Grammar Cheat Sheet

Use it for habits, routines, permanent facts, and fixed timetables.

• She works in a bank.
• Water boils at 100°C.

Use it for actions happening now or around now, and for fixed future arrangements.

• I’m studying right now.
• We’re meeting Sam tomorrow.

Use it for completed actions at a specific, finished time in the past.

• She visited Cairo in 2019.
• He went home early.

Use it for an action in progress at a past moment, often interrupted by a shorter action.

• At 8 p.m. I was cooking.
• While she was reading, the phone rang.

Links the past to the present: life experience, recent news, and time that is not yet finished.

• I’ve finished.
• She’s lived here since 2010.

Shows that one past action was already complete before another past action happened.

• When I arrived, the train had left.
• He failed because he hadn’t studied.

Choose the form by meaning: a decision, a prediction, a plan, an arrangement, or a timetable.

• I’ll help you.
• We’re going to move.
• By 2030 they will have built it.

Talks about the past that is no longer true. ‘Used to’ covers habits and states; ‘would’ is only for repeated past actions.

• I used to live abroad.
• Every summer we would go camping.

Add meaning to a main verb: ability, permission, obligation, advice, possibility, or deduction.

• You should rest.
• He must be tired.
• She can’t have done it.

Links a condition to its result. The tense pattern shows whether the situation is real or imaginary.

• If it rains, we’ll stay.
• If I had money, I’d travel.
• If I had known, I would have called.

Use it when the action matters more than who does it; the receiver becomes the subject.

• English is spoken here.
• The work has been done.

Report what someone said by moving the tense back one step and adjusting pronouns and time words.

• “I am tired” → She said she was tired.
• “Did you call?” → He asked if I had called.

The main verb decides what follows it: the -ing form, the to-infinitive, or the bare infinitive.

• I enjoy reading.
• She decided to leave.
• Let me help.

Choose a/an, the, or no article depending on whether the noun is general, specific, or unique.

• an honest man · a unique idea
• I go to — school by — bus.

Uncountable nouns have no plural and take no a/an; use a measure word to count them.

• some information · a piece of advice
• fewer books · less water

Words that show amount. The right one depends on countable vs uncountable and positive vs negative.

• some milk · any eggs?
• a few friends · little time

Use it to say that something exists. The verb agrees with the noun that comes after it.

• There is some milk.
• There is a book and two pens.

The verb must match its real subject in number, even when other words come in between.

• The news is good.
• The box of chocolates is…

Words that replace nouns. Choose the right type for the job it does in the sentence.

• This is my pen → This pen is mine.
• They love each other.

Add extra information about a noun. The relative word depends on what that noun is.

• The man who lives next door…
• My car, which I bought in 2020, …

Compare two things, or pick one out of a group. The form depends on the adjective’s length.

• as tall as…
• The more you practise, the better…

Adverbs describe how, when, or how often. Their form and position follow clear patterns.

• She sings beautifully.
• It tastes good.

When several adjectives describe one noun, they must follow a fixed order.

• a nice black leather jacket
• a small round wooden table

Small linking words for time, place, and relationships. Many combinations are fixed and must be learned.

• married to · arrive at / in a city
• I’m good at maths.

Words that connect ideas to show reason, result, contrast, or addition.

• Although it rained…
• Despite the rain…

Form questions by changing the word order. Subject questions and tags follow their own rules.

• Where do you live?
• You’re coming, aren’t you?

A verb plus a particle that together take on a new, often idiomatic, meaning.

• Please turn off the lights.
• She’ll look after the kids.

For emphasis, move a negative expression to the front and swap the subject and auxiliary.

• Never have I seen such a thing.
• Had I known, I would have helped.

Express regrets, wishes, and unreal situations by shifting the tense one step into the past.

• I wish I knew the answer.
• If only I had studied harder.
• It’s time we left.

Make a sentence shorter and more formal by replacing a clause with a participle that shows time, reason, or result.

• Having read the report, she made notes.
• Shocked by the news, he sat down.

Use it when you arrange for someone else to do something for you, instead of doing it yourself.

• I had my car repaired.
• She got her hair cut.
• We’re having the house painted.

Combine two time frames when a past condition affects the present, or a present situation affects the past.

• If I had studied medicine, I would be a doctor now.
• If I were tidier, I wouldn’t have lost it.

Drop the relative pronoun and the verb ‘be’ to turn a relative clause into a shorter phrase.

• The woman talking to Tom is my boss.
• Cars made in Japan are reliable.

In formal English, some verbs and adjectives are followed by the base form of the verb — no -s and no tense change.

• The board insists that he be present.
• It is essential that she arrive on time.