English grammar

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Communicating effectively

Introduction

What is grammar?

Grammar is a field of linguistics that comprises the rules of language. These rules are always changing and differ from area to area and from language to language.

Subfields of Grammar/Lingustics

There are multiple sub-fields of Grammar/Linguistics. These subfields include:

• Phonetics
• Phonology
• Morphology
• Syntax
• Semantics
• Pragmatics

The Grammar

Parts of Speech

There are nine different parts of speech.

• noun - a word that names a person, animal, place, or thing (examples: fireman, dog, church, computer, friendship)
• verb - a word that describes an action or state of existence (examples: run, jump, like, want, is)
• pronoun - a word that is used in place of a noun (examples: I, you, he, she, we, they)
• adjective - a word that describes a noun (examples: big, red, dark)
• adverb - a word that modifies a verb or adjective (when, where, how) (examples: quickly, yesterday, everywhere)
• preposition - a word that connects a noun or pronoun to a sentence (examples: on, at, by, as, after)
• conjunction - a word that links two words, phrases, or sentences (example: and, or, because)
• interjection - a word that conveys emotion (example: ahem!, egad!, ouch!, yahoo!)
• articles - a word that introduces a noun (example: a, an, the)

Subjects and Predicates

Simple Subject

A simple subject is a noun that tells who or what the sentence is about. Usually a simple subject is one word. Read the following example sentence: Bob jumped. In the sentence, Bob is the simple subject. Bob is the who or what of the sentence. Read the following example sentence: Bob the basketball star jumped three feet in the air. Bob is still the simple subject of the sentence.

Simple Predicate

The simple predicate is the verb or verb phrase. It tells what the subject did, is doing, or will do. Read the following example sentence: Bob jumped. In the sentence, jumped is the simple predicate. Jumped is the 'What did he do' of the sentence. Read the following example sentence: Bob the basketball star jumped three feet in the air. Jumped is still the simple predicate of the sentence.

Syntax, or Sentence Formation

Helping Verbs in the Past Tense

To obtain a clear understanding of the helping verb in the English past tense, we must review the simple past, since that is what we will use for our examples. The simple past includes sentences like 'Bob jumped' or 'Bob flew.' However, when we add a helping verb that does not change the actual tense, the main verb reverts to the infinitive.

Example: Bob jumped. Bob flew.

        Bob did jump.     Bob did fly.

Confusing words, Idioms, Colloquialisms, and Slang

• Situation / Position / Condition
• Animal idioms

See also

• Apostrophe misuse
• 150 English Grammar Pages

Go to the Department of English