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This part 1 talks about English parts of speech. Part of speech is also called word
class. Learning part of speech is a must for language learners as words used in
arranging phrases and sentences are all included in parts of speech. Of course not
all parts of speech must exist in our phrases or sentences, but at least verb for
example, must be available in constructing any single clause or sentence. An
imperative sentence for instance may have only a verb such as go!, come in!, look!,
etc. Besides, a word class of noun or pronoun is also a must in any clause since
every clause must have a subject and every subject must be a noun or pronoun.
There are basically eight different kinds of word in parts of speech: Noun (N),
pronoun (Pro), adjective (A), adverb (Adv), verb (V), preposition (Pre),
conjunction (Conj), determiner (Det), and interjection (Inter). Each part of speech
except interjection will briefly be introduced in part 1 of this book.
2 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 1
Nouns and
Pronouns
This chapter will help you to:
Identify and distinguish kinds of nouns
Identify and distinguish singular and plural nouns
Identify and distinguish countable and uncountable
nouns
Identify and distinguish personal nouns
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 3
1.1 Introduction
The words arm in (1) and office in (2) are nouns modify the nouns
following. When a noun precedes another it can act as a determiner to form
a compound word (Burton-Herbets, 2011). Both nouns and pronouns will
be discussed in this chapter.
1.2 NOUN
Words that tell people, things, animals or places are called nouns. Here are
some examples;
People = Harizon, Ahmad, Aisyah, etc.
Things = desk, plate, cup, spoon, etc.
Animals = lizard, lion, deer, chicken, etc.
Place = school, office, stadium, bank, etc.
Generally a noun can function as both a subject and an object as the
following examples.
In the above sentences, the words lion, Mohammed, teenages, and students
are all nouns functioning as subjects. Meanwhile, the nouns such as king
and messenger function as subject complements, and chicken or time
function as objects of verbs in the sentence (2) and (4). In (4) we also find a
common noun, library which functions as an object of preposition in.
Sargeant (2007) divides two main types of nouns: common nouns and
proper nouns. A common noun is a noun that tells something general
rather than specific. Things, animals, and common places such as house,
book, pencil, computer, goose, bird, hospital, etc are included in this type. A
common noun is always written without capital letter except at the
beginning of a sentence or a title. A proper noun is a noun that tells
4 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Singular Plural
drug drugs
suitcase suitcases
dress dresses
orange oranges
sheet sheets
child children
There are several ways to make plural nouns. The following Table 1
provides some examples with brief explanation. See Azar (2002) for
complete and more explanation as well as some more examples.
No Examples Description
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 5
If we look at the nouns in group (5) of the table above, there is no rule of
forming an irregular plural noun. In other words, to form irregular plural
nouns will have different ways (Altenberg and Vago, 2010, p.9).
It should be noted that to identify whether a noun with the same form is
singular or plural in a sentence is to see a modifier in front of it or a pronoun
6 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
(7) There are many deer in the national park of Routaria, New Zealand.
(8) A baby deer is put in the ranch for nursery.
(9) Our deer nurses its young during the day.
(10) Mother deer bathe their young by licking.
The word deer in (5), (6), (7), and (8) have the same form. In (5) the noun
deer is modified by a determiner many, so, it is a plural noun, while in (6) it
is singular since it is preceded by a determiner a. Many is used to modify a
plural noun, and a is used for a singular noun. Similarly the word deer in
(7) is singular determined by the word its in its young to refer to our deer,
but deer in (8) is plural as a pronoun their in their young refers to mother
deer.
All abstract nouns do not have plural in form. Most common nouns except
mass noun have both singular and plural forms. Mass nouns belong to non-
count nouns which cannot be pluralized (Radford, 2004, p. 19) such as
furniture, coffee, gas, etc. When a proper noun is preceded with the, it
shows people and is plural such as English (language), the English (people
of England) or Japanese (language) the Japanese (people of Japan).
The words many, much, all, some, and few in sentences (11), (12), (13),
(14), and (15) are included in the expression of quantity.
many
some
most of + THE / POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVE+ Noun
all
half
etc
THE THE is used for specific idea of both singular and plural
nouns and mass nouns
1.4. PRONOUN
A pronoun is a word that takes place of a noun. The noun that is referred to
is said to be antecedent. For example:
The lady whom you told me about is now in the office. She is a new teacher
in this school.
Personal Pronouns are pronouns that talk about a specific person or thing.
These pronouns can function as subjects or objects as they stand on their
own (Gelderen, 2002, p.20). They also consist of two groups: nominative
and objective. It is called nominative when they function as a subject in a
sentence such as I, We, You, they, he, she, etc. For example:
(16) They will play voley ball, but we will play basket ball.
(17) Mr.Bailey has been back to his country. Every body misses him
very much.
Third
Function First Second
Male Female Thing
Subject (singular) I you he she it
Object (singular) me you him her it
Reflexive (singular) myself yourself himself herself itself
10 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
(18) The books on the table belong to her. The books on the table are
hers .
(19) Your mother has a new mobile handphone. Her mobile handphone
is made in Canada.
When the reflexive pronouns are put after the subject in a sentence, they are
called Intensive Pronouns. These pronouns are usually used only to
emphasize the subject. For examples:
For examples;
(27) Which book belongs to you?
(28) That on the table belongs to me.
The word this is used to demonstrate something near from the speaker,
while the word that shows something further from the speaker. Both the
words this and that are used for singular nouns. When we want to identify
plural nouns the words these and those are used.
(36) The farmers [whom the the governor visited last week] are
preparing fertilizer for their crops.
The underlined clause in (23) is the main clause, and the one in square
brackets is the subordinate clause.
The common relative pronouns include who, that, which, whom, whose,
where, and when. These pronouns are not discussed any further in this
book, but will be more likey in the special section of more intermediate or
advanced Adjective clause. However, for beginning learners they can be
introduced that:
In a sentence these pronouns always take a singular verb and this is a part of
subject – verb agreement discussion as the following examples.
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Read the following text carefully, rewrite all nouns and pronouns, identify
what nouns the pronouns refer to or replace for, and mention the line .
Alfath has one brother and two sisters. Alfath’s brother’s name is Al-baro’.
He is nine years old still studying in a primary school of Muhammadiyah
14 Palembang. Although Al-baro’ is much younger than his brother, Alfath,
he has the same height as Alfath does. They usually go swimming on
Sundays with his father. Both Alfath and Al-baro’ are nice boys for their
grandparents. Their family like them.
Alfath has two sisters. Their names are Faizah and Keisha. They are not
going to school yet. They are still under five years old. Faizah is three years
old and she is not going to school yet. and Keisha is two years old. Both of
them are very cute little girls. They usually play with their toys every
afternoon. Most people in their neighborhood love them.
Exercise 2
Directions:
Group the following English words into countable or uncountable.
Exercise 3
Directions:
Fill each blank with suitable pronouns in brackets
party.
10.That car is yours; __________ (they, It) belongs to hers.
11. Sit her between Fadil and ___________ (I, me).
12. Will you let Hapsari and __________ (he, him) go to the concert
tonight?
