Many of the quizzes on this page came from:
Many Things Org
ELC Study Zone
The English Club
Activities for ESL Students (a4esl)
Houghton Mifflin English
(the home of Grammar blast!
Many great, easy-to-understand explanations can be found at
Grammar Bytes
Last Content Update: Monday Feb. 4, 2007, 9AM
Grammar Topics that Should be Mastered
by the End of Grade 5.
or
If you're not crazy already, this will surely help!
Everyone should know these!!
| Grammar topic | Explanation | Links to Quizzes | |
| The 8 or 9 parts of speech. (Depending on whether you count "articles". Some say that "articles" are actually just adjectives.) | Nouns,
verbs ,
adverbs, adjectives;
articles, pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions and INTERJECTIONS. |
Quiz A1-i Quiz A1-ii Quiz A1-iii (easy) | |
| ABOUT NOUNS | |||
| Proper nouns and common nouns | Common nouns are "just" things (boy, city, day, book). Proper nouns are "specific" things (Bill, Toronto, Monday, The Cat in the Hat). |
Quiz A2 | |
| Countable and uncountable nouns | Countable things can be counted (d'uh!)- like balls, dolls and cars - and we use words like many or fewer with them. (There are many dolls in the box. I have fewer dolls than she does.) Uncountable nouns can't be specifically counted - like rain, sugar or love. We use words such as much or less with them. (I don't want much sugar in my tea. A fish shows less love than a dog.) Some nouns can be either, depending on how they are used. (Examples) |
Quiz A3-i (quiz A3-ii | |
| Plurals (more than one) | Since English is crazy, it wants to drive you crazy too, and one good way is with plurals. Most plurals add "s" (but then again, it could be "es," or "ves" where there was an "f"). But some words just do nutsy things. Why? don't ask!!! You can see some info here and an even bigger list here. |
Quiz A4
Quiz A4a | |
| ABOUT VERBS | |||
| The tenses. | Present, past, future; simple, progressive, perfect...and more. What is "tense," and when do we use what? For a review of the 12 basic tenses, go here . (Note: You won't see the word "progressive," you will see "continuous" instead - they mean the same thing. Also, you won't find "simple" listed, so for "present simple" just go to the "present" tense, "past simple" = "past tense," and "future simple" = "future tense.") |
Quiz A5 | |
| Past tense of irregular verbs | The second way English really makes us crazy is with past irregular verbs. The "normal" way to make past tense is to add "ed." Right? Yes, except that there are about 250 verbs, and the most common ones, too, that DON'T DO IT THAT WAY!!! Worse, there's no rhyme or reason (i.e. logic) to what does what. So you just have to memorize! Here's a list of the most common ones. (Also includes the participle.) |
Quiz A6 | |
| Making the verb agree (to person and tense). | That's what you do when you DON'T write "I sees the ball" or "Yesterday, you eat dinner." It's knowing when to change the verb because of the "person" ("I, you, we, he...as in I am crazy; she IS crazy) or the tense (as in I am going nuts from all this grammar; I went nuts when I saw the list of irregular verb; If you don't stop all this, I will go nuts!) |
Quiz A 7 | |
| Forming negatives.
(In the present tenses) |
There is a difference between "to be" and "the other verbs." * Sentences with the royal verb "to be" just add "not" (for negative). I am a frog. I am not a frog. * All the other verbs (e.g. like) need help with an "auxilliary (helping) verb," and usually "do" is the one. I like ice cream. I do not like bar-b-qued worms. * Negatives can also be made using "MODALS" (can, must, should, e.g. You cannot touch that!!.... ) but that's more advanced. |
Quiz A8-i Quiz A8-ii | |
| Forming questions.
