Essential English Grammar Points

Fundamental English Grammar Notes

Basic Verbs and Modals

• To Be: Ser/Estar
• To Have: Tener
• Can: Poder (ability)
• Must: Deber (obligation, strong deduction) + Base Verb
• May: Poder (permission, possibility)

Quantifiers

• Few / Many: Used with countable nouns
• Little / Much: Used with uncountable nouns

Time Prepositions (Since/For)

• Since: Used for a point in time (e.g., since 1970)
• For: Used for a duration (e.g., for 3 hours)

Determiners and Demonstratives

• Some: Used in affirmative sentences
• Any: Used in negative sentences and questions
• No: Used with a noun (e.g., I have no money)
• This: Este/Esta (singular, near)
• These: Estos/Estas (plural, near)
• That: Ese/Esa/Aquel/Aquella (singular, far)
• Those: Esos/Esas/Aquellos/Aquellas (plural, far)

Auxiliary Verbs (Do/Does/Did)

• Do / Does / Did: Used as a main verb ('hacer') or as auxiliaries for questions and negatives. Always followed by the base form of the main verb (infinitive without 'to').

Prepositions of Time and Place (At/In/On)

• At: Specific times (at 3 o'clock), specific places (at school, at the corner), certain expressions (at night)
• In: Months, years (in 1976), seasons (in winter), parts of the day (in the morning/afternoon/evening), countries, cities, enclosed spaces
• On: Days of the week (on Thursday), dates (on May 5th), specific holidays with 'Day' (on Easter Day), surfaces (on the table), floors (on the second floor), streets (on the corner - street context)

Comparatives and Superlatives

• -er: Comparative ending for short adjectives (e.g., taller)
• -est: Superlative ending for short adjectives (e.g., tallest)
• More: Comparative for longer adjectives (e.g., more beautiful)
• The Most: Superlative for longer adjectives (e.g., the most beautiful)

Conditionals

• Would: Used for the conditional tense (e.g., I would go)
• Would Have: Used for the conditional perfect tense (e.g., I would have gone)

Articles (A/An)

• A: Indefinite article, used before singular countable nouns starting with a consonant sound (e.g., a teacher, a university). Used for professions, religions, ideologies.
• An: Indefinite article, used before singular countable nouns starting with a vowel sound (e.g., an apple, an honest man).

Verb Forms After Prepositions

• After most prepositions (including of), the following verb is in the -ing form (gerund) (e.g., of saying, interested in learning).

Too

• Too: Means 'excessively' (demasiado) or 'also' (también).

There Is / There Are

• There is: Used for singular nouns (e.g., There is a book).
• There are: Used for plural nouns (e.g., There are two books).

English Verb Tenses

Present Simple

• Usage: Habits, routines, facts, schedules.
• Affirmative: Subject + Base Verb (add -s/-es for 3rd person singular: he, she, it). Add -es to verbs ending in -o, -sh, -ch, -ss, -x, -z.
• Negative: Subject + do/does + not + Base Verb. (Use 'does' for 3rd person singular).
• Interrogative: Do/Does + Subject + Base Verb? (Use 'Does' for 3rd person singular).

Present Continuous

• Usage: Actions happening now, temporary actions, planned future events.
• Affirmative: Subject + am/is/are + Verb + -ing.
• Negative: Subject + am/is/are + not + Verb + -ing.
• Interrogative: Am/Is/Are + Subject + Verb + -ing?

Past Simple

• Usage: Completed actions in the past.
• Form: Regular verbs add -ed or -d. Irregular verbs use the 2nd column of the list.
• Affirmative: Subject + Verb (-ed or 2nd column).
• Negative: Subject + did + not + Base Verb.
• Interrogative: Did + Subject + Base Verb?

Past Continuous

• Usage: Actions ongoing at a specific time in the past, simultaneous past actions, descriptions.
• Affirmative: Subject + was/were + Verb + -ing.
• Negative: Subject + was/were + not + Verb + -ing.
• Interrogative: Was/Were + Subject + Verb + -ing?

Present Perfect

• Usage: Actions completed at an unspecified time in the past, actions that started in the past and continue to the present, experiences.
• Form: Regular verbs add -ed. Irregular verbs use the 3rd column (Past Participle).
• Affirmative: Subject + have/has + Past Participle (3rd column).
• Negative: Subject + have/has + not + Past Participle.
• Interrogative: Have/Has + Subject + Past Participle?

Present Perfect Continuous

• Usage: Actions that started in the past and continue up to the present, or actions that have recently finished and have a result in the present.
• Affirmative: Subject + have/has + been + Verb + -ing.
• Negative: Subject + have/has + not + been + Verb + -ing.
• Interrogative: Have/Has + Subject + been + Verb + -ing?

Past Perfect

• Usage: Actions completed before another action or time in the past.
• Form: Subject + had + Past Participle (3rd column).
• Affirmative: Subject + had + Past Participle.
• Negative: Subject + had + not + Past Participle.
• Interrogative: Had + Subject + Past Participle?

Past Perfect Continuous

• Usage: Actions that continued up to a specific moment in the past.
• Form: Subject + had + been + Verb + -ing.
• Affirmative: Subject + had + been + Verb + -ing.
• Negative: Subject + had + not + been + Verb + -ing.
• Interrogative: Had + Subject + been + Verb + -ing?

Future Simple (Will)

• Usage: Predictions, promises, spontaneous decisions, offers, requests, refusals.
• Form: Subject + will + Base Verb.
• Affirmative: Subject + will + Base Verb.
• Negative: Subject + will + not (won't) + Base Verb.
• Interrogative: Will + Subject + Base Verb?

Future Continuous

• Usage: Actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future.
• Affirmative: Subject + will be + Verb + -ing.
• Negative: Subject + will not (won't) be + Verb + -ing.
• Interrogative: Will + Subject + be + Verb + -ing?

Future Perfect

• Usage: Actions that will be completed before a specific time in the future.
• Affirmative: Subject + will have + Past Participle (3rd column).
• Negative: Subject + will not (won't) have + Past Participle.
• Interrogative: Will + Subject + have + Past Participle?