Essential Grammar in Use
Grammar reference
R AY M O N D M U R P H Y

Contents
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I/me he/him they/them etc.
2
It’s mine/yours/hers etc.
2
am/is/are
3
a/an and the
4
flower(s) bus(es) (singular and plural)
4
a car / some money (countable/uncountable)
I have … / I’ve got …
5
I am doing (present continuous)
6
I’m going to …
6
I do/work/like etc. (present simple)
7
worked/got/went etc. (past simple)
8
old/nice/beautiful etc. (adjectives)
9
the oldest the most expensive
9
under behind between etc. (prepositions) up over under etc. (prepositions)
10
can
11
List of irregular verbs
12

For further practice:
Essential Grammar in Use Supplementary Exercises
Helen Naylor with Raymond Murphy
Essential Grammar in Use Cassette Set
Example sentences from Essential Grammar in Use
Raymond Murphy

© Cambridge University Press, 2000
Not for sale separately

5

10

I/me

he/him

they/them etc.

People

subject object I me subject
I
we you he she they

we us I know Ann.
We know Ann.
You know Ann.
He knows Ann.
She knows Ann.
They know Ann.

you you he him Ann knows me.
Ann knows us.
Ann knows you.
Ann knows him.
Ann knows her.
Ann knows them.

she her they them object me us you him her them

Things
It’s nice.
I like it.

subject object They’re nice.
I like them.

it it they them Whose is this?
Mine

I we you he she they →
→
→
→
→
→

Ours

my our your his her their →
→
→
→
→
→

mine ours yours his hers theirs It’s mine/yours/hers etc.
Yours

His

It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s

my money. our money. your money. his money. her money. their money.

Hers

It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s
It’s

mine. ours. yours. his. hers. theirs. Theirs

am/is/are
I’m 22.

My name is Lisa.
I’m American. I’m from Chicago.

My favourite colour is blue.

I’m a student.n

My favourite sports are football and swimming.

My father is a doctor and my mother is a journalist.

positive

I he she it we you they





we you they





(we’re) are (you’re)
(they’re)

positive

is

(he’s not
(she’s not
(it’s not

are not

not

question

I

am







●
●
●
●
●

(I’m not)





(he’s)
(she’s)
(it’s)

is

am not




am (I’m)

he she it

we you they

I’m interested in art.

LISA

negative

I

he she it

I’m not married.

is

are

am

or he isn’t) or she isn’t) or it isn’t)

(we’re not or we aren’t)
(you’re not or you aren’t)
(they’re not or they aren’t)

What’s your name?

I?

David.

 he? is  she?
 it?

Are you married?
No, I’m single.
How old are you?

 we? are  you?
 they

25.
Are you a student?

‘Am I late?’ ‘No, you’re on time.’
‘Is your mother at home?’ ‘No, she’s out.’
‘Are your parents at home?’ ‘No, they’re out.’
‘Is it cold in your room?’ ‘Yes, a little.’
Your shoes are nice. Are they new?

[3]

Yes, I am.

a/an and the the a/an
1

2

3

Can you open the window?

Can you open a window?
There are three windows here. a window = window 1 or 2 or 3

There is only one window here – the window. ● I’ve got a car.
(there are many cars and I’ve got one)

● Is there a hotel near here? (there are many hotels – is there one near here?)

● I’m going to clean the car tomorrow.
(= my car)
● Can you repeat the question, please?
(= the question that you asked)
● We enjoyed our holiday. The hotel was very nice. (= our hotel)

● Paris is an interesting city. (there are many interesting cities and Paris is one)

● Paris is the capital of France.
(there is only one capital of France)

● Can I ask a question?
(there are many questions – can I ask one?)

flower(s)

bus(es) (singular and plural)

The plural of a noun is usually -s: singular (= one) → plural (= two or more) a flower → some flowers a week → two weeks a nice place → many nice places this shop → these shops

a flower

some flowers

Some plurals do not end in -s: this man → these men a woman → some women a child → many children

one foot → two feet a tooth → all my teeth a mouse → some mice

[4]

that sheep → those sheep a fish → a lot of fish

a car / some money (countable/uncountable)
A noun can be countable or uncountable.
Countable nouns
For example: (a) car (a) man (a) key (a) house (a) flower

(an) idea (an) accident

You can use one/two/three (etc.) + countable nouns (you can count them):

one car

two cars

three men

four houses

Countable nouns can be singular (= one) or plural (= two or more): singular: plural:

a car cars the car etc. the cars some cars

my car two cars

many cars etc.

Uncountable nouns
For example: water

water

air

rice

salt

salt

plastic

money

money

music

tennis

music

You cannot say one/two/three (etc.) + these things: one water two musics
Uncountable nouns have only one form: money the money my money

some money

much money etc.

I have … / I’ve got …
You can say I have or I’ve got, he has or he’s got:
I
we you they

have

OR

I we you they he she it

has

OR

he she it

(I’ve got)
(we’ve got) have got
(you’ve got)
(they’ve got) has got

(he’s got)
(she’s got)
(it’s got)

[5]

I’ve got a headache. I am doing (present continuous) am/is/are + -ing = something is happening now:
I’m working she’s wearing a hat they’re playing football
I’m not watching television past ●
●
●
●
●
●

future

NOW

Please be quiet. I’m working. (= I’m working now)
Look at Sue! She’s wearing her new hat. (= she is wearing it now)
The weather is nice at the moment. It’s not raining.
‘Where are the children?’ ‘They’re playing in the park.’
(on the phone) We’re having dinner now. Can you phone again later?
You can turn off the television. I’m not watching it.

