Verb Tenses Explained, With Examples

Verb tenses are changes or additions to verbs to show when the action took place: in the past, present, or future. The phrase verb tense is also used for grammatical aspects, which add more details about the duration or time an action takes. When you combine the four grammatical aspects with the past, present and future, you end up with twelve main verb tenses in English.

Verb tenses are essential for speaking English correctly, but with all the different forms and functions, they can get confusing. In this guide, we give a quick overview of the English tenses, including when to use them and how to make them, and give plenty of verb tense examples.

What is a verb tense?

Verb tenses show when an action took place, as well as how long it occurred. The main verb tenses are the past, present, and future.

There are also additional aspects that give extra details, such as the length of time the action occurred, which actions happened first, or whether a past action has an impact on the present. These grammatical aspects are the simple tense, perfect tense, continuous tense, and perfect continuous tense.

Verb tenses list: How many tenses are there in English?

The standard tense in English is the present tense, which is usually just the root form of the verb. The past and future tenses often require changes or additions to the root form, such as the suffix –ed for the past tense and the modal verb will for the future.

However, for each of the past, present, and future tenses, there are four different aspects that add additional details. For example, the continuous tense shows that an action is ongoing. It can be used in the present (she is sleeping), past (she was sleeping), or future (she will be sleeping).

Past, present, and future tenses
The past, present, and future are the central divisions of time in English. The present represents actions happening now, while the past represents actions that happened earlier, and the future describes actions that will happen later.

Simple tense
The simple tense is a grammatical aspect that refers to the normal forms of the past, present, and future tenses—nothing fancy! Unlike the other aspects, it doesn’t add any new information. True to its name, simple tenses are the easiest to form and have the fewest rules.

Perfect tense
The definition of the perfect tense is a little more complicated. It’s used for actions that relate to other points in time, either completed or ongoing.

For example, in the sentence I have played soccer since I was a child, the perfect tense indicates that the action occurred continuously in the past and still happens in the present. By contrast, in the sentence I played soccer when I was a child, the simple past tense indicates that the action occurred only in the past, and has no relation to the present.

The perfect tenses use a conjugation of the auxiliary verb have with the past participle of the main verb.

Continuous tense
We use the continuous tenses (also known as the progressive tenses) for ongoing actions or actions that happen a while before completion. For example, They are studying all night means the studying lasts many hours before it’s finished.

Please note that you usually do not use the continuous tense with stative verbs like want, love, have, and need.

The continuous tenses use a conjugation of the auxiliary verb be along with the main verb’s present participle, or –ing form.

Perfect continuous tense
When you combine the perfect and continuous tenses, you get the perfect continuous tense. It’s typically used just like the perfect tense, except it describes ongoing actions that happen over a period of time.

The construction of the perfect continuous tense uses a conjugation of the auxiliary verb have, the auxiliary verb been (the past participle of be), and the present participle of the main verb.

English tenses examples: verb tenses chart
Past Present Future
Simple I helped my neighbor yesterday. I help my neighbor every day. I will help my neighbor tomorrow.
Perfect I had helped my neighbor clean his attic before I fixed his car. I have helped my neighbor too much this week. I will have helped my neighbor a hundred times by the end of the month.
Continuous I was helping my neighbor when he brought me iced tea. I am helping my neighbor while he fixes up his house. I will be helping my neighbor next month when he moves.
Perfect continuous I had been helping my neighbor for a year before he finally thanked me. I have been helping my neighbor since I moved in. I will have been helping my neighbor for a year next month.

Past tenses
Simple past
We use the simple past to show actions completed in the past, with no extra emphasis.

For regular verbs, you form the simple past tense by adding the suffix –ed to the end of the verb (or just –d if the past tense verb already ends in an e).

Be careful of irregular past tense verbs, however. These don’t follow the normal rules and use their own unique forms for the past tense. For example, the past tense of the irregular verb go is went.

Regular verbs: I picked up the glass, but it dropped from my hand.

Irregular verbs: This morning I went to the store, but I forgot the milk.

Past perfect
[had] + [past participle]

What if you’re talking about two different actions in the past and want to show that one happened before the other? The past perfect, also known as the pluperfect, shows that one past action happened earlier than another one.

She had arrived at the office before she realized it was Sunday.

I ran to my car when I noticed my wife had left already.

Past continuous
[was/were] + [present participle]

Use the past continuous to show an ongoing action in the past, especially if the action was interrupted by another action. It’s also used for habitual actions that occurred in the past but not in the present. It’s usually used with adverbs like always or adverb phrases like all the time.

My dog was whimpering in his sleep when the TV woke him up.

As kids, my friends and I were always getting into trouble.

Past perfect continuous
[had] + [been] + [present participle]

The past perfect continuous tense is used just like the past perfect tense, except it describes ongoing actions that happened in the past instead of a one-time occurance. It’s often used with the words when, until, and before to connect it to another past action.

Before he got his first job as a writer, he had been working as a proofreader.

I had been living on my friend’s couch for a year until they kicked me out.

Present tenses
Simple present
The simple present is the most basic of the English tenses. It’s used for individual actions or habitual actions in the present.

Often the simple present is just the root verb with no changes or additions. The main exception to this is when the subject is third person and singular. In this case you add the suffix –s. If the verb ends in o, ch, sh, th, ss, gh, or z, you add –es. If the verb ends in a consonant and y (and the subject is third-person singular), drop the y and add –ies.

Today I feel like a million bucks!

My brother carries the groceries while my sister stays on the couch.

Present perfect
[have/has] + [past participle]

Although it’s quite common, the present perfect is one of the most difficult English verb tenses. It is used to describe a few different types of actions, including:

an ongoing action started in the past that is not yet completed
the same action completed multiple times in the past and likely to be completed again.
an action completed very recently (usually with just or now)
an uncompleted action that is expected to be finished (in the negative)
Additionally, the present perfect can be used to emphasize the significance of a completed action, especially one that happened over time.

We have tricked him every April Fool’s Day since we were kids.

My niece has grown so much this year!

Present continuous
[am/is/are] + [present participle]

Use the present continuous to show an action happening right now or in the near future.

I am reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the fifth time!

We are eating pizza tonight.

Present perfect continuous
[have/has] + [been] + [present participle]

The present perfect continuous shows an ongoing action in the present that was started in the past. It is often used to emphasize the length of time.

We have been waiting for over an hour!

The team has been practicing nonstop for the tournament.

Future tenses
Simple future
Use the simple future for actions that have not happened yet but will later. To form the simple future, just place the modal verb will before the root form of the main verb. (Note that if the action will happen in the near future, you can use the present continuous instead.)

She will be president one day.

I will not go to the wedding without a date!

Future perfect
[will] + [have] + [past participle]

The future perfect shows an action that will be completed in the future by a specified time. Because it depends on another time, the future perfect is often used with words like by, before, at, or when.

By the time you read this, I will have already left.

She will have eaten lunch before her sister even wakes up.

Future continuous
[will] + [be] + [present participle]

Use the future continuous tense for future actions happening over a period of time, especially when a specific time is mentioned. The future continuous tense also shows more certainty and likelihood than the simple future.

By this time tomorrow, I will be drinking margaritas on the beach.

We will be attending a meeting from noon until 3 p.m.

Future perfect continuous
[will] + [have] + [been] + [present participle]

The future perfect continuous depicts future ongoing actions that continue up until a certain point. Like the future perfect and future continuous, it’s used with a specified time.

In ten minutes, my parents will have been waiting in traffic for four hours.

I will have been eating healthy for a whole year by September.

Verb tense FAQs
What are verb tenses?
Verb tenses are changes or additions to verbs to show when the action took place: in the past, present, or future. The phrase verb tense is also used for grammatical aspects, which show how long an action occurs.

What are the different types of verb tenses?
The three main verb tenses are the past, present, and future, but there are also four grammatical aspects: simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous. When you combine the three time periods with the four aspects, you get twelve unique verb tenses.

What are some examples of the different verb tenses?
The simple tenses show actions happening at different times, while the perfect tenses show completed actions that relate to different time periods. The continuous tenses are for ongoing actions that take a while to complete. The perfect continuous tenses combine the perfect and continuous tenses to describe ongoing actions that happen over a period of time.Your writing, at its best.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPELLING AS AN ADULT?

There are many things you can do to make your spelling better as an adult. Here are some of them.

1. Dictionaries Are Your Friend!
Despite the fact that memory aids assist in memorizing difficult-to-spell words, good spellers do not rely solely on memory. They depend on a reliable and up-to-date dictionary to practice. Various types of dictionaries exist, both in print and online.

The important thing here is that you should use a dictionary that is compatible with the dialect you want to learn and use. And this brings us to our next point.

2. Choose Your Dialect
As you may know, English spelling changes significantly depending on the country you are in. American English, for example, removed many of the unspoken “u”s from words such as color (colour in British English), favor (favour), rumor (rumour), and so on.

These differences are not right or wrong. We can’t say color is wrong, and the correct spelling is colour. They are regional differences that have developed over time.

