GRAMMAR UNDERSTANDING

Simple Tenses: Present - Past - Future

There are a number of tenses in English grammar. However among them, there are some basic tenses
which can be developed into other tenses. They are Simple Present Tense, Simple Past Tense, and Simple
Future Tense. Since they involve sentences, the structure remains following the basic rule of a sentence
construction.
A Simple Present Tense
To demonstrate an event that used to happen or related to Habitual Actions
Functions:
1 Permanent states
is talking about things that are always, generally true.
- I live in Jember
2 General truth (facts)
- A week has seven days
- The sun rises in the east
- The sun shines by day, and the moon by night
3 Routines / habits
is talking about things you do regularly, all the time.
- I go to school everyday
- He usually eats an egg for breakfast

Time Signals (Adverb of Frequency)

Always : selalu Once a week : sekali seminggu

Generally : biasanya Normally : biasanya
Often : sering Usually : biasanya
Regularly : secara tetap Sometimes : kadang-kadang
Seldom : jarang Frequently : sering
Now & then : kadang-kadang Everyday : setiap hari
 Affirmative (Positive) Form (+)
Subject Verb Examples
I, You, We, They Infinitive I love you
He, She, It Infinitive s/es She learns her lessons

Negative Form (-)

Subject Verb Examples
I, You, We, They Do + not + infinitive I dont believe you
He, She, It Does + not + infinitive It doesnt work

Interrogative Form (?)

Subject Verb Examples
Do I, You, We, They Infinitive Do they need the book?
Does He, She, It Does she know who am I?

The spelling rules for He, She, and It

Verb Rule Examples
Most verbs Add s - The office opens at 8 oclock
- The class starts at 9 a.m
Ends in a consonant + y Change y to ies - The baby cries very loudly
- The bird flies in the sky
Ends in ch, sh, s, x, z Add es - Mr. Diawara teaches English at Language
Centre
- She wishes to have a new car
Do and go Add es - My sister goes to school everyday
- Rina does all her homework
have has - She has dinner at 8 p.m
- She has brother and sister

B Simple Past Tense

To demonstrate a past event.
Functions:
1 A finished single action in the past
- I got scholarship last year
- The movie started at 7.30 p.m
2 A finished state in the past
- Dian lived in a small town
- Bima had a bad score
3 A repeated action in the past
- Novi always studied English on Monday
- She went to school everyday

When we use the past simple, we often say the time of the action: in 1960, at 7.30, on Monday.
Time Signals (Adverb of Frequency)
Yesterday : kemarin
Last night : semalam, tadi malam
Last week : minggu yang lalu
A few minutes ago : beberapa menit yang lalu
Two days ago : dua hari yang lalu
A month ago : sebulan yang lalu
In 1976 : pada tahun 1976
 Affirmative (Positive) Form (+)
Subject Verb Examples
I, You, We, They Past Tense I saw the car of my brother
He, She, It

Negative Form (-)

Subject Verb Examples
I, You, We, They Did + not + infinitive We did not call him
He, She, It

Interrogative Form (?)

Subject Verb Examples
Did I, You, We, They Infinitive Did you see my cat?
He, She, It

Past Simple: Regular and Irregular Verb

1 Regular Verbs
Usually we add d / ed to the verb
The spelling rules for d / ed
Verb Rule Examples
Ends in e Add d - She lived in Jember
e.g: live
Ends in a consonant + vowel + Double the final - He stopped working at 5.30 p.m
consonant consonant
e.g: stop
Ends in consonant + y Change y to ied - I copied some articles
e.g : copy

2 Irregular Verbs
have no regular pattern
Many common verbs have an irregular past form:
e.g:
go went
have had
meet met
get got
feel felt
eat ate

C Simple Future Tense

To demonstrate future actions.
Functions:
1 A future actions
- He will post the letter
- I shall go to Malang tomorrow
2 A future appointment
- He will meet you by ten
- She will help you with your homework tomorrow
3 To show a signal
- Rani will give you a good dictionary if you go with him

Time Signals (Adverb of Frequency)

Tomorrow : besok
Tonight : malam ini
1 The time signals in present continuous can also be used in future tense
 e.g: next month : bulan depan
2 Temporal conjunction (kata sambung yang bersifat sementara)
If : jika
When / while : ketika
Before : sebelum
After : sesudah
As soon as : segera sesudah
Till / untill : hingga, sampai
after all of this temporal conjunctions the following sentence will be written without shall /
will

Affirmative (Positive Form) (+)

Subject Verb
I, we Will / shall + infinitive
You, They, He, She, It Will + infinitive

Negative Form (-)

Subject Verb
I, we Will / shall +not + infinitive
You, They, He, She, It Will +not(wont)+ infinitive

Interrogative Form (?)

