Stop Re-Learning the Same Grammar Rule Twice: Build a Searchable Grammar Note System
π Published June 2026 · ⏱ 5 min read · ✍️ SWYoon Labs
By the end of this post, you will have five searchable grammar memos living in your Chrome sidebar — organized by topic, ready in one click, and fast enough to check mid-sentence while you are writing an email or a message.
The tool is Simple Side Note, a free Chrome extension. The setup takes under ten minutes. After that, adding a new grammar rule takes about thirty seconds — right-click, type two lines, save.
What You Will Have When You Are Done
Five memos in your sidebar, each named after a grammar topic you actually struggle with. Every entry inside them follows the same three-line format — rule, example, your confusion. And a search bar at the top that finds any entry in under ten seconds by keyword.
The next time you wonder whether to write "I have been waiting" or "I was waiting" — instead of opening a new tab and re-searching, you type "present perfect" into your sidebar search and your own note comes up instantly.
Step 1: Install Simple Side Note and Create Your Five Memos
If you do not have it yet, install Simple Side Note from the Chrome Web Store — free, no account needed. Click the icon in your Chrome toolbar to open the sidebar.
Now create these five memos. Click New Memo for each one, and type the name exactly as shown — these names are what you will search later:
- Grammar — Tenses
- Grammar — Articles
- Grammar — Prepositions
- Grammar — Conditionals
- Grammar — Common Mistakes
These five cover the areas where English learners make the most repeated errors. You can rename them or add more later, but start here — an empty system you will actually use beats a perfect system you never finish setting up.
Step 2: Hit a Grammar Question → Ask AI Mode
The next time a grammar rule confuses you — while writing, reading, or studying — do not open a new tab. Open Google AI Mode in your current tab and type your question like this:
Two real examples of prompts that work well:
AI Mode responds in plain, conversational English — usually clearer than a grammar textbook, and tailored to your exact question.
Step 3: Right-Click the Best Line → Add to Memo
In the AI response, find the one sentence that explains the rule most clearly. Highlight it. Right-click and choose Add to Memo.
It appears in your Simple Side Note sidebar instantly — your AI Mode page does not close, does not refresh, does not move. Everything stays exactly where it was.
Now switch to the correct memo in the sidebar. If the rule is about articles, click on "Grammar — Articles." If it is about tenses, go to "Grammar — Tenses." Paste or type your captured line there.
Step 4: Add Two More Lines in Your Own Words
Under the captured rule, type two more lines. This is the step that makes the note yours — and the one most people skip.
Rule: Use "a" the first time you mention something. Use "the" once both speakers know what you mean.
Example: "I saw a dog. The dog was huge."
My mistake: I kept writing "the" too early. Fix: if it's new information, always start with "a."
The last line — "My mistake" — is the most valuable part. It records exactly where your brain went wrong, in your own words. That is the line you will read first the next time you open this note.
Click Save. Done. One grammar rule filed correctly in under a minute.
Step 5: Find Any Rule in 10 Seconds with Search
After a few weeks your memos will hold twenty, thirty, forty entries. Scrolling to find one becomes slow. This is when Simple Side Note's search feature (added in v1.0.4) becomes the most useful thing in your setup.
Click the search icon at the top of the sidebar. Type any keyword — "article," "the," "past perfect," anything. Matching entries highlight in real time across all your saved memos. Click the clear button to reset. That is it.
Because every entry starts with a bold title like "a vs the — first mention vs known," even a partial keyword surfaces the right note immediately. You never have to remember which memo you filed something in.
The Three-Line Format — and Why Each Line Matters
| Line | What to write | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Title (bold) | Rule name + topic keyword | Makes it searchable and scannable |
| Rule + Example | The AI explanation + one sentence | Quick reference when you are mid-task |
| My mistake | Where you went wrong + the fix | Turns a copied note into a personal one |
One More Habit: Monthly Export
Once a month, open each grammar memo and click Export. This saves it as an HTML file — readable in any browser on any device, no internet required.
Keep these monthly exports in a folder called "Grammar Reference." In six months you will have a personal grammar handbook built entirely from rules you actually encountered — far more useful than any off-the-shelf grammar book, because every entry in it came from a real mistake you made.
Final Thoughts
The learners who stop re-looking up the same rules are not the ones with better memory. They are the ones who built a place to put the answer the first time they found it — somewhere they can reach in under ten seconds, without leaving the page they are already on.
Five memos. Three lines per entry. One search bar. That is the whole system.
Simple Side Note — Free Chrome Extension
Your searchable grammar reference, always open in your Chrome sidebar. No account. No subscription.
π Install for Free on Chrome Web Store
Which grammar rule have you looked up more than three times? Leave it in the comments.
Tags: Blog, Simple Side Note, English Grammar, Grammar Notes, Chrome Extension, Google AI Mode, English Learning
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