Guess What Grammar and Vocabulary Cheat Sheets

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Grammar and Vocabulary Manual© Rick Shur, 2007- 1 -

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Grammar and Vocabulary Manual- 1 -

Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives)

Adverb or Adjective

Adverbs of Frequency

Agreement

Body Parts

Capital Cities of the World

Capital Letters

Cities

Comparatives and Superlatives

Composite Adjectives

Count and Noncount Nouns

Do-Have-Make-Take

Either-Neither-So-Too

Even Though

Famous People

Future Clauses

How

If/Unless

Inventions

Measurement

Modern Library Top 100 Novels

Movies: AFI's Top 100 U.S. Films

Negatives

Numbers 1-20

Opposites

Other

Passive Mode

Past (Irregular Past/Past Part.)

Past Perfect

Plurals

Prepositions (in, on, at, to)

Present Perfect

Presidents of the United States

Pronouns and Possessives

Questions (Direct)

Questions (Indirect, a.k.a. Noun Clauses)

Relative Clauses

Reported Speech

Short Answers

Should Have

Spelling Rules

Spelling Demons

Spelling GH

State Capitals

Synonyms

Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives)

Some adjectives are confusing because they have two forms:

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Grammar and Vocabulary Manual- 1 -

amazed/amazing

annoyed/annoying

bored/boring

confused/confusing

convinced/convincing

fascinated/fascinating

frightened/frightening

interested/interesting

shocked/shocking

surprised/surprising

tired/tiring

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Grammar and Vocabulary Manual- 1 -

These adjectives come from verbs:

That man AMAZES me. He can lift 2000 pounds!

The children ANNOY me whenever they scream loudly.

His speech IS BORING me now. His subject DOESN'T INTEREST me. It tires me!

These instructions CONFUSE me. I can't understand them.

His argument is stupid. It doesn't CONVINCE me that he's right.

Insects FASCINATE me. I want to read everything I can about them!

That big dog is beginning to FRIGHTEN me. Look at its big teeth!

He SHOCKED me with his dirty language! What bad manners he showed!

You SURPRISED me when you showed up without calling first.

Whenever a thing, action or person causes a feeling in people, we give them

an -ING adjective:

He lifted a car! He's an AMAZING man. (He amazes me with his strength.)

The children are very ANNOYING. (They annoy other people around them.)

This is such a BORING class. (The class bores me. It doesn't interest me.)

Long walks are TIRING. (Long walks tire me. Hard work tires me.)

Whenever a person feels something because of something (or someone) else,

we give them an -ED adjective:

I'm AMAZED by that man. (That's how I feel after seeing him lift a car.)

I'm getting ANNOYED by my kids. (I feel a little angry when they annoy me.)

I'm BORED by this class. (I feel tired, disinterested. The class is dull.)

I'm TIRED after this long walk. (Exercise makes me feel this way.)

The situation: I feel It is

I spilled water on my pants. embarrassed embarrassing

My pants fell down in front of the class. humiliated humiliating

I want to learn about this new computer. interested interesting

This is a new and wonderful computer! fascinated fascinating

This TV show isn't saying anything new. bored boring

He's been talking about algebra for hours!! bored to death deadly boring

I've been working all day. tired tiring

I've been running for three miles! exhausted exhausting

Adjective (ed/ing, a.k.a. Emotion Adjectives) (cont.)

