This is a comprehensive English grammar guide designed specifically for teachers of English as a Second or Foreign language.

1. GRAMMAR
A GUIDE FOR ESL/EFL TEACHERS
by Jane E. Keeler

2. What is GRAMMAR?


Grammar – the system of rules pertaining to how
the sentences of a language are constructed
Prescriptive Grammarians – Consider grammar
to be a set of rules for the “proper” use of
language


If you break these rules, you are speaking/writing
incorrectly
Descriptive Grammarians – Describe grammar
as it is used by actual speakers of a language

Do not judge language to be correct/incorrect

3. 8 Parts of Speech
Noun
 Pronoun
 Verb
 Adjective
 Adverb
 Preposition
 Conjunction
 Interjection


4. What is a NOUN?


Noun – A person, place, thing, or idea
Common Noun – any noun that represents one
or all of the members of a class


Examples: dog, cat, man, woman, education
Proper Noun – a noun that is the name of a
specific person, place, or thing

Examples: Susan, Charlie, Orlando, Walmart

5. Nouns: Concrete vs.
Abstract

Concrete Noun - a noun that you can see, hear,
smell, taste, or physically feel


Examples: pen, paper, book, fork, stapler
Abstract Noun – a noun that names an emotion,
an idea, or a quality; something that cannot be
perceived with your five senses

Examples: education, childhood, love, patience

6. Teaching NOUNS

Pictures for concrete nouns:
chicken
dog
horse

7. Teaching NOUNS

Pictures for singular/plural:
cat
cats

8. Teaching NOUNS

What about abstract nouns?

Definition/Explanation –

Explain in simple terms in English
 Give


examples in sentences
Explain in the student‟s L1
Translation –

Give direct translation to the student‟s L1

9. Common ELL errors with
nouns

Omission of plural ~s


Unnecessary plural ~s


enjoyation
Use of the with abstract nouns


every girls, each boys, one birds
Wrong noun ending


five girl, six boy
Ex: You must have the education to succeed.
Not capitalizing proper nouns

He lives in orlando, florida.

10. Count vs. Non-Count
Nouns

What are count and non-count nouns?

Count Nouns – Nouns that you can count!
3 pencils
5 birds
2 Cars

11. Count vs. Non-Count
Nouns

Non-Count Nouns – Nouns that you CAN‟T count!

12. Count/Non-Count Problems

Money – Count or Non-Count?
1 dollar
 20 euros
 37 cents
 But 1 money? 7 money?


Most other languages do
not make a distinction
between count and non-count
nouns.

13. Count/Non-Count: Who
Cares?

We DON‟T PLURALIZE non-count nouns!
equipments, educations, patiences
 (*sometimes non-count nouns are pluralized, but this
changes the meaning: the waters of the earth)


We use ARTICLES (a, an, the) with all count nouns!


a dog, the shoe, an apple
We use much/not much/how much with non-count
nouns, but many/not many/how many with count
nouns

How much money vs. How many money

14. What is a PRONOUN?

Pronoun – a word that can take the place of a
noun


Annie teaches at Tom‟s school.
his school.
She teaches at
In English, there are 9 types of pronouns
subject pronouns, object pronouns, relative
pronouns, interrogative pronouns, indefinite pronouns,
reflexive pronouns, demonstrative pronouns,
possessive pronouns, and reciprocal pronouns
 Also, possessive adjectives act like pronouns!


In English, there are more than 40 pronouns!

15. Imagine life without
PRONOUNS
Last weekend Susan and Susan‟s friends went to
Disney World. Susan and Susan‟s friends had never
been to Disney World before. Susan and Susan‟s
friends rode many rides. Susan bought many
souvenirs, but Susan lost many of the souvenirs
when Susan set the souvenirs down and forgot the
souvenirs. Susan‟s friend Megan laughed at Susan,
but Susan‟s friend Tom felt bad. Tom bought Susan
some new souvenirs.

