Introduction to English Grammar
How to learn English grammar? That certainly is a curious question. English is rightly said as the mother language of the world. It is certainly the most important language in the world. Furthermore, mastering this language is not a child’s play. There are many rules and regulations that govern the use of English grammar. Consequently, the question of “how to learn English grammar” becomes intimidating. Moreover, before you undertake English writing, you need to understand English grammar. We provide here a few tips that hopefully will boost your English grammar.
Learning Parts of Speech
The categorization of each and every word in the English language can take place as a specific part of speech. Furthermore, the parts of speech describe how to use a word rather than define that word. Most noteworthy, the parts of speech consist of nouns, pronouns, articles, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunction, preposition, and interjections.
Understanding Rules Governing Parts of Speech
Most parts of speech have some additional rules which govern how one can use them. One can write nouns as proper or common, abstract or concrete, singular or plural, count or non-count, collective, and gerunds.
Furthermore, one can write pronouns as personal, possessive, intensive, indefinite, demonstrative, interrogative, intensive, reflexive, and reciprocal. Moreover, one can use adjectives on their own, either for making comparisons or as superlatives.
Adverbs are either adverbs of frequency or relative adverbs. Furthermore, conjunctions can be coordinating or correlative. Verbs can be main verbs or auxiliary verbs, and action verbs or linking verbs. Moreover, the article “the” happens to be definite, while the articles “a” and “an” are indefinite.
Understanding of Writing Numbers
One must spell out the single-digit numbers which are zero to nine in the word form. In contrast, one must write the double-digit numbers 10 and up in the numerical form. Furthermore, one must write all the numbers which are within a sentence either as spelled or in numerical form.
Therefore, one must write “I have 12 bananas but my friend has only 6″. Also, the incorrect way of writing would be “I have 12 bananas but my friend has only six”.
Avoid starting a sentence with a number in numerical form. Furthermore, you must use hyphens between simple fractions and spell them out. Moreover, one can write a mixed fraction in numerical form. Also, you must write decimals in numerical form, for example, 1.78. Make use of commas if the number has four or more digits, for example, 3,357,918.
Structuring a Basic Sentence
A sentence contains at least a subject and an action. Furthermore, a sentence that lacks any of these two is a sentence fragment and such a sentence is improper. The correct example will be “the cat ran”. In contrast, the incorrect example will be “yesterday evening”. Most noteworthy, one can expand the sentences into more difficult and complex forms after properly understanding the basic format.
Proper Subject/Verb Agreement
Both the subject and verb of a sentence must share the same singular/state. As such, one cannot make use of a verb’s singular form with a plural subject. Most noteworthy, if the subject is plural, then it must have a plural verb.
Correct example, in this case, can be “they are at a restaurant”, while its incorrect form will be “they is at a restaurant”. Also, when the connection of two singular subjects is with the word “and”, the subject is plural. The treatment of collective nouns takes place as singular nouns and there is a requirement of a singular verb.
Formation of Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are certainly easy to master after mastering the basic sentence. Furthermore, make use of a conjunction to join thoughts that are in relation to one another into one sentence. Therefore, one sentence here should be formed instead of two separate sentences.
Consider the example- “The train was moving. It was fast”. Now, the correct approach would be to write it as one sentence- “The train was moving and it was fast”.
Mastering Conditional Sentences
A conditional sentence is one that describes a situation such that one part of the sentence is true only if the other part is true. You can also refer to them as “if, then” statements. However, the word “then” does not appear always.
Using Clauses
You must uses clauses to form complex sentences. Clauses refer to “building blocks” that one can use to expand a sentence beyond its basic form. Most noteworthy, clauses can be independent or dependent.
Furthermore, an independent clause is the one that has its own subject and verb. Consequently, it can stand as its own sentence. Moreover, compounded sentences consist of independent sentences. In contrast, a dependent clause is unable to stand on its own.
Mastering English grammar will not happen in a day for you. It takes time, patience, and perseverance. Following the tips mentioned above will surely benefit you in your pursuit of learning English grammar.
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