The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

List of quotes

A. K. Best

The fishing was good; it was the catching that was bad.

Related topics:

Cleft sentences

Defining relative clause

Past simple for past habits and states

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The gerund as subject

Aesop

It is easy to be brave from a safe distance.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Albert Einstein

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Form: passive voice

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Present simple for general truths

Albert Einstein

Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

Preposition + gerund

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The infinitive of purpose

Albert Einstein

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

Related topics:

Present perfect for past events

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Alphonse Karr

Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.

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Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Nouns which are always plural

Present continuous for frequently repeated actions in the present

Angela Thirkell

If one cannot invent a really convincing lie, it is often better to stick to the truth.

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Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Zero conditional

Aristotle

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Noun phrase + TO-infinitive

Preposition + gerund

Author unknown

The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The TO-infinitive as a subject complement

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Ben Irwin

Most of us spend our lives as if we had another one in the bank.

Related topics:

AS IF / AS THOUGH

Present simple for general truths

Benjamin Franklin

Lost time is never found again.

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Form: passive voice

Present simple for general truths

The present and past participles used as adjectives

Bernard Baruch

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.

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Past simple for completed actions in the past

SEE, WATCH, HEAR, LISTEN, FEEL, SMELL, NOTICE, OBSERVE + object + bare infinitive

The zero article with proper names

Bill Cosby

I don't know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.

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State verbs and action verbs

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The gerund as a subject complement

TO-infinitive or gerund: FORGET, REMEMBER, REGRET, GO ON, STOP, TRY

Bill Dana

I had been told that the training procedure with cats was difficult. It's not. Mine had me trained in two days.

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Form: passive voice

Past perfect for actions completed before a point in the past

Past simple for completed actions in the past

Past simple for past habits and states

Present simple for present habits and states

Tense changes in indirect speech

Booker T. Washington

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

Related topics:

First conditional

Imperatives in the first conditional

Carol Nelson

Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Present simple for general truths

Relative adverbs: WHERE, WHEN, WHY

The indefinite article to describe and classify something

The zero article with names of days, months, seasons, holidays and parts of the day

Cavett Robert

If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Imperatives in the first conditional

TO-infinitive or gerund: FORGET, REMEMBER, REGRET, GO ON, STOP, TRY

Charles Buxton

You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it.

Related topics:

First conditional

Future simple for predictions

Modals in the first conditional

Chili Davis

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The gerund as subject

Chinese proverb

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

Related topics:

Participle clauses

Participles in non-finite relative clauses

The indefinite article with a member of a class

Chinese proverb

To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one.

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The TO-infinitive as a subject complement

The TO-infinitive as subject

Christian Furchtegott Gellert

Live as you will wish to have lived when you are dying.

Related topics:

Future simple in complex sentences

Future time clauses

The forms of the infinitive

Verb + TO-infinitive

Confucius

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it.

Related topics:

Form: passive voice

IF, EVEN IF, ONLY IF, AS LONG AS, PROVIDED, SUPPOSING, UNLESS, BUT FOR, IF NECESSARY, IF SO, IN CASE etc.

The forms of the infinitive

The TO-infinitive as subject

TO-infinitive or gerund: BEGIN, START, CONTINUE, CEASE, DREAD, INTEND, LOVE

Cynthia E. Varnado

It is impossible to keep a straight face in the presence of one or more kittens.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Present simple for general truths

Cyril Connolly

No city should be too large for a man to walk out of in a morning.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Modals to express criticism: CAN, COULD, MIGHT, SHOULD

Modals to express suggestions: SHOULD, COULD, MIGHT, SHALL

David Russell

The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

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Noun phrase + TO-infinitive

Question word + TO-infinitive

Dennis and Wendy Mannering

Attitudes are contagious. Are yours worth catching?

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Other expressions followed by the gerund

Present simple for general truths

Donald Kendall

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Relative adverbs: WHERE, WHEN, WHY

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

E. W. Howe

To avoid mistakes and regrets, always consult your wife before engaging in a flirtation.

Related topics:

Preposition + gerund

The infinitive of purpose

Edward Vernon Rickenbacker

Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you're scared.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

IF, EVEN IF, ONLY IF, AS LONG AS, PROVIDED, SUPPOSING, UNLESS, BUT FOR, IF NECESSARY, IF SO, IN CASE etc.

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The gerund as a subject complement

The present and past participles used as adjectives

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Eleanor Roosevelt

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

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Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

HAVE, GET, LET, MAKE + object + infinitive

MAKE + object + bare infinitive

Emily Dickinson

Saying nothing sometimes says the most.

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Present simple for general truths

The gerund as subject

Emma Goldman

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck.

Related topics:

WOULD RATHER / WOULD SOONER + simple or continuous infinitive

Emory Austin

Some days there won't be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Future simple for predictions

Epictetus

People are not disturbed by things, but by the view they take of them.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Form: passive voice

Nouns which are always plural

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Eric Hoffer

The greatest weariness comes from work not done.

