What topics of English grammar must you constantly remember during every conversation? For me, it’s not all automatic yet, so my brain kicks in to construct phrases (although not as much as back in January of this year). The correct verb forms for different subjects don’t pose a problem anymore – it’s all quite formulaic here. Main verb tenses also don’t present a problem. Where do I stumble?
1. Prepositions. There are no rules here, and you just have to remember various fixed expressions like listen to. For example, today I discovered that it’s more correct to say, the drawback to this option, rather than drawback of this option. In this area, there are both significant mistakes (as in the case of listen) and minor roughness (as in the case of drawback). Or, for instance, “it is clear to me” sounds better than “it is clear for me” in most cases, although in some it’s more accurate to use for me (e.g., it is clear for me that 2*2=4!”
2. Conditional constructions and complex sentences. Since I speak and think in complex structures in Russian, I find myself having to restrain from creating such in English, because I can’t always properly formulate them. Were the issue to reappear, our engineers would now be ready for it.
3. Commas. This is the least significant part of my list, as even Americans themselves don’t always know where to place them correctly. But there are practically no rules here, as far as I know.
4. The progressive form of to be in different contexts. I always get confused about where it’s needed and where it isn’t. In general, the difference between “He is being stupid” and “He is stupid” is clear, but it’s hard to calculate quickly in speech. For example, how to discern between Something is changing and Something is being changed.
5. Also, it’s unclear where you need to use the Present Perfect and where the Present Simple is sufficient. Well, there are obvious cases and not-so-obvious ones. These last ones can be divided into “more correct” and “less correct”, and here it’s tough to understand the difference—yet it’s very noticeable to Americans.
6. Articles. On one hand, I hardly think about articles anymore; on the other, I’m sure I often make mistakes. In English, this part of grammar is not well formalized and just needs blunt experience. Though in speech, it’s not very noticeable to an untrained ear.
7. I don’t know what to call this. Better with examples. Here are three examples (_the correct form is emphasized_):
I must {_go_ or to go or going};
I want {go or _to go_ or going};
I keep {go / to go / _going_};
I tried {go / _to go_ / _going_}.
For different verbs, you need to use different forms of to go. There are no rules here. You just have to memorize them. Consequently, in speech, when there’s no time to think or Google the right version, you say whatever comes out.
This is just what came to mind quickly. If you’re interested, I can share more 🙂 #American #English #american #english
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 