Improveyour English

Improve Your English Grammar Team# 3
Does grammar confuse you? Here are four steps to learning any English grammar rule or principle.
Video transcript
Let’s imaginethat John wants to learn the grammar principles of past-tense verbs. How should he learn the past tense? The same way that you can improve your grammar.
1. Read and listen toexamples.
In an online video, John sees and hears the sentence, “Amy washed the dishes last night.”
John looks at the form of the past tense. He knows the verb wash, buthe sees that washed has two more letters on the end of the word.
He tries to guess the use of the past tense. The sentence says that this happened “last night.”
2. Learnthe grammar rule.
The teacher in the video explains that most past-tense verbs end with the letters -ed. John tells himself, “That’s why the word washed has two moreletters.”
The teacher also explains that English speakers use the past tense for actions that have finished. John tells himself, “That’s why the sentence says, ‘Amy washed thedishes last night.’” The activity is done. It’s over.
3. Find examples of the grammar principle.
When John reads sentences in a list or in a paragraph, he points outexamples of the past tense. He says, “These are past-tense verbs and these verbs are present tense or something else.”
4. Use examples of the grammar principle.
John usesthe past tense while he writes a story or tells someone else a story.
So John has listened to examples of the grammar. He has also heard the grammar rule. Then he foundexamples, and he used the grammar in his own English communication.
The result? John has improved his grammar.
If you follow these steps, you also can improve your grammar.