16. Why we teach
PRONOUNS
Last weekend Susan and her friends went to Disney
World. They had never been there before. They
rode many rides. Susan bought many souvenirs, but
she lost many of them when she set them down
and forgot them. Her friend Megan laughed at her,
but her friend Tom felt bad. He bought her some
new souvenirs.
Pronouns are important to teach, because we use
them a lot!

17. Teaching PRONOUNS

Personal Subject Pronouns
I, you, he, she, it, we, they
 I am a student. He is a doctor.


How to teach:
Jane is a teacher. Jane is a teacher. She is a teacher.
 Provide multiple examples for all.


Potential Problems:

Many languages have multiple forms of „you‟
 Spanish:

tú, usted, ustedes, vosotros
you and it can also be Personal Object Pronouns

18. Teaching PRONOUNS

Personal Object Pronouns
used for direct and indirect objects
 me, you, him, her, it, us, them
 I gave the pencil to him. (I gave it to him.)


How to teach:
Same as Subject Pronouns
 I met Tom. I met Tom. I met him.
 Provide multiple examples for all.
 Act it out!


19. Teaching PRONOUNS

Personal Object Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems:


you and it can also be Personal Subject Pronouns
her can also be a Possessive Adjective
Some languages have different pronouns for direct
and indirect objects
 Russian, indirect object „him‟ – ему
 Russian, direct object „him‟ – его


20. Teaching PRONOUNS

Possessive Pronouns
Show to whom or what a thing belongs
 mine, yours, his, hers, ours, theirs
 The book is hers. The chocolate is mine.


How to teach:

Act out with things!

21. Teaching PRONOUNS

Possessive Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems:
His is also a possessive adjective
 In some languages, some or all possessive and direct
object pronouns are the same.
 Sometimes they‟re possessive adjectives, too.
 Russian: её/его = her/him, hers/his, her/his

personal possessive possessive
object pronouns adjectives
pronouns

22. Teaching Possessive
Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives
resemble pronouns
 sometimes called possessive determiners
 similar to possessive pronouns, but modify
a noun instead of replacing it.
 my, your, his, her, its, our, their
 My cat is black and white. Her name is
Charlie. Her moustache is funny looking.


How to teach:

Use lots and lots of examples! Act!

23. Teaching Possessive
Adjectives

Possessive Adjectives, cont’d.

Potential Problems:
Confusion between possessive pronouns and
possessive adjectives
 The book is her/hers. The chocolate is my/mine.
 Mine/My cat is black and white. Her/Hers book is blue.
 His is also a possessive pronoun


24. Teaching PRONOUNS

Demonstrative Pronouns
this, that, these, those
 Can be subjects or direct objects.
 Subjects: This is the book Steve
gave me. Those are cute shoes.
 Direct Objects: Steve gave that
to me. I bought those yesterday.


How to teach:

Act out with things!

25. Teaching PRONOUNS



Demonstrative Pronouns, cont’d
Potential Problems:
Students whose L1s don‟t have both the [ i ] and
the [ I ] sound will have difficulty hearing the
difference between this and these

26. Teaching PRONOUNS

Interrogative Pronouns
who, whom, what, which, whose
 Represent the thing that we don‟t know
 Who is she? What is that? Whose purse is this?


How to teach:
Translate words into students‟ L1
 Focus on one question word at a time
 Offer lots of example questions
 Teach as „question words‟ not as pronouns.


27. Teaching PRONOUNS

Interrogative Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems:

In many languages, that and what translate to just one
word
 Russian: что = that/what
 Spanish: qué = what; que = that
 French: numerous words translate to what and that,
although que can mean both

Textbooks typically teach these as “question words”
(including when, where, why, and how) not as Interrogative
Pronouns

28. Teaching PRONOUNS

Relative Pronouns
Connects a relative clause to the rest of the sentence
 who, that, which, whom
 Many are also Interrogative Pronouns! (Used
differently)
 I want to return the book that you lent me last week.
 The man who is standing over there is my brother.


