ENGLISH TEST

This short English test gives you a score of A, B or C on the CEFR scale for receptive English skills (listening and reading). The test is called the EFSET Express. There's a longer version that gives you a more precise score that you can publish straight to your LinkedIn profile for job hunting purposes. If you're really looking for a challenge, the 2 hour EFSET Plus tells you what you'd score on the TOEFL and IELTS. It's a great way to prepare for a standarized English test. All three English tests are available at no charge on the official EFSET site.


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When you're looking for an English test, it's better to choose a test that evaluates English in context, rather than just testing your mastery of English grammar rules. The EFSET tests are exactly this type of practical English test. They evaluate how well you use English, making sure you can apply grammar rules, that you have a good English vocabulary, and that you can use your knowledge to communicate in English. Free is also nice.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

Relative clauses are non-essential parts of a sentence. They may add meaning, but if they are removed, the sentence will still function grammatically. There are two broad types of relative clauses in English. It is important to distinguish between them because it affects the choice of pronoun used to introduce the clause. There is a more detailed page about preposition placement in relative clauses.

DEFINING CLAUSES
A defining or identifying clause tells us which specific person or thing we are talking about in a larger group of people or things. If a defining relative clause is removed, the meaning of the sentence changes significantly. A defining relative clause is not separated from the rest of the sentence by commas or parentheses.

EXAMPLES

The woman who visited me in the hospital was very kind.
The umbrella that I bought last week is already broken.
The man who stole my backpack has been arrested.
The weather that we had this summer was beautiful.
Learn more about using defining relative clauses correctly.

NON-DEFINING CLAUSES
A non-defining or non-essential clause gives us more information about the person or thing we are talking about. If a non-defining relative clause is removed from a sentence, we lose some detail, but the overall meaning of the sentence remains the same. Non-defining relative clauses are always set off from the rest of the sentence with commas or parentheses.

EXAMPLES

The farmer, whose name was Fred, sold us 10 pounds of potatoes.
Elephants, which are the largest land mammals, live in herds of 10 or more adults.
The author, who graduated from the same university I did, gave a wonderful presentation.
My mother, who is 86, lives in Paris.
Learn more about using non-defining relative clauses correctly.

PUNCTUATION

Punctuation is used to create sense, clarity and stress in sentences. You use punctuation marks to structure and organise your writing.

You can quickly see why punctuation is important if you try and read this sentence which has no punctuation at all:

perhaps you dont always need to use commas periods colons etc to make sentences clear when i am in a hurry tired cold lazy or angry i sometimes leave out punctuation marks grammar is stupid i can write without it and dont need it my uncle Harry once said he was not very clever and i never understood a word he wrote to me i think ill learn some punctuation not too much enough to write to Uncle Harry he needs some help
Now let's see if punctuating it makes a difference!

Perhaps you don't always need to use commas, periods, colons etc. to make sentences clear. When I am in a hurry, tired, cold, lazy, or angry I sometimes leave out punctuation marks. "Grammar is stupid! I can write without it and don't need it," my uncle Harry once said. He was not very clever, and I never understood a word he wrote to me. I think I'll learn some punctuation - not too much, enough to write to Uncle Harry. He needs some help!
Use the pages in this punctuation section to learn how to make your English clearer and better organised.

PUNCTUATION RULES IN ENGLISH

the period (or full stop in British English)
the comma
the exclamation mark
the question mark
the colon
the semicolon
the quotation mark
the apostrophe
the hyphen and the dash
parentheses and brackets

TENSE CHANGES WHEN USING REPORTED SPEECH

Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct speech:
She said, "I am tired." = She said that she was tired.

Phrase in Direct Speech Equivalent in Reported Speech
Simple present Simple past
"I always drink coffee", she said She said that she always drank coffee.
Present continuous Past continuous
"I am reading a book", he explained. He explained that he was reading a book
Simple past Past perfect
"Bill arrived on Saturday", he said. He said that Bill had arrived on Saturday.
Present perfect Past perfect
"I have been to Spain", he told me. He told me that he had been to Spain.
Past perfect Past perfect
"I had just turned out the light," he explained. He explained that he had just turned out the light.
Present perfect continuous Past perfect continuous
They complained, "We have been waiting for hours". They complained that they had been waiting for hours.
Past continuous Past perfect continuous
"We were living in Paris", they told me. They told me that they had been living in Paris.
Future Present conditional
"I will be in Geneva on Monday", he said. He said that he would be in Geneva on Monday.
Future continuous Conditional continuous
She said, "I'll be using the car next Friday". She said that she would be using the car next Friday.
You do not need to change the tense if the reporting verb is in the present, or if the original statement was about something that is still true, e.g.

