Quick Grammar Guide
Nouns are words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
- Common Nouns: general names for things (e.g., dog, city, book).
- Proper Nouns: specific names of people, places, or things (e.g., John, Paris, Titanic).
Pronouns are words that replace nouns to avoid repetition.
- Subject Pronouns: I, you, he, she, it, we, they.
- Object Pronouns: me, you, him, her, it, us, them.
Examples:
- The dog is barking. → The dog is barking because it is hungry.
- Mary loves her cat. → She loves it.
Verbs express actions (e.g., run, eat, write) or states of being (e.g., is, seem, become).
Tenses indicate the time of action. The three primary tenses are:
- Past Tense: Describes an action that has already happened.
- She walked to school yesterday.
- Present Tense: Describes an action happening now or a habitual action.
- She walks to school every day.
- Future Tense: Describes an action that will happen.
- She will walk to school tomorrow.
Examples:
- He plays soccer on weekends. (Present)
- He played soccer last weekend. (Past)
- He will play soccer next weekend. (Future)
Adjectives describe or modify nouns and pronouns, giving more information about them.
- Examples: tall, red, beautiful, happy.
Adverbs describe or modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, often telling how, when, where, or to what extent something happens.
- Examples: quickly, very, always, here.
Examples:
- The tall man walked quickly. (Adjective: tall, Adverb: quickly)
- She is very happy. (Adverb modifying adjective)
Prepositions are words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence. They often indicate location, direction, time, or manner.
Examples:
- The cat is under the table. (Location)
- She walked to the park. (Direction)
- We will meet at 3 PM. (Time)
- He finished the task with ease. (Manner)
Articles are words that define a noun as specific or unspecific.
- Definite Article: the (used for specific nouns)
- Indefinite Articles: a, an (used for unspecific nouns)
Examples:
- I saw a movie last night. (Any movie, not specific)
- The movie was great. (A specific movie that both speaker and listener know)
Rules:
- Use a before words that start with a consonant sound.
- a cat, a university (Note: university starts with a consonant sound "yoo")
- Use an before words that start with a vowel sound.
- an apple, an hour (Note: hour starts with a vowel sound "ow")
Comprehensive Guide to Parts of Speech in English with Greek Translations
Noun (Ουσιαστικό) - Refers to a person, place, thing, or idea.
- Example: car (αυτοκίνητο), happiness (ευτυχία)
Pronoun (Αντωνυμία) - Replaces a noun.
- Example: she (αυτή), they (αυτοί)
Verb (Ρήμα) - Describes an action, state, or occurrence.
- Example: eat (τρώω), sleep (κοιμάμαι)
Adjective (Επίθετο) - Describes a noun or pronoun.
- Example: happy (χαρούμενος), blue (μπλε)
Adverb (Επίρρημα) - Describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb.
- Example: quickly (γρήγορα), really (πολύ)
Preposition (Πρόθεση) - Shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and other words in a sentence.
Conjunction (Σύνδεσμος) - Connects words, phrases, or clauses.
- Example: because (επειδή), or (ή)
Interjection (Επιφώνημα) - Expresses strong emotion or reaction.
- Example: ouch! (άου!), hey! (γεια!)
Article (Άρθρο) - Defines a noun as specific or unspecific.
- Example: the (ο, η, το), a (ένας, μία, ένα)
Determiner (Καθοριστής) - Provides context to a noun, including articles, demonstratives, possessives, and quantifiers.
- Example: this (αυτός, αυτή), my (μου), some (μερικοί)
Quantifier (Ποσοτικός Προσδιοριστής) - Indicates quantity or amount.
- Example: few (λίγοι), many (πολλοί)
Auxiliary Verb (Βοηθητικό Ρήμα) - Used with main verbs to form different tenses, voices, or moods.
- Example: have (έχω), will (θα)
Modal Verb (ελλειπτικό ρήμα) - Expresses necessity, possibility, or other modalities.
- Example: can (μπορώ), must (πρέπει)
Gerund (Γερούνδιο) - A verb form ending in -ing that functions as a noun.
- Example: swimming (κολύμπι), reading (διάβασμα)
Infinitive (Απαρέμφατο) - The base form of a verb, usually preceded by to.
- Example: to run (να τρέχω), to write (να γράφω)
Participles (Μετοχές) - Verb forms used as adjectives or to form perfect tenses.
- Example: running (τρέχων), broken (σπασμένος)
Possessive Pronoun (Κτητική Αντωνυμία) - Shows ownership.
- Example: mine (δικός μου), hers (δικός της)
Spelling Rules
Rule: "I before E, except after C, or when sounding like 'ay' as in 'neighbor' or 'weigh'."
Examples:
Believe, friend, chief (I before E)
Receive, ceiling (Except after C)
Weight, neighbor (Sounding like 'ay')
Exceptions:
Weird, height, ancient, species.
