Are Written English Grammar Exercises Useful?

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Are Written English Grammar Exercises Useful?

by Gabriela
(Argentina)

English Grammar in Use

Hi Ola. Thank you for helping us answer our grammar questions. My question is about English grammar exercises. I am currently studying by myself at home and doing lots of English Grammar exercises (an hour a day - 3 days a week), but I feel like I am just wasting my time.

Is there a certain way to do or use grammar exercises to remember the grammar points better?

I am using a book that I like, "English Grammar in Use" which Diana recommends because it has an explanation of the grammar on the left and exercises on the right.

I guess my question is, what kind of English Grammar Exercises will help me improve my grammar the fastest? I do fill in the blanks and multiple choice exercises but I don't know what is best.

In your experience, what English grammar exercises work?

Alsl, do you know of any free grammar exercises that I could use on the internet?

Thanks!

Gabriela

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Are Written English Grammar Exercises Useful?

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Oct 31, 2010

Awesome site!
by: Yoko

Thank you for providing this awesome site!
I've been searching for site that helps me learning grammar rules and exercises.

It is very helpful. Practicing these grammar exercises will definitely help me become a better writer. :)

Oct 31, 2010

The exercises you mentioned are useful, but...
by: Ola Zur

Hi Gabriela,

Yes! English grammar exercises are useful (fill the blanks, multiple options, etc). In fact, they are a very useful tool, but they need to be combined with other tools for best results.

1. You should really understand the explanation on the subject you are studying.

2. Then do the exercises until you feel you are much more confident on the subject.

3. At that point you can move on to a new subject, and study it. Always make sure you progress gradually. This means that you shouldn't move on to a more difficult subject before the current subject is clear to you!

4. The best way to learn English is to use it! Now, English grammar exercises are a good way to practice, but they are not REAL English (I mean, you won't be filling the blanks when talking to someone from the US ;-). So it is VERY important to read, write and speak the new grammar rules you have learned.

For example, let's say you learned the Present Progressive tense. After doing exercises on how to correctly form and use the tense, you should actually USE it.

You can make up your own sentences, write a Present Progressive story, concentrate on finding this tense while reading, and so forth. This way, you will become really good at using it :)

Try reading this article on Building Vocabulary. It has some very important tips on how you can turn your efforts into actual results. It concentrates on vocabulary, but provides you with the steps and the process to improve any subject.

Now, regarding the free online exercises: There are a lot! :)

Here are some of the best (in my opinion):
www.englishpage.com

www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar

And of course, you are also welcome to visit the English grammar exercises section in my site. It is not as complete as these two, but it is growing :)

Ola Zur is the editor of www.really-learn-english.com, an illustrated guide to English.

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