English Grammar Masterplan
Lesson 1: Introduction to English Grammar
Lesson Overview
Sentence Structure: Understand the basics of what
the English sentence structure is.
Parts of Speech: What kind of words make up our
sentences (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc…).
Subject-Verb Agreement: An in-depth guide into
why this is essential for English fluency!
Basic Parts of a Sentence
Subject: Person or thing that does something in
the sentence. It’s usually at the start.
Verb: Expresses an action, ‘doing’ word.
Object: Receives the action described by the verb,
comes after the verb.
Word Order
Subject - Verb - Object
Examples…
He - studies - English.
They - create - paintings.
We - work - at home.
I - play - football.
However…
A sentence doesn’t always need an object to make
sense or be grammatically accurate.
She - cycles.
We - laughed.
They - study.
Parts of Speech…
Common Nouns: A word used to identify any class
of people, places or thing.
Chair, cat, pen, sun
Proper Nouns: A word that refers to a particular
one of these things mentioned above.
Japan, Elon Musk, Ferrari
Verbs: Words which represent an action, ‘doing’
words.
Run, sing, laugh, cook
Adjectives: Words which describe the qualities or
states of being of nouns.
The enormous dog.
There are three white flowers.
Adverbs: A word that describes a verb, adjective,
adverb or a whole sentence.
The person cried loudly.
Harry is very nice.
The holiday went too quickly.
Interestingly, the essay was short.
Subject-Verb Agreement
What does this mean?
Correct matching of the subject and verb in a
sentence.
The verb in a sentence must agree in number with
the subject in that sentence.
Singular Subject With a Singular Verb
If the subject is singular, the verb must be singular
too.
● The cat is sleeping.
● He runs every morning.
● She sings beautifully.
Plural Subject With a Plural Verb
If the subject is plural, the verb must also be plural.
● The cats are sleeping.
● They run every morning.
● We sing together.
Singular Subjects
Singular subjects joined by the word ‘and’ are
generally plural.
● The teacher and the student are tired today.
● The dog and the cat are not friends.
● The mother and daughter enjoy a day out.
Indefinite Pronouns
Someone, anyone, no one, anybody, somebody,
nobody, one, either, neither.
They usually take the singular verb.
● No one likes to fail at something.
● Somebody get the door!
● Is anybody free to take this delivery?
Quantified Nouns
Quantifiers express how much of something there is:
some, any, all, most.
They can be singular or plural depending on whether
the noun is countable.
Countable:
Some of the policies were rejected whilst others
were approved.
Uncountable:
Some of the research was conducted at the site.
Inverted Sentences
In inverted sentences, the subject and verb positions
are swapped.
● Never have I seen such beauty.
● In the forest ran the deer.
● We are not only tired but jet lagged from the long
trip.
Despite this, the subject and verb still match.
Collective Nouns
Refers to a group or a collective.
If the collective noun refers to the group as a unit,
then it takes a singular verb:
● The family is driving across the country this
summer.
● The litter of kittens was born yesterday.
● The jury has reached a decision.
Collective Nouns
If the collective noun refers to individuals in the
group, or parts that make up the group, then it takes
a plural verb:
● The family are each doing a different activity.
● The litter of kittens have been making a mess.
● The jury went back home to their families each
day.
Collective Nouns - Top Tip!
If you’re not sure whether to use the singular or plural
verbs with collective nouns, you can always add
‘members of’ before the collective noun, and then
you can use the plural verb (‘members’ is plural).
● The members of the family are each doing a
different activity.
● The members of the jury went back home to their
families each day.
Extra Points on Subject - Verb Agreement
‘Or’ and ‘nor’
Two singular nouns connected by ‘or’ or ‘nor’ take a
singular verb:
● Neither Elizabeth nor Charles was present.
● Neither she nor her friend can drive.
Extra Points on Subject - Verb Agreement
When one of the nouns connected by ‘or’ or ‘nor’ is
plural, the verb must be plural. The plural subject
must be placed next to the verb:
● Neither Peter nor his parents knew of the plans.
This sounds more natural than:
● Neither his parents nor Peter was aware of this.
Extra Points on Subject - Verb Agreement
After subjects joined by:
Either……or
Neither…….nor
Not only……..but also
The verb agrees with the subject closest to it:
● Not only Brian but also the whole group want an
ice-cream.
● Neither I nor Lisa cares for cooking.
See you next time!