Rule: When adding a suffix that begins with a vowel (like -ing, -ed), double the final consonant if the word ends in a single vowel followed by a single consonant and the final syllable is stressed.
Examples:
Stop → Stopping, stopped.
Begin → Beginning.
Exceptions:
Visit → Visiting (not doubling because the final syllable is not stressed).
Rule: Drop the silent 'e' when adding a suffix that begins with a vowel (like -ing, -able), but keep it when adding a suffix that begins with a consonant (like -ment, -ly).
Examples:
Summary with Examples:
-
Bake → Baking (drops the 'e')
-
Write → Writing (drops the 'e')
-
Manage → Manageable (keeps the 'e')
-
Rage → Raging (drops the 'e')
Additional Transformations:
-
Drive → Driving (drops the 'e')
-
Make →Making (drops the 'e')
Exceptions:
Words ending in -ce or -ge keep the 'e' before -able or -ous to maintain the soft sound: Change → Changeable, courage → Courageous.
Rule: Change 'y' to 'i' when adding a suffix if the 'y' is preceded by a consonant.
Examples:
Happy → Happier, happiest.
Baby → Babies.
Exceptions:
Don’t change 'y' to 'i' if the suffix begins with 'i': Cry → Crying, apply → Applying.
Rule: For most nouns, add -s to make them plural.
Examples:
Cat → Cats, dog → Dogs.
Exceptions:
Nouns ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z add -es: Box → Boxes, bus → Buses.
Nouns ending in a consonant + y change the y to i and add -es: Baby → Babies, city → Cities.
Irregular plurals: Man → Men, child → Children.
Rule: -able is usually used if the root word is a complete word by itself. Use -ible if the root word is not a complete word.
Examples:
Comfort → Comfortable, enjoy → Enjoyable.
Horr- (horror) → Horrible, terr- (terror) → Terrible.
Exceptions:
There are exceptions like dependable and flexible.
Rule: Prefixes like un-, re-, in-, dis-, mis-, etc., do not usually change the spelling of the base word.
Examples:
Un + happy = Unhappy, re + turn = Return.
Mis + spell = Misspell, in + correct = Incorrect.
Exceptions:
Sometimes, a prefix causes a doubling of a consonant: Ir + regular = Irregular.
Rule: When adding -ly to a word ending in -le, drop the -e.
Examples:
Gentle → Gently, simple → Simply.
Exceptions:
Public → Publicly (the 'l' is not dropped).
Rule: Use 'c' before 'a', 'o', 'u', or a consonant (e.g., cat, cot, cut), and 'k' before 'e', 'i', or 'y' (e.g., kit, key).
Examples:
Cat, coat, cut.
Kit, kite, key.
Exceptions:
Words like "sock" or "track" that end in -ck.
Rule: Words that sound the same but have different meanings and/or spellings need to be distinguished.
Examples:
Their (possessive), there (location), they're (they are).
Two (number), too (also), to (preposition).
Verb Conjugation Patterns
In English, there are several common patterns across different language areas, including spelling, pronunciation, grammar, and sentence structure. Here are a few key patterns:
Regular verbs follow the pattern of adding -ed for past tense and past participle:
walk → walked
talk → talked
Irregular verbs do not follow this pattern:
go → went (past), gone (past participle)
eat → ate (past), eaten (past participle)
Regular nouns form the plural by adding -s or -es:
cat → cats
box → boxes
Irregular nouns have unique plural forms:
child → children
mouse → mice
Two-syllable nouns and adjectives tend to have stress on the first syllable:
TAble, HAPpy
Two-syllable verbs usually stress the second syllable:
reLAX, deCIDE
The vowel sound in silent "e" words often becomes long:
hat → hate
hop → hope
In simple present tense, singular third-person subjects take verbs ending in -s:
He runs vs. They run.
For other subjects (I, you, we, they), the base verb is used without adding -s:
I run, You run.
When multiple adjectives are used, they often follow this pattern: opinion → size → age → shape → color → origin → material → purpose → noun:
- a beautiful small old round red Italian leather handbag
Questions in English often follow the auxiliary verb + subject + main verb pattern:
Do you like pizza?
Can she swim?
Are they coming?
12 English Tenses ( with Greek Translations)
Form: Subject + Base Verb (3rd person singular adds -s)
Use: For habits, facts, and general truths.
Example: She walks to school every day.
Greek: Περπατάει στο σχολείο κάθε μέρα.
Form: Subject + am/is/are + Verb-ing
Use: For actions happening right now or around now.
Example: I am reading a book.
Greek: Διαβάζω ένα βιβλίο.
Form: Subject + have/has + Past Participle
Use: For actions that happened at an unspecified time in the past and are still relevant.
