Parts of Speech and Sentence Structure

Parts of Speech

• Nouns: Words that name people, places, things, or ideas.
  • Examples: dog, city, happiness, justice
• Pronouns: Words that replace nouns.
  • Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them
• Verbs: Words that show action or state of being.
  • Examples: run, walk, is, are, was, were, seem, become
• Adjectives: Words that describe nouns.
  • Examples: red, tall, happy, beautiful
• Adverbs: Words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
  • Examples: quickly, slowly, very, loudly
• Prepositions: Words that show the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence.
  • Examples: on, in, at, to, from, with, by, about
• Conjunctions: Words that connect words, phrases, or clauses.
  • Examples: and, but, or, because, so, yet, however
• Interjections: Words or phrases that express strong emotion.
  • Examples: Wow!, Ouch!, Hello!

Sentence Structure

• Subject-Verb-Object (SVO): The most common sentence structure in English where a subject performs an action on an object.
  • Examples: The dog chased the cat.
• Subject-Verb (SV): Sentences that don't need an object.
  • Examples: The dog barked. The sun rises.
• Subject-Verb-Complement (SVC): Sentences with a subject, verb, and a complement that renames or describes the subject or object.
  • Examples: The dog is happy. My favorite color is blue.
• Questions: Formed using auxiliary verbs (do, does, did, will, shall, can, could, may, might, must, should, would, have and had) or question words (what, where, when, why, how, which, who, whom).
  • Examples: What is your name? Does she like cats? Who is coming to the party?

Tenses

• Present Simple: Used for habitual actions, facts, and general truths.
  • Examples: She goes to school every day. The sun rises in the east.
• Present Continuous: Used for actions happening now or around now.
  • Examples: She is going to the store now. It is raining outside.
• Past Simple: Used for actions that happened in the past.
  • Examples: I went to the park yesterday. She played the piano.
• Past Continuous: Used for actions that were in progress in the past.
  • Examples: I was reading a book when she called. They were playing in the park.
• Future Simple: Used for actions that will happen in the future.
  • Examples: I will go to the store tomorrow. She will finish the project soon

Modifiers

• Adjectives modify nouns.
  • Examples: a tall building, a red car
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
  • Examples: quickly, very slowly, extremely beautiful

Clauses

• Independent clause: A clause that can stand alone as a complete sentence.
  • Example: The dog barked.
• Dependent clause: A clause that cannot stand alone as a complete sentence and needs an independent clause. Often begin with conjunctions.
  • Examples: Because the dog barked. When the sun sets.

Punctuation

• Commas: Used to separate items in a list, introduce dependent clauses, set off interrupting phrases, and to separate a name from the following word.
• Periods: Used to end a sentence.
• Question marks: Used to end a question.
• Exclamation points: Used to show strong emotion.
• Colons: Used to introduce a list, a quotation, or an explanation.
• Semicolons: Used to connect two closely related independent clauses.
• Apostrophes: Used to show possession or to form contractions.

Common Errors

• Subject-Verb Agreement, particularly with plural nouns and pronouns.
• Pronoun Case: Incorrect use of pronouns in different grammatical contexts e.g., subject vs. object cases.
• Verb Tense Agreement, failing to match the tenses of verbs in a sentence.
• Comma Splices: Joining independent clauses with only a comma (should be a semicolon or conjunction).
• Run-on sentences: Two or more independent clauses joined without any punctuation or conjunctions.
• Misplaced Modifiers: Describing words placed awkwardly in a sentence, altering the meaning.
• Fragments: Incomplete sentences missing a subject or verb (or both).

Grammar Rules

• Use correct tense and verb forms.
• Use appropriate prepositions and conjunctions.
• Make sure subjects and verbs agree in number (singular or plural).
• Use correct pronouns (subject, object, possessive).
• Properly punctuate sentences.
• Avoid run-on sentences and comma splices.

Advanced Grammar (Beyond Basics)

• Passive voice
• Conditional sentences (if/then)
• Modal verbs
• Gerunds and infinitives
• Relative pronouns and clauses
• Subjunctive mood
• Reported speech
• Parallel structures