“ Your ” indicates a possession – and defines that something belongs to you. These words are also troublesome homophones that cause many problems. The correct use of adverbs is to show not tell the reader what is happening in the story. He saw Emma looking flirtatiously with Jack and walked over to her aggressively. The curtain opened quickly, and Ben came slowly into the room. Here is the same extract with the manner verbs highlighted:

He was in a good mood now, smiling broadly as he grabbed his mug of tea.Ī common issue in story writing occurs when you rely too heavily on manner adverbs in your stories.

The most commonly overused adverbs are manner adverbs, this particular type of adverb modifies the verb. You should, however, avoid overusing these words to describe actions and events. This can make adverbs a useful word group. Here are some frequently used examples of verbs in past simple: are, was, were and went.Īdverbs are a varied class of words that work in many different ways to express many different kinds of meaning. You can also use past tense in English to talk about long-standing events and situations that have already happened in the past.įor example : When I was a young child, I lived in the countryside. You can use the past tense to talk about events or situations that have finished. Present perfect continuous : I have been working There are four present tense forms in the English language. Present tenses in English are used to talk about the present, the future and to summarise a book, film or play when telling a story in the present tense. Signing up for our courses at Oxford International English School is a great way to improve your English language skills.

Of course, the English language frequently frustrates new learners with various grammatical hurdles and stumbling blocks.

The English language is well known for being the language of international communication in the modern world – and wherever you originate from, and whatever native tongue you speak, it’s likely that learning English will be invaluable in both your personal and professional lives.

Basic grammar in use student's book