (Gelderen, 2002, p.20). They also consist of two groups: nominative
and objective. It is called nominative when they function as a subject in a
sentence such as I, We, You, they, he, she, etc. For example:

(16) They will play voley ball, but we will play basket ball.

A pronoun functioning as an object in a sentence is called an objective

personal pronoun such as him, them, me, her, us, etc. For example:

(17) Mr.Bailey has been back to his country. Every body misses him
very much.

Him in (17) is an object personal pronoun that refers to Mr. Bailey.

Table 3 SUMMARY OF PERSONAL PRONOUNS

Third
Function First Second
Male Female Thing
Subject (singular) I you he she it
Object (singular) me you him her it
Reflexive (singular) myself yourself himself herself itself
10 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Subject (plural) we you they

Object (plural) us you them
Reflexive (plural) ourselves yourselves themselves
1.4.2 Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns are pronouns that tell the ownership of someone else
such as your,and yours, her and hers, our and ours, their and theirs, etc. For
example:

Those are your pens, but these pencils are ours.

Generally possessive pronouns have two types: possessive pronouns and

possessive adjectives. It is called possessive pronouns when they stand
alone in a sentence. For example:

(18) The books on the table belong to her. The books on the table are
hers .

Hers in this sentence means her books.

When a possessive adjective is followed by or comes before a noun, it

functions as a modifier, so it acts as an adjective. That’s why it is called
possessive adjective and is not included in the summary of personal pronoun
(see Table 3). For example:

(19) Your mother has a new mobile handphone. Her mobile handphone
is made in Canada.

Her in this sentence is a possessive adjective modifying mobile handphone.

1.4.3 Reflexive Pronouns

Reflexive pronouns are pronouns used to show the subject of a sentence

is receiving the action of the verb. For examples:

(20) My younger brother usually cooks his dinner himself.

(21) Azzahra washes dishes herself.

Other reflexsive pronouns are myself, yourself (singular), yourselves

(plural), itself, and themselves.

When the reflexive pronouns are put after the subject in a sentence, they are
called Intensive Pronouns. These pronouns are usually used only to
emphasize the subject. For examples:

(22) My younger brother himself usually cooks his dinner.

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 11

(23) Azzahra herself washes dishes.

1.4.4 Intensive Pronoun

Intensive pronouns are pronouns that come right after the noun or
pronoun used to emphasize the subject. Intensive pronouns have the same
form as reflexive pronouns which include:
myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself,
ourselves, yourselves, themselves.

Here are some examples;

(24) Bagas himself has not done the assignment.

(25) Mrs. Nursiah herself teaches English at SMP Negeri 17.
(26) Rafa and Ikrar themselves clean the classroom.

1.4.5 Demonstrative pronouns

Demonstrative pronouns are pronouns used to identify nouns and
usually give the answer of the question “which one?”
Demonstrative pronouns consist of four:
this –these
that – those

For examples;
(27) Which book belongs to you?
(28) That on the table belongs to me.

That in (25) identifies book.

To identify these pronouns, we must look at their context in a sentence as

they are also included in determiners. Let’s examine the following
examples.

(29) This doesn’t belong to me.

(30) This book doesn’t belong to me.

This in (26) represents a pronoun, while this in (27) acts as a determiner

modifying book.
Similar to the word this, the word that also represents either a pronoun or
determiner as the examples below.
12 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

(31) Whose bag is on the corner? That is mine.

(32) That hat is made from leather.

That in (28) represents a pronoun, while that in (29) acts as a determiner

modifying hat.

The word this is used to demonstrate something near from the speaker,
while the word that shows something further from the speaker. Both the
words this and that are used for singular nouns. When we want to identify
plural nouns the words these and those are used.

1.4.6 Interrogative Pronouns

When the question words (who, what, which, whom, whose) are used in
a sentence to begin a question, they are called interrogative pronouns.
These pronouns are known as parts of question words. For examples:

(33) What is your address?

(34) Which university are you going to enter?
(35) Who will come for dinner?

1.4.7 Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are usually used to connect clarifying information to
nouns or other pronouns within a sentence . In other words, the relative
pronouns are usually used in a complex sentence, the combination of main
clause and subordinate clause. The subordinate clause meant here is relative
clauses or adjective clause as in the following example.

(36) The farmers [whom the the governor visited last week] are
preparing fertilizer for their crops.

The underlined clause in (23) is the main clause, and the one in square
brackets is the subordinate clause.
The common relative pronouns include who, that, which, whom, whose,
where, and when. These pronouns are not discussed any further in this
book, but will be more likey in the special section of more intermediate or
advanced Adjective clause. However, for beginning learners they can be
introduced that:

 Who is used when referring to people as a subject.

 Whom is used when referring to people as an object.
 Which is used to refer to things or animals as subjects or objects.
 Whose is used to show possession for both people and things.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 13

 Where is used to modify a place.

 When is used to modify noun of time.

1.4.8. Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns used to refer to a person or thing that
not specific or not known. They are also used to identify a general group of
people or things. The list below contain common indefinitive pronouns.

List of Indefinite Pronouns

somebody anybody nobody each
someone anybody nobody every
something anything nothing

In a sentence these pronouns always take a singular verb and this is a part of
subject – verb agreement discussion as the following examples.

(34) Someone has done this work.

(35) Everything is expensive in this era of government now.
(36) Each village in Indonesia needs electricity from the government
14 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Read the following text carefully, rewrite all nouns and pronouns, identify
what nouns the pronouns refer to or replace for, and mention the line .

Alfath has one brother and two sisters. Alfath’s brother’s name is Al-baro’.
He is nine years old still studying in a primary school of Muhammadiyah
14 Palembang. Although Al-baro’ is much younger than his brother, Alfath,
he has the same height as Alfath does. They usually go swimming on
Sundays with his father. Both Alfath and Al-baro’ are nice boys for their
grandparents. Their family like them.

Alfath has two sisters. Their names are Faizah and Keisha. They are not
going to school yet. They are still under five years old. Faizah is three years
old and she is not going to school yet. and Keisha is two years old. Both of
them are very cute little girls. They usually play with their toys every
afternoon. Most people in their neighborhood love them.

Write your answer on the table below.

No. NOUN PRONOUN Noun refered Line

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 15

Exercise 2

Directions:
Group the following English words into countable or uncountable.

sheep, tomato, luggage, rubbish, mouth, homework, zoo, ox, information,

coffee, traffic, assignment, child, leave, ruler, apple, paper, stapler,
house, vegetable, key, chocolate, goat, luck, salmon, bfead, room,
steward, bicycle, glass, eraser, box, mat, chair, garlic, dust, pencil,
branch.

No Countable Nouns Uncountable Nouns

Exercise 3

Directions:
Fill each blank with suitable pronouns in brackets

1. His sister and _____________ (they, them) had a nice dinner.

2. Did you ask Sofyan or __________ (I, me) to go there?
3. Those are our balls; _______ (we, they) are not yours.
4. How do you know ___________ (they, them) are from Arab
countries?
5. We believe _________ is much younger than he (she, her).
6. This is my class; that over there is ____________ .(their, theirs)
7. They sent some flowers for you and _____________ (she, her).
8. Solihin and _________ (we, us) went to the post office for some
stamps.
9. Don’t forget to invite ______________ (he, him) when you have a
farewell
16 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

party.
10.That car is yours; __________ (they, It) belongs to hers.
11. Sit her between Fadil and ___________ (I, me).
12. Will you let Hapsari and __________ (he, him) go to the concert
tonight?
13. The teacher gave _________(we, us) much homework.
14. These are our cats, and _________ (those, that) over there are yours.
15. There is no discussion to go hunting between you and _________ (I,
me).
16.Where is dr. Imron? We would like to meet ________ (he, him).
17. Tell _________ (they, them) to be in hurry before the meeting starts.
18. _________ (they, I) are going to the Baladewa museum?
19. Please tell ________ (he, him) to take extra lesson after class.
20. Where is ___________ (their, theirs) ? This is ours.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 17

Chapter 2

ADJECTIVES
AND ADVERBS

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify adjectives and adverbs
 be able to distinguish between adjectives and
adverbs
 be able to use adjectives and adverbs
in speaking and writing

“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each other.”

Muslih Hambali
18 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Introduction

Adjectives and adverbs are different word classes, but they are both
modifiers. Generally adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, but adverbs
modify not only verbs and adjectives but also adverbs themselves. When
adjectives and adverbs are in one phrase in a sentence, there will be an
adjective phrase (AP) in which an adjective comes after an adverb. Here the
adverb functions as a modifier and the adjective functions as a head
(modified). For examples;

 really expensive
 very interesting
 unusually difficult

The words really, very, and unusually are all adverbs modifying the words
that come after. In the following sections, we will briefly discuss adjectives
and adverbs.

2.1 ADJECTIVES

An adjective abreviated with A is one kind of parts of speech in English.

An adjective functions as a modifier, so it is defined as a word that modifies
a noun, pronoun or a noun phrase. An adjective usually comes immediately
before a noun not a pronoun. For examples:

 Good students
 A popular music
 New typewriters
 Nice food
 Wise parents
 Happy we *
 Diligent she*

The italic words in the example above are all adjectives modifying all
nouns that come after. * indicates that this phrase in not correct because
adjectives cannot directly be followed by pronouns. In addition, an adjective
may come before a subject noun or a subject pronoun in a sentence. For
examples;

(1)They (pronoun) are busy.

(2) He (pronoun) is thirsty after a long journey.
(3) The (noun) food is wonderful.
(4) The book (noun) is interesting.
(5) The buses (noun) to Parai Beach are crowded.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 19

When an adjective appears immediately before or is directly followed by a

noun, it is formed a noun phrase such as new typewriters, wise parents,
popular music, and so on. Sometimes we find a noun phrase has few a
string of adjectives such as;

1) A nice young man

2) A wise beautiful young lady
3) An old wooden table

When these happen we should think of the set order of the string meaning
which adjective comes first closer to the noun followed by, the second and
so forth. Generally, a string of adjectives in a noun phrase must be in the
following order.

Size or shape + age + color + origin + Noun

From the examples above, we could say:

Noun phrase 1) has the order of shape + age + noun
Noun phrase 2) has the order of shape + shape + age + noun
Noun phrase 3) has the order of age + origin + noun

2.2 ADVERBS
A word that describes a particular word class such as verb, adjective or
adverb itself is called an adverb (abreviated with Adv). Most adverbs in
English are derived from adjectives ending with morpheme ly such as
slowly, quietly, carefully, etc. Some adverbs are formed from nouns with
suffix wise such clockwise or weather-wise. Few adverbs have the same
form as adjectives for examples, hard, early and, fast or irregular ones such
as well from an adjective good.

Aarts (200, p. 45) divides an adverb into three subclasses: circumstantial

adverbs, degree adverbs, and sentence adverbs. A circumstantial adverb is
an adverb that provides information about frequency (often called frequency
of time) such as sometimes, never, often, etc. and about manner such as
slowly, diligently, interestingly, etc. A degree adverb is an adverb that
specifies the degree of its modifying adjectives such as extraordinary,
pretty, very, etc. Meanwhile, a sentence adverb is an adverb that functions
to link sentences such as probably, perhaps, however, etc. The following
are some sentences contain adverbs, the italic words.

(6)Mr. Tasida usually drives his car slowly.

(7)Mr. Tarmizi works hard everyday.
(8)Mr. Yusrizal is an extraordinarily good teacher.
20 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

In (6) the adverb usually describes the verb drives, and the adverb hard in
(7) describes the verb works. In (8) the adverb is extraordinarily modifying
the adjective good.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 21

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the following exercise with adjective or adverb form
of the word in brackets.

1. Maria usually gives ____________ answers. (careful)

2. The situation in Myanmar was very_____________ last July. (serious)
3. Children below ten normally grow __________. (quick)
4. Herman was very __________ yesterday. (happy)
5. It was raining ____________ (heavy) when we arrived.
6. That is an ____________ trip I believe. (exciting)
7. Fadilah responded the question from her teacher _________. (careful)
8. The children are taking the exam _________ . (quiet)
9. We had a very ___________ party last week. (enjoyable)
10. The taxi drove his car ___________ because the road was icy. (slow)
11. The young lady always does her home work ________.(diligent)
12. The old man felt _________ because he got serioud desease.
13. __________ people usually work __________ (successful)(hard)
14. Most people do not like __________ streets. (busy)
15. The man fell from the tall building and he was __________ hurt in that
accident. (serious)
Exercise 2

Directions:
Complete each sentence using an appropriate word from the list. Be careful
to use either adjective or adverb.

List of words:

safe, careful, perfect, angry, quick, fluent, colourful, special,

nervous, terrible, happy, complete, special, continuous, serious

22 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

1. She tried on her new dresses and they fitted her ________
2. My English is very _________ although I make some mistakes
3. The driver of the truck had __________ injuries.
4. Our holiday was too short. The time passed very ________
5. My sister cooked this traditional meal ________ for us, so we love it
very much.
6. Sally is________ upset about not having her vacation this year.
7. Everything was very quiet. There was _________ silence.
8. Allan doesn't take risks when he's driving. He's always ___________.
9. Do people usually feel __________ before they take exam?
10. Hersa works_________ . He never seems to stop.
11. Everybody at the party wore___________ dress.
12. Barbara and Sam are very __________ married.
13. Don't go up that ladder. It doesn't look ___________
14. We'd like to buy a new car but it's _______ impossible for us at the
moment because of poor crisis in our country.
15. The middle-age man looked at us __________ when we passed by.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 23

Chapter 3

VERBS AND
BE VERBS
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify and distinguish parts of verbs
 be able to distinguish common verbs and Be verbs
 be able to distinguish between Be as a verb and Be as an
auxiliary verb

“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each
other.”

Muslih Hambali
24 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

3.1 Introduction

This chapter provides the discussion of verbs and be verbs as a part of

English speech. Both verbs and Be verbs are used a clause or in a sentence.