13. The teacher gave _________(we, us) much homework.
14. These are our cats, and _________ (those, that) over there are yours.
15. There is no discussion to go hunting between you and _________ (I,
me).
16.Where is dr. Imron? We would like to meet ________ (he, him).
17. Tell _________ (they, them) to be in hurry before the meeting starts.
18. _________ (they, I) are going to the Baladewa museum?
19. Please tell ________ (he, him) to take extra lesson after class.
20. Where is ___________ (their, theirs) ? This is ours.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 17
Chapter 2
ADJECTIVES
AND ADVERBS
“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each other.”
Muslih Hambali
18 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Introduction
Adjectives and adverbs are different word classes, but they are both
modifiers. Generally adjectives modify nouns or pronouns, but adverbs
modify not only verbs and adjectives but also adverbs themselves. When
adjectives and adverbs are in one phrase in a sentence, there will be an
adjective phrase (AP) in which an adjective comes after an adverb. Here the
adverb functions as a modifier and the adjective functions as a head
(modified). For examples;
really expensive
very interesting
unusually difficult
The words really, very, and unusually are all adverbs modifying the words
that come after. In the following sections, we will briefly discuss adjectives
and adverbs.
2.1 ADJECTIVES
Good students
A popular music
New typewriters
Nice food
Wise parents
Happy we *
Diligent she*
The italic words in the example above are all adjectives modifying all
nouns that come after. * indicates that this phrase in not correct because
adjectives cannot directly be followed by pronouns. In addition, an adjective
may come before a subject noun or a subject pronoun in a sentence. For
examples;
When these happen we should think of the set order of the string meaning
which adjective comes first closer to the noun followed by, the second and
so forth. Generally, a string of adjectives in a noun phrase must be in the
following order.
2.2 ADVERBS
A word that describes a particular word class such as verb, adjective or
adverb itself is called an adverb (abreviated with Adv). Most adverbs in
English are derived from adjectives ending with morpheme ly such as
slowly, quietly, carefully, etc. Some adverbs are formed from nouns with
suffix wise such clockwise or weather-wise. Few adverbs have the same
form as adjectives for examples, hard, early and, fast or irregular ones such
as well from an adjective good.
In (6) the adverb usually describes the verb drives, and the adverb hard in
(7) describes the verb works. In (8) the adverb is extraordinarily modifying
the adjective good.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 21
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the following exercise with adjective or adverb form
of the word in brackets.
Directions:
Complete each sentence using an appropriate word from the list. Be careful
to use either adjective or adverb.
List of words:
1. She tried on her new dresses and they fitted her ________
2. My English is very _________ although I make some mistakes
3. The driver of the truck had __________ injuries.
4. Our holiday was too short. The time passed very ________
5. My sister cooked this traditional meal ________ for us, so we love it
very much.
6. Sally is________ upset about not having her vacation this year.
7. Everything was very quiet. There was _________ silence.
8. Allan doesn't take risks when he's driving. He's always ___________.
9. Do people usually feel __________ before they take exam?
10. Hersa works_________ . He never seems to stop.
11. Everybody at the party wore___________ dress.
12. Barbara and Sam are very __________ married.
13. Don't go up that ladder. It doesn't look ___________
14. We'd like to buy a new car but it's _______ impossible for us at the
moment because of poor crisis in our country.
15. The middle-age man looked at us __________ when we passed by.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 23
Chapter 3
VERBS AND
BE VERBS
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify and distinguish parts of verbs
be able to distinguish common verbs and Be verbs
be able to distinguish between Be as a verb and Be as an
auxiliary verb
“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each
other.”
Muslih Hambali
24 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Verb
A verb can be defined as words that express action or state of being. A
verb is always used as the main predicate in a sentence. Any sentence
without a verb is absolutely not correct. Miller (2002, p. 4) believes that a
verb has an important role to control every phrase in the clause.
Simply defined action verbs are words that generally show action such as
read, write, study, etc. or possession such as have, own, belong to, etc. The
action verbs can be divided into types: transitive and intransitive.
The verbs wrote, fixed, and cooking in (4), (5), and (6) are transitive verbs,
and the words a letter, his car, and her favourite food are all functioning as
objects.
Both the words lying and sitting in (7) and (8) are intransitive verbs, while
the phrases on his new sofa and on her wheel chair in (7) and (8) are not
objects but prepositional phrases functioning as adverbs of place.
The last type of verb is linking verbs that are usually followed by adjectives
or nouns. These adjectives usually describe the subjects of a sentence as in
the following examples:
(9) Mr. Nikopur is friendly
(10) Mrs. Talisa beame a director of pharmaceutical company.
The word friendly (adj) in (9) describes Mr. Nikopur, and the word director
(n) in (10) describes Mrs.Talisa. There are some verbs included in the
linking verbs, but the most common linking verb is Be verb (see the next
section the discussion of Be verb). Here is the list of linking verbs.
In addition to the above types, there is also another type of verbs called
helping verbs or sometimes called auxiliary verbs. Helping verbs are the
words that usually accompany the main verbs in a sentence. For examples:
(11) Dekta is attending the seminar in the Hermina hospital this
afternoon.
(12) Okta and her friends will organize the meeting next week soon.
(13) Eman has painted his room white.
The words is, will, and has in (11), (12), and (13) are helping verbs.
List of helping verbs
can may must will shall
could might ought to would should MODALS
is am are have has
was were had do does
be been been did
The highlited or bold typed words in the list are usually called modals.
26 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
2. Simple Past
Simple past form is a verb that ends with ed for regular and without ed
for irregular.
This verb is often called verb 2. for examples:
cook – cooked (regular)
work – worked (regular)
or
write – wrote (irregular).
drink – drank (irregular)
3. Past Participle
Past participle is also a verb that ends with ed for regular and without ed for
irregular.. This verb is called verb 3 for examples:
cook – cooked - cooked (regular)
work – worked – worked (regular)
or
write – wrote - written (irregular).
drink – drank – drunk (irregular)
2. Having similar sound groups of the verb base, past, and past participle.
4. Having no classification
3.3 BE Verb
In the previous section BE is included in the helping verbs. Be functions
as a helping verb if it is followed by a verb to form a verb phrase, but it if it
stands alone it acts as a purely verb. Compare these examples.
The words is, was, and been in (14), (15), and (16) are fully verbs, while are
and were in (17) and (18) are helping verbs. As a verb or helping verb, BE
is the base form of the word. Word family of BE includes:
is am are → present
was were → past
28 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
being → continuous
been → past participle
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 29
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Identify the type of underlined verbs in the following sentences. Write AC
for Action Verb, LV for Linking Verb and HV for Helping Verb.
