Year after year

• Grammar is the set of structural rules governing the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language.
• It encompasses morphology (formation of words), syntax (arrangement of words), and sometimes also phonology (speech sounds) and semantics (meaning).
• Descriptive grammar describes how language is actually used, without judging it as correct or incorrect.
• Prescriptive grammar prescribes how language should be used according to a set of rules.

Parts of Speech

• Nouns: Words that represent people, places, things, or ideas (e.g., dog, city, freedom).
• Pronouns: Words that replace nouns to avoid repetition (e.g., he, she, it, they).
• Verbs: Words that express actions or states of being (e.g., run, is, become).
• Adjectives: Words that describe nouns (e.g., red, tall, beautiful).
• Adverbs: Words that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., quickly, very, gently).
• Prepositions: Words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other words in a sentence (e.g., on, in, at, to, from).
• Conjunctions: Words that connect words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., and, but, or, because).
• Interjections: Words that express sudden emotion (e.g., Wow! Ouch! Help!).

Sentence Structure

• A sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought.
• Subject: The noun or pronoun that performs the action of the verb.
• Predicate: The part of the sentence that contains the verb and says something about the subject.
• Independent Clause: A clause that can stand alone as a sentence because it expresses a complete thought.
• Dependent Clause: A clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it does not express a complete thought.
• Simple Sentence: Contains one independent clause.
• Compound Sentence: Contains two or more independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction or semicolon.
• Complex Sentence: Contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
• Compound-Complex Sentence: Contains two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Verb Tenses

• Simple Present: Used for habits, general truths, and facts (e.g., I eat breakfast every day).
• Simple Past: Used for actions completed in the past (e.g., I ate breakfast yesterday).
• Simple Future: Used for actions that will happen in the future (e.g., I will eat breakfast tomorrow).
• Present Continuous: Used for actions happening now or around now (e.g., I am eating breakfast).
• Past Continuous: Used for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past (e.g., I was eating breakfast when you called).
• Future Continuous: Used for actions that will be in progress at a specific time in the future (e.g., I will be eating breakfast at 8 am tomorrow).
• Present Perfect: Used for actions that started in the past and continue to the present or have a result in the present (e.g., I have eaten breakfast).
• Past Perfect: Used for actions that were completed before another action in the past (e.g., I had eaten breakfast before you arrived).
• Future Perfect: Used for actions that will be completed before a specific time in the future (e.g., I will have eaten breakfast by 9 am tomorrow).
• Present Perfect Continuous: Used for actions that started in the past and are still continuing (e.g., I have been eating breakfast for an hour).
• Past Perfect Continuous: Used for actions that were in progress before another action in the past (e.g., I had been eating breakfast for an hour when you arrived).
• Future Perfect Continuous: Used for actions that will be in progress before a specific time in the future (e.g., I will have been eating breakfast for an hour by the time you arrive).

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects take singular verbs (e.g., He runs).
• Plural subjects take plural verbs (e.g., They run).
• Collective nouns (e.g., team, family) can be singular or plural depending on whether they are acting as a unit or as individuals.
• Indefinite pronouns (e.g., everyone, someone, nobody) can be singular or plural depending on the context.

Punctuation

• Period (.): Used to end declarative sentences.
• Question Mark (?): Used to end interrogative sentences.
• Exclamation Point (!): Used to end sentences that express strong emotion.
• Comma (,): Used to separate items in a list, to join independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction, and to set off introductory phrases or clauses.
• Semicolon (;): Used to join two closely related independent clauses.
• Colon (:): Used to introduce a list, explanation, or example.
• Apostrophe ('): Used to indicate possession or to form contractions.
• Quotation Marks (" "): Used to enclose direct quotations.

Common Grammatical Errors

• Subject-verb agreement errors: Ensure the verb agrees in number with its subject.
• Pronoun agreement errors: Ensure pronouns agree in number and gender with their antecedents.
• Misplaced modifiers: Place modifiers as close as possible to the words they modify.
• Dangling modifiers: Make sure the word being modified is actually present in the sentence
• Incorrect tense usage: Use the correct verb tense to convey the intended time frame.
• Comma splices: Avoid joining two independent clauses with only a comma.
• Run-on sentences: Avoid combining independent clauses without proper punctuation or conjunctions.
• Fragments: Make sure every sentence has an independent clause.
• Lack of Parallelism: Ensure elements in a list or comparison have the same grammatical structure.

