English grammar

We use 'on' before days of the week and dates.

Bsp.: on the 18th, on Tuesday morning, on my birthday, on the phone, on 079 545 77 30, on foot

We use 'at' before times, the weekend, the end of the day, the moment.

Bsp.: at 3'clock, at Christmas, at the weekend, at the end of the day, at the moment

We use 'in' before months, seasons and years.

Bsp.: in April, in the afternoon, in the summer, in 1969, in Copenhagen

We use the 'present simple' in the following cases:

permanent situations, routines and frequency, facts, programmes and timetables, possession (=Besitz)

I / you / we / they work, he / she / it works

I / you / we / they do work, he / she / it does work

We use the 'present continuous' in the following cases:

- moment of speaking (He is talking to a coustomer on the other phone)

- current projects that are taking place over a periode of time

- temporary situations

- current trends and slow changes (inflation are falling, the economy is growing)

I am working, you / we / they are working, he / she / it is working

We use the 'past simple' in the following cases:

completed actions in the past, time expressions with prepositions (at, on, in)

Positive: I / you / he / she / it / we / they worked

Negatives: I / you / he / she / it / we / they did work

Questions: Did I / you / he / she / it / we / they work?

There are some irregular verbs:

Bsp.: go - went, make - made, become - became, begin - began, bring - brought, burn - burnt, dig - dug, lie - lay, eat - ate, read - read, etc.

To be: I / you / we / they were, he / she / it was

We use the 'present perfect' in the following cases:

- A link between a present situation and something that happened at an unspecified time in the past

Bsp.: I have given your report to the MD.

(Past action: I gave her your report yesterday. Present result: She has the report now.)

Some words which indicate the present perfect:

- ever, never

- already (in positives)

- yet (in questions and negatives)

- just, so far, still

- this month (the month is not finished )

- this morning (It's now 11.15, the morning has not finished.)

Positive: I / you / we / they have taken, he / she / it has taken

Negatives: I / you / we / they haven't taken, he / she / it hasn't taken

Questions: Have I / you / we / they taken, Has he / she / it taken?

There are some irregular verbs:

Bsp.: go - gone, be - been, make - made, become - become, begin - begun, bring - brought, burn - burnt, dig - dug, lie - lain, eat - eaten, read - read, etc.

Countable nouns can be singular or plural. We use 'a', 'an' or 'some' before them.

- a lot of / lots of

- any

- many

- a few

- several

- a couple of