(In the present tenses.) |
1) Yes/no questions. * Sentences with the royal verb "to be" just rearrange the subject and the verb (for questions): We are ready. Are we ready? * All the other verbs (e.g. like) need help with an "auxilliary (helping) verb," and usually "do" is the one. I like purple milk. Do they like green cheese? 2) "Wh" questions. * Questions that require a specific answer are made using the words: What, where, when, why, who, which and how (which is also "wh" but got mixed up....) - Questions can also be made using "MODALS" (can, must, should, ....Should I eat the chicken with my finger? ) but that's more advanced. |
Quiz A8-iii Quiz A8-iv Quiz A8-v | |
| Forming questions and negatives in other tenses. | This shouldn't be a problem at all. Just follow the rules, using the tense you need. Remember, if you use a "helping verb", it does the "work" for the sentence. The "other verb" keeps its form throughout. Jill was the best. Jill was not the best. Was Jill the best? Where was Jill the best? Who was the best? The monster ate the rock. The monster didn't eat the rock. Did the monster eat the rock? Why did the monster eat the rock? What ate the rock? |
Quiz A8-vi Quiz A8-vii Quiz A8-viii | |
| ABOUT ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS | |||
| Use of words as adjectives and/or adverbs | Adjectives ONLY describe nouns. Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Some words can only be one or the other: heavy (adj)/heavily (adv); good (adj)/well (adv); Some words can be both: fast, early, friendly. Some adjectives can be made into an adverb by adding "ly" (happy/happily); Some adjectives remain adjectives (but different) by adding "ly" (hard/ hardly); Some adjectives look like adverbs because they END in "ly" (lovely,likely). Want lots more info? |
Quiz A9 | |
| Comparatives and superlatives - regular and irregular ) | This is where you use "high,higher,highest;" or "happy, happier, happiest;" or "magnificent, more magnificent, most magnificent." But, English being "crazy," we also have good/better/best and bad/worse/worst ....and others. Info |
Quiz A10 | |
| ABOUT PRONOUNS | |||
| Different types of personal pronouns. | There are subject pronouns- I, he , object pronouns- me, him , possessive pronouns- mine, his , reflexive pronouns- myself, himself, and pronouns used as possessive adjectives- my, his. See chart When you know this, you'll never say something awful like: Bob and me are going to the movies. or, The chocolate is for Sue and he; or, (horrors!) Between you and I, English is my favorite subject. (If you don't know why this is wrong, go to Prepositional Phrases, below.) |
Quiz A11-a Quiz A11-b Quiz A11-c Quiz A11-d | |
| Other types of pronouns. | Most people thing of just the above list as "pronouns." But actually, pronouns are "small words that take the place of specific nouns." So pronouns also include "Demonstrative Pronouns," for things that are nearer or farther in space or time (this, that, these, those) and "Indefinite Pronouns," which give the idea of all, any, none, or some( all, another, any, anybody, anyone, anything, each, everybody, everyone, everything, few, many, nobody, none, one, several, some, somebody, someone, ...). |
Quiz A12 | |
| ABOUT CONJUNCTIONS | |||
| Conjunctions | Words that "join" other words or parts of sentences: and, or, while ... Conjunctions are either coordinating (join equal parts of sentence) or subordinating. There are 7 coordinating conjunctions: (remember "FANBOYS") - for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so. Read all about them Quiz A13 | ||
| ABOUT PREPOSITIONS | |||
| Prepositions | Prepositions show "position" or "relationship." For a list, check here. Prepositions are ALWAYS part of a prepositional phrase which MUST contain a noun (the object of the preposition). | Quiz A14a
QuizA14b | |
| MORE STUFF | |||
| Parts of sentence | These are: subject, predicate, simple subject, simple predicate, object. | Quiz A15 | |
| Capitalization | Capitals are used: at the beginning of sentences; for proper nouns; for most of the words in titles; and for the pronoun "I." | Quiz A16 | |
| Using "a," "an," "the" or nothing. | "A" or "an" is used for an unspecified object. "A book" means "any old book." "The" is used for something specific. "The book" means a specific book and you know which one I'm talking about! | Quiz A17 | |