1. She reported on the decisions made at the meeting. _______
2. The ancient discipline of rhetoric was intended to prepare the beginner
for tasks. _______
3. More improved electrical typewriters have been successfully invented.
_____
4. Rohingya refugees live in tents in Bangladesh. _______
5. The passanger came to the police station. _______
6. I have written a letter for my student. _______
7. The ball rotates very quickly. _______
8. The weapons were produced in Russia. _______
9. People must not throw stones in the river. _______
10. They recently spoke to somebody. _______
11. His wallet was stolen when he took the bus. _______
12. President Erdogan visited them last week. _______
13. Treating sufferers from anorexia and bulimia is difficult. _______
14. It would be a good idea to send a copy to the manager. _______
15. Bee produces honey. _______
16. Tom moved to his home town in 1994. _______
17. My friend was in Canada two years ago. _______
18. At this time yesterday my mother was planting some flowers in the
garden. __
19. An accident happened when we passed the street in the suburb.
_______
20. Mr Smith’s family has been living in this city. _______
30 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Exercise 2
Directions:
Study the sentences in exercise 1. Rewrite all action verbs and Identify
whether they are transitive or intranstive. Write your anwer on table below
and give √ for transitive verb and intransitive verb.
Exercise 3
Directions:
Complete the sentences below with Be verb. Make sure to use the correct
form.
eating apples.
economic crisis.
though.
32 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 1
Preposition,
Conjunction,
determiner
“Parts of speech are like parts of our body that support each
other.”
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 33
4.1 Introduction
In the previous chapters we have been introduced five kinds of word
class: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Morphologically,
these kinds of word except pronouns are classified as content words
(Fromkin, Rodman, and Hyams, 2007, p.74). This chapter discusses other
word classes: preposition, conjunction, and determiner, so called functional
words.
4.2 Preposition
Mew and Seaton (2007, p. 132) define a preposition as a word
connecting one thing with another, showing how they are related. A
preposition is “a word or a group of words used before a noun or pronoun to
show place, position, time or method” (Hornby, 2002 p.1037). The
following are some examples.
If we notice sentences (1) and (2), they have the same preposition ON but
different condition. Meanwhile, each of the sentences (3), and (4), (5) and
(6), and (7) and (8) it shows that they have different prepositions although
each pair identifies the same situation. Therefore, putting a preposition into
practice might be tricky unless we should recognize the situation or
condition of the noun is.
Adjectives : good at, fond of, interested in, proud of, etc.
Verbs : agree with, listen to, look at, take off, etc.
There are such number of English prepositions. Azar (2002, p 454) provides
45 different words of common preposition as shown in the following table.
The following list contains some common adjectives and verbs linked with
prepositions.
Source:
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/common_verbs_with_prep.html
4.3 CONJUNCTION
A conjunction is simply defined as a word that joins words, phrases or
clauses. A conjunction is a linking word to connect words or sentences
(Seaton and Mew, 2007). There are three kinds of conjunction:
coordinating, subordinating, and correlative conjunction. A
coordinating conjunction is the one that joins words, phrases or clauses
such as and, or, but. Here are some examples;
(11) Jono and Irnan are good boys.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 37
The conjunction and in (11) connects word and word, the conjunction in
(12) connects phrase and phrase, while the one in (13) is used to connect
clause and clause.
When correlative conjunctions are used to connect two parallel items as subjects,
we should pay attention to the verb especially if the verb is in present or uses BE
verb ( subject-verb agreement). Subjects joined by both ... and will take plural
verb, but when subjects are joined by other correlative conjunctions, the verb
must agree to last subject. Now let’s have some examples below:
Notice the verb in (14) in plural form, but compare the verbs in (15) and
(16). The verbs used in (15) and (16) are different in form, and they agree
with the last subject.
38 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
SUBORDINATORS
CONDITION CONTRAST MANNER PLACE
if although as where
in case even in that wherever
provided though
providing though
unless while
whether whereas
4.4 DETERMINER
A determiner is a part of a word class that usually modifies a noun.
Nurgues (2006, p.5) does not include determiner in parts of speech and he
uses the term ‘participle’ for adjective. Greenbaun and Nelson (2002) add
numerals as a different word class instead of determiner. Let’s have few
examples of sentences containing determiners.
From the sentences above we find the words a, an, and the as articles, that
as a demonstrative, his a possessive, five a numeral, and several a quantity.
Articles, demonstratives, numerals, quantity and possessives are referred to
be called determiners, and they should be put in the same word class in
English grammar i.e. determiner.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 39
pen name
gas tube
safety box
train station
40 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 5
THERE &
HERE
This chapter will help you to:
be able to distinguish the use of there is and
there are
be able to use the use of is there and are there
be able to use the word here in speaking and writing
5.1 Introduction
Both the words there and here basically refer to place where the position
of people or thing from the speaker. There is used to show the position of
people or thing far from the speaker’s point of view, but here is the
opposite.
The words there and here are also common to be used to begin a sentence.
These words are not subjects. Actually they are likely to be adverbs in
which the subject and verb are inverted in a sentence. Study the following
examples.
5.2 THERE
There is (singular) and there are (plural) are used to say that
something is located in the place or exists or is present.
Examples;
When something isn’t located in the place or doesn’t exist, we use there is
not (singular) / there are not (plural).
Examples;
5.3 HERE
The word here is generally used to show place and occurs at the end of a
sentence
as for examples,
The word here can also begin a sentence and is used with both singular and
plural subjects as in the following examples.
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Choose A, B, C or D to complete each of the following sentence below.
3. “ Are there many children playing in the yard?” “ No, ................. only two.
a. There isn’t b. There aren’t c. There are d. Are there
19. “Are there many foreigners visiting this island every year?” “ Yes, ..........
a. are there b. There is c. There aren’t d. There are
24. “ Are there five typewriters in the office?” No, ……… two.
a. Are there b. There is c. There aren’t d. There are
Exercise 2
Directions:
Complete the sentences with there is, there are, there isn’t, there aren’t, is there
and are there.
4. a Hollywood in Ireland?
8. a Hollywood in Ireland?
10. oil in the wok, I think my sister wants to fry some chicken.
to see it?
tickets.
PART II
TENSES
This part II talks about basic tenses in English. A tense is a kind of verb
change depending on the occurence of event. The event can be at the
present, in the past, or in the future. That we talk about tenses means that we
honestly talk about verbs. The change of verbs may affect the change of
type of tense. English has four different forms of verb: base form known as
infinitive, verb 2 (past), verb 3 (past participle), and verb- ing. There are
sixteen tenses in English, but this book provides some common basic tenses
usually used in both speaking and writing for beginning foreign language
learners, i.e. Simple Present, Simple Past, Simple Future, Present
Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Past Continuous
Future Continuous, Past Perfect, Future, Future Perfect, and Past Future
Perfect.
48 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 6
Simple
Present
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of simple
present
be able to understand the use of simple present
be able to write sentences using basic structure of simple
present
be able to understand the use of simple present using Be
verb
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 49
6.1. Introduction
This section of the book discusses the simple present tense which I
believe is commonly used in daily speaking. The frequency of the use of
simple present tense is probably unlimited since this tense is the most
common one used in everyday life among all tenses.
2. The action that happens all the time or is habit in the past, present and
future (general truth) for examples;
The sun rises in the west.
The moon surrounds the earth.
The simple present tense is the most commonly used among the all tenses in
daily speaking. The verb used for simple present tense is verb one so called
base form of the verb (main verb).
There are three basic structures for the Simple Present Tense: Positive,
Negative and Interrogative.
1. Positive Statement
2. Negative Statement
3. Interrogative Statement
The simple present tense is very much demanding since there is a special
structure for a third person or subject singular for three types of statements.
students,
etc.
