Before you start studying English grammar topics, make sure that you are familiar with the parts of speech and the parts of sentences. This means being able to identify nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives and so on, and to determine the object or the subject of the sentence, for example.
Once you are comfortable with this part of grammar, you can focus on the specific grammar rules in the English language.
I would start with the present simple tense and the verb ‘to be’, study the different uses of the verb ‘to be’ and how to conjugate this important verb correctly. I would then look at the nouns, pronouns, and articles, how to conjugate verbs into the present simple and the present continuous and when to use each tense.
Then you can look at some modal verbs such as modals of ability in the present, and study the placement of adverbs of frequency and the use of adjectives, the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs into the past simple tense and how to use modal verbs of ability in the past. Also, how to form imperative, negative and interrogative sentences.
Once you’ve covered the topics above, you can start studying:
- Countable and uncountable nouns
- Adverbs of manner, time and place, how to use them correctly in a sentence.
- Prepositions of time, place and direction
- Prepositional phrases
- Modal verbs of advice and obligation
- The simple future and progressive tense
- Verbs followed by an infinitive or a gerund
- Collocations
- The present perfect and progressive tenses
- The past perfect and progressive tenses
- Modal verbs of necessity
- The first, second and third conditionals
- Forming tag questions
- Making comparisons and using superlatives
- Compound, complex and compound-complex sentences
- When and how to use conjugations in different types of sentences
- Past tense modal verbs
- Passive voice
- Reported speech
- Direct and indirect speech
- Mixed conditionals
- The future perfect and progressive tense
- The subjunctive
When studying a grammar topic such as the first conditional for example, it is important to understand how and when to use this conditional. It isn’t enough to only remember how to form the conditional, you have to know what situations call for this specific conditional sentence structure and the meaning of the sentence.
You also need to pay close attention to irregular verb endings or exceptions to the rules. When you learn a new grammar rule, practice using it in everyday conversations or writing exercises. You can even try to identify specific grammar rules when you’re listening to a podcast or a radio program and analyze the use of the rule in that specific situation.
But remember, grammar isn’t the only thing you need to study when learning English. It shouldn’t take all of your time, make sure you also pay attention to learning new vocabulary, pronunciation rules, spelling patterns, conversation skills, listening skills and so on.
But you should remember that it is quite importantly to speak with the help of grammar rules, it’s not enough just to do some exercises
