for middle school students through adult learners — including ESL students!
English Grammar Series makes the tricky rules of English grammar easier to learn than ever before — whether you’re new to English or you’ve been speaking it for years!
The 10 programs in this series are each divided into 3 to 5 short lessons, making them perfect for classroom use or self-study. They’re also ideal for reviewing forgotten grammar or preparing for many verbal standardized tests such as the SAT, TOEFL, GED, and GRE. Plus, they can really help you improve your grades in school or your performance on the job!
Using easy-to-follow examples and practice exercises from everyday life, this series can help you master even the most complicated English grammar topics!
The 10 programs in this series are:
1. VAI-1019 Sentence Structure
1 DVD · 1 hr. 17 mins.
Recognizing and using the four types of sentence structures
Identifying subjects, predicates, and clauses
Building sentences by combining clauses
Avoiding run-ons, fragments, and other common errors
Like most languages, English strings words together into sentences in order to communicate ideas. But many people find it difficult to construct English sentences correctly. This program will teach you the basic principles that govern how English sentences are constructed, and how to put these principles to use when you create your own sentences!
2. VAI-1027 Parts of Speech
1 DVD · 1 hr. 35 mins.
Recognizing the parts of speech
Constructing sentences with verbs, nouns, and pronouns
Connecting thoughts with prepositions and conjunctions
Adding color with adjectives and adverbs
To communicate effectively, you must understand the different roles that words play in sentences. The parts of speech — verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and interjections — are the very building blocks of the English language. Lots of folks find these labels confusing — this program will help you make sense of them!
3. VAI-1035 Sentence Complements
1 DVD · 1 hr. 10 mins.
Using complements in sentences to complete thoughts
Understanding transitive and intransitive verbs
Distinguishing between direct objects and indirect objects
Describing subjects with complements and linking verbs
Complements perform a crucial task in our sentences — they help us connect our ideas together when we describe our subjects and their actions. With this user-friendly program, you’ll learn about the different kinds of sentence complements and how they work with subjects and verbs to complete your thoughts!
4. VAI-1043 Verbs
1 DVD · 1 hr. 8 mins.
Understanding how to use the six essential verb tenses
Mastering the tenses of irregular verbs
Avoiding mistakes with tricky verbs such as lie and lay
Using the subjunctive mood correctly
The verb is the heart of every sentence. It communicates all of the action, and gives the sentence meaning by saying something about the subject. In this informative program, you’ll learn how the context of the sentence dictates which verb tense to use, and you’ll even learn how to tackle those tricky irregular verbs!
5. VAI-1051 Pronouns
1 DVD · 1 hr. 9 mins.
Using personal, indefinite, interrogative, and relative pronouns
Mastering the subjective, objective, and possessive cases
Differentiating between who and whom
Conquering elliptical clauses and other tough pronoun problems
Instead of restating our nouns over and over again, we can use pronouns like it and they to make our sentences more concise and easier to understand. But mastering this “verbal shorthand” can be tough, since there are many different types and cases of pronouns. This program will help you use pronouns properly!
6. VAI-106X Agreement
1 DVD · 1 hr. 21 mins.
Mastering subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement
Understanding how number and gender affect agreement
Using indefinite pronouns correctly
Solving the trickiest agreement problems
If your nouns, verbs, and pronouns don’t agree, your reader will probably find your sentences hard to understand. That’s because these parts of speech can all be affected by number (singular or plural) and gender (male or female). This unique program will help you master the “art of agreement” so your sentences will be error-free and easy to follow!
7. VAI-1078 Modifiers
1 DVD · 1 hr. 35 mins.
Adding spice to your sentences with adjectives and adverbs
Recognizing misplaced and dangling modifiers
Using comparatives and superlatives correctly
Avoiding common pitfalls when using modifiers
Adjectives and adverbs let us add descriptive information to nouns, pronouns, and verbs to make our sentences more colorful and interesting. But many of us make mistakes when using modifiers. With this informative program, you’ll learn how to use modifiers correctly and effectively — even when making comparisons with superlatives!
8. VAI-1086 Parallel Structure
1 DVD · 1 hr. 18 mins.
Understanding how parallel structure links related ideas
Using parallelism with gerunds, infinitives, and verbs
Recognizing and avoiding errors in parallelism
Crafting correct sentences using ellipsis
When you use a consistent grammatical pattern to link related gerunds, infinitives, and verbs in your sentences, you’re using parallel structure. This important device helps you avoid clumsy sentence construction that can confuse and distract your audience. Once you master parallel structure, your sentences will flow logically and be easy to understand!
9. VAI-1094 Punctuation
1 DVD · 1 hr. 54 mins.
Using — and not abusing — commas
Conquering colons and semicolons
Understanding periods, question marks, and exclamation points
Mastering quotation marks, parentheses, dashes, and other marks
Many people have a tough time using commas, semicolons, and other punctuation marks correctly. But once you master the basic rules, perfect punctuation can become automatic. This program teaches you where to put these “road signs” in your sentences — so no one will get lost while reading your work!
10. VAI-1108 Spelling & Capitalization
1 DVD · 1 hr. 22 mins.
Unlocking the secrets of good spelling
Applying simple spelling rules — and recognizing the “exceptions”
Mastering plurals, prefixes, and suffixes
Understanding when to capitalize words — and when not to The relationship between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled is often unpredictable. In addition, many of us don’t know when words should be capitalized. In this program, you’ll learn simple rules that can instantly improve your spelling and capitalization, which words are “exceptions,” and how to distinguish between often-confused words!
So don’t let mistakes in English grammar embarrass you — now you can eliminate them from your speaking and writing forever.