Does He, She , love bananas
It, Mary,
Bob,
monkey,
etc.
6.3.1 The structure of the Simple Present with the main be verb:
The following table provides the summary of simple presentt tense using BE
verb
Table 6.2 The Summary of Simple Present Tense with Be Verb
Statement Subject Be verb complement
I am a student now
Positive (+) He, She , It, is a student now
Mary, Bob,
etc.
You, We, are students now
They, the
students, etc.
I am not a student now
Negative (-) He, She , It, is not a student now
Mary, Bob,
etc.
You, We, are not students now
They, the
students, etc.
am I a student now
Interrogative (?) is He, She , a student now
It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
are You, We, students now
They, the
students,
etc.
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.
2. Both Rima and Ninda (not/eat) _______ pempek because they don’t like to
eat fish.
3. Jono (love) _______ Indonesia so much because there are many beautiful
places to visit.
4. My family and I (cut) _______ our hair in the barber shop near Ampera
Bridge.
5. Does your child (want) _______ to eat serabi Bandung?
6. If we burn paper, (do) _______it become ash?
7. The airplane in Sultan Mahmud Baddarudin II International Airport at
Palembang (arrive) _______ at 8 am this morning
8. Where (do) _______Harun go this afternoon?
9. Fani (eat) _______in one of restaurants at Bandung.
10. Abdi (not/work) _______in Sriwijaya fertilizer company at
Palembang.
Exercise 2
Directions:
Give complete answer to the following questions using phrase(s) in brackets.
1. How do they feel? (hungry)
_______________________________________________
2. What does thelady do? (wash some clothes)
_______________________________________________
3. Where does your father do every weekend? ( clean the garage)
________________________________________________
4. What do your parents often do on weekends? (watch movies)
54 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
_______________________________________________
Chapter 7
Simple Past
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of simple present
be able to understand the use of simple present
be able to write sentences using basic structure of
simple present
be able to understand the use of simple present using
Be verb
***Muslih Hambali***
56 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
7.1 Introduction
The simple past tense is a tense that talks about the event or something
in the past. The simple past tense usually means that this action ended in the
past (Uchiama, 2006, p.Time markers such as yesterday, a week ago, last
year, last night, in 1999, etc. are usually used to indicate the simple past
tense. The verb used in the simple past is verb two such as went, wrote,
typed, opened, etc. It is interesting that all kinds of subjects have the same
sentence structures.
The basic structures for the Simple Past Tense: Positive, Negative and
Interrogative.
1. Positive Statement
2. Negative Statement
3. Interrogative Statement
Examples;
The children were anxious to watch the movie of G 30 S PKI
Grandfather was happy to be together with his grandchildren.
The following table provides the summary of simple past tense using BE
verb.
Table 7.2 Summary of Simple Past Tense with Be Verb
Statement Subject Be verb complement
Positive (+) I, He, She , was a student last year
It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
You, We, were students last year
They, the
students, etc.
Negative (-) I, He, She , was a student last year
It, Mary, not
Bob, etc.
You, We, were students last year
They, the not
students, etc.
Interrogative (?) was I, He, She a student last year
, It, Mary,
Bob, etc.
were You, We, students last year
They, the
students,
etc.
From the above table, as in the previous discussion of simple present tense
using Be verb, notice also the following points.
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.
Exercise 2
Directions:
Fill in the blanks with the verb in parentheses.
Last Sunday, the children ________(talk) about a day out together in the
country. The next morning, they ________ (go) to the country with their
friends and ________ (play) together. Ali and Budi _________ (have) some
kites. Some time later their fiends __________ (be) not there. So they
________(call) them and _________(visit) them at home. After half an hour
the children __________ (meet) them and ________(take) them to the
beach to play with some sand. Their friends ________(be) very happy to see
them again. This time they ___________ (bring) their lunch and
__________ (eat) by the seashore.
60 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Exercise 3
Chapter 8
Present
Continuous
tense
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of Present Continuous
be able to understand the use of Present Continuous
be able to write sentences using basic structure of Present
Continuous
Muslih Hambali
62 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
8.1 Introduction
Note that the present continuous is used to express the event in the future
provided that the event has already been planned or we have already made
decision meaning the event is positive to occur soon (see the next chapter) .
There are also three basic structures for the Present Continuous Tense:
Positive, Negative and Interrogative.
1. Positive Statement
2. Negative Statement
auxiliary be (is,
Formula :subject + + main verb + ing
am, are) + not
singing and
Example: They are not
dancing.
3. Interrogative Statement
Notice the above sentences, the ing is added to the main verb. There are
actually some rules that should be learned how to make verb + ing. Most
main or base verbs are directly added with ing such as;
study → studying
play → playing
cook → cooking
water → watering
etc.
BUT
1) If the verb end with a single vowel e, drop e and add directly the suffix
ing such as;
write → writing
make → making
give → giving
etc.
2) If the verb end with consonant preceded by stressed vowels a, i,u, e, o,
double the last consonant and add ing such as;
plan → planning
stop → stopping
run → running
etc. except open → opening
3) if the verb ends with ie, change ie to y such as;
lie → lying
die → dying
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the sentences in the present progressive using the verbs in brackets.
1. Martha ____________to her friend at the moment. (talk)
2. Nani and Nana__________a magazine. (read)
3. The young boys ________ on the door. (knock)
4. Allens ____________ a shower. He __________his assignment. (not have/do)
5. Few students ___________ to their teacher. (not listen)
6. His sister _____________ her homework now. (do)
7. __________ he ___________ his dinner (ccok) ? No, he ___________. (read)
8. The children _____________ now. They _____________. (not play/ study)
9. Are you playing kites? No, it ____________ . (rain
10. Can we talk now? Yes, I ____________ anything important. (not do)
11. Bob __________ his uncle. (call)
12. What ___________the children ________? They ________their bikes.
(do/ride)
13. Where is Sally? She ___________ the flowers in the garden. (water)
14. Please be quiet. The baby ____________ (sleep)
15. __________ you ___________ the concert? (enjoy)
Exercise 2
Directions:
Complete the following sentences as instructed in exercise 1 above.
Exercise 3
Directions:
Complete with the present simple or present progressive form of the verbs.
1. Barbara often _________ fried rice for her breakfast. (have)
2. What is he doing? He _________ the dishes. (clean )
3. Listen! The baby ___________ (cry).
4. Indonesian students ____________ English and Arabic at Ponpes. (learn)
5. They always _________ to school, but today they ________ the bus. (walk /
take)
6. Look! Many birds ___________ to the north. (fly)
7. Can you help us? No, very sorry, I ________ (be) with my homework.
8. My parents __________ beer. It _______ haram. (drink/be)
9. Suaidi usually _________ to school with us. (go)
10. It’s 12 o’clock and we _______ our lunch now. (eat)
11. Our brother rarely ________ fishing when it ________ (go/rain).
12. Who _________ in the garden? It is getting dark (work)
13. I ________ breakfast when I _______ in a hurry. (not eat/be)
14. My father __________ Islamic books at the moment. (read)
15. Faizah and Keisha _________ TV at the moment. (watch)
66 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 9
Simple
Future Tense
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 67
9.1 Introduction
The simple future tense is a tense that is used to talk about things that
haven't happened yet. It describes an action or condition that will begin and
end in the future.The Future Simple tense is often called the "will tense"
because we make the simple future with the modal auxiliary will. Modal
auxiliary will is used for any type of subject. For examples;
We sometimes use shall instead of will, especially for I and we. For
examples;
We shall finish this chapter after break.
