English grammar in two words

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We don't recommend to learn English grammar much. Still, it's a good idea to know some basic things of English grammar. Learn rules and take many tests, write short essays to practice English grammar. You can say a lot even with 2-3 Tenses when your vocabulary is rich.

[admin]

There are 16 Tenses in English. You don't need to learn all of them, since even native English speakers don't use 16 Tenses in their daily life. People speak using memorized patterns mostly. We recommend to memorize English words and patterns (80%) and learn English grammar (20%).
English has Active Voice and Passive Voice.
When a sentence is written in the active voice, the subject performs the action; in the passive voice, the subject receives the action.
Active voice: My brother sang a song.
Passive voice: A song was sung by my brother.
Every English Tense has Active and Passive Voice.

[admin]

If you are a beginner you can start learning English grammar from the next 8 Tenses:
1.Present Indefinite Tense (Present Simple).
2.Past Indefinite Tense (Past Simple).
3.Future Indefinite Tense (Future Simple).
4.Present Continuous Tense.
5.Past Continuous Tense.
6.Future Continuous Tense.
7.Present Perfect Tense.
8.Present Perfect Continuous Tense.

All these Tenses has Active and Passive Voices.

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Use Present Indefinite Tense to tell about every day things, daily routines.
Active Voice
I go to a store everyday.
I do exercises everyday.
I read a book every weekend.
I swim in a swimming pool every month.
It doesn't mean you will do those things for a whole life, but at this moment you do them regularly.

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Use Past Indefinite Tense to tell about things you did in the past.
Active Voice
I went to a store yesterday.
I used to do exercises in the past, but now I cannot do them.
I read the book White Fang by Jack London yesterday.
I wrote an essay yesterday.
I used to swim in a swimming pool every month, but now my swimming pool is closed.
You have to use an irregular form for some verbs (past simple) or add -ed to other verbs.
english-grammar-f8/table-of-irregular-verbs-t994.html
(Memorize irregular verbs (there are 106 the most popular irregular verbs))
For example,
I bought a book. I went to a store. I forgot money.
I played a game. I finished my running. I liked roses in a store.
We use "used to + infinitive" to talk about a past situation that is no longer true. It tells us that there was a repeated action or state in the past which has now changed.
I used to play tennis twice a week before I injured my knee. I used to drink a lot of coffee, but it had a negative effect on my sleep.

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Use Future Indefinite Tense to tell about future things (not planned). Future Simple is used to refer to a spontaneous decision.
Active Voice
We will have summer holidays soon.
I'll graduate a school soon.
Maybe, I'll play chess this weekend. (not planned, not sure).

"Going to" is used when we refer to a pre-decided plan.
You can think of "I'm going to" as "I'm planning to".
I'm going to work soon. (I'm planning to do a work soon).
I'm going to play football soon. (I'm planning to play and I'll play football soon).
I'm planning to read a book tomorrow.

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Use Present Continuous to tell about things you do at this moment, events that are happening or developing now.
Active Voice
I'm writing now.
I'm cooking now.
I'm reading the book White Fang this month. (It's something new that I do this month).
Antarctic ice is melting because of a global warming. (It didn't melt in the past, melting is in progress).

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Use Past Continuous to tell about actions and states in progress (happening) around a particular time in the past, an ongoing past action that was interrupted by another past action (in the simple past tense).
Active Voice
What were you doing at 8 p.m. last night? I was studying.
What were you doing when I asked you the question in the chat? I was eating.
While I was studying, I suddenly felt sleepy.
We were watching television when the power went off.
I was waiting for the taxi when I met Joe.

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We use the Future Continuous Tense to refer to temporary actions and events that will be in progress at a particular time in the future.
Active Voice
I will be making supper at 18 p.m. tomorrow.
We will be watching TV at 7 o'clock.

