important rules of English grammar

Here are some of the best and most important rules of English grammar:

1. Every sentence must have a subject and a verb:

o Correct: She plays the guitar.

o Incorrect: Playing the guitar.

2. Use the correct verb tense:

o Present: I go to school.

o Past: I went to school.

o Future: I will go to school.

3. Subject and verb must agree in number:

o Singular: He is my friend.

o Plural: They are my friends.

4. Adjectives describe nouns; adverbs describe verbs:

o Adjective: He is a fast runner.

o Adverb: He runs fast.

5. Use the right article (a, an, the):

o A — used before words starting with consonant sounds (a car)

o An — used before words starting with vowel sounds (an apple)

o The — used for specific things (the sun)

6. Don’t mix up their, there, and they’re:

o Their — shows possession (Their house)

o There — shows a place (He is there)

o They’re — contraction of they are (They’re coming)

7. Use proper punctuation:

o Full stop/period (.) — ends a statement

o Question mark (?) — ends a question

o Comma (,) — separates ideas in a sentence

8. Capitalize proper nouns and the first word of a sentence:

o John lives in India.

o I am learning English.

9. Use the correct preposition:

o In — used for months, years, cities (In July, in Delhi)

o On — used for days, dates (On Monday, on 5th March)

o At — used for time, specific locations (At 5 pm, at home)

10. Avoid double negatives:

o Incorrect: I don’t know nothing.

o Correct: I don’t know anything.

11. Use the correct order of adjectives:
When using multiple adjectives, follow this order:

Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Color → Origin → Material → Purpose
Example: A beautiful small old round black Italian leather bag

12. Don’t confuse ‘its’ and ‘it’s’:

Its — shows possession (The dog wagged its tail)
It’s — contraction of it is or it has (It’s raining)

13. Use the right form of comparatives and superlatives:

Small → Smaller → Smallest
Beautiful → More beautiful → Most beautiful

14. Know the difference between countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable: apple, book, chair → Use many, a few (I have many books)
Uncountable: water, sugar, information → Use much, a little (There is much water)

15. Don’t forget to use articles (a, an, the):

A and An — for general things (I saw a movie)
The — for specific things (The movie was great)

16. Use correct question formation:

Do you like pizza? (Not: You like pizza?)
Where does she live? (Not: Where she lives?)

17. Avoid sentence fragments:

Incorrect: Because I was tired.
Correct: I went to bed early because I was tired.

18. Don’t confuse “too,” “to,” and “two”:

Too — means “also” or “excessively” (I am too tired)
To — a preposition (I’m going to the market)
Two — the number 2 (I have two dogs)

19. Use the right tense in conditional sentences:

If I study, I will pass. (First conditional)
If I studied, I would pass. (Second conditional)
If I had studied, I would have passed. (Third conditional)

20. Be careful with word order in sentences:

Subject → Verb → Object (She writes a letter)
Adverbs usually come after the verb (He speaks clearly)

21. Avoid run-on sentences:

Incorrect: I went to the store I bought bread.
Correct: I went to the store, and I bought bread.

22. Use correct possessive forms:

Singular: John’s book
Plural: The students’ classroom

23. Distinguish between “who,” “whom,” and “whose”:

Who — subject (Who is calling?)
Whom — object (Whom did you meet?)
Whose — possession (Whose bag is this?)

24. Pay attention to modal verbs (can, could, should, would, may, might, must):

Can — ability (I can swim)
May — permission (May I come in?)
Must — necessity (You must wear a seatbelt)

25. Use proper pronoun agreement:

Singular: Everyone should bring his or her book.
Plural: They should bring their books.

Avoid misplaced and dangling modifiers:

Misplaced: She almost drove her kids to school every day. (Did she almost drive or almost take the kids?)
Correct: She drove her kids to school almost every day.

Use parallel structure in lists and comparisons:

Incorrect: I like swimming, to run, and hiking.
Correct: I like swimming, running, and hiking.

Don’t confuse “affect” and “effect”:

Affect — verb (The weather affects my mood.)
Effect — noun (The medicine had a good effect.)

Use proper conjunctions:

Coordinating: and, but, or, so (I was tired, but I finished my work.)
Subordinating: because, although, if, when (Although it was raining, we went outside.)

Use correct forms of pronouns in comparisons:

Incorrect: She is taller than me.
Correct: She is taller than I am.

Be careful with homophones (words that sound the same but have different meanings):

Your vs. You’re — (Your book / You’re late)
There vs. Their vs. They’re — (He is there / Their house / They’re coming)

Distinguish between “few” and “a few” / “little” and “a little”:

Few (negative) — We have few options left. (Almost none)
A few (positive) — We have a few good ideas. (Some)
Little (negative) — There is little hope. (Almost none)
A little (positive) — There is a little sugar left. (Some)

Use the right prepositions with time expressions:

At — exact time (At 5 pm)
On — specific days and dates (On Monday, On March 6)
In — months, years, and longer periods (In July, In 2025)

Don’t overuse the passive voice:

Passive: The book was read by John. (Less direct)
Active: John read the book. (More clear and direct)

Use proper conditional forms:

Zero conditional (facts): If water freezes, it turns to ice.
First conditional (real possibility): If it rains, we will stay home.
Second conditional (unlikely): If I won the lottery, I would travel.
Third conditional (past, impossible): If I had studied, I would have passed.

Avoid redundancy and wordiness:

Wordy: She returned back home. (Returned already means “back”)
Correct: She returned home.

Know when to use “which” vs. “that”:

That — for essential information (The book that I borrowed is interesting.)
Which — for non-essential info (The book, which I borrowed, is interesting.)

Be careful with “who’s” and “whose”:

Who’s — contraction of who is (Who’s coming?)
Whose — shows possession (Whose bag is this?)