Shall we visit Alice in the hospital?
I shall see the tournament in Jakabaring stadion.
Shall I accompany you to watch the football match?
This form is used to talk about decisions that are made before we speak.
Usually, we use going to to announce our intentions. For example,
In positive sentence
I will → I’ll
we will → we’ll
he will → he’ll
In addition, for certain verbs such as open, close, leave, finish, come, begin, start,
arrive, etc. simple present can laso be used to express future time for definite
events or events on schedule (Azar, 2002, p. 57). For examples:
(6) The university library opens at 8:00 a.m. and closes at 8:00 p.m.
(7) The train from Tanjung Karang arrives at Kertapati at 9:00 p.m.
70 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the sentences in the present progressive using the verbs in brackets.
1. My website (will/be) _____ the best source for English learners someday
2. Mia (buy/not) _____ a new car next week for her mother
3. It is eight already, we (go) _____ be late attending the meeting in Novotel
Hotel Palembang
4. (Go/not) _____buy some extra foods for the party tomorrow
5. They won’t (go) _____ to the supermarket soon
6. The difficult thesis (will) _____ written by me.
7. What (will/learn) _____ in English Education Study Program?
8. Your parents (be/happy) _____ if you visit your parents at least once a
week
9. Tia (/do/not) _____ the test in her campus because she is sick
10. Oskar, Diah, and Jokoe (come) _____ on time in the meeting.
Exercise 2
Directions:
Complete the sentences either in the present progressive or simple future using the
verbs in brackets.
1. Marisa_________ a good mark because she has studied hard. (get).
2. _______ him for help? (you ask)
3. It ____very cold in the mountains. Take a sweater with you. (probably
be)
4. Arman ________ his bedroom this weekend. (paint)
5. We ________ our mother’s car tomorrow afternoon. (wash)
5. Our grandfather _________ a walk to his garden this evening. (take)
6. Let's hope that the wind ________ away the clouds. (blow)
7. We believe we ________ her name. (find out)
8. Are you sure, the refugees ________ in a tent during winter? (stay)
9. We hope Ica _________ us to her party. (invite).
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 71
10. When the weather is fine, we ___ a picnic by the seaside. (probably
have)
12. They think Ijal ________ home early tonight. (come)
13. Fadhil _________ his bike in the park. Can you come with him? (ride)
14. It's her birthday next Sunday. Her mother ________ a cake. (bake)
15. Patra ________ his new car to Way Kambas . (drive)
Exercise 3
Directions:
Answer the following questions using phrase (s) in brackets.
Chapter 10
Past
Continuous
Tense
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of Past Continuous
be able to understand the use of Past Continuous
be able to write sentences using basic structure of Past
Continuous
be abale to distinguish simple past and past continuous
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 73
10.1 Introduction
The past continuous, also called past progressive, describes an action or
an event in a time before present time, which began in the past and is still
going on at the time of speaking. The use of past continuous tense is to
indicate an activity or condition that is in progress in the past. For examples;
(1) Joe Sanders was climbing the coconut tree when we arrived.
(2) While father was reading newspaper, mother was ironing some
clothes.
There are also three basic structures for the Past Continuous Tense: Positive,
Negative and Interrogative.
1. Positive Statement
2. Negative Statement
auxiliary be (was,
Formula : subject + + main verb + ing
were) + not
Example: They were not discussing the lesson.
3. Interrogative Statement
The past continuous tense basically expresses the event that occurs in the
past, so when we use this tense, we think of another event happening either
at the same time or beforehand. The tense always goes with past continuous
is simple past or past continuous itself. When it goes with simple past, it
means the first event occured in past continuous. See the situation below.
“We had lunch at 1 p.m. yesterday, and at that time our brother had
washed his car but did not finish yet.”
74 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
This means the activity of washing occurs earlier than the activity of having
lunch. Therefore, the sentence will be:
(3) When we had lunch yesterday, our brother was washing his car.
When past continuous goes with another past continuous, this indicates that
the two events occur at the same time as the one in sentence (2) above.
Common words used to connect two sentences in past progressive tense are
as, when, and while.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 75
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Complete the following sentences using the verb in brackets.
Exercise 2
Directions:
Fill in the correct form of the verb in Past Progressive (Continuous) or Past
Simple.
1. This morning, while Dekta ________ breakfast, someone _______ on the
door for medical checkup. (eat /knock)
2. Did Herman ________ Keisha while she ___________? (comfort / cry)
3. Amir and Idham ____________ to the hotel when it _________ to rain.
(walk/start)
4. When Denis _________ the room, Baro’ and Alfath___________.
(enter/talk)
5. When the phone ______, he _________ an e-mail. (ring, write)
6. Irnan _________ in the sales department when he first _________ Mrs.
Rini. (work/meet)
7. My brother ______the computer while I ______ for my trip. (use/pack)
8. What _______the manager ________ at 7:00 pm yesterday? (do)
9. ______ Riki ______ attention when the teacher ______ his name?
(pay/call)
10. They ______ TV when the lighting ________. (watch/ strike)
11. Faizah _______ about me behind my back, wasn’t she? (whisper)
12. ______ the client really ______out while Troy ______ the proposal?
(walk / present)
13. Wandi ________ the gift when Sinta _______ in the room. (wrap /
walk)
14. What _____ he _______ when the accident occurred? (do / occur)
15. While he _______ an e-mail, the phone ________.
76 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Special Section
- Sequence of
Tenses
- Review Tenses
SEQUENCE OF TENSES
Sequence of tenses usually occurs if a sentence contain two or more clauses (main
clause and subordinate clause). This is a complex sentence. The sequence of tense
is simply defined as a grammatical rules that refer to the agreemnt of verbs in two
clauses. It is logic if one clause is present, the other clause mus be in present too.
Normally two clauzes connected by a subordinator should have a set of sequence
of tenses. For example, if one clause is in simple present, the other caluse can be
in present too (simple present or simple future) as in the following examples:
(1) After the students complete the exercises, they will go for break.
(2) The nurse goes home when the other nurse arrives.
In sentence (1) the main clause is in simple present and the subordinate clauase is
in simple future. While, the main clause and subordinate clause in sentence (2)
have the same tense both in simple present.
it arrived.
4 Simple Past + Past when, while When the bus passed the village,
Continuous the boys were playing kites.
5 Past Continuous + Mrs. Kalsum was cleaning the
Past Continuous floor while her husband was
fixing his car.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 79
REVIEW OF TENSES
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
Directions:
Choose A, B,C, or D to complete the sentences below.