The situation: I feel It is

This big dog is growling at me! scared scary

The hurricane is going to hit our city!! frightened frightening

This man-eating shark has enormous teeth!!! terrified terrifying

This fly keeps buzzing around my head. annoyed annoying

I lost my favorite hat! upset upsetting

My daughter didn't clean her room!! angry, mad maddening

The dog did its mess on the carpet!!! furious infuriating

I can't understand the instructions. confused confusing

I don't know why my wife is mad at me. perplexed perplexing

I can't pass the test after trying 2 times. frustrated frustrating

I can't pass the test after trying 6 times! discouraged discouraging

He's picking his nose in public! disgusted disgusting

The man is doing number two on the street!! repulsed repulsive

Women were tortured and raped in the war!!! horrified horrifying

He told a good joke that made me laugh. amused amusing, funny

This show made me laugh until my sides hurt! in hysterics hysterical

The show was fun to watch. entertained entertaining

She was pregnant and had twins (two babies). surprised surprising

She was pregnant and had quintuplets (five)! amazed amazing

She won $25 million in the lottery!! astonished astonishing

astounded astounding

He shot and killed his wife!!! shocked shocking

His argument is strong. He has good reasons. convinced convincing

His argument is weak. He has no proof. unconvinced unconvincing

The dinner was big and delicious. satisfied satisfying

I didn't enjoy the dinner. It wasn't tasty. disappointed disappointing

My favorite goldfish died last night! sad sad

My dog was run over by a car!! depressed depressing

My son died in an auto accident!!! devastated devastating

I got an A on my sociology test. happy happy

I'm going to ride the roller coaster today! excited exciting

I'm going to meet the company president! delighted delightful

My wife is going to have a baby!!! thrilled thrilling

The teacher says my English is improving. encouraged encouraging

I heard Martin Luther King's speech! inspired inspiring

My son isn't home and it's after midnight. worried worrisome

My daughter doesn't eat much anymore. troubled troubling

I'm going to take my driving test today. nervous nerve-wracking

Adverb or Adjective

Adjectives describe a noun (a person, place or thing).

They come after the verb BE:

He is HUNGRY.

She was ANGRY yesterday.

He is being NAUGHTY right now.

Have you ever been so SAD that you couldn't eat?

Don't be MAD at me.

They also go before nouns:

She's a very PRETTY girl.

He used to be a GOOD driver.

I want you all to be CAREFUL workers.

Adjectives come after some other verbs, especially SEEM, FEEL, and LOOK:

She seems HAPPY.

He feels SICK.

He looks ANGRY.

Adverbs describe a verb. They tell HOW an action is performed.

Most adverbs are formed by adding LY to an adjective:

He sings LOUDLY. (He is a LOUD singer.)

She drives CAREFULLY. (She is a CAREFUL driver.)

He does his work CARELESSLY. We have to fire that CARELESS man!

Speak HONESTLY. Tell me HONESTLY how you feel. Be HONEST.

Some adverbs do not have LY. They have the same form as the adjective:

He drives FAST. He's a FAST driver.

He speaks LOW. He has a LOW voice. (LOWLY means poor or low class.)

He works HARD. He's a HARD worker.

HARDLY is completely different from HARD.

It means "almost nothing" or "almost not at all" as in:

I was so sick I could HARDLY eat. (I had trouble eating.)

We could HARDLY believe our ears! (We were very surprised!)

You're HARDLY the man for the job. (You are NOT suitable for it.)

Three words beginning with Q often cause problems for learners:

quick/quickly

quiet/quietly

quite

QUICK is FAST:

Work QUICKLY and you will finish sooner. Be QUICK!

QUIET is SILENT:

Play QUIETLY, please. I have a headache. Be QUIET!

QUITE means VERY or COMPLETELY:

I don't QUITE understand you. (I don't understand completely.)

Adverb or Adjective (cont.)

I'm not QUITE ready. (I'm not completely ready.)

She's QUITE beautiful. (very beautiful)

He's QUITE angry with you. (very angry)

If an adjective ends in Y, change the Y to I before adding LY:

happy happily

She's a HAPPY girl. She plays HAPPILY all day long!

noisy noisily

He's a NOISY boy. He plays so NOISILY that he gives me a headache.

hungry hungrily

He was very HUNGRY. He looked HUNGRILY at the big meal on the table.

merry merrily

MERRY Christmas! We're singing MERRILY all night!

In addition to describing a verb, an adverb can describe an adjective.

It tells HOW MUCH or to what degree the adjective is true.

He is VERY aggressive. (VERY is an adverb describing aggressive.)

She is AWFULLY talented. (AWFULLY means VERY.)

I'm SO mad that I want to scream. (SO is usually used with THAT.)

I'm not COMPLETELY ready. (COMPLETELY tells HOW ready the speaker is.)

You are REALLY careless! (REALLY tells HOW careless.)

COMPLETELY and REALLY can be used before verbs, but VERY isn't generally

used before verbs:

CORRECT: I REALLY love that movie. I REALLY adore Leo DiCaprio!

INCORRECT: *I VERY love that movie. *I VERY adore Leo DiCaprio!

CORRECT: I COMPLETELY agree with her. She's right.

INCORRECT: *I VERY agree with her.

You can use VERY MUCH before a verb, or at the end of the sentence.

CORRECT: I VERY MUCH enjoy a trip to the country!

CORRECT: I enjoy a trip to the country VERY MUCH.