3.2 Verb
A verb can be defined as words that express action or state of being. A
verb is always used as the main predicate in a sentence. Any sentence
without a verb is absolutely not correct. Miller (2002, p. 4) believes that a
verb has an important role to control every phrase in the clause.

3.2.1 Type of verbs

Generally there two major types of verbs: action verbs and linking
verbs. Most verbs are action verbs. Action verbs are the verbs that describe
any activity of one’s action or describe physical or mental activity of
someone. This means action verbs will inform us what the subject in a
clause is doing. The following are some examples of action verbs in a
sentence.

(1)The carpenter has already made a wooden table.

(2)The nurse will wash her hands after feeding the patients.
(3)dr. Kamal is writing prescription for his customer.

Simply defined action verbs are words that generally show action such as
read, write, study, etc. or possession such as have, own, belong to, etc. The
action verbs can be divided into types: transitive and intransitive.

A transitive verb is a verb that can be followed by an object (a noun as a

receiver of a verb). For examples:

(4)Mr. Tanaka wrote a letter to his friend.

(5)Mr. Kariem has already fixed his car.
(6)Mrs. Sartika is cooking her favourite food.

The verbs wrote, fixed, and cooking in (4), (5), and (6) are transitive verbs,
and the words a letter, his car, and her favourite food are all functioning as
objects.

An intrasitive verb is a verb that cannot be followed by an object. For

examples:

(7) Mr. Hamid is lying on his new sofa.

(8) Mrs. Hamid is sitting on her wheel chair.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 25

Both the words lying and sitting in (7) and (8) are intransitive verbs, while
the phrases on his new sofa and on her wheel chair in (7) and (8) are not
objects but prepositional phrases functioning as adverbs of place.

The last type of verb is linking verbs that are usually followed by adjectives
or nouns. These adjectives usually describe the subjects of a sentence as in
the following examples:
(9) Mr. Nikopur is friendly
(10) Mrs. Talisa beame a director of pharmaceutical company.

The word friendly (adj) in (9) describes Mr. Nikopur, and the word director
(n) in (10) describes Mrs.Talisa. There are some verbs included in the
linking verbs, but the most common linking verb is Be verb (see the next
section the discussion of Be verb). Here is the list of linking verbs.

List of linking verbs.

appear become continue feel grow
look prove remain sound smell

stay taste turn BE

In addition to the above types, there is also another type of verbs called
helping verbs or sometimes called auxiliary verbs. Helping verbs are the
words that usually accompany the main verbs in a sentence. For examples:
(11) Dekta is attending the seminar in the Hermina hospital this
afternoon.
(12) Okta and her friends will organize the meeting next week soon.
(13) Eman has painted his room white.

The words is, will, and has in (11), (12), and (13) are helping verbs.
List of helping verbs
can may must will shall
could might ought to would should MODALS
is am are have has
was were had do does
be been been did

The highlited or bold typed words in the list are usually called modals.
26 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

3.3 Parts of verb

When we refer to the principal part of a verb, an English verb is
classified into four parts (Azar, 2002) as in the following.
1. Simple present form
Simple present form is a root verb which usually occurs in dictionary as
an entry. This verb is sometimes called a base form for examples:
buy, play, come, drink eat, etc.

2. Simple Past
Simple past form is a verb that ends with ed for regular and without ed
for irregular.
This verb is often called verb 2. for examples:
cook – cooked (regular)
work – worked (regular)
or
write – wrote (irregular).
drink – drank (irregular)

3. Past Participle
Past participle is also a verb that ends with ed for regular and without ed for
irregular.. This verb is called verb 3 for examples:
cook – cooked - cooked (regular)
work – worked – worked (regular)
or
write – wrote - written (irregular).
drink – drank – drunk (irregular)

Note that to distinguish whether verb 2 or verb 3 is used in a sentence for a

regular verb, verb 3 is usually preceded by helping verb be or have
(including has, had) such as is cooked, will be cooked, have worked, had
worked, etc.

3.4 Category of Verb

There are four major different categories to classify irregular verbs.

1. Having the same verb form for base, past and past participle.

 read – read – read

 put – put – put
 cut – cut – cut
 set – set – set
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 27

2. Having similar sound groups of the verb base, past, and past participle.

 drink – drank – drunk

 draw – drew – drawn
 sing – sang – sung
 throw – threw – thrown
 speak – spoke – spoken
 blow – blew – blown
 grow – grew – grown

3. Having the same form for past and past participle.

 Sleep – slept – slept

 buy – bought – bought
 leave – left – left
 think – thought – thought
 fight – fought – fought
 find – found – found
 lose – lost – lost

4. Having no classification

 come – came – come

 go – went – gone
 do – did – done
 see – saw – seen
 take – took – taken

3.3 BE Verb
In the previous section BE is included in the helping verbs. Be functions
as a helping verb if it is followed by a verb to form a verb phrase, but it if it
stands alone it acts as a purely verb. Compare these examples.

(14) President Erdogan is famous for his bravery.

(15) Henry Dunant was the founder of Red Cross.
(16) King Salman has been in Indonesia two times during his life.
(17) English and Arabic are taught in Islamic Boarding Schools in
Indonesia.
(18) Their children were swimming when their grandfather arrived.

The words is, was, and been in (14), (15), and (16) are fully verbs, while are
and were in (17) and (18) are helping verbs. As a verb or helping verb, BE
is the base form of the word. Word family of BE includes:

is am are → present
was were → past
28 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

being → continuous
been → past participle
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 29

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Identify the type of underlined verbs in the following sentences. Write AC
for Action Verb, LV for Linking Verb and HV for Helping Verb.
1. She reported on the decisions made at the meeting. _______
2. The ancient discipline of rhetoric was intended to prepare the beginner
for tasks. _______
3. More improved electrical typewriters have been successfully invented.
_____
4. Rohingya refugees live in tents in Bangladesh. _______
5. The passanger came to the police station. _______
6. I have written a letter for my student. _______
7. The ball rotates very quickly. _______
8. The weapons were produced in Russia. _______
9. People must not throw stones in the river. _______
10. They recently spoke to somebody. _______
11. His wallet was stolen when he took the bus. _______
12. President Erdogan visited them last week. _______
13. Treating sufferers from anorexia and bulimia is difficult. _______
14. It would be a good idea to send a copy to the manager. _______
15. Bee produces honey. _______
16. Tom moved to his home town in 1994. _______
17. My friend was in Canada two years ago. _______
18. At this time yesterday my mother was planting some flowers in the
garden. __
19. An accident happened when we passed the street in the suburb.
_______
20. Mr Smith’s family has been living in this city. _______
30 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Exercise 2

Directions:
Study the sentences in exercise 1. Rewrite all action verbs and Identify
whether they are transitive or intranstive. Write your anwer on table below
and give √ for transitive verb and intransitive verb.

No Action Verbs Transitive Intransitive

1 reported √
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

Exercise 3

Directions:
Complete the sentences below with Be verb. Make sure to use the correct
form.

1. The pupils (be) not at school today.

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 31

2. The playgrounds (be) full of people today.

3. The children (be) eating bananas. They (be,not)

eating apples.

4. The party (be) fun last weekend.

5. The old house (be) built in 1967.

6. Germany, England, and Spanish (be) cities.

7. Jenny (be) sleeping when the telephone rang.

8. Charles (be) his summer vacation in August.

9. (be) shopkeeper not this type of flower pot.

10. Nowadays people (be) not so happy because of

economic crisis.

11. (be) Bill Gates careless as a student?

12. (Be) _____________ the football players so confidence?

13. They (be) having breakfast at 06:30 this morning.

14. Dave (be) so happy passing his driving test.

15. The match (be) already started when we arrived.

16. Reza and Riko (be) students next year.

17. (be) Shelly bothering you?

18. (be) it snowing in the mountains?

19. (be) they embarrassed by the comedian?

20. Rani (be) allowed to participate in commencement,

though.
32 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 1

Preposition,
Conjunction,
determiner

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify preposition, conjunction, and
determiner
 be able to distinguish kinds of conjunction
 be able to distinguish kinds of determiner

“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each
other.”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 33

4.1 Introduction
In the previous chapters we have been introduced five kinds of word
class: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Morphologically,
these kinds of word except pronouns are classified as content words
(Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2007, p.74). This chapter discusses other
word classes: preposition, conjunction, and determiner, so called functional
words.

4.2 Preposition
Mew and Seaton (2007, p. 132) define a preposition as a word
connecting one thing with another, showing how they are related. A
preposition is “a word or a group of words used before a noun or pronoun to
show place, position, time or method” (Hornby, 2002 p.1037). The
following are some examples.

(1) The kite is flying on the air. (position)

(2) The picture is lying on the table (place)
(3) The bus to Mecca was in that building. (place)
(4) The bus to Mecca is now behind this building (place)
(5) Mr. Yunus will go for Umroh on Tuesday. (time)
(6) Mr Yunus went for Umroh in Feruary this year. (time)
(7) We usually go to school on foot because our school is not far.
(method)
(8)Widia often goes to her office by train. (method)

If we notice sentences (1) and (2), they have the same preposition ON but
different condition. Meanwhile, each of the sentences (3), and (4), (5) and
(6), and (7) and (8) it shows that they have different prepositions although
each pair identifies the same situation. Therefore, putting a preposition into
practice might be tricky unless we should recognize the situation or
condition of the noun is.

4.2.1 Prepositional phrase

When a preposition is followed a noun or pronoun, it will form a
prepositional phrase. A prepositional phrase can function as a modifier or an
adverb. Compare these sentences below.

(9) The box on the corner contains children toys.

(10) Children put their toys in the box.

The phrase on the corner in (9) functions as a modifier describing the

box, while the phrase in the box in (10) functions as an adverb of place.
34 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

4.2.2 Preposition combination

Preposition usually links with an adjective or a verb for examples:

Adjectives : good at, fond of, interested in, proud of, etc.
Verbs : agree with, listen to, look at, take off, etc.

When a preposition goes with verb it is usually called prepositional verbs

(Gelderen, 2002, p. 83) such as glance at, refer to, reply to, insist on, etc.

There are such number of English prepositions. Azar (2002, p 454) provides
45 different words of common preposition as shown in the following table.

Table 4 Common English Prepositions

about at beyond into since up
above before by like through upon
across behind despite near throughout with
after below down of till within
against beneath during off to without
alon g beside for on toward(s)
among besides from out under
around between in over until

Hints to learn preposition

There is no specific rule or pattern to learn a preposition like we do have in
learning tenses. However, there are some helpful hints to follow;
1. To identify which preposition is used in a sentence, learn the situation
and condition of the noun is.
2. Since a preposition usually links an adjective and a verb, it is essential
that we should learn which adjectives and verbs that are linked with
preposition.

The following list contains some common adjectives and verbs linked with
prepositions.

List of common Verbs and Adjectives with preposition

agree with be made from

apologize for be made of
apply for be married to
apply to be opposed to
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 35

approve of be pleased with

argue for be polite with
argue with be prepared for
arrive at be prepared to
arrive in be proud of
be be qualified for
be absent from be related to
be accused of be relevant to
be accustomed to be responsible for
be acquainted with be satisfied with
be addicted to be terrified of
be afraid of be tired of
be angry at be upset with
be angry with be used to
be annoyed at be worried about
be annoyed with believe in
be associated with blame (someone) for
be aware of compare to
be capable of compare with
be cluttered with complain about
be committed to complain of
be composed of consist of
be concerned contribute to
about count on
be connected to count upon
be content with decide on
be convinced of decide upon
be coordinated depend on
with distinguish from
be covered with dream about
be crowded with dream of
be devoted to
escape from
be disappointed in excel at
be disappointed excel in
with
excuse for
be discriminated
against feel for
be divorced from fight for
be done with forgive (someone) for
be dressed in have a reason for
36 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

be engaged to have an excuse for

be envious of hide from
be equipped with hope for
be excited about insist on
be exhausted from introduce to
be exposed to keep (someone) from (doing
be faithful to something)
be familiar with look forward to
be filled with object to
be finished with participate in
be fond of pray for
be frightened of prevent (someone) from
(doing something)
be friendly to
prohibit (someone) from
be friendly with
(doing something)
be frightened by
recover from
be furnished with
rescue from
be gone from
respond to
be grateful for
stop (someone) from (doing
be grateful to something)
be guilty of succeed in
be innocent of take advantage of
be interested in take care of
be involved with talk about
be jealous of talk of
be known for thank someone for
be limited to think about
be located in think of
be located to

Source:
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/common_verbs_with_prep.html

4.3 CONJUNCTION
A conjunction is simply defined as a word that joins words, phrases or
clauses. A conjunction is a linking word to connect words or sentences
(Seaton and Mew, 2007). There are three kinds of conjunction:
coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunction. A
coordinating conjunction is the one that joins words, phrases or clauses
such as and, or, but. Here are some examples;
(11) Jono and Irnan are good boys.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 37

(12) My father is not at home but in the farm.

(13) Students may leave this room or they may stay here any longer.

The conjunction and in (11) connects word and word, the conjunction in
(12) connects phrase and phrase, while the one in (13) is used to connect
clause and clause.

A coordinating conjunction is used to make the words, phrases or clauses

parallel. Table 5 provides words of coordinating conjunction. A correlative
conjunction itself is similar to a coordinating conjunction, but this
conjunction exists in pairs as listed in Table 6 below. A subordinating
conjunction is a conjunction that always joins two clauses such as because,
since, if, etc. The list of this subordinating conjuction (Phillips, 2002) can be
shown in Table 7 below.

Table 5 List of Coordinating Conjunction

and, or, but, yet, either, so

Table 6 List of Correlative Conjunction

both ... and, either ... or, neither ... nor, not only ... but also

When correlative conjunctions are used to connect two parallel items as subjects,
we should pay attention to the verb especially if the verb is in present or uses BE
verb ( subject-verb agreement). Subjects joined by both ... and will take plural
verb, but when subjects are joined by other correlative conjunctions, the verb
must agree to last subject. Now let’s have some examples below:

(14) Both Tuty and Ani take Arabic class.

