Table of Contents
- Introduction: Take Your Grammar Beyond Advanced
- Course Video Overview
- Who This Advanced Grammar Course Is For
- What You Will Learn in Master Advanced Grammar – Part 2
- Course Structure & Teaching Style
- Types of Verbs, Nouns & Adjectives
- Advanced Phrases & Clauses
- Tenses & the Four Aspects
- Infinitives, Gerunds, Participles & Passive Forms
- Modal, Performative & Other Special Verb Types
- Prepositions & Complex Prepositional Phrases
- Articles & Quantifiers
- Conjunctions, Noun Clauses & Subordination
- Adjective Patterns, Adverb-Verb Collocations & Noun Phrases
- Parallelism in Advanced English
- Sample Advanced Grammar Examples
- Practice Exercises
- Summary
- Next Step: Level Up with LangAdvance
Introduction: Take Your Grammar Beyond Advanced
You’ve already studied advanced grammar, but you still feel there are “hidden layers” in English: complex phrases, subtle verb
types, unusual clause patterns, and tricky prepositions that native speakers use naturally. If that sounds familiar,
“Master Advanced Grammar – Part 2” is designed for you.
This course is the sequel to Master English Grammar – Advanced Level and is taught by an experienced British TEFL
teacher with more than 20 years of classroom experience. It goes deeper into the grammar that advanced learners need to fully
understand academic texts, literature, professional writing, and high-level exams.
In this guide, you’ll see a detailed breakdown of what the course covers: from absolute phrases and complex clauses to
performative verbs, complex prepositions, advanced article use, parallelism, and adverb-verb collocations. You’ll also find
clear explanations, sample sentences, and practice ideas you can use alongside the video lessons.
Course Video Overview
Watch the video introduction to the course here:
Who This Advanced Grammar Course Is For
This course is ideal for:
- Intermediate to advanced learners of English as a foreign or second language.
- Students who have already completed Master English Grammar – Advanced Level (Part 1).
- Learners who want to understand the technical grammar terms used in textbooks and exam explanations.
- Teachers, writers, and serious students who want to analyse grammar in literature and academic texts.
You should already be comfortable with major tenses, basic passive forms, simple and complex sentences, and common modal verbs
before you start this sequel.
What You Will Learn in Master Advanced Grammar – Part 2
By the end of the course, you will be able to:
- Identify and use advanced phrase types (absolute phrases, appositives, adjectival phrases, prepositional phrases).
- Understand and employ relative, adverbial, noun, main and subordinate clauses in complex sentences.
- Use all four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect, perfect continuous) across tenses, gerunds, infinitives, and modals.
- Work confidently with modal verbs, performative verbs, copular verbs, ergative verbs and more.
- Control definite, indefinite and zero article usage in advanced contexts.
- Use prepositions of space and time, two-word and complex prepositions accurately.
- Link ideas with coordinating, subordinating and correlative conjunctions plus conjunctive adverbs.
- Apply parallel structure to make your writing elegant and clear.
- Distinguish gradable vs ungradable adjectives and master adjective patterns and positions.
- Expand your fluency with adverb–verb collocations, compound nouns and possessive noun phrases.
Course Structure & Teaching Style
The course includes 10 sections, 49 lectures, and over 17 hours of on-demand video.
Each topic comes with a quiz so you can test and track your understanding. The teacher:
- Explains grammar concepts clearly using a whiteboard and practical examples.
- Uses sentences from literature to show how advanced grammar works in real texts.
- Encourages you to suggest new topics via Q&A, which may become future lessons.
- Answers questions within 24 hours so you can fix problems quickly.
Types of Verbs, Nouns & Adjectives
The course starts with fundamentals: a detailed analysis of types of verb, noun, and adjective. This gives you
the vocabulary you need to talk about grammar accurately.
Types of Verb
You review and extend your knowledge of verb categories, including:
- Auxiliary verbs (be, do, have).
- Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, should, etc.).
- Copular verbs (be, seem, become) that link the subject to a complement.
- Performative verbs (promise, apologise, recommend) that perform an action by being said.
- Ergative verbs that can be transitive or intransitive with similar meaning:
“I opened the door.” / “The door opened.”
