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The cheat sheet.
The essentials of English on one scannable page — tenses, articles, irregular verbs, prepositions and the mistakes to avoid. Bookmark it, or print it for your wall.
am/is/arebe · present
- I am
- he/she/it is
- you/we/they are
- neg: I am not / isn’t / aren’t
have/hashave
- I/you/we/they have
- he/she/it has
- past: had (all)
a/an/theArticles
- a + consonant sound
- an + vowel sound (an hour)
- the = specific / known
- no article = general plural/uncountable
The 12 tenses
| Pres. simple | she writes |
| Pres. cont. | she is writing |
| Pres. perfect | she has written |
| Pres. perf. cont. | she has been writing |
| Past simple | she wrote |
| Past cont. | she was writing |
| Past perfect | she had written |
| Past perf. cont. | she had been writing |
| Future simple | she will write |
| Future cont. | she will be writing |
| Future perfect | she will have written |
| Fut. perf. cont. | she will have been writing |
topIrregular verbs
| be | was/were · been |
| go | went · gone |
| do | did · done |
| make | made · made |
| take | took · taken |
| get | got · got |
| see | saw · seen |
| come | came · come |
| know | knew · known |
| give | gave · given |
| write | wrote · written |
| eat | ate · eaten |
Full drill in the Verb Lab.
Prepositions of time
- at a time — at 6pm, at night
- on a day — on Monday
- in a period — in May, in 2025
Prepositions of place
- at a point — at the door
- on a surface — on the table
- in an area — in the room
Comparatives
- short: big → bigger → biggest
- -y: happy → happier
- long: more useful / most useful
- irregular: good → better → best
Questions
- be: Are you ready?
- do: Do you know?
- others: Did she go?
- wh-: What / Where / When / Why / How
fixCommon mistakes
- I have 20 years → I am 20
- She don’t → She doesn’t
- a information → some information
- more taller → taller
- I am agree → I agree
Connectors
- add: also, moreover
- contrast: but, however
- result: so, therefore
- example: for example
- sequence: first, then, finally
Contractions
- I’m, you’re, he’s, we’re
- don’t, doesn’t, didn’t
- can’t, won’t, wouldn’t
- I’ve, she’s got, they’ll