English grammar.
18 topics, each one anchored to passages from real books in the Storica library. Conjugation tables, but with the writers next to them.
Start here
A1 articles
Articles (a, an, the)
The most-used three words in English, and the most-mistaken. A and an are indefinite (introducing something new). The is definite (referring to something specific or already known). Zero article — saying nothing at all — has its own rules. Most languages don't work this way.
A1 tenses
The Present Simple
The tense for habits, general truths, and permanent states. English present simple is used very narrowly — for actions that happen often or always, not for what is happening right now. That's the present continuous. Confusing the two is the most common A1 error.
A1 syntax
Negation
How English makes sentences negative. Most verbs need an auxiliary (do/does/did) for negation in the simple tenses; modals and the verb be don't. Then a small set of negative words (never, no, nobody, nothing) carry their own negation. The system is consistent but distinctive — and double negatives are usually wrong.
The full topic list is in the sidebar.