Grammar for ESL

A new section of each course starts monthly. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when lessons are released. You will have access to all lessons until the course ends. However, the interactive discussion area that accompanies each lesson will automatically close two weeks after the lesson is released. As such, we strongly recommend that you complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

The final exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the final exam has been released, you will have two weeks to complete all of your course work, including the final exam.

Lesson 1
No matter what the language, grammar is often viewed as a difficult thing to grasp. Most of us don't really know what grammar is. You'll find out here in our first lesson. You'll be surprised to learn how simple grammar can be. Once you discover this, you'll want to read and learn more.

Lesson 2
Unlike other languages, English grammar follows a very logical structure. In this lesson, you'll discover how the language functions and grasp the main verbs of English. In addition, we'll explore some of the language structures that can be confusing and prove that once you discover the trick, they really aren't confusing at all.

Lesson 3
Today, we'll talk about past and present tenses. We'll examine how we manipulate verbs to give specific meanings. You'll find out how to construct effective sentences in standard academic English.

Lesson 4
In this lesson, you'll see how an action is reported as complete in future time. A lot of people, including native speakers, avoid this future perfect form, but you won't. You'll discover why it's important to understand and use the future perfect. Then we'll explore the difference between the infinitive (to go) and the gerund (going) forms. You will learn when and how to use them appropriately.

Lesson 5
Native speakers know how to use most of the modals correctly. But it's common to make errors in using the right modal for the right tense (time). In this lesson, we'll make sense of these unique words that are used to help verbs give a specific meaning.

Lesson 6
The core of this lesson is identifying the active and passive voice or, who did what to whom. This is essential because it reflects one's ability to think clearly and logically. Understanding the active and passive voice is also important because it will help you detect deceitful statements others may make in an effort to persuade you to do something.

Lesson 7
Have you ever wondered what the difference is between a clause and a phrase? Today you'll find out. You'll also learn how questions are formed in English. This is particularly important because English can be a little different from other languages. For example, Spanish generally depends on the music of the language to create a question. English depends on the word order?the verb must always come before the subject in order to form a question.

Lesson 8
To report means to say what we saw or heard?to retell what someone has already said, or what we have already experienced. Communication would be very difficult if we didn't have the reported speech form. Can you imagine yourself talking in quotes all the time? In this lesson, we'll examine what English speakers do to change a quoted speech to reported speech. You'll find out how easy it is to do this and also learn the common errors that even native speakers make.

Lesson 9
Today, we'll look at practical applications of adjective and adverb clauses. These terms can be confusing, but I'll make them as clear as possible in this lesson. You'll discover that the challenge of learning them can actually be fun!

Lesson 10
Real and unreal conditionals create a problem for many of us. A speaker can easily make errors if he or she is unaware of what's real and what's unreal. Today, you'll grasp the difference and find out what's considered acceptable English. You'll be surprised to see how often mistakes are made and how easy it is to avoid making them.

Lesson 11
There are many nouns in English that can't be counted. We need to know what they are so we can use the proper verb form with them. In this lesson, we'll address these nouns. We'll see how to make the verb agree with the subject of a sentence. You'll learn how to determine what verb form to use if the subject is singular, third person, plural, or non-count.

Lesson 12
In this, our final lesson, we'll discuss your newly developed confidence in understanding how English grammar works. We'll talk about how what we've covered contributes to an appreciation for languages in general and English in particular.