21. Mr. and Mrs. Brandon often . . . . . late to the Sriwijaya University.
a. comes
b. coming
c. came
d. come
82 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
22. Our Math teacher . . . . . . . check the attendance list every day.
a. do not
b. does not
c. did not
d. not doing
24. I have submitted my paper for the conference since two days ago, and
now the committee members …… the whole material from all the
attendants.
a. examine
b. are examining
c. is examining
d. examines
e. has examined
25. Elena is a successful business woman. She often travels all around the
world.To attend the international conference, she …… for France
tomorrow.
a. is leaving
b. has been left
c. leaves
d. has been leaving
e. did leave
26. The athletes . . . . . with the college track team on Asian games next year
on 2018.
a. trains
b. trained
c. will train
d. have trained
27. Vincent is usually going to school by driving his own car, but since a
week ago his car has broken. So, he…to school tomorrow
a. walking
b. walks
c. walk
d. was walking
e. is walking
b. had
c. has
d. have
29. There is something urgent happen and it is very dangerous for the
nation.
Due to that reason, the president ....… to contact his advisors now.
a. had tried
b. tried
c. tries
d. is trying
e. was trying
33. Manda and I . . . . . some plates and glasses on the dining table for the
dinner tonight.
a. was preparing
b. prepared
c. shall prepare
d. prepare
34. Yongki and Yoga will not . . . . . in music competition at school next
month.
a. participates
b. participate
c. participation
d. participated
84 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
39. Nita : what are you planning to do with all these sculptures?
Rachmat : I . . . . . them in cultural fair next month.
a. to be exhibiting
b. to exhibit
c. will exhibit
d. be exhibiting
Exercise 2
Directions:
Change the following sentences using the tense instructed in
brackets.
1. What strikes me is the generosity of the offer (past tense)
…………………………………………………………
2. They all tell the same folktales Indonesian story of Si PahitLidah from
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 85
4. Then the driver points to a white line painted on the road and says,
“There’s the Mason- Dixon line” (future tense)
………………………………………………………………….
5. Sandy and Ruby will bring many souvenirs from Papua for their family
(present tense)
………………………………………………………………….
6. The teacher wrote something in the board while the students gave
attention to her (present continuous tense question)
………………………………………………………………….
8. Hana came across as a kind woman with a golden heart (past continuous
tense)
………………………………………………………………….
9. Dodo and Jack joined the football team to win the competition last year
(future tense)
………………………………………………………………….
11. Padila and Ira see the car accident that happened in the soekarno-hatta
street yesterday (simple future tense)
………………………………………………………………….
14. Why didn’t you call me last night? I needed to tell you important things
(future tense)
………………………………………………………………….
86 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
15. Was I snoring when I was sleeping at the theater yesterday? (present
continuous tense)
………………………………………………………………….
16. Will she get the job in the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights next
year? (present tense)
………………………………………………………………….
18. Permadi is singing in the biggest musical concert right now that makes
his mom proud of him (past continuous tense)
………………………………………………………………….
19. Passport will be the most important thing to Mia to go aboard for her
study next year (past tense)
………………………………………………………………….
20. Did you hear the news last night that Erdogan won the election? (past
tense positive)
………………………………………………………………….
21. My sister will wash her clothes, so she can use it tomorrow (future tense
interrogative)
………………………………………………………………….
22. I don’t want to live forever because I don’t want to live in pain (future
tense)
………………………………………………………………….
23. Janet worked hard to make a living (past continuous tense negative)
………………………………………………………………….
24. Sania and Rohan were playing basketball with their friends in Kambang
Iwak (Past tense)
………………………………………………………………….
25. My sister and I celebrated Islamic new year eve together at Benteng
Kuto Besak last year (present tense)
………………………………………………………………….
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 87
Exercise 3
Directions:
Complete the sentences. Decide if you need the simple past or the past
progressive.
Chapter 11
Present
Perfect
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 89
11.1 Introduction
The present perfect tense is a tense that is used to desribe an action or activity in
the past but still continues up to now. Alexander (19.. , p. 130) provides two basic
uses of presente tense.
a. The action begins in the past and continues up to the present moment for
examples,
- Our fathar has cultivated his ricefield since last two weeks.
- Ardiansyah and his father have renovated their house for two months.
The time references for this type are before (now), ever, never, up till now, so far,
since or for.
b. The action that happened at unspecified time in the past such as,
- We have already watched that film several times.
- She has moved to a new apartment recently.
The time references can be just, recently, already, still, yet or without time
reference.
Note that the preent perfect tense should be differed from the simple past tense.
We use present perfect if we do not want to specify the exact gtime when the
event or ectivity occurs. With simple past we must use time marker to describe
when the event happens. Walker and Elsworth (2000, p.41 ) state that the present
perfect describes the indefinite past since the time the event happened is not
important or is not known.
Positive : S + have/has + V3
Exercise
1. Lina: I heard that there are a delicious food from Palembang called Pempek. Do you like
Pempek?
Mela: I don't know. I ............ it before.
A. have not been eating C. have not eat
B. has not eat D. has not been eating
4. Bagus: Have you noticed that there are something different with inda this morning?
Anto: Yes, you are right. I know that when I ______ her this morning.
A. See C. have seen
B. Saw D. has seen
5. Inda: Do you want to go to Palembang for vacation with me and Dindaduring our
holiday next week?
Laura: I would be great. In fact, I …….. there before.
A. have not go C. did not went
B. has not go D. do not go
Direction: Complete the sentences. Use one of these forms:present perfect (Ihave
done etc.) and past simple (I did etc.).
1. Murni ………. (finish) her work when Trisna asked her to go home
together yesterday.
2. Nanda . . . . . (pass) the test of University Enrolment last year.
3. Julio…….an active student last year
92 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
4. Anton …….. (paint) his house when his friends came to his house 2 days
ago.
5. Rian (do, not) … any activities when his friend invited him to go to the
party last night.
6. Lina and her husband……… (go) to the Bali for their vocation when Budi
came to their house yesterday.
7. He . . . . .(know, not) the answer for themath questions.
8. Bela . . . . . (read) a very interesting short story yesterday after she finished
her homework.
9. Yuliana……. (buy) a new purse when Laila offered her purse.
10. Wira got a new job recently. He. . . . .(finish) the Job Training last month.
11. The farmers (meet) ......... the governor for demostration.
12. (you, read) .................. this book before?
13. My cousin (not listen) ................ to the radio last night.
14. The employee (leave) .......... his office early yesterday afternoon.
15. Where (you, be) ............... in Papua?
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 93
Chapter 12
Present
Perfect
continuous
This chapter will help you to:
Muslih Hambali
94 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
12.1 Introduction
a) Mrs. Sulaiman has been teaching that class for four years.
b) My friend and I have been working on this project since last three weeks.
Sentence (a) is actually the same as Mrs Sulaiman has taught that class for four
years.
While sentence (b) has the same meaning as My friend and I have worked on this
project since last three weeks.
The word since or for are commonly used for time reference in sentences with the
present perfect continuous tense.
Example : Uncle Zani + has + not + been + fix + ing + his car
etc.
Negative 1, you, they, have not been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
1, you, they, have not been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
Interrogative Have 1, you, they, been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
Has 1, you, they, been fixing his car
we, he, she, it,
uncle Zani,
Palembang,
etc.
