Can you imagine constructing a correct English sentence without English Grammar? No, you cannot, because thinking about English Language without English Grammar is like a human body without a backbone. It would never stand. Grammar in English is meant to make things more easy and meaningful. The grammar mainly deals with two forms – descriptive and predescriptive. Development of grammar and using it aptly is the ultimate goal of natural language processing.
Fundamentals of English Grammar
To have a proper understanding of the grammatical rules in English let us first begin with the basic components. When you turn the first page of a book of grammar you come to learn about sentence, phrase, subject and predicate and parts of speech like noun, noun number, noun gender, pronoun, adjective, verb, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection.
Sentence in English Grammar
A sentence is a group of words, which makes a complete sense. A sentence always begins with a capital letter. A sentence should always have a verb. All sentences have subjects and predicates with or without objects.
Example
- She sang sweetly.
Sang = Verb
She = Subject
Sang sweetly = Predicate
- He went to the market.
Went = Verb
He = Subject
Sentences are of four types.
- Assertive or Statement = I am a boy.
- Interrogative or Question = How are you?
- Imperative (Request, Advice and Command) like:
-
- Please, give me a glass of water. (Request)
- You should see a doctor as soon as possible. (Advice)
- Stand up on the bench. (Command)
- Exclamatory = How beautiful the picture is!
Nouns in English Grammar
Noun is a naming word. It names person, place, animals and things. There are generally six kinds of nouns – Proper, Common, Abstract, Collective, Countable and Uncountable.
Proper Noun:
It names particular person or place. It always begins with a capital letter.
Example: London, Tom, etc.
Common Noun
It names any person, place, animal or thing
Example: girl, boy, city, town, cow, bird, pen, chair, etc.
Abstract Noun
It refers to a particular sense or image. It is something, which we can feel and imagine but we cannot see or touch.
Example: air, love, laughter, beauty, anger, etc.
Collective Noun
It is a name given to a collection or group
Example: herd, bouquet, flock, audience, fleet, troop, etc.
Countable Nouns
It refers to those, which we can count
Example: pen, chalk, rupee, pieces, etc.
Uncountable Nouns
It refers to those, which we cannot count
Example: water, hair, cloth, paper, etc.
Noun Gender in English Grammar
Noun genders are basically of two types – Masculine Gender and Feminine Gender
Masculine Feminine
Boy Girl
King Queen
Goose Gander
Actor Actress
Verb in English Grammar
A verb is a doing word. It is about action. Verbs can be transitive (with an object) or intransitive (without an object).
Example:
The sun rises in the east. (Intransitive)
John is flying a kite. (Transitive)
Tense
There are three kinds of tenses – Present Tense, Past Tense and Future Tense. These can be further subdivided into continuous, perfect and perfect continuous.
Simple Present Tense: The cat drinks milk.
Present Continuous Tense (verb + ing): The cat is drinking milk.
Present Perfect Tense: The cat has drunk milk.
Present Perfect Continuous Tense: The cat has been drinking milk.
Simple Past Tense: The bird sang sweetly.
Past Continuous Tense: The bird was singing sweetly.
Past Perfect Tense: The bird had sung sweetly.
Past Perfect Continuous Tense: The bird had been singing sweetly.
Simple Future Tense: I will go to the market.
Future Continuous Tense: I will be going to the market.
However in case of future tense, perfect and perfect continuous are not so applicable.
Person in English Grammar
Person basically deals with pronouns. Persons are of three different types – first person, second person and third person.
First Person Singular Number: I, me, my, mine
First Person Plural Number: we, us, our, ours
Second Person Singular Number: you, your, yours
Second Person Plural Number: you, your, yours
Third Person Singular Number: he, she, it, his, him, her, hers, its
Third Person Plural Number: they, their, theirs, them
Remember, in case of third person singular number an “s” is always added to the verb. For example, I play, we play, you play and they play but he plays, she plays and it plays.
Adjective in English Grammar
Adjective is a describing word. It tells us more about a noun. There are usually six different kinds of adjectives. These are adjective of quality, adjective of number, adjective of quantity, demonstrative adjective, interrogative adjective and possessive adjective.
Example
Beautiful woman
Three pencils
Much rice
Those flowers
This chair
Whose name
Which house
My book
His car
Adverb in English Grammar
Adverb too is a describing word. It tells us more about a verb. There are generally five different kinds of adverbs with other significant subdivisions. These include adverb of time, adverb of manner, adverb of place, adverb or frequency, etc.
Example:
Susan sings sweetly.
I woke up at midnight.
He went upstairs.
He seldom comes to our house.
Grammar in English is a body of definite rules with mood voice and other significant specifications. Such rules in English Grammar would help you to successfully explore the world of English language with complete confidence.