15 Golden Rules of Grammar

Grammar may appear to have been invented just to stifle your creativity and make you stumble as a writer, but it does have a positive purpose. Without the rules of grammar your reader would often have a tough time understanding what you are trying to communicate. You do want the reader to be able to follow what you are writing, right? Here are some grammar basics that can help you out on that front.

1: Know the essential parts of the sentence.
A sentence is divided into two parts. The subject (WHAT the sentence is about or WHO the sentence is about) and a predicate (SAYS SOMETHING about the subject and contains a word EXPRESSING ACTION or STATE OF BEING). A simple sentence example? “Marco walks.”

2 Avoid sentence fragments
Sure, there are times when you can consciously use a sentence fragment in your writing. But more often than not you aren’t doing it on purpose, and fragments are largely frowned upon in academic writing. What is a fragment? An incomplete sentence starting with a capital and ending with a period.
Consider this example: “They tried to understand Arturo’s objections. Which were unfounded.” You can change these multiple ways. How about adding a subject to the second part of the fragment so it becomes: They were unfounded. Or you could link the sentence parts with a comma after objections. Or simply move the word unfounded up in the sentence to describe Arturo’s objections and get rid of the “Which were.”

3: Avoid comma splices
A comma splice occurs when two or more independent clauses (word groups that could stand alone as separate sentences) are joined simply by a comma.
There is typically a coordinating conjunction missing (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So). Use a semicolon instead. Or a period.
What coordinating conjunction could be said to be missing from the following comma splice? “In 1800, a traveler needed six weeks to get from New York City to Chicago, in 1860, the trip by railroad took two days.” After Chicago you could have used a “but,” right? Why not use a semicolon now. Or a period.

4 A single, rather than a double, negative is correct.
A double negative is when two negatives within a clause are used to express one single negation. Example: “He did not keep no records.” All you need to say is, “He did not keep records.”

5 Clarify meaning by placing modifiers near the word they are meant to modify.
A modifier is a word such as almost, only, just, even, hardly, nearly or merely.
Look at how the meaning changes in these sentences depending on where the modifier is placed. “Natasha went out with just her coat on.” Or, “Natasha just went out with her coat on.” Or, “Just Natasha went out with her coat on.”

6 Revise your dangling modifiers.
A dangling modifier is a verbal phrases that does not clearly refer to other words or phrases in the sentence. The words can typically be rearranged to make meaning clear.
Example: “When only a small boy, my father took me with him to Chicago.” Wait a sec…How young was your Dad? He was a young boy when he took you to Chicago? How about: “When I was only a small boy…”

7 Verbs must agree with their subjects.
What does it mean to agree? They don’t have to share politics or point of view, but they do need to match in form. If your subject is plural, your verb is plural. If your subject is singular, your verb is singular.
Examples: “The rose in the vase is wilted.” Or, “The tulips in the garden are blooming.”

8 Unnecessary shifts are unpleasant
What is an unnecessary shift? Examples include changing from singular to plural or from past to present in the same sentence.
Examples: “Arlo believes in nuclear power while Mary believed in solar power.” (Can’t they both believe in the same tense?). Or, “If a person is going to improve, you should work harder.” (Let’s make it: “If YOU are going to improve..”)

9 Strive for parallelism in expressing ideas.
Parallelism provides clarity and rhythm as you balance sentence parts of equal structure and value.
How can you create parallelism in these examples? “I like to swim, to dance, and having fun.” Let’s try, “I like to swim, to dance, and to have fun.” Or, “He uses his computer for writing and to play games.” Let’s make it: “He uses his computer for writing and playing games.”

10 Use the apostrophe appropriately.
Apostrophes show possession, mark omissions in contractions and form certain plurals.
Examples: Possession: Anna’s car, Nona’s house, anyone’s computer, the babies’ toys, the boys’ game, Olga and Nadia’s house.
Contractions: Don’t, They’ll, Class of ’99
Certain plurals: p’s and q’s, three minus’s

11 Use quotation marks to set off dialogue and direct quotations.
Double quotation marks are used to set off direct quotations, but not indirect ones.
Examples: Direct: “People are trapped in history,” writes James Baldwin, “and history is trapped in them.”
Indirect: James Baldwin claims that people cannot escape history and that history cannot exist without people.
When quoting directly within quotations you use single quotations. Example” Andy said, “Have people ever asked me ‘Do you revise what your write?’ Yes, lots of times, and when they do, I tell them that my motto is ‘A writer’s work is never done.’”