(15) Neither Tuty nor other students take algebra class.
(16) Neither other students nor Tuty takes take algebra class.

Notice the verb in (14) in plural form, but compare the verbs in (15) and
(16). The verbs used in (15) and (16) are different in form, and they agree
with the last subject.
38 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Table 7 List of Subordinators for Adverbial Clause

SUBORDINATORS
TIME CAUSE
after as soon as once when as now that
as before since because
whenever since
as long as by the time inasmuch as
until while

SUBORDINATORS
CONDITION CONTRAST MANNER PLACE
if although as where
in case even in that wherever
provided though
providing though
unless while
whether whereas

4.4 DETERMINER
A determiner is a part of a word class that usually modifies a noun.
Nurgues (2006, p.5) does not include determiner in parts of speech and he
uses the term ‘participle’ for adjective. Greenbaun and Nelson (2002) add
numerals as a different word class instead of determiner. Let’s have few
examples of sentences containing determiners.

(17) My brother bought a computer.

(18) That computer is an IBM one.
(19) The computer is on his desk.
(20) There are five books and several writing tools on his desk.

From the sentences above we find the words a, an, and the as articles, that
as a demonstrative, his a possessive, five a numeral, and several a quantity.
Articles, demonstratives, numerals, quantity and possessives are referred to
be called determiners, and they should be put in the same word class in
English grammar i.e. determiner.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 39

In this book, we have adopted determiners that include different names

of traditional grammar shown in the following Table 8.

Table 8 Determiners with different grammatical names

No Names in grammar Examples
1 Article a, an, the
2 Possessive adjective my, your, his, her, our,
(genetive determiner) their, its
3. Demonstrative (deixis) this, that, these, those
4 Numerals one, two, three, etc.
5. Quantity some, several, much, etc.
6. Interrogative which, whose, what
determiner

Again a possessive adjective expresses possession of a noun by someone or

something. Possessive adjectives so called possessive determiners (Seaton
and Mew, 2007) are actually included in a word class of determiner.

As it has been introduced in chapter 1, another word class that also

functions as a determiner is a noun. For examples;

 pen name
 gas tube
 safety box
 train station
40 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Special Review of English Parts

of Speech
Directions:
Choose whether the underlined word a noun, pronoun, adjective,
adverb, verb, conjunction, preposition, or determiner. Write at the end each
sentence the abreviation N (noun), Pro (pronoun), A (adjective), Adv
(adverb), V (verb), Conj (conjunction), Pre (preposition), and Det
(determiner).

1. The teacher checks our homework diligently. _____

2. His leg is seriously injured. _____
3. Tuty has broken her new glass. _____
4. Barbara is preparing her favourite dinner. _____ _____
5. Everybody was blessed. _____
6. There’s a yellow cat over there. _____ _____
7. Don’t forget to dust the furniture. _____ _____
8. Don’t you know that furniture is dusty? _____
9. Mr. Hennare is an amazing coach. _____
10. His new car looks great but expensive _____ _____ ______
11. Nety’s rendang dish always taste delicious. _____
12. You always scare everybody here. _____ _____
13. That frightened girl is my classmate. _____ _____
14. His father is a very punctual person. _____
15. He looked at me with confused eyes. _____ _____
16. They surprised me with a present. _____ _____
17. The concert was really exciting. _____ _____
18. You disappointed all of us. _____
19. The girl was so embarrassed. _____
20. Jack has a broken window and .a broken chair _____ _____
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 41

Chapter 5

THERE &
HERE
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to distinguish the use of there is and
there are
 be able to use the use of is there and are there
 be able to use the word here in speaking and writing

“A sentence can begin with other type of words such as THERE

and HERE other than Nouns or Pronouns”
Muslih Hambali
42 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

5.1 Introduction
Both the words there and here basically refer to place where the position
of people or thing from the speaker. There is used to show the position of
people or thing far from the speaker’s point of view, but here is the
opposite.

(1) Many cars are there in the parking lot.

(2) A giant tree is there in his garden.
(3) Your books are here.
(4) dr. Yangcik comes here.

The words there and here are also common to be used to begin a sentence.
These words are not subjects. Actually they are likely to be adverbs in
which the subject and verb are inverted in a sentence. Study the following
examples.

(5) There are many cars in the parking lot.

(6) There is a giant tree in his garden.
(7) Here are your books.
(8) Here comes dr. Yangcik.

5.2 THERE
There is (singular) and there are (plural) are used to say that
something is located in the place or exists or is present.
Examples;

(9) There is a box on the corner of the room.

(10) There are many cars in the parking lot.

When something isn’t located in the place or doesn’t exist, we use there is
not (singular) / there are not (plural).
Examples;

(11) There isn’t a box on the corner of the room.

(12) There aren’t many cars in the parking lot.

The contraction of is not is isn’t and are not is aren’t.

To ask whether something is located in the place or exists Is there…?

(singular) / Are there...? (plural) are used.
Examples;

(13) Is there a box on the corner of the room?

(14) Are there are many cars in the parking lot?
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 43

5.3 HERE

The word here is generally used to show place and occurs at the end of a
sentence
as for examples,

(15) Your flasdisk is here.

(16) The governor from Istanbul stays here in this hotel.

The word here can also begin a sentence and is used with both singular and
plural subjects as in the following examples.

(17) Here is your television set.

(18) Here lie many praying mats.
44 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Choose A, B, C or D to complete each of the following sentence below.

1. .................. many plates in the kitchen table?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

2. ................ five men working in the rice field.

a. Here comes b. There are c. Here comes d. Are there

3. “ Are there many children playing in the yard?” “ No, ................. only two.
a. There isn’t b. There aren’t c. There are d. Are there

4. ......... a lamp hanging on tge wall.

a. There is b. There are c. Is there d. Are there
5. ............... many boys and girls in the language lab?
a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

6. Keisha, .............. a lot of bottles in the basket?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

7. ........... a little cat outside his house?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

8. In Palembang, .................. a lot of street vendors.

a. There is b. There are c. Is there d. Are there

9. “ ........... much coffee in the jar?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are
10. “ Is there a wheel chair here?”. “ No, ..............”
a. There isn’t b. There aren’t c. There are d. Are there

11. ........... three mentoa trees behind Baro’.

a. are there b. There is c. There isn’t d. There are

12 ............. enough water in this village.

a. There isn’t b. There aren’t c. There are d. Are there

13 Alfath, ................ any ink in the bottle?

a. Is there b. b. Are there c. There is d. There are

14 “Are there many windows in the apartment?”

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 45

a. Is there b. b. Are there c. There is d. There are

15. ………….. a giraffe in the zoo?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

16 .......... a nice young lady working in that office.

a. Here is b. There are c. Here are d. Are there

17 ............. many pictures hanguing on the wall?

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

18. .............. much sugar in the plastic bag.

a. There is b. There are c. Is there d. Are there

19. “Are there many foreigners visiting this island every year?” “ Yes, ..........
a. are there b. There is c. There aren’t d. There are

20. Yesterday morning ....................... fire burning that house.

a. Is there b. Are there c. There was d. There were
21. ........................ two laptops on the table.
a. Here is b. There is c. Is there d. Here are

22. …………… various kinds of trees in the botanical garden.

a. Is there b. Are there c. There is d. There are

23. In this bottle, ………….. a lot of milk.

a. There isn’t b. There aren’t c. There are d. Are there

24. “ Are there five typewriters in the office?” No, ……… two.
a. Are there b. There is c. There aren’t d. There are

25. ………. some bread on the plate.

a. Is there b. Are there c. Here is d. Here are

Exercise 2

Directions:

Complete the sentences with there is, there are, there isn’t, there aren’t, is there
and are there.

1. 50 states in the United States.

2. There is an elephant at the zoo, but a bear.

3. How many countries in South America?

46 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

4. a Hollywood in Ireland?

5. No, polar bears at the South Pale.

6. a post office nearby?

7. How many countries in the world?

8. a Hollywood in Ireland?

9. My mother can’t make a cake to night, because flour.

10. oil in the wok, I think my sister wants to fry some chicken.

11. a great action movie playing at the theater. Do you want

to see it?

12. any good movies playing at movie theater now?

13. always so many people at the zoo ?

14. I’m very hungry, but any food in the refrigerator.

15. Luckily, one vacancy leaf at the sleepy Hollow Motel.

16. The Farmers’s Almanac says a cold winter next year.

17. It’s sunny today and a cloud in the sky.

18. Tomasno and we want to go to the concert, but any

tickets.

19. anyone here who wants to volunteer?

20. many schools in Cianjur, West Jawa.

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 47

PART II
TENSES

This part II talks about basic tenses in English. A tense is a kind of verb
change depending on the occurence of event. The event can be at the
present, in the past, or in the future. That we talk about tenses means that we
honestly talk about verbs. The change of verbs may affect the change of
type of tense. English has four different forms of verb: base form known as
infinitive, verb 2 (past), verb 3 (past participle), and verb- ing. There are
sixteen tenses in English, but this book provides some common basic tenses
usually used in both speaking and writing for beginning foreign language
learners, i.e. Simple Present, Simple Past, Simple Future, Present
Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Continuous
Future Continuous, Past Perfect, Future, Future Perfect, and Past Future
Perfect.
48 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 6

Simple
Present
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of simple
present
 be able to understand the use of simple present
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of simple
present
 be able to understand the use of simple present using Be
verb

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 49

6.1. Introduction

This section of the book discusses the simple present tense which I
believe is commonly used in daily speaking. The frequency of the use of
simple present tense is probably unlimited since this tense is the most
common one used in everyday life among all tenses.

6.2 Simple Present Tense

The Simple Present Simple tense is used to talk about;

1. General action in which action verbs are commonly used as in the

following examples;
 The school children read and write everyday.
 Mother prepares breakfast every morning.

2. The action that happens all the time or is habit in the past, present and
future (general truth) for examples;
 The sun rises in the west.
 The moon surrounds the earth.

3. The general statement of fact (Azar, 2003) For examples:

 Birds habe wings and can fly.
 Carnivorous animals eat meat.

The simple present tense is the most commonly used among the all tenses in
daily speaking. The verb used for simple present tense is verb one so called
base form of the verb (main verb).

6.3 Basic Structures of Simple Present Tense

There are three basic structures for the Simple Present Tense: Positive,
Negative and Interrogative.

1. Positive Statement

Formula : subject + main verb

Example: They sing and dance

2. Negative Statement

Formula : subject + auxiliary do /does + not + main verb

Example: They do not sing and dance
50 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

3. Interrogative Statement

Formula : Do/ Does + subject + main verb

Example: Do they sing and dance?

The simple present tense is very much demanding since there is a special
structure for a third person or subject singular for three types of statements.

1) When the subject in the positive sentence is third person or thing

singular, add s or es after the main verb such as;
 Bob writes letters to his mom.
 Father washes his clothes every week.
 The sun shines brightly.

2) If the sentence is negative, do not add s or es in the main verb

although the subject is third person or thing singular as the example
below.
 Bob does not write letters to his mom.
 Father does not wash his clothes every week.
 The sun does not shine brightly.

3) Similar to negative sentence, the verb in the interrogative sentence

does not require the additional s or es although the subject is the third
person or thing singular.

The following table provides the summary of simple present tense.

Table 6.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Simple Present

Statement Subject Auxiliary Main Verb

verb
Positive I, You, We, love bananas
(+) They, the
students,
etc.
He, She , It, loves bananas
Mary, Bob,
monkey,
etc.
Negative I, You, We, do not love bananas
(-) They, the
students, etc.
He, She , It, does not love bananas
Mary, Bob,
monkey, etc.
Interrogative Do I, You, love bananas
(?) We, They,
the
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 51

students,
etc.
Does He, She , love bananas
It, Mary,
Bob,
monkey,
etc.

From the above table, we can notice several key ideas.

 In the positive sentence

a) there is no auxiliary verb is found.
b) there is an additional suffix s, or es attached to the main verb for the
third person subject.
 In the negative sentence
a) if the subject is not third person singuar, use auxiliary do + not before
the main verb.
b) if the subject is the third pwrson singular, use auxiliary does + not
before the main verb.
 In the interrogative sentence
a) exchange the subject and the auxiliary verbs do or does so that the
position of subject and auxiliary verbs are inverted.

6.4 Simple Present Using BE verb

In the previous chapter we have been introduced BE verb. In English
the verb be is just plain weird and it almost never follows the same rules as
other verbs (Uchiyama, 2006, p.20). In simple present the BE verb used are
am, is and are. In a clause, these Be verbs are used when the complement is
describing the subject. For examples:

 All students are busy now.

 All students are in the language laboratory with their teacher.
 Mrs. Blair will be in her office at 9 A.M. today.

The Be verbs in present include am, is , and are.

6.3.1 The structure of the Simple Present with the main be verb:

Subject + Be verb (am, is, are) + Complement

When the Be verb functions as the main verb in a sentence, to make

negative we just add NOT after Be, and put Be in front of the subject if it is
an introgative sentence. Here are the examples:
a) Interrogative
 Are all students busy now?
 Is Mrs. Bailey in her office at the moment?

b) Negative
 All students are not busy now
52 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

 Mrs. Bailey is not in her office at the moment

The following table provides the summary of simple presentt tense using BE
verb
Table 6.2 The Summary of Simple Present Tense with Be Verb
Statement Subject Be verb complement
I am a student now
Positive (+) He, She , It, is a student now
Mary, Bob,
etc.
You, We, are students now
They, the
students, etc.
I am not a student now
Negative (-) He, She , It, is not a student now
Mary, Bob,
etc.
You, We, are not students now
They, the
students, etc.
am I a student now
Interrogative (?) is He, She , a student now
It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
are You, We, students now
They, the
students,
etc.

From the above table, notice the following points...

 There is no auxiliary verb, even for questions and negatives.

 The main verb (be) is conjugated in the Simple Present: am, is, are
 For negative sentences, we just insert not after the main Be verb.
 For interrogative sentences, we exchange the subject and the Be verb.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 53

EXERCISES

Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.

