Grammar Goof-Ups:

Fix Them Once and For All!

U.S. Department of StateEnglish Language Fellow

Secretaría de Educación Pública, La Paz, Baja California Sur

México

Supported by:

Why Study

Grammar?

To understand how a language

works

To communicate effectively with

others

To sound intelligent in a foreign

language

To teach students the correct

usage

To fulfill an interest

Other reasons….

Baby Talk...is it ok?

Is there something wrong

with this sentence?

“I wented to the store and

mommy buyed me lots of

candies.”

How we learn grammar

incorrectly in a foreign

language...

We are not corrected by anyone

Our teachers use incorrect grammar

Our peers use incorrect grammar

We are actually using fossilized

mistakes over and over without

realizing it

Does

Grammar

Matter?

TED-Ed

Andreea S.

Calude

https://youtu.be/Wn_eBrIDUuc?t=36

Is this

sentence

correct?

I don’t know

where is my

bag?

The correct

way to say

this is…

You can

avoid “is” →

The verb comes at the end of this

sentence in English.

1. I don't know where my bag is.

2. I can’t find my bag, I wonder

where it is.

3. My bag is missing, where do you

think it is?

Can you help me find my missing

bag?!

What’s the

difference

between

see, look, &

watch?

Follow These Guidelines:

See General

Look Specific

Watch In Progress

Say these

words out

loud.

Posted

Played

Added

Worked

The -ed

rule for

words

ending in

‘t’ or ‘d’

If the verb stem ends in the letter ‘t’

or ‘d’ you make the strong -ed sound

like the name Ed.

Examples:

Post has a ‘t’ at the end of the stem

so it is read/said as posted

Add has a ‘d’ at the end of the stem,

so it is read/said as added

When asking a do or does

question:

Remember:“Did does all the work” in a question, so

the main verb can remain in the present

tense because “Did does all the work” in

forming the tense for a question.

Did you go to the party last night?

Therefore...

Do (present) you like to eat (present)

tacos?

Present tense + Present tense= Present

Did (past) you eat (present) many tacos

last night? (past)

Past tense + Present Tense= Past

Tense

Is this

correct?

Let’s make a

photo!

Let’s take a

photo!

or

Let’s take a

selfie!

Remember this:

A funny (adjective) man who tells lots

of jokes always has more fun (noun)!

Only boring (adjective) people get

bored (adjective) easily.

Rules for

Comparatives

&

Superlatives

An easier way

to remember

how to use

them.

A general rule to follow is to look at

the number of syllables in the

adjective to tell how to correctly form

the comparative and superlative.

1 syllable

rule

nice nicer the nicest

2 syllable

rule

pret-ty prettier the most

pretty/the

prettiest

3 syllable

rule

beau-ti-ful more

beautiful

the most

beautiful

So

vs.

Too

It is so cold in Finland in the winter!

It is too cold in Finland in the winter!

I like the Finnish winters

so much. OK

I like the Finnish winters

too much. Not OK

So= very, a lot, able to handle it,

bearable

Too= too much, not able to handle,

unbearable

Wait me.

The mistake many non-native speakers

make when they want to say wait for

me.

“I will be done with this assignment in

two minutes, I want to go with you to

eat, wait for me.”

Thank God we are almost

done...not thanks God we

are almost done…

But, thanks to you I have learned a lot

about grammar and how to use it and

teach it!

And thank you for being such great

participants!

Useful Resources:

Azar Grammar website:

http://www.azargrammar.com/

Grammar resources - University of

Chicago Writing Program

http://writing-

program.uchicago.edu/resources/gram

mar.htm

The Blue Book of Grammar and

Punctuation