Exercises
1. Agus, Agil and Bagas _____ soccer for almost two hours. They should
finished up soon.
A. Has been playing C. Have been playing
B. Had been playing D. Were playing
2. Isabela ____ on the phone for more than half an hour. He should hang up
soon.
A. have been talking C. had been talking
B. has been talking D. was talking
3. Lina and Mela ____their package since this morning. They are really
excited about it.
A. Had been waiting C. Were waiting
B. Have been waiting D. Has been waiting
4. Tono _____ for his dog for an hour. He lost it when he went to toilet.
96 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
5. Mr. Fadli and Ms. Fadli ______ since two days ago. They probably will be
back tomorrow.
A. Have been travelling C. Had been traveling
B. Has been traveling D. Were traveling
6. The girls _____ in the mall since this afternoon. They really spend much
time there.
A. Have been shopping C. Had been shopping
B. Has been shopping D. Were shopping
7. Andika _____ his motorcycle since this morning to go around the city.
A. Have been riding C. Had been riding
B. Has been riding D. Was riding
Chapter 13
Past
Perfect
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of past perfect
be able to understand the use of past perfect
be able to write sentences using basic structure of past perfect
be able to understand the use of past perfect using Be + going
to
Muslih Hambali
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 99
13.1 Introduction
Past perfect tense is usually used when there are two events or activities occuring
in the past (one event or activity occurs first and the other occurs afterward). We
use past perfect for the first or earlier event and simple past for the other event.
Let’s consider the situation below as our examples;
When George arrived at the station, the train had already left.
Common conjunctions used to introduce the past perfect tense are as soon as,
after, when, by the time that. These conjunctions usually go with simple past.
Positive : S + had + V3
Exercise
1. By the time Mira got there, Iwan ______ working his school project.
A. Have finished C. Had finished
B. Has finished D. Is finished
2. Lina _____ that her purse already gone until she arrives at home.
A. Had known C. Have known
B. Has known D. Is known
3. The movie______ by the time Mira and Anton come to the cinema.
A. Had begun C. Have begun
B. Has begun D. Is begun
4. Last month, Junaidi and his friends went to Bali for vacation. Before that,
they_____ there.
A. Had never go C. Has never go
B. Have never go D. Were never went
5. When Iwan and his younger brother arrives at the toy store to buy a new
car toy, someone else _____ the car.
A. Has buy C. Have buy
B. Had buy D. buy
7. In 2017, Tono bought a new car. Prior to that time, he ______ to have any
vehicle.
A. Have never dreamed C. Was never dreamed
B. Has never dreamed D. Had never dreamed
10. How many times … the clothes before the fault occured?
a. I had tasted
b. Had I tasted
c. You had worn
d. Had you worn
1. Millions of years ago, dinosaurs______ (roam) the earth, but now we can
only see their fossil.
2. Yesterday at the book store, Lina saw Inda, her old friend. She _____ (see,
not) her in years.
3. Tika did not recognize Surya, her childhood friend. He _____ (lose) great
deal of weight.
4. Nina……(cook) a delicious food for her husband.
5. Anton……. (draw) a picture of a mountain scene for his art competition.
6. It most ……..(happen) all the time
7. In 2007, Rina’s parents ______ (move) to Palembang from Jakarta. They
move there because her parents job.
8. Mr. Irawan got home late. The children _____(fall) asleep.
9. Romi and Budi could not cross the river because the flood _____ (wash)
away the bridge.
102 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
10. Yuli’s roommate _____ (finish) dinner by the time she got home.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 103
Chapter 14
Future
continues
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of future continues
be able to understand the use of future continues
be able to write sentences using basic structure of future
continues
be able to understand the use of future continues using Be +
going to
Muslih Hambali
104 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
14.1 Introduction
Future continuous tense is a tense that tells the event will be happening at a
specified time in the future. Hughes ( 2001 p. 174) argues that the future
continuous that talks about an unfinished action or event that will be in progress
at a time later than now can be used to:
a. project one’s self into the future and see something happening. For
example, Aldo and his friends will be playing kites at this time next
Sunday.
b. refer to actions or events that will happen in the normal course of events.
For example, My father will be leaving for Bandung next week.
c. predict or guess about someone’s actions and feelings. For example,
The Samsudin will be feeling excited with their journey to Bangka
Island.
The future continuous is generally formed with two elements will be + the present
participle (verb 1+ ing).
Example : Indri and Mira + will + not + be + coming + to the school today
Palembang,
etc.
Exercise
3. Next semester at this time, Anton ______ exactly what he is doing right
now. He will be attending the school.
A. would be doing C. has been doing
B. is doing D. have been doing
7. Rio have got his salary. Tomorrow at the afternoon, he ______ at the mall
to buy some new clothes.
A. Would be shopping C. Has been shopping
B. Will be shopping D. Is shopping
Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: future continuous
or present tense.
1. Right now Ragil are attending the class. Tomorrow at this time, They
______ (attend) class.
2. Lina is going home tomorrow. When she arrives at the airport, her family
_____ (wait) for her
3. Dinda always gest up early in the morning. Tomorrow as usual, when she
gets up, her roommate _____ (lie) in the bed.
4. Do not get impatient. Rina _____ (come) home soon. We should get
everything ready before she arrives.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 107
7. Does the coach of Soccer club ________ .(train) the team regularly?
9. Lina just got a job. She______ (work) at her new office next Sunday.
10. The boys always play football at this field after the school time is over.
Tomorrow they _______ (use) this field to play.
11. We ____________ (see) Mrs. Blair this evening.
12. They ___________ (miss) some snow when they are back to Palembang.
13. (you, bring) ____________ your family to the zoo every month?
14. The children ___________ (birdwatch) in Jakabaring at this time this
Sunday.
15. Salama and her friends ____________ (not go) swimming on Fridays but
Saturdays.
108 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 15
Future
PERFECT
Muslih Hambali
15.1 Introduction
Future perfect tense is a tense that talks about an action which will be completed
before a certain time or point in the future. Let’s examine the following situation.
Mrs. Yuni is growing banana trees now and it will take four months for the
trees to give fruit.
By the end of the next four months Mrs. Yuni will have picked ripe
bananas.
Common future expressions for time markers of future perfect tense are by next
month, week, month, etc. and by the end of this week, month, year, etc.
Exercise
1. Your best friend … help by the time you ask her to take part in your
wedding.
a. will have offered
b. will have offered
c. will have offered
d. will have had money
b. will be finishing
c. will finished
d. will have finished
4. By this afternoon, Lina and Mirna … the lawn with a push mower.
a. will have saw
b. will have seen
c. will have been mowed
d. will have mowed
8. They hope they …all the tenses by the times the exam comes.
a. Will have been master
b. Will have been mastered
c. Will have master
d. Will have mastered
112 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: future perfect or
present tense.
1. By this time next month, Murni’s father and she ____ (visit) Palembang
city for her family business for a year.
2. Before you arrive at the station, a hotel room _____ (prepare) for you.
3. Rio _____ (bring) some souvenir by the time he come back from the U.S
Chapter 16
Past
Future
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of past future
be able to understand the use of past future
be able to write sentences using basic structure of past future
be able to understand the use of past future using Be + going to
Muslih Hambali
114 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
16.1 Introduction
Past future tense is a tense that talks about an action or activity in the past but is
expected to happen in the future. The word “would” is usually used for the
structural pattern of past future. Since there no special time expressions for this
tense simple past is commonly used instead. Here are some examples of this
tense.