1. The boys (not/play) _______ football in Jakabaring sport city because it is

closed.

2. Both Rima and Ninda (not/eat) _______ pempek because they don’t like to
eat fish.
3. Jono (love) _______ Indonesia so much because there are many beautiful
places to visit.
4. My family and I (cut) _______ our hair in the barber shop near Ampera
Bridge.
5. Does your child (want) _______ to eat serabi Bandung?
6. If we burn paper, (do) _______it become ash?
7. The airplane in Sultan Mahmud Baddarudin II International Airport at
Palembang (arrive) _______ at 8 am this morning
8. Where (do) _______Harun go this afternoon?
9. Fani (eat) _______in one of restaurants at Bandung.
10. Abdi (not/work) _______in Sriwijaya fertilizer company at
Palembang.

Exercise 2

Directions:
Give complete answer to the following questions using phrase(s) in brackets.
1. How do they feel? (hungry)
_______________________________________________
2. What does thelady do? (wash some clothes)
_______________________________________________
3. Where does your father do every weekend? ( clean the garage)
________________________________________________
4. What do your parents often do on weekends? (watch movies)
54 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

_______________________________________________

5. Where do the boys play football? (in the Jakabaring stadium)

_______________________________________________
6. How is the weather in Bukit Tinggi? (be cool)
_______________________________________________
7. What does your brother do on Saturdays? (have piano lesson)
_______________________________________________
8. Where does Rudi do in the library? (do homework)
_______________________________________________
9. Why do farmers go to the rubber plantation? (take latex)
_______________________________________________
10. Where do people get some traditional food? (in local market)
_______________________________________________
11. How many items does the test contain? (50 items)
_______________________________________________
12. What kind of wallet does your brother want to buy? (a leather wallet)
_______________________________________________
13. Whose pencil is that? (belong to Yadi)
_______________________________________________
14. Whom do you invite for dinner? (Wawan and his friends)
_______________________________________________
15. How tall is the new building? (one hundred feet)
_______________________________________________
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 55

Chapter 7

Simple Past
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of simple present
 be able to understand the use of simple present
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of
simple present
 be able to understand the use of simple present using
Be verb

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

***Muslih Hambali***
56 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

7.1 Introduction
The simple past tense is a tense that talks about the event or something
in the past. The simple past tense usually means that this action ended in the
past (Uchiama, 2006, p.Time markers such as yesterday, a week ago, last
year, last night, in 1999, etc. are usually used to indicate the simple past
tense. The verb used in the simple past is verb two such as went, wrote,
typed, opened, etc. It is interesting that all kinds of subjects have the same
sentence structures.

7.2 Basic Structures of Simple Past Tense

The basic structures for the Simple Past Tense: Positive, Negative and
Interrogative.

1. Positive Statement

Formula : subject + verb two

Example: They sang and danced last night.

2. Negative Statement

Formula :subject auxiliary

+ did +not + main verb
sing and dance last
Example: They did not
night.

3. Interrogative Statement

Formula : Did + subject + main verb

Example: Did they sing and dance last night.?

The following table provides the summary of simple past tense.

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 57

Table 7.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Simple Past

Statement Subject Auxiliary Main

verb Verb
Positive (+) I, You, We, took bananas
They, the
students, he,
She , It, bananas
Mary, Bob,
monkey, etc.
Negative (-) I, You, We, did not take bananas
They, the
students, he,
She , It, bananas
Mary, Bob,
monkey, etc.
Interrogative (?) Did I, You, We, take bananas
They, the
students,
etc.
He, She , It, bananas
Mary, Bob,
monkey,
etc.

If we look at the above table, we can have several points.

 In the positive sentence

a) there is no auxiliary verb is found in a positive sentence.
b) there is an additional suffix ed attached to the main regular verb or
verb two is used in the simple past tense.
c) All kinds of subjects have the same structure.

 In the negative sentence

a) Use auxiliary did + not before the main verb.
b) All kinds of subjects have the same structure.

 In the interrogative sentence

a) exchange the subject and the auxiliary verbs did so that the position
of subject and auxiliary verbs is inverted.
b) All kinds of subjects have the same structure.

7.3 Simple Past with main verb be

The structure of the Simple Past with the main be verb:

Subject + Be verb (was, were) + Complement

58 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Examples;
The children were anxious to watch the movie of G 30 S PKI
Grandfather was happy to be together with his grandchildren.

The following table provides the summary of simple past tense using BE
verb.
Table 7.2 Summary of Simple Past Tense with Be Verb
Statement Subject Be verb complement
Positive (+) I, He, She , was a student last year
It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
You, We, were students last year
They, the
students, etc.
Negative (-) I, He, She , was a student last year
It, Mary, not
Bob, etc.
You, We, were students last year
They, the not
students, etc.
Interrogative (?) was I, He, She a student last year
, It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
were You, We, students last year
They, the
students,
etc.

From the above table, as in the previous discussion of simple present tense
using Be verb, notice also the following points.

 There is no auxiliary verb, even for questions and negatives.

 The main verb (be) is conjugated in the Past Simple: was, were
 For negative sentences, we just insert not after the main Be verb.
 For interrogative sentences, we exchange the subject and the main
verb.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 59

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.

1. Lola (is)__________ in Indonesia last year with my family.

2. Elsa (has) _______ headache last night.
3. Reni and Rini (not/go) _______ to Borobudur temple for their holiday
two years ago.
4. Three weeks ago, we (not/visit)…. our family’s house in Balikpapan
because we (are) _______ busy.
5. He (graduate) _______ from his campus at Sriwijaya University last year
6. (Do) _______ Siska do much climbing in Lahat hill last September?
7. (Are) _______ they in Jakarta years ago?
8. Roby, Ruben and Bianca (come) _______to Jakarta to visit Monas
yesterday.
9. Michel (not/put) _______. Her key in the table last night that made her
mom could not enter to the house.
10. Via and Donna (read) _______some books in Sriwijaya University
library two days ago.

Exercise 2

Directions:
Fill in the blanks with the verb in parentheses.

Last Sunday, the children ________(talk) about a day out together in the
country. The next morning, they ________ (go) to the country with their
friends and ________ (play) together. Ali and Budi _________ (have) some
kites. Some time later their fiends __________ (be) not there. So they
________(call) them and _________(visit) them at home. After half an hour
the children __________ (meet) them and ________(take) them to the
beach to play with some sand. Their friends ________(be) very happy to see
them again. This time they ___________ (bring) their lunch and
__________ (eat) by the seashore.
60 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Exercise 3

Directions: Complete these sentences using the verbs below.

clean - enjoy - end - happen - live - open

rain - repair – start - stay - want – watch - be

1. The concert last night ________at 7.30 and __________at 11 o'clock

2. My little brother only ________ his teeth four times last week.
3. Mr. Jackson _________ his mountain bike yesterday evening.
4. It was so hot in this room, so we _________ the window.
5. The accident __________ on Road 25 last Saturday evening.
6. Mozart __________ from 1756 to 1791.
7. Mr. Kurnia’s family _________ their vacation last January.
8. Last Monday evening our neighbours__________ movie of G 30 PKI.
9. Today the weather is nice, but yesterday it __________ and _______
cool, so we ________ at home all day.
10. When my brother was a child he ___________ to be a pilot.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 61

Chapter 8

Present
Continuous
tense
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of Present Continuous
 be able to understand the use of Present Continuous
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of Present
Continuous

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
62 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

8.1 Introduction

The present continuous tense also called present progressive is a tense

that talks about

1. The action that is happening right now.

For examples;
(1) The conductor is checking the passangers’ tickets.
(2) The children are playing kites in the open field.

2. The action that happens in the future.

For examples;
(3) My grandmother is flying to Mecca next month.
(4) We are leaving for Bukit Tinggi tonight.

Note that the present continuous is used to express the event in the future
provided that the event has already been planned or we have already made
decision meaning the event is positive to occur soon (see the next chapter) .

8.2 Basic Structure of Present Continuous Tense

There are also three basic structures for the Present Continuous Tense:
Positive, Negative and Interrogative.

1. Positive Statement

auxiliary be (is, am, are) + main

Formula : subject +
verb + ing
Example: They are singing and dancing.

2. Negative Statement

auxiliary be (is,
Formula :subject + + main verb + ing
am, are) + not
singing and
Example: They are not
dancing.

3. Interrogative Statement

Formula : auxiliary be (is, am, are) + subject + main verb + ing

Example: Are they singing and

dancing?
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 63

Notice the above sentences, the ing is added to the main verb. There are
actually some rules that should be learned how to make verb + ing. Most
main or base verbs are directly added with ing such as;
 study → studying
 play → playing
 cook → cooking
 water → watering
 etc.

BUT
1) If the verb end with a single vowel e, drop e and add directly the suffix
ing such as;
 write → writing
 make → making
 give → giving
 etc.
2) If the verb end with consonant preceded by stressed vowels a, i,u, e, o,
double the last consonant and add ing such as;
 plan → planning
 stop → stopping
 run → running
 etc. except open → opening
3) if the verb ends with ie, change ie to y such as;
 lie → lying
 die → dying

8.3. Stative Verbs

Stative verbs are verbs that do not have continuous such know,
understand, love, etc. These verbs are usually called non progressive verbs,
so there is no present continuous tense using such kinds of verbs although
the event is happening right now. Instead of continuous we use simple
present as the following examples.

(5) We love our parents.

(6) The students understand what the teacher is explaining now.
NOT
(7) We are loving our parents.*
(8) The students are understanding what the teacher is explaining
now.*
64 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the sentences in the present progressive using the verbs in brackets.
1. Martha ____________to her friend at the moment. (talk)
2. Nani and Nana__________a magazine. (read)
3. The young boys ________ on the door. (knock)
4. Allens ____________ a shower. He __________his assignment. (not have/do)
5. Few students ___________ to their teacher. (not listen)
6. His sister _____________ her homework now. (do)
7. __________ he ___________ his dinner (ccok) ? No, he ___________. (read)
8. The children _____________ now. They _____________. (not play/ study)
9. Are you playing kites? No, it ____________ . (rain
10. Can we talk now? Yes, I ____________ anything important. (not do)
11. Bob __________ his uncle. (call)
12. What ___________the children ________? They ________their bikes.
(do/ride)
13. Where is Sally? She ___________ the flowers in the garden. (water)
14. Please be quiet. The baby ____________ (sleep)
15. __________ you ___________ the concert? (enjoy)

Exercise 2

Directions:
Complete the following sentences as instructed in exercise 1 above.

1. We ______ Rendang for you (cook/not)

2. When ____ Kevin ______ in Sriwijaya fertilizer company at Palembang?
(work)
3. Salsa ______ her grandmother’s house at Pakjo. (visit)
4. _________ you _______ to Kebun Raya Bogor this morning? (Go)
5. Wira ________the books about Biology lesson for his friends to read
together. (bring)
6. The weather forecast was good, but it _______ at the moment. (rain)
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 65

7. Harry and Sally ______ about the same thing. (argue)

8. We ______ Linda’s parents at Palembang Icon Mall. (meet)
9. ______they ______ to your house this night? (come)
10. Neither Bobby nor Robby ______ for their examination. (study)

Exercise 3

Directions:
Complete with the present simple or present progressive form of the verbs.
1. Barbara often _________ fried rice for her breakfast. (have)
2. What is he doing? He _________ the dishes. (clean )
3. Listen! The baby ___________ (cry).
4. Indonesian students ____________ English and Arabic at Ponpes. (learn)
5. They always _________ to school, but today they ________ the bus. (walk /
take)
6. Look! Many birds ___________ to the north. (fly)
7. Can you help us? No, very sorry, I ________ (be) with my homework.
8. My parents __________ beer. It _______ haram. (drink/be)
9. Suaidi usually _________ to school with us. (go)
10. It’s 12 o’clock and we _______ our lunch now. (eat)
11. Our brother rarely ________ fishing when it ________ (go/rain).
12. Who _________ in the garden? It is getting dark (work)
13. I ________ breakfast when I _______ in a hurry. (not eat/be)
14. My father __________ Islamic books at the moment. (read)
15. Faizah and Keisha _________ TV at the moment. (watch)
66 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 9

Simple
Future Tense

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify basic structure of simplefuture
 be able to understand the use of simple future
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of
simplefuture
 be able to understand the use of simple future using Be +
going to

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 67

9.1 Introduction
The simple future tense is a tense that is used to talk about things that
haven't happened yet. It describes an action or condition that will begin and
end in the future.The Future Simple tense is often called the "will tense"
because we make the simple future with the modal auxiliary will. Modal
auxiliary will is used for any type of subject. For examples;

(1) Ila will take psycho test next week.

(2) Iip will pick his brother at the airport this afternoon.

9.2 Basic Structure of Simple Future Tense

As other previous tenses there are three basic structures for the Simple
Future Tense: Positive, Negative and Interrogative. For negative sentences
in the simple future tense, we just insert not between the auxiliary verb will
and main verb. For question sentences, we put auxiliary verb before
the subject. Let’s have a look at the sentences in the following the Table 9.1.

Table 9.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Simple Future

Form Subject Auxiliary verb Main verb

will
+ I, you, we, he, will visit the zoo.
she, Ahmad,
Rida, they,etc.
- I, you, we, he, will not
she, Ahmad,
Rida, they,etc.
Auxiliary verb Subject
will
? I, you, we, he, visit the zoo.
she, Ahmad,
Rida, they,etc.

We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we. For
examples;
 We shall finish this chapter after break.
 Shall we visit Alice in the hospital?
 I shall see the tournament in Jakabaring stadion.
 Shall I accompany you to watch the football match?

9.3 Using Be + Going to

We can use another different formula to talk about future. In many cases,
nearly this formula has the same meanings. Instead of will we use Be going
to, so the formula is:
68 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Subject + Be (is, am, are) + going to + main verb

This form is used to talk about decisions that are made before we speak.
Usually, we use going to to announce our intentions. For example,

(3) Herman is going to meet Mrs. Alison next week.

This means Herman has already decided to do so.