That’s why you have to be consistent in your writing. You can’t write colour in one sentence and behavior in the next. Consistency is key.

3. Keep on Reading!
One of the things that most people do is memorize spelling rules. Instead of focusing so much on rules, you should focus on practicing. Of course, if we are talking about how to improve your spelling as an adult, reading is the best answer!

Reading is one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with words and their spelling. The more you see something, the more you will be able to identify it the next time you encounter it.

Conclusion
Here are a few suggestions on how to improve your spelling: Keep a dictionary nearby, change your dialect as you grow, and best of all pursue your hobbies during your free time!

All of these practices will allow you to improve your spelling skills especially as you age.
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LEARNING TO SPELL FOR ADULTS

Spelling the English language can be a challenge. It typically, however, involves nothing more complicated than memorization. You can be a successful speller if you're willing to study and practice the art and science of spelling.

Reading, using a dictionary and playing online word games are all helpful. Sounding out words and breaking them into parts are good skills to develop.

Learning spelling rules is important, too, but the many exceptions to those rules can be rather frustrating. In the end it comes down mainly to memorization. This article will help you with the daunting task of spelling English words.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:
Small Words

Step 1 Learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet.

Learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet. This will allow you to recognize them when you hear them within words. Use flashcards or ask a tutor to help you connect letters to their sounds. Practice making those connections in your mind. This will help you recognize the appropriate letters when you sound out words.
Ask a family member or friend to help you learn the letter sounds.
As an alternative you can watch videos online that show you how to say each letter.

Step 2 Identify the sounds as you slowly say a word you want to spell.

Identify the sounds as you slowly say a word you want to spell. It helps to say the word more than once. Stretch out the word to help you identify each sound in it. If you say the word too quickly, you may miss a letter sound.
If the word has more than one syllable, separate them mentally or in writing. Pronounce each syllable individually.
For example, the word "probably" is very easy to misspell if you pronounce it "probly." Saying it slowly -- "prob-ab-ly" -- can help you hear the sounds in each syllable.

Step 3 Split up each letter sound in the word to help you hear them.

Split up each letter sound in the word to help you hear them. It's helpful to draw an underline on your paper for each sound that you hear. Don't worry about what the word is supposed to look like. Just focus on the sounds you hear when you say the word. Then think about which letter or letters might make each sound.
It helps to count out the number of sounds in the word. For example, let's say you want to spell the word "tiger." You might hear four sounds: t-i-g-er.

Step 4 Spell out each sound.

Spell out each sound. Write out the letter sounds you hear for each sound in the word. Then put the sounds together to form the word. Check your work by sounding out the word again while you look at your spelling, letter by letter.[3]
For a harder word you may need to refer to the spelling rules instead of just sounding the word out.

Method 2
Method 2 of 3:
Big Words

Step 1 Divide a big word into smaller words, syllables or parts.

Divide a big word into smaller words, syllables or parts. Say the word slowly, looking for smaller words within it, such as "grand" and "father" in "grandfather." If you can't find smaller words, focus on the syllables or patterns within the word. This makes it easier to spell the word, because you can more easily sound it out. You may already know how to spell the smaller words. Here are some ways to break down big words:
Break larger words into smaller words. For example, “baseball” is an example of what's known as a "compound" word: it can be broken into smaller words, in this case "base" and "ball."
Break up non-compound words into syllables. For example, you would break up “hospital” into three syllables this way: hos-pi-tal.
Break the word into convenient parts. For instance, “impossible” can be broken into im/poss/ible. Here you're not breaking the word into syllables, just artificial segments. The idea is to consider a longer word in shorter sections just so the task of spelling it becomes a bit easier.

Step 2 Look for a prefix to make spelling easier.

Look for a prefix to make spelling easier. A prefix is a short series of letters that can be added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning. The spelling of a prefix never changes, so just memorize its spelling. Here are the most common prefixes:
Mis, as in “misspell”
Dis, as in “disagree”
Un, as in “unlikely”
Re, as in “rewrite”
Anti, as in “antifreeze”
De, as in “dehydrate”
Non, as in “nonsense”
Fore, as in “forecast”
In, as in “injustice”
Im, as in “impossible”
Note that most of these prefixes mean "not."

Step 3 Notice whether the word has a suffix.

Notice whether the word has a suffix. A suffix appears at the end of a word and changes its meaning. The spelling of a suffix never changes, so memorize it. Here are the most common suffixes:
Ed, as in “spelled”
Ing, as in “spelling”
Ly, as in “likely”
Ful, as in “beautiful”
Able, as in “comfortable”
Ible, as in “possible”
Er, as in “higher”
Ment, as in “enjoyment”
Ness, as in “happiness”
Est, as in “biggest”

Step 4 Spell out each part of the word, and then put them all together.

Spell out each part of the word, and then put them all together. If you know how to spell smaller words or segments within the word, such as a prefix, spell those first. Then look for common letter patterns, and sound out each segment to help you spell them. Write out the letters you hear.
Check your spelling by sounding out the word. Would the spelling you’ve used sound right?
For example, when spelling "remind," you could break it down into "re" and "mind." If you know how the prefix "re" is spelled, write that first. Then you just need to spell "mind." If you aren't sure how to spell it, you could sound out "mind" as "m" and "ind." Then select the letters as you hear them.

Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Spelling Rules

Step 1 Recognize that some spelling rules have exceptions.

Recognize that some spelling rules have exceptions. English is a tricky language, because many of the rules have exceptions. Certain spellings simply don't follow the rules. However, knowing the rules will help you most of the time.
While it helps to know the exceptions, don’t try to learn them all at once. If you absorb them gradually, they won't seem so frustrating.
Your best bet is simply to memorize the spellings that don't conform to the rules.

Step 2 Remember the general rule that "i" precedes "e" much of the time except when they follow the letter "c."

Remember the general rule that "i" precedes "e" much of the time except when they follow the letter "c." This well-known rule pertains to words such as die, friend, yield, patient, convenience, piece and receive (where "ei" follows "c." Unfortunately, there are many words that disobey this rule, such as weight, height, sleigh and reins. When the rules fail, you're left with memorization.
If the i/e combination is followed immediately by a "gh" (as in weight or height), the "e" precedes the "i." It's another exception you simply have to memorize.
A few other words to memorize (that don't follow the "i before e" rule) include “either,” "neither," “leisure,” “protein,” “their,” and “weird.”

Step 3 Pay attention to other double vowels.

Pay attention to other double vowels. Remember the rhyme, “When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking.” When two vowels are next to each other, often you pronounce only the first vowel. This makes it easier to place two vowels in the right order. (Of course, you have to remember that two vowels are called for in this case.)
For example, you hear the “o” sound in the word “coat,” so you know the “o” comes first. You hear the “e” sound in “mean,” so you put the “e” first.
Once again there are exceptions to this rule that you will need to memorize, such as “you,” “great,” and “phoenix.”

Step 4 Learn the “c” sound patterns.

Learn the “c” sound patterns. The letter “c” can be pronounced hard, as in “cat,” or soft, as in “cell.” Usually if the letter following the "c" is "a," "o," "u" or a consonant, the "c" is hard. Examples include cat, cot, cut, cute and clue. If the following letter is "e," "i" or "y," the "c" is usually soft. Examples include celery, citation and cycle.

Step 5 Look for consonant letter combinations where one letter is silent.

Look for consonant letter combinations where one letter is silent. English words sometimes have a letter that is silent, typically a consonant next to another consonant at the beginning of a word. Here are common letter combinations where one letter is silent:
Gn, pn, and kn: These letter combinations all have an “n” sound. The other letter is silent. Examples are "gnaw," "pneumonia" and "knock."
Rh and wr: Both of these combinations have an “r” sound. For example, rhyme and "write.
Ps and sc: These combinations both make an “s” sound, as in psychic and science.
Wh: Sometimes "wh" sounds like "h," as in "whole."
"Gh" is often silent, especially if it comes after “i.” This happens in words like "right" and weight." Sometimes “gh” makes an “f” sound, as in “cough” or "tough."

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ADULT EDUCATION TO READ & WRITE IN ENGLISH

We teach adults with little or no formal education how to read, write, speak, spell and listen. We help students to write and read very basic texts and sentences easily. To enable students to communicate in very simple English. We caoch them on elementary arithmetic of addition, substraction, multiplication and division. We guide and encourage our pupils to build confidence in themselves.

WE Teach:

- English alphabet
- Word formation
- Sound production
- Numbers, colours and shapes
- Months of the year, days of the week, date and time
- Reading & comprehension, writing, grammar and oral English
- Addition, Substraction, Multiplication & Division.

Duration: 12 months

Assignment, class work, test, debates, presentations and examination are taking periodically and at the end of the session and certificates of participation are issued to students at the end of their program.

FEES:
#50,000/Per term/3months

List of textbooks and other study materials will be given to students to purchase from bookshop.

LOCATION:

SYMMETRIC ADULT EDUCATION
Suite 35, Mota Complex,
Opposite Harmony Estate,
Ifako-Gbagada,
Lagos State,
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LESSON DAYS:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday
10:a.m. to 1:p.m.

