Advanced English Grammar Tips

INTRODUCTION

This book covers many of the types of advanced-level grammar you’d need to live and work in an English-speaking country or to pass English language exams such as, IELTS, First and CAE.

It also covers examples of how English speaker really talk. That’s to say, the type of grammar constructions you’ll hear that are not always those explained in standard grammar books.

The author, Alexander Markham, is a CELTA tutor from London. He also writes articles on IELTS, Business and Advanced-Level English. You can find his work him at:

Website: www.theenglishbureau.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theenglishbureau/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/theenglishburea/

1 USING PREPOSITIONS

We use prepositions to show a relationship or a connection between nouns and pronouns. Prepositions are therefore typically followed by a noun phrase or pronoun.

For example:

John (noun) goes to (proposition) the shop

The noun John is connected to the noun shop by the preposition to.

English prepositions can be tricky to learn for speakers of other languages so here are two methods to remember how prepositions are used in English.

The first method to consider is to think of prepositions with certain word groups. In English, you need to think of word groups as vocabulary in the way single words are considered vocabulary in other languages.

These preposition word groups are:

Verb Word Groups,

Adjective Word Groups

Other Word Groups, including adverbs and expressions.

The second method is to think of prepositions with regard to situations. These situations are:

Time

Place

Movement.

1.1 PREPOSITIONS WITH WORD GROUPS

1 VERB + PREPOSITION WORD GROUPS

When a verb is followed by a sentence, it is usually accompanied by a specific preposition that is always used with that particular verb. This verb group is often a phrasal verb and you should remember phrasal verbs as a word group: verb + preposition.

For example: The verb to account always goes with preposition for to form the phrasal verb to account for, meaning to provide a satisfactorily record for something, usually money.

Here are some examples of phrasal verbs, or verb+prepositions word groups giving the preposition that is linked to the verb:

PHRASAL VERBS WITH FOR

Account for, answer for, care for, come for, look for, pay for, send for, settle for.

PHRASAL VERBS WITH FROM

Come from, hear from, keep from, protect from, recover from, suffer from.

PHRASAL VERBS WITH IN

Believe in, fit in, give in, work in, specialise in, succeed in.

PHRASAL VERBS WITH OF

Approve of, die of, dispose of, smell of, think of.

PHRASAL VERBS WITH ON

Agree on, based on, build on, concentrate on, decide on, pass on, rely on.

PHRASAL VERBS WITH TO

Agree to, answer to, apologise to, get to, go to, introduce to, refer to, reply/respond to, talk to. (Don't confuse phrasal verbs with to with those verbs that are followed by a to-infinitive).

PHRASAL VERBS WITH WITH

Agree with, argue with, break with, come with, deal with, go with, live with, meet with.

2 ADJECTIVE & PREPOSITION WORD GROUPS

Adjectives are of course used to describe nouns – people, places or things.

Adjectives are commonly grouped with a preposition to connect the two nouns/pronouns in a sentence.

Here are some common adjective-preposition word groups when the adjective and preposition are always used together:

ADJECTIVES WITH ABOUT

Angry about, anxious about, enthusiastic about, excited about, serious about.

ADJECTIVES WITH AT

Amazed at, angry at, bad at, disappointed at, good at, shocked at, skilled at, successful at, surprised at.

ADJECTIVES WITH BY

Amazed by, delighted by, fascinated by, impressed by, inspired by, shocked by, surprised by.

ADJECTIVES WITH OF

Afraid of, ashamed of, aware of, find of, full of, proud of.

ADJECTIVES WITH FOR

Eligible for, excellent for, famous for, known for, prepared for, respected for, responsible for, ready for, suitable for.

ADJECTIVES WITH FROM

Absent from, different from, free from, made from, protected from.

ADJECTIVES WITH IN

Experienced in, interested in, involved in, skilled in, successful in.

ADJECTIVES WITH OF

Afraid of, aware of, conscious of, jealous of, proud of, typical of.

ADJECTIVES WITH TO

Accustomed to, addicted to, committed to, dedicated to, opposed to, similar to.

ADJECTIVES WITH WITH

Angry with, annoyed with, associated with, confronted with, disappointed with, familiar with, pleased with.

3 PREPOSITIONS WITH OTHER WORD GROUPS

Other word groups are expressions and phrases that use a preposition. Here are some examples:

WORD GROUPS WITH AS

As long as, as soon as, such as, as well as, in so far as, just as.

WORD GROUPS WITH FOR

As for, except for.

WORD GROUPS WITH FROM

Apart from.

WORD GROUPS WITH OF

Ahead of, because of, in front of, in place of, in spite of, in terms of, inside of, instead of, on account of, on the basis of, on top of, out of, outside of.

WORD GROUPS WITH TO

Due to, in addition to, near to, thanks to, owing to, so as to, up to.

1.2 PREPOSITIONS WITH SITUATIONS

The second method for using prepositions is to use prepositions in sentences with fixed meanings when describing time or places or movement .

For example, when talking about the time of day or a year, we always use the preposition in. When talking about a place where someone is attending something, we will always use the preposition at.

Here are some of the most common examples:

1 PREPOSITIONS WITH TIME

The following prepositions are used for specific situations regarding time:

AT

Used for a point in time and also for night and weekend. Used for age. At 5 o'clock, at night, at the weekend. At the age of 80 years old.

BY

Used to describe up to a certain time at the latest. I will be finished by 8pm.

FOR

A period of time. I worked there for five years.

IN

Used for months, seasons, years, periods of the days except for night - In march, in spring, in 2010, in the afternoon.

SINCE

From a past time up to the present time. Since 8am.

TO

Telling the time and giving the beginning and end of a period. The time is 20 to 1, from January to April, from March to April.

2 PREPOSITIONS WITH PLACE

The following list of prepositions are used for specific situations regarding place:

AT

Describing a general place where somebody or something is doing something – at the theatre