English Grammar: Sentence Structure and Phrase Construction

A sentence consists of a subject, verb, and sometimes an object.
Basic sentence structures:
- Simple sentence: one independent clause
- Compound sentence: two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction
- Complex sentence: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
- Compound-complex sentence: two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

Verb tenses indicate when an action takes place.
Main verb tenses:
- Present tense: action happens now (e.g. "I am studying")
- Past tense: action happened in the past (e.g. "I studied")
- Future tense: action will happen in the future (e.g. "I will study")
Aspect:
- Simple aspect: action is complete (e.g. "I ate")
- Progressive aspect: action is ongoing (e.g. "I am eating")
- Perfect aspect: action started in the past and continues up to the present (e.g. "I have eaten")
- Perfect continuous aspect: action started in the past and continues up to the present (e.g. "I have been eating")

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.
Independent clause: has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a complete sentence
Dependent clause: has a subject and a predicate but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence
Types of dependent clauses:
- Noun clause: functions as a noun (e.g. "what I said")
- Adjective clause: functions as an adjective (e.g. "which is on the table")
- Adverb clause: functions as an adverb (e.g. "because I was tired")

Adjectives describe or modify nouns or pronouns.
Types of adjectives:
- Quantitative adjectives: describe quantity (e.g. "five", "many")
- Qualitative adjectives: describe quality (e.g. "happy", "big")
- Demonstrative adjectives: point out which noun is being referred to (e.g. "this", "that")
- Possessive adjectives: show ownership (e.g. "my", "her")
Adjective order: typically follows the order of opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material (e.g. "a beautiful old round green Italian car")

A sentence has three components: subject, verb, and sometimes an object.
There are four basic sentence structures:
- Simple sentence: one independent clause.
- Compound sentence: two or more independent clauses joined by a conjunction.
- Complex sentence: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses.
- Compound-complex sentence: two or more independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses.

Verb tenses indicate when an action takes place.
There are three main verb tenses:
- Present tense: action happens now (e.g. "I am studying").
- Past tense: action happened in the past (e.g. "I studied").
- Future tense: action will happen in the future (e.g. "I will study").
There are four aspects of verb tenses:
- Simple aspect: action is complete (e.g. "I ate").
- Progressive aspect: action is ongoing (e.g. "I am eating").
- Perfect aspect: action started in the past and continues up to the present (e.g. "I have eaten").
- Perfect continuous aspect: action started in the past and continues up to the present (e.g. "I have been eating").

A clause is a group of words that contains a subject and a predicate.
There are two types of clauses:
- Independent clause: has a subject and a predicate and can stand alone as a complete sentence.
- Dependent clause: has a subject and a predicate but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence.
There are three types of dependent clauses:
- Noun clause: functions as a noun (e.g. "what I said").
- Adjective clause: functions as an adjective (e.g. "which is on the table").
- Adverb clause: functions as an adverb (e.g. "because I was tired").

Adjectives describe or modify nouns or pronouns.
There are four types of adjectives:
- Quantitative adjectives: describe quantity (e.g. "five", "many").
- Qualitative adjectives: describe quality (e.g. "happy", "big").
- Demonstrative adjectives: point out which noun is being referred to (e.g. "this", "that").
- Possessive adjectives: show ownership (e.g. "my", "her").
Adjectives follow a specific order: opinion, size, age, shape, color, origin, material (e.g. "a beautiful old round green Italian car").