An English tutorial is beneficial for both those who are learning English as a second language and for those native English speakers who are preparing for an exam. The use of subject-verb agreement in forming sentences is of utmost importance in both speaking and writing grammatically correct English. Other facets of the English language that are often taught or refreshed in a tutorial include:



Prepositions

Prepositions are words used to describe how a specific action takes place in a sentence. There is a list of word used as prepositions, but the most commonly used ones are for, in, of, on and to. When you learn to use them properly, you can add depth and complexity to your sentence structure. It is important to learn when to use each of the prepositions. "Of" does not denote ownership as it does in other languages and this is often a difficult concept for non-English speakers to understand. "For" usually denotes time and "on" can be used to demote either time or place.

Adjectives

Adjectives are describing words used to enhance the nouns used in a sentence. Some adjectives denote quantity, such as the number words and words such as several, many and much. Descriptive adjectives describe a noun and color words are the most common, along with such words, as large, small, delicious, good, etc. In a sentence adjectives usually come before a noun, but they can also come after a noun. As you get used to speaking and writing English you will get a feel for where to place the adjectives. When you attend a tutorial on the subject, you have an opportunity to gain instruction and to ask questions.

Direct and Indirect Questions

The art of asking a question can take two forms - asking the question directly or skirting the issue to make it seem as if you are not really asking a question. "Where does Mary live?" is an example of a direct question, while "Can you tell me where Mary lives?" is an example of an indirect question. Although both are asking the same thing, you could get a different answer to an indirect question because you are asking it in a different way. The answer to the indirect question above could be a simple "yes" meaning that the person can tell you, but may not choose to do so.

Imperatives

Imperatives are commands that are actually complete sentences on their own. This is because the listener or reader can understand what the sentence is about. If you say "Come here", this indicates you want someone to come to where you are. Imperatives are used in giving directions and instructions and in issuing invitations.

Using Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used in contrations and to denote ownership. In contractions letters are omitted when words are combined. If you want to say he will, the contraction is he'll. Most of the contractions or shortened forms of words just have several letters left out, but there are exceptions. Will not, for example, changes its form completely when made into a contraction, becoming won't.

For ownership, the apostrophe is used in two different ways. To show the ownership of one person, you use 's and to show ownership by more than one person you use s'. This is one topic that is covered extensively in a tutorial because it is often a difficult one for even native English speakers to understand.