12 Types Of Verb Tenses And How To Use Them

What Is A Verb Tense? 12 Types Of Tenses Past Tenses Present Tenses Future Tenses Rely On Grammar Coach

If you’re familiar with basic English grammar, we bet you can describe a verb and perhaps name a tense or two. In the sentences the boy walks and the girl ran, the words walks and ran are the verbs.

Did you also recognize that walks is in the present tense, or that ran is in the past tense? Whether you did or didn’t, we’re here to review verb tenses with you and also astound you with the fact that there are 12—count them, 12—verb tenses in all!

What is a verb tense?
Generally speaking, verb tenses identify the time period when an action occurs. The verb walks communicates not only how many people completed the action (it’s singular), but also when it occurred. In this case, the tense is present. The person walks right now.

Interestingly, not all languages treat verb tenses the same way. In English, the ending on a verb communicates what tense it’s in. (Walk becomes walks and walked.) In some cases, an auxiliary verb (also known as a helping verb, like will or need) is required as well. In Chinese languages, for example, a verb doesn’t change its spelling depending on the tense. A separate word (or particle) is combined with the verb to explain when it occurred.

12 types of verb tenses
The simple tenses (past, present, and future) are the most basic forms, but there are 12 major verb tenses in English in all. We’ll review the tenses here.

Past tenses
The past tenses use verbs to say that something happened in the past, meaning any time before this moment right now. There are four variations of past tenses:

Simple past: describes events that began and ended in the past.

Past continuous: describes events that began in the past, continued for a length of time, and ended in the past.

Past perfect: describes a past event that occurred before another past event.

Past perfect continuous: describes an event that began in the past, continued for a length of time, and was in progress when another past event happened.

Simple past
The simple past tense describes events that have already happened and are completely finished. Most verbs can be made past tense by adding -ed, –d, or sometimes the variant –t at the end of a present tense verb, as in liked and watched.

However, many irregular verbs have unique past tense forms. For example, go becomes went, and think becomes thought.

Simple past is usually used to write about historical events, like so:

Galileo observed the stars.

In this example, the verb tense indicates that the astronomer Galileo completely finished the act of observing the stars at some point in the past.

Past continuous
The past continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that occurred in the past. It is formed by combining the past tense verb to be (which must be correctly conjugated to agree with the subject) and the present participle of a verb (ending in –ing):

The planet was moving along an elliptical orbit.
In this example, the verb tense says that the planet began moving sometime in the past and continued to do so for a period of time (in the past).

Establish the different times to use was vs. were so you won’t have any mistakes again.

Past perfect
The perfect tenses involve more complex time relationships. They build upon simple tenses by combining a verb with has, have, or had.

The past perfect tense, also called the pluperfect tense, describes a past event in relation to another event that occurs closer to the present. It is formed by combining had and the past participle of the verb.

The girl bought the telescope her teacher had recommended to her.
The girl bought (simple past) what the teacher had recommended (past perfect tense). One action occurred (had recommended) before the other (bought).

Past perfect continuous
The past perfect continuous tense describes an ongoing action that—like the past perfect—was performed in relation to another event that occurs closer to the present. It is formed by combining had been with the present participle of the verb.

He had been studying for his astronomy final when the doorbell rang.
The above example uses the verb tense to indicate that he was studying for a length of time before another event (the doorbell ringing) interrupted or stopped his act of studying.

Present tenses
Generally speaking, we use the present tenses to say that an event is happening right now in the present time. Like the past tenses, there are four variations of present tenses:

Simple present: Describes an event as happening in the present.
Present continuous: Describes an event as being in progress in the present and likely continuing into the future.

Present perfect: Describes an event that occurred in the past but has some connection to the present.

Present perfect continuous: Describes an event that began in the past but still continues to happen in the present.

Simple present
The simple present tense describes events happening now. It’s also useful for describing a direct action that’s not exclusive to the past or 4future.

Sentences in present tense often have the most straightforward structure because they use the root form of the verb or a conjugation of the verb to be. The root form of the verb is the form you will find if you look up a verb in our dictionary.

We often use the simple present tense to state facts:

Cats eat mice and birds.
In this sentence, the simple present tense is used to state the fact that cats regularly eat mice and birds.

When you use the verb be in the simple present tense, it must agree with the subject of the sentence. For example:

I am tall.
You are my best friend.
She is my older sister.
We are hungry.
They are late for work.

Present continuous
The present continuous tense describes an ongoing activity that is happening now, in the present. It is formed by combining the verb to be and the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

The baby is laughing at Shelly’s monkey puppet.
In this example, the verb tense is used to state that the baby is currently in the process of laughing at Shelly’s silly puppet and will likely continue to do so for a while yet.

Present perfect
The present perfect tense describes a past event that’s still happening in the present. It is formed by combining the word has or have (depending on the subject) with the past 5participle of the verb.

Let’s look at this sentence:

The baby has played this game before.
In this example, the verb tense states that a past event is related to the present. In this case, the sentence is saying that the baby is currently playing a game that they have also played at another time in the past.

Present perfect continuous:
The present perfect continuous tense describes an ongoing action that began in the past and is still occurring in the present.4t It is formed by combining the phrase has been or have been (depending on the subject) with the present participle of the verb.

Shelly has been babysitting for years.
In this example, the verb tense is used to say that Shelly started babysitting children in the past, continued to babysit for years, and still continues to babysit now.

Future tenses
We use the future tenses to say that an event will happen sometime in the future. Like past and present tenses, there are four variations of future tenses:

Simple future: Describes an event that will begin and end in the future.

Future continuous: Describes an event that will begin in the future and continue for a length of time.

Future perfect: Describes a future event that will happen before another future event.

Future perfect continuous: Describes a future event that will begin, continue for a length of time, and still be in progress when another future event occurs.

Simple future
The simple future tense describes events that haven’t happened yet. It’s useful for describing an intended action or a prediction. It’s typically formed by combining the word will or, less commonly, shall with a root verb.

For example:

Molly will finish her chores when she has time.
We shall travel to France next summer.
The word will is an auxiliary verb, and finish is the root verb. Together, they explain that Molly4 intends to do her chores at a later point in time.

Learn more about auxiliary verbs and the verbs they help out, here.

Future continuous tense
The future continuous tense describes an activity that will extend over a period of time and will happen in the future. It is formed by combining the phrase will be and the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

I will be working all afternoon, so I can’t help Olivia with her report.
In this sentence, the verb tense is used to say that I plan to work for a period of time in the future.

Future perfect tense
The future perfect tense describes an upcoming action in relation to another event farther in the future. It is formed by combining the phrase will have and the past participle of the verb:

By tomorrow afternoon, Olivia will have finished her report.
This sentence uses the future perfect tense to say that Olivia’s report is incomplete right now, but it will be finished before tomorrow afternoon.

Future perfect continuous
The future perfect continuous tense describes an action that will extend over a period of time and will be performed in relation to another future event. It is formed by combining the phrase will have been with the present participle of the verb (ending in –ing):

When this show ends, Molly will have been watching TV for three hours.

This sentence uses the future perfect continuous tense to say that, in the future, Molly will be watching TV for three hours when this show ends (which will also happen in the future). By using the future perfect continuous tense, this sentence also implies that Molly may still continue to watch TV even after the show is over.

Perfect grammar has never been easier
To avoid confusion, you should use one consistent tense whenever possible.

❌ Incorrect: The crowd claps and laughed at the comedian.
✅ Correct: The crowd clapped and laughed at the comedian.

The incorrect example contains both a present tense verb (claps) and a past tense verb (laughed). This can be confusing. If both actions are past or present, both verbs should have the same tense.

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CONTACT:
Symmetric Adult Education.

26 TYPES OF PUNCTUATION MARKS & TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOLS

In addition to words, we use many different symbols and characters to organize our thoughts and make text easier to read. All of these symbols come in two major categories: punctuation marks and typographical symbols. These symbols have many different uses and include everything from the humble period (.) to the rarely used caret symbol (^). There may even be a few symbols out there that you’ve never even heard of before that leave you scratching your head when you see them on your keyboard!

WHAT IS PUNCTUATION?
Punctuation is the act or system of using specific marks or symbols in writing to separate different elements from each other or to make writing more clear. Punctuation is used in English and the other languages that use the Latin alphabet. Many other writing systems also use punctuation, too. Thanks to punctuation, we don’t have to suffer through a block of text that looks like this:

My favorite color is red do you like red red is great my sister likes green she always says green is the color of champions regardless of which color is better we both agree that no one likes salmon which is a fish and not a color seriously

PUNCTUATION EXAMPLES
The following sentences give examples of the many different punctuation marks that we use:

My dog, Bark Scruffalo, was featured in a superhero movie.

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who are you going to call?

A wise man once said, “Within the body of every person lies a skeleton.”

Hooray! I found everything on the map: the lake, the mountain, and the forest.

I told Ashley (if that was her real name) that I needed the copy lickety-split.

