Hi, Welcome to our
blogger! In this article, you can learn how to improve your English grammar. To
some people, ‘grammar’ is kind of a dirty word. It probably makes you think of
boring textbooks, boring exercises, and boring lessons. Maybe you think, “Why
do I need grammar? I just want to communicate.” But, here’s the thing: grammar
isn’t just something in a book.
Grammar is how you
connect words into phrases, and phrases into sentences. Every time you connect
two words, you’re using grammar. Even now, you’re using grammar to understand
what we’re saying. We think there’s a better way to learn English grammar than
just doing endless exercises.
In this lesson, you’ll
see a step-by-step, practical plan to improve your English grammar in any area.
To work on grammar, it’s a good idea to have a book for reference.
One of the most popular book given below
English Grammar by Wren & Martin.
You can find a link below
So, let’s start: you
want to improve your English grammar. What should you do first? ‘English
grammar’ is not just one topic. It’s tens of major topics, and each of those
contains tens of smaller topics. So, you need to know where to begin. You need
to set goals and establish priorities for your studies.
How can you do
that? Let’s start with five things. Make a list of five errors or grammar
problems you have. Maybe, you already know some errors you make. Maybe your
teacher corrects you or your classmates often, and you have an idea. A good way
to do this is through writing. Write something for your teacher, and ask them
to highlight and correct your grammar mistakes.
See which mistakes you
make most often. If you aren’t studying with a teacher, what can you do?
This can be more difficult. One suggestion: use a grammar book which has
exercises and an answer key. Choose five topics which you think you will find
difficult. Do the exercises and check your answers. If you made a lot of
mistakes, then you know you need to do more work on these topics. Here’s
another suggestion: find a reading text, for example a news article online.
Make sure the text is
not too difficult for you. Read the text two to three times. Next, try to
rewrite the text without looking at it. Don’t worry about getting it perfect;
just do your best. Afterwards, compare your text with the original. Where
did you make mistakes? Did you make mistakes with verb forms? With adverbs?
Word order? This should show you where some of your grammar mistakes are. Okay,
hopefully now you have a list of five grammar errors or weaknesses.
It could look like
this: Using the present perfect Word order in questions Using commas correctly
Mixing up adjectives and adverbs Prepositions after adjectives Be as specific
as you can with your list. Writing something like ‘verbs’ or ‘prepositions’
isn’t really helpful. Now, you have your list. What’s next? If you have a
problem with a grammar topic, there can be two basic reasons: form or function.
The first possibility is that you don’t know how to form a structure correctly.
For example, think
about the present perfect verb tense: I have done… To form the present perfect,
you need to know several things, such as: Use ‘have’ or ‘has’ plus a past
participle Make negatives with ‘haven’t’ or ‘hasn’t’ Make questions by moving
‘have’ or ‘has’ before the subject If you don’t know these rules well, you
might make mistakes like these: She have been to Cambodia. I don’t have
finished. How long they have lived here? Can you correct these mistakes? Often,
problems with form are habits. You say and write the wrong sentence hundreds of
times, and then it’s hard to change it. The only way to correct these habits is
to repeat and review the correct form many, many times. Or, maybe you don’t
know the correct form. If so, use your grammar book to check. Problems with
form are simpler to understand, but sometimes they take a long time to fix,
especially if your mistakes have become deep habits.
You heard before that
there are two basic reasons you could have problems with a grammar topic.
What’s the other? The other possibility is that you don’t understand the
function. What does that mean? ‘Function’ means how a grammar structure is
used, and what meaning it has. For example, think again about the present
perfect verb tense. To use the present perfect correctly, you need to know
things like: Use the present perfect to talk about states which started in the
past and are still true now. Don’t use the present perfect to talk about
finished times in the past.
Use the present perfect
to talk about life experiences when you don’t specify a time. Of course, there
are more! These are just examples. If you don’t understand these rules, you
might make mistakes like these: I am living here since four years. We’ve
had lunch three hours ago. Have you ever been to Japan last year? Can you
correct these mistakes? Often, problems with function are problems with
translation. Maybe your language doesn’t have this grammar structure, or maybe
your language expresses expresses these ideas in a different way. If you have
problems with the function of a grammar structure, what can you do? First,
check the rules in your grammar book and try to find example sentences. Think
about how you would express the same ideas in your language. Secondly, think
about how this grammar works in your language. Do you have the same structure?
Do you use it in the same way? The most difficult grammar topics will often be
things which don’t exist in your language.
For example, many
languages don’t have an exact equivalent to the present perfect in English,
which is why so many English learners find this verb tense particularly
difficult. However, thinking about the differences between your language
and English can help to make things clearer. Okay, so now you’ve found your
mistakes and thought about where they come from. What next? You’re going to see
one of the most powerful learning tools you can use. Even better, it’s
simple! Anyone can use it. It’s called templating.
