English Grammar Summary: Sentence Patterns, Tenses, and Key Rules

Introduction

This is a practical summary of English grammar — the core patterns and rules that underpin all English sentences. Understanding these fundamentals gives you a framework for analyzing any sentence, no matter how complex.

The Five Basic Sentence Patterns

Every English sentence follows one of five basic patterns. All complex sentences are expansions of these:

Pattern	Structure	Example
1. Subject + Linking Verb + Complement	S + LV + C	My name is Forrest.
2. Subject + Verb	S + V	Mrs. Gump leaves.
3. Subject + Verb + Object	S + V + O	She closes the door.
4. Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object	S + V + IO + DO	No one talked to me.
5. Subject + Verb + Object + Complement	S + V + O + C	Make me a bird.

Expanding sentences: You can expand any basic sentence by adding:

Adjectives and adverbs (modifiers)
Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or, so) to join clauses
Subordinating conjunctions (because, although, when) to add dependent clauses

The Three Planes of Grammar

Grammar operates on three levels:

Syntax (grammar): The structural rules — word order, agreement, tense
Semantics: The meaning of words and sentences
Pragmatics: How context affects meaning

Example: “Can you pass the salt?” is grammatically a question (syntax), but semantically it’s a request (pragmatics).

Verb Tenses: The 4×4 System

English has 4 time frames × 4 aspects = 16 possible tenses, but 8 are most commonly used:

Simple Tenses

Tense	Form	Use	Example
Simple Present	V / V+s	habits, facts, general truths	“She works every day.”
Simple Past	V+ed / irregular	completed past action	“She worked yesterday.”
Simple Future	will + V	future intention/prediction	“She will work tomorrow.”

Continuous (Progressive) Tenses

Tense	Form	Use	Example
Present Continuous	am/is/are + V+ing	action happening now	“She is working now.”
Past Continuous	was/were + V+ing	ongoing past action	“She was working when I called.”
Future Continuous	will be + V+ing	ongoing future action	“She will be working at 3pm.”

Perfect Tenses

Tense	Form	Use	Example
Present Perfect	have/has + past participle	past action with present relevance	“She has worked here for 3 years.”
Past Perfect	had + past participle	action before another past action	“She had worked there before.”

Key Distinctions

Simple Past vs Present Perfect:

Simple Past:      "I saw that movie last week." (specific past time)
Present Perfect:  "I have seen that movie." (at some point, relevant now)

Simple Past:      "She lived in Paris." (no longer lives there)
Present Perfect:  "She has lived in Paris." (experience, or still lives there)

Present Perfect vs Present Perfect Continuous:

Present Perfect:            "I have written three emails." (completed, result)
Present Perfect Continuous: "I have been writing emails all morning." (ongoing process)

Subject-Verb Agreement

The verb must agree with its subject in number:

Singular: "She works hard."
Plural:   "They work hard."

Tricky cases:
"The team is playing well." (collective noun = singular in American English)
"Everyone is here." (indefinite pronouns = singular)
"Neither of them is correct." (neither/either = singular)
"The news is good." (uncountable nouns = singular)

Articles: a, an, the

Article	Use	Example
a	indefinite, singular, consonant sound	“a book, a university”
an	indefinite, singular, vowel sound	“an apple, an hour”
the	definite, specific, already known	“the book I mentioned”
∅ (no article)	plural/uncountable in general	“Books are important.”

Common mistakes:

✗ "I need an information."    ✓ "I need some information." (uncountable)
✗ "She is the best student."  ✓ "She is the best student." (correct — superlative)
✗ "I go to the school."       ✓ "I go to school." (institution, not building)

Conditionals

Type	Structure	Meaning	Example
Zero	If + present, present	Always true	“If you heat water, it boils.”
First	If + present, will + V	Likely future	“If it rains, I will stay home.”
Second	If + past, would + V	Unlikely/hypothetical	“If I had money, I would travel.”
Third	If + past perfect, would have + PP	Past regret	“If I had studied, I would have passed.”

Passive Voice

Form: be + past participle

Active:  "The company launched the product."
Passive: "The product was launched by the company."

Active:  "Scientists discovered a new species."
Passive: "A new species was discovered."

When to use passive:

When the agent (doer) is unknown or unimportant
In formal/academic writing
When the focus is on the action, not the doer

Reported Speech

Tenses shift back when reporting what someone said:

Direct:   "I am tired," she said.
Reported: She said (that) she was tired.

Direct:   "I will help you," he promised.
Reported: He promised (that) he would help me.

Direct:   "I have finished," she said.
Reported: She said (that) she had finished.

Modal	Main Uses	Examples
can	ability, permission	“I can swim.” / “Can I leave?”
could	past ability, polite request	“I could swim as a child.” / “Could you help?”
will	future, willingness	“I will call you.”
would	conditional, polite	“I would help if I could.”
should	advice, obligation	“You should see a doctor.”
must	strong obligation, deduction	“You must wear a seatbelt.” / “She must be tired.”
may	permission, possibility	“You may leave.” / “It may rain.”
might	weak possibility	“It might rain.”

Common Grammar Mistakes

✗ "I am agree."              ✓ "I agree."
✗ "She is very beauty."      ✓ "She is very beautiful."
✗ "I have been there last year." ✓ "I went there last year."
✗ "He don't know."           ✓ "He doesn't know."
✗ "I am boring."             ✓ "I am bored." (boring = causing boredom)
✗ "The informations."        ✓ "The information." (uncountable)
✗ "I look forward to see you." ✓ "I look forward to seeing you."
✗ "Despite of the rain..."   ✓ "Despite the rain..." (no "of")
✗ "According to me..."       ✓ "In my opinion..." (according to = citing a source)

Resources

Cambridge Grammar in Use — the best self-study grammar book
Grammarly — real-time grammar checking
BBC Learning English: Grammar
Purdue OWL — comprehensive reference