Types of Noun & Adjective
You also explore:
- Concrete vs abstract nouns, countable vs uncountable nouns, collective nouns.
- Gradable vs ungradable adjectives (very cold vs absolutely freezing).
- Adjective position and patterns (e.g. afraid of, interested in).
Advanced Phrases & Clauses
A major part of this course is understanding how phrases and clauses work together to form elegant, complex sentences.
Types of Phrase
- Absolute phrases – free modifiers giving extra information:
“The weather being terrible, we decided to stay inside.”
- Participle phrases – often used to add detail:
“Walking along the beach, she found a strange shell.”
- Appositive phrases – renaming a noun:
“My brother, a talented musician, lives in London.”
- Prepositional and adjectival phrases – adding location, time, or description:
“The book on the table belongs to Anna.”
Types of Clause
- Main (independent) clauses – can stand alone.
- Subordinate clauses – depend on a main clause:
“Although it was late, we continued working.”
- Relative clauses:
“The man who lives next door is a doctor.”
- Adverbial clauses (time, reason, contrast, condition, result).
- Noun clauses used as subjects, objects, complements:
“What you said was true.”
Tenses & the Four Aspects
You revisit English tenses at an advanced level, focusing on three time frames (present, past, future) and
four aspects (simple, continuous, perfect simple, perfect continuous).
Four Aspects – Quick Overview
- Simple – facts, habits, completed actions:
“She writes articles.” / “She wrote an article yesterday.”
- Continuous – actions in progress:
“She is writing now.”
- Perfect – connection with a later time:
“She has written three articles today.”
- Perfect continuous – focus on duration:
“She has been writing all morning.”
You practice these aspects across present, past and future, and then apply them to infinitives, gerunds, and passive forms.
Infinitives, Gerunds, Participles & Passive Forms
The course then explores how aspect works beyond standard tenses, including:
To-Infinitives in the Four Aspects
- Simple: “to write”
- Continuous: “to be writing”
- Perfect: “to have written”
- Perfect continuous: “to have been writing”
These structures appear in advanced sentences such as:
- “She pretended to have forgotten his name.”
- “They claim to have been working on the project for months.”
Gerunds & Participles in 2 or 3 Aspects
- “Having finished the report, he sent it to his manager.”
- “Being interrupted constantly, she lost her concentration.”
Passive Forms (Advanced)
You deepen your understanding of the passive voice, including:
- “The project is being reviewed by the committee.”
- “The decision has been made already.”
- “The results will have been published by next week.”
Modal, Performative & Other Special Verb Types
Several lessons focus on performative verbs (e.g. apologise, promise), complex modal verbs,
and the subtle meanings they can express.
Performative Verbs
These verbs perform an action at the moment of speaking:
- “I apologise for the confusion.”
- “I promise I’ll be on time tomorrow.”
- “I recommend that we delay the launch.”
Complex Modals
You work with layered meanings such as:
- Past obligation/criticism: “You should have called me earlier.”
- Past possibility: “He might have forgotten the meeting.”
- Speculation: “They must have been working all night.”
Prepositions & Complex Prepositional Phrases
Prepositions are a major source of errors, even at advanced level. This course dedicates multiple lessons to:
- Prepositions of space: in, on, at, over, above, below, among, between…
- Prepositions of time: in, on, at, during, by, until, throughout…
- Two-word & complex prepositions: in front of, in spite of, by means of, in accordance with, in the case of…
Example:
- “In spite of the rain, the event continued.”
- “In the case of an emergency, follow the instructions given.”
Articles & Quantifiers
At advanced level, article use (a/an, the, zero article) becomes more complex, especially with abstract nouns, generalisations,
and academic language.
Articles
- “The environment is a global concern.” (specific concept)
- “Environment plays a crucial role in our health.” (zero article, general)
- “He is a doctor.” vs. “He is the doctor we spoke to.”
Quantifiers
- much / many / a lot of / plenty of
- few / a few / little / a little
- some / any / several / a number of
Example:
- “Few students understood the concept.” (almost none)
- “A few students understood the concept.” (some, a small number)
Conjunctions, Noun Clauses & Subordination
You study different conjunctions and learn how they create relationships between clauses:
Types of Conjunction
- Coordinating: and, but, or, so, yet, for, nor.
