Simple Stuff (Things you should have learned before high school)

Click here for #13-18.
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Adjectives

Quick Tip:
Adjectives describe nouns, like a blue car or a large​ pizza.
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Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • They usually tell you...
    • Which one?
      the first goal
    • What kind?
      an amazing day
    • How many? 
      only three times
  • They can be... 
    • before a noun
      My English teacher is the best!
    • after a form of BE (is, am, are, was, were, be, being & been)
      I didn't know she was younger than I am.
    • after a linking verb
      The new coach seems cool.​

Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Degrees of Adjectives

Quick Tip:
Short words = er/est
Longer words = more/most
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Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • For most one-syllable words, add -er or -est.    
    old ➔ older/oldest
  • For words with three or more syllables, put more/most or less/least in front of the word.    
    beautiful ➔ more/most beautiful    
    difficult ➔less/least difficult
  • For two-syllable words, it depends on the word.  Just go with what sounds right or look it up online.
    narrow ➔ narrower/narrowest
    peaceful ➔ more/most peaceful
  • For one-/two-syllable words that end with -y, use -ier or -iest.    
    friendly ➔ friendlier/friendliest
  • A few words use completely different forms:
    good➔better/best 
    bad➔worse/worst 
    little➔less/least 
    many➔more/most
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Adverbs

Quick Tip:
Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.  
They usually end with -ly, but not always.
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Longer ​​​Explanation:
  • They usually tell you...
    • How?
      She types quickly.
    • When?
      He arrived early in the morning.
    • Where?
      I think I left my phone downstairs.
    • To what degree (how much)?
      We've been extremely busy.  (describing the adjective "busy")
      She types really quickly.  (describing the adverb "quickly")
  • Other notes:
    • ​Some adverbs don't end with -ly:
      She types fast.
    • Sometimes the -ly form is a completely different word:
      hard ≠ hardly​

A lot of people use an adjective when they should use an adverb.
  • Wrong: I eat really slow.  
    It should be "slowly" because "eat" is something you DO.
  • Wrong: Hold on a second.  Just let me brush my hair real quick.
    It should be "quickly" because "brush" is something you DO.
    It should be "really" because it tells HOW quickly you're going to do it.
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Good/Well

Quick Tip:
If it's something you DO, use "well."
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Longer Explanation:
  • ​Use "good" to describe a noun:
    That’s a really good song.  [It's describing the song.]
    He's a good pitcher.  [It's describing the pitcher.]
  • Use "well" to describe an action:
    He sings really well.  [It's describing how he sings.]
    He pitches really well.  [It's describing how he pitches.]
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Past Tense 1

Quick Tip:
Most verbs end with -ed in past tense, but not all (see below).
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Longer ​​​Explanation:
You already know most of this, but here's a review, just in case:
  • ​For many verbs, you make past tense by adding -ed (or just -d if the word already ends with -e).
    look ➔ looked
    type ➔ typed
  • If the word ends with -y, it often becomes -ied, unless there's a vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) before the -y (like -ay or -ey).
    try ➔ tried
    play ➔ played
  • Another common way is to change the vowel (a, e, i, o, or u) in the middle of the word.
    write ➔ wrote
    draw ➔ drew
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.

Past Tense 2

Quick Tip:
For "irregular" verbs, there aren't really any rules; you just have to learn the patterns or look them up online.
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Longer ​​​Explanation:
Here are a few general patterns, but they're not always true:
  • The past tense form of most verbs ends with a t or d sound, so many verbs change in order to make that happen.
    lose ➔ lost
    sell ➔ sold
  • ​A lot of short verbs that end with -t don't change at all (since they already have the t sound). 
    put ➔ put
  • Sometimes a -d at the end changes to a -t.
    build ➔ built
  • Some words that have -ear change to -ore.
    wear ➔ wore
  • Sometimes the vowel changes from a long vowel sound to a short vowel sound or vice versa.
    hide ➔ hid
  • Others are completely different words.
    go ➔ went
Click on the button to do the exercise.  It doesn't count until you get 90%, so keep trying until you do.  Be sure to get a screenshot of the results.