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Present Perfect Tense is used to describe:
1.Actions completed in the very recent past (+just).
Active Voice
Have you just finished work?
I have just eaten.
We have just seen him.
2.Actions started in the past and continuing in the present. (It can be Present Perfect Continuous in some cases).
Active Voice
He has worked in the bank for five years.
We have had the same car for ten years.
António Guterres has been a secretary-general of the United Nations for 8 years. (The action started in the past and continuing in the present.)
You have to use an irregular form for some verbs (past participle) or add -ed to other verbs.
english-grammar-f8/table-of-irregular-verbs-t994.html

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The Present Perfect Continuous is a verb tense used to refer to an action that started sometime in the past and is still ongoing.
Active Voice
I have been learning English since my teens.
I have been living in Berlin since 1990 year.
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[admin]

In the passive voice, the subject receives the action.
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Present Indefinite Tense
Passive Voice
My room is cleaned every day.
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Past Indefinite Tense
Passive Voice
This bookstore was built two years ago.
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Future Indefinite Tense
Passive Voice
A party will not be organized.
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Present Continuous Tense
Passive Voice
The car is being washed.
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Past Continuous Tense
Passive Voice
The houses were being reconstructed by the workers.
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Future Continuous Tense
Passive Voice
The new hotel will be being built the next year.
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Present Perfect Tense
Passive Voice
This parcel has been brought by the courier.
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Present Perfect Continuous
Passive Voice
The food has been being cooked for the last two hours.
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[admin]

Modal verbs are as important as Tenses.
Modal auxiliary verbs include: can, could, may, might, have to, must, ought to, shall, should, will and would.
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can
It can be used to express ability or opportunity.
I can swim. (I learned swimming and now I can do it).
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could
'Could' is used to express: possibility, past ability.
I could swim in my teens. (I cannot swim now, but I could swim in my teens).
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should
'Should' is a modal verb that is used for: giving advice, suggestion or recommendation.
You should read the book White Fang. (I recommend you to read this book).
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have to
We use 'have to' + infinitive to talk about obligations, things that are necessary to do,
I have to buy a bread today. (I may not like shopping, but it's necessary for me to buy a bread, it's needed for my living).
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must
You use 'must' to indicate that you think it is very important or necessary for something to happen.
Use it for VERY important things.
We mustn't touch anything until the police arrive.
You must do the work until the next week because we can get a penalty. (Use this only for very important work).
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'have to' vs must
Children must clean their room. (It's a statement, this rule can be typed somewhere in a kindergarten).
Children have to clean their room. (Parents force children to clean their room).
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may
'May' and 'might' are often used interchangeably as both words are used to express possibilities.
I may got to a night club tomorrow if I finish my work today. (It's up to me, my personal choice to go or not to go to a night club)
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might
'May' and 'might' are often used interchangeably as both words are used to express possibilities.
I might go to a night club yesterday but I went to a cinema. (No one prevented me to go to a nigh club, but I chose to go to a cinema)
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ought to
Used to show when it is necessary or would be a good thing to perform the activity. We use 'ought to' when talking about things which are desired or ideal.
You ought to be kinder to him.
They ought to have more parks in the city.
We ought to eat lots of fruit and vegetables every day.
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shall
We use 'shall' to indicate that something must happen, usually because of a rule or law.
The president shall hold office for five years.
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Modal verbs can also be used to form passive constructions.
We use
Modal verb + be + past participle
Modal verb + have been + past participle
to form passive constructions.
This work can be done with easy.
This work could be done if you prepared to it.
This work must be done until I come back.
A donation may be made.
Some flights might be delayed over the Christmas break.
Your car could have been sold.
His writing should have been fixed.
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[admin]

Modal verbs in questions.
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Use 'can' if you want to ask your peers or friends something.
Can we go to a cinema today?
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Use 'could' when you speak with older, not familiar people.
Could you tell me where is a hospital in this city?
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Use 'would' to show your respect.
Would you, please, help me?
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'May' can be used in a question to ask permission.
May I go?
May I borrow your pen?
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We use 'may' if we want to congratulate someone or wish something.
May you find the peace you seek in your life.
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[admin]

