Grammar Basics

Grammar

Parts of Speech:
- Nouns: persons, places, things, and ideas
- Verbs: actions, linkings, and helpers
- Adjectives: describe nouns and pronouns
- Adverbs: describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
- Pronouns: replace nouns in a sentence
- Prepositions: show relationships between words
- Conjunctions: connect words, phrases, and clauses
Tenses:
- Present: current action or state
- Past: completed action or state
- Future: upcoming action or state
- Perfect: completed action with a connection to the present
- Progressive: ongoing action
- Perfect Progressive: ongoing action with a connection to the present
Clauses:
- Independent: complete sentence
- Dependent: incomplete sentence
- Relative: introduces additional information
Sentence Structure:
- Simple: one independent clause
- Compound: two or more independent clauses
- Complex: one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses
- Compound-Complex: multiple independent clauses and one or more dependent clauses

Vocabulary

Word Types:
- Homophones: words with the same pronunciation but different meanings
- Homographs: words with the same spelling but different meanings
- Synonyms: words with similar meanings
- Antonyms: words with opposite meanings
Word Formation:
- Prefixes: added to the beginning of a word
- Suffixes: added to the end of a word
- Root Words: core meaning of a word
- Compounding: combining two or more words
Idiomatic Expressions:
- Phrasal Verbs: idiomatic expressions using verbs and prepositions
- Idioms: fixed expressions with a specific meaning
- Colloquialisms: informal expressions used in everyday conversation

Conversation

Communication Strategies:
- Active Listening: paying attention to the speaker
- Clarifying: asking for additional information
- Paraphrasing: restating the speaker's message
- Reflecting: showing understanding and empathy
Conversation Starters:
- Introductions: starting a conversation with a stranger
- Small Talk: discussing everyday topics
- Open-Ended Questions: encouraging the other person to share more
Turn-Taking:
- Initiating: starting a conversation
- Responding: reacting to the other person
- Maintaining: keeping the conversation going
- Closing: ending the conversation politely

Grammar

Parts of Speech:
- Nouns represent people, places, things, and ideas
- Verbs are classified into action verbs (e.g., run), linking verbs (e.g., be), and helping verbs (e.g., will)
- Adjectives describe nouns and pronouns, and can be comparative (e.g., bigger) or superlative (e.g., biggest)
- Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs, and can be comparative (e.g., faster) or superlative (e.g., fastest)
- Pronouns replace nouns in a sentence, including personal pronouns (e.g., I), possessive pronouns (e.g., mine), and reflexive pronouns (e.g., myself)
- Prepositions show relationships between words, such as location (e.g., in), direction (e.g., to), or time (e.g., at)
- Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses, including coordinating conjunctions (e.g., and) and subordinating conjunctions (e.g., because)
Tenses:
- Present tense describes current actions or states, using the base form of the verb
- Past tense describes completed actions or states, using the past form of the verb
- Future tense describes upcoming actions or states, using will + base form of the verb
- Perfect tense describes completed actions with a connection to the present, using has/have + past participle
- Progressive tense describes ongoing actions, using is/am/are + present participle
- Perfect progressive tense describes ongoing actions with a connection to the present, using has/have + been + present participle
Clauses:
- Independent clauses are complete sentences with a subject and predicate
- Dependent clauses are incomplete sentences that rely on an independent clause
- Relative clauses introduce additional information about a noun, using relative pronouns (e.g., who, which)

Vocabulary

Word Types:
- Homophones are words with the same pronunciation but different meanings, such as to/too/two
- Homographs are words with the same spelling but different meanings, such as bank (financial institution) and bank (riverbank)
- Synonyms are words with similar meanings, such as big/large/huge
- Antonyms are words with opposite meanings, such as hot/cold
Word Formation:
- Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning, such as un- (e.g., unhappy)
- Suffixes are added to the end of a word to change its meaning, such as -ly (e.g., quickly)
- Root words are the core meaning of a word, such as tele- (meaning far or distant)
- Compounding is combining two or more words to create a new word, such as toothbrush
Idiomatic Expressions:
- Phrasal verbs are idiomatic expressions using verbs and prepositions, such as pick up or get on
- Idioms are fixed expressions with a specific meaning, such as "break a leg" (meaning good luck)
- Colloquialisms are informal expressions used in everyday conversation, such as "how's it going?" or "see you later"

Conversation

Communication Strategies:
- Active listening involves paying attention to the speaker and avoiding distractions
- Clarifying involves asking for additional information to ensure understanding
- Paraphrasing involves restating the speaker's message in your own words
- Reflecting involves showing understanding and empathy through facial expressions and body language
Conversation Starters:
- Introductions involve starting a conversation with a stranger, using phrases like "hi, how are you?"
- Small talk involves discussing everyday topics, such as the weather or weekend plans
- Open-ended questions encourage the other person to share more information, using phrases like "what do you like to do in your free time?"
Turn-Taking:
- Initiating involves starting a conversation, using phrases like "hello" or "hi, how's it going?"
- Responding involves reacting to the other person, using phrases like "yeah, I like that too"
- Maintaining involves keeping the conversation going, using phrases like "that's really interesting" or "can you tell me more about that?"
- Closing involves ending the conversation politely, using phrases like "it was nice talking to you" or "see you later"