This app is designed to help advanced-level learners gain control over difficult areas of English grammar. This app is not a systematic treatment of all areas of English grammar. Instead, it deals in depth with selected grammar topics that pose special problems for nonnative speakers. These topics fall into two areas: (1) areas of grammar that are the source of persistent error and (2) areas of grammar that are so complex that even advanced nonnative speakers almost always avoid them.
Examples of the first type of persistent error would be using wrong articles, misusing the present and present progressive tenses, confusing present and past participles of verbs used as adjectives, and using the wrong relative pronoun in adjective clauses.
Examples of the second type of constructions that are avoided because of their complexity would be gerunds and infinitives used as nouns, participial phrases, and wh- infinitive phrases.
Each topic is explained in detail, often going far beyond what would be found in a more general grammar book. My hope is that by fully understanding the technical grammatical issues involved, you will feel much more confident in using these difficult constructions. Each bit of grammatical analysis is supported by a series of practice exercises that will help you gain practical control over the issues covered in the analysis.
Contents
Preface
1 Noun plurals
The spelling and pronunciations of regular nouns
Irregular plurals of English and Latin origin
Noncount nouns
2 Possessive nouns and personal pronouns
The correct forms of possessive nouns and personal pronouns
The different meanings of possessive nouns and personal pronouns
Possessive formed with of
3 Articles and quantifiers
Articles
Quantifiers
4 Adjectives
Forming the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives
Deriving adjectives from verb participles
5 Verb forms and tenses
Rule #1: The first verb, and only the first verb, is tensed
Rule #2: All verb constructions except for the simple present and simple past consist of two verb components
Rule #3: If both the perfect and the progressive aspects are used in the same verb sequence, the perfect always comes first
6 Talking about present time
The present and present progressive tenses
The present perfect tense
7 Talking about past time
The past tense
The past perfect tense
8 Talking about future time
Using the present and present progressive tenses for future time
9 Causative verbs
Older causative verbs
More modern causative verbs
10 The passive
How the be passive is formed
Reasons for deleting the agent
Get passives
11 The structure of adjective clauses
The internal structure of adjective clauses
Creating and moving relative pronouns
Deleting relative pronouns
Moving objects of prepositions
12 Restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses
The differences in meaning between restrictive and nonrestrictive adjective clauses
The reduction of adjective clauses to participial phrases
13 Gerunds
Identifying gerunds
Determining the expressed and unexpressed subjects of gerunds
14 Infinitives
Identifying inifnitives
Determining the expressed and unexpressed subjects of infinitives
15 Noun clauses
Where noun clauses can be used
That clauses
Wh- clauses
Answer key
help advanced-level learner gain control over difficult areas of English grammar
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