Related topics:

Participle clauses

Participles in non-finite relative clauses

Present simple for general truths

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

Erica Jong

Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't.

Related topics:

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Wishes about the present

Frank A. Clark

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Zero conditional

Frank A. Clark

Gossip needn't be false to be evil - there's a lot of truth that shouldn't be passed around.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Modals to express obligation: SHOULD, OUGHT TO

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The infinitive of purpose

The semi-modal NEED

Galileo Galilei

I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Present perfect for past events

Present perfect with an incomplete period

George Eliot

It is never too late to be who you might have been.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Modals to express possibility: MAY, MIGHT, CAN, COULD

George Santayana

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

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The TO-infinitive as subject

The zero article with names of days, months, seasons, holidays and parts of the day

Haim Ginott

Parents often talk about the younger generation as if they didn't have anything to do with it.

Related topics:

AS IF / AS THOUGH

Present simple for present habits and states

Hal Borland

April is a promise that May is bound to keep.

Related topics:

BE BOUND + TO-infinitive

Defining relative clause

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The indefinite article to describe and classify something

The zero article with names of days, months, seasons, holidays and parts of the day

Hal Borland

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

Hanoch McCarty

It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.

Related topics:

Cleft sentences

Defining relative clause

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Harlan Miller

I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.

Related topics:

Wishes about the present

Harry "Breaker" Harbord Morant

Live every day as if it were going to be your last; for one day you're sure to be right.

Related topics:

AS IF / AS THOUGH

BE GOING TO for predictions

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Heinrich Heine

If the Romans had been obliged to learn Latin, they would never have found time to conquer the world.

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Form: passive voice

Third conditional

Helen Rowland

You will never win if you never begin.

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First conditional

Future simple for predictions

Future simple in complex sentences

Henry David Thoreau

As if you could kill time without injuring eternity.

Related topics:

AS IF / AS THOUGH

Henry David Thoreau

Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Defining relative clause

Present simple for general truths

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The continuous aspect

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The forms of the infinitive

Henry Ford

There is no man living that cannot do more than he thinks he can.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Participle clauses

Participles in non-finite relative clauses

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Henry Miller

We should read to give our souls a chance to luxuriate.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: SHOULD, OUGHT TO

The infinitive of purpose

Herbert Prochnow

A city is a large community where people are lonesome together.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Nouns which are always plural

Relative adverbs: WHERE, WHEN, WHY

The indefinite article with a member of a class

Hippocrates

Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food.

Related topics:

HAVE, GET, LET, MAKE + object + infinitive

Irish proverb

If you do not sow in the spring, you will not reap in the autumn.

Related topics:

First conditional

Future simple for predictions

Future simple in complex sentences

Isaac Asimov

What would I do if I had only six months left to live? I'd type faster.

Related topics:

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

Jim Rohn

Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Joey Adams

If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all.

Related topics:

IF, EVEN IF, ONLY IF, AS LONG AS, PROVIDED, SUPPOSING, UNLESS, BUT FOR, IF NECESSARY, IF SO, IN CASE etc.

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

John A. Simone, Sr.

If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change.

Related topics:

First conditional

Future simple for predictions

Imperatives in the first conditional

John Wooden

A coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The indefinite article with a member of a class

Kelvin Throop

If people behaved like governments, you'd call the cops.

Related topics:

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

Lao Tse

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

The indefinite article with a member of a class

Lao Tse

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Related topics:

Form: passive voice

Present simple for general truths

Leo Tolstoy

If you want to be happy, be.

Related topics:

Imperatives in the first conditional

Lily Tomlin

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you are still a rat.

Related topics:

IF, EVEN IF, ONLY IF, AS LONG AS, PROVIDED, SUPPOSING, UNLESS, BUT FOR, IF NECESSARY, IF SO, IN CASE etc.

Zero conditional

Marcus Aurelius

What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Margaret Fuller

Men for the sake of getting a living forget to live.

Related topics:

Irregular plural forms

Preposition + gerund

Present simple for general truths

TO-infinitive or gerund: FORGET, REMEMBER, REGRET, GO ON, STOP, TRY

Marie Curie

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

Related topics:

BE + TO-infinitive

Form: passive voice

The forms of the infinitive

Mark Twain

If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

Zero conditional

Mark Twain

The secret of getting ahead is getting started.

Related topics:

Preposition + gerund

The passive with GET

Marlene Dietrich

It is the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Cleft sentences

Defining relative clause

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Mary Engelbreit

If you don't like something change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Imperatives in the first conditional

Mignon McLaughlin

What you have become is the price you paid to get what you used to want.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Modals to express habits: WILL, WOULD, USED TO

Past simple for completed actions in the past

Present perfect for past events

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

The infinitive of purpose

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Muhammad Ali

Children make you want to start life over.

Related topics:

HAVE, GET, LET, MAKE + object + infinitive

Irregular plural forms

MAKE + object + bare infinitive

Verb + TO-infinitive

Nan Porter

If cats could talk, they wouldn't.