WHAT IS A TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOLS?
The term typographical symbol, or any other number of phrases, refers to a character or symbol that isn’t considered to be a punctuation mark but may still be used in writing for various purposes. Typographical symbols are generally avoided in formal writing under most circumstances. However, you may see typographic symbols used quite a bit in informal writing.

TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOL EXAMPLES
The following examples show some ways that a writer might use typographical symbols. Keep in mind that some of these sentences may not be considered appropriate in formal writing.

The frustrated actor said she was tired of her co-star’s “annoying bull****.”

For questions, email us at anascabana@bananacabanas.fake!

The band had five #1 singles on the American music charts during the 1990s.

My internet provider is AT&T.

⚡️ PUNCTUATION vs. TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOLS

Punctuation marks are considered part of grammar and often have well-established rules for how to use them properly. For example, the rules of proper grammar state that a letter after a period should be capitalized and that a comma must be used before a coordinating conjunction.

Typographical symbols, on the other hand, may not have widely accepted rules for how, or even when, they should be used. Generally speaking, most grammar resources will only allow the use of typographical symbols under very specific circumstances and will otherwise advise a writer to avoid using them.

TYPES OF PUNCTUATION MARKS AND SYMBOLS
There are many different types of punctuation marks and typographical symbols. We’ll briefly touch on them now, but you can learn more about these characters by checking out the links in this list and also each section below:

Period
Question mark
Exclamation point
Comma
Colon
Semicolon
Hyphen
En dash
Em dash
Parentheses
Square brackets
Curly brackets
Angle brackets
Quotation marks
Apostrophe
Slash
Ellipses
Asterisk
Ampersand
Bullet point
Pound symbol
Tilde
Backslash
At symbol
Caret symbol
Pipe symbol

PERIOD, QUESTION MARK, AND EXCLAMATION MARK
These three commonly used punctuation marks are used for the same reason: to end an independent thought.

PERIOD (.)
A period is used to end a declarative sentence. A period indicates that a sentence is finished.

E.g:
Today is Friday.

Unique to them, periods are also often used in abbreviations.

E.g:
Prof. Dumbledore once again awarded a ludicrous amount of points to Gryffindor.

QUESTION mark (?)
The question mark is used to end a question, also known as an interrogative sentence.

E.g:
Do you feel lucky?

EXCLAMATION MARK (!)
The exclamation mark is used at the end of exclamations and interjections.

e.g:
Our house is haunted!
Wow!

COMMA, COLON, AND SEMICOLON
Commas, colons, and semicolons can all be used to connect sentences together.

COMMA (,)
The comma is often the punctuation mark that gives writers the most problems. It has many different uses and often requires good knowledge of grammar to avoid making mistakes when using it. Some common uses of the comma include:

Joining clauses: Mario loves Peach, and she loves him.

Nonrestrictive elements: My favorite team, the Fighting Mongooses, won the championship this year.

Lists: The flag was red, white, and blue.

Coordinate adjectives: The cute, happy puppy licked my hand.

COLON (
The colon is typically used to introduce additional information.

E.g:
The detective had three suspects: the salesman, the gardener, and the lawyer.

Like commas, colons can also connect clauses together.

Example:
We forgot to ask the most important question: who was buying lunch?

Colons have a few other uses, too.

Examples:
The meeting starts at 8:15 p.m.
The priest started reading from Mark 3:6.

SEMICOLON (
Like the comma and the colon, the semicolon is used to connect sentences together. The semicolon typically indicates that the second sentence is closely related to the one before it.

Examples:
I can’t eat peanuts; I am highly allergic to them.

Lucy loves to eat all kinds of sweets; lollipops are her favorite.

HYPHEN AND DASHES (en dash and em dash)
All three of these punctuation marks are often referred to as “dashes.” However, they are all used for entirely different reasons.

HYPHEN (-)
The hyphen is used to form compound words.

Examples:
I went to lunch with my father-in-law.

She was playing with a jack-in-the-box.

He was accused of having pro-British sympathies.

EN DASH (–)
The en dash is used to express ranges or is sometimes used in more complex compound words.

Examples:
The homework exercises are on pages 20–27.

The songwriter had worked on many Tony Award–winning productions.

EM DASH (—)
The em dash is used to indicate a pause or interrupted speech.

Examples:
The thief was someone nobody expected—me!

“Those kids will—” was all he managed to say before he was hit by a water balloon.

Test your knowledge on the different dashes here.

PARENTHESES, BRACKETS, AND BRACES
These pairs of punctuation marks look similar, but they all have different uses. In general, the parentheses are much more commonly used than the others.

PARENTHESES ()
Typically, parentheses are used to add additional information.

Examples:
I thought (for a very long time) if I should actually give an honest answer.

Tomorrow is Christmas (my favorite holiday)!

Parentheses have a variety of other uses, too.

Pollution increased significantly. (See Chart 14B)

He was at an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting.

Richard I of England (1157–1199) had the heart of a lion.

SQUARE BRACKETS []
Typically, square brackets are used to clarify or add information to quotations.

Examples:
According to an eyewitness, the chimpanzees “climbed on the roof and juggled [bananas].”

The judge said that “the defense attorney [Mr. Wright] had made it clear that the case was far from closed.”

CURLY BRACKETS {}
Curly brackets, also known as braces, are rarely used punctuation marks that are used to group a set.

Examples:
I was impressed by the many different colors {red, green, yellow, blue, purple, black, white} they selected for the flag’s design.

ANGLE BRACKETS <>
Angle brackets have no usage in formal writing and are rarely ever used even in informal writing. These characters have more uses in other fields, such as math or computing.

QUOTATION MARKS AND APOSTROPHE
You’ll find these punctuation marks hanging out at the top of a line of text.

QUOTATION MARKS (“”)
The most common use of quotation marks is to contain quotations.

Examples:
She said, “Don’t let the dog out of the house.”

Bob Ross liked to put “happy little trees” in many of his paintings.

APOSTROPHE (‘)
The apostrophe is most often used to form possessives and contractions.

Examples:
The house’s back door is open.

My cousin’s birthday is next week.

It isn’t ready yet.

We should’ve stayed outside.

SLASH AND ELLIPSES
These are two punctuation marks you may not see too often, but they are still useful.

SLASH (/)
The slash has several different uses. Here are some examples:

Relationships: The existence of boxer briefs somehow hasn’t ended the boxers/briefs debate.

Alternatives: They accept cash and/or credit.

Fractions: After an hour, 2/3 of the audience had already left.

ELLIPSES (…)
In formal writing, ellipses are used to indicate that words were removed from a quote.

Examples:
The mayor said, “The damages will be … paid for by the city … as soon as possible.”

In informal writing, ellipses are often used to indicate pauses or speech that trails off.

He nervously stammered and said, “Look, I … You see … I wasn’t … Forget it, okay.”

TYPOGRAPHICAL SYMBOLS
Typographical symbols rarely appear in formal writing. You are much more likely to see them used for a variety of reasons in informal writing.

ASTERISK (*)
In formal writing, especially academic and scientific writing, the asterisk is used to indicate a footnote.

Examples:
Chocolate is the preferred flavor of ice cream.*

*According to survey data from the Ice Cream Data Center.

The asterisk may also be used to direct a reader toward a clarification or may be used to censor inappropriate words or phrases.

AMPERSAND (&
The ampersand substitutes for the word and. Besides its use in the official names of things, the ampersand is typically avoided in formal writing.

Examples:
The band gave a speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

BULLET POINT (•)
Bullet points are used to create lists. For example,

For this recipe you will need:

eggs
milk
sugar
flour
baking powder

POUND SYMBOL (#)
Informally, the pound symbol is typically used to mean number or is used in social media hashtags.

Examples:
The catchy pop song reached #1 on the charts.

Ready 4 Halloween 2morrow!!! #spooky #TrickorTreat

TILDE (~)
Besides being used as an accent mark in Spanish and Portuguese words, the tilde is rarely used. Informally, a person may use it to mean “about” or “approximately.”

Examples:
We visited São Paulo during our vacation.
I think my dog weighs ~20 pounds.

BACKSLASH (\)
The backslash is primarily used in computer programming and coding. It might be used online and in texting to draw emoticons, but it has no other common uses in writing. Be careful not to mix it up with the similar forward slash (/), which is a punctuation mark.

AT SYMBOL (@)
The at symbol substitutes for the word at in informal writing. In formal writing, it is used when writing email addresses.

Examples:
His email address is duckduck@goose.abc.

CARET SYMBOL (^)
The caret symbol is used in proofreading, but may be used to indicate an exponent if a writer is unable to use superscript.

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Looking for where to attend adult education lesson, learn how to read, write, speak and spell in Lagos, Nigeria, Gbagada, Ikeja, Lekki, Ikoyi, Ajah, Surulere, Oshodi, Victoria Island, Ketu, Ojota, Ojodu-Berger, Mowe, Ikorodu, Islolo, Festac, Agege, Orile, Obalende, Lagos-Island, Apapa, Songo, etc.

