English Grammar: Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

• Grammar is the study of words and how they combine into sentences, describing how they create meaning.

Parts of Speech

• Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas (e.g., John, city, book, freedom).
• Pronouns replace nouns (e.g., he, she, it, they, we, you, I).
• Verbs show action or state of being (e.g., run, is, are, was, were).
• Adjectives describe nouns (e.g., big, blue, happy).
• Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs (e.g., quickly, very, well).
• Prepositions show relationships between nouns/pronouns and other words (e.g., on, in, at, to, from).
• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses (e.g., and, but, or, so, because).
• Interjections express strong emotion (e.g., Wow! Ouch! Help!).

Sentence Structure

• Subject: A noun or pronoun that performs the verb's action.
• Predicate: The part of the sentence with the verb, telling about the subject.
• Object: A noun or pronoun that receives the verb's action; direct objects receive it directly, indirect objects receive the direct object.
• Complement: A word or phrase completing the meaning of a subject or object.

Types of Sentences

• Simple: One independent clause (e.g., The cat sat on the mat.).
• Compound: Two or more independent clauses with a coordinating conjunction (e.g., and, but, or) or semicolon (e.g., The cat sat on the mat, and the dog barked.).
• Complex: One independent and one or more dependent clauses (e.g., Because it was raining, the cat sat on the mat.).
• Compound-Complex: Two or more independent and one or more dependent clauses (e.g., Because it was raining, the cat sat on the mat, and the dog barked loudly.).

Phrases and Clauses

• Phrase: A word group without a subject and verb.
• Clause: A word group with a subject and verb.
• Independent Clause: Can stand alone as a sentence.
• Dependent Clause: Cannot stand alone and needs an independent clause.

Verb Tenses

• Present: Action happening now or regularly (e.g., I walk).
• Past: Action happened in the past (e.g., I walked).
• Future: Action will happen in the future (e.g., I will walk).
• Perfect: Indicates completed actions (e.g., I have walked, I had walked, I will have walked).
• Progressive: Indicates ongoing actions (e.g., I am walking, I was walking, I will be walking).

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Singular subjects take singular verbs (e.g., He walks).
• Plural subjects take plural verbs (e.g., They walk).
• Collective nouns (e.g., team, family) take singular verbs for the group as a whole, plural for individual members.
• Indefinite pronouns (e.g., everyone, someone, nobody) typically take singular verbs.

Pronoun Agreement

• Pronouns must agree in number and gender with their antecedents (the nouns they refer to) (e.g., The dog wagged its tail.).

Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

• Misplaced Modifier: Incorrect placement causes confusion (e.g., I saw a dog running down the street with brown fur [incorrect]; Running down the street, I saw a dog with brown fur [correct]).
• Dangling Modifier: No clear word to modify (e.g., After finishing the homework, the TV was turned on [incorrect]; After finishing the homework, I turned on the TV [correct]).

Active and Passive Voice

• Active: Subject performs the action (e.g., The dog chased the ball.).
• Passive: Subject receives the action (e.g., The ball was chased by the dog.). Use active voice for clarity and directness. Use passive when the actor is unknown or unimportant.

Punctuation

• Period (.): Ends declarative sentences.
• Question Mark (?): Ends interrogative sentences.
• Exclamation Point (!): Ends exclamatory sentences.
• Comma (,): Separates list items, joins independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions, sets off introductory phrases/clauses.
• Semicolon (;): Joins two closely related independent clauses.
• Colon (:): Introduces a list, explanation, or example.
• Apostrophe ('): Indicates possession or contraction.
• Quotation Marks (" "): Enclose direct quotations.
• Hyphen (-): Joins words or parts of words.
• Dash (—): Indicates a break in thought or sets off a parenthetical element.
• Parentheses ( ): Enclose additional information.
• Brackets [ ]: Enclose clarifying information or editorial comments within quotations.

Common Grammatical Errors

• Subject-Verb Disagreement: Verb doesn't agree in number with the subject.
• Pronoun-Antecedent Disagreement: Pronoun doesn't agree in number or gender with its antecedent.
• Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers: Modifiers aren't clearly connected to what they modify.
• Incorrect Verb Tense: Using the wrong verb tense.
• Incorrect Pronoun Case: Using the wrong pronoun form (e.g., I vs. me).
• Comma Splices: Joining two independent clauses with just a comma.
• Run-on Sentences: Two independent clauses without proper punctuation/conjunction.
• Sentence Fragments: Incomplete sentences, not expressing a complete thought.
• Lack of Parallelism: Items in a list aren't in the same grammatical form.

Capitalization Rules

• Capitalize the first word of a sentence.
• Capitalize proper nouns (names of people, places, and things).
• Capitalize important words in titles.
• Capitalize the first word in a direct quotation.
• Capitalize days of the week, months, and holidays.
• Capitalize geographical regions and landmarks.

Parts of Speech in Detail

• Nouns: Common (e.g., dog, city) or proper (e.g., Fido, London). Proper nouns are capitalized.
• Pronouns: Personal (e.g., I, you, he, she, it, we, they), possessive (e.g., mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs), reflexive (e.g., myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves), or demonstrative (e.g., this, that, these, those).
• Verbs: Transitive (taking a direct object, e.g., I kicked the ball) or intransitive (not taking a direct object, e.g., I slept).
• Adjectives: Descriptive (e.g., tall, beautiful) or limiting (e.g., one, many). Articles (a, an, the) are also adjectives.
• Adverbs: Modify verbs (e.g., ran quickly), adjectives (e.g., very tall), or other adverbs (e.g., quite quickly); often end in -ly.
• Prepositions: Show the relationship between a noun/pronoun and other sentence parts (e.g., on the table, in the box, at the store).
• Conjunctions: Coordinating (joining equal elements, e.g., and, but, or), subordinating (joining unequal elements, e.g., because, although, if), or correlative (used in pairs, e.g., either/or, neither/nor).
• Interjections: Words/phrases expressing strong emotion, often with an exclamation point (e.g., Wow! Oh no!).

Sentence Types by Purpose

• Declarative: Makes a statement (e.g., The sky is blue.).
• Interrogative: Asks a question (e.g., Is the sky blue?).
• Imperative: Gives a command or request (e.g., Look at the sky.).
• Exclamatory: Expresses strong emotion (e.g., The sky is so blue!).

Avoiding Ambiguity

• Use clear and precise language.
• Avoid vague pronouns.
• Place modifiers carefully.
• Ensure correct pronoun reference.

Parallel Structure

• Use parallel structure when listing items or phrases to maintain consistency in grammatical form.
• Not Parallel Example: "I like hiking, to swim, and biking."
• Parallel Example: "I like hiking, swimming, and biking."

Formal vs. Informal Language

• Formal language is for academic/professional settings, using proper grammar and punctuation.
• Informal language is for casual conversation. Avoid slang/colloquialisms in formal writing.

Common Style Guides

• MLA (Modern Language Association): Used in humanities.
• APA (American Psychological Association): Used in social sciences.
• Chicago Manual of Style: Used in a variety of disciplines.

Active Reading for Grammar

• Pay attention to sentence structure.
• Identify parts of speech.
• Notice how punctuation marks are used.
• Analyze the choices in grammar and style.

Learn the fundamentals of English grammar. This includes parts of speech such as nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. Understand sentence structure covering subjects, predicates and objects.