12 Use proper punctuation to transfer meaning from spoken to written language.
Use the period to mark the end of a declarative or mildly imperative sentence.
The question mark is used after direct (but not indirect questions). “What in the world is Jenn doing?” Or, “They want to know what Bryan is doing.”
The exclamation point occurs after an emphatic interjection or other expression showing emotion such as surprise or disbelief. Yikes! Zounds!

13 A hyphen can be used to link words.
Use the hyphen to link two or more words to form a compound functioning as a single word.
Examples: “..a well-built house.” Or, “I hard-boiled the egg.” Or, “…the make-believe city of Camelot.”

14 Capitals start every sentence and directly quoted speech.
Examples: Procrastination is my specialty.
Oh, really! Do you want to become more efficient? Not right now.
He says, “Stop dieting and start exercising.”

15 Revise your run-on sentences.
Ask yourself these questions to help recognize run-ons:
Does the sentence contain two independent clauses? No. You’re OK
Are the clauses joined with a comma and a coordinating conjunction? Yes. You’re OK.
Are the clauses joined with a semicolon, colon or dash? Yes. You’re OK.
Example: “Gestures are a means of communication for everyone, they are essential for the hearing impaired.” You could fix this run-on many ways. How about putting a “but” before “they are?” Or a semicolon in place of the comma before “they are?” Or, perhaps, adding “however,” before “they are?” Each would work.
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Simple English Sentence Construction

One of the most challenging aspects of learning a new language is understanding how to string together all the words you’ve learned into a cohesive sentence. This is especially difficult, since the English language tends to structure its sentences differently than many other languages, so you won’t just be learning new words – you’re actually learning a whole new way of speaking. However, it’s extremely important that you understand the basics of putting together a sentence – even with all the vocabulary in the world, you’ll still sound like a foreigner if you don’t order your sentences correctly.

Before we get started putting sentences together, let’s take a moment to review the two most important elements of the English language – nouns and verbs. Nouns are words that describe people, places or things. The words “banana,” “capitol,” and “girl,” are all nouns. Verbs, on the other hand, describe actions. For example, the words “walk,” “talk,” and “sing,” are all verbs. Of course, there are many more complicated elements of the English language, like prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs and adjectives, but for now, we’ll just focus on the role of nouns and verbs in simple sentence construction.

At the most basic level, a sentence must have both a noun that is the subject of the sentence and a verb to be considered complete. The sentence, “The girl walked,” is complete, even if it isn’t very complex. In this case, “the girl” is both a noun and the subject of the sentence. You can determine whether or not a noun is the subject of a sentence if the verb describes an action being taken by the noun. Here, the word “walked” describes what the girl is doing. The sentence, “Walked the dog,” is not complete, since there is no clear subject. “The dog” did not walk itself, and the word “walked” implies that someone else is walking the dog.

Simple English sentences all start this way – with a noun that acts as a subject and a verb that describes what the subject is doing. This is different from many other languages, where the verb is often modified to indicate the subject of the sentence. For example, in Spanish, the word “vamanos” means “we go”, whereas in English, the two words must be written separately to form a complete sentence. In Italian, the same phrase would be translated “andiamo”, where the base verb “vada” is modified to indicate the subject (”we”) of the sentence.

Obviously, English sentences can be much more complicated, but when you’re first getting started with the language, focus on identifying the subject and verb pairs in each sentence you hear and speak. Verbs can be tricky, as there are many different verb tenses that can be used to indicate when the action is occurring. For example, in the sentence “I go,” the present tense of the word “go” indicates that the action is occurring in the present. The same sentence can be modified to “I went,” where the base verb “go” has been modified to demonstrate that the action has already occurred. Unfortunately, there aren’t always clearly defined rules for which verb tenses should be used in any given situation, but with practice, these will begin to come naturally to you. Read more

English Grammar Components

When you’re learning the English language, you may feel overwhelmed when it comes to all the different grammar components. There are so many variables that affect the choice of words, even in everyday conversations. In order to get the most from your English lessons, you’ll need to understand all the different grammatical elements that are used. The following is a listing of some of the most commonly used English grammar components and what each one means.

Pronouns: Personal pronouns will often take the place of a person’s name. There are four different cases of personal pronouns: subjective, objective, genitive, and possessive. Pronouns may also have number, person, or gender attributes. Here are some examples:

Subjective: These are pronouns that are used in the subject of the sentence and include “I,” “you,” “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” “you,” and “they.” An example of a subjective pronoun used in a sentence is, “I have a book.” In this case, “I” is the subject of the sentence and has taken the place of the speaker’s name.