Related topics:

Second conditional

Modals to express willingness / unwillingness: WILL, WOULD

Native American proverb

No river can return to its source, yet all rivers must have a beginning.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Native American proverb

The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.

Related topics:

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

Nelson Henderson

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

Related topics:

Non-defining relative clause

Pronouns used in non-defining relative clauses

The TO-infinitive as a subject complement

Verb + TO-infinitive

Oscar Wilde

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Related topics:

Present continuous for actions in progress at the time of speaking

Present simple for present habits and states

The continuous aspect

Oscar Wilde

To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

The TO-infinitive as subject

Pablo Picasso

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Future time clauses

Present simple for general truths

Question word + TO-infinitive

The indefinite article to describe and classify something

Peter Drucker

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The TO-infinitive as a subject complement

Peter Marshall

Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.

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Participle clauses

Participles in non-finite relative clauses

Present simple for general truths

Plato

Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.

Related topics:

Irregular plural forms

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

Noun phrase + TO-infinitive

Present simple for general truths

SAY, TELL and ASK

Ralph Hodgson

Some things have to be believed to be seen.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Form: passive voice

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

The forms of the infinitive

Ralph Waldo Emerson

What we call results are beginnings.

Related topics:

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

Robert Brault

Each day is an opportunity to travel back into tomorrow's past and change it.

Related topics:

Noun phrase + TO-infinitive

Present simple for general truths

Robert Frost

Freedom lies in being bold.

Related topics:

Preposition + gerund

Present simple for general truths

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

Robert Graves

Every English poet should master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Modals to express obligation: SHOULD, OUGHT TO

Verb + TO-infinitive

Ruth E. Renkl

You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted.

Related topics:

Form: passive voice

Participle clauses

Participles in non-finite relative clauses

SPEND, WASTE + object + present participle

Samuel Levenson

You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

The infinitive of purpose

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Friendship is a sheltering tree.

Related topics:

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The present and past participles used as adjectives

Satchel Paige

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?

Related topics:

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

Seneca

Fate leads the willing, and drags along the reluctant.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The definite article with adjectives

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

Sophocles

It is terrible to speak well and be wrong.

Related topics:

Adjective + TO-infinitive

Present simple for general truths

Spanish proverb

Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.

Related topics:

Future simple for predictions

WHATEVER, WHOEVER, WHICHEVER, WHEREVER, WHENEVER

Swedish proverb

Those who wish to sing always find a song.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Present simple for general truths

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Verb + TO-infinitive

Tehyi Hsieh

Action will remove the doubts that theory cannot solve.

Related topics:

Defining relative clause

Future simple for predictions

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Thomas Edison

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

Related topics:

Modals to express willingness / unwillingness: WILL, WOULD

Present perfect for past events

The perfect aspect

Thomas Watson, Sr.

To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

Nouns with countable and uncountable meanings

The infinitive of purpose

Vince Lombardi

We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.

Related topics:

Second conditional

The modal WOULD to express unreal situations

Vita Sackville-West

Flowers really do intoxicate me.

Related topics:

DO, DOES, DID + bare infinitive

The auxiliaries DO and DOES for emphasis

Voltaire

Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

Present simple for general truths

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

TO-infinitive or gerund: FORGET, REMEMBER, REGRET, GO ON, STOP, TRY

Washington Irving

A barking dog is often more useful than a sleeping lion.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The indefinite article with a member of a class

The present and past participles used as adjectives

William Barret

It is the familiar that usually eludes us in life. What is before our nose is what we see last.

Related topics:

Cleft sentences

Defining relative clause

Present simple for general truths

Pronouns used in defining relative clauses

Pseudo-cleft sentences

The definite article with adjectives

WHAT (the thing(s) that/which)

William Carlos Williams

In summer, the song sings itself.

Related topics:

Present simple for general truths

The zero article with names of days, months, seasons, holidays and parts of the day

William Frederick Book

A man must be master of his hours and days, not their servant.

Related topics:

Modals to express obligation: MUST, HAVE (GOT) TO

The indefinite article with a member of a class

William Safire

Only in grammar can you be more than perfect.

Related topics:

Modals to express ability: CAN, COULD, BE ABLE TO

ONLY AFTER, ONLY IF, ONLY IN THIS WAY etc., NOT UNTIL

Winston Churchill

I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else.

Related topics:

Other expressions followed by the gerund

Present simple for present habits and states

The indefinite article to describe and classify something

Winston Churchill

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

Present simple for general truths

The indefinite article with a member of a class

Yogi Berra

If you don't know where you're going, you might never get there.

Related topics:

Modals to express possibility: MAY, MIGHT, CAN, COULD

State verbs and action verbs

Zero conditional

Zen saying

When you get to the top of a mountain, keep climbing.

Related topics:

Future time clauses

Zen saying

Knowledge is learning something every day. Wisdom is letting go of something every day.

Related topics:

Determiners with countable and uncountable nouns (SOME, ANY, NO, MANY, MUCH, FEW, LITTLE etc.)

The difference between countable and uncountable nouns

The gerund as a subject complement