CORRECT: I REALLY enjoy a trip to the country!

INCORRECT: *I VERY enjoy a trip to the country.

Americans tend to use REALLY more than VERY MUCH, especially before

LOVE, LIKE, and HATE:

I REALLY love him. I REALLY hate the subway. I REALLY like that class.

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The adverb form of GOOD is WELL:

He's a GOOD dancer. He dances WELL, and he acts WELL, too.

WELL can be used before past participles that are used as adjectives:

This is a WELL MADE chair. The play was WELL WRITTEN.

Adverbs of Frequency

Adverbs of frequency tell how often somebody is, feels or does something.

The most common ones are:

adverb relative frequency

always 100%

almost always 99%

usually 80%

often 60%

sometimes 40%

occasionally 30%

seldom (rarely) 20%

almost never 1%

never 0%

(These numbers don't mean anything;

they just give a general idea of "how often.")

In general, adverbs of frequency go before a verb,

except after an auxiliary verb.

regular verbs

He USUALLY TAKES his son to the park on Sundays.

I SOMETIMES EAT with my sister.

She NEVER COMES on time.

We ALMOST NEVER TAKE lunch to work with us.

auxiliary verbs

He IS USUALLY at the park with his son.

I WAS SOMETIMES angry with my sister when I was young.

She WILL NEVER be on time.

We HAVE ALMOST ALWAYS seen her on the weekends.

HAVE, HAS and HAD are auxiliary verbs only when used with past participles:

I HAVE ALWAYS PLAYED baseball on Saturday afternoons.

She HAS NEVER BEEN to France.

We HAD ALWAYS SPOKEN Spanish before we moved to England.

HAVE, HAS and HAD are regular verbs when not used with past participles:

I ALWAYS HAVE trouble with my math homework.

She NEVER HAS fun at the beach.

We ALWAYS HAD to clean the house after we had a party.

Adverbs of Frequency (cont.)

DO, DOES, and DID are auxiliary verbs only when used in questions or negatives:

DID you finish the project on time?

He DIDN'T like the dinner, so he DIDN'T eat it.

In other cases, DO, DOES and DID are regular verbs:

He NEVER DOES his homework for that class.

I ALWAYS DID the dishes when I was young.

They SOMETIMES DO their office work at home.

In questions, the adverb of frequency goes after the subject:

Did YOU ALWAYS do the dishes when you were younger?

Is HE OFTEN absent from class?

Are YOU USUALLY on time for work?

The adverb EVER is used in questions to mean "at any time" in your life:

Will SHE EVER finish this paper?

Has HE EVER been to France?

Can YOU EVER forgive me for what I've done to you?

Do YOU EVER go to scary movies, or only romantic ones?

SOMETIMES, OFTEN and USUALLY can also be used as the beginning of a sentence.

Sometimes I was angry with my sister when I was young.

Often, I eat with my sister.

Usually, I'm at the park with my son.

(You don't have to put a comma after Sometimes, but you may.)

THE OTHER ADVERBS SHOULD NOT BEGIN A SENTENCE!

Wrong *Seldom I go to church. *Always he eats alone.

Right I seldom go to church. He always eats alone.

Wrong *Never I eat meat.

Right I never eat meat.

Wrong *Always she's in church.

Right She's always in church.

Adverbs of Frequency (cont.)

If the auxiliary is negative, the adverb of frequency can go before or after it

(sometimes in either position).

Each case is different and must be learned from examples.

okay We USUALLY DON'T take our dog with us to the store.

okay We DON'T USUALLY take our dog with us to the store.

not okay *We always can't understand him.

(Say, "We CAN NEVER understand him.")

okay We CAN'T ALWAYS understand him.

okay We OFTEN CAN'T understand the teacher.

okay We CAN'T OFTEN understand the teacher.

okay He ISN'T ALWAYS on time for class.

not okay *He always isn't on time for class.

(Say, "He's NEVER on time for class.")

(When in doubt, you are probably safer putting the adverb

after the negative auxiliary verb.)

Some other adverbs follow the same position rules as the adverbs of frequency.

The most common ones are

probably

most likely (=probably)

all

both

also

He PROBABLY FOUND that in the garbage.

She MOST LIKELY SPEAKS fluent Spanish.

They ALL ENJOYED themselves at the game.

We BOTH KNOW the president.

She sings, and she ALSO DANCES.

I AM PROBABLY not going to be on time tomorrow.

