English Grammar: Definition and Discussion
English Grammar is related to expressing words in their singular and plural forms.
Two Methods of Learning Grammar
By using language or by learning the rules one by one.
Applying them. (Most people use both methods together.). Grammar tells us how
to put a sentence together and the order a sentence should have. Different languages
have different grammar. People have studied English grammar for a long time.
Many of its rules have not changed for hundreds of years, but some rules are
changing because the way people use English grammar is changing.
Sentence
A Sentence is
a linguistic unit consisting of one or more words that are grammatically
linked, and expresses a complete thought. It can include words grouped,
meaningfully to express a statement, question, exclamation, request, and
command or suggest
Part of Sentences
Subject is a person, place, thing, or idea doing or being something.
Predicate describes the subject.
|
Subject |
Predicate |
|
The lion |
roared |
|
He |
writes well |
|
She |
enjoys going to
the cinema |
|
The girl in the
blue dress |
arrived late |
Sentence Fragment
Sentence fragment is not a complete sentence, never have independent clause, but
instead are dependent clauses or phrase.
Fragment can masquerade real sentences because they begin with a capital
letter and end with the period. It lacks the subject and the predicate even
both the subject and the predicate.
Where to find the sentence fragments
Sentence Fragments usually appear before and after the independent clauses to which they belong.
* When we got in the car. We rolled down the windows.
“When we got in the car” are a sentence fragment and a dependent clause. It clearly belongs to the independent clause that follows it and should be rewritten like this:
* When we got in
the car, we rolled down the windows.
* We rolled down the windows when we got in the car.
Declarative Sentence states a fact or an argument and it ends in the period.
* There are ten
million people at risk.
* I am no wine
connoisseur, but I know what I like.
* Manila is the
capital of Philippines.
Interrogative Sentence asks a question. It ends with the question mark (?).
* Where do you live?
* Can you find my umbrella?
Imperative Sentence is a command or a polite request. It ends with an exclamation mark (!) or it ends with a period. The subject is usually left out and is understood to be‘you’.
* Please bring my umbrella.
* You clear the road at once!
Exclamatory Sentence expresses excitement, conveys a strong felling or sudden emotion. It ends with an exclamation mark (!).
*You’ve broken
my umbrella!
* She is the thief!
* That is beautiful!
Four Basic Sentence Structures
1. Simple
Sentence is a sentence with only one independent clause. It is referred to
as ‘independent’ because, while it might be a part of command or complex
sentence, it can also stand by itself as a complete sentence.
Simple Sentence has the most basic elements that make it sentence: a subject, a verb, and a complete thought.
* The struggle is eternal.
*Joy waited for
the train.
* The train was
late. (“the train”- subject, “was”-verb)
* Ann and Joyce took the bus. (“Ann and Joyce”- compound subject, “took”-verb)
Compound Sentence is a sentence that contains at least two independent clauses
connected to one another with a coordinating conjunction.
Coordinating
conjunction is easy to remember if you think the words “FAN BOYS”.
For
And
Not
But
Or
Yet
So
* Joy waited for
the train, but the train was late.
* Ann and Joyce arrived at the bus
station before noon, and they left
on the bus Before I arrived.
* Ann and Joyce left on the bus before I
arrived, so I did not see them at
the bus Station.
Complex Sentence is a sentence that contains an independent clause and at least one
or more dependent clause.
Dependent Clause is similar to an independent clause, or complete sentence, but it
lacks one of the elements that would make it a complete sentence.
Dependent Clauses:
* Because Ann and Joyce arrived at the bus station
before noon
* While she waited
at the train station
* After they left on the bus
Dependent clauses such as those above cannot stand alone as a statement, but they can be added to an independent clause to form a complex sentence.
Dependent
clauses begin with subordinating conjunction:
|
After |
although |
as |
because |
|
Before |
even though |
if |
since |
|
Though |
unless |
until |
when |
|
Whenever |
whereas |
while |
wherever |
Complex sentence are often more effective than compound
sentence because a compound sentence indicates clearer and more specific
relationship between the main parts of the sentence.
The word ‘before’, for
instance, tells readers that one thing occurs before another.
The word ‘although’,
conveys more complex relationship than a word such as ‘and’ conveys.
Periodic Sentence
is used to refer to a complex sentence beginning
with a dependent clause and ending with an independent clause, in “While she
waited at the train station, Joy realized that the train was late.”
Periodic sentences can be especially effective because
the completed thought occurs at the end of it, so the first part of the
sentence can be build up to the meaning that comes at the end.
Compound-Complex
Sentence is a sentence with two or more independent
clause and at least one dependent clause. It combines the compound and the
complex sentence.
The “compound” part means that it has two or more complete
sentences.
The “complex”
part means that it has at least one incomplete sentence.
*His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-mooned
spectacles, and his nose was very long and crooked, as though
it had been broken at least twice.
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