Republic of Iraq

Ministry of Higher Education

and Scientific Research
Northern Technical University
Continuous Education Center

Preparation Course for INELT

Iraqi National English Language Test

1Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad

 Grammar Reference
Section One: Basic Grammar Course
Parts of speech of English language

2Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad

 English basic Sentence structure
The basic parts of a sentence are:

1- the subject { the doer}

2- the verb phrase
3- and the complement (often, but not always) the object.

the action
• subject
•{doer} • complement
• verb
agreement
phrase can be any
part of speech

++++The verb (or predicate) usually follows the subject and

identifies an action or a state of being. It is the most important
part of the sentence because it holds the action and conveys
the meaning.

The verb phrase

verb
It must contain three elements to convey the the
meaning :

1- the verb itself {part of speech} play, write,

assume…… verb
phrase
tense aspect
2- the tense, English has only three main
tenses

{past-present-Future}

3- the aspect : it is how to perform the action

3Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad

 - simple to talk about facts and recurrent actions [3 rd S for single
subject]

Ex: I check my email every day

- continuous to show duration { Be+ ………..ing }

I’m studying Economics (activity in progress)

- perfect to show action completion but results are obvious

{ have/has/had+…past participle of the verb}

I've taught English in Italy and in Russia.

Nouns

Definition: A noun is a word that names a person, place,

thing, or ideas:

Person Place one of a kind Things Things

man Paris Eiffel Tower dog Freedom

Mrs. Fun
Mountains Oxford book
Jones

Michel sports car

4Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad

 nouns

common proper

person
countable uncountable
places

Proper nouns name people, places, or one of a kind

Common Nouns: things that you can touch, see, hear, smell, taste.
uncountable noun, sometimes called a mass noun is a noun that
usually does not have a plural form. It refers to something that
cannot be counted numerically. Which means the amount of it
cannot usually be specified with just a number.
Some examples of this kind of noun are:
bread, water, milk, air, snow, accommodation, furniture
Abstract uncountable nouns do not refer to things that we can sense,
things that we can taste, touch, smell, hear or see. They refer to
ideas, feelings, emotions qualities and concepts. Some examples of
this kind of noun are:

love, fun, happiness, kindness, patience, truth, hope, childhood

WHY IT MATTERS TO KNOW ALL ABOUT NOUNS ?

To answer this question, you have to think about the effect of the
subject on the verb that follows.

Hint :Remember, pronouns are not nouns they replace nouns

5Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad

6Page Asst.L:Roia N. Hammad
7
8
 Tense and Time
What is the difference between time and tense ? How dose tense affect meaning ?

Meaning and use: Simple present tense

We use the present simple for:

 things that we do regularly

 facts and truths
 habits
 permanent situations

We often use adverbs of frequency and time expressions like every day, once a week, on
Fridays.

I check my email every day. (regular activity)

Sheryl works at the bank. (permanent situation)

continuous or progressive present

We use the present continuous for:

 things that are happening now – at the time we are speaking,

 temporary situations
 activities that are in progress

We often use time expressions like at the moment, today, this week.

Just a minute. I’m checking my email. (now)

She usually works in London, but she’s working from home this week. (temporary situation)

I’m studying Economics (activity in progress)

Present Perfect
Meaning and use
Positive
The present perfect is made with subject + have/has + past participle.

9
I've taught English in Italy and in Russia.

Johnny Depp has starred in lots of brilliant films.

Negative
The negative present perfect is made with subject + have/has not + past participle.

I haven't seen the first Bond film.

I haven't seen the first Bond film.

Questions
Present perfect yes/no questions are made from have/has + subject + past participle?

Present perfect question word questions are made from question word + have/has +
subject + past participle?

Ever and never

We often use the present perfect with the words ever or never. Ever mean at any time in
someone's life. We usually use ever in questions.

'Has he ever worked in China?' 'No, he hasn't.'

Never means not at any time in someone's life.

I've never seen the first Bond film.

Past participles
The past participle is the third form of the verb. For example, with the verb to see, the
three forms are: see, saw, seen.

We use the past participle in present perfect sentences with ever and never.

Have you ever eaten sushi?

I've never seen the first Bond film.

