Many nouns have both countable and uncountable uses. There is usually some difference of meaning. Material nouns, for example, are uncountable, but we can often use the same word as a countable noun to refer to something made of that material.

After superlative adjectives, we do not usually use of with a singular word referring to a place or group.

She is the most beautiful woman in the world. (NOT She is the most beautiful woman of the world.)

A present perfect tense is often used in subordinate clauses to show that one thing is completed before another starts. Note that the present perfect tense can be used in the subordinate clause only when the verb in the main clause is in the present or future tense.

A complex sentence can be converted into a simple sentence by reducing a subordinate clause into a word or a phrase.

Study the following examples.

Some adjectives are only used in predicative position. That means they go after be and other copular verbs (e.g. seem, look, become, turn, feel etc.). Adjectives that are only used in the predicative position usually begin with the letter a. Examples are: afloat, afraid, alright, alike, alive, alone, asleep and awake. In the attributive position (before a noun), we use other words or phrases to express the same idea.

Present tenses are often used to tell stories. This usually happens in an informal style. In stories, the simple present tense is used for events that happen one after another. The present continuous tense is used for background actions.

Here is a list of all the passive verb forms of the ordinary English verbs break and paint.

Simple present: is / are + broken; is / are + painted