How to teach:
Don‟t introduce until you introduce relative clauses
 Translation helps!


29. Teaching PRONOUNS

Relative Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems:
Same as with Interrogative Pronouns: in many
languages, that and what translate to just one word
 Used with more complicated grammatical structures
(relative clauses)
 In English we often omit relative pronouns; in other
languages you can‟t do this!

I
want to return the book that you lent me. = I want to return
the book you lent me.

30. Teaching PRONOUNS

Indefinite Pronouns
anybody, somebody, nobody, someone, something, no
one, none, each, etc.
 Does not refer to a specific person or thing
 I heard something at the door, but when I opened it,
nobody was there.


How to teach:


Teach as vocabulary as they appear in your text
Translation helps!

31. Teaching PRONOUNS

Indefinite Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems:

Double negative confusion:
 I didn‟t see anybody. (correct)
 I didn‟t see nobody. (incorrect)

Indefinite pronouns are SINGULAR in English, but they
can be plural in other languages
 Everyone has a car. (correct)
 Everyone have a car. (incorrect)

32. Teaching PRONOUNS

Reflexive Pronouns
used to refer to a subject that has already been named
within the sentence
 myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves,
yourselves, themselves
 I bought myself a latte. Tom gave himself a pat on the
back.


How to teach:



Explanation and modeling
Teach as vocabulary as they appear in your text
Translation helps!

33. Teaching PRONOUNS

Reflexive Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems
Generally straightforward
 Russian speakers will often use them when they are
unnecessary (L1 interference)
 Я чувствую себе счастливый


I
feel
myself happy

34. Teaching PRONOUNS

Reciprocal Pronouns
used to identify an action or feeling that is reciprocated
 always refers to more than one person
 each other, one another
 Sue and Tom gave presents
to each other.
 They love one another.


How to teach:
Explain: there must be two or more people, things or
groups involved
 they must be doing the same thing


35. Teaching PRONOUNS

Reciprocal Pronouns, cont’d

Potential Problems

Students may try to use them with a single noun or
pronoun
 Tom bought each other a gift. (incorrect)

Students may substitute „themselves‟ for „each other‟ or
„one another‟
 Tom and Sue loved themselves. (incorrect)

36. English Pronoun Evolution
To thine own self be true,
and it must follow, as the
night the day, thou canst not
then be false to any man.
***
O thou invisible spirit of wine,
if thou hast no name to be
known by, let us call thee
devil.
~William Shakespeare
1564-1616

37. English Pronoun Evolution
Subject
Pronoun
thou
Object Possessive Reflexive Possessive
Pronoun Pronoun
Pronoun Adjective
thee
thine
thyself
thy
Nowadays seen mainly in
Shakespeare and the King James Bible.

38. What is a VERB?

Verb – a word that shows ACTION or BEING


In English we have 12 verb tenses:


I go to the park. Sue visits Mary. You are a student.
simple present, simple past, simple future, present
progressive, past progressive, future progressive,
present perfect, past perfect, future perfect, present
perfect progressive, past perfect progressive, and future
perfect progressive
In English, each verb has 5 principal parts

Infinitive, base form, past form, past participle form, and
present participle form

39. To be

The verb to be expresses being (surprise!)
 He

is sad. They are students. It was fun.
It can also be used as a helping verb (also
called an auxiliary verb)
I
am teaching. She has been living in Orlando for
two years.

7 forms: be, am, is, are, was, were, been

40. To be – Simple Present
Conjugation:
I
He
She
It
You
We
They
am
is
is
My name is Jane.
I am a teacher.
Where are you from?
are
In Russian, there is no present
tense verb to be.
are
are
In Russian you say:
I teacher. It green. They hungry.
is
Spanish has two – ser and estar!

41. Other Verbs: Simple
Present
I go to the park on Tuesdays.
Tom goes to the park on Wednesdays.
I teach TSL 4240 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
You come to this class twice a week.
Susan lives in Miami.
What is the pattern here?
When do we usually use the simple present?
We use the simple present for
regular, constant, or repeated actions.