Objective: These are words that are used as the object of the sentence and include “me,” “you,” “him,” “her,” “us,” “you,” and “them.” An example of an objective pronoun used in a sentence is, “Give her the book.” In this case, “her” is the object of the sentence.

Genitive: These are words that generally used to modify noun phrases. This type of pronoun is also called an “attributive possessive pronoun.” These pronouns include “my,” “your,” “his,” “her,” “our,” and “their.” An example of a possessive adjective is, “This is your book.” In this case, “your” demonstrates ownership of the book without actually giving the name of the owner.

Possessive: These pronouns occur in the object of the sentence and include “mine,” “yours,” “his,” and “hers.” An example of a possessive pronoun is, “This book is ours.” In this case, “ours” shows a more detailed point of ownership of the book.

Participles: Participles are verbs that are used as adjectives and commonly end in “–ed” or “–ing.” A participle expresses a deed or state of action. Since participles are used as verbs, they usually end up modifying nouns and pronouns. The following are two examples of participles in action:

“The crying baby woke up.”
“The burning wood smells good.”

Past participles usually end in “–en,” “-ed,” “-d,” “-t,” and “-n.”

Prepositions: These are words that are used to link one part of a sentence to another. Here’s an example: “The dog slept on the floor.” The preposition in the sentence is the word “on,” which connects the dog to the floor.

Verbs: Verbs are action words. In the sentence, “I caught the ball,” the verb is the word “caught.” Many of these verbs will be spoken, written, and read differently, depending on the choice of nouns or pronouns. If you’re ever stumped, try speaking with someone who is fluent in English. While they may not be able to tell you “why” something is wrong, they can tell you the correct way to conjugate different verb tenses.

It’s not as difficult as you may think to learn English grammar; however, it will take dedication and patience. It’s best to set aside a specific time each day to study – if not, it’s easy to become frustrated and quit. Read more

Differences Between British and American English

If you’ve ever spoken with a British person or visited the United Kingdom, you’ve probably noticed that, although we’re speaking the same language, there are some pretty significant differences between American English and British English. The British colonization of America in the 17th century brought the English language to North America, although the language has since evolved into two separate dialects – American English and British English. When looking at these two dialects, you’ll see some significant differences in how they spell their words, the pronunciation that is used, and variances of grammar between them.

Apart from these differences, you’ll also find that some words have totally different meanings between the two versions of English. There are some words that one dialect may use that the other may not – for example, what Americans call an “apartment,” a British citizen would call a “flat.” Noah Webster set out to highlight these differences and prove that the United States spoke a different language than the British, resulting in what is now known as the American Directory. Although American English and British English share many similarities, you may find yourself confused by the difference in the meanings of some of the words.

The following is a list of common American English to British English translations (courtesy of the Georgia State University website):

American British Argument Row Baby carriage Pram Band-aid Plaster Bathroom Loo or WC Can Tin Chopped beef Mince Cookie Biscuit Corn Maize Diaper Nappy Elevator Lift Eraser Rubber Flashlight Torch Fries Chips Gas Petrol Guy Bloke or chap Highway Motorway Hood (car) Bonnet Jello Jelly Jelly Jam Kerosene Paraffin Lawyer Solicitor License plate Number plate Line Queue Mail Post Motor home Caravan Movie theater Cinema Muffler Silencer Napkin Serviette Nothing Nought Overpass Flyover Pacifier Dummy Pant Trouser Parking lot Car park Period Full stop Pharmacist Chemist Potato chips Crisps Sausage Banger Sidewalk Pavement Soccer Football Sweater Jumper Trash can Bin Truck Lorry Trunk (car) Boot Vacation Holiday Vest Waistcoat Windshield (car) Windscreen Zip code Postal code

In addition to these differences in vocabulary, there are several changes to grammatical rules as well. In British English, collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms, while this is not the case in American English. In American English, collective nouns are used in singular verb form using plural pronouns at times for agreement. For example, in British English, the irregular form of a verb is commonly used as in the words “learnt and spoilt”, while in American English, irregular verb forms are generally not used.