Regular and irregular verbs

Many verbs are regular. The past participle ends with -ed

look - looked - looked

climb - climbed - climbed
want - wanted - wanted

Some verbs are irregular. Here are some of them:

become - became - become

eat - ate - eaten
forget - forgot - forgotten
give - gave - given
go - went - gone / been
have - had - had
know - knew - known
meet - met - met
read - read - read
11
ride - rode - ridden
run - ran - run
say - said - said
see - saw - seen
sell - sold - sold
sing - sang - sung
win - won - won
write - wrote - written

Past simple and past continuous

Meaning and use

We use the past simple for something that happened and finished in the past. We use it
when we say or know the time when something happened. It is often used in stories, when
one thing happened after another.

Last year, we travelled by jeep across the Sahara.

When the car stopped, we all got out.

We use the past continuous for something that happened in the past but was not finished at
a particular time. This can be an exact time in the past (12 o’clock, etc.) or the time when
another thing happened.

It was 12 o’clock and we were standing in the midday sun.

Mick was checking the engine when the rescue helicopter arrived.

We also use the past continuous to describe a scene or situation in the past or for an action
that continued for some time.

The stars were beginning to come out.

The dog was barking loudly.

Form

Past simple: positive

For regular verbs, the past simple ends in -ed. Irregular verbs have different forms. The past
simple form is the same for all persons (I, you, he, she, etc).

Suddenly the jeep skidded and stopped.

Jake thought that we had a puncture.

Past continuous: positive

11
The past continuous is subject + was/were + -ing form. There are no short forms
of was/were.

Fortunately, we were carrying a toolkit.

Past simple: negative

We make the negative past simple with didn’t + infinitive.

We didn’t stay inside the jeep because that was even hotter.

Past continuous: negative

We make the negative past continuous with wasn’t/weren’t + -ing form

Despite the heat, Jess and Debs weren’t wearing hats.

Past simple: question

The past simple question form is did + subject + infinitive for all persons. The short
answers are Yes, I did. / No, I didn’t.

Did the helicopter land in the desert? Yes it did.

Past continuous: question

The past continuous question form is was/were + subject + -ing form. The short answers
are Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.

How were you feeling when it arrived?

Take note: spelling changes

In the past continuous, all verbs end in -ing, but sometimes the spelling changes:

take – taking hit – hitting die – dying

Take note: verbs we don’t use in the past continuous

There are some verbs that we don’t usually use in the continuous form. They are often
verbs related to the senses and thinking, for example: hear, see, smell, hate, know,
understand, believe, notice, want, need, seem, wish.

WRONG: Were you knowing Jess when you were living in Madrid?

CORRECT: Did you know Jess when you were living in Madrid?
{Spoken English}

In the past simple and the past continuous, we usually use a contraction with the negative
auxiliary verb:
12
 didn’t (= did not) wasn’t (= was not)

Past perfect tense

Meaning and use

We often use the past perfect when two things in a sentence happened in the past, and we
need to show which thing in the sentence happened first.

 When I arrived home, my sister had already made lunch.

Here, two things happened: I arrived home and my sister made lunch. We can use the
past simple, with time expressions like then, to talk about the things in the order that they
happened.

 My sister made lunch. Then I arrived home.

We can use the past perfect next to the past simple, to show which event happened first.

What happened first: my son made a cake

What happened second: I arrived

 When I arrived home, my son had already made an enormous carrot cake.

With the past perfect, we can change the order of events in the sentence, and still show
what happened first.

 I woke up late because I’d forgotten to set my alarm clock.

But we can also use the past perfect when events in a sentence are in the order that they
happened.

 I had just taken off my coat when the telephone rang.

The past perfect part of the sentence always shows the event that happened first.

 We hadn’t finished cleaning by the time the guests arrived.

 By the time the guests arrived, we hadn’t finished cleaning.

Form

The past perfect is made with subject + had/hadn’t + past participle.

The present perfect continuous tense

Meaning and use

We use the present perfect continuous to talk about an activity that started in the past and is
continuing now or has recently finished.

