New Quiz: A or AN

I have created and uploaded a new quiz testing when to use A or AN. There were already two quizzes on articles, but this one is for beginners and focuses solely on A and AN.

The kids' and adult versions are the same for this quiz.

The version for kids is here:

http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?372

The version for adults is here:

http://roadtogrammar.com?376

The other quizzes on articles (more advanced) are here:

http://roadtogrammar.com?16

http://roadtogrammar.com?17

More Quizzes on AM/IS/ARE for Kids

I have expanded the quizzes on AM/IS/ARE in the kids' section of Road to Grammar. Previously, there was only one quiz, now there are four:

1 AM/IS/ARE with pronouns.
2 AM/IS/ARE with singular and plural nouns, including names.
3 AM/IS/ARE with various tenses, passive voice and uncountable nouns
4 Question form of AM/IS/ARE

You can view the kid-friendly materials here:

http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/

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Verb Tense Occurence

Technically, future forms are not tenses, I know. But for the sake of convenience, I'm including them in this handy chart.

New Quiz: Negative Inversion

Negative inversion refers to where we invert the normal sentence structure and begin a sentence with an adverb or adverbial phrase instead.

An example is: Never have I seen such a thing! (The normal structure is: I have never seen such a thing!)

As always, the quiz has accompanying notes, PDF and audio:

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?373

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=125b

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New Quiz: WHOSE and WHO'S

It's time for another new quiz!

Many learners are confused about WHO'S and WHOSE, especially because the pronunciation is the same.

So, here is a quiz with accompanying notes, PDF and audio:

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?372

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=247b

For the kids' version, I split the topic into easy and advanced question sets:

Kids' version (easy): http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?361

Kids' version (medium): http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?362

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Exam Practice

Many exams include an activity where you have to find the mistake in a given sentence.

Here is an extended activity (200 questions) where you can practice this and sharpen your exam skills. For each question, you will get detailed feedback, and you can practice sets of 20 questions at a time.

The link is:

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/step/

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New Quiz: SAY and TELL

Here is another new quiz on Road to Grammar, on the topic SAY and TELL. Many learners use these two simple words incorrectly. Do you know which one takes an indirect object?

This quiz include 10 questions, a topic introduction, notes, answer key + explanation, audio and a PDF version.

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?371

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=185b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?358

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New Quiz: YOUR and YOU'RE

There is another new quiz on Road to Grammar on the topic YOUR and YOU'RE - many learners - and even native speakers - mix up these two words.

This quiz include 10 questions, a topic introduction, notes, answer key + explanation, audio and a PDF version.

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?370

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=256b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?357

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New Quizzes: -S or No -S (Basic and Advanced)

There are two new quizzes on Road to Grammar, both on the topic of when to use the -S ending. The first quiz covers the basics and features 18 questions. The second quiz covers more advanced issues and features 14 questions. Each quiz includes topic introductions, notes, answer key + explanation, audio and PDF version.

1 -S or No -S Part 1 (Basic)

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?368

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=184b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?355

2 -S or No -S Part 2 (Advanced)

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?369

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=184b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?356

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New Quiz: ENOUGH

There is another new quiz on Road to Grammar on the topic of using the word ENOUGH - many learners make the mistake of using it in the wrong place in the sentence.

This quiz include 12 questions, a topic introduction, notes, answer key + explanation, audio and a PDF version.

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?367

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=54b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?354

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New Quizzes: MANY, MUCH, HOW MANY, HOW MUCH

There are two new quizzes on Road to Grammar. These quizzes include 12+ questions, topic introductions, notes, answer key + explanation, audio and PDF version.

1 Distinguishing when to use MUCH and MANY

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?134

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=122b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?352

2 Distinguishing when to use HOW MUCH and HOW MANY

Quiz page: http://roadtogrammar.com?366

Notes: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?ref=89b

Kids' version: http://junior.roadtogrammar.com/?353

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Common Grammar Mistakes in Business Emails (Quiz+Notes)

I've been teaching Business English for a while and I've compiled a list of common grammar mistakes that my own students make in their emails.

