Grammar
Grammar is easier to remember when you know why the rule exists. Each section below gives the rule, the reason and an example — then you practise it.
How to use this page
Do not try to read all of it at once. Take one section, read it, then do the matching activity at the bottom of the page. Come back to the same section a few days later.
Grammar learnt in one long sitting is forgotten in one short week.
The tenses
Simple present — habits and general truths
Use it for something that happens regularly, or that is always true: He walks to school. Water boils at 100 degrees.
The trap is the third person. With he, she or it, the verb takes -s: she writes, it works, Nimal goes. With I, you, we, they it does not: they write.
In the negative and the question, the -s moves onto does, and the main verb loses it: She does not write (not does not writes); Does she write?
Present continuous — happening now
am / is / are + verb-ing, for something in progress at this moment, or around this period: She is reading. They are building a new bridge.
Signal words: now, at the moment, look!, listen!, today, this week.
Some verbs are not normally used in the continuous because they describe a state rather than an action: know, believe, understand, like, want, need, belong. We say I know the answer, not I am knowing the answer.
Simple past — a finished action at a finished time
Use it when the action is over and the time is over: We visited the museum last Friday. He was born in Galle.
Signal words: yesterday, last week, in 2019, ago, then.
Regular verbs add -ed. Irregular verbs must simply be learnt: go — went, write — wrote, bring — brought, teach — taught. Learning ten a week is a realistic and worthwhile habit.
Past continuous — the longer action interrupted
was / were + verb-ing: While I was cooking, the telephone rang.
The longer background action takes the past continuous; the shorter action that breaks into it takes the simple past. Getting these the right way round is one of the most commonly tested points in the paper.
Present perfect — the past that still matters now
have / has + past participle: I have finished my homework. She has lived in Kandy since 2015.
Use it when the exact time is not given or not important, or when the situation continues: for a length of time, since a starting point, and with already, just, yet, never, ever.
The commonest error: do not use the present perfect with a finished time expression. I have seen him yesterday is wrong; it must be I saw him yesterday.
Past perfect — the earlier of two past actions
had + past participle: By the time we arrived, the film had started.
It exists only to show order. If two past events are mentioned and one clearly happened first, the earlier one takes had. If the order is already obvious from before or after, the simple past is usually enough.
The future
will + verb — a decision made now, a prediction, an offer: I will help you.
going to + verb — a plan already made, or something you can see coming: She is going to study medicine. Look at those clouds — it is going to rain.
Present continuous — a fixed arrangement with a time: We are meeting the principal at four o'clock.
Articles: a, an and the
When to use a or an
Use a or an with a singular countable noun that is one of many, or that you mention for the first time: I saw a bird. She bought a book.
Choose by sound, not by letter. Use an before a vowel sound: an apple, an hour (the h is silent), an honest man. Use a before a consonant sound: a university (it begins with a y sound), a European country, a one-day trip.
When to use the
Use the when the reader already knows which one you mean: because you have mentioned it before (I saw a bird. The bird was injured.), because there is only one (the sun, the sky, the principal of our school), or because you are being specific (the book on the table).
Also with superlatives (the best, the tallest), with ordinals (the first, the second), and with names of rivers, seas, mountain ranges and groups of islands.
When to use no article at all
With plural and uncountable nouns used in general: Books are expensive. Water is essential. Children need sleep.
With most names of people, towns, countries, streets and languages: Nimal, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Galle Road, English.
With meals, and with certain places used for their purpose: We had lunch. He went to school (as a student). Compare She went to the school (the building, perhaps as a visitor).
Prepositions
in, on and at for time
at for a clock time: at 8.30, at noon, at midnight.
on for a day or a date: on Monday, on 15 March, on my birthday.
in for a longer period: in May, in 2026, in the morning, in the rainy season.
A useful picture: at is a point, on is a day-sized surface, in is something you are inside.
in, on and at for place
at for a point or a place thought of as a point: at the bus stand, at the door, at home.
on for a surface or a line: on the table, on the wall, on the second floor, on the road to Kandy.
in for an enclosed space or an area: in the box, in the room, in Colombo, in Sri Lanka.
Words that always take a particular preposition
These simply have to be learnt, because there is no rule behind them. The most useful for the examination:
good at, bad at, interested in, afraid of, proud of, tired of, famous for, responsible for, similar to, different from, married to, depend on, insist on, listen to, belong to, apologise for, suffer from, congratulate on, prevent from.
Agreement, voice, reported speech and conditionals
Subject-verb agreement
The verb agrees with the subject, not with the nearest noun. In The box of books is heavy, the subject is box, so the verb is is.
Each, every, everyone, someone, nobody, either, neither are singular: Every student has a book. Nobody was absent.
Uncountable nouns are singular: information, advice, furniture, luggage, news, equipment. We say The news is good, and information, never informations.
Two subjects joined by and take a plural verb. Joined by or or nor, the verb agrees with the nearer one: Neither the students nor the teacher was informed.
Active and passive voice
Active: the subject does the action — The principal announced the results. Passive: the subject receives it — The results were announced by the principal.
Form the passive with be + past participle, keeping the tense: announces — is announced, announced — was announced, will announce — will be announced, has announced — has been announced.
Use the passive when the doer is unknown, unimportant or obvious: The library was built in 1998. My bicycle has been stolen. Do not use it merely to sound formal — in ordinary writing the active is usually clearer.
Reported speech
When the reporting verb is in the past, the tense usually moves one step back: present → past, past → past perfect, will → would, can → could, may → might.
"I am tired," she said. → She said that she was tired.
Time and place words shift too: now → then, today → that day, tomorrow → the next day, here → there, this → that.
Questions lose the question form. "Where do you live?" he asked. → He asked where I lived. — not where did I live. This is one of the most frequent errors in the paper.
Commands and requests use the infinitive: "Close the door," he said. → He told me to close the door.
Conditionals
Zero — something always true: If you heat water, it boils. (present + present)
First — a real future possibility: If it rains tomorrow, we will cancel the match. (present + will)
Second — imaginary or unlikely: If I had a million rupees, I would build a library. (past + would)
Third — the past, which cannot now be changed: If I had studied harder, I would have passed. (past perfect + would have)
**Never put will in the if-clause.** If it will rain is wrong; it is If it rains.
Now practise
Do one activity at a time, and read the explanation for every answer — including the ones you got right.
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Next
Common Student Mistakes
The grammar errors that appear most often in students' writing.
Vocabulary
Building words you can actually use.
Guided Writing
Putting the grammar to work in real writing tasks.
Find related books
RCF Publications produces grammar resources and practical English support materials with simplified explanations and graded exercises.
O/L English Grammar Practice BookSee it in RCF Publications
The Complete O/L English Grammar Quick Reference BookSee it in RCF Publications