If you’re planning a trip to the United Kingdom in the near future, you might find it helpful to study some of these differences before leaving. Even if you aren’t familiar with British English, you’ll still be able to make yourself understood speaking American English – unlike traveling to a country that speaks Spanish or another foreign language. However, knowing these differences will help to minimize confusion while abroad, leading to a much more enjoyable travel experience. Read more

Learning and Understanding Idiomatic Speech

When I first began to work with the international students in college, I asked someone at a luncheon, “What brings you here today?” Looking at me like I was a bit crazy, he answered, “The bus.”

That was my first realization that no matter how good an ESL speaker is, there are phrases that will always tend to cause confusion to non-native speakers. These idiomatic phrases add color and interest to any language and are worth learning if you want to converse fluently with native speakers.

The following are a few phrases that, when taken literally, would seem confusing. But with a simple explanation, they can be easily understood and ultimately used by someone who has studied English as a second language.

“By no stretch” – The speaker is referring to something that’s very hard to achieve or realize, even with great effort, as in, “It was not a good meal, by any stretch of the imagination,” which means that even being generous, the meal could not be described as good.

“Not worth a damn” – A mildly vulgar expression that something isn’t of any worth or value. Use cautiously. It’s not appropriate in formal situations or other situations where profanity would be offensive. For example, “That dog is not worth a damn.”

“To run circles around” – Rarely used literally, to run circles around means to be substantially better than another, as in, “Her job performance was so good that she ran circles around her coworkers.”

“Half dead” – An expression of extreme tiredness, having nothing to do with actual health, commonly used at the end of a long and tiring day. For example, “I was half dead after I worked all night at my job.”

“To take under one’s wing” – A reference to bird behavior, this means that someone has taken responsibility for another and will help them along in their development, often in a mentoring capacity. Often used in work, military, academic or athletic setting, you can see an example in the phrase, “The coach really took the new guy under his wing.”

“By the book” – This means that an action should follow the rules exactly. It also references the nature of someone who won’t deviate from a set of rules, regardless of circumstances. For example, “When you work with him, know that he’s a by the book kind of guy.”

“More power to you” – This isn’t a wish for you to have better electricity from the power company – it’s an injunction, usually slightly ironic, that the speaker thinks that you are unlikely to do a task, but you should try if you think you can accomplish it. It generally means the speaker has no intention of helping you achieve your goal, neither will they dissuade you from attempting to reach it. For example, “I don’t think you can meet that deadline, but more power to you.”

“As easy as pie” – A reference that something is as simple or easy as eating a delicious dessert, or that it requires little effort to successfully accomplish. In colloquial conversations, this phrase does not refer to the process of cooking or eating. As an example, “Learning a few idiomatic expressions in English is as easy as pie if you read this article.” Read more

English Grammar for ESL Students – Common Grammatical Troublemakers

It’s been said that English is one of the most difficult languages in the world to learn because it has so many exceptions to its own rules.

One problem students of English as a second language face are homophones – words that sound alike but have entirely different meanings.

Another common problem is single words that can be pronounced differently depending on the context of the sentence. Some of these words sound more or less alike depending on the accent of the native speaker.


The following are some examples of common troublemakers. For best results, read these through several times, and then try to identify examples of their usage in the real world. For example, pick up an English language book you’re working through and see if you can identify some of these homophones in action.



Red: the color vs. Read: to have read a book – Read: to be reading a book vs. Reed: a plant

For example: John said he read the red book, but he still needed to read the book on reeds.

Blue: the color or emotion – Blew: the past tense of the verb to blow

For example: John was feeling blue when he blew out the blue candles on his birthday cake (blue as an emotion refers to a feeling of sadness or mild depression.)

Meet: to encounter a person – Meat: flesh of animals consumed for food

For example: John wanted to meet me at the meat counter of the grocery store.

Poor: lacking money or an adjective – Pour: as to pour a liquid from a container – Pore: a small opening in the skin

For example: Poor John. He wanted to pour lemon juice on his skin to tighten his pores, but he was too poor to afford it.

Right: to be correct, or the direction opposite left – Write: to compose or transcribe words using pen and paper

For example: John was right – the best table to write at was on the right side of the library.

Kitty: a small cat or kitten – Kitty: a group of funds pooled together

For example: John’s kitty wanted to play poker, but it had no money to ante up for the kitty.

Weeding: to remove weeds – Wedding: a marriage ceremony

For example: John finished weeding the garden with plenty of time before the wedding was to begin.

Desert: an arid environment – Dessert: a sweet dish or pastry often served at the end of a meal

For example: Lost in the desert, John could only dream of the ice cream he had had for dessert.