- Subordinating: although, because, while, if, unless, since, whereas, etc.
- Correlative: either…or, neither…nor, both…and, not only…but also.
- Conjunctive adverbs: however, therefore, moreover, nevertheless, consequently.
Noun Clauses
Noun clauses can be used as subjects, objects, or complements:
- “What she said surprised everyone.” (subject)
- “I don’t know why he left early.” (object)
- “The problem is that we don’t have enough data.” (complement)
Adjective Patterns, Adverb-Verb Collocations & Noun Phrases
Later sections focus on refining your vocabulary and sentence rhythm through adjective patterns, collocations, and possessive structures.
Adjective Position & Patterns
- Attributive: “a talented young musician.”
- Predicative: “The results are disappointing.”
- Pattern: “afraid of”, “interested in”, “responsible for”.
Adverb–Verb Collocations
These are common and natural combinations like:
- strongly recommend, fully understand, deeply regret, highly appreciate.
- closely examine, seriously consider, greatly improve, rapidly increase.
Compound Nouns & Possessive Noun Phrases
- Compound nouns: traffic jam, data analysis, language learner, customer service.
- Possessive patterns:
“the company’s strategy” vs “the strategy of the company”.
Parallelism in Advanced English
Parallelism means using the same grammatical structure in a series. It makes your writing clearer, more
balanced, and more elegant.
Examples:
- Not parallel: “She likes reading, to swim, and going for walks.”
- Parallel: “She likes reading, swimming, and going for walks.”
- “Our goals are to improve customer satisfaction, to reduce costs, and to expand into new markets.”
Sample Advanced Grammar Examples
Example 1 – Complex Sentence with Multiple Clauses
“Although the data had been collected over several years, the researchers were still unsure
whether the results were reliable, which made them reluctant to publish their findings.”
- Subordinating conjunction: although
- Past perfect passive: had been collected
- Noun clause: whether the results were reliable
- Relative clause: which made them reluctant…
Example 2 – Absolute Phrase & Complex Preposition
“The meeting having finished, the team discussed their concerns in the light of the new
regulations.”
Example 3 – Parallelism & Adverb–Verb Collocations
“We carefully analysed the results, thoroughly reviewed the literature, and
systematically compared the different approaches.”
Practice Exercises
Exercise 1 – Identify the Phrase
Underline the absolute phrase in this sentence:
“The sun having set, we decided to return to the village.”
Exercise 2 – Improve Parallelism
Make this sentence parallel:
“The course helps you understand grammar, to avoid common mistakes, and improving your writing.”
Exercise 3 – Choose the Correct Article
Complete with a, the, or zero article (-):
- ___ English language can be challenging at advanced level.
- She is ___ expert in complex prepositions.
- ___ grammar is easier when you see clear examples.
Exercise 4 – Create a Complex Sentence
Write one sentence that includes:
- a subordinating conjunction (e.g. although, because, while)
- a relative clause
- a complex preposition (e.g. in spite of, in the case of, in front of)
Summary
Master Advanced Grammar – Part 2 is a deep dive into the structures that separate strong advanced learners
from truly expert users of English. By focusing on phrase and clause types, tense and aspect systems, special verb types,
complex prepositions, articles, conjunctions, adverb–verb collocations, and parallelism, this course gives you the tools to
read, analyse, and produce high-level English with confidence.
If you combine this course with active speaking and writing practice, you will notice a big difference in the way you
understand books, lectures, and professional texts – and in the way you express your own ideas.
Next Step: Level Up with LangAdvance
Want to turn advanced grammar knowledge into real-life fluency? At LangAdvance, you can:
- Follow structured courses that combine grammar, writing, and speaking practice.
- Download advanced grammar cheat sheets and practice worksheets.
- Use long-form explanations like this together with video lessons and interactive quizzes.
Keep challenging yourself with complex sentences, detailed texts, and precise grammar. With consistent practice,
you won’t just know advanced grammar—you’ll control it.