42. Other Verbs: Simple
Present
Conjugation:
to walk to teach to have
walk
teach
have
I
He walks teaches has
She walks teaches has
walks teaches has
It
You walk
teach
have
We walk
teach
have
They walk
teach
have
to do
do
does
does
does
do
do
do

43. Simple Present
Questions: BE
Question Word + BE
Who is he? How are you? Where am I?
He is Tom. I am fine. You are in class.
BE as Question Word
Are you a student? Is he okay? Am I right?
Yes, I am.
Yes, he is.
Yes, you are.
No, I‟m not.
No, he isn‟t. No, you aren‟t.

44. Simple Present Questions
Question Word + Verb
ELLs will want to say:
I do live in Orlando.
Where do you live?
What does he thinks about it?
I live in Orlando.
He does thinks it‟s great.
What does he think about it?
He thinks it‟s great.
What do you do?
I am a teacher.
What does she do?
She is a student.
This question is VERY confusing
for ELLs!!
They often think it means „What
are you doing?‟
They often want to answer with do

45. Simple Present Questions
Do as Question Word
Do you like coffee?
Yes, I do. I like coffee.
No, I don‟t. I don‟t
like coffee.
Does he like coffee?
Yes, he does. He likes coffee.
No, he doesn‟t. He doesn‟t
like coffee.
ELLs will want to say:
You like coffee?
Does he likes coffee?
Yes, I like. Yes, he likes. No, he doesn‟t likes.

46. Present Progressive



Also known as Present Continuous
BE + present participle (~ing form)
I am teaching. You are studying. He is thinking.
When do we use Present Progressive?
The main use of Present Progressive
is for things we are doing now.
We can also use it to talk about the future:
I‟m leaving for Georgia tomorrow.

47. Present Progressive
Questions
Questions with Question Words
Question Word + BE + noun/pronoun + verb~ing
What is he studying?
Where is she going?
Why are they eating there?
How are you feeling?

48. Present Progressive
Questions
Yes/No Questions
Be + noun/pronoun + verb~ing
 Are you working on the project?

NOTE:
Questions
that begin
with a
 Yes, I am. I am working on the project.
VERB
 No, I‟m not. I‟m not working on the project.
require a
Is Tom studying right now?
yes/no
 Yes, he is. He is studying right now.
answer!


No, he isn‟t. He isn‟t studying right now.
Are they coming tomorrow?
Yes, they are. They are coming tomorrow.
 No, they aren‟t. They aren‟t coming tomorrow.


49. Present Progressive
Problems
What is he doing? / What are you doing?
Very difficult for ELLs! They will want to answer with doing:
He is doing study. I am doing eat.
Question formation errors:
What he is studying?
Does he studying?
He is studying?
Overgeneralization:
I am work at UCF. He is works at Red Lobster.

50. Simple Past: BE

BE has two simple past forms: WAS and WERE
Conjugation:
I
He
She
It
You
We
They
was
was
was
was
were
were
were
I was in high school in 1995.
We were best friends.

51. Simple Past: Questions with
BE
Questions with Question Words:
How was your weekend?
Where were you yesterday?
Why was Tom late?
Yes/No Questions:
Were you in Kissimmee yesterday?
Yes, I was. / No, I wasn‟t.
Was Tom a good student in high school?
Yes, he was. / No, he wasn‟t.

52. Simple Past: Other Verbs
Typically verb+ed
 Tom visited his sister yesterday.
 I lived in Korea in 2010.
 We studied German in college.
When do we use the simple past?
We use the simple past if we know
WHEN something happened!

53. Simple Past: Questions
Questions with Question Words:
Question word + did + noun/pronoun + verb
Where did you live in 2001?
I lived in Tennessee.
What did Tom study in college?
Tom studied history.
What did you do
yesterday?
ELLs will want to
answer with “I did…”
ELLs will want to say:
Where did you lived? What did Tom studied?
Where you lived? Where Tom studied?
I did live in Tennessee. Tom did study history.