They’re: a contraction of the words they are – There: a location – Their: a possessive pronoun

For example: They’re sure they left their car over there by the big oak tree.

To: the preposition – Two: the number 2 – Too: meaning also or an adverb meaning excessively

For example: John wanted to go to the movies with his two brothers too but he was too tired.

As you can see, although many of these word combinations can be tricky, they’re often spelled differently. Use these clues to help determine which word to use in any given situation. Read more

Like and As

Like and as are often confused in English. They can both be used to talk about how things are similar.

Like is followed by a noun or pronoun. For example, "I'm like my sister", or "Like my sister, I have brown eyes."

As is followed by a subject and verb. For example, "She's a good student, as her brother was before her."

However, in spoken English, like is often used instead of as. "She's a good student, like her brother was before her."

As is used with a preposition, such as, "As in the 1960's, the population explosion will cause some problems."

We can use as in certain expressions, such as "as you know", "as you requested", "as we agreed".

We also use as…..as to give comparisons. For example, "He's as clever as his sister."

Read more

Linking words

Linking words help you to connect ideas and sentences, so that people can follow your ideas.


Giving examples


For example
For instance
Namely

The most common way of giving examples is by using for example or for instance.

Namely refers to something by name.

"There are two problems: namely, the expense and the time."


Adding information


And
In addition
As well as
Also
Too
Furthermore
Moreover
Apart from
In addition to
Besides

Ideas are often linked by and. In a list, you put a comma between each item, but not before and.

"We discussed training, education and the budget."

Also is used to add an extra idea or emphasis. "We also spoke about marketing."

You can use also with not only to give emphasis.

"We are concerned not only by the costs, but also by the competition."

We don't usually start a sentence with also. If you want to start a sentence with a phrase that means also, you can use In addition, or In addition to this…

As well as can be used at the beginning or the middle of a sentence.

"As well as the costs, we are concerned by the competition."

"We are interested in costs as well as the competition."

Too goes either at the end of the sentence, or after the subject and means as well.

"They were concerned too."

"I, too, was concerned."

Apart from and besides are often used to mean as well as, or in addition to.

"Apart from Rover, we are the largest sports car manufacturer."

"Besides Rover, we are the largest sports car manufacturer."

Moreover and furthermore add extra information to the point you are making.

"Marketing plans give us an idea of the potential market. Moreover, they tell us about the competition."


Summarising


In short
In brief
In summary
To summarise
In a nutshell
To conclude
In conclusion

We normally use these words at the beginning of the sentence to give a summary of what we have said or written.


Sequencing ideas


The former, … the latter
Firstly, secondly, finally
The first point is
Lastly
The following

The former and the latter are useful when you want to refer to one of two points.
"Marketing and finance are both covered in the course. The former is studied in the first term and the latter is studied in the final term."

Firstly, … secondly, … finally (or lastly) are useful ways to list ideas.

It's rare to use "fourthly", or "fifthly". Instead, try the first point, the second point, the third point and so on.

The following is a good way of starting a list.

"The following people have been chosen to go on the training course: N Peters, C Jones and A Owen."


Giving a reason


Due to / due to the fact that
Owing to / owing to the fact that
Because
Because of
Since
As

Due to and owing to must be followed by a noun.

"Due to the rise in oil prices, the inflation rate rose by 1.25%."

"Owing to the demand, we are unable to supply all items within 2 weeks."

If you want to follow these words with a clause (a subject, verb and object), you must follow the words with the fact that.

"Due to the fact that oil prices have risen, the inflation rate has gone up by 1%25."

"Owing to the fact that the workers have gone on strike, the company has been unable to fulfil all its orders."

Because / because of

Because of is followed by a noun.

"Because of bad weather, the football match was postponed."

Because can be used at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence. For example, "Because it was raining, the match was postponed."

"We believe in incentive schemes, because we want our employees to be more productive."

Since / as

Since and as mean because.

"Since the company is expanding, we need to hire more staff."

"As the company is expanding, we need to hire more staff."


Giving a result


Therefore
So
Consequently
This means that
As a result

Therefore, so, consequently and as a result are all used in a similar way.

"The company are expanding. Therefore / So / Consequently / As a result, they are taking on extra staff."

So is more informal.


Contrasting ideas


But
However
Although / even though
Despite / despite the fact that
In spite of / in spite of the fact that
Nevertheless
Nonetheless
While
Whereas
Unlike
In theory… in practice…

But is more informal than however. It is not normally used at the beginning of a sentence.

