Understanding Grammar and Parts of Speech

• Grammar constitutes the rules governing language operation
• Grammar covers word, phrase, clause, and sentence structure
• Proper grammar is key for clear communication

Parts of Speech

• Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas
• Specific nouns are proper nouns like John, London, and Earth, and are capitalized
• General nouns are common nouns like boy, city, and planet
• Pronouns replace nouns in sentences
• Personal pronouns like I, you, he, she, it, we, and they refer to specific entities
• Possessive pronouns like mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, and theirs show ownership
• Verbs describe actions or states of being
• Action verbs are those like run, jump, and eat that describe physical or mental actions
• Linking verbs such as is, are, was, and were connect the subject to a descriptive word
• Adjectives describe or modify nouns
• Adjectives provide information about the noun's size, color, and shape such as big, blue, round, tall, and short
• Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs
• Adverbs offer information about how, when, where, or to what extent actions occur
• Many adverbs end in -ly such as quickly, slowly, and carefully
• Prepositions illustrate the relationship between a noun or pronoun and other sentence words
• Prepositions often indicate location, direction, or time like on, in, at, to, from, with, and by
• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses
• Coordinating conjunctions such as and, but, or, and so join equally important elements
• Subordinating conjunctions like because, although, if, and when introduce dependent clauses
• Interjections express sudden emotion
• Interjections are often followed by an exclamation point such as Wow!, Ouch!, and Help!

Sentences

• A complete sentence needs a subject and a predicate
• The subject is the focus of the sentence
• The predicate includes the verb and describes the subject's actions or state
• Declarative sentences make statements and end with a period
• Interrogative sentences ask questions and end with a question mark
• Imperative sentences give commands or requests, usually ending with a period
• Exclamatory sentences express emotions and end with an exclamation point

Subject-Verb Agreement

• Verbs must agree in number with their subjects
• Singular subjects use singular verbs such as "He runs"
• Plural subjects use plural verbs such as "They run"
• Words like "each," "every," "everyone," and "nobody" take singular verbs
• Collective nouns can be singular/plural based on whether they refer to a group as a whole or its members

Tenses

• Verbs have tenses showing when actions occur
• Present tense describes current or habitual actions
• Past tense describes past actions
• Future tense describes future actions
• Each tense appears in simple, continuous, perfect, and perfect continuous forms

Punctuation

• Periods (.) end declarative and imperative sentences
• Question marks (?) end interrogative sentences
• Exclamation points (!) end exclamatory sentences
• Commas (,) separate list items, set off introductory elements, and separate independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions
• Apostrophes (') indicate possession ("John's book") or contractions ("can't")
• Quotation marks (" ") enclose direct quotations

Nouns: Singular and Plural

• Singular nouns refer to one entity
• Plural nouns refer to multiples
• Most nouns pluralize with -s (cats, books)
• Nouns ending in -s, -sh, -ch, -x, or -z add -es for pluralization (buses, dishes)
• Some nouns have irregular plurals (child/children, man/men, woman/women, foot/feet, tooth/teeth, mouse/mice)
• Nouns ending in -y after a consonant change to -i and add -es (city/cities, baby/babies)
• Nouns ending in -f or -fe often change -f to -v and add -es (leaf/leaves, knife/knives), though some add only -s (roof/roofs)

Pronouns: Types

• Personal pronouns include I, me, you, he, him, she, her, it, we, us, they, them
• Possessive pronouns: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
• Reflexive pronouns: myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, themselves
• Demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, those
• Interrogative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, what
• Relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, that

Adjectives: Degrees of Comparison

• Positive degree: The base form of the adjective (big, tall, short)
• Comparative degree: Compares two items, formed by adding -er or using "more" (bigger, taller, more beautiful)
• Superlative degree: Compares three or more items, using -est or "most" (biggest, tallest, most beautiful)
• Irregular adjectives have unique comparative forms (good/better/best; bad/worse/worst; little/less/least; much,many/more/most)

Adverbs: Types

• Adverbs of manner describe how actions occur (quickly, slowly, carefully)
• Adverbs of time indicate when actions occur (now, then, soon, yesterday, today, tomorrow)
• Adverbs of place specify where actions occur (here, there, everywhere, nowhere, inside, outside)
• Adverbs of degree show intensity (very, quite, extremely, somewhat, hardly, nearly)
• Adverbs of frequency describe how often actions occur (always, usually, often, sometimes, rarely, never)

Prepositions: Common Examples

• Prepositions of time: at, on, in, before, after, during, since, until, by, for, from
• Prepositions of place: at, on, in, above, below, under, over, near, beside, between, among, behind, in front of, next to
• Prepositions of direction: to, from, into, onto, towards, through, across, up, down, along

Conjunctions: Coordinating and Subordinating

• Coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so
• Subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, because, before, if, since, than, that, though, till, unless, until, when, where, while

Phrases and Clauses

• Phrases are related word groups lacking a subject and verb (in the park, after school, running quickly)
• Clauses are related word groups containing a subject and verb
• Independent clauses can stand alone as sentences
• Dependent clauses cannot stand alone and must be part of an independent clause

Capitalization

• Capitalize the first word of a sentence
• Capitaize proper nouns (names of people, places, organizations, etc.)
• Capitalize days of the week, months, and holidays
• Capitalize titles of books, movies, and songs
• Capitalize the pronoun "I"

Common Grammatical Errors

• Subject-verb agreement errors
• Incorrect pronoun usage (using "me" instead of "I" as a subject)
• Misplaced modifiers (phrases/clauses not clearly connected to the word they should modify)
• Dangling modifiers (modifiers lacking a clear word to modify)
• Incorrect tense usage
• Run-on sentences and comma splices (joining independent clauses without proper punctuation/conjunctions)
• Fragment sentences (incomplete sentences lacking a subject or verb)