English Grammar Rules - Possessive Pronouns

Possessive pronouns are used in English to avoid repeating information that is already clear. In general it makes the sentence less confusing because the same information is not being repeated.

This book is my book, not your book. (Sounds repetitive)
This book is mine, not yours. (Mine and yours are possessive pronouns)

In the sentence, mine is a possessive pronoun that replaces my book.
In the sentence, yours is a possessive pronoun that replaces your book.

The possessive pronouns in English are as follows:

Subject	Possessive Pronouns
I	Mine
You	Yours
He	His
She	Hers
It	Its
We	Ours
You (pl)	Yours
They	Theirs

Examples:

• I didn't have my umbrella so Marta lent me hers.
  (I didn't have my umbrella so Marta lent me her umbrella).
• Her car is faster than mine.
  (Her car is faster than my car).
• That food is ours and not theirs.
  (That food is our food and not their food).
• I know this drink is yours but I need to drink something.
  (I know this drink is your drink but I need to drink something).

Remember that with possessive pronouns there are no apostrophes (').

Of yours

It is also very common to say a friend/some friends + of + possessive pronouns.

• I saw one of your friends last night.
  I saw a friend of yours last night.

Both of these sentences are correct and both common in English.

Yours faithfully - Yours sincerely

Yours is also used in English with faithfully or sincerely at the end of a formal letter or e-mail. The two common expressions are:

• Yours faithfully (If it someone that you don't know)
• Yours sincerely (If it is someone that you know)

English Grammar Rules - Question Words

The most common question words in English are the following:

WHO

WHO is only used when referring to people. (= I want to know the person)

Examples:

• Who is the best football player in the world?
• Who are your best friends?
• Who is that strange guy over there?

WHERE

WHERE is used when referring to a place or location. (= I want to know the place)

Examples:

• Where is the library?
• Where do you live?
• Where are my shoes?

WHEN

WHEN is used to refer to a time or an occasion. (= I want to know the time)

Examples:

• When do the shops open?
• When is his birthday?
• When are we going to finish?

WHY

WHY is used to obtain an explanation or a reason. (= I want to know the reason)

Examples:

• Why do we need a nanny?
• Why are they always late?
• Why does he complain all the time?

Normally the response begins with "Because..."

WHAT

WHAT is used to refer to specific information. (= I want to know the thing)

Examples:

• What is your name?
• What is her favourite colour?
• What is the time?

WHICH

WHICH is used when a choice needs to be made. (= I want to know the thing between alternatives)

Examples:

• Which drink did you order – the rum or the beer?
• Which day do you prefer for a meeting – today or tomorrow?
• Which is better - this one or that one?

HOW

HOW is used to describe the manner that something is done. (= I want to know the way)

Examples:

• How do you cook paella?
• How does he know the answer?
• How can I learn English quickly?

With HOW there are a number of other expressions that are used in questions:

How much – refers to a quantity or a price (uncountable nouns)

Examples:

• How much time do you have to finish the test?
• How much is the jacket on display in the window?
• How much money will I need?

How many – refers to a quantity (countable nouns)

Examples:

• How many days are there in April?
• How many people live in this city?
• How many brothers and sister do you have?

How often – refers to frequency

Examples:

• How often do you visit your grandmother?
• How often does she study?
• How often are you sick?

How far – refers to distance

Examples:

• How far is the university from your house?
• How far is the bus stop from here?

English Grammar Rules - Object Pronouns

The seven basic pronouns have one form when they are used as subjects and another form when they are used as objects.

Subjects are what the sentence is about.
Objects are what is affected by the action of the subject.

• I like whisky. (I is the subject).
• I read books. (Books is the object as it is receiving the action).

PRONOUNS
Subject Pronoun	Object Pronoun
I	Me
You	You
He	Him
She	Her
It	It
We	Us
You (plural)	You
They	Them

Object pronouns are used instead of nouns, usually because we already know what the object is. It makes the sentence easier to read and understand and avoids repetition. We normally use object pronouns after a verb or a preposition.

Examples
I like horses.	Subject Pronoun
Horses don't like me.	Object Pronoun
We talk to our neighbour.	Subject Pronoun
She talks to us.	Object Pronoun
They listen to the teacher.	Subject Pronoun
Listen to me carefully.	Object Pronoun
You speak very quickly.	Subject Pronoun
We watch them on TV.	Object Pronoun

The Object Pronoun - it

Be careful when using 'it' as an object pronoun because it is only in the correct context that it has meaning. It needs to have already been mentioned or obvious to the listener what you are referring to. Compare;

• You are sitting on it! (The listener probably doesn't know what the speaker refers to).
• The letter is on the sofa. You are sitting on it! (It is obvious in the second sentence that the reference is to the letter)

Overview of English Tenses

Present Tense
I do do, I do
Present Continuous Tense
I am doing, I am doing tomorrow
Present Perfect Tense
I have done
Present Perfect Continuous Tense
I have been doing

Past Tense
I did do, I did
Past Continuous Tense
I was doing
Past Perfect Tense
I had done
Past Perfect Continuous Tense
I had been doing

Future Tense
I will do
Future Continuous Tense
I will be doing
Future Perfect Tense
I will have done
Future Perfect Continuous Tense
I will have been doing

English Grammar Rules - Plural Nouns

In general the plural of a noun is formed by adding -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
car	cars
house	houses
book	books
bird	birds
pencil	pencils

However:

1. When the noun ends in SS, SH, CH or X, we add -ES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
kiss	kisses
wish	wishes
match	matches
box	boxes
fox	foxes

• I have a box in my bedroom.
• I have three boxes in my bedroom.

2. When the noun ends in a VOWEL + Y, we add -S to the noun.

Singular	Plural
boy	boys
holiday	holidays
key	keys
guy	guys

3. When the noun ends in a CONSONANT + Y, we remove Y and add -IES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
party	parties
lady	ladies
story	stories
nanny	nannies
city	cities

4. If the noun ends in F or FE, we remove the F/FE and add -VES to the noun.

Singular	Plural
life	lives
leaf	leaves
thief	thieves
wife	wives

5. If the noun ends in IS, we change it to ES.

Singular	Plural
analysis	analyses
basis	bases
crisis	crises

6. There are a number of nouns that don't follow these rules. They are irregular and you need to learn them individually because they don't normally have an S on the end.

Singular	Plural
man	men
woman	women
child	children
foot	feet
tooth	teeth
goose	geese
mouse	mice

• There is a child in the park.
• There are many children in the park.

7. There are some nouns in English that are the same in the singular and the plural.

Singular	Plural
fish	fish
sheep	sheep
deer	deer
moose	moose
aircraft	aircraft

• I can see a sheep in the field.
• I can see ten sheep in the field.

Sometimes you will hear the word fishes (especially in songs) though it is grammatically incorrect.