Improve your ENGLISH GRAMMAR in 8 minutes

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]In this video, we're talking about my favorite topic, which is English grammar, of course.

[00:00:07]And there is a free English grammar course, which I've linked in the video description. So, make sure you sign up for it for free to get email lessons every day for 7 days. And in this video, I'm going to share with you some really practical tips on how you can improve your English grammar.

[00:00:30]So, let's start with this sentence. The police are investigating.

[00:00:36]And this is something that looks incorrect, but it is actually correct.

[00:00:43]And it's something that is more common in British English than American English. So, you've got are investigating with a singular noun, police. Another example of this, the team are wearing their new uniforms. Again, we've got are wearing with a singular noun, the team.

[00:01:08]And this is something we do in English when we talk about collective nouns. So, a group of people, like the police is made up of many police officers. The team is made up of many team members.

[00:01:27]The same goes with family. So, my family are really nice.

[00:01:33]But you can also use is with those nouns. So, you can say my family is really nice, the team is very big, but the meaning is slightly different. So, when you say my family are, the focus is on all the different members of my family individually. So, all of the members of my family are nice, but when you say my family is, the focus is on the family as a unit, as a whole. My next tip is about the word actually.

[00:02:13]And this is a mistake that many English learners make because in some languages, the meaning of this word is very different. Like in Spanish, actualmente means at present. The same in French, actuellement. But in English, it means in fact. And we use it when somebody believes something that is incorrect, for example, and we want to correct them.

[00:02:43]So, imagine you think that I can speak Italian. So, I need to say, "Actually, I don't speak Italian." So, I'm correcting you.

[00:02:55]In fact, I don't speak Italian. My friend thought that I lived in Paris, but actually, I don't live in Paris. My next tip is about vocabulary and specifically the word very.

[00:03:13]So, a lot of English learners use the word very a lot because it's a very useful word. And there is nothing wrong with using very. So, you can say you're very hungry or a film was very bad or you're very tired. That is perfectly correct, but it's also useful to learn some stronger adjectives that you can use instead of very. For example, instead of saying very tired, you can say exhausted.

[00:03:50]Instead of saying very bad, you can say awful. Instead of saying very dirty, you can say filthy. In that way, when you speak, you sound less repetitive and sometimes more accurate. My next tip is about something that many of you struggle with, and it's the phrase used to.

[00:04:14]So, we've got three different versions of this.

[00:04:19]I used to go shopping on Sundays.

[00:04:22]I'm used to going shopping on Sundays.

[00:04:27]And I got used to going shopping on Sundays. So, used to, to be used to, and to get used to. The first one is something I did in the past and I don't do it anymore. So, I used to go shopping on Sundays, but now I go shopping on Mondays. I'm used to going shopping on Sundays means I am accustomed to it.

[00:05:01]It's part of my everyday routine.

[00:05:04]And remember, after I'm used to, you need a verb with ing at the end. So, I'm used to going shopping on Sundays. I got used to means I became accustomed. So, something became part of my routine. I got used to going shopping on Sundays. I became accustomed to it. The next one is the difference between say and tell. And this is quite confusing. So, you can use say in two different ways. You can say, for example, my brother said that my brother said that it's warm outside. So, you can use say that, or you can say something.

[00:05:57]I said the wrong thing in the meeting.

[00:06:01]You can say something to somebody.

[00:06:05]So, I said something really rude to my boss. But, when you use tell, you tell somebody something. I told my boss I was going to be late. I told my boss a secret. The next thing is also a mistake I often see. Look at this. My brother, he lives in Spain. This is incorrect because in English you only need one subject in a sentence.

[00:06:35]So, my brother is the subject, and so you don't need he there as well.

[00:06:43]So, just my brother lives in Spain, or you can say he lives in Spain.

[00:06:49]But, you don't need both. My next tip is about the passive voice.

[00:06:55]For example, look at this sentence. The meeting was attended by many people.

[00:07:01]This is correct, but you can also say it without the passive voice. So, you can say many people attended the meeting.

[00:07:12]And this is actually a bit clearer and simpler. So, sometimes you need to decide is there a way I can say this without the passive voice? Overusing the passive voice is not good because sometimes it can sound a little bit unnatural. But, sometimes the passive voice is really useful. For example, in this sentence, my phone was stolen. I don't really know who did it, and it doesn't matter. So, the passive voice is actually useful here. And the final one, something you might be using a lot in conversations in English, how is it called in English? That's incorrect. In English?

[00:07:58]Instead, you need the word what. So, what is it called in English? Don't forget to sign up for my free English grammar course.

[00:08:08]The link is in the video description and subscribe to my channel. Thank you and I'll see you in the next video. Bye.