Three Important Grammar Tips for New English Speakers

English grammar can be tricky even for native English speakers, so don't be surprised if you have trouble mastering it when English is not your first language. Here we will discuss three important grammar tips that every new English speaker should learn, accompanied by a free English lesson that helps to make the lesson clear.

1.) Know when and when not to use the articles "a," "an" and "the"

You may already know that you use the article "a" before an indefinite object that starts with a consonant, and the article "an" before an indefinite object that starts with a vowel (a, e, i, o and u). For example, you would say, "an" apple is growing on "a" tree, because the word apple starts with a vowel and the word tree starts with a consonant. However, new English speakers often have trouble distinguishing between an indefinite object and a definite object.

After all, not all English words require the articles "a" or "an" and definite objects often require the article "the." To help you differentiate when you need to use each word, you can take advantage of the following free English lesson by World English on English Articles. In this free lesson, you will get a tutorial on when and when not to use the articles "a," "an," and "the." You will also have access to five exercises that test the information you learned at different difficulty levels.

2.) Know what to do with irregular verbs

It's great when English verbs are regular because you always know what to do with them to make them fit in the past, present and future tenses. However, there are numerous verbs in English that are irregular and can trip up new English speakers because the verbs don't follow the regular rules. Some of those verbs include the following: eat, drink, sing, speak, sleep, teach, pay, say, come and go. You can't simply add an "-ed" to the end to make them past tense.

For instance, the correct way to conjugate the English verb "teach" to the past tense is not "teached." The correct conjugation is "taught." Regular verbs follow a much simpler pattern. For instance, to convert the English verb "kick" to the past tense, all you need to do is add an "-ed" to the end. To sharpen your skills with irregular verbs in English, you can take advantage of a free English lesson on Irregular Verbs from English Grammar Secrets. The lesson teaches students how to classify and remember the different irregular English verbs and provides eight exercises to help teach you the difference between the two.

3.) Know the difference between active and passive voice in English

There are two different ways you can say that a man is kicking a football. You can start with the man and say this sentence: "The man kicks the football" You can also put the football first and say: "The football is kicked by the man" Both sentences are correct, but the first sentence uses active voice and the second sentence uses passive voice.

You can learn more about the difference between active and passive voice by reading this free English lesson on active and passive verb forms on English Page. The lesson includes a helpful overview with numerous example sentences showing the differences between active and passive voice in English.

This guest contribution was submitted by Jamie Davis, who specializes in writing about masters degree. Questions and comments can be sent to: davis.jamie17@gmail.com.

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