Subject Verb
Will / shall I, we Infinitive
will You, They, He, She, It

Future intentions
besides the formula above future tenses can use to be + going + to + infinitive

We use to be + going + to + infinitive when we are talking about our plans or intentions
- We are going to study English next summer.
- Alice is not going to have a party this year.

(+) Im
(-) Im not Going to Infinitive
(?) Am I

The Active and Passive voices

Active Voice

In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action denoted by the verb.

These examples show that the subject is doing the verb's action.

Example: The man must have eaten five hamburgers > The man (subject) is doing the eating
(verb)

Example: Marylin mailed the letter > The Marylin (subject) is doing the mailing (verb)

Example: Colorfull Parrots live in the forest > The Parrots (subject) is doing the living (verb)
Because the subject does or "acts upon" the verb in such sentences, the sentences are said to be in the
active voice.

Passive Voice

One can change the normal word order of many active sentences (those with a direct object) so that the
subject is no longer active, but is, instead, being acted upon by the verb - or passive.

Note in these examples how the subject-verb relationship has changed.

Example: Five hamburgers must have been eaten by the man > Hamburgers (subject) are being
eaten (verb)

Example: The letter was mailed by Marylin > Letter (subject) is being mailed (verb)

Example: Colorfull Parrots live in the forest > The Parrots (subject) is doing the living (verb)

NOTE: Colorful parrots live in the rainforests cannot be changed to passive voice because the sentence
does not have a direct object.

To be + Past Participle (V3)

Exercises

i. Make into the passive voice these following sentences

1_She sings a song

2_She sang a song

3_Dina can make tarts

4_We give him a prize

5_We gave him a prize

6_They elect him as a president

7_ They elected him as a president

8_The electricians test the fire alarm.

9_The electricians tested the fire alarm.


10_The teacher closes the window.

11_The teacher will close the window.

12_The girls can play handball.

13_ They develop a new type of washing machine.

14_ They will develop a new type of washing machine.

15_ They can develop a new type of washing machine.

16_ Ridwan told Rizal to give up smoking

ii. Rewrite these sentences in ACTIVE voice

1_The telephone is invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

2_The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

3_Coffee is sold by Marie.

4_Coffee was sold by Marie.

5_ The computer is used by Patrick.

6_ The computer was used by Patrick.

7_ Letters are written by the students.

8_Letters were written by the students.

9_ Lots of houses were destroyed

10_ Lots of houses will be destroyed



11_ Lots of houses are destroyed

12_We were expected to build the road

13_ We will be expected to build the road

14_We are expected to build the road

ADJECTIVES and ADVERBS

Adjectives are words that are used to modify (identify, describe or limit) a noun. Adverbs are words that
are used to modify the meaning of a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
1) ADJECTIVES - used to describe the condition of subjects.
Examples:
The time they had together was short.
He took all reasonable measures to mitigate the loss.
a) Comparison Adjectives Though there are some unmodified adjectives that are used for
comparisons (i.e. best, better) many adjectives form the comparative of persons or things by
adding er or est to the word or by prefixing the adjective with words such as: more, most,
less, or least.
Comparison Adjective examples:

John is the best athlete on the team.

Last years crop grew higher than this years.
Her new car is better than that old one she drove.
He was the greatest boss I ever had.
My utilities are less expensive than yours.
By far, he is the most successful salesperson in the company.

b) Proper Adjectives are descriptive adjectives derived from proper nouns. Capitalize proper
adjectives.
Examples:

American history
French cuisine

c) Senses verbs need adjectives: (look, smell, taste, feel, sound) - these adjectives indicate
the quality or condition of the subject through the senses.
Examples:

His eyes always look cheerful.

This food tastes delicious.
The flowers smell nice.

2) ADVERBS are used to explain the actions of verbs.