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CONTACT:
Symmetric Adult Education, Gbagada, Lagos.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR
WORD FORMATION

Word Formation - Learn What It Is, Types and Rules with Examples

How are words formed?

Are there any rules by which words are formed?

Let’s find out. This article will walk you through what word formation is, the various types of word formation and the rules to be adhered to when forming words. The number of examples given will make your learning process more effective and easier.

Table of Contents

What Is Word Formation?
Types of Word Formation with Examples
Rules to be Followed When Forming Words
Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English

WHAT IS WORD FORMATION?
The English language is known for its wonderful quality of the way in which words and sentences are formed and used. Formation of new words from an existing root word by adding a syllable or another word is the general process; however, there are multiple ways in which it can be done.

TYPES OF WORD FORMATION WITH EXAMPLES
The formation of words is classified into four types based on how the process of formation is carried out. They are:

By adding prefixes
By adding suffixes
Converting from one word class to another
Forming compound words

Let us look at each type of word formation in detail.

- ADDING PREFIXES
The term ‘prefix’ refers to one or more alphabets added to the stem of a word, mostly to make it negative. The most commonly used prefixes include ‘in-’, ‘un-’, ‘dis-’, ‘im-’, ‘ir-’, etc. Look at the examples given below for a clearer understanding of how prefixes are used to form new words.

Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Prefixes:

Discipline – indiscipline
Just – unjust
Tidy – untidy
Respect – disrespect
Understand – misunderstand
Comfortable – uncomfortable
Comfort – discomfort
Responsible – irresponsible
Honest – dishonest
Happy – unhappy
Polite – impolite
Experience – inexperience
Practical – impractical
Important – unimportant
Legal – illegal
Ethical – unethical
Potent – impotent

ADDING SUFFIXES
A suffix is a short syllable added at the end of a base word. The addition of suffixes usually changes the word class of the particular word. The most common suffixes include ‘-ment’, ‘-ness’, ‘-ity’, ‘-ous’, ‘-tion’, ‘-sion’, ‘-al’, ‘-able’, ‘-ible’, ‘-ive’, ‘-ly’, ‘-ate’, ‘-er’, ‘-or’, etc. Check out the following examples to see how suffixes are added.

Examples of Word Formation by the Addition of Suffixes
Comprehend (verb) – comprehension (noun) – comprehensible (adjective)
Inform (verb) – information (noun) – informative (adjective)
Invest (verb) – Investment (noun) – Investor (noun)
Write (verb) – writer (noun)
Authorise (verb) – authorisation (noun)
Move (verb) – movement (noun)
Add (verb) – addition (noun)
Happy (adjective) – happiness (noun)
Conserve (verb) – conservation (noun)
Wide (Adjective) – widen (verb)
Manage (verb) – manageable (adjective) – manager (noun)
Courage (noun) – courageous (adjective)
Brave (adjective) – bravery (noun)
Profit (noun) – profitable (adjective)
Quick (adjective) – quickly (adverb)
Happy (adjective) – happily (adverb)
Sad (adjective) – sadness (noun)

- CONVERSION
The process of conversion focuses solely on changing the word class of the particular word. If you have noticed, you would have seen how some nouns are used to perform the role of a verb or an adjective acting like a noun just by the addition of another word or slightly altering the spelling of the actual word.

Examples of Word Formation by Conversion
The rich should help the poor.
Adjectives such as ‘rich’ and ‘poor’ are used as nouns by using them with the article ‘the’.

Everyone is talented.
‘Talented’ – a past participle is used as an adjective in the above sentence. The word is formed by adding the suffix ‘ed’ to the end of the noun ‘talent’.

There will definitely be a lot of ups and downs in life.
Prepositions ‘up’ and ‘down’ are used as nouns by adding ‘s’ to the end of it.

He texted me about the meeting only at the last minute.
The noun ‘text’ used to refer to a text message sent on a phone is used as a verb in the sentence by adding an ‘ed’ to the end of the word.

The financial aid had to be approved before we could make a decision.
The noun ‘finance’ is used as an adjective by adding ‘ial’ to the end of it and the verb ‘decide’ is used as a noun by removing ‘de’ and adding ‘sion’ to the word.

- FORMING COMPOUND WORDS
Compound words are formed by combining one part of speech with another to form a specific word class. There are many ways in which compound words are formed. Verbs are combined with adjectives to form compound verbs, a present participle is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, two nouns are combined to form a compound noun, an adjective and a noun are combined to form a compound noun, an adverb is combined with a noun to form a compound noun, an adjective is combined with a past participle to form a compound adjective and so on. Take a look at the following examples and go through the articles on compound nouns, compound words and compound adjectives to understand how they work.

Examples of Word Formation by Compounding
Over (adverb) + load (noun) – Overload
White (adjective) + wash (verb) – Whitewash
Black (adjective) + board (noun ) – Blackboard
Cup (noun) + board (noun) – Cupboard
Short (adjective) + hand (noun) – Shorthand
Swimming (present participle) + pool (noun) – Swimming pool
Three (adjective) + legged (past participle) – Three-legged
Break (verb) + Down (preposition) – Breakdown
Up (preposition) + town (noun) – Uptown
Copy (verb) + writer (noun) – Copywriter
Sun (noun) + rise (verb) – Sunrise
Count (verb) + down (preposition) – Countdown
Flash (verb) + mob (noun) – Flash mob
Master (noun) + piece (noun) – Masterpiece
Round (adjective) + table (noun) – Round-table

Rules to be Followed When Forming Words

Formation of words can be a very interesting exercise, but you have to be really careful when you are adding inflections or affixes. There are a few things you will need to bear in mind when you are forming words. Take a look at the following points to learn what they are.

Before making any change to the stem of the word, try to analyse what is the kind of meaning you want the word to convey and what role the word will have to play in the sentence.
In most cases, the beginning of the base word remains the same. Only when prefixes are added the word has a syllable added to the beginning of it. Notice that even in this case, the word is retained as such.
When suffixes are added, there are many instances where you will have to remove the last one or more alphabets of the word and add the suffix. However, there are words like ‘movement’ where the suffix is just added without any change in the spelling of the base word.
Here is one way to easily know which suffix has to be added to form a particular word class – most often, nouns end in ‘er’, ‘or’, ‘ist’, ‘ian’, ‘ion’, ‘ment’, ‘ness’, and ‘ity’; verbs end in ‘ise’, ‘ate’ and ‘en’; adjectives end in ‘able’, ‘ible’, ‘ive’, ‘ic’, ‘ed’, ‘ing’ and ‘al’; and adverbs normally end in ‘ly’.
When words are formed by conversion, be very careful. Make sure you know that you are converting them accurately and using them in the sentence properly.

When forming compound words, see to it that you hyphenate them if necessary, use the right combination of words and do not just mix and match any word.

Changing from one tense to another also can also be considered a type of word formation, as the word is inflected to indicate the twelve different tenses in the English language.

Forming degrees of comparison can also be put under word formation. In this case, the comparative and superlative degrees are formed by adding ‘er’ and ‘est’ to the end of the adjective. The comparative and superlative degrees of polysyllabic words are formed by using ‘more’ and ‘most’, respectively, along with the adjective.

Test Your Understanding of Word Formation
Exercise 1 – Add Prefixes and Suffixes
Add prefixes and suffixes to the following words.

1. Passion____

2. Remember____

3. ____conscious

4. Sense____

5. ____acceptable

6. Entertain____

7. ____representation

8. Neat____

9. Invent____

10. ____interpret

Answers for Exercise 1
1. Passionate

2. Remembrance

3. Unconscious/Subconscious

4. Sensible/Senseless

5. Unacceptable

6. Entertainment

7. Misrepresentation

8. Neatly/Neatness

9. Invention

10. Misinterpret

Exercise 2 – Conversion of Words
Go through the following words and convert them as directed.

1. Money (convert into adjective)

2. Brave (convert into noun)

3. Clean (convert into noun)

4. Prayer (convert into adjective)

5. Resemblance (convert into verb)

6. Slow (convert into adverb)

7. Treat (convert into noun)

8. Confession (convert into verb)

9. Vary (convert into adjective)

10. Beauty (convert into verb)

Answers for Exercise 2
1. Monetary

2. Bravery

3. Cleanliness

4. Prayerful

5. Resemble

6. Slowly

7. Treatment

8. Confess

9. Various/variable

10. Beautify

Exercise 3 – Form Compound Words
Go through the words in the box given below and use them to form ten compound words.

up, table, spend, load, green, machine, case, make, estimate, over, self

1. _______ confident

2. Washing _______

3. Time _______

4. Under _______

5. _______sufficient

6. Up_______

7. _______set

8. Suit_______

9. _______over

10. _______thrift

Answers for Exercise 3
1. Overconfident

2. Washing machine

3. Timetable

4. Underestimate

5. Self-sufficient

6. Upload

7. Upset

8. Suitcase

9. Makeover

10. Spendthrift

Frequently Asked Questions on Word Formation in English

Q1
What is word formation?
Word formation is the process by which new words are formed by adding an affix, another word or converting from one word class to another by removing and adding alphabets.