I’m going to …
I’m going to (do something)
MORNING

I’m going to watch
TV this evening.
THIS EVENING

She is going to watch TV this evening.
We use am/is/are going to… for the future:
I
he/she/it we/you/they am is are

am is are

(not) going to

I he/she/it we/you/they

going to

do … drink … watch … buy … ? eat … ? wear … ?

[6]

I do/work/like etc. (present simple) positive negative

I we you they work like do have I we you they he she it

works likes does has he she it

do not
(don’t)

does not
(doesn’t)

work like do have We use the present simple for things that are true in general, or for things that happen sometimes or all the time:
● I like big cities.
● The shops open at 9 o’clock and close at 5.30.
● Tim works very hard. He starts at 7.30 and finishes at 8 o’clock in the evening.
● The Earth goes round the Sun.
● I drink coffee but I don’t drink tea.
● Sue drinks tea but she doesn’t drink coffee.
● You don’t work very hard.
● We don’t watch television very often.
● The weather is usually nice. It doesn’t rain very often.
● Gerry and Linda don’t know many people. do/does + subject + infinitive

Where
How often
What
How much

Do
Do
Does do do does does

you your friends
Chris
your parents you this word it work live play live? wash mean? cost

in the evening? near here? tennis? your hair? to fly to Rome?

Do you play the guitar?

[7]

worked/got/went etc. (past simple)
They

watch

television every evening.
(present simple)

They watched television yesterday evening.
(past simple) watched is the past simple:
I/we/you/they
he/she/it

watched

We use did in past simple negatives and questions: infinitive positive

play start watch have see do go

I we you they he she it

negative played started watched had saw did went I we you they he she it

question

did not
(didn’t)

play start watch have see do go

did

● I played tennis yesterday but I didn’t win.
● ‘Did you do the shopping?’ ‘No, I didn’t have time.’
● We went to the cinema but we didn’t enjoy the film.
Questions
did + subject
What
How
Where

Did did did did +

your sister you the accident your parents

infinitive you? yesterday evening?

phone do happen? go for their holiday?

short answers
Yes,
●
●
●
●

I/we/you/they he/she/it did.

No,

I/we/you/they he/she/it didn’t.

‘Did you see Joe yesterday?’ ‘No, I didn’t.’
‘Did it rain on Sunday?’ ‘Yes, it did.’
‘Did Helen come to the party?’ ‘No, she didn’t.’
‘Did your parents have a good holiday?’ ‘Yes, they did.’

[8]

I we you they he she it

play? start? watch? have? see? do? go?

old/nice/beautiful etc. (adjectives) adjective + noun (nice day / blue eyes etc.) adjective + noun
It’s a nice day today.
Laura has got brown eyes.
There’s a very old bridge in this village.
Do you like Italian food? be (am/is/was etc.) + adjective
● The weather is nice today.
● These flowers are very beautiful.
● Are you cold? Shall I close the window?

I’m hungry.

look/feel/smell/taste/sound + adjective
You sound happy. You look tired. It tastes good. I feel tired. the oldest

It smells good. the most expensive

Box A is bigger than Box B.

Bigger / older / more expensive etc. are comparative forms

Box A is bigger than all the other boxes.
Box A is the biggest box.

Biggest / oldest / most expensive etc. are superlative forms.

[9]

under

behind

between etc. (prepositions)

next to (or beside) / between / in front of / behind
A is next to B. or A is beside B.
B is between A and C.
D is in front of B.
E is behind B. also A is on the left.
C is on the right.
B is in the middle (of the group).

up

over

under etc. (prepositions)
● Jane is going to France next week.
● We walked from the hotel to the station.

to

from

● A man came out of the house and got into a car. into (in) on up

over

out of off ● Don’t put your feet on the table.
● Please take your feet off the table.
● We got on the bus in Princes Street.

● We walked up the hill to the house.
● Be careful! Don’t fall down the stairs.

down

● The plane flew over the mountains.
● I jumped over the wall into the garden. under [10]

can

I can play the piano.

He can play the piano. can + infinitive (can do / can play / can come etc.):
I/we/you/they
he/she/it

}

do can play cannot (can’t) see come etc.

I/we/you/they can he/she/it

I can do something = I know how to do it or it is possible for me to do it:
● I can play the piano. My brother can play the piano too.
● Sarah can speak Italian but she can’t speak Spanish.
● ‘Can you swim?’ ‘Yes, but I’m not a very good swimmer.’
● ‘Can you change twenty pounds?’ ‘I’m sorry, I can’t.’
● I’m having a party next week but Paul and Jenny can’t come.

[11]

do? play? see? come? etc.

List of irregular verbs infinitive past simple

past participle

infinitive

past simple

past participle

be become begin bite blow break bring build buy catch choose come cost cut do draw drink drive eat fall feel fight find fly forget get give go grow hang have hear hit hold hurt keep know leave lend

was/were became began bit blew broke brought built bought caught chose came cost cut did drew drank drove ate fell felt fought found flew forgot got gave went grew hung had heard hit held hurt kept knew left lent

been become begun bitten blown broken brought built bought caught chosen come cost cut done drawn drunk driven eaten fallen felt fought found flown forgotten got given gone grown hung had heard hit held hurt kept known left lent

let lie lose make mean meet pay put read /ri d/* ride ring rise run say see sell send shine shoot show shut sing sit sleep speak spend stand steal swim take teach tell think throw understand wake wear win write

let lay lost made meant met paid put read /red/* rode rang rose ran said saw sold sent shone shot showed shut sang sat slept spoke spent stood stole swam took taught told thought threw understood woke wore won wrote

let lain lost made meant met paid put read /red/* ridden rung risen run said seen sold sent shone shot shown shut sung sat slept spoken spent stood stolen swum taken taught told thought thrown understood woken worn won written

[12]