Thursday, February 23, 2012
   
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Learning English doesn’t have to be hard.

We can help.

In our fast-paced world, it’s important to be understood, which is why this site is dedicated to helping you learn American English quickly and easily. We put you in touch with real people. Click the Forums tab for an interactive message board to discuss a variety of topics with people all over the world.Chat Support will put you in touch with professionals who can answer your registration questions about the diagnostic analysis, the online program and telephone classes. Grammar Chat connects you with other students in real time. Listen to the Podcast for stories and articles. Check the Events Calendar tab to find out when our free seminars will be held. Questions? Call (800) 457-4255.

How Grammar Works

One of the trickiest things about grammar has always been the verb tenses. English is very time-conscious. It's important when something happened, what the time relationship is between two events, and if the events happened or not. In the Verb Map below, you will see the tenses organized into a grid. (The T formation indicates the more commonly used forms.)

In the first row, the Simple tenses each use a single icon to indicate that one event took place.

In the second row, there are two icons to indicate that there is a time relationship between two events. This is called the Real Duo   because there are two events and they actually take place. (These are traditionally called the perfect tenses.)

In the third row, the icons are white because the events aren't real – they don't actually happen, which is why we call it the Unreal Duo  . (These are also called the subjunctive conditional.)

Proper Word Order
One of the major differences between English and other languages is word order. In English, there is a fixed word order. It's very inflexible.

 

Grammar Box

Yes or No?

You Do or You Don't? 

So, if you said to an American, "Would you like some coffee?", and he said, "I'm good," or "That's okay," would you bring him coffee? Was he saying yes or no? Actually, he was saying, "No." Both of those phrases are common ways of saying, "No, thanks." You will also hear "No problem" instead of "You're welcome."

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