Q2
What are the four types of word formation?
The four types of word formation include:

Addition of prefix
Addition of suffix
Conversion from one word class to another
Forming compound words

Q3
Give some examples of word formation.
Here are some examples of the various types of word formation for your reference:

Practical – impractical (prefix)
Purpose – purposeful (suffix)
Silent – silence (conversion)
Dining + room – Dining room (compound word)
Small – smaller – smallest (degrees of comparison).

ADULT EDUCATION TO READ & WRITE IN ENGLISH

We teach adults with little or no formal education how to read, write, speak, spell and listen. We help students to write and read very basic texts and sentences easily. To enable students to communicate in very simple English. We coach them on elementary arithmetic of addition, substraction, multiplication and division. We guide and encourage our pupils to build confidence in themselves.

WE Teach:

- English Alphabets & their Sounds
- Word Formation
- Sound Production
- Numbers, Colours and Shapes
- Months of the Year, Days of the Week, Date and Time
- Reading & Comprehension, Writing, Grammar and Oral English
- Tenses
- Punctuation Marks
- Handwriting
- Capitalization
- Sentence Formation
- Parts of Speech
- Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening & Spelling Skills.

Duration: 12 months

Assignment, class work, test, debates, presentations and examination are taking periodically and at the end of the session and certificates of participation are issued to students at the end of their program.

FEES:
#50,000/Per term/3months

List of textbooks and other study materials will be given to students to purchase from bookshop.

LOCATION:

SYMMETRIC ADULT EDUCATION
Suite 35, Mota Complex,
Opposite Harmony Estate,
Ifako-Gbagada,
Lagos State,
Nigeria.

LESSON DAYS:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday
10:a.m. to 1:p.m.

*SPELLING SKILLS:*

Improving spelling skills can be achieved through practice, patience, and dedication. Here are some tips to help you enhance your spelling abilities:

1. _Read widely_: Reading exposes you to a variety of words, helping you learn their spellings.

2. _Keep a spelling journal_: Write down unfamiliar words and review them regularly.

3. _Practice writing_: Write short paragraphs or essays to practice spelling in context.

4. _Focus on word patterns_: Learn common prefixes, suffixes, and root words.

5. _Use flashcards_: Create flashcards to help you memorize tricky words.

6. _Play word games_: Engage in activities like Scrabble, Boggle, or crosswords.

7. _Learn word origins_: Understanding word history can help you decipher spellings.

8. _Get feedback_: Ask a teacher or friend to review your writing and provide feedback.

9. _Use online resources_: Websites like SpellQuiz, SpellingCity, or Quizlet offer interactive spelling exercises.

10. _Practice regularly_: Set aside time each day to practice spelling.

Additionally, try these strategies:

- Break down long words into smaller parts
- Use mnemonics to remember tricky words
- Visualize words in your mind
- Use rhymes or songs to aid memorization

Remember, consistent practice and review will help you develop strong spelling skills.

PROVEN WAYS TO TEACH THE ABCs TO ADULTS

When it comes to teaching adult beginners, teachers can often draw a blank, especially those who are more inexperienced.
There are many preconceptions that teaching mature learners English is far easier than teaching younger children. There is the idea in place that adults have more motivation to learn whereas young children are more likely to be there because their parents have sent them. Others would argue that because adults are of a mature age it’s easier to teach and control the class whereas young children can often be unruly and over zealous. Perhaps this is all true but what about the content? What about teaching the basics?

When we start learning a language, other than the basic greetings, one of the first things we learn is the alphabet. We learn the order of the letters, phonetic sounds of the letters and various words associated to them.

Teaching the alphabet is easy to young learners due numerous fun games, songs, pictures and flashcards that can be implemented in the language classroom with the most common one being the ABC song.

These methods do not bode well with adults and even though knowing the alphabet is essential in a language, such teaching techniques are deemed inappropriate and juvenile. To many teachers this may be obvious but to others not so much. Teachers often make the mistake of using the same techniques and approaches teaching both adults and younger learners which in turn could lead to detrimental learning. If you take a glance at any lower elementary course book it is clear that there are specific activities that need to be covered. If adult participants feel like they’re being treated like children they’ll quickly retract thus making the learning process more complicated. When teaching adult learners it’s absolutely essential to take the material and modify it so it doesn’t appear to be too simplistic and condescending. So, what are some effective ways to help your adult learners acquire basic knowledge in an age-appropriate way?

Consider Some Great Methods to Help Your Adult Students Learn the Basics

Doing Diagnostics
The greatest challenge with teaching adult learners in a classroom environment is that you’ll have learners of all different levels. You’ll have those who are true beginners and those who are false beginners therefore it is necessary to carry out diagnostic tests to determine their actual English literacy level.

Adult learners like to be tested. It’s a method that suits them and it appears to be more formal and as adults, they like structure. Additionally, because they’re investing both their time and money into learning English they want organization and they want to see results.

Testing their English literacy level could simply be done by having the participants of the class fill out a short form with biographical information. Participants can fill out simple realistic forms which will require them to state their name, address, age, telephone number and so on. Tutors will need to demonstrate this on the board and afterwards they’ll be given an idea of what the class knows and doesn’t know.

Realistic diagnostic tests to determine their level will motivate adult learners. Filling in forms is a part of everyday adult life and they’ll see this as a useful task.

Pre-testing ABC Knowledge
It’s also a good idea to see which letters your learners already know. Instead of using flashcards use something more adult like to show the class particular letters. Using a projector with a PowerPoint presentation will make adult learners feel more comfortable. After all, this type of technology is commonplace in the workplace and it will make the learning and testing process more realistic.

Randomly project letters onto the screen and have your learners say them to determine their preexisting knowledge.

Writing Sheets to Recognize Letters
Passing out different sheets with single letters to your adult learners will help them with autonomous learning. With sheets directly in front of them, as opposed to the group chanting you would do with younger learners, you will help the adult participants have more control over their own learning.

As you pass out each paper be sure to repeat the letter as you hand them out. After repeating each letter, continue to repeat the phonetic sound. Don’t force your adult learners to chant and repeat after you as most adult learners have more inhibitions than younger learners. Let them repeat at their own free will. After they get used to the new methods they’ll then begin to respond and you’ll see them mouthing the sounds after you until they become more comfortable in their new learning environment.

Introduce Flashcards
After the teacher has allowed the learners to mouth and see the words themselves and they feel more comfortable in their knowledge the use of the traditional flashcards can be implemented. Adult learners generally need to feel safer in their environment before they will participate vocally in class especially if this is the first time learning a language.

Without speaking, hold up plain, non-decorated alphabet cards randomly and prompt the adults to name them through your body language and your smile. After a few rounds of uncertain guessing they’ll begin to become more confident and willing to participate which will be evident in their louder more certain voices.

Alphabet Association
When associating words with letters to improve alphabet knowledge care also needs to be taken with adult learners. With children this method is easy as there are number of great words and simple words that are relevant to children for example B is for ball, baby, Batman and so on. Adjusting your materials and modifying your lesson content to suit the needs of your adult learners is necessary. It makes the learning more meaningful and in turn they’ll be more motivated to learn.

Again PowerPoint presentations can be useful in this scenario. Have a letter projected on the board and with each click show pictures and the word corresponding to the letter in focus.

In order to do this, you need to look at the demographics of the class and have a clear understanding of their purpose for learning English. If it’s for business purposes, an example of this could be C is for computer, cartridge, calculator, camera and so on. As your learners grow more confident with saying and pronouncing the words you can just project the picture. Ask them for the phonetic sound of the word and then have them say the word. This will need to be modeled a few times and they’ll quickly pick it up.

This particular way of helping your adult learners associate words with letters is also a great way of expanding their vocabulary and because it is all related to their needs there will be more motivation as they’ll have more chances to use this language in their everyday situations.

Mirror Mirror…
Language and phonetic acquisition is much more difficult for adult learners after they’re used to the sounds of their own mother tongue. Each language differs in sounds and it’s often more challenging to get pronunciation right from the onset. Additionally adult learners are shier when repeating sounds over and over again and can often become frustrated in the fact that they don’t pick things up immediately.

Tutors can distribute handheld mirrors throughout the class and have their students examine the movements of their mouths and lips as they sound out the sounds. All teachers should model the sound first and exaggerate it so the participants can clearly see the movement of the mouth as the sound is made. Have the learners repeat these methods and they’ll be able to pick up the phonetic sounds of the letters easier as they’ll be able to see and control their mouths in front of the mirrors.

Adult learners prefer structure and having rules. While this method does not distinctly have a list of rules it will help them to visually see what it is they’re doing right or wrong.

Read it…
A great way to continue practicing recognition of letters, individual sounds, and diphthongs in English is to have your participants read. When adults feel like they’re making progress and see changes in their L2 abilities, they’ll feel like they’ve achieved part of their goal in their second language acquisition. Be sure to either create your own materials with core words and easy sounds to suit them. Choosing simple children’s books is not appropriate in any case of adult learning as it could be seen as insulting, which is why great care needs to be taken when selecting language materials for adults.