Templating means you
take part of a sentence, and finish it in different ways. Let’s stick
with the example of the present perfect. Here’s an unfinished sentence: I have
never… Your job is to finish the sentence in five different ways. Make them as
different as possible. Here’s one example: I have never eaten snake. Can you
make one or two more? Think about it now. You could make sentences like: I have
never been to New Zealand. I have never seen ‘Titanic’. Try to make sentences
which are true for you. This way, they’ll be more meaningful and easier to
remember. Remember: you need five sentences for each template. That means you
need to think of at least two more! Think of two more things you’ve never done,
and write them down.
Let’s look at some more
templates you could use to practice the present perfect: I have … this week. I
haven’t … yet today. … have/has been living … for … I’ve been … recently. My …
has … since … Can you see how you could complete these templates? Think about
it. Let’s see some possibilities: I’ve read this article three times this
week. I haven’t had coffee yet today.
My sister has been
living in Milan for three years. I’ve been reading a lot of Chekhov recently.
My wife has been a doctor since 2005. Of course, these are just suggestions!
You should write sentences which are true for you. Also, remember that you
should try to write five sentences for each template. If you can’t think of
five, write as many as you can. You can use this to practice any grammar topic.
For example, here are three templates you could use to practice using must,
have to and should: At work, we mustn’t … Tomorrow, I have to … If you want to
learn English quickly, you should … Here are three templates you could use to
practice talking about the future: Tonight, I’m … For my next vacation, we’re
going to … Next year, I hope I’ll … You see, you can use this to practice
anything.
Why should you use this
method? What makes it so powerful? It’s powerful because you’re learning
grammar through real-life examples. Also, you’re learning grammar in full
sentences. Finally, this lets you practice your vocabulary, too! You have one
more thing to do here. You need to make sure your templated sentences are
correct. You’re going to use these templates to practice and learn. If you have
any mistakes in your sentences, you’ll just create bad habits which will be
difficult to change in the future. So, ask your teacher, ask a friend, or ask
on an online forum. Make sure your sentences are correct.
How can you do this?
First, you can make questions using your template sentences. Put one or two
gaps in a sentence and make a question, like this: Do you remember the answer?
You can also make a question with a mistake which you make frequently. The
answer is the corrected sentence. For example: Correct the mistake: I just have
had a shower. Can you correct the mistake? I’ve just had a shower. The word
order was wrong. Put the correct sentence as your answer. So, there are two
kinds of cards you can make: gapped sentences and error correction. You can
make gapped sentence cards easier or harder by leaving out different numbers of
words.
For example:
My sister has ----- in Milan for three years.
Or:
My sister------- three
years.
You might be thinking: this sounds like a lot of work! Do I really have
to make my own cards? Do I have to do this for every grammar topic I study? No,
you don’t have to, but you should. Here’s why: First, you should make your own
cards so that you’re using your own examples.
Your own examples
should mean something to you. They’re real; they’re about you and your life.
This makes them easier to remember. Secondly, you should spend the time to make
your own cards because it will save you time later. If you review efficiently,
you can remember seventy to eighty percent of what you learn. If you don’t,
you’ll forget most of what you study, and then you’ll have to do it again in
the future. So, spending time now will save you a lot more time in the future.
Not only that: isn’t it
frustrating when you can’t remember something you’ve studied tens of times?
It’s demotivating, and that’s a problem. You need to be motivated to learn
English! Using flashcards and templating will help you to remember more of what
you study. This will give you motivation, because you’ll feel that you’re
making more progress. Finally, make sure you review your cards every day, or as
often as possible. Review your cards when you have a spare moment during the
day. For example, do them before you get up in the morning, or on the subway to
work, or during a break. Now, you have a four-step process to improve your
English grammar:
Step one: identify and
write down your weaknesses. Start with five topics maximum. The topics you
write down should be as specific as possible. Step two: identify the mistakes
you make and the problems you have. Do you have problems with the form, or the
function, or both? Use a grammar book to check, or ask a teacher. Step three:
make templates, and write five full sentences for each template. The sentences
should be real: write true sentences about you and your life.
Check your sentences
carefully and make sure they’re correct. Step four: take your sentences and
make them into flashcards. You can make gapped sentences or error correction
questions. Review your cards regularly. And that’s all! Use these tools, and
you can learn anything you want to efficiently. Tell us: what’s the first
grammar topic you’re going to review? Let us know in the comments, and we can
see if you have similar ideas or not! You can find more of our free English
lessons on our website: Oxford Online English dot com. Thanks for reading! See
you next time!
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