9.4 Contraction with Future Simple

When we use the Simple Future tense in speaking, we often contract the
subject and auxiliary verb will such as :

In positive sentence

I will → I’ll

You will → you’ll

we will → we’ll

You will → you’ll (plural)

They will → they’ll

he will → he’ll

she will → she’ll

In negative sentence like this:

I will not → I won’t

You will not → you won’t

we will not → we won’t

You will not → you won’t (plural)

They will not → they won’t

he will not → he won’t

she will not → she won’t

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 69

9.5 Using Present Continuous for Future tense

As briefly introduced in the previous chapter (section Present
Continuous Tense), instead of the formula or the rule above, we use present
continuous to express future time. The present progressive my be used to
express future time as long as the event is definitely planned (Azar, 2002, p.
57) For examples:

(4) Meta is cooking her favourite dinner this evening.

(5) Arie and Adi are attending the family gathering this Saturday.

In addition, for certain verbs such as open, close, leave, finish, come, begin, start,
arrive, etc. simple present can laso be used to express future time for definite
events or events on schedule (Azar, 2002, p. 57). For examples:

(6) The university library opens at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m.
(7) The train from Tanjung Karang arrives at Kertapati at 9:00 p.m.
70 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the sentences in the present progressive using the verbs in brackets.
1. My website (will/be) _____ the best source for English learners someday
2. Mia (buy/not) _____ a new car next week for her mother
3. It is eight already, we (go) _____ be late attending the meeting in Novotel
Hotel Palembang
4. (Go/not) _____buy some extra foods for the party tomorrow
5. They won’t (go) _____ to the supermarket soon
6. The difficult thesis (will) _____ written by me.
7. What (will/learn) _____ in English Education Study Program?
8. Your parents (be/happy) _____ if you visit your parents at least once a
week
9. Tia (/do/not) _____ the test in her campus because she is sick
10. Oskar, Diah, and Jokoe (come) _____ on time in the meeting.

Exercise 2

Directions:
Complete the sentences either in the present progressive or simple future using the
verbs in brackets.
1. Marisa_________ a good mark because she has studied hard. (get).
2. _______ him for help? (you ask)
3. It ____very cold in the mountains. Take a sweater with you. (probably
be)
4. Arman ________ his bedroom this weekend. (paint)
5. We ________ our mother’s car tomorrow afternoon. (wash)
5. Our grandfather _________ a walk to his garden this evening. (take)
6. Let's hope that the wind ________ away the clouds. (blow)
7. We believe we ________ her name. (find out)
8. Are you sure, the refugees ________ in a tent during winter? (stay)
9. We hope Ica _________ us to her party. (invite).
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 71

10. When the weather is fine, we ___ a picnic by the seaside. (probably
have)
12. They think Ijal ________ home early tonight. (come)
13. Fadhil _________ his bike in the park. Can you come with him? (ride)
14. It's her birthday next Sunday. Her mother ________ a cake. (bake)
15. Patra ________ his new car to Way Kambas . (drive)

Exercise 3

Directions:
Answer the following questions using phrase (s) in brackets.

1. What is Arief going to do? (play guitar)

2. What will the plane do in a minute? (take off)
3. What are the children going to do during holidays?(visit strawberry farm)
4. What is the Hambali going to do this weekend? (see the carnaval)
5. What is your uncle going to do tomorrow? (repair his television)
6. Whom will Mrs Ema take to the zoo? (her students)
7. What are the students going to watch next week? (animal attraction in
Taman Safari)
8. What will governor Anies this year? (stop “Reklame Teluk Jakarta”)
9. Whom will you see for your desease? (the internist)
10. How are they going to go to Danang City? (fly)
72 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 10

Past
Continuous
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of Past Continuous
 be able to understand the use of Past Continuous
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of Past
Continuous
 be abale to distinguish simple past and past continuous

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 73

10.1 Introduction
The past continuous, also called past progressive, describes an action or
an event in a time before present time, which began in the past and is still
going on at the time of speaking. The use of past continuous tense is to
indicate an activity or condition that is in progress in the past. For examples;
(1) Joe Sanders was climbing the coconut tree when we arrived.
(2) While father was reading newspaper, mother was ironing some
clothes.

10.2 Basic Structure of Present Continuous Tense

The basic structure of past continuous tense is actually almost the same
as that of present continuous tense. The major difference is its helping verbs
using was and were.

There are also three basic structures for the Past Continuous Tense: Positive,
Negative and Interrogative.
1. Positive Statement

Formula :subject + auxiliary be (was, were) + main verb + ing

Example: They were discussing the lesson .

2. Negative Statement

auxiliary be (was,
Formula : subject + + main verb + ing
were) + not
Example: They were not discussing the lesson.

3. Interrogative Statement

Formula : auxiliary be (was, were) + subject + main verb + ing

Example: Were they discussing the

lesson?

The past continuous tense basically expresses the event that occurs in the
past, so when we use this tense, we think of another event happening either
at the same time or beforehand. The tense always goes with past continuous
is simple past or past continuous itself. When it goes with simple past, it
means the first event occured in past continuous. See the situation below.

“We had lunch at 1 p.m. yesterday, and at that time our brother had
washed his car but did not finish yet.”
74 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

This means the activity of washing occurs earlier than the activity of having
lunch. Therefore, the sentence will be:

(3) When we had lunch yesterday, our brother was washing his car.

When past continuous goes with another past continuous, this indicates that
the two events occur at the same time as the one in sentence (2) above.
Common words used to connect two sentences in past progressive tense are
as, when, and while.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 75

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.

1. Meta ________ dinner while we were working upstairs. (prepare)

2. I _________ when you came home last night.( not sleep)
3. When Mrs. Rosmalina came in, the students __________ (not study).
4. ______Basma ______ the report when the electricity went off? (write)
5. While the students were perfoming the drama, what _______ the teacher?
(do)

Exercise 2

Directions:
Fill in the correct form of the verb in Past Progressive (Continuous) or Past
Simple.
1. This morning, while Dekta ________ breakfast, someone _______ on the
door for medical checkup. (eat /knock)
2. Did Herman ________ Keisha while she ___________? (comfort / cry)
3. Amir and Idham ____________ to the hotel when it _________ to rain.
(walk/start)
4. When Denis _________ the room, Baro’ and Alfath___________.
(enter/talk)
5. When the phone ______, he _________ an e-mail. (ring, write)
6. Irnan _________ in the sales department when he first _________ Mrs.
Rini. (work/meet)
7. My brother ______the computer while I ______ for my trip. (use/pack)
8. What _______the manager ________ at 7:00 pm yesterday? (do)
9. ______ Riki ______ attention when the teacher ______ his name?
(pay/call)
10. They ______ TV when the lighting ________. (watch/ strike)
11. Faizah _______ about me behind my back, wasn’t she? (whisper)
12. ______ the client really ______out while Troy ______ the proposal?
(walk / present)
13. Wandi ________ the gift when Sinta _______ in the room. (wrap /
walk)
14. What _____ he _______ when the accident occurred? (do / occur)
15. While he _______ an e-mail, the phone ________.
76 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Special Section

- Sequence of
Tenses
- Review Tenses

This is a special section presenting the Sequence of Tenses and Review of

Tenses. It is very common that when we speak or write we use a sentence
containing two or more clauses. Therefore, it is essential that we be
introduced the sequence of tenses meaning which tense should go with
another tense in our sentence. The sequence of tenses in this part is limited to
the tenses that have been discussed in the previous chapters.

The provision of Review of Tenses containing exercises is made to refresh

students’ knowledge for the purpose of their basic grammar mastery.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 77

SEQUENCE OF TENSES

Sequence of tenses usually occurs if a sentence contain two or more clauses (main
clause and subordinate clause). This is a complex sentence. The sequence of tense
is simply defined as a grammatical rules that refer to the agreemnt of verbs in two
clauses. It is logic if one clause is present, the other clause mus be in present too.
Normally two clauzes connected by a subordinator should have a set of sequence
of tenses. For example, if one clause is in simple present, the other caluse can be
in present too (simple present or simple future) as in the following examples:

(1) After the students complete the exercises, they will go for break.
(2) The nurse goes home when the other nurse arrives.

In sentence (1) the main clause is in simple present and the subordinate clauase is
in simple future. While, the main clause and subordinate clause in sentence (2)
have the same tense both in simple present.

It is essential that beginning learners of grammar recognize which tense can go

with another tense. The following table contains the summary of common
sequence of tenses based on the tenses we have already learned in the previous
chapters.

Table 1 Sequence of Basic Tenses

No Sequence of Tense Subordinator Examples

1 Simple Present + after, before, - Joe Sander will take a
Simple Future if, when, as vacation after he finishes the
soon as semester exam.
- When Mike arrives, we will
give him a special present

2 Simple Present + The child usually gets hungry if

Simple Present he travels in long distance.
3 Simple Past + after, before, Yesterday the train was delayed
Simple Past when, as soon for half an hour, but the
as passangers felt happy as soon as
78 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

it arrived.
4 Simple Past + Past when, while When the bus passed the village,
Continuous the boys were playing kites.
5 Past Continuous + Mrs. Kalsum was cleaning the
Past Continuous floor while her husband was
fixing his car.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 79

REVIEW OF TENSES
EXERCISES

Exercise 1

Directions:
Choose A, B,C, or D to complete the sentences below.

1. Ami : Hey! Look at those dark clouds!

Kiki :Woow! It is . . . . . rain soon
a. will
b. the
c. coming
d. going to

2. What did you do yesterday?

a. going to Ampera Bridge
b. goes to Ampera Bridge
c. went to Ampera Bridge
d. one to Ampera Bridge

3. Tonight, I have some free time so that I decide to join my husband to

watch my favorite movie at the theater. We …….. for the theater at
nine o’clock.
a. are leaving
b. left
c. being left
d. has been left
e. leave

4. Our English teacher always . . . . . . . our homework every week.

a. check
b. checked
c. checking
d. checks

5. I did my best, how about you?

a. I do my best too
b. I did my best too
c. I am doing my best too
d. I was doing my best too

6. This document is really urgent and need to be processed as soon as

80 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

possible. So, the secretary……. the letter now.

a. is typing
b. had typed
c. types
d. type
e. typed

7. I…..some delicious foods in River Side restaurant near Ampera Bridge

a. eating
b. eat
c. ate
d. eaten

8. Rachmat . . . . . all of his friends to the celebration next week.

a. will invite
b. invites
c. invited
d. invitation

9. Rina ….. a cup of coffee with Ninda last night

a. drinking
b. drank
c. drunk
d. drink

10. Siti and Sonia……to Ragunan at Jakarta three years ago

a. came
b. come
c. coming
d. have came

11. This university’s program …… those of Oxford.

a. are in second place for
b. are in second place
c. are second only to

12. They ……that I am happy

a. says
b. say
c. said
d. saying

13. Abi…..me yesterday morning

a. calling
b. calls
c. called
d. call
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 81

14. Jodi and his family……together at Semarang in Novotel Hotel last

month.
a. sleep
b. slept
c. sleeping
d. sleeps

15. One of my friends always . . . . . to Bali every year.

a. go
b. goes
c. to go
d. going

16 . . . . . . . . your uncle come to Palembang every year?

a. do
b. does
c. did
d. will

17. The train at Kertapati Station always …on time.

a. arrive
b. to arrive
c. arrives
d. arrived

18. . . . . . you have enough time to attend the party?

a. does
b. did
c. didn’t
d. do

19. Will you . . . . . the suspect tomorrow?

a. arresting
b. arrest
c. arrested
d. to arrest

20. Marzuki . . . . . . . a very thick book about Indonesian History.

a. has
b. have
c. had
d. hid

21. Mr. and Mrs. Brandon often . . . . . late to the Sriwijaya University.
a. comes
b. coming
c. came
d. come
82 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

22. Our Math teacher . . . . . . . check the attendance list every day.
a. do not
b. does not
c. did not
d. not doing

23. I planned to go to Stefan’s house last night, and I decided to go with my

mother. When we arrived there, Stefan …………… his dinner.
a. is eating
b. eat
c. eats
d. was eating

24. I have submitted my paper for the conference since two days ago, and
now the committee members …… the whole material from all the
attendants.
a. examine
b. are examining
c. is examining
d. examines
e. has examined

25. Elena is a successful business woman. She often travels all around the
world.To attend the international conference, she …… for France
tomorrow.
a. is leaving
b. has been left
c. leaves
d. has been leaving
e. did leave

26. The athletes . . . . . with the college track team on Asian games next year
on 2018.
a. trains
b. trained
c. will train
d. have trained

27. Vincent is usually going to school by driving his own car, but since a
week ago his car has broken. So, he…to school tomorrow
a. walking
b. walks
c. walk
d. was walking
e. is walking

28. Sinta doesn’t . . . . . . . time to swim on Monday.

a. having
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 83

b. had
c. has
d. have

29. There is something urgent happen and it is very dangerous for the
nation.
Due to that reason, the president ....… to contact his advisors now.
a. had tried
b. tried
c. tries
d. is trying
e. was trying

30. Me and my friends have some jobs and we need to do it together as a

team. We …….. to Yogyakarta next month.
a. flying
b. are flying
c. fly
d. flew
e. flown

31. Mr. Baker ….his son to ride a bicycle.

a. is teach
b. teaching
c. are teach
d. is teaching
e. are teaching

32. We…..to each other yesterday

a. talking
b. talk
c. talked
d. have talked

33. Manda and I . . . . . some plates and glasses on the dining table for the
dinner tonight.
a. was preparing
b. prepared
c. shall prepare
d. prepare

34. Yongki and Yoga will not . . . . . in music competition at school next
month.
a. participates
b. participate
c. participation
d. participated
84 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

35. . . . . . Rama give back Dayat’s phone?

a. is
b. will
c. does
d. was

36. I will not . . . . . my Dad about the accident.

a. tell
b. telling
c. tells
d. to tell

37.My teacher…me about Bahasa Indonesia lesson yesterday

a. teach
b. taught
c. teaching
d. teaches

38. Manda : I . . . . . the students exchange program next year.

Kiki : that’s good idea
a. join
b. joined
c. will join
d. have joined

39. Nita : what are you planning to do with all these sculptures?
Rachmat : I . . . . . them in cultural fair next month.
a. to be exhibiting
b. to exhibit
c. will exhibit
d. be exhibiting

40. Does the coach of Soccer club of Sriwijaya FC . . . . . . . the team

regularly?
a. train
b. trains
c. trained
d. training

Exercise 2

Directions:
Change the following sentences using the tense instructed in
brackets.
1. What strikes me is the generosity of the offer (past tense)
…………………………………………………………

2. They all tell the same folktales Indonesian story of Si PahitLidah from
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 85

Palembang (past tense)

………………………………………………………………….