Noun Types

• Common Nouns: General names for people, places, things, or ideas (e.g., dog, city, happiness).
• Proper Nouns: Specific names for people, places, things, or ideas; always capitalized (e.g., Fido, Paris, Christmas).
• Concrete Nouns: Nouns that can be perceived through the senses (e.g., table, flower, music).
• Abstract Nouns: Nouns that represent ideas, concepts, or qualities (e.g., love, freedom, justice).
• Countable Nouns: Nouns that can be counted and have a plural form (e.g., book, chair, person).
• Uncountable Nouns: Nouns that cannot be counted and do not typically have a plural form (e.g., water, sand, information).
• Collective Nouns: Nouns that refer to a group of things or people as a single unit (e.g., team, family, committee).

Pronoun Types

• Personal Pronouns: Refer to specific people or things (e.g., I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them).
• Possessive Pronouns: Show ownership (e.g., mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs).
• Reflexive Pronouns: Refer back to the subject of the sentence (e.g., myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves).
• Intensive Pronouns: Emphasize a noun or pronoun (e.g., myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves).
• Demonstrative Pronouns: Point out specific people or things (e.g., this, that, these, those).
• Interrogative Pronouns: Used to ask questions (e.g., who, whom, what, which, whose).
• Relative Pronouns: Introduce dependent clauses (e.g., who, whom, which, that, whose).
• Indefinite Pronouns: Refer to nonspecific people or things (e.g., everyone, someone, anyone, no one, everybody, somebody, anybody, nobody, everything, something, anything, nothing).

Adjective Types

• Descriptive Adjectives: Describe the qualities of a noun (e.g., red, tall, beautiful).
• Quantitative Adjectives: Indicate quantity (e.g., one, few, many, some).
• Demonstrative Adjectives: Point out specific nouns (e.g., this, that, these, those).
• Possessive Adjectives: Show ownership (e.g., my, your, his, her, its, our, their).
• Interrogative Adjectives: Used in questions (e.g., which, what, whose).
• Proper Adjectives: Derived from proper nouns (e.g., American, French, Shakespearean).
• Compound Adjectives: Made up of two or more words (e.g., well-known, short-term, English-speaking).

Adverb Types

• Adverbs of Manner: Describe how an action is performed (e.g., quickly, slowly, carefully).
• Adverbs of Time: Indicate when an action occurs (e.g., now, then, later, soon, yesterday, tomorrow).
• Adverbs of Place: Indicate where an action occurs (e.g., here, there, everywhere, nowhere, inside, outside).
• Adverbs of Degree: Indicate the intensity of an action, adjective, or adverb (e.g., very, extremely, quite, somewhat, too).
• Adverbs of Frequency: Indicate how often an action occurs (e.g., always, often, sometimes, rarely, never).
• Conjunctive Adverbs: Connect independent clauses (e.g., however, therefore, moreover, consequently, furthermore).

Preposition Types

• Simple Prepositions: Consist of one word (e.g., on, in, at, to, from, with, by).
• Compound Prepositions: Consist of two or more words (e.g., according to, because of, in front of, in spite of).

Conjunction Types

• Coordinating Conjunctions: Connect words, phrases, or independent clauses of equal rank (e.g., and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet).
• Subordinating Conjunctions: Introduce dependent clauses (e.g., because, although, if, since, when, while, unless).
• Correlative Conjunctions: Pairs of conjunctions that connect words, phrases, or clauses of equal rank (e.g., either/or, neither/nor, not only/but also, both/and).

Phrases

• Noun Phrase: A phrase built around a noun (e.g., the big red ball).
• Verb Phrase: A phrase built around a verb (e.g., is running quickly).
• Adjective Phrase: A phrase built around an adjective (e.g., very beautiful).
• Adverb Phrase: A phrase built around an adverb (e.g., more quickly than ever).
• Prepositional Phrase: A phrase beginning with a preposition (e.g., on the table, in the garden).
• Gerund Phrase: A phrase beginning with a gerund (verb ending in -ing used as a noun) e.g., Reading books is fun.
• Infinitive Phrase: A phrase beginning with an infinitive (to + verb) e.g., To err is human.
• Appositive Phrase: A phrase that renames or describes a noun e.g., My brother, a doctor, is very kind.

Clauses

• Independent Clause: Expresses a complete thought and can stand alone as a sentence.
• Dependent Clause (Subordinate Clause): Does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence.
• Noun Clause: Functions as a noun in a sentence.
• Adjective Clause (Relative Clause): Modifies a noun or pronoun.
• Adverb Clause: Modifies a verb, adjective, or adverb.