English Grammar Essentials: Tenses, Clauses and Usage

Present Perfect

Used for actions that started in the past and continue into the present.

• I / You / We / They: Have + 3rd column (past participle)
• He / She / It: Has + 3rd column (past participle)

Negative:

• I / You / We / They: Have not + 3rd column
• He / She / It: Has not + 3rd column

Interrogative:

• Have + I / You / We / They + 3rd column?
• Has + He / She / It + 3rd column?

Past Simple

Used for specific actions that began and ended in the past. Commonly used with time adverbs like last year, yesterday, or last night.

• Affirmative: Subject + Verb (-ed)
• Negative: Subject + Did not + Verb
• Interrogative: Did + Subject + Verb?

Relative Clauses

• Who: People (Subject)
• Whom: People (Object)
• Whose: Possession (animals, people, or things)
• Which: Animals or objects
• That: People, things, and animals
• Where: Places
• When: Time
• Why: Reasons
• What: Things

Enough and Too

• Enough: Indicates sufficiency.
  • Adjective/Adverb + Enough
  • Enough + Noun
• Too: Indicates excess.
  • Too + Adjective/Adverb
  • Too much + Uncountable nouns
  • Too many + Countable nouns

Talking About a Book or Film

• Characters: The people or beings in the story.
• Plot: The main argument or sequence of events.

Writing Example: Chappie

My favorite movie is Chappie. It follows a police robot that is stolen by thieves. The creator of the robot helps the thieves because they threaten his life. He creates a new robot, Chappie, with a unique system. Chappie develops like a small child; his mother figure teaches him good values, while his father figure teaches him to use weapons. Finally, the police attack the thieves. Chappie kills the corrupt officer to save his mother. Although his mother dies, Chappie saves her consciousness to create a new robot body for her. He succeeds and escapes the city with her.