If you know these 13 English GRAMMAR RULES, your English is EXCELLENT!

[00:00:00]In this video, I'm sharing with you 13 English grammar rules. And they're quite advanced rules. So, if you know them, it probably means that your English is very, very good. The first rule is about when to use love and when to use loving.

[00:00:21]So, in English, some verbs describe actions. For example, to run, to walk, to play, to eat. These are all actions. But, some verbs describe states or feelings. For example, to know, to understand, to believe, and to love. The verbs that describe actions, like to run, can be used in continuous tenses and simple tenses. So, I run and I'm running. They are both correct. But, the verbs that describe states or feelings are often only used in simple tenses.

[00:01:14]So, normally, we don't say I'm understanding or I'm knowing. We just say I know and I understand.

[00:01:24]But, the verb to love is quite special.

[00:01:28]It can be either love or loving. But, what is the difference?

[00:01:35]You can either say I love or I'm loving.

[00:01:40]But, the meaning is different. She loves pizza. It's something that she regularly enjoys. It's her favorite food. So, it's the present simple. This one I'm having pizza and I'm really enjoying it. I can say I'm loving it. So, when I use it in the present continuous tense, it means it's a temporary feeling or an experience that is ongoing. Because right now, I'm eating pizza and I am loving it. Here's another example.

[00:02:20]I'm living in London at the moment and I'm loving it. So, it's a temporary situation.

[00:02:28]I'm only staying for a couple of months and I'm having a great time. So, I'm loving it. It's a temporary feeling of excitement.

[00:02:39]The next rule is about the present continuous as well. Look at these two sentences. He always wears shoes inside.

[00:02:50]He is always wearing shoes inside. These are both correct, but there is a difference in meaning. So, the first one is just a statement. It's a neutral statement. He always wears shoes inside.

[00:03:10]And that's fine.

[00:03:12]But the second sentence is not a neutral statement. I am slightly annoyed about the situation.

[00:03:22]I'm slightly frustrated.

[00:03:24]I don't like it. So, when we say something like that using the present continuous, is to say that we're a little bit annoyed about the situation.

[00:03:37]So, he's always wearing shoes inside and I don't like it. Are you enjoying this video? If so, you might be interested in my free English grammar booklet in which I explain a lot of rules relating to English grammar.

[00:03:56]I talk about tenses, conditionals, and much more.

[00:04:02]There are more than 30 pages in the booklet and it's really useful. So, if you want it, go to the link in the video description and download it for free.

[00:04:13]Okay, the next rule is about the difference between going to and the present continuous. So, most English learners know that we use going to to talk about plans. For example, I'm going to look for a new flat soon.

[00:04:34]It's my plan.

[00:04:36]I'm going to visit my family in a couple of weeks. It's my plan.

[00:04:42]But we can also use the present continuous tense to talk about plans.

[00:04:48]I'm visiting my family next week.

[00:04:52]So, what is the difference between them?

[00:04:56]Going to is a plan, but when we use the present continuous, it's more of a definite plan. So, I know about it, my family know about it, my brothers and sisters know about it. It's an arrangement that we have made together. So, it's not just a plan in my head, but it's an arrangement with other people. So, we can use the present continuous to say that it's definitely happening because we have arranged it with other people. Fewer and less.

[00:05:36]This is a very common mistake that even native English speakers make. A lot of native speakers say less people, but that's incorrect.

[00:05:48]So, less is something that we use with uncountable nouns. For example, less water, less information, but fewer is for countable nouns. So, things or people that you can count.

[00:06:06]So, we don't say less people, we need to say fewer people. Now, the next rule is quite advanced, but I will try to explain it to you very simply.

[00:06:19]It's about cleft sentences.

[00:06:23]So, this is something that we can use if we want to make a specific piece of information stand out. If we want to emphasize something. Look at these. I need a cup of coffee. What I need is a cup of coffee. So, the first sentence is quite basic. It doesn't really emphasize anything specific.

[00:06:50]But the second sentence emphasizes the need. So, what I need is a cup of coffee. So, I have emphasized this specific piece of information. Here's another example.

[00:07:07]Emily solved the problem.

[00:07:10]It's just a basic statement. There is no emphasis.

[00:07:15]But look at this.