 I’ve been reading that new book you lent me… I’m really enjoying it. (= action still in progress)

13
 Is that Joe? I’ve been trying to contact you. I’ve got some bad news. (= action recently finished)

We often use it to emphasise the continuous, ongoing nature of the activity or to say how
long the activity has continued.

 She’s already been sleeping for two hours.

 It’s been raining all morning.
 I’ve been decorating the house this summer.

When we use the present perfect continuous for situations that have recently finished, we
often use the adverb just.

 'You’ve got paint all over your T-shirt.' 'Oh, I’ve just been painting the living room.'

We often use recently and lately with the present perfect continuous.

 I’m really tired. I haven’t been sleeping well lately.

Form

The present perfect continuous is made with:

subject + have/has/haven’t/hasn’t + been + present participle of main verb.

We put just and already between have/has and the past participle. We usually put
adverbs of time and duration after the main verb

14
15
16
17
 adjectives and adverbs
Meaning and use

Adjectives and adverbs are words that we use to describe or modify other
words.

Adjectives are used to tell us about nouns or pronouns. They give us

information about what someone or something is like.

 Can you pass me the yellow pen please?

 Are you happy?

Adverbs tell us about verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. They give us

information about how someone does something or the way that something
happens.

 He walked slowly to his car. (This tells us about the verb 'to walk'. It tells is
how he walked.)
 It was a very sunny day. (This refers to the adjective 'sunny'. It tells us how
sunny it was.)
 He finished the exam really quickly. (This tells us about the adverb 'quickly'.
It tells us how quickly he finished.)

Form - Adjectives

Most common adjectives have no particular form. There is nothing about their
structure that shows they are an adjective.

happy, sad, light, green, quick, busy, large

Some adjectives are made by adding a suffix to a noun or verb.

 Fun – funny
 Week - weekly
 Child – childlike
 Fool – foolish
 Care – careful
 Accept – acceptable

Form – Adverbs

Like adjectives there is no regular structure to adverbs.

Soon, well, never, quite, often, already, just

Many adverbs can be made by adding the suffix –ly to an adjective.

 Sad – sadly
 Serious – seriously
 Quiet – quietly
 Total – totally
 Careful - carefully

18
 Sleepy - sleepily
 Slow - slowly

Take Note: -ly

Not all words that end in –ly are adverbs. There are many other word types
that end in –ly.

 That was a silly thing to do. (Adjective)

 He was a bully at school. (Noun)
 You have to apply for the job. (Verb)

Take note: 'irregular' forms

Some adjectives have adverbial forms that are irregular or even identical.
There may not be –ly forms of these words and if there are, they have
unconnected meanings.

Good / well

 She is a good player. (Adjective)

 He played well tonight. (Adverb)

There were a goodly number of people there. (Adjective, old-fashioned,

means large or high in terms of number of people and is not a positive
comment about someone's ability or skill.)

Late / Late

 Sorry I was late. (Adjective)

 He arrived late. (Adverb)

Lately you’ve been doing really well. (Adverb – lately means recently and
does not refer to punctuality.)

Fast / Fast

 I like fast cars. (Adjectives)

 She likes driving fast. (Adverb)

Hard / hard

 It was a hard exam. (Adjective)

 He works and plays hard. (Adverb)

He hardly goes to school. (Adverb – here it means 'not very often' and is not
related to difficulty or intensity.)

19
 Adverbs of frequency

Meaning and use

Adverbs give us more information about a verb. Adverbs of frequency tell

us how often an activity happens. There are many adverbs to choose from.
Here are some of the most common ones, listed from most frequent to least
frequent

I always walk to work..

They usually arrive late.

My father often forgets his birthday.

He sometimes wakes up early.

I rarely drink tea in the morning.

You hardly ever say you love me.

Jenny never drinks coffee in the evening.

Form

Adverbs of frequency go before the main verb.

subject + adverb + main verb

I always eat breakfast.

They sometimes take a taxi.

They go after the verb ‘to be’.

subject + to be + adverb + main verb

I am always late for work.

He is often ready for work at 6 am.

We aren’t usually hungry in the morning.

They go between a modal and the main verb.

subject + modal + adverb + main verb

You should always wear a helmet.

I can sometimes hear my neighbour’s TV.

21