Past future is also common to be used in conditional sentence type 2 which means
that this tense goes with simple past. If it is used in conditional sentence the
meaning of the sentence mjust be contrary to the fact at presente time. Here is an
example;
4) If Fikri did not come to class now, he would miss the lesson.
This sentence gives meaning that Fikri comes to class, so he does not miss the
lesson.
Exercise
c. Have giving
d. Has Giving
Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: past future or past
tense.
1. Robi knew that he _____ (get) a job easily after a long time
unemployed.
2. Farah told me that she ______ (buy) souvenirs for herself.
3. Our English teacher . . . . .(be) sick yesterday.
4. Miss Yoan . . . . . (invite) me to her party two days ago
5. She didn’t . . . . . (come) to my birthday party yesterday.
6. The students promised that they ______ (cheat, not) in exams.
7. Bela’s friends promised that she _____ (give) her an ice cream if she
accompany her to the mall.
8. Tio was sure that the employer ______ (call) him after receiving my
resume.
9. Nina’s little brother…….. (be)a new motorcycle yesterday.
10. Jina …..(be) sad when my bestfriend left me yesterday.
118 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
Chapter 17
Past
Future
perfect
This chapter will help you to:
be able to identify basic structure of past future perfect
be able to understand the use of past future perfect
be able to write sentences using basic structure of past future
perfect
be able to understand the meaning of the sentence using past
future perfect
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 119
Muslih Hambali
17.1 Introduction
Past future tense is a tense that talks about the action/activity which was predicted
or planned to occur in the past. Past future perfect usually gies together with
another activity in the past. Past perfect is usually with it. We normallyfind this
tense in conditional sentences for example;
The sentence with past perfect tense usually give meaning contrary to the fact for
examples;
Sentence (1) means Anton was not here last night, while sentence (b) gives
meaning that Mr. Alfarizi told the news to you.
From the examples above, we can learn that if a sentence with the past future
perfect is positive the meaning must must be negative. On the contrary, when the
sentence with past perfect is negative, the meaning must be positive.
Exercise 1
Direction: Choose the correct answer for the following questions.
9. Iwan and Agus would have ....in that company if we had passed the
interview test before
122 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
a. Working
b. Work
c. Worked
d. Works
10. Anton …… that thief last night, but he could wriggle out from him.
a. Would have be caught
b. Would have caught
c. Will have caught
d. Will caught
Exercise 2
Direction: Complete the sentences using one of these forms: past future perfect or
future perfect.
1. Lina ____________ (come) to the Tania’s house alone, if she had let me
go with him.
2. If he had wanted to sell that house, Tono surely __________ (buy) it from
him.
3. We ________ (work) in that company if we had passed the interview test
before.
4. Nina …(see) the TOEFL prediction score online next week.
5. The workers …… (finish) to build an apartment on next two months.
6. Mira and Andi hope that they … (master) all the tenses by the times the
exam comes.
7. The person … (finish) probation by next month.
8. The manager … (left) the meeting room by twelve.
9. Mukhlis and Iwan ________ (borrow) a car from theirr brother, if they had
needed it.
10. If Lina’s father had given her much money, she ______ (give) a gift to her
friend Rina.
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 123
PART III
This part talks about degrees of comparison using adjectives. The use
degrees of comparison is to compare two or more things or persons
described by adjectives. There are three different forms of comparison:
positive, comparative and superlative.
124 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
SpecialChapter
Degrees of
Comparison
Muslih Hambali
I. Introduction
A. Positive Degree
B. Comparative Degree
C. Superlative Degree
The superlative degree of an adjective is the one that shows the highest
degree of the quality. It is used to compare more than two things or sets of
things. This means there is no superlative if there are only two things. For
examples;
Notice that the words or phrases in sentences (1) up to (9) are all adjectives
with different degrees.
D. Using AS ......... AS
Now look at the following tips how to form comparative degree and
superlative degree from the positive degree.
Tip I
For comparative Degree and Supelative Degree (word with one syllable).
Tip II
For comparative Degree and Supelative Degree (word with two or more
syllables).
If an adjective contains two or more syllables, use more before the adjective
for comparative and most for superlative. For examples;
Tip III
For irregular Comparison
EXERCISES
Exercise 1
1 Tall
2 Expensive
3 Cheap
4 Good
5 Comfortable
6 Far
7 Ugly
8 Bad
9 Fat
10 Smart
11 Handsome
12 Fast
13 Heavy
14 Nice
15 Dangerous
16 Friendly
Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners 129
17 Flat
18 Little
19 Active
20 Noisy
Exercise 2
Directions:
Complete the sentences with the comparative and superlative form of the
adjective or adverb.
Exercise 3
Directions:
Read the sentence below and write T for “TRUE” or F for “FALSE”
1. April is colder than June (T / F )
2. Winter is hotter than spring (T / F )
3. Mount Everest is higher than Mount Fuji (T / F)
4. Missisippi river is longer than Amazon river (T / F)
5. Snow White is more beautiful than her stepmother (T / F)
6. A Ferrari is faster than a Toyota (T / F)
7. A village is smaller than a city ( T / F)
8. Lakes are bigger than oceans (T / F)
9. Trains are more comfortable than planes (T / F)
10. Sending letters is easier and faster than sending e-mails (T / F)
11. Paris is more crowded than Istanbul. (T / F)
12. We stay at the cheaper hotel in the town. (T / F)
13. This knife is not very sharp. Have you got a sharp one ? (T / F)
14. Solomon was wiser than other kings. (T / F)
15. Gold is one of the most precious metal. (T / F)
16. Computers are more expensive than telephones. (T / F)
17. Which is the difficultiest subject at school? (T / F)
18. This armchair is comfortable than the old one. (T / F)
19. That TV set is the cheapest of all. (T / F)
20. This is the most exciting film Andi has ever seen.
Exercise 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Alexander, L.G. (1998). Longman English Grammar Practice for
Intermediate Students. Edinburgh: Addison Wesley Longman Limited.
3. Azar, Betty. S. (2003). Basic English Grammar 3rd editon. New York: Pearson
Education.
5. Azar, Betty. S. (2002). Understanding and Using English Grammar 3rd editon. New
York: Pearson Education.
12. Murphy, Raymond. (1989). Grammar in Use Reference and Practice for Intermediate
Students of English. New York: Cambridge University Press.
13. Phillips, Deborah. 2003. Longman Preparation Course for the TOEFL.
White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.
14. Sargeant, Howard. (2007). Basic English Grammar for English Language
134 Basic English Grammar for foreign English learners
15. Seaton, Anne.and Mew, Y. H. ( 2007). Basic English Grammar for English
Language Learners Book 1. Three Watson, Irvine, CA: Saddleback
Educational Publishing.
16. Walker, Elaine., and Elsworth, Steve. (2000). New Grammar Practice for Pre-
Intermediate Students. Edinburgh Gate, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.