Visual English Grammar - Advanced Level

📚 Course Overview

This advanced grammar course is designed to equip students with nuanced control over complex sentence structures and verb forms necessary for sophisticated communication. Students will master high-level concepts such as linking past actions to present relevance using the Present Perfect, controlling sentence focus through the Passive Voice, and embedding full sentences as modifiers (Relative Clauses) or functional units (Nominal Clauses). The curriculum culminates in mastering hypothetical expression via the Subjunctive Mood and achieving precise temporal sequencing using the Advanced Perfect Tenses, thus transforming verbs into flexible 'shapeshifters' to enhance overall functional diversity.

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

1. Differentiate and correctly apply various complex verb tenses and moods, including the Perfect Tenses and the Subjunctive Mood, to express precise temporal and hypothetical relationships.
2. Construct sophisticated sentences by integrating dependent clauses (Relative and Nominal) to function accurately as modifiers, subjects, or objects within a larger grammatical framework.
3. Manipulate sentence focus and verb function by mastering the Passive Voice and utilizing non-finite verb forms (Gerunds, Infinitives, Participles) for advanced stylistic control.

🔹 Lesson 1: Present Perfect Tense

Overview: Explore the Present Perfect Tense, visually represented as a bridge connecting an action in the past to its continuing relevance or result in the present. Focus is on structural mastery and distinguishing it from the Simple Past.

Learning Outcomes:

• Master the structure and function of the Present Perfect Tense (Have/Has + Past Participle).
• Differentiate between the Simple Past and the Present Perfect based on time specificity.
• Identify and correctly use key time markers like 'Since' and 'For'.
• Distinguish the meaning and usage of 'have been to' versus 'have gone to' through visual animation.

🔹 Lesson 2: The Passive Voice

Overview: Learn how the focus of a sentence shifts from the agent to the recipient of the action using the Passive Voice. The visual mechanism involves flipping the sentence structure and transforming the verb's genetic code into [Be + Done].

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the core concept of shifting sentence focus using the 'Flip' mechanism.
• Apply the Passive Voice formula [Be + V-pp] across various tenses.
• Use interactive rotation to convert active sentences into passive ones.
• Recognize when the agent ('by someone') should be hidden or omitted.
• Identify and avoid using the Passive Voice with intransitive verbs.

🔹 Lesson 3: Relative Clauses

Overview: Master the art of modifying nouns using entire sentences, treating the relative clause as a 'long label' attached to the antecedent. Focus on the function of relative pronouns as connecting hooks.

Learning Outcomes:

• Use relative pronouns (Who, Which, That) as grammatical 'hooks' to link clauses.
• Construct complex sentences by merging simple statements using relative clauses.
• Identify the essential structural rule: a component (subject or object) must be missing inside the relative clause box.
• Correctly apply the possessive relative pronoun 'Whose' to show ownership.

🔹 Lesson 4: Nominal Clauses

Overview: Analyze how complete sentences are 'packaged' into single units (The Box/Container) to function as subjects, objects, or complements within a larger sentence structure.

Learning Outcomes:

• Use cohesive devices (That, Whether/If, What) as 'Packagers' for embedding clauses.
• Correctly place nominal clauses in Subject and Object positions.
• Master the non-inversion rule for word order when embedding questions (e.g., 'who he is').
• Use the formal subject 'It' to manage long subject clauses.
• Identify and differentiate the role of the Appositive clause ('The news that we won').

🔹 Lesson 5: Non-finite Verbs

Overview: Examine how verbs undergo morphological change (Gerunds, Infinitives, Participles) to act as different parts of speech, utilizing the 'Shapeshifter Potion' metaphor to understand their functional diversity.

Learning Outcomes:

• Differentiate the roles of Gerunds (as nouns) and Infinitives (as nouns or adverbs of purpose).
• Master key verb patterns and collocations (e.g., Enjoy + Doing; Decide + To Do).
• Use Present and Past Participles effectively as adjectives or adverbial modifiers (e.g., Seeing the police, he ran).
• Distinguish subtle meaning differences between 'V-ing' and 'To V' structures (e.g., Stop doing vs. Stop to do).

🔹 Lesson 6: The Subjunctive Mood

Overview: Introduce the Subjunctive Mood, used to express conditions contrary to fact (The Parallel World). Focus on the ‘Time Rollback Rule’ where reality is shifted back one tense to indicate hypothetical distance.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand the necessity of using the Subjunctive Mood to express non-real or hypothetical scenarios.
• Apply the 'Time Rollback Rule': Present counterfactuals use the past simple (Were/Did); Past counterfactuals use the past perfect (Had done).
• Construct counterfactual sentences using appropriate modal verbs (Would/Could/Might).
• Master complex structures expressing past regret (If I had done, I would have done).
• Use the Subjunctive Mood effectively with verbs like 'Wish'.

🔹 Lesson 7: Advanced Perfect Tenses

Overview: Gain advanced control over relative time using the Past Perfect and Future Perfect tenses. This lesson uses 'Double-Point Positioning' on the timeline to sequence events precisely.

Learning Outcomes:

• Master the sequencing of two past events using the Past Perfect (Had done) to mark the earlier action.
• Identify and correctly apply the necessary past reference point for the Past Perfect tense.
• Construct sentences using the Future Perfect Tense (Will have done) to look back from a point in the future.
• Integrate various tenses (Simple Past, Present Perfect, Past Perfect) into a single complex timeline structure.
• Utilize time phrases like 'By the time' as precise sequencing triggers.