The Grammar Answer Key

The Grammar Answer Key is a collection of 100 questions submitted by ESL teachers--both novice and experienced and both native and non-native speakers--from many different countries around the world. The questions are real questions that ESL/EFL students have asked teachers about English and are similar to the Hot Seat Questions presented in Keys to Teaching Grammar to English Language Learners, 2nd ed. (Folse, 2016). 

The 100 questions are organized into 12 chapters on topics that teachers and students can relate to well: adjectives, articles, clauses, connectors, gerunds and infinitives, prepositions, pronouns, pronunciation, subject-verb agreement, suffixes, verbs, and vocabulary-grammar connections. The number of questions in each chapter ranges from 3 to 13 and is based on the questions submitted. Each chapter begins with a short overview of the topic that features key terminology and a chart explaining three common ESL errors. 

Each question is presented in a box and is followed by an "answer" that can inform instruction, often in chart format. Examples of questions are:

• How do you know if a word is an adjective?              
• Can I say the Monday or the January?
• Do you say  on July or in July?
• I received an email from someone that said “Greetings from my wife and I.” Is this right? Why?
• How do I know which way to pronounce the –ed at the end of a word?
• Which verb tenses are the most common in English? Which ones should I study?
• Why do you say turn on the light instead of turn the light?
• In my language, we have one word for make and do. In English, when should I use make and when should I use do? 

The book is the ideal teacher resource and professional development tool.