Teaching or reviewing the alphabet with adult ESL learners does need approaching carefully.
These are just a few simple and tried methods that will encourage your learners to practice without feeling they’re being treated like children. In saying this, after they feel more comfortable in their new learning surroundings more fun activities can be gradually be introduced for review. Be sure to modify all learning materials to suit the needs of the class and always bear in mind you’re working with adults not kids.

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LEARNING TO SPELL FOR ADULTS

Understanding poor spelling skills
Learning to spell as an adult
Specific learning difficulties
Attention difficulties
Spelling tips
How touch-typing can help
Learning to spell for adults

Learning to spell for adults
Not all adults have perfect spelling skills. In fact, many have developed bad spelling habits over the years. This is even more so the case today given the nature of communication on social media networks and mobile texting.

Abbreviations are common in order to save space in posts and message chains and people ignore English capitalization and punctuation rules. It’s also the case that individuals who left school early may simply have missed out on learning how to spell in the first place.

And while spelling is only one aspect of productive language knowledge, it tends to be a rather obvious one. You may not know what a word means, but when you misspell something, everyone notices.

Spelling is not a reflection of intelligence. Nonetheless, it is still necessary to know how to spell in order to be successful in academic and work endeavours. Having poor spelling skills in English can cause an adult to be judged negatively by others.

They may lose out on job or career advancement opportunities and often will experience feelings of embarrassment and low self-esteem. Worse still, poor spelling skills can cause individuals not to reach their full potential at school.

This is because when a young adult finds certain words hard to spell, they may rely on more common and less specific vocabulary in writing, or avoid writing altogether. Their written work can appear over-simplified and may not reflect the true extent of their vocabulary.

While it may be embarrassing to practice spelling as an adult, an intervention is often required as it is not a skill that will fix itself. Learning to spell involves targeted work, including repetition and transcription exercises.

Enrollment in a basic adult education course at a local school is recommended, particularly if poor reading skills are also a factor.

Individuals who can’t spell may also wish to sign up for an adult spelling course or use a program or app that runs on a home computer.

It's even possible to learn how to spell and acquire a new skill at the same time! This is the case with mastering touch-typing using Touch-type Read and Spell (TTRS). Originally developed to help learners with dyslexia, it takes a unique whole-word approach and teaches spelling together with typing.

Learning to spell isn't the same for children and adults.

Learning spelling as an adult vs. as a child
Because English spelling is so irregular, children learn spelling at school. Some even compete in spelling bees, which are competitions that cover some of the hardest to spell words in the English language.

However, for adults it is assumed that they already learned the spelling of most words at school. Thus when it comes to people working in specialized fields, there isn’t always the same level of attention to subject and domain specific vocabulary, which may prove problematic.

Again, that’s where Touch-type Read and Spell can help. You can create your own modules that contain the relevant vocabulary you need to practice.

Moreover, most children learn how to spell at the same time as they learn new words.

This means their spelling skills develop along with their vocabulary. On the other hand, an adult with poor spelling skills may have a wide knowledge of spoken language but experience difficulty when it comes to writing down all of the words he or she knows.

An adult who is learning English as a second language can have trouble with English spelling due to the lack of 1:1 sound letter correspondence. In other words, there are many ways of writing the same sound in English.

Spelling is even further complicated if the adult learner’s native language does not have a specific letter, or if it uses a different alphabet.

Reading and spelling skills are related, as spelling is part of the sound-letter mapping children need to decode words.

But while children learn at school, adults may need to be taught how to learn spelling. This can involve mastering memory tricks or understanding that repetition and multi-sensory learning can improve retention.

Poor English spelling skills can cause low self-esteem in adults

Specific learning difficulties
Fear of being exposed for bad spelling, reading or writing habits can keep many adults from improving their skills. But sometimes an adult’s struggles with spelling are the result of an undiagnosed learning difficulty that caused them to miss out on crucial early literacy skills or to leave school due to frustration with reading and writing in the classroom.

These individuals can highly benefit from addressing their specific learning difficulty and learning strategies that will help them overcome literacy roadblocks and improve spelling, no matter what their age.

Dyslexia
Dyslexia can manifest in different ways, but it's common for it to cause spelling difficulties rooted in a lack of phonological awareness. Luckily, there are strategies that can help dyslexic adults learn how to spell.

Dysgraphia
Writing difficulties may be a result of dysgraphia, a condition that makes it difficult and sometimes even painful to write by hand. An individual who has avoided writing for most of his or her life is likely to have underdeveloped spelling skills.

Attention difficulties and fine motor skills
ADHD
Individuals with attention difficulties may find it difficult to focus and can have trouble sitting still. This makes it hard to concentrate during writing activities, particularly when it comes to learning spelling rules. Tactile learning via touch-typing can be a solution in these cases.

Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia is related to planning and fine motor skills interruption. However, it can cause problems when it comes to writing words out by hand. Without ample practice writing, an individual may develop poor spelling skills. That’s why learning how to type is an excellent solution for dyspraxic individuals who are looking to improve their skills.

Spelling tips for the adult learner

Spelling tips
Know the rules. They aren’t consistent and there are plenty of exceptions, but it’s still worth learning some spelling rules in English. When you learn a rule, be sure to review a set of common examples that demonstrate it, as well as words that break the rule. You may decide to pick up a page of English text and underline all of the words that conform to the rule. When you’re done, look for the exceptions, as you are sure to find a few!

Study Dolch Words. Also called Sight Words, these are among the most frequent words in English and account for up to 50% of most texts. They include prepositions, verbs, adjectives, articles and adverbs and overlearning them will allow you to spend more time learning the spelling of harder, less frequent vocabulary.

Recognize prefixes and suffixes. When one or two letters appear at the start of a word and change the meaning in a consistent way, it is called a prefix. For example, re- means to do something again, such as review, regenerate, reiterate. A suffix added to the end of a word functions in a similar way. For example, we use –s or –es to make a noun plural. English is full of common suffixes and prefixes that you can learn. Familiarizing yourself with them will help you to see the various parts of a word and improve your spelling.

Read as often as you can. Every language has common combinations of consonants and vowels. The more you read, the more you will be exposed to them and the more familiar they will become. It’s easier to learn the spelling of a word that you already recognize.

Look for patterns. The human brain is very good at spotting patterns. If you present it with examples of words that contain a similar letter combination, you can learn English spelling rules indirectly. Try taking a highlighter and underlining words with the same or similar spelling across a newspaper page. Next, see if you can write out a rule that describes what you see. Acquiring rules in this way makes them easier to remember, thanks to the extra cognitive energy you expend figuring them out on your own.

Use mnemonics. Hard to spell words can sometimes lend themselves to visual or auditory cues that create a more robust memory. For example, the word Wednesday can be tricky to spell because the d is silent. To help you spell it correctly, you might picture a bride and think that she is to be wed on Wednesday.

Spell out loud. Sometimes spelling a word aloud can make it easier for people with learning difficulties who struggle to put letters down on paper. Create a list of words that you want to learn and practice spelling them while you are in the shower or on your way to work. Speaking them and hearing yourself say each letter will create auditory memories that are especially helpful for individuals who are not visual learners.

Research the origin of words. English is a Germanic language but it has adopted vocabulary from various other languages that it came into contact with over the years. For example, it contains plenty of words of French origin thanks to the Normans having ruled England for a few hundred years. When you research where a word comes from, you may see similar spelling patterns for other words with the same origin, such as Greek words, which tend to be found in science related vocabulary.

Take a multi-sensory approach. When you learn the spelling of a word and encode it physically, as is the case in handwriting or touch-typing, you are adding muscle memory to the process. The more you generate a word, the more likely it is that you automatize its spelling.
Mature learners can use keyboarding to improve spelling.

What does dyslexia mean to me?
What does dyslexia mean to me?

My life and livelihood are entirely dependent on those skills most severely affected by dyslexia. I work as a journalist: reading, writing, editing and organising are my passion, and they are the very things that I was told, as a child, that I would forever struggle with.

Rather than holding me back, receiving a dyslexia diagnosis at a young age not only helped me come to terms with and develop strategies to cope with my dyslexia, but to master the very skills that were the source of so much frustration and anxiety in my school years.

Dyscalculia in adults

Dyscalculia in adults
Dyscalculia in adults
Dyscalculia is a learning difficulty that affects an individual’s ability to do basic arithmetic such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Adults with dyscalculia often take longer when working with numbers and may be more prone to making mistakes in calculations.

They can also experience higher levels of anxiety and frustration. It may be harder for adults with dyscalculia to learn and recall math facts, such as times tables.

Estimation skills can also be affected. Dyscalculia is not a reflection of low intelligence, nor does it mean an adult will not be successful working through higher order mathematical reasoning. However, many people with dyscalculia believe they are simply bad at math.

Because math is involved in various areas of the school curriculum, from chemistry to physics, as children these individuals may have felt they were less capable of achieving success in the classroom. Over time these feelings can develop into low self-confidence and low self-esteem.