He WILL MOST LIKELY take the train to Boston.

You MUST ALL come on time for class every day.

They CAN BOTH cook.

She's a singer, and she's ALSO a dancer.

ALL and BOTH can also be part of a subject:

ALL OF THE STUDENTS came today.

OR ALL THE STUDENTS came today.

OR The students ALL CAME today.

BOTH OF MY PARENTS are dead.

OR BOTH MY PARENTS are dead.

OR My parents ARE BOTH dead.

Agreement

Subject-Verb Agreement (Plural/Singular)

Singular subjects (except for I and YOU) always need an S on the

present-tense verbs that accompany them:

He SELLS furniture.

She LIVES in Detroit.

This TAKES time.

It RAINS a lot in Seattle.

Plural subjects, and the pronouns I and YOU, have no S on the

present-tense verbs that accompany them:

They SELL furniture.

I LIVE in Chicago.

You TAKE too much for granted.

Some auxiliary verbs that are present or future tense have no S:

can He can swim.

must She must study.

should It should take an hour.

will Bob will eat with us.

might Sandra might come too.

ought The dog ought to stay outside.

may My son may arrive soon.

Other auxiliary verbs have an S in the present:

does DOES he like pizza?

has HAS she seen that movie yet?

is IS Bob coming to your party?

was WAS Sheila at the meeting?

No verbs have a final S in the past tense!

He SOLD furniture.

They SOLD furniture.

She LIVED in Chicago.

They LIVED in Chicago.

DID he like the show?

DID they like the show?

Pronouns that are created by adding -ONE, -BODY or -THING to

NO-, ANY-, SOME-, EVERY- are ALL SINGULAR. (They are also written

as one word, except for NO ONE, which is two words.)

Nobody LOVES me.

DOES anyone like pizza?

Something SMELLS funny in here.

Everyone HATES a crowded subway on a hot day.

Agreement (cont.)

EACH and EVERY are always singular:

EACH boy and girl WANTS candy. EVERY man and woman NEEDS good health.

Prepositional phrases may modify (describe) a subject of a sentence, but

prepositional phrases are almost never the subject!

The BOY WITH THE MARBLES IS going to play with me.

(BOY is the subject of IS, "with the marbles" is a prepositional phrase.)

The PURPOSE OF THESE PAPERS IS to inform you.

(PURPOSE is the subject of IS, "of these papers" is a prepositional phrases.)

With OR, the subject is the thing or person AFTER the OR:

Either the boys or Mary IS going to cook dinner.

(MARY is the subject.)

Either Mary or the boys ARE going to cook dinner.

(THE BOYS is the subject.)

In America, NONE usually agrees with whatever it is talking about.

NONE of the fruit TASTES good.

(FRUIT is singular, so NONE is singular.)

NONE of the pears TASTE good.

(PEARS is plural, so NONE is plural.)

PERCENT agrees with whatever it is talking about.

FIFTY PERCENT of the fruit IS rotten.

FIFTY PERCENT of the pears ARE rotten.

SOME can be singular or plural.

SOME of the fruit IS rotten.

SOME of the apples ARE rotten.

Relative pronouns agree with whatever they are referring to.

This is the box of apples that IS broken. (THAT refers to the BOX.)

This is the box of apples that ARE rotten. (THAT refers to the APPLES.)

Dishes (prepared food), amounts of money and amounts of time are usually

singular:

Rice with scallops IS my favorite dish at that restaurant.

Forty-five dollars IS too much to spend on a radio.

Seven weeks IS a long time to wait for a package.

Some plural nouns don't have an S, such as CHILDREN, PEOPLE, MEN, WOMEN,

DEER, FISH, GEESE, MICE and some others. See information on PLURALS for

a more complete list.

Some singular nouns end in S, like NEWS and CRISIS.

Agreement (cont.)

In questions that begin with WHO or WHAT as the subject of the question,

the verb is usually singular:

WHO IS coming to your party?

WHAT MAKES you so nervous?

In America, collective nouns are generally treated as singular even

though they refer to more than one:

The COUPLE over there SEEMS happy. (The PARTNERS SEEM happy.)

The GROUP IS being formed. (The MEMBERS ARE coming together.)

The FAMILY LIVES together. (The RELATIVES LIVE together.)

THERE IS or THERE ARE will be used depending on the FIRST item

in the list:

THERE IS a dog and three cats in that house.

THERE ARE three cats and a dog in that house.