May 20, 2024

[Colm Boyd](https://blog.duolingo.com/author/colm/)

# 4 English grammar hacks for easier conversations

Use these hacks to work around tricky English grammar rules!

Every language learner has been there: you’re trying to communicate an idea but suddenly get distracted by whether you’re using the right grammar. You pause, your listener awaits, but now you’re flustered 😖

But wait: You can simplify 🙌 There are tricks you can use to avoid complex structures when a simpler phrase will do.

Here are four ways to hack your English grammar and speak confidently right now!

## Hack #1: _right_

English tag questions are definitely worth hacking. Tags are phrases like _…don’t you?_ or _…is it?_ that appear at the end of sentences to verify information. They’re both useful and common, but the [rules are complex](https://blog.duolingo.com/what-are-tag-questions/)!

But there’s a workaround that allows you to make a tag question with very little effort: the wonderful word right. By adding _right_ to the end of a sentence and pronouncing it like an English question, by raising your voice at the end, you can add a tag question to any affirmative statement:

- Your sister is a doctor, right?
- Zari likes romance novels, right?
- They’ve been to Thailand before, right?

And unlike other English tag questions, you don’t need to worry about making _…right?_ agree with the preceding verb: _…right?_ is always right!

## Hack #2: _a lot of_

Another challenge of English grammar is when to use _much_ or _many_. For example, in English you say _I didn’t buy **much** bread_ but _I didn’t buy **many** things_.

The difference is whether the noun (like _bread_ or _things_) can be counted individually, but it takes practice to think of that on the spot, when you’re trying to speak at a natural pace! But that’s where Hack #2 comes in 👀 The phrase a lot of can be used with any type of noun, countable or not!

- They didn’t ask a lot of questions.
- Bea has a lot of work this week.
- Did Junior eat a lot of chips?

Another bonus is that _a lot of_ works in all structures, whether affirmative, negative, or questions. It can truly fit any role. (Think of it as the Meryl Streep of the grammatical world!)

## Hack #3: _please_

English learners have to study many (*a lot of*) expressions for making friendly requests. At the coffee shop, you might say _**Can I get** a large coffee, please?_ or _**Could you give me** another napkin, please?_

But it’s not always necessary to use complete structures in casual conversations. That’s why the third hack is the simple word please. Spoken with a smile, _please_ can make shorter phrases sound polite:

- Hi! A large coffee, please!
- Another bag, please!

For more complicated requests, a longer phrase might be more appropriate, but in simpler cases, a pretty _please_ is all you need.

## Hack #4: _really_

English can be weird: We can say that a building is _very big_ but not that it’s _totally big_. Likewise, we can say that a building is _totally enormous_, but we can’t say that it’s _very enormous_.

The reason for this is whether the adjective is about a “normal” quality (like _big_) or about an “extreme” quality (like _enormous_). That’s a subtle distinction when you are having a conversation in the language you’re learning. Hack #4 to the rescue!

When in doubt, go for the ever-correct adverb really. It works before all kinds of adjectives, and it pretty much always sounds natural:

- That’s a really big building.
- Wow, that building is really enormous!
- Vikram’s sandwich looks really good.
- Oscar’s pasta looks really amazing!

## Hack your way to English proficiency!

If your goal is to feel _really_ comfortable with _a lot of_ English grammar points, try out these hacks to help your conversation flow!