3. Trees shed their leaves in the autumn (Present tense)

………………………………………………………………….

4. Then the driver points to a white line painted on the road and says,
“There’s the Mason- Dixon line” (future tense)
………………………………………………………………….

5. Sandy and Ruby will bring many souvenirs from Papua for their family
(present tense)
………………………………………………………………….

6. The teacher wrote something in the board while the students gave
attention to her (present continuous tense question)
………………………………………………………………….

7. The sun rises in the east in the morning (past tense)

………………………………………………………………….

8. Hana came across as a kind woman with a golden heart (past continuous
tense)
………………………………………………………………….

9. Dodo and Jack joined the football team to win the competition last year
(future tense)
………………………………………………………………….

10. My father repaired my motorcycle two weeks ago in his friends’

workshop (present tense)
………………………………………………………………….

11. Padila and Ira see the car accident that happened in the soekarno-hatta
street yesterday (simple future tense)
………………………………………………………………….

12. Triana and her friends will go to PulauKemarau that famous in

Palembang tomorrow (future tense interrogative)
………………………………………………………………….

13. I don’t want to come late anymore to school (past tense)

………………………………………………………………….

14. Why didn’t you call me last night? I needed to tell you important things
(future tense)
………………………………………………………………….
86 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

15. Was I snoring when I was sleeping at the theater yesterday? (present
continuous tense)
………………………………………………………………….

16. Will she get the job in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights next
year? (present tense)
………………………………………………………………….

17. Karina did not become a doctor in MohamadHosein Hospital in

Palembang (future tense)

18. Permadi is singing in the biggest musical concert right now that makes
his mom proud of him (past continuous tense)
………………………………………………………………….

19. Passport will be the most important thing to Mia to go aboard for her
study next year (past tense)
………………………………………………………………….

20. Did you hear the news last night that Erdogan won the election? (past
tense positive)
………………………………………………………………….

21. My sister will wash her clothes, so she can use it tomorrow (future tense
interrogative)
………………………………………………………………….

22. I don’t want to live forever because I don’t want to live in pain (future
tense)
………………………………………………………………….

23. Janet worked hard to make a living (past continuous tense negative)
………………………………………………………………….

24. Sania and Rohan were playing basketball with their friends in Kambang
Iwak (Past tense)
………………………………………………………………….

25. My sister and I celebrated Islamic new year eve together at Benteng
Kuto Besak last year (present tense)
………………………………………………………………….
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 87

Exercise 3

Directions:
Complete the sentences. Decide if you need the simple past or the past
progressive.

1. When they _______ (walk) through the bushes, they ______

(hear) the sound of monkeys.
2. The sun __________ (rise) when the soldiers ________(reach) the beach.
3. While we ______ (walk) through the park, we______ (meet) Mr. Gun.
4. The audience ________ (laugh) and _________(clap) their hand.
5. Nova ______ (brush) her hair while her mother ______ (put) on her
clothes
6. A heavy wind _________ (blow) when the helicopter _________ (land).
7. Our brother ________ (help) to peel the potatoes when Ros
_________(come) in.
8. We ________ (go) to the mosque when the car ________ (pass) us.
9. While the milkman ______ (drive) to the house, someone ______ (wave)
to him.
10. Janet _______ (look) out of the window and _______(see) her brother
coming.
11. Father ________ (type) his letter while mother _______ (read) a book.
12. When they _______ (pass) the sanctuary, they ____ (see) some deer.
13. While we _________ (sing), they _________(play) the piano and the
guitar.
14. Although the pianist ______ (play) wonderfully, a guest _____ (fall)
asleep..
15. The baby ________ (start) to cry when her mother ________ (do) the
washing up.
88 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 11
Present
Perfect

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify basic structure of

present perfect
 be able to understand the use of present perfect
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of present
perfect
 be able to understand the use of present perfect

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 89

11.1 Introduction

The present perfect tense is a tense that is used to desribe an action or activity in
the past but still continues up to now. Alexander (19.. , p. 130) provides two basic
uses of presente tense.

a. The action begins in the past and continues up to the present moment for
examples,
- Our fathar has cultivated his ricefield since last two weeks.
- Ardiansyah and his father have renovated their house for two months.

The time references for this type are before (now), ever, never, up till now, so far,
since or for.

b. The action that happened at unspecified time in the past such as,
- We have already watched that film several times.
- She has moved to a new apartment recently.

The time references can be just, recently, already, still, yet or without time
reference.

Note that the preent perfect tense should be differed from the simple past tense.
We use present perfect if we do not want to specify the exact gtime when the
event or ectivity occurs. With simple past we must use time marker to describe
when the event happens. Walker and Elsworth (2000, p.41 ) state that the present
perfect describes the indefinite past since the time the event happened is not
important or is not known.

11.2 Basic Structure of Present Perfect

Positive : S + have/has + V3

Example : They + have + done + their homework

Negative : S + have/has + not + V3

Example : They + have + not + done + their homework

Interrogative : have/has + S +V3

Example : have + they + done + their homework?

Table 11.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Present Perfect

Statement Subject Auxiliary Main Verb

Verb
90 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Positive 1, you, they, Have done their

we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc.
1, you, they, Has done their
we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, have not done their
we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc.
1, you, they, have not done their
we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative Have 1, you, they, done their
we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc
Has 1, you, they, done their
we, he, she, it, homework
Nanang,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise

Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. Lina: I heard that there are a delicious food from Palembang called Pempek. Do you like
Pempek?
Mela: I don't know. I ............ it before.
A. have not been eating C. have not eat
B. has not eat D. has not been eating

2. Mira: I have seen Anna today. Have you seen her?

Nina: Yes, I_____ her five minutes ago.
A. have seen C. see
B. saw D. has seen

3. Agil: That's a nice sweater. Is it new?

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 91

Agus: Yes, I................................. it last week.

A. Buy C. have buy
B. Bought D. has buy

4. Bagus: Have you noticed that there are something different with inda this morning?
Anto: Yes, you are right. I know that when I ______ her this morning.
A. See C. have seen
B. Saw D. has seen

5. Inda: Do you want to go to Palembang for vacation with me and Dindaduring our
holiday next week?
Laura: I would be great. In fact, I …….. there before.
A. have not go C. did not went
B. has not go D. do not go

6. Lia: Are you enjoying your new job?

Melina: I................................ yet. My first day is next Monday.
A. Have not work C. Have work
B. Has no work D. Has work

7. Andika: The weather isn't very nice today, is it?

Ikhsanul: No, but it............................. very nice yesterday.
A. Was C. has
B. Were D. have

8. Sutisna: Was Linda at the party on Saturday?

Yuli: I don't think so. I............................... her there.
A. Did not saw C. Have not seen
B. Do not see D. Has not seen

9. Agung: Is your son still at school?

Bagas: No, he ............................ school two years ago.
A. Graduated C. have graduated
B. Has graduated D. graduate

10. Serina: Is Muaizah married?

Bella: Yes, she ..................... married for five years.
A. Was C. Have
B. Were D. Has

Direction: Complete the sentences. Use one of these forms:present perfect (Ihave
done etc.) and past simple (I did etc.).
1. Murni ………. (finish) her work when Trisna asked her to go home
together yesterday.
2. Nanda . . . . . (pass) the test of University Enrolment last year.
3. Julio…….an active student last year
92 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

4. Anton …….. (paint) his house when his friends came to his house 2 days
ago.
5. Rian (do, not) … any activities when his friend invited him to go to the
party last night.
6. Lina and her husband……… (go) to the Bali for their vocation when Budi
came to their house yesterday.
7. He . . . . .(know, not) the answer for themath questions.
8. Bela . . . . . (read) a very interesting short story yesterday after she finished
her homework.
9. Yuliana……. (buy) a new purse when Laila offered her purse.
10. Wira got a new job recently. He. . . . .(finish) the Job Training last month.
11. The farmers (meet) ......... the governor for demostration.
12. (you, read) .................. this book before?
13. My cousin (not listen) ................ to the radio last night.
14. The employee (leave) .......... his office early yesterday afternoon.
15. Where (you, be) ............... in Papua?
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 93

Chapter 12
Present
Perfect
continuous
This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify basic structure of present perfect continuous

 be able to understand the use of present perfect continues
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of present
perfect continuous
 be able to understand the meaning of present perfect
continuous

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
94 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

12.1 Introduction

Instead of present perfect especially when we want to emphasize that something

has been in progress during a period of time, sometime we use present perfect
continuous (Alexander 19 ... p. 130) for examples;

a) Mrs. Sulaiman has been teaching that class for four years.
b) My friend and I have been working on this project since last three weeks.

Sentence (a) is actually the same as Mrs Sulaiman has taught that class for four
years.

While sentence (b) has the same meaning as My friend and I have worked on this
project since last three weeks.

The word since or for are commonly used for time reference in sentences with the
present perfect continuous tense.

12.2 Basic Structure of Present Perfect Continues

Positive : S + have/has + been + verb + ing

Example : Uncle Zani + has + been + fix + ing + his car

Negative : S + have/has + not + been + verb + ing

Example : Uncle Zani + has + not + been + fix + ing + his car

Interrogative : have/has + S + been + verb + ing?

Example : has + uncle Zani + been + fix + ing + his car?

Table 12.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Present Perfect Continuous

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb +

ing
Positive 1, you, they, have been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
1, you, they, has been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 95

etc.
Negative 1, you, they, have not been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
1, you, they, have not been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative Have 1, you, they, been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
Has 1, you, they, been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercises

Directions: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. Agus, Agil and Bagas _____ soccer for almost two hours. They should
finished up soon.
A. Has been playing C. Have been playing
B. Had been playing D. Were playing

2. Isabela ____ on the phone for more than half an hour. He should hang up
soon.
A. have been talking C. had been talking
B. has been talking D. was talking

3. Lina and Mela ____their package since this morning. They are really
excited about it.
A. Had been waiting C. Were waiting
B. Have been waiting D. Has been waiting

4. Tono _____ for his dog for an hour. He lost it when he went to toilet.
96 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

A. Have been searching C. Has been searching

B. Had been searching D. Was searching

5. Mr. Fadli and Ms. Fadli ______ since two days ago. They probably will be
back tomorrow.
A. Have been travelling C. Had been traveling
B. Has been traveling D. Were traveling

6. The girls _____ in the mall since this afternoon. They really spend much
time there.
A. Have been shopping C. Had been shopping
B. Has been shopping D. Were shopping

7. Andika _____ his motorcycle since this morning to go around the city.
A. Have been riding C. Had been riding
B. Has been riding D. Was riding

8. Mirna: have you able to reach Rima on the phone yet?

Murni: Not yet. I _____ for the last twenty minutes, but all I get is a busy
signal.
A. Have been trying C. Had been trying
B. Had been trying D. Was trying

9. Sinta has…….to the school for 3 hours

a. Go
b. Goes
c. Gone
d. Went

10. Diana has……..for two hours

a. Sleep
b. Slept
c. Sleeping
d. Sleeped
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 97

Direction: Complete the sentences. Use one of these forms:present perfect

continues or present tense.
1. It ______ (rain) all day. Nobody knows when it will stop.
2. It’s ten P.M. Mela ______ (study) for two hours and probably won’t finish
until midnight.
3. Iwan and budi______ (run) in the field for an hour.
4. Mr. Irawan ______ (teach) in this class for almost three hours.
5. Lina ……(eat) a bread every morning before she goes to school.
6. Diana ……(take) a bath every morning to keep her body clean.
7. Dila is dirty from head to foot because she _____ (play) in the mud since
the rain is down.
8. Uncle Zani’s back hurts because he _____ (sleep) on the floor lately.
9. The telephone _____ (ring) for almost a minute. Why does not someone
answer it?
10. Yuli…… (make) a delicious homemade cake. She is really good at making
homemade cake.
11. How long (you, wait) .............. for English class today?
12. Barbara (study) .......... Arabic since two years ago.
13. People (need) ......... water for their life.
14. Mrs. Zaurah ( not drive) ............. her car since he moved to rural.
15. Hendra and his family (be) ........... in this city at this moment for holidays.
98 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 13
Past
Perfect
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of past perfect
 be able to understand the use of past perfect
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of past perfect
 be able to understand the use of past perfect using Be + going
to

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 99

13.1 Introduction

Past perfect tense is usually used when there are two events or activities occuring
in the past (one event or activity occurs first and the other occurs afterward). We
use past perfect for the first or earlier event and simple past for the other event.
Let’s consider the situation below as our examples;

Situation 1: George arrived at the station at 8:00

Situation 2: The train left at 7:50.

When we combine both sentences in situations 1 and 2 with a conjunction when,

the sentence will be like this;

When George arrived at the station, the train had already left.

Common conjunctions used to introduce the past perfect tense are as soon as,
after, when, by the time that. These conjunctions usually go with simple past.

13.2 Basic Structure of Past Perfect

Positive : S + had + V3

Example : Tina + had + finished + her school project

Negative : S + had + not + V3

Example : Tina + had + not + finished + her school project

Interrogative : had + S + V3?

Example : had + Tina + finished + her school project?