Adults with poor math skills are more likely to suffer in terms of career opportunities and management of personal finances. There’s additionally a greater chance they are struggling with more than one learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, or an attention disorder like ADHD.

Dysgraphia in adults
Dysgraphia is a learning difficulty, also sometimes referred to as a learning disability or a learning difference, that primarily affects writing skills. Adults with dysgraphia have a hard time writing by hand and may struggle with letter formation, letter, word and line spacing, staying inside the margins, neatness, capitalization/punctuation rules, spelling, word choice, and even grammar.

As opposed to agraphia, in which writing loss is acquired, individuals with dysgraphia are typically born with the condition. As children they may have found school particularly challenging, given the importance of literacy skills and the emphasis on having neat handwriting at the elementary/primary school level.

Thankfully, technology exists that can help both children and adults with dysgraphia overcome the challenges they experience and take positive steps toward achieving their full potential in the classroom or workplace.

Signs of dyslexia in adults

Read and Spell Blog
13 Signs of dyslexia in adults
13 Signs of dyslexia in adults
Studies suggest that 1 in 10 adults in the US and UK has dyslexia, a learning difference that can affect working memory, reading, writing and spelling skills. In 60% of cases the dyslexia may be mild to moderate, but the remaining 40% of people can struggle with a severe form that interrupts literacy skills development when early support is not put in place.

Dyslexia is still called a learning disability in some countries, but in the UK it is increasingly referred to as a specific learning difference. The reason for this is dyslexia does not make you less able than your peers, it is simply a different way of processing language in the brain.

It’s also not related to intelligence, but dyslexia can prevent an individual from being successful due to the central role of reading and writing in mainstream education. Moreover, getting low grades at school or losing a job because of literacy skills can limit career options for adults, and may affect an individual’s confidence and self-esteem for years to come.

Fortunately, most problems can be overcome, even in adulthood, with the right literacy intervention, strategies and accommodations.

How to improve spelling skills

Read and Spell Blog
How to improve spelling skills
How to improve spelling skills
Spelling is one of those skills that a lot of people find challenging to master. This is particularly true if English isn’t your first language. One of the main reasons spelling is so hard to learn is that English is a highly irregular language. It has borrowed words from many other tongues and anglicized their spelling in an inconsistent way.

Spelling rules such as “i before e except after c” do exist in English, as in the words receive and receipt. But there are also plenty of exceptions to these rules, such as in species and science. Moreover, knowing a rule doesn’t always mean you can operationalize it in an automatic fashion when you need to write words quickly and accurately, for example during an online work chat or timed quiz.

WHERE TO LEARN HOW TO READ, WRITE, SPEAK AND SPELL IN LAGOS?

COME AND LEARN HOW TO READ & WRITE IN GBAGADA, LAGOS.

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TEACHING ADULTS TO READ

Teaching reading is a complex undertaking, especially when the learner is an adult. Unlike children, adult learners cannot spend several hours in a classroom every day. Most adults learning to read find it difficult to attend classes at all; those who enroll in a basic education program can spend, at most, a few hours a week working on their reading.

When adult students arrive in the classroom, they can be at just about any level in their reading development, from beginning readers working on the fundamentals to more advanced readers ready to begin study for a high school level equivalency diploma.

Emotional factors such as motivation, engagement, and fear of failure play a major role in reading success. These feelings can be especially intense for adults, particularly for learners who have spent years struggling with reading and hiding their inability to read from family members, friends, coworkers, and employers.

Given the complexity of the task, what methods should educators use to help adult learners make substantial gains in their reading skills?

ALPHABETICS
What is alphabetics?

English is an alphabetic language. The letters in its alphabet represent the sounds of spoken English. The process of using the written letters in an alphabet to represent meaningful spoken words is called alphabetics, and includes both phonemic awareness and word analysis. Phonemic awareness is the knowledge of the basic sounds (phonemes) of spoken language. Word analysis is the knowledge of the connection between written letters or letter combinations and the sounds they represent.

WHY TEACH ALPHABETICS?

Phonemic awareness and word analysis help learners become familiar with how the English writing system works�a crucial step in learning to read. Students with good phonemic awareness know how to manipulate the individual sounds (phonemes) of spoken English. They know, for example, that the spoken word cat is made up of three sounds: /c/-/a/-/t/. (Note that letters appearing between slashes should be read as sounds�for example, /b/ is read as the first sound in bob-not as bee.)

Students with good word analysis know how individual letters and combinations of letters represent the sounds of spoken English. They know, for example, that the string of written letters c, a, and t represent the spoken word cat. They know how to blend sounds together to form regularly spelled words and how to recognize irregularly spelled words by sight. As readers advance beyond the very beginning levels, more complex aspects of word analysis, such as the knowledge of word parts (for example, prefixes, suffixes, stems, and compounds) and the use of tools such as the dictionary, may contribute to word reading ability.

Adult non-readers have virtually no awareness of phonemes, and adult beginning readers have difficulty manipulating phonemes. They also have difficulty applying letter-sound knowledge in order to figure out new or unfamiliar words while reading. When adult beginning reading instruction includes alphabetics, increases in reading achievement occur.

HOW DO YOU ASSESS ALPHABETICS?
Phonemic awareness is assessed orally through tasks that ask learners to demonstrate their ability to manipulate the sounds in spoken words.

Phoneme isolation: recognizing individual sounds in words, for example, "Tell me the first sound in paste." (/p/)
Phoneme identity: recognizing the common sound in different words, for example, "Tell me the sound that is the same in bike, boy, and bell." (/b/)
Phoneme categorization: recognizing the odd sounding word in a sequence of three or four words, for example, "Which word does not belong? bus, bun, rug." (rug)
Phoneme blending: listening to a sequence of separately spoken sounds and combining them to form a recognizable word. For example, "What word is /s/ /k/ /u/ /1/?" (school)
Phoneme segmentation: breaking a word into its sounds by tapping out or counting the sounds, or by pronouncing and positioning a marker for each sound, for example, "How many sounds are there in ship?" (three: /sh/ /i/ /p/)
Phoneme deletion: recognizing what word remains when a specified phoneme is removed, for example, "What is smile without the /s/?" (mile)
Word analysis is assessed through tasks that ask students to demonstrate their ability to say the sounds in written words or parts of words. Letters or letter combinations that represent a basic sound, or phoneme, are called graphemes. Students can be asked to pronounce single-letter graphemes, two-letter graphemes or digraphs, or larger word parts such as blends. Sample tasks would be:

"What sounds do these letters make: b, d, f?"
"What is the short vowel sound made by these letters: a, e, i?"
"What sounds do these letters make: ch, ck, oa, ee?"
"What sounds do these letters make: br, st, str, at, am?"
The ability to pronounce word parts can also be assessed with whole word tasks. To find out if someone can decode the short a vowel sound, for example, we might ask him or her to read the word can. Any response with a short a sound in the middle position would be correct (can, cat, or ban) because it contains the short a target phoneme.

Alphabetics: implications for teachers
Alphabetics can be improved by participation in adult education, and explicit instruction may be the best way to accomplish this. Explicit instruction consists of direct teaching of letter-sound relationships in a clearly defined sequence.

Effective word analysis strategies systematically teach letter-sound correspondences directly and explicitly. They focus on teaching learners how to convert individual graphemes (letters and letter combinations) into phonemes (sounds) and then blend them together to form a word. Or, they focus on converting larger letter combinations such as common spelling patterns into sounds (e.g., ing, able, un).

*ADULT EDUCATION TO READ & WRITE IN ENGLISH*

*MISSION:*
To teach adults with little or no formal education how to read, write, speak, spell and listen. We help students to write and read very basic texts and sentences easily. To enable students to communicate in very simple English. We coach them on elementary arithmetic of addition, substraction, multiplication and division. We guide and encourage our pupils to build confidence in themselves.

*WE TEACH:*
- English Alphabets & their Sounds
- Word Formation
- Sound Production
- Numbers, Colours and Shapes
- Months of the Year, Days of the Week, Date and Time
- Reading & Comprehension, Writing, Grammar and Oral English
- Tenses
- Punctuation Marks
- Handwriting
- Capitalization
- Sentence Formation
- Parts of Speech
- Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening & Spelling Skills.

Duration: 12 months

*CURRICULUM ACTIVITIES*
Assignment, class work, test, debates, presentations and examination are taking periodically and at the end of the session and certificates of participation are issued to students at the end of their program.

*REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS*
- 3 Exercise Books
- Textbooks
- Handwriting Books
- Pack of Whiteboard Marker
- Pen, Pencil, Sharpener, Eraser

*FEES:*
- #5,000 For Registration Form

- #5,000 Service Charge

- #50,000/Sch Fees Per Term/3months

List of textbooks and other study materials will be given to students to purchase from bookshop.

*LOCATION:*
SYMMETRIC ADULT EDUCATION
Suite 35, Mota Complex,
Opposite Harmony Estate,
Ifako-Gbagada,
Lagos State,
Nigeria.

*LESSON DAYS:*
Monday, Wednesday & Friday
10:a.m. to 1:p.m.