Modal verbs in conditional sentences.
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'Could', 'would', 'should' are widely used modal verbs in conditional sentences.
Could: “Could” is used to express possibility. Something that could happen is not necessarily something that must happen.
Would: “Would” is used to describe something that is unlikely or impossible, but definitely will happen if circumstances change in a specific way.
Should: “Should” is used to express an opinion on the best course of action.
If I had lunch with my favorite actor, I could ask for his autograph.
If I were you I would prepare to the exam better. ('I were' is an expression which means that I'm not you.)
If I could prepare to the exam I would get an excellent mark. (Something prevented me to prepare to the exam.)
If it continues to rain this hard for another hour, it should start flooding.
If you were going to the football game yesterday, you should have invited me to go with you.
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Gerund
We make gerunds by adding '-ing' to verbs. A gerund means a process. Gerunds do not take an article (a, an, the).
You should memorize that a gerund is neither a noun nor an adjective nor a verb.
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Reading makes you smarter.
Having much money makes you rich.
I like learning foreign learning, cooking, walking. (It means I like a process (learning, cooking, walking). To use 'to learn', 'to cook', 'to walk' is not correct here.)
His task was writing.
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Adjectives
Adjectives are like decorations for nouns.
'Present participle adjectives' are formed by adding the suffix '-ing' to the base form of the verb.
'Past participle adjectives' are usually formed by adding the suffix '-ed' or '-en' to verbs.
The present participle (-ing form of the verb) refers to something or somebody that causes the feeling.
The breeze is refreshing. (The breeze causes this feeling.)
The past participle (-ed form of the verb) is used to express how a person is affected by something.
I feel refreshed. (I am experiencing this feeling as a result of the breeze.)
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A singing boy is my brother. (Present participle adjective)
I will buy a working car. (Present participle adjective)
My broken car is useless. (Past participle adjective)
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Present and past participle adjectives are used to describe different feelings.
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I'm boring. (Explanation. I'm not interesting, I cannot tell anything good.)
I'm bored of this conversation. (Explanation. This conversation is not interesting for me.)
I'm annoying. (Explanation. I annoy someone. Maybe, I make some loud noise.)
I'm annoyed with my little brother. (Explanation. My brother makes some loud noise and it annoys me.)
I'm not interesting for my coworkers. (Explanation. My coworkers have other interests than me.)
I'm interested in computers. (Explanation. My interests are computers.)
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[admin]

Present and past participle clauses.
Present participles are used for active clauses.
Past participles are used for passive clauses.
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A boy singing a song is my brother. (Present participle.)
He left the room singing happily. (Present participle.)
Opening the envelope, I found two concert tickets. (Present participle.)
I have my leg broken. (Past participle.)
Shocked by the explosion, the people ran for shelter. (Past participle.)
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Articles
Singular, countable nouns always have an article – a/an or the.
Examples of countable nouns: a land, a loaf of bread, a spoon, an actor, an apple, an hour (It is based on the pronunciation, not the spelling. Since the 'h' is silent, we use “an hour”).
Examples of not countable nouns: salt, water, money, sugar.

We use a/an – the indefinite article – when we talk about something for the first time, or something that is part of a group or type.
I have a dog. (My dog belongs to a class 'Dogs'.)
We don't use a/an when there is the word 'one'.
I have one dog.

We use the – the definite article – when the listener already knows which thing we are talking about because it was mentioned before or because there's only one of them.
Have you seen the car key?
They go to the school next to the bridge.
We went to the zoo and saw the kangaroos. (These are the particular kangaroos in that zoo – not kangaroos in general.)

Use “the” to refer to a noun that is unique or one of a kind.
Specifically, the sun, the moon, the internet, the sky, the earth.

[admin]

That's all with English grammar.
At the beginning you can learn Present Indefinite, Past Indefinite, Future Indefinite and practice to use them until you will make it perfect.
Then add another 2-3 Tenses.