Table 13. 1 Summary of Basic Structure of Past Perfect

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb

Positive 1, you, they, had finished her school
we, he, she, it, project
Tina,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, Had not finished her school
we, he, she, it, project
Tina,
Palembang,
etc.
100 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Interrogative had 1, you, they, finished her school

we, he, she, it, project
Tina,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise

Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. By the time Mira got there, Iwan ______ working his school project.
A. Have finished C. Had finished
B. Has finished D. Is finished

2. Lina _____ that her purse already gone until she arrives at home.
A. Had known C. Have known
B. Has known D. Is known

3. The movie______ by the time Mira and Anton come to the cinema.
A. Had begun C. Have begun
B. Has begun D. Is begun

4. Last month, Junaidi and his friends went to Bali for vacation. Before that,
they_____ there.
A. Had never go C. Has never go
B. Have never go D. Were never went

5. When Iwan and his younger brother arrives at the toy store to buy a new
car toy, someone else _____ the car.
A. Has buy C. Have buy
B. Had buy D. buy

6. Rika _____ Palembang traditional food, Pempek, before she came to

Palembang yesterday.
A. Has never tasted C. Has never tasted
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 101

B. Have never tasted D. Was never tasted

7. In 2017, Tono bought a new car. Prior to that time, he ______ to have any
vehicle.
A. Have never dreamed C. Was never dreamed
B. Has never dreamed D. Had never dreamed

8. Rino’s brother ______ home when he go to the market.

A. Had got C. Have got
B. Has gor D. Got

9. Never … such delicious pies before visiting the bakery.

a. I had tasted
b. Had I tasted
c. You had worn
d. Had you worn

10. How many times … the clothes before the fault occured?
a. I had tasted
b. Had I tasted
c. You had worn
d. Had you worn

Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms:present perfect or

past tense.

1. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs______ (roam) the earth, but now we can
only see their fossil.
2. Yesterday at the book store, Lina saw Inda, her old friend. She _____ (see,
not) her in years.
3. Tika did not recognize Surya, her childhood friend. He _____ (lose) great
deal of weight.
4. Nina……(cook) a delicious food for her husband.
5. Anton……. (draw) a picture of a mountain scene for his art competition.
6. It most ……..(happen) all the time
7. In 2007, Rina’s parents ______ (move) to Palembang from Jakarta. They
move there because her parents job.
8. Mr. Irawan got home late. The children _____(fall) asleep.
9. Romi and Budi could not cross the river because the flood _____ (wash)
away the bridge.
102 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

10. Yuli’s roommate _____ (finish) dinner by the time she got home.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 103

Chapter 14
Future
continues
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of future continues
 be able to understand the use of future continues
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of future
continues
 be able to understand the use of future continues using Be +
going to

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
104 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

14.1 Introduction

Future continuous tense is a tense that tells the event will be happening at a
specified time in the future. Hughes ( 2001 p. 174) argues that the future
continuous that talks about an unfinished action or event that will be in progress
at a time later than now can be used to:

a. project one’s self into the future and see something happening. For
example, Aldo and his friends will be playing kites at this time next
Sunday.
b. refer to actions or events that will happen in the normal course of events.
For example, My father will be leaving for Bandung next week.
c. predict or guess about someone’s actions and feelings. For example,
The Samsudin will be feeling excited with their journey to Bangka
Island.

The future continuous is generally formed with two elements will be + the present
participle (verb 1+ ing).

14.2 Basic Structure of Future Continuous

Positive : S + will + be + verb + ing

Example : Indri and Mira + will + be + coming + to the school today

Negative : S + will + not + be + verb + ing

Example : Indri and Mira + will + not + be + coming + to the school today

Interrogative : will + S + be + verb + ing?

Example : will + Indri and Mira + be + coming + to the school today?

Table 14.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Future Continuous

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb +

ing
Positive 1, you, they, will be coming to the school
we, he, she, it, today
Indri, Mira,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, will be coming to the school
we, he, she, it, today
Indri, Mira,
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 105

Palembang,
etc.

Interrogative will be 1, you, they, coming to the school

we, he, she, it, today
Indri, Mira,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise

Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. Amin: when do you plan to go to Palembang?

Feri: Tomorrow, just think two days from now I _____ Pempek,
Palembang famous traditional food.
A. will be eating C. am eating
B. would be eating D. have been eating

2. Nina: How can I meet you while you are in Palembang?

Inda: I ____ at Horizon hotel tomorrow. You can reach me there.
A. Would be staying C. Am staying
B. Will be staying D. Have been staying

3. Next semester at this time, Anton ______ exactly what he is doing right
now. He will be attending the school.
A. would be doing C. has been doing
B. is doing D. have been doing

4. Ria: Where are you going to be tomorrow afternoon?

Husna: I _____ on my research paper at the library.
A. am working C. would be working
B. will be working D. have been working
106 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

5. Toni: are you going to be in town next town?

Akbar: No. I _____ to Palembang city to visit my uncle.
A. am going C. will be going
B. have been going D. would be going

6. Look at those dark clouds. It ______ when the class is over.

A. Will be raining C. Has been raining
B. Would be raining D. Is raining

7. Rio have got his salary. Tomorrow at the afternoon, he ______ at the mall
to buy some new clothes.
A. Would be shopping C. Has been shopping
B. Will be shopping D. Is shopping

8. Tono is planning to lose some weight. Tomorrow at this time, he _____ to

the gym.
A. Will be coming C. Is coming
B. Would be coming D. Has been coming

9. The people … at home during hurricane season.

A. will be staying C. are staying
B. will be staying D. is staying

10. She … when her husband comes home.

A. will be sleeping C. is sleeping
B. have been sleeping D. are sleeping

Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: future continuous
or present tense.
1. Right now Ragil are attending the class. Tomorrow at this time, They
______ (attend) class.
2. Lina is going home tomorrow. When she arrives at the airport, her family
_____ (wait) for her
3. Dinda always gest up early in the morning. Tomorrow as usual, when she
gets up, her roommate _____ (lie) in the bed.
4. Do not get impatient. Rina _____ (come) home soon. We should get
everything ready before she arrives.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 107

5. Tio and his family are planning to go vacation. They______ (visit)

Palembang city for vacation next week.

6. Marzuki __________ be) a very thick book about Indonesian History.

7. Does the coach of Soccer club ________ .(train) the team regularly?

8. Mr. Rio often ________ (come) late.

9. Lina just got a job. She______ (work) at her new office next Sunday.
10. The boys always play football at this field after the school time is over.
Tomorrow they _______ (use) this field to play.
11. We ____________ (see) Mrs. Blair this evening.
12. They ___________ (miss) some snow when they are back to Palembang.
13. (you, bring) ____________ your family to the zoo every month?
14. The children ___________ (birdwatch) in Jakabaring at this time this
Sunday.
15. Salama and her friends ____________ (not go) swimming on Fridays but
Saturdays.
108 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 15
Future
PERFECT

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify basic structure of future perfect
 be able to understand the use of future perfect
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of future
perfect
 be able to understand the use of future perfect using Be + going
to
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 109

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali

15.1 Introduction

Future perfect tense is a tense that talks about an action which will be completed
before a certain time or point in the future. Let’s examine the following situation.

Mrs. Yuni is growing banana trees now and it will take four months for the
trees to give fruit.

The sentence for the future perfect will be;

By the end of the next four months Mrs. Yuni will have picked ripe
bananas.

Common future expressions for time markers of future perfect tense are by next
month, week, month, etc. and by the end of this week, month, year, etc.

15.2 Basic Structure of Future Perfect

Positive : S + will + have + V3

Example : Lina + will + have + washed + her clothes

Negative : S + will + not + have + V3

Example : Lina + will + not + have + washed + her clothes

Interrogative : will + S + have + V3

Example : will + Lina + have + wash + her clothes?

Table 15.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Future Perfect

110 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb

Positive 1, you, they, will have washed her clothes
we, he, she, it,
Lina,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, will have washed her clothes
we, he, she, it,
Lina,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative will have 1, you, they, washed her clothes
we, he, she, it,
Lina,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise

Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. Your best friend … help by the time you ask her to take part in your
wedding.
a. will have offered
b. will have offered
c. will have offered
d. will have had money

2. At this time tomorrow, Tomi … to pay off my debts.

a. will have money
b. will have offered, ask
c. ask, will have offered
d. will have had money

3. The meeting will start at 09.00 a.m and … at 11 a.m.

a. finished
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 111

b. will be finishing
c. will finished
d. will have finished

4. By this afternoon, Lina and Mirna … the lawn with a push mower.
a. will have saw
b. will have seen
c. will have been mowed
d. will have mowed

5. My girlfriend …her homework at 5 p.m this afternoon.

a. will be done
b. will have done
c. will done
d. will have been done

6. You … your Psycho test score online next week.

a. Will have saw
b. Will have seen
c. Will have been mowed
d. Will have mowed

7. The workers will have …to build an apartment on february.

a. To finishing
b. To finish
c. Finish
d. To finished

8. They hope they …all the tenses by the times the exam comes.
a. Will have been master
b. Will have been mastered
c. Will have master
d. Will have mastered
112 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

9. The person … probation by January.

a. Will has finished
b. Will have been left
c. Will have left
d. Will have finished

10. The manager … the meeting room by twelve.

a. Will have been left
b. Will has finished
c. Will have been left
d Will have left

Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: future perfect or
present tense.

1. By this time next month, Murni’s father and she ____ (visit) Palembang
city for her family business for a year.
2. Before you arrive at the station, a hotel room _____ (prepare) for you.
3. Rio _____ (bring) some souvenir by the time he come back from the U.S

4. My Biology teacher .... (be) always kind to every student.

5. The earth .... (rotate) once within 24 hours every day.
6. Handoko and MrsSunarni....(be) always happy every time.
7. My father …….. (drink, not) coffee every morning.
8. Tia _____ (finish) her research proposal by the time she leaves this
afternoon.
9. You can’t meet him at my office at 11. He ____ (go) to the bank at 10.
10. Alina … (sing) a song every night before she go to bed.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 113

Chapter 16

Past
Future
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of past future
 be able to understand the use of past future
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of past future
 be able to understand the use of past future using Be + going to

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali
114 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

16.1 Introduction

Past future tense is a tense that talks about an action or activity in the past but is
expected to happen in the future. The word “would” is usually used for the
structural pattern of past future. Since there no special time expressions for this
tense simple past is commonly used instead. Here are some examples of this
tense.

1) We believed your friend would help you that much.

2) They thought Wendy and I would win the game.
3) Alfath expected that he would arrive by 10:00 P.M last night.

Past future is also common to be used in conditional sentence type 2 which means
that this tense goes with simple past. If it is used in conditional sentence the
meaning of the sentence mjust be contrary to the fact at presente time. Here is an
example;

4) If Fikri did not come to class now, he would miss the lesson.

This sentence gives meaning that Fikri comes to class, so he does not miss the
lesson.

16.2 Basic Structure of Past Future

Positive : S + would + verb 1

Example : Agus + would + know + the new game

Negative : S + would + not + verb 1

Example : Agus + would + not + know + the new game

Interrogative : would + S + verb 1

Example : would + Agus + know + the new game?

Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 115

Table 16.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Past Future

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb

Positive 1, you, they, Would know the new
we, he, she, it, game
Agus,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, would know the new
we, he, she, it, game
Agus,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative would 1, you, they, know the new
we, he, she, it, game
Agus,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise

Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. I knew that the murder case … by the sheriff.

a. Would be investigated
b. Would investigate
c. Would handled
d. Would handle

2. Lia …go to give two beautiful scarfs to her friend.

a. Were
b. Would
c. Was
d. Will

3. Farah told me that she … souvenirs for herself.

a. Was not going to buy
b. Were not going to buy
c. Would never cheat
d. Would never cheated
116 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

4. I knew you..…all the things for the meeting.

a. Would Prepared
b. Will Prepare
c. Had prepared
d. Have prepared

5. They told that they …go to visit Lombok.

a. Would
b. Was
c. Were
d. Will

6. We knew he … the difficult situation.

a. Would be investigated
b. Would investigate
c. Would handled
d. Would handle

7. My uncle told me that he …come on time.

a. Will have
b. Would
c. Would have
d. Would have been

8. Vina got a feeling that everything …

a. Would be all right
b. Would all right
c. Would never cheat
d. Would never cheated

9. She promised she____ me a box of banana cake.

a. Would Given
b. Will Give
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 117

c. Have giving
d. Has Giving

10. Dimas said that he … to hometown the following day.

a. Were going to go back
b. Was going to go back
c. Would contacted
d. Would contact

Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: past future or past
tense.

1. Robi knew that he _____ (get) a job easily after a long time
unemployed.
2. Farah told me that she ______ (buy) souvenirs for herself.
3. Our English teacher . . . . .(be) sick yesterday.
4. Miss Yoan . . . . . (invite) me to her party two days ago
5. She didn’t . . . . . (come) to my birthday party yesterday.
6. The students promised that they ______ (cheat, not) in exams.
7. Bela’s friends promised that she _____ (give) her an ice cream if she
accompany her to the mall.
8. Tio was sure that the employer ______ (call) him after receiving my
resume.
9. Nina’s little brother…….. (be)a new motorcycle yesterday.
10. Jina …..(be) sad when my bestfriend left me yesterday.
118 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Chapter 17
Past
Future
perfect
This chapter will help you to:
 be able to identify basic structure of past future perfect
 be able to understand the use of past future perfect
 be able to write sentences using basic structure of past future
perfect
 be able to understand the meaning of the sentence using past
future perfect
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 119

“Sentences contain verbs, verbs can identify time, time

influences tenses, and tenses contain time of past, present, and
future.” Time is essential in our life, so we have to make use of
our time profitably and efficiently”

Muslih Hambali

17.1 Introduction

Past future tense is a tense that talks about the action/activity which was predicted
or planned to occur in the past. Past future perfect usually gies together with
another activity in the past. Past perfect is usually with it. We normallyfind this
tense in conditional sentences for example;

If Ihsan had invited us in advance, we would have attended his party.

The sentence with past perfect tense usually give meaning contrary to the fact for
examples;

1) Anton would have been here last night.