54. Simple Past: Irregular Verbs
English has MANY irregular verbs. Here are a few:
Verb
begin
break
come
do
drive
drink
eat
forget
give
Simple Past
began
broke
came
did
drove
drank
ate
forgot
gave
Verb
go
have
know
make
say
see
write
think
teach
Simple Past
went
had
knew
made
said
saw
wrote
thought
taught

55. Simple Past: Irregular Verbs

ELLs will often add ~ed to irregular verbs
 My
car breaked yesterday.
 My car broked yesterday.
 I drinked some juice.
 I dranked some juice.
NOTE: Teach simple past using REGULAR
verbs BEFORE introducing irregular verbs!

56. Simple Future: will
will + verb
I will go to Tampa next week.
We will eat spaghetti tonight.
Questions with Question Words:
Question word + will + noun/pronoun + verb
What will you wear to the party?
When will Tom propose to Susan?
ELLs will want to say: What you will wear to the party?

57. Simple Future: will
Yes/No Questions:
Will you go to Susan‟s wedding?
Yes, I will. / No, I won’t.
PROBLEM!
We don‟t really use „will‟ all that often.
We usually use the
present progressive or „going to‟ instead.
Present Progressive: Are you buying Susan a gift? I
am thinking about buying her a crockpot.

58. Future with Going To
BE + going to + verb
I am going to eat spaghetti for dinner.
He is going to visit me next week.
They are going to come over at 4:00.
How do we typically pronounce „going to‟?
Gonna!

59. Future with Going To
Questions with Question Words:
Question Word + BE + noun/pronoun + going to + verb
What are you going to study first?
What is she going to wear to the party?
Yes/No Questions:
BE + noun/pronoun + going to + verb
Are you going to eat that?
Yes, I am. No, I‟m not.

60. What is a Past Participle?
Many English verb tenses require the Past Participle.
With regular verbs, it‟s the same as the simple past:
Simple Past: walked, visited, studied
Past Participle: walked, visited, studied
With irregular verbs, sometimes the simple past and
the past participle are the same, but sometimes they‟re
different.
Same: had – had, said – said, made – made

61. What is a Past Participle?
Many irregular verbs have a completely different form
for the past participle!
go – went – gone
do – did – done
eat – ate – eaten
know – knew – known
see – saw – seen
be – was/were – been

62. Present Perfect
have/has + Past Participle
I have seen the new Star Trek movie.
She has been to Costa Rica.
They have eaten live octopus.
When do we use present perfect?
We use it for something that happened in the PAST,
but we don‟t know / don‟t specify WHEN.
I have been to Korea. I was there in 2010.
ELLs have a hard time deciding when to use which form.

63. Present Perfect Questions
Yes/No Questions – more common that Question Words
Have/has + noun/pronoun + past participle
Has she gone to China?
Yes, she has. She has gone to China.
No, she hasn‟t. She hasn‟t gone to China.
Have you eaten lobster?
Yes, I have. / No, I haven‟t.
With question words, more rhetorical:
What have you done? Where has it gone?

64. The Other Tenses

Past Progressive
Sometimes called Past Continuous
 was/were + verb~ing
 I was watching TV when you called.


Future Progressive
Sometimes called Future Continuous
 will + be + verb~ing
 At 4:00, I will be napping.


Past Perfect
had + past participle
 I had taken a sip before I realized the milk had spoiled.


65. The Other Tenses

Future Perfect
will have + past participle
 By 6:00 I will have finished my nap.


Present Perfect Progressive
Sometimes called Present Perfect Continuous
 have/has + been + verb~ing
 I have been grading papers for seven hours.


Past Perfect Progressive
Sometimes called Past Perfect Continuous
 had been + verb~ing
 I had been watching TV for an hour when you called.


