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English Grammar Essentials Textbook

A free, self-paced textbook in 8 chapters. Read a chapter, then drill it with the 222 companion flashcards using spaced repetition.

8 chapters · 222 cards · Updated

Chapters

  1. 1Verb Tenses

    English verb tenses allow speakers to indicate when an action takes place and whether it is ongoing, completed, or habitual. The simple tenses (present, past, future) form the foun...

  2. 2Modal Verbs

    Modal verbs add meaning to other verbs regarding ability, permission, obligation, possibility, and advice. "Can" expresses ability, possibility, or informal permission ("I can swim...

  3. 3Conditionals and Wishes

    Conditional sentences describe situations and their possible or imagined results. The zero conditional expresses general truths using "if + present simple, present simple," as in "...

  4. 4Articles and Nouns

    Articles specify whether nouns are definite or indefinite. The definite article "the" is used for specific nouns known to both speaker and listener, unique objects ("the sun"), sup...

  5. 5Active and Passive Voice

    Passive voice emphasizes the action's recipient rather than the doer. The basic structure moves the object of an active sentence to subject position and adds a form of "be" plus th...

  6. 6Reported Speech

    Reported speech (or indirect speech) conveys what someone said without quoting directly. Statements typically use the verb "say" (without a person object) or "tell" (with a person...

  7. 7Relative Clauses and Reduced Forms

    Relative clauses provide additional information about a noun and are introduced by relative pronouns. Defining relative clauses identify the noun and use no commas: "The student wh...

  8. 8Phrasal Verbs and Common Errors

    Phrasal verbs combine a verb with a particle (preposition or adverb) to create idiomatic meanings. "Put off" means to postpone or discourage ("We put off the meeting," "The smell p...

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