He says he has missed the train but he'll catch the next one.
We explained that it is very difficult to find our house.


These modal verbs do not change in reported speech: might, could, would, should, ought to:

We explained, "It could be difficult to find our house." = We explained that it could be difficult to find our house.
She said, "I might bring a friend to the party." = She said that she might bring a friend to the party.

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE

The simple present tense is one of several forms of present tense in English. It is used to describe habits, unchanging situations, general truths, and fixed arrangements. The simple present tense is simple to form. Just use the base form of the verb: (I take, you take, we take, they take) The 3rd person singular takes an -s at the end. (he takes, she takes)

THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE IS USED:
To express habits, general truths, repeated actions or unchanging situations, emotions and wishes:
I smoke (habit); I work in London (unchanging situation); London is a large city (general truth)
To give instructions or directions:
You walk for two hundred meters, then you turn left.
To express fixed arrangements, present or future:
Your exam starts at 09.00
To express future time, after some conjunctions: after, when, before, as soon as, until:
He'll give it to you when you come next Saturday.
Be careful! The simple present is not used to express actions happening now.
EXAMPLES
For habits
He drinks tea at breakfast.
She only eats fish.
They watch television regularly.
For repeated actions or events
We catch the bus every morning.
It rains every afternoon in the hot season.
They drive to Monaco every summer.
For general truths
Water freezes at zero degrees.
The Earth revolves around the Sun.
Her mother is Peruvian.
For instructions or directions
Open the packet and pour the contents into hot water.
You take the No.6 bus to Watney and then the No.10 to Bedford.
For fixed arrangements
His mother arrives tomorrow.
Our holiday starts on the 26th March
With future constructions
She'll see you before she leaves.
We'll give it to her when she arrives.
FORMING THE SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE: TO THINK
Affirmative Interrogative Negative
I think Do I think? I do not think
You think Do you think? You do not think
He thinks Does he think? He does not think
She thinks Does she think? She does not think
It thinks Does it think? It does not think
We think Do we think? We do not think.
They think Do they think? They do not think.
NOTES ON THE SIMPLE PRESENT, THIRD PERSON SINGULAR
In the third person singular the verb always ends in -s:
he wants, she needs, he gives, she thinks.
Negative and question forms use DOES (= the third person of the auxiliary 'DO') + the infinitive of the verb.
He wants ice cream. Does he want strawberry? He does not want vanilla.
Verbs ending in -y : the third person changes the -y to -ies:
fly --> flies, cry --> cries
Exception: if there is a vowel before the -y:
play --> plays, pray --> prays
Add -es to verbs ending in:-ss, -x, -sh, -ch:
he passes, she catches, he fixes, it pushes
EXAMPLES

He goes to school every morning.
She understands English.
It mixes the sand and the water.
He tries very hard.
She enjoys playing the piano.

PRONOUNS

Pronouns replace nouns. A different pronoun is required depending on two elements: the noun being replaced and the function that noun has in the sentence. In English, pronouns only take the gender of the noun they replace in the 3rd person singular form. The 2nd person plural pronouns are identical to the 2nd person singular pronouns except for the reflexive pronoun.

  Subject Pronoun Object Pronoun Possessive Adjective (Determiner) Possessive Pronoun Reflexive or Intensive Pronoun
1st person singular I me my mine myself
2nd person singular you you your yours yourself
3rd person singular, male he him his his himself
3rd person singular, female she her her hers herself
3rd person singular, neutral it it its itself
1st person plural we us our ours ourselves
2nd person plural you you your yours yourselves
3rd person plural they them their theirs themselves
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Subject pronouns replace nouns that are the subject of their clause. In the 3rd person, subject pronouns are often used to avoid repetition of the subject's name.

EXAMPLES

I am 16.
You seem lost.
Jim is angry, and he wants Sally to apologize.
This table is old. It needs to be repainted.
We aren't coming.
They don't like pancakes.
OBJECT PRONOUNS
Object pronouns are used to replace nouns that are the direct or indirect object of a clause.

