Do you need to take English grammar lessons to learn English? No. Children learn a language with no formal lessons at all. They listen (a lot) and then start speaking, a little at a time. If you are just beginning to study English, don’t start with grammar terms.  

First listen to some basic conversations and learn some simple phrases. Listen and practice as much as you can. You will begin to understand the basics of English even without formal study.

Too much emphasis on grammar in the beginning may even make it harder to speak fluently. Thinking too much about what’s correct makes it more difficult to express your thoughts.

Instead, try to think in English. The best way to gain fluency and understanding is to listen a lot, read a lot, and speak freely. Don’t worry about perfect grammar.

If you have never taken a class in English, you might start studying online by listening. There are useful basic English conversations in Randall's ESL Listening Lab. You could also try a website that teaches English using your first language. (For Spanish-speakers, try Pumarosa. My beginning students found it helpful.)

So Why Study Grammar?

Questions? Grammar answers them.

As your English improves, you do need to understand how English works. Then English grammar lessons or review can help you understand more and express yourself more clearly.

You'll learn how sentences are organized.  You'll find the grammatical clues to answer your questions:

• Sentence order, nouns & verbs tell you WHAT happened & WHO did it. 

• Tense tells you WHEN. 

• As for HOW, WHERE, & WHY, you’ll have to read on to find out… 

Grammar Basics:
Who, What, When, Where, How, & Why

Grammar is the structure of a language: the way words work together. In this section, we will look at English grammar lessons on Parts of Speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.). English Nouns, English Pronouns, and English Verbs give more detailed explanations.

Nouns answer WHO did something, and to whom they did it. Verbs tell you WHAT they did. (In English, sentence structure is also essential for making it the who & what clear.) Adverbs tell you HOW, and adjectives give more details. Prepositions clarify WHERE and WHEN.

English Sentence Structure, Negative Sentences, Question Formation, Compound Sentences, and Complex Sentences, explain how to form sentences in English. Complex sentences (especially those using adverb clauses), modal verbs, and transition words can help us answer 'WHY?' They explain the relationships between ideas.

See Subject-verb Agreement for practice with this important grammar point. Even English speakers sometimes have trouble making their subjects and verbs agree. Understanding it can help make your writing clearer.

The Challenge of English Verb Forms

Learning English verbs (especially the past tenses) takes time! There are so many related tenses and modal verbs, and each changes the meaning of a sentence. There are also many irregular verbs in the past tense. At least English verb conjugations are simple compared to many languages.

For most verbs, you only need to learn five closely-related forms: 

• the base form (for the simple present tense, or add 'to' to form infinitives), 
• the third person singular present, 
• the present participle (for continuous tenses), 
• the simple past, 
• and the past participle (for the perfect tenses.) 

All the tenses and moods are made using these five forms and various helping (auxiliary) verbs.

Thus, for example, the five forms of the verb to live are:

live, lives, living, lived, and lived.

For the verb to do :

do, does, doing, did, done.

The verb to be is the most useful and most difficult. (Note that its infinitive (and what you might call its base form, 'be,' is not the same as its present tense plural form.) It is the only English verb with three forms in the present:

(I) am, (you, we, or they) are, and (he, she, or it) is (3rd person singular.)

'To be' has two forms in the past, unlike any other English verb:

(I, he, she, or it) was,

and (you, we, or they) were.

The present and past participles of ‘to be’ are simple: being and been.

For more information on the present, past, and future of verbs, see English Verb Tenses. (The present and past participles can also sometimes be used as nouns or adjectives. English parts of speech can be very flexible!)

Practice English Grammar

To practice with verbs (as well as other grammar) see Grammar Practice. For Modal Verbs, see Modal Verbs, Modals Practice, Using Helping Verbs to Give Advice, and Practice Giving Advice, as well as Adverb Clause & Complex Sentence Practice.

Don't get discouraged! With a little practice (and a lot of listening and reading), English grammar will begin to feel natural to you.

Where to Start?

Still not sure where to start? Try English Sentence Structure, Negative Sentences, or Question Formation.

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Learn irregular verbs more easily with the patterns in these 12 lists.

Learn and practice the past, present, and future English verb tenses (including continuous, conditional, and perfect tenses) on this page and the related pages it links to.

You can find useful grammar practice exercises by clicking links on this page.

Do you already use English in your profession or studies-- but realize you need more advanced English or communication skills in certain areas?

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