66. The Other Tenses

Future Perfect Progressive
Sometimes called Future Perfect Continuous
 will have been + verb~ing
 By the time this PowerPoint is finished, I will have been
working on it for many hours!


67. Phrasal Verbs

A verb made of a combination of two or more words
Examples: cut off, look up, turn off, look after
 I cut off my jeans and made some cute shorts.
 She looked up the meaning in her dictionary.
 Turn off the lights when you leave the room.
 Can you look after my dog this weekend?


These are EXTREMELY difficult for ELLs!
Most other languages do NOT have phrasal verbs
 ELLs will translate the parts of the verb separately
 Phrasal verbs lack literal translations
 Phrasal verbs often have more than one meaning


68. Phrasal Verbs

Multiple meanings (polysemy)
I cut off my jeans to make some cute shorts.
 I was cut off by a guy in a red Camaro.


Verb inflections (endings) are added to the first part
 She cuts off her jeans
 He looked up the meaning
 ELLs may say „she cut offs her jeans‟ or „he look upped
the meaning‟

(Phrasal verbs CAN be used in all 12 tenses!)

69. Phrasal Verbs


Phrasal verbs can be Separable or Non-Separable
Separable phrasal verbs can be separated
I need you to fill out this form.
 I need you to fill this form out.
 Tom will pick up Susan at the airport.
 Tom will pick Susan up at the airport.


Non-Separable phrasal verbs can‟t be separated.
Can you look after my dog?
 You can count on me to help.
 I don‟t know how you put up with me.


70. Modal Verbs


would, could, should, can, might, may, must, ought to, had
better
modal + base form of the verb
ELLs will want to say:





I would like a soda. (I‟d like a Coke.) I would to like a soda.
I could pick you up if you want.
He could meets us.
He coulds meet us.
We should go together.
Tom might meet us there.
Negative = modal + not + verb



I can’t lift this!
You shouldn’t say that.
Susan might not be able to go.
ELLs will want to say:
I don‟t can lift this.
I no can lift this.
She doesn‟t should say…
She no should say…

71. Modal Verbs


Questions with Question Words
Question Word + modal + noun/pronoun + verb
What should I do?
 Where can I buy pink shoes?
 What might Tom do when he finds out?



Yes/No Questions
Modal + noun/pronoun + verb
Should I buy these pink shoes?
 Would you like to eat some candy?
 Can you babysit Sally tonight?


72. Modal Verbs & Present
Perfect

modal + have + past participle
I would have gone to the party, but I had to work.
 He shouldn‟t have eaten all those doughnuts.
 She might have taken it with her.


Often contracted: would‟ve, could‟ve, should‟ve

Common native speaker error: would of, could of

73. Modal Verbs & Present
Perfect




Questions with question words
Question word + noun/pronoun + have + past participle
 What would you have done?
 Where should we have gone?
Yes/No Questions
modal + noun/pronoun + have + past participle
Should we have eaten that?
 Would you have done the same for me?


74. What is an ADJECTIVE?

Adjective – a word that describes a noun or a
pronoun
Typically, we think of adjectives this way:
The black cat sat on the sunny deck and watched a
blue bird.
 HOWEVER, articles (a, an, the) are adjectives, too!
 The black cat sat on the sunny deck and watched a
blue bird.


Adjectives can be regular, comparative, or
superlative

Examples: short, shorter, shortest

75. Adjectives


Adjectives describe nouns or pronouns.
In English, adjectives come before the noun


A red bird sat on the mirror
of the blue car.
Adjectives answer the
following questions:
Which?
 How many?
 How much?
 What kind?


76. Adjectives

In some languages (such as Spanish),
adjectives change based on the number and
gender of the nouns they describe.
Una blusa blanc
Un gato blanco
Dos gatos blancos
Dos blusas blanca

77. Adjectives

In English, adjectives do not change based on
the number and gender of the nouns they
describe.
A white cat
A white blouse
Because of L1 interference, a
Spanish speaker might say
“I have two cats whites” or “I
am wearing a blouse white.”
Two white cats
Two white blouses

78. Articles are Adjectives!

a, an, and the are articles – a type of adjective!

a and an are called indefinite articles
Indefinite articles are used for non-specific things, or the
first time something is mentioned.
 I watched a movie last night.