[00:07:17]It was Emily who solved the problem.

[00:07:21]So, here we have emphasized Emily. It was Emily, not somebody else.

[00:07:28]This is quite a difficult grammar structure, and what I really like to do is explain things clearly in very simple language, and this is something I do in my grammar courses as well. So, if you're interested in learning more about English grammar, then make sure you check out the link in the video description. I have linked my courses there. The next rule is since and for.

[00:08:03]And this is something that a lot of people get confused about. So, since is to say when something started. For example, I have worked here since 2025.

[00:08:21]So, that's when I started working here.

[00:08:24]And I still work here. And for is to say how long. So, I have worked here for a year.

[00:08:33]I started working here a year ago, and I still work here now.

[00:08:40]So, both of them are used with the present perfect. Now, the difference between the present perfect and the past simple. There are, of course, exceptions. And if you want to learn more, then make sure you check out my grammar courses, which I have linked in the video description.

[00:09:02]But I'm going to give you a very basic rule that applies to a lot of situations.

[00:09:10]So, when you're talking about something that is completely in the past, you use the past simple.

[00:09:19]I lost my keys yesterday.

[00:09:23]This sentence is only about the past.

[00:09:27]But if I say I have lost my keys, then this sentence is about the past and the present.

[00:09:37]So, here we're talking about something that happened in the past, but we can see the consequences.

[00:09:47]I don't have my keys. They are missing because I have lost them. So, that's the present perfect. The next grammar rule is the third conditional because the third conditional is something that a lot of English learners leave until later because it's quite complicated.

[00:10:11]But, let me explain it to you in a very simple language.

[00:10:17]So, if I had studied hard, I would have passed the exam. So, I didn't study hard, so I didn't pass the exam.

[00:10:33]So, these things didn't happen. I didn't study hard, and I didn't pass the exam.

[00:10:42]So, this is just a hypothetical situation in the past. If I had studied, I would have passed, but I didn't study hard, so I didn't pass. You can make a sentence in the third conditional more formal if you drop the word if, and if you start with had. Look at this.

[00:11:10]So, if I had known becomes had I known.

[00:11:15]If I had studied becomes had I studied.

[00:11:20]Had I known about the traffic, I would have left earlier.

[00:11:25]Had I studied hard, I would have passed my exam.

[00:11:30]So, this is just a structure that makes it a little bit more formal. It's not used very often, but you might see it sometimes. So, it's useful to know about it. Now, the difference between as and like because it is quite confusing. We use like to compare two things. She sings like an angel. So, I want to compare her singing to an angel. That's why I'm using like, like an angel. But, we use as when we want to talk about the role of something or somebody.

[00:12:13]He works as an engineer.

[00:12:16]That's his role. Now, used to do and used to doing. These are very different things. And I have a separate detailed video about this question. So, make sure you check out the link in the video description. When I say I used to do my laundry every Friday, it means I did my laundry every Friday in the past, but now I don't do it anymore. So, it's something you did in the past, but you don't do it now. I used to do my laundry. But, when I say I'm used to doing, it means I am accustomed to it. It's part of my everyday life. So, I am used to doing my laundry every Friday.

[00:13:10]So, it's normal for me to do my laundry every Friday. It's nothing to do with the past. It's just about the present.

[00:13:19]Now, the next rule is about collective nouns. And this is something that applies specifically to British English.

[00:13:30]So, when we're talking about a group of people, like an organization, a team, a family, we can treat it as a collective noun, and collective nouns can be singular or plural.

[00:13:46]So, we can say, "The team are winning the game." or "The team is winning the game."

[00:13:55]So, when we say is, we're talking about the whole team as a unit, but when we say the team are winning, the focus is on all the individual members of the team. So, there is a slightly different focus. The team are arguing among themselves. So, the individual members are arguing. In American English, usually collective nouns are just singular. So, the team is winning. And the final rule is the difference between its with an apostrophe and its without an apostrophe. And this is another very common mistake that native speakers make. It's is short for it is. So, it's my car. It is my car. But it's means that something belongs to something. The dog was wagging its tail.

[00:15:02]So, its tail means the tail belongs to the dog. Don't forget to get your free English grammar booklet from the video description and check out my English courses as well. And I'll see you in the next video. Bye.