It's time with a past form
An overdue action can be expressed with a past form after it's time; explore the added urgency of high time and practise present meaning.
Read and practiseAdventure journal
English grammar
Understand English sentence patterns and verb forms with examples, explanations and exercises you can use.
Adventure journal
English grammar
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Participle clauses: connect actions and identify their subjects
Connect actions with walking, damaged and having checked. Practise active and passive participle clauses, earlier actions and clear subject references.
Read and practiseWould sooner: preferences about actions
Express a preference for your own action or someone else's, and see why the second pattern uses a past form for a present choice.
Read and practiseHowever and whereas: contrasts with clear sentence structure
Compare however, whereas, while and but. Practise contrasts between facts, sentence boundaries and punctuation without joining complete sentences by a comma alone.
Read and practisePlace expressions and subject–verb inversion
Front a place expression to introduce a noun subject after the verb, and compare the normal order retained with a pronoun.
Read and practiseIt-cleft sentences: focus on the person, thing or time
Use it was and it is to highlight one part of a message. Compare person, object and time focus, ask a focused question and avoid repeated pronouns.
Read and practiseAuxiliary ellipsis: leaving out a repeated verb phrase
A repeated action can disappear after an auxiliary. Practise short answers, contrasts and agreement without losing the intended meaning.
Read and practiseWhat-clefts: highlight a need, action or important point
Build sentences with what I need is and what we did was. Practise statement word order, action focus and identifying the information after is or was.
Read and practiseReplacing an action with do so or do it
An earlier action need not be repeated. Compare a formal substitute with an everyday alternative and practise their verb forms in context.
Read and practiseNegative adverbial inversion: never have I and rarely does
Recognise formal emphasis with never, rarely and only after. Practise auxiliary-before-subject order and learn which clause changes after not until.
Read and practiseParallel structure in lists and comparisons
Matching grammatical forms make linked ideas easier to follow. Practise balanced lists, paired connectors and coordinated verb phrases.
Read and practiseThe more…, the less…: describe linked changes
Link changes with the longer, the more and the less. Practise comparative adjectives, adverbs and quantities, including changes in opposite directions.
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