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"