Basics. Phrasal Verbs.
Phrasal Verbs
Phrasal verbs are combinations of a verb and a preposition or an adverb, which together create a new meaning. The position of the preposition or adverb can vary, sometimes coming directly after the verb or following the object of the verb. In some cases, the preposition or adverb can be placed between the verb and its object, or after the object. These expressions often have a different meaning than the individual words, making them unique and sometimes challenging to learn.
Phrasal Verbs Without an Object
These phrasal verbs do not require an object to complete their meaning.
Examples:
- The dog ran away from home.
- He got up early in the morning.
- Keep on practicing, and you'll get better.
Phrasal Verbs With an Object
These phrasal verbs require an object to complete their meaning.
Examples:
- She put on her shoes before leaving the house.
- He turned off the lights before going to bed.
- I need to fill out this form for the application.
Try our quiz to check if you are comfortable with common phrasal verbs!
Verb
A verb is a word that expresses an action, a state, or an occurrence — the engine of every English sentence. Most verbs have five forms: base (go), -s form (goes), past tense (went), past participle (gone), and -ing form (going). The verb be is the major exception with eight forms; modal verbs like can and must have fewer.
Verbs carry tense (when), aspect (how it unfolds), mood (the speaker's attitude), and voice (active vs passive). Mastering them is foundational — virtually every other grammar topic depends on getting verbs right.
Phrasal verb
A phrasal verb is a verb combined with one or two short words — a particle, a preposition, or both — that together carry a meaning you can't predict from the parts: give up (quit), run into (meet by chance), put up with (tolerate). The combination behaves as a single unit even though it looks like several words.
English has thousands of these, and they're everywhere in everyday speech. Learning them as whole units — take off, look after, come across — beats trying to decode them word-by-word, and it's the fastest way to make your English sound less stiff and more natural.
Particle
A particle is a small word that doesn't slot neatly into the standard parts of speech and never inflects. The most common in English are adverbial particles in phrasal verbs: up in look up, out in knock out, off in take off. Others include the infinitival to, the negative not, the imperative do and let, and pragmatic markers like oh and well.
Particles are tiny but high-leverage. They turn ordinary verbs into idioms (give up ≠ give, look after ≠ look) and they don't translate to other languages cleanly — which is why phrasal verbs are one of the hardest vocabulary areas for learners.
Preposition
A preposition is a small word that links a noun or noun phrase to other parts of the sentence — usually marking time, place, or relationship: in, on, at, to, from, with, over, under, between, during. The book on the table, We met at noon, She lives in Berlin.
Prepositions are deceptively small. Their meaning shifts dramatically by collocation (depend on, good at, afraid of), and their choice rarely translates directly between languages. Picking the right preposition is one of the trickiest, most idiomatic-sounding parts of English.
Adverb
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb — adding information about how, when, where, how often, or to what degree something happens: she sings beautifully, unbelievably fast, we go there often. Many adverbs end in -ly, but plenty don't (well, fast, hard, almost).
Adverbs matter because they're how you add nuance without piling on extra clauses. Used well, a single adverb can sharpen a vague sentence (she answered → she answered honestly), but misplace one and the meaning drifts in a way native speakers immediately notice.
English Grammar Basics
The English Grammar Basics tag marks quizzes and explainers covering the foundations of English grammar — nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, voice, mood, and basic sentence structure.
If you're starting out or rebuilding from scratch, this is the tag to follow: every challenge under it is designed to land the core rules without burying you in exceptions. Get the basics solid here and the more advanced topics — conditionals, reported speech, inversion — stop looking like a wall of new rules and start looking like extensions of what you already know.
A1 | Elementary | Beginners
A1 is the starting level of the CEFR framework — the entry point into English. At A1 you can introduce yourself, ask and answer simple personal questions, recognise common signs and instructions, and have short slow-paced conversations on very familiar topics.
Grammatically, A1 covers the building blocks: present-tense forms of be, have, and do; basic word order; simple questions; and the most common determiners, pronouns, and prepositions. Knowing your level matters — A1 material teaches the foundations every later level builds on, while a B1 textbook will overwhelm you. Start here and progress is fast.
Difficulty: Easy
The Easy difficulty tag marks questions and challenges aimed at beginners — typically A1 or early A2 level. Expect single-rule focus, short sentences, common everyday vocabulary, and one clear correct answer. Distractors usually rule themselves out quickly.
Filter by Easy when you're rebuilding fundamentals, warming up before harder material, or testing whether you've truly internalised a basic rule before moving on. Easy doesn't mean trivial — it means the rule itself is unambiguous and the context doesn't pile on extra complications.