EXAMPLES

Give the book to me.
The teacher wants to talk to you.
Jake is hurt because Bill hit him.
Rachid recieved a letter from her last week.
Mark can't find it.
Don't be angry with us.
Tell them to hurry up!
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES (DETERMINERS)
Possessive adjectives are not pronouns, but rather determiners. It is useful to learn them at the same time as pronouns, however, because they are similar in form to the possessive pronouns. Possessive adjectives function as adjectives, so they appear before the noun they modify. They do not replace a noun as pronouns do.

EXAMPLES

Did mother find my shoes?
Mrs. Baker wants to see your homework.
Can Jake bring over his baseball cards?
Samantha will fix her bike tomorrow.
The cat broke its leg.
This is our house.
Where is their school?
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
Possessive pronouns replace possessive nouns as either the subject or the object of a clause. Because the noun being replaced doesn't appear in the sentence, it must be clear from the context.

EXAMPLES

This bag is mine.
Yours is not blue.
That bag looks like his.
These shoes are not hers.
That car is ours.
Theirs is parked in the garage.
REFLEXIVE & INTENSIVE PRONOUNS
Reflexive and intensive pronouns are the same set of words but they have different functions in a sentence.

Reflexive pronouns refer back to the subject of the clause because the subject of the action is also the direct or indirect object. Only certain types of verbs can be reflexive. You cannot remove a reflexive pronoun from a sentence because the remaining sentence would be grammatically incorrect.

EXAMPLES

I told myself to calm down.
You cut yourself on this nail?
He hurt himself on the stairs.
She found herself in a dangerous part of town.
The cat threw itself under my car!
We blame ourselves for the fire.
The children can take care of themselves.
Intensive pronouns emphasize the subject of a clause. They are not the object of the action. The intensive pronoun can always be removed from a sentence without changing the meaning significantly, although the emphasis on the subject will be removed. Intensive pronouns can be placed immediately after the subject of the clause, or at the end of the clause.

EXAMPLES

I made these cookies myself.
You yourself asked Jake to come.
The Pope himself pardoned Mr. Brown.
My teacher didn't know the answer herself.
The test itself wasn't scary, but my teacher certainly is.
We would like to finish the renovation before Christmas ourselves.
They themselves told me the lost shoe wasn't a problem.

ADVERBS OF MANNER

ADVERBS OF MANNER

Adverbs of manner tell us how something happens. They are usually placed either after the main verb or after the object.

EXAMPLES

He swims well.
He ran quickly.
She spoke softly.
James coughed loudly to attract her attention.
He plays the flute beautifully. (after the direct object)
He ate the chocolate cake greedily. (after the direct object)
An adverb of manner cannot be put between a verb and its direct object. The adverb must be placed either before the verb or at the end of the clause.

EXAMPLES

He ate greedily the chocolate cake. [incorrect]
He ate the chocolate cake greedily. [correct]
He greedily ate the chocolate cake. [correct]
He gave us generously the money. [incorrect]
He gave us the money generously. [correct]
He generously gave us the money. [correct]
If there is a preposition before the verb's object, you can place the adverb of manner either before the preposition or after the object.

EXAMPLES

The child ran happily towards his mother.
The child ran towards his mother happily.
Adverbs of manner should always come immediately after verbs which have no object (intransitive verbs).

EXAMPLES

The town grew quickly after 1997.
He waited patiently for his mother to arrive.
These common adverbs of manner are almost always placed directly after the verb: well, badly, hard, & fast

EXAMPLES

He swam well despite being tired.
The rain fell hard during the storm.
The position of the adverb is important when there is more than one verb in a sentence. If the adverb is placed before or after the main verb, it modifies only that verb. If the adverb is placed after a clause, then it modifies the whole action described by the clause. Notice the difference in meaning between the following sentences.

Example Meaning
She quickly agreed to re-type the letter. the agreement is quick
She agreed quickly to re-type the letter. the agreement is quick
She agreed to re-type the letter quickly. the re-typing is quick
He quietly asked me to leave the house. the request is quiet
He asked me quietly to leave the house. the request is quiet
He asked me to leave the house quietly. the leaving is quiet
LITERARY USAGE

Sometimes an adverb of manner is placed before a verb + object to add emphasis.

EXAMPLES

He gently woke the sleeping woman.
She angrily slammed the door.
Some writers put an adverb of manner at the beginning of the sentence to catch our attention and make us curious.

EXAMPLES

Slowly she picked up the knife.
Roughly he grabbed her arm.