English Grammar: Sentence Structure and Phrase Construction

Sentence Structure

• 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

Phrase Construction

• A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in a sentence.
• Types of phrases:
  • Noun phrase: functions as a noun (e.g. "the big red car")
  • Verb phrase: functions as a verb (e.g. "will have eaten")
  • Adjective phrase: functions as an adjective (e.g. "very happy")
  • Adverb phrase: functions as an adverb (e.g. "very quickly")
  • Prepositional phrase: begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (e.g. "in the box")

Verb Tenses

• 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")

Clause Formation

• 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")

Adjective Usage

• 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")

Sentence Structure

• 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.

Phrase Construction

• A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit in a sentence.
• There are five types of phrases:
  • Noun phrase: functions as a noun (e.g. "the big red car").
  • Verb phrase: functions as a verb (e.g. "will have eaten").
  • Adjective phrase: functions as an adjective (e.g. "very happy").
  • Adverb phrase: functions as an adverb (e.g. "very quickly").
  • Prepositional phrase: begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (e.g. "in the box").

Verb Tenses

• 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").

Clause Formation

• 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").

Adjective Usage

• 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").