Examples:

The siren sounded loudly, waking the troops.

She waited by the telephone patiently.
a) Placement of Adverbs An adverb should be placed as near as possible to the word it
modifies as the position of it affects the meaning of the sentence.
Examples:

John only nominated Bates for chairman. (...meaning he didnt vote for him)
John nominated only Bates for chairman (...meaning he didnt nominate anyone else)
b) Unnecessary Adverbs should be avoided.
Examples:

He asked her to repeat it. (not repeat it again)

They returned home. (not returned back home)
We will divide the proceeds at the end. (not divide up the proceeds)
Some words have the same form whether they are used as adjectives or adverbs.
Examples:

(Adjective) - That is a fast speedboat.

(Adverb) - He stood up so fast he knocked his chair over.
(Adjective) - The ground was hard like a rock.
(Adverb) - They all worked hard to meet the project deadline.
Some words have two forms and can be used as adjectives or adverbs.
Examples:

(Adjective) - His instructions were clear to us all.

(Adverb) - She clearly understood the instructions.
(Adjective) - She is a slow driver.
(Adverb) - Please go slow around that curve.
(Adverb) - He drove slowly up the hill.
Preposition

Preposition is a word that shows the connection between noun and pronoun with another word in one
sentence. The word could be adjective, noun, and verb. The following are frequently used preposition in
English:
about above across after against
along among around at before
behind below beside besides between
by despite down during for
from in into like near
next to of off on out
over since through till to
toward(s) under until up upon
with within without

Here are some examples of prepositions in sentences:

About (tentang, kira-kira)

Examples:
I tell him about my secret
She has gone about two years

For (untuk)
Examples:
This book is for you
Maybe the present is for him

After (setelah,seperti)
Examples:
I will come back after finishing this job
She is named after her grandmother

From (dari, mulai, sejak)

Examples:
I come from Surabaya
He has built his house from April 7th

To (untuk, ke, kurang, hingga)

Examples:
Happy birthday to you
I will go to market
It is seven to ten
We leave t six to six
Our room is from the right to the left corner

Into (ke dalam, menjadi, sampai)

Examples:
He translates English into Indonesia
I divide my rooms into five rooms
My father will go into town
With (dengan, serta, pakai, bersama)
Examples:
I will shot the snake with my gun
I always go to school with Ani

By (oleh, dengan, dari)

Examples:
The book is bought by Ali
I go to Surabaya by bus

Of (dari, kurang, akan, karena, untuk, tentang)

Examples:
I leave the airport at a quarter to six
I have special hour of prayer
Article
An article is a word that is used with a noun to indicate the type of reference being made by the
noun. Articles specify grammatical definiteness of the noun, in some languages extending to volume or
numerical scope. The articles in the English language are the and a/an, and (in certain contexts) some.
"An" and "a" are modern forms of the Old English "an", which in Anglian dialects was the number "one"
as an indefinite article.

Article is divided into two; definite and indefinite articles:

Definite Article:
A definite article indicates that its noun is a particular one which is identifiable to the listener. It may be
something that the speaker has already mentioned, or it may be something uniquely specified. The
definite article in English, for both singular and plural nouns, is the.
Example:
The children know the fastest way home.

The sentence above refers to specific children and a specific way home; it contrasts with the much more
general observation that:
Example:
Children know the fastest ways home.

The latter sentence refers to children in general and their specific ways home. Likewise,
Example:
Give me the book.
refers to a specific book whose identity is known or obvious to the listener; as such it has a markedly
different meaning from
Example:
Give me a book.
which uses an indefinite article, which does not specify what book is to be given.

The definite article can also be used in English to indicate a specific class among other classes:
Example:
The cabbage white butterfly lays its eggs on members of the Brassica genus.

Indefinite Article:
An indefinite article indicates that its noun is not a particular one (or ones) identifiable to the listener. It
may be something that the speaker is mentioning for the first time, or its precise identity may be
irrelevant or hypothetical, or the speaker may be making a general statement about any such thing.
English uses a/an, from the Old English forms of the number "one", as its primary indefinite article. The
form an is used before words that begin with a vowel sound (even if spelled with an initial consonant, as
in an hour), and a before words that begin with a consonant sound (even if spelled with a vowel, as in a
European).
Example:
She had a house so large that an elephant would get lost without a map.