"He works hard, but he doesn't earn much."
"He works hard. However, he doesn't earn much."

Although, despite and in spite of introduce an idea of contrast. With these words, you must have two halves of a sentence.

"Although it was cold, she went out in shorts."
"In spite of the cold, she went out in shorts."

Despite and in spite of are used in the same way as due to and owing to. They must be followed by a noun. If you want to follow them with a noun and a verb, you must use the fact that.

"Despite the fact that the company was doing badly, they took on extra employees."

Nevertheless and nonetheless mean in spite of that or anyway.

"The sea was cold, but he went swimming nevertheless." (In spite of the fact that it was cold.)
"The company is doing well. Nonetheless, they aren't going to expand this year."

While, whereas and unlike are used to show how two things are different from each other.

"While my sister has blue eyes, mine are brown."

"Taxes have gone up, whereas social security contributions have gone down."

"Unlike in the UK, the USA has cheap petrol."

In theory… in practice… show an unexpected result.

"In theory, teachers should prepare for lessons, but in practice, they often don't have enough time." Read more

Using Lots of

In spoken English we often use lots of or a lot of. In written English, it is more common to write many (for countable plural nouns) or a great deal of (for uncountable nouns) in positive statements.

A common mistake is to use lot of. For example, "There are lot of accidents on this road". To avoid making this mistake, remember either to use a before lot, or to make lot plural - lots.

We can say either a lot of or lots of before a noun. For example, "There are a lot of people here" or "There are lots of people here". There isn't any difference between the two expressions.

We can also use a lot as an adverb to say how much you do something. For example, "She talks a lot".

A lot is also used in short answers. For example, "Do you like swimming?", "Yes, a lot." Read more

Using Few and Little in English

We use a few and a little to mean "not very much" or "not very many". Whether you use a few or a little depends on what type of noun you are describing.

For example, "A few people came to the party." We use a few with plural, countable nouns.

"There's a little coffee left, if you would like some." We use a little with uncountable nouns.

We can also use few and little (without "a") for a more negative meaning. For example, "there's little point in calling" (= there's not much point calling).

"Few people understand" (not many people understand), compared to "a few people understand" (some people understand).

In spoken English, we can also say not many, or only a few to mean "few" and "only a little" or "not much" to mean "little".

When we make comparisons, we use fewer for plural nouns and less for uncountable nouns.
For example, "There are fewer people here than last year" or "he drinks less coffee than I do". Read more

Some and Any

We use some and any with uncountable nouns and plural nouns. The general rule is that you use "some" in positive sentences and "any" in negative sentences and questions.

"I have some ideas."
"I don't have any ideas."
"Do you have any ideas?"

However, we can also use "some" in questions.
"Would you like some tea?" (I expect the answer to be "Yes".)

When we use some in a question, we limit what we are offering the other person.

For example, "Can I get you something to drink? - Coffee, or tea?" means I am offering you a limited choice of things to drink.

When we use "any" in a question, we are not limiting the choice.

For example, "Would you like anything to drink?" includes a whole range of things to drink.
"Do you have any questions?" (You can ask me anything you like!)

We can also use any in positive sentences which have a negative meaning. We often use "any" with "hardly", "without" or "never".

"There's hardly any petrol left in the car - we need to go to a garage."
"He went out without any money on him."
"She never has any problem understanding." Read more

Make and Let

In English, the verbs "make" and "let" are followed by an object and the infinitive without "to":

They can't make you work late.
She made him do the exercise again.

She lets the students sing in class.
His parents let him paint his room black.

Be careful: in the passive, "make" is followed by the infinitive with "to":

They were made to do the exercise again.

"Have" can also be used in this pattern:

Please have your secretary call me as soon as possible.

(Please ask your secretary to call me…)


Other English verbs not followed by the infinitive + to


Modal verbs (can, will, would, etc) are followed by the infinitive without "to":

I can see him clearly.
They will leave early tomorrow.
If I were you, I would talk to her.

See / hear / watch someone followed by the infinitive without "to":

She saw the girl steal the money. (She saw all the action of stealing.)
I heard him tell her about the party." (I heard all about the party.)
I watched them do the exercise. (I watched them complete the exercise.)

But remember:
If you follow these verbs with the gerund form (ing), you only see part of the action.

She saw him talking to the teacher. (She didn't see the whole conversation.) Read more