Use the right question tags:

Positive statement → Negative tag: You’re coming, aren’t you?
Negative statement → Positive tag: She isn’t ready, is she?

Avoid comma splices:

Incorrect: I am tired, I want to sleep.
Correct: I am tired, so I want to sleep. OR I am tired. I want to sleep. Place adverbs correctly:

Incorrect: He only eats vegetables. (Does he only eat, or eat only vegetables?)
Correct: He eats only vegetables.

Distinguish between “much” and “many”:

Much — uncountable nouns (There isn’t much water.)
Many — countable nouns (There are many books.)

Avoid overusing “very” and “really” — choose stronger words:

Instead of very tired → Exhausted
Instead of really big → Enormous

Know when to use gerunds (-ing) and infinitives (to + verb):

Gerund: I enjoy swimming.
Infinitive: I want to swim.

Use the correct form of reflexive pronouns:

Myself, Yourself, Himself, Herself, Ourselves, Themselves
Correct: I did it myself.
Incorrect: Me did it myself.

Don’t forget plural forms of irregular nouns:

Child → Children
Foot → Feet
Mouse → Mice

Use “so” and “such” correctly:

So + adjective: The movie was so good.
Such + noun phrase: It was such a good movie.

Avoid splitting infinitives when possible:

Incorrect: She decided to quickly leave.
Correct: She decided to leave quickly.

Use the right form of “lay” and “lie”:

Lay — requires an object (I lay the book on the table.)
Lie — no object needed (I lie down.)

Avoid using double comparatives and superlatives:

Incorrect: This is more better.
Correct: This is better.

1. Parts of Speech:

Noun: person, place, thing, idea (dog, India, happiness)
Pronoun: replaces a noun (he, she, it, they)
Verb: action or state of being (run, is, think)
Adjective: describes a noun (beautiful, fast, red)
Adverb: describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb (quickly, very, well)
Preposition: shows relation (in, on, at, between)
Conjunction: joins words or sentences (and, but, because)
Interjection: expresses emotion (wow!, oh!, ouch!)

2. Articles:

Definite Article: the (specific)
Indefinite Articles: a, an (general)

3. Tenses:

Present Tense: (I eat)
Past Tense: (I ate)
Future Tense: (I will eat)
Perfect Tenses: (I have eaten, I had eaten, I will have eaten)
Continuous/Progressive Tenses: (I am eating, I was eating, I will be eating)

4. Modal Verbs:

Can, Could, May, Might, Shall, Should, Will, Would, Must, Ought to

5. Helping/Auxiliary Verbs:

Be, Have, Do (used to form tenses, questions, negatives)

6. Question Words:

Who, What, When, Where, Why, How, Which, Whose

7. Conditionals:

Zero Conditional: facts (If water freezes, it turns to ice.)
First Conditional: real possibility (If it rains, I will stay home.)
Second Conditional: hypothetical (If I were you, I would study.)
Third Conditional: past situations (If I had studied, I would have passed.)

8. Punctuation:

Period (.)
Comma (,)
Question mark (?)
Exclamation mark (!)
Colon (:)
Semicolon (;)
Apostrophe (’)
Quotation marks (“ ”)
Hyphen (-)
Dash (—)

9. Clauses:

Independent Clause: complete sentence (I went home.)
Dependent/Subordinate Clause: incomplete sentence (Because it was raining…)

10. Phrases:

Noun Phrase (The big black dog)
Verb Phrase (is running fast)
Prepositional Phrase (on the table)

11. Degrees of Comparison:

Positive (fast)
Comparative (faster)
Superlative (fastest)

12. Voice:

Active Voice (She wrote the letter.)
Passive Voice (The letter was written by her.)

13. Direct and Indirect Speech:

Direct Speech (He said, "I am tired.")
Indirect Speech (He said that he was tired.)

14. Prefixes and Suffixes:

Prefix: added before a word (un-, re-, dis-)
Suffix: added after a word (-ing, -ed, -ly)

15. Common Conjunctions:

Coordinating: and, but, or, so, yet
Subordinating: because, although, if, when, since

16. Common Prepositions:

In, On, At, By, With, For, About, Between, Over, Under

17. Determiners:

This, That, These, Those
Some, Any, Much, Many
My, Your, His, Her, Our, Their

18. Types of Sentences:

Declarative: statement (I like pizza.)
Interrogative: question (Do you like pizza?)
Imperative: command/request (Please sit down.)
Exclamatory: strong emotion (What a beautiful day!)

19. Gerunds and Infinitives:

Gerund: -ing form used as a noun (Swimming is fun.)
Infinitive: to + verb (I want to swim.)

20. Collocations:

Words that often go together (make a decision, take a break)

21. Idioms and Phrases:

Break the ice (start a conversation)
Once in a blue moon (rarely)

22. Common Confusing Words:

Their, There, They’re
Your, You’re
Its, It’s

23. Quantifiers:

A lot of, Much, Many, Some, Few, Little

24. Contractions:

I’m, You’re, They’ve, It’s

25. Synonyms and Antonyms:

Synonyms: words with similar meanings (happy, joyful)
Antonyms: words with opposite meanings (hot, cold)

26. Linking Words/Connectors:

Adding: Moreover, Also, Furthermore
Contrasting: However, But, On the other hand
Cause and Effect: Because, Therefore, So

27. Reported Speech Keywords:

Said, Told, Asked, Advised, Suggested

28. Time Expressions:

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
Last week, Next month, In the morning

29. Frequency Adverbs:

Always, Usually, Sometimes, Rarely, Never

30. Intensifiers:

Very, Really, So, Extremely

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Milan Tomic

Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.