Grammar ladder

There is a problem in the kitchen.

There is / There are

I work with customers every day.

Present Simple

I'm working on the order right now.

Present Continuous

I'm a nurse.

To be

I can look at the order today.

Can / can't (ability)

Do you know who looks after the schedule?

Asking questions

The meeting is at ten.

Prepositions of time

I've got a problem with the printer.

Have got

Let's check that first.

Imperatives and let's

I don't work on Fridays.

Present Simple negative

Do you live near here?

Present Simple questions

I was late yesterday.

was / were

Are you ready to go?

Questions with be

Are you coming with us?

Present Continuous questions

Nobody told me yesterday.

Pronouns

This is my coat.

Pronouns

This seat is taken, I think.

Demonstratives

That's Anna's laptop.

Possessives ('s and of)

That one is mine.

Pronouns

I'll take the blue one.

Demonstratives

I joined this team last year.

Past Simple

I'm going to fix the heater tomorrow.

Going to (future plans)

I've just finished the form.

Present Perfect

Sure, I'll look at the form.

Will (offers and decisions)

We have to go through the order before every shift.

Must / have to

We have some questions about it.

Some / any

We have a lot of time this month.

Quantifiers

This approach is faster than the old one.

Comparatives

We need the printer.

Articles (a / the / zero)

We always start at nine.

Adverbs of frequency

It's in the top drawer.

Prepositions of place

I didn't get the message.

Past Simple negative

Did you get my message?

Past Simple questions

I was late so I missed the start.

Conjunctions

I got your message this morning.

get

I'll fill out the form for you.

Phrasal verbs

Put on your coat.

Phrasal verbs

I was cleaning the kitchen when the phone rang.

Past Continuous

I'm meeting the client tomorrow morning.

Present Continuous for arrangements

Have you ever been to Spain?

Have you ever … ?

How long does it take to get to the airport?

How long / how far / how often

What is it like there in winter?

What is it like?

Somebody left a message for you.

somebody / anybody / nobody

There's something wrong with the heating.

somebody / anybody / nobody

When I get home, I will let you know.

Time clauses

This is the cheapest one they had.

Superlatives

She drives quickly.

Adverbs of manner

I'll do the shopping.

do and make

Let me have a look at it.

have + noun

I'm listening to the radio.

Verb + preposition

Don't worry about the money.

Verb + preposition

She's very good at numbers.

Adjective + preposition

I'm going to work.

Zero article with everyday places

I've never really liked dogs.

The general case takes no article

Let me give you some advice.

Countable and uncountable

I've fixed it already.

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

We used to do all of this by hand.

Used to / would

It's too late to start it today.

Too / enough, so / such

If we send it now, we'll hold everyone else up.

First conditional

You've seen this before, haven't you?

Question tags

I suggest splitting the complaint.

Gerund vs infinitive

You might want to check the notes first.

Modals of advice

Product said the deadline has moved to Thursday.

Reported speech

Who called this morning?

Subject and object questions

Do you know where the station is?

Indirect questions

I'll pick up the parcel on my way home.

Phrasal verbs

I'll write down the address.

Phrasal verbs

Turn it off before you go.

Phrasal verbs with an object

I've already paid the bill.

still, yet, already

The talk was boring.

-ing and -ed adjectives

I'd rather wait outside.

would rather

Both of them work in the same building.

both, neither, either

It rained for two hours.

during, for, while

I'll have it finished by Friday.

by and until

I've been working on this application for three weeks.

Present Perfect Continuous

That's the person who reviewed it.

Relative clauses

It depends on the weather.

Verb + preposition

Nobody gave a reason for the delay.

Noun + preposition

I look forward to hearing from you.

Verb + preposition

Don't throw away the receipt.

Phrasal verbs

By the time we got to the station, the train had already left.

Past Perfect

We stayed at my aunt's place, which was much nicer than the hotel.

Non-defining relative clauses

I prefer tea to coffee.

prefer and would prefer

Most people agree with you.

all, most, some, none of

Every one of them has a key to the front door.

every, each, all

We'll go ahead unless it rains.

unless, as long as

The mail is collected automatically.

Passive voice (present)

I'll be working on it all morning.

Future Continuous

We're flying to France.

Articles with place names

It must be a stock problem on the shop floor.

Modals of deduction

If we had more time, we'd rewrite the whole thing.

Second conditional

I wish we had checked the move before we committed to it.

Wish and regret

It tends to go wrong when it gets busy.

Hedging

I stopped checking my phone at night about a year ago.

Verbs where -ing and to differ

Take an umbrella in case it rains later.

in case

The order was canceled last night.

Passive voice (past)

If we'd checked it against the real numbers, we wouldn't have sent it out wrong.

Third conditional

We had the contract reviewed by the maintenance team.

Causative (have something done)

Although it's genuinely faster, nobody here can operate it at three in the morning.

Concession linkers

She said they were still looking into it.

Reported speech (backshift)

It is said to be the fastest option.

Passive with reporting verbs

We were going to send it out on Friday.

Future in the past

I'd been waiting for nearly an hour when they finally called me.

Past Perfect Continuous

She missed the train, which meant we started an hour late.

which about the whole sentence

We should have checked the move before it went ahead.

Past modals (should have, might have)

By Friday, we'll have moved over the whole archive.

Future Perfect

What we actually need here is a plan we have actually agreed on.

Cleft sentences

Not only did we miss the date, the customer found it before we did as well.

Inversion

Having put the order right, we found the actual cause within an hour.

Participle clauses

I recommend that the maintenance team review the pricing before the audit.

Subjunctive

I was rather hoping we could revisit the date together.

Diplomatic language

If we'd caught it earlier, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Mixed conditionals

I do think we should wait.

Emphatic do

The main issue is the implementation of the new process.

Nominalisation