This page contains a quiz and accompanying notes based on these mistakes - I hope you find it useful!

http://roadtogrammar.com/businessenglish/quiz.html?emails

RECALL: Practice grammar through reading

I have just posted a series of ten reading activities on Road to Grammar, called RECALL.

The objective of  RECALL is to get learners to pay attention to grammar and sentence structure while reading.

To do this, I have provided short texts, each of which are followed by simple questions on grammar and sentence structure.

These activities are suitable for CEFR level B1-B2.

Try RECALL here:

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/recall/

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Word Forms Activity

Here is a new activity to practice word forms (parts of speech).

Learners can use this activity to differentiate, for example, words like confidence and confident.

There are 80 practice questions with notes. The activity is mobile-friendly.

Try it here:

www.roadtogrammar.com/wordforms2/

Uncountable Nouns Activity

Here is a mobile-friendly grammar activity on uncountable nouns designed with business English in mind.

You'll find an online activity, notes and PDF download here:

http://www.roadtogrammar.com/businessenglish/ucn/

 

New ESL Resource: Comprehensive notes and activities on the Present Simple Tense

New today on RoadtoGrammar is a comprehensive unit on the Present Simple Tense. As we all know, the Present Simple is not as simple as it sounds and even advanced ESL learners make some mistakes with it! The new unit contains 13 pages of notes and 12 short practice activities, covering all aspects of the present simple tense. Teachers, you'll find you can project it or use it on your smartboard and do the activities with your classes. It works on smartphones.
Try it here: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/presentsimple/

Have you ever noticed the grammar of newspaper headlines?

Have you ever noticed that newspaper headlines have a grammar all of their own?

Consider these two examples:

In the first one, it is proclaimed that a great earthquake kills 1000 people, while in the story below, we can read that a fearful earthquake killed 1000 people.

The second newspaper announces 'Hitler Dead'. Shouldn't it be 'Hitler is dead.'?

In fact, newspaper headlines follow their own particular set of rules. Let's try to decipher some of them:

1 The Present Tense is used for something that happened in the past:

Example:

Newborns die after paramedic delay

In a paragraph, we would say the newborns died or the newborns have died.

2 We omit the BE verb:

Example:

Sun's P3 girl ad banned for sexism

In a paragraph, we would say that the Sun's ad was banned for sexism.

Samaritans Twitter app investigated

Again, we could say that the Twitter app is being investigated.

3 We use TO to designate a future event.

Example:

Catalonia to hold independence vote

In a paragraph, we would say that Catalonia is going to hold an independence vote or that Catalonia will hold an independence vote.


Conclusion:

It's a confusing world for learners of English. Newspaper headlines are just one more thing that doesn't seem to make sense when you are trying to master your grammar. As a teacher, a little knowledge of how they work can help you to clear up the confusion.

The Present Perfect Tense

Road to Grammar's unit on the Present Perfect Tense has been reworked in HTML5 so that it will work on any size screen, including smartphones.

The unit can be accessed at: http://roadtogrammar.com/presperfect/

The unit features:

• over ten pages of notes
• ten exercises with plenty of questions and immediate feedback
• a mobile-friendly layout
• simple navigation system
• a smartboard-friendly layout - teachers can use it in a class with a smartboard or projector

Screenshots:

Updates

A couple of updates to Road To Grammar:

1 Quiz #327: They're, There or Their has been expanded to 20 questions. I found that this is a very good topic for elementary level students, especially those who learn by listening and find it hard to distinguish between the three.

The quiz is at: www.roadtogrammar.com/?327

The notes are here: http://www.roadtogrammar.com/notes/?REF=230



2 There was a problem with the direct linking system, which I have fixed. Now you can go directly to a quiz by adding a question mark and the quiz number to the roadtogrammar.com url.

For example, to go to quiz 50:

www.roadtogrammar.com?50

New Tablet Page

Road To Grammar is now accessible on all tablet devices.

www.roadtogrammar.com