Example: She has finished her homework.
Greek: Έχει τελειώσει τα μαθήματά της.
Form: Subject + have/has + been + Verb-ing
Use: For actions that started in the past and are still continuing or have just finished.
Example: They have been working for three hours.
Greek: Δουλεύουν εδώ και τρεις ώρες.
Form: Subject + Verb-ed (or irregular verb)
Use: For actions that happened and finished at a specific time in the past.
Example: We visited Paris last year.
Greek: Επισκεφθήκαμε το Παρίσι πέρυσι.
Form: Subject + was/were + Verb-ing
Use: For actions that were ongoing at a specific time in the past.
Example: She was watching TV when I called.
Greek: Έβλεπε τηλεόραση όταν πήρα τηλέφωνο.
Form: Subject + had + Past Participle
Use: For actions that happened before another past action.
Example: He had left before I arrived.
Greek: Είχε φύγει πριν φτάσω.
Form: Subject + had + been + Verb-ing
Use: For actions that were ongoing up until another action in the past.
Example: They had been waiting for two hours before the train came.
Greek: Περίμεναν δύο ώρες πριν έρθει το τρένο.
A)
Form: Subject + will + Base Verb
Use: For spontaneous decisions, promises, or predictions without evidence.
Example: I will help you with your project tomorrow.
Greek: Θα σε βοηθήσω με το πρότζεκτ σου αύριο.
Spontaneous decision:
I’m tired. I will go to bed early.
(Είμαι κουρασμένος. Θα πάω για ύπνο νωρίς.)
Prediction without evidence:
I think she will pass the exam.
(Νομίζω ότι θα περάσει τις εξετάσεις.)
B)
Be Going To (Πρόκειται να)
Form: Subject + am/is/are + going to + Base Verb
Use: For plans or intentions and predictions based on evidence.
Example: I am going to visit my friend next week.
Greek: Πρόκειται να επισκεφτώ τον φίλο μου την επόμενη εβδομάδα.
Plans/intentions:
We are going to move to a new house next month.
(Πρόκειται να μετακομίσουμε σε νέο σπίτι τον επόμενο μήνα.)
Prediction with evidence:
Look at the dark clouds. It’s going to rain.
(Κοίτα τα μαύρα σύννεφα. Θα βρέξει.)
Used for:
Decisions made at the moment of speaking
You use "will" when you decide something spontaneously.
Example:
A: I'm hungry.
B: I will make you a sandwich.
(Β: Θα σου φτιάξω ένα σάντουιτς.)
Predictions based on what you think or believe (without evidence)
You use "will" when making predictions about the future.
Example:
I think it will rain tomorrow.
(Νομίζω ότι θα βρέξει αύριο.)
Promises, offers, or requests
"Will" is used when making promises or offering help.
Example:
I will help you with your homework.
(Θα σε βοηθήσω με τα μαθήματά σου.)
Used for:
Plans and intentions
You use "be going to" when you have already decided or planned something before the moment of speaking.
Example:
I am going to visit my grandparents next weekend.
(Πρόκειται να επισκεφτώ τους παππούδες μου το επόμενο Σαββατοκύριακο.)
Predictions based on evidence
"Be going to" is often used when there is evidence or a strong indication that something will happen.
Example:
Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain.
(Κοίτα αυτά τα σύννεφα! Θα βρέξει.)
Will" is often for immediate decisions, promises, and predictions without evidence.
"Be going to" is used for plans or predictions based on evidence.
_________________________________________________________
Will: Χρησιμοποιείται για αποφάσεις της στιγμής, υποσχέσεις, ή προβλέψεις χωρίς στοιχεία.
Θα έρθω στο πάρτι σου αύριο. (I will come to your party tomorrow.)
Be Going To: Χρησιμοποιείται για προγραμματισμένα γεγονότα ή προβλέψεις με βάση στοιχεία.
Πρόκειται να αγοράσω ένα καινούργιο αυτοκίνητο την επόμενη εβδομάδα. (I am going to buy a new car next week.)
Form: Subject + will be + Verb-ing
Use: For actions that will be happening at a specific time in the future.
Example: This time tomorrow, I will be flying to New York.
Greek: Αυτή την ώρα αύριο, θα πετάω για τη Νέα Υόρκη.
Form: Subject + will have + Past Participle
Use: For actions that will be completed before a specific time in the future.
Example: By next week, they will have finished the project.
Greek: Μέχρι την επόμενη εβδομάδα, θα έχουν τελειώσει το πρότζεκτ.
Form: Subject + will have been + Verb-ing
Use: For actions that will have been ongoing for a duration of time before a specific future moment.
Example: By 8 PM, I will have been studying for three hours.
Greek: Μέχρι τις 8 το βράδυ, θα διαβάζω τρεις ώρες.