Learning English as a second language (ESL) can be challenging and time consuming. Learning the grammar of the English language, particularly if your first language is not a derivative of Latin, such as Russian, Chinese, Farsi or Arabic, can be even more difficult. Grammar quizzes and activities that ask students to answer English grammar questions can help students see which grammar rules they're doing well with and which ones they need to focus on to understand further.

Verbs and Nouns
There are eight categories of words that make up the English language when it comes to grammar. Deriving questions for ESL students around these categories can help gauge which areas students have mastered and which ones they need to work on. Verbs and nouns are the most commonly used word types, and you can develop questions that ask students to identify verb tenses in a passage and to classify the list of verbs used in sentences into their two main categories, helping verbs and main verbs.

Use quizzes to ask students to explain why some nouns are countable and others are not; since ESL students are just learning the basics of English, use simple, common phrases like "How __ money do you have?" and "How __ apples are in the basket?" to help students learn to recognize that countable nouns are used with plural objects ("how many apples ...") and noncountable nouns are used with singular, noncountable objects ("how much money ...").

Adjectives and Adverbs
Use questions to discover whether students understand how adjectives and adverbs function. Help ESL students grasp when to use adverbs of frequency, for example, by first asking them to brainstorm what they like to do in their free time. Then have them write those things in sentences without any indication of how often they do them ("I wash my roommate's dishes"). Then ask them to add adverbs of frequency into their lists ("I always wash my roommate's dishes"). You can use similar techniques to create questions about determiners, adjective order, comparative adjectives and gradable adjectives. Create a list of words asking students to identify which ones are adverbs and what kind of adverbs they are (manner, place, time or degree).

Pronouns and Prepositions
Ask students to explain the difference between pronouns and prepositions and to speak as well as write sentences that contain both types of words. Help ESL students understand how to use basic pronouns by asking each of them to write a one-paragraph statement describing where they come from, where they live now, their families and the class. They should easily be able to use "I," "our" and "we" as well as other common pronouns in their explanations. Show them an example written in first person and then have them practice writing their own. You might also ask students to create lists of pronouns and prepositions. For beginning students, ask them to identify one-word prepositions; ask more advanced students to identify complex prepositions. Ask all students to separate a list of prepositions into their types of place and time.

Conjunctions and Interjections
Ask ESL students to identify the three basic forms that conjunctions are organized into (single word, compound and correlative). Test their understanding of the way conjunctions work in the English language by asking them to use each type in a sentence. Such questions will test not only their knowledge of conjunctions but of adverbs, verbs, nouns and the comprehensive English grammar rules as well. Test students' knowledge of interjections by asking them to use one in a sentence. Help ESL students understand that interjections are used to express emotion, which can make them a fun part of learning English. Have them write or speak about something they are passionate about, using common interjections. For fun, ask students to use interjections that start with each vowel in the English alphabet.