We use a before nouns beginning with a consonant,
and an before nouns beginning with a vowel.

an apple, a banana

79. Articles are Adjectives!

the is called a definite article
Definite articles are used for specific things, or the
second time something is mentioned
 I watched a movie last night. The movie was really good.


Articles are VERY difficult for students whose L1 does not
use articles.

80. Comparative Adjectives



Comparative adjectives are used to compare two
things.
End in ~er
Often followed by „than‟




Susan is tall, but Tom is taller.
Tom is taller than Susan.
Tom is 51, and Susan is 43. Susan is younger than Tom.
Tom is older than Susan.
Age and height are good ways to demonstrate these
to your students.

81. Superlative Adjectives



Superlative adjectives are used to compare three or
more things
End in ~est
Usually preceded by „the‟ (unless using a possessive
adjective)




Tom is the tallest person I have ever met.
Susan is the shortest student in the class.
Sally is my youngest cousin.
Age and height are good ways to demonstrate these
to your students, too!

82. Possessive Adjectives

Don‟t forget possessive adjectives!
my, your, his, her, its, our, their

See slides 22-23


83. What is an ADVERB?


Adverb – a word that modifies a verb, an
adjective, or another adverb
Modifying a Verb:


Modifying an Adjective:


Gas prices rose sharply.
The profits were vastly lower this quarter.
Modifying an Adverb:

The prices rose incredibly fast.

84. Adverbs

Adverbs are used to describe verbs, adjectives or
other adverbs.

Often end in ~ly (but not always!)


Often and always are adverbs!
Adverbs answer the following questions:
How?
 When?
 Where?
 How often?
 To what degree?


85. Adverbs of Manner


Adverbs of manner tell how something happens
Adverbs of manner come after the main verb if there is no
direct object.



If there is a direct object, adverbs of manner come after the
direct object.




I ran quickly.
He worked hard.
She performed her work skillfully.
The cashier answered me rudely.
You know this subject very well.
ELLs will often have trouble with adverb placement:


The cashier answered rudely me.
You know very well this subject.

86. Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency tell how often something
happens

Common adverbs of frequency include:
always, usually, often, sometimes, seldom, rarely, an
d never


I always drive my car to work; I never ride the bus.
Adverbs of frequency come before main verbs but
after be, modals, or helping verbs.


Our class has always met in VAB 113.
I am often sleepy.

87. Adverbs of Degree

Adverbs of degree describe the intensity or strength
(or weakness) of an action

Some examples: almost, hardly, extremely, very

Usually come before an adjective or another adverb,
but sometimes come just before the verb.




I almost never eat seafood.
This box is extremely heavy!
ELLs will over-use very.
ELLs will confuse hard/hardly.

88. Prepositions
What do prepositions do?
Prepositions show the relationship between
a noun or pronoun and the rest of the sentence.
among under
next to
up
in
in front of
through
between
with
down
on
behind
ahead of

89. What is a
PREPOSITION?

Preposition – shows the relationship between a
noun (or a pronoun) and the rest of a sentence


This is not a helpful definition!
Types of prepositions include
Prepositions of Place (The mouse is in the box.)
 Prepositions of Time (It will start at 12:00.)
 Prepositions of Movement (I will walk from the park to
the store.)


90. Helpful
hint!
The squirrel ran up the tree. The squirrel ran down the tree.
The squirrel ran next to the tree. The squirrel ran through the trees.
The squirrel ran between the trees. The squirrel ran past the trees.
The squirrel ran into the tree. The squirrel ran under the tree.
* of and for are common prepositions that don‟t really work with the squirrel/tree

91. Teaching Prepositions of
Place
 What is a preposition of place?
 It tells you where something is:

The book is on the table.
 Use pictures! Mice are easier to draw than squirrels 

Move objects and students around the classroom.
The backpack is under the table.
 Susan is next to Tom.