2) Mr. Alfarizi would not have told the news to you.

Sentence (1) means Anton was not here last night, while sentence (b) gives
meaning that Mr. Alfarizi told the news to you.

From the examples above, we can learn that if a sentence with the past future
perfect is positive the meaning must must be negative. On the contrary, when the
sentence with past perfect is negative, the meaning must be positive.

17.2 Basic Structure of Past Future Perfect

Positive : S + would + have + V3

Example : Rina + would + have + buy + a new purse

Negative : S + would + not + have + V3

Example : Rina + would + not + have + buy + a new purse

Interrogative : would + S + have + V3

Example : would + Rina + have + buy + a new purse?

120 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Table 17.1 Summary of Basic Structure of Past Future Perfect

Statement Subject Auxiliary Verb Main Verb

Positive 1, you, they, would have Buy a new purse
we, he, she, it,
Rina,
Palembang,
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, would have Buy a new purse
we, he, she, it,
Rina,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative would have 1, you, they, Buy a new purse
we, he, she, it,
Rina,
Palembang,
etc.

Exercise 1
Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.

1. Rico ...... to the party alone, if he had let me go with him

a. Would haven't come
b. Would have came
c. Would have coming
d. Wouldn't have come

2. Bela thought Ana …by the time sh arrived.

a. Would have be slept
b. Would have slept
c. Would be slept
d. Would have been slept

3. If he had wanted to sell that house, Ando ....it from him

a. Would have buy
b. Would have buying
c. Would have bought
d. Will have bought
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 121

4. Before taking a leave of absence yesterday, he would completed his work

for the client. He would …it two days ago.
a. Have submitted
b. To submitted
c. Have be submitted
d. Have been submitted

5. If you had had much money, .....to be your girlfriend?

a. Would has she wanted
b. Should have she wanted
c. Would she have want
d. Would she have wanted

6. Tini would …. passed the examination If She had learned hard.

a. Been
b. Had
c. Be
d. Have

7. If they had come earlier, Inda .....the house

a. Would haven't left
b. Wouldn't have left
c. Should haven't left
d. Would have leave

8. We …… arrived on time If we walked faster.

a. Have
b. Had
c. Would have
d. Would had

9. Iwan and Agus would have ....in that company if we had passed the
interview test before
122 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

a. Working
b. Work
c. Worked
d. Works

10. Anton …… that thief last night, but he could wriggle out from him.
a. Would have be caught
b. Would have caught
c. Will have caught
d. Will caught

Exercise 2
Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: past future perfect or
future perfect.

1. Lina ____________ (come) to the Tania’s house alone, if she had let me
go with him.
2. If he had wanted to sell that house, Tono surely __________ (buy) it from
him.
3. We ________ (work) in that company if we had passed the interview test
before.
4. Nina …(see) the TOEFL prediction score online next week.
5. The workers …… (finish) to build an apartment on next two months.
6. Mira and Andi hope that they … (master) all the tenses by the times the
exam comes.
7. The person … (finish) probation by next month.
8. The manager … (left) the meeting room by twelve.
9. Mukhlis and Iwan ________ (borrow) a car from theirr brother, if they had
needed it.
10. If Lina’s father had given her much money, she ______ (give) a gift to her
friend Rina.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 123

PART III

This part talks about degrees of comparison using adjectives. The use
degrees of comparison is to compare two or more things or persons
described by adjectives. There are three different forms of comparison:
positive, comparative and superlative.
124 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

SpecialChapter

Degrees of
Comparison

This chapter will help you to:

 be able to identify and distinguish kinds of degrees of
comparison
 be able to form degrees of comparison
 be able to use degrees of comparison in speaking and
writing

“Life is often full of comparison. People compare things and are

sometimes being compared. Anyhow, positive comparison
is beneficial in our life.”
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 125

Muslih Hambali

I. Introduction

Degrees of comparison or Comparative Degree can simply be defined

to refers to adjectives to compare one, two or more nouns that describe
persons, places and things. Another term for degree is grade (Huddleston
and Pullum, 2007). However, in this book, I would prefer to adopt the term
degree.

11. Forms of Comparison

There are three different forms of comparison: positive degree,

comparative degree and superlative degree.

A. Positive Degree

The positive degree of an adjective also called plain (Huddleston and

Pullum, 2007) is the simple form of an adjective. This adjective is used to
describe some quality. The adjective form for positive degree can be from
the original adjective as entry found in the dictionary such as old, young,
wise, etc. or it can be inflected from other word class (noun or verb) such as
interest (n) → interesting, crowd (n) → crowded, motivate (v) →
motivating, etc. There is no comparison can be made in the positive degree
of an adjective. For examples;

(1) Our teacher is a nice man.

(2) Many farmers harvested their good crops.
(3) Busy students are usually successful.

B. Comparative Degree

The comparative degree of an adjective has a higher degree of the quality

than the positive degree. It is usually used to compare two sets of things. For
examples;
126 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

(4) Faizah is younger than Keisha.

(5) Rosi’s motor is faster than Pedrosa’s.
(6) Medan is more crowded than Palembang.

C. Superlative Degree

The superlative degree of an adjective is the one that shows the highest
degree of the quality. It is used to compare more than two things or sets of
things. This means there is no superlative if there are only two things. For
examples;

(7) Muba regency is the richest regency in South Sumatra province.

(8) Alfath is the oldest child in his family.
(9) Kalimantan Timur is the most prosperous province of all Indonesia.

Notice that the words or phrases in sentences (1) up to (9) are all adjectives
with different degrees.

D. Using AS ......... AS

When we compare two equal things meaning there is no difference in

for instance size, weight, condition, etc. we use the phrase AS............ AS
for positive or NOT AS.......... AS if they are different. For examples;

(10) Semarang is as big as Palembang.

(11) The population of West Sumatra is not as crowded as West Java.
(12) Tekwan tastes as delicious as Model

Now look at the following tips how to form comparative degree and
superlative degree from the positive degree.

Tip I
For comparative Degree and Supelative Degree (word with one syllable).

1) If an adjective is short consisting of one syllable, generally add suffix er

directly after the adjective to form comparative and est for superlative
such as;

 short → shorter - shortest

 long → longer - longest
 cheap → cheaper - cheapest
.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 127

2) If an adjective is short consisting of one syllable and ends in y preceded

by a consonant, change y into i and add er. For examples;

 ugly → uglier - ugliest

 angry → angrier - angriest
 happy → happier - happiest

3) If an adjective is short consisting of one syllable and ends in consonant

preceded by a single vowel, double the last consonant and add er for
comparative and est for superlative as the following examples.

 big → bigger - biggest

 hot → hotter - hottest
 fat → fatter - fattest

Tip II
For comparative Degree and Supelative Degree (word with two or more
syllables).

If an adjective contains two or more syllables, use more before the adjective
for comparative and most for superlative. For examples;

 wonderful → more wondeful - most wonderful

 crowded → more crowded - most crowded
 amusing → more amusing - most amusing

Tip III
For irregular Comparison

Be familiar with irregular comparative degree. The irregular comparative

degree does not have any rule how to form comparative and superlative.
Therefore, it is probably a must for language learners to know all or at
least some of the irregular degrees of comparison. A few adjectives that
don’t have their comparative and superlative forms in any of the usual
ways are called irregular forms (Sargeant, 2007, p.41). Here are the few
adjectives having different forms for their comparartive and superlative.

adjective comparative superlative

good better best
bad worse worst
little less least
many /much more most
far farther or further farthest or furthest
128 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

EXERCISES
Exercise 1

Directions: Write the comparative and superlative form of the adjective

below.

No Adjective Comparative Superlative

1 Tall

2 Expensive

3 Cheap

4 Good

5 Comfortable

6 Far

7 Ugly

8 Bad

9 Fat

10 Smart

11 Handsome

12 Fast

13 Heavy

14 Nice

15 Dangerous

16 Friendly
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 129

17 Flat

18 Little

19 Active

20 Noisy

Exercise 2

Directions:
Complete the sentences with the comparative and superlative form of the
adjective or adverb.

1. A buffalo is big, but an elephant is than a buffalo.

2. Bengawan Solo river is long but Batanghari is much ___________
3. A horse runs than a goat.
4. A car’s price is usually than a motorbike’s price.
5. The red jacket is 70,000 rupiahs. The blue jacket costs 95,000 rupiahs.
The red jacket is than the blue jacket.
6. A rock is than a leaf.
7. The princess is than the witch.
8. A lion is than a cat.
9. That is a nice teacher. He is the teacher that I’ve ever had.
10. Ihsan’s mother is Emma . She's fifty years old. Her brother is fifty five,
so he than Emma.
11. This is a difficult question, but that question is the one.
12. She has an exciting trip, but my brother has the exciting
trip during his life.
13. In the last few weeks I read a good book, but the teacher will give me
another extra one, even .
14. Staying in bed all day is boring, but doing a lot of homework is
__________than staying in bed.
15. This newspaper is cheap, but that one is _
130 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

16. Jakarta is modern city, but New York is than Jakarta.

17. Makasar is as (big) as Medan.
18. Andi thinks Chinese Is (difficult) language in the world.
19. Cats are not (intelligent) as dogs.
20. (hot) desert of all is the Sahara and it’s in Africa.
21. Trains are not (fast) as aeroplanes.
22. In India May is (hot) than June.
23. I think you require (nutritious) diet.
24. Which (dry) part of India.
25. London is not very beautiful. Paris is (beautiful) .
26. Britain is not very big. France is (big) .
27. Most students think Mathematics is not as (easy) as
Social Science.
28. A hill is than a mountanin.
29. Is it much (cold) in New York?
30. Shima is (famous) than most other hill stations in
India.
31. Milk is (nourishing) than any other food.
32. Ventspils is (far) town in Latvia I have been to.
33. A candle gives (little) than a lamp.
34. The exercise with an asterisk (*) is (difficult) exercise on the
worksheet.
35. Health is (important) than wealth.
36. The planet Mars is (far) from the earth than the
satellite moon.
37. London is (busy) than Glasgow.
38. Russia is far (large) than the UK.
39. In the UK, the streets are generally (narrow) than in
the USA.
40. (big) piles of trash on Mount Everest are on the
lower areas.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 131

Exercise 3

Directions:
Read the sentence below and write T for “TRUE” or F for “FALSE”
1. April is colder than June (T / F )
2. Winter is hotter than spring (T / F )
3. Mount Everest is higher than Mount Fuji (T / F)
4. Missisippi river is longer than Amazon river (T / F)
5. Snow White is more beautiful than her stepmother (T / F)
6. A Ferrari is faster than a Toyota (T / F)
7. A village is smaller than a city ( T / F)
8. Lakes are bigger than oceans (T / F)
9. Trains are more comfortable than planes (T / F)
10. Sending letters is easier and faster than sending e-mails (T / F)
11. Paris is more crowded than Istanbul. (T / F)
12. We stay at the cheaper hotel in the town. (T / F)
13. This knife is not very sharp. Have you got a sharp one ? (T / F)
14. Solomon was wiser than other kings. (T / F)
15. Gold is one of the most precious metal. (T / F)
16. Computers are more expensive than telephones. (T / F)
17. Which is the difficultiest subject at school? (T / F)
18. This armchair is comfortable than the old one. (T / F)
19. That TV set is the cheapest of all. (T / F)
20. This is the most exciting film Andi has ever seen.

Exercise 4

Directions: Translate the sentences into English

1. Myra adalah gadis yang paling cantik disekolahnya.

2. Semakin besar sebuah rumah, semakin mahal harganya.
3. Rossi mengemudi lebih cepat dari Lorenzo.
132 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

4. Obama dapat berbicara lebih fasih dari anda.

5. Jakarta lebih jauh dari pada Palembang dari sini.
6. Real Madrid lebih baik dari pada Barcelona.
7. Jepang lebih indah dari pada Malaysia.
8. Pantai Lombok lebih luas dari pantai yang lainnya.
9. Majalah lebih menarik dari pada komik.
10. Korea lebih dingin dari pada Jepang.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 133

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Alexander, L.G. (1998). Longman English Grammar Practice for
Intermediate Students. Edinburgh: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.

2. Altenberg, Evelyn P., and Vago, Robert. M. (2010). English Grammar

Understanding the Basics. New York: Cambridge University Press.

3. Azar, Betty. S. (2003). Basic English Grammar 3rd editon. New York: Pearson
Education.

4. Azar, Betty. S. (2003). Fundamental English Grammar 3rd editon. New

York: Pearson Education

5. Azar, Betty. S. (2002). Understanding and Using English Grammar 3rd editon. New
York: Pearson Education.

6. Brown, Gould. (2004). The Grammar of English Grammars. Karl Hagen

and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

7. Eastwood John. (1987). A Basic Grammar Exercises. New York: Oxford

University Press.

8. Fromkin, V., Rodman, R., and Hyams, N. (2011). An Introduction to

Language (9th edition). Wadsworth: Thomson

9. Gelderen, Elly van (2002). An Introduction to the Grammar of English:

Syntactic arguments and socio-historical background. Amsterdam: John
Benjamins Publishing Company.

10. Huddleston, Rodney., and Pullum, K. Geoffrey. ( 2007). Student's

Introduction to English Grammar. New York: Cambridge Uninersity
Press.
11. Hughes, Anthony. (2001). The Online English Grammar. http://www.egnlish4today.com

12. Murphy, Raymond. (1989). Grammar in Use Reference and Practice for Intermediate
Students of English. New York: Cambridge University Press.

13. Phillips, Deborah. 2003. Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL.
White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

14. Sargeant, Howard. (2007). Basic English Grammar for English Language
134 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners

Learners Book 2. Three Watson, Irvine, CA: Saddleback Educational

Publishing.

15. Seaton, Anne.and Mew, Y. H. ( 2007). Basic English Grammar for English
Language Learners Book 1. Three Watson, Irvine, CA: Saddleback
Educational Publishing.

16. Walker, Elaine., and Elsworth, Steve. (2000). New Grammar Practice for Pre-
Intermediate Students. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.