Participial Adjectives

When talking about how someone feels, use an adjective with an -ed ending. When talking about the thing that gave you the feeling, use an -ing ending.
Such as:
I'm so bored in this class!
This teacher is too boring.

To watch a video explaining how these work:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtRCsmOWRXk

For more practice, click here:

http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/490/grammar/participial-adjectives1.htm 

http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/participle-adjectives2.html

Gerunds or Infinitives

Gerunds are verbs with an -ing (walking) ending used as a noun. Infinitives are also verbs used as nouns, but are formed by adding TO before any verb (to walk). The tricky part is knowing when to use the gerund form or when to use the infinitive. Example: which is correct? I enjoy dancing or I enjoy to dance? This grammar point needs a lot of practice, you really have to use your ears and do like "native" speakers and become familiar with what sounds right and what doesn't... Good luck.

To watch a video, click on this link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=konyY8sQQ4E

 

For a further explanation click on this link:

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/gerunds.htm

To practice, click on these links:
http://www.englishpage.com/gerunds/part_1.htm
 

http://english-zone.com/grammar/.ger-inf01html

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/infinitive-gerund

Present Perfect Tense

One of the harder tenses to master, we can use present perfect to talk about actions that 1. began in the past and continue until today (example: I've lived in Chicago for 10 years.) 2. unknown time frame. (example: I've been to China.) or 3. repeated actions in the past (example: I've seen many good movies lately). In order to form the present perfect, you need the helping verb have or has and the past participal of the verb (the 3rd form).

For a video doing a good job of explaining the form and uses of Present Perfect, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODt_xD5OhK8

For more practice, click on these links:

http://www.englishgrammarsecrets.com/presentperfect/menu.php

http://www.agendaweb.org/verbs/present_perfect-exercises.html

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/present-perfect-simple

PAST PERFECT

For a video explaining the past perfect tense, check out this video:

Past Perfect is somewhat simpler, it is used to discuss an event that happened before another event, both in the past; as in this example: I had studied English before I came to the US

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QU5bqql8Kg

For more practice, click on this link and explore:

http://www.agendaweb.org/verbs/past_perfect-exercises.html

Word Choices — Say or Tell / Make or Do

We can use Say or Tell for direct or indirect speech, but not for indirect questions.Many mistakes happen when using these forms because one can say, "She said to me..." or "She told me," but you can't say," She said me." 

Like rap music? Here's a rap song that explains say and tell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_sPIimk87E

 

For a good explanation of how to use both words, go here:

http://www.eslbase.com/grammar/say-tell

To practice, go here:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/tellorsay.html

http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/cw-say-tell_quiz.htm

MAKE or DO

In English, we have a choice of 2 verbs, MAKE or DO. Think about creating something when choosing MAKE, think about activity when choosing DO. Try these exercises for more practice. Remember to put the verb in it's correct form, past, present continuous etc

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Here's an in-depth video explaining make and do and many of the phrasal verbs that they form.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zKr6mjgYoQ

For additional practice, click here:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/lb/didmade.html
http://www.better-english.com/vocabulary/makedo.htm

SOME, ANY and NO

So, do you have something to say? or Do you have anything to say? Tricky business; check out this video to learn the differences, and how to use each word above:

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Here's a video explaining how to use each of these forms:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npMdNJ_aLVo

Now, to practice this form, check out this site:
https://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/vocabulary/some-any