92. Teaching at, on, & in
From: Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners by Keith S. Folse

93. Prepositions don‟t always
translate.
In English we say, “I am on the bus.”
In Russian, if you say “I am on the bus”
(“Я на автобусе”) this means “I am on
top of the bus”! (Russians actually say
“Я в автобусе” or “I am in the bus.”)
*L1 interference causes ELLs a lot of problems
with learning prepositions because they don‟t
translate well.

94. Other
Concerns:

Not all prepositions exist in all languages.
I
walked along the river yesterday.


Many languages don‟t have a word that means along!
Prepositions are often polysemous (they have more
than one meaning) – especially when used in idioms.




I got home just in time.
Don‟t beat around the bush.
I want to keep an eye on him.
Superman saved her at the last minute.

95. What is a
CONJUNCTION?

Conjunction – connects parts of a sentence (clauses) together

Conjunctions include:

coordinating conjunctions – for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
 FANBOYS

subordinating conjunctions – introduces a dependent
clause
 Includes words like after, because, if, since, unless

correlative conjunctions – transitional devices that
connect two main ideas
 Includes words like however, likewise, nonetheless

96. What is an
INTERJECTION?


Interjection – A word that expresses strong feeling
or emotion.
Examples:
Great!
 Exactly!
 What?!
 Awesome!
 Ouch!


97. The Apostrophe
We use the apostrophe for contractions:
I‟m a teacher.
We use apostrophes to show possession:
Jane‟s students.
We do NOT use apostrophes to show
plurality:
The two dog‟s were hungry.
The two dogs were hungry. 

98. Contractions

The shortened version of the written and spoken
forms of a word, created by the removal of a sound
or sounds, which are replaced by an apostrophe.
Examples:
can + not = can‟t
did + not = didn‟t
I + am = I‟m

99. Common Contractions
BE
I am = I‟m
he is = he‟s
he + has = he‟s
she + has = she‟s
she is = she‟s
it + has = it‟s
it is = it‟s
you are = you‟re
we are = we‟re
they are = they‟re
was not = wasn‟t
were not = weren‟t
will not = won‟t
Had or Would?
I + had
I + would
he + had
he + would
she + had
she + would
it + had
it + would
you + had
you + would
we + had
we + would
they + had
they + would
I‟d
he‟d
she‟d
it‟d
you‟d
we‟d
they‟d

100. Other Common
Contractions
can + not = can‟t
does + not = doesn‟t
ELL Errors:
do + not = don‟t
Are you hungry?
did + not = didn‟t
Yes, I‟m.
have + not = haven‟t
has + not = hasn‟t
Confusion between is/has contractions
Confusion between had/would contractions
had + not = hadn‟t
Confusion between were and we‟re
I + will = I‟ll
I + have = I‟ve
might + have = might‟ve
would + have = would‟ve

101. Possession
’
This is Jane s cat, Charlie.
’
This is Charlie s moustache.

102. Possession
The student’s book.
(One student has a book.)
The students’ book.
(Two or more students
have a book.)

103. Possession
The puppy’s food bowl.
The puppies’ food bowl.

104. Possession
’
The bird s feathers are red.
It?
’
It s feathers – or – Its feathers
?

105. What‟s the problem?

106. Acronyms & Apostrophes
English Language Learner = ELL
The ELL‟s textbook
The ELLs‟ textbook
Jane and her ELLs

107. An Excellent Resource:
This book is an amazing resource for
EFL/ESL teachers, and it also helped
me put this presentation together. I
highly recommend it to all EFL/ESL
teachers, especially those who are just
starting out and who have never
taught English grammar before. It can
be purchased here:
http://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Grammar-English-Language-Learners/dp/0472032208/