English grammar — clear, with examples

"To be" (быть) is the most common verb in English. It has three forms in the present: am, is, are.

To talk about more than one thing, we usually add -s to the noun. Some plurals are irregular.

Articles go before nouns. Use a/an for one new thing, and the for a specific known thing. Russian has no articles, so this needs practice.

We use have/has to talk about possession, family, and features. Use have with I/you/we/they and has with he/she/it.

We use there is / there are to say that something exists or is in a place.

Prepositions of place tell you WHERE something is. The trick is choosing the right one: in (inside), on (on a surface), under (below), next to (at the side), between (in the middle of two), in front of / behind, above / below / near.

Question words ask for information. Common ones are what (что), where (где), and how much (сколько стоит).

We use the Present Simple for habits, routines, and facts — things that are always or usually true.

The present continuous describes actions happening now or around now. We form it with am/is/are plus a verb ending in -ing.

We use the Past Simple to talk about finished actions in the past. Many verbs add -ed, but some are irregular.

Learn two easy ways to talk about the future in English: "be going to" for plans and predictions from evidence, and "will" for quick decisions, offers, promises and general predictions. Both use the base form of the verb.

With he, she, and it in the Present Simple, we add -s (or -es) to the verb.

"I would like" is a polite way to ask for something or say what you want. It is softer than "I want".

The Past Continuous (was/were + verb-ing) describes an action that was in progress at a specific moment in the past, often interrupted by another shorter action.

We use "used to + base verb" to talk about past habits, repeated actions, and states that were true before but are not true now.

The present perfect uses have or has plus the past participle to talk about past actions that matter now, life experiences, and recent news. Use it when the exact time is not important.

Use the Present Perfect for past actions connected to now (with no specific time), and the Past Simple for finished actions at a specific past time.

The Present Perfect Continuous (have/has been + verb-ing) describes actions that started in the past and are still continuing now, or that recently stopped but have visible results, and it often emphasizes the duration of the activity.

The past perfect (had + past participle) shows that one action happened before another action or time in the past. We use it to make the order of past events clear.

English has three main ways to talk about the future — "will", "be going to", and the present continuous — and the one you choose depends on whether you are predicting, planning, deciding, or arranging.

The future continuous (will be + verb-ing) describes an action that will be in progress at a specific time in the future. It is also used for planned events and for polite enquiries about someone's plans.

We use the first conditional (if + present simple, will + base verb) to talk about real and possible situations in the future and their likely results.

We use the Second Conditional to talk about imaginary, unreal, or unlikely situations in the present or future and their imagined results.

In English we use "must", "have to", and "should" to talk about obligation and advice: "must" and "have to" express strong necessity or rules, while "should" gives advice or recommends what is a good idea.

We use the relative pronouns "who", "which", and "that" to join two ideas into one sentence and to give more information about a person or thing.

In the passive voice we focus on the action and the thing it happens to, not the person who does it; we form it with the verb "be" plus the past participle, and we use the present simple ("am/is/are + past participle") or the past simple ("was/were + past participle") depending on the time.

The past perfect continuous (had been + verb-ing) describes an action that was ongoing over a period of time up to a certain moment in the past. It often explains the cause of a past result and emphasises duration with for and since.

The Future Perfect (will have + past participle) describes an action that will be completed before a specific point in the future. It is often used with time markers such as "by", "by the time", "before" and "in + time".

The third conditional describes unreal or imaginary situations in the past — things that did not happen — and their hypothetical past results, using the structure "If + past perfect, would have + past participle".

Mixed conditionals combine clauses from different conditional types so that the time of the condition and the time of the result are different.

We use "wish" and "if only" to talk about things we want to be different — regrets about the past, dissatisfaction with the present, and frustration with annoying situations.

English uses "must have," "might/may/could have," and "can't/couldn't have" + past participle to express how certain we are about something that happened in the past, based on the evidence we have.

Reported (indirect) speech tells what someone said or asked without quoting their exact words, usually shifting tenses one step back, changing pronouns and time expressions, and turning questions into statement word order.

In advanced English the passive voice works across all tenses and is often combined with reporting verbs (say, believe, think, expect) to present information impersonally or to emphasize the action rather than the doer.

Relative clauses add information about a noun: defining clauses identify which person or thing we mean (no commas), while non-defining clauses give extra, non-essential information (set off by commas).

The causative with "have something done" and "get something done" is used when you arrange for another person to do a job for you, rather than doing it yourself.