Grammar is a critical component of language learning and is a fundamental aspect of speaking, writing, and understanding English. For ESL learners, mastering grammar skills can be challenging, but essential to achieving fluency in the language. Since there are so many concepts to get a grasp of, progress can seem painfully slow at times. 

One way to make learning English easier is to focus on a few commonly used but easily misused concepts in the language and master them. If you’re currently undergoing ESL training, focusing on these four grammar skills this year can help give your speaking and writing skills a boost and improve your confidence to try out new things. Read on to discover them.

1. Understand the Use of Verb Tenses During Your English Language Training

Most ESL learners and even some native speakers struggle with selecting the correct verb tense and conjugating verbs. As an ESL student, you should pay close attention to learning and mastering verb tenses.

Learn the correct usage of verb tenses during your English language training.

There are 12 different verb tenses in the English language, and they all indicate the time frame of an action or occurrence. The simple present, present continuous, simple past, past continuous, simple future, future continuous, present perfect, past perfect, present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, and future perfect continuous are all concepts you should get familiar with during your English language training. 

You can communicate more effectively and clearly convey your ideas and views by learning verb tenses. When you master verb tenses and their correct applications, you’ll be able to convey past, present, and future occurrences and tell the difference between actions that are occurring right now, occur frequently, or have already taken place.

2. Master Sentence Structure

Another crucial grammatical skill students in ESL schools should work on is sentence construction. The structure of a sentence (a grammatical unit made up of a subject and a predicate) is crucial for comprehending and transmitting meaning. This year, try to learn all you can about subjects, verbs, objects, and other sentence components, along with how to construct basic, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences.

Mastering sentence structure is essential during your English language training.

Once you start ESL school, you should focus on learning the different types of sentences and how to use them correctly. This includes understanding subject-verb agreement, which means that the verb in a sentence must match the number of the subject. 

When you master the idea of sentence structure in ESL school, you will speak and write more efficiently and clearly convey your ideas and thoughts.

3. Learn and Use Pronouns Correctly 

Pronouns, which are words that are used in place of nouns in sentences, help readers to understand sentences more easily. Although the idea behind pronouns is very simple, you must still be careful when using them to avoid confusion.

When learning about pronouns, learn the proper usage of personal, possessive, and indefinite pronouns in sentences. It’s also important that you practice using pronouns in your writing and speaking to develop your proficiency and become confident in using them.

4. Focus on Using Adjectives and Adverbs the Right Way

Adjectives and adverbs are two other critical grammar skills that students in ESL schools should focus on. Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns, while adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. Be sure to learn about adjective and adverb usage, as well as how to form comparative and superlative forms. Your spoken and written English will be much better for it. 

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