Chapter 1 : Introduction

Topics covered in this snack-sized chapter:



What is Grammar? arrow_upward


  • The set of rules that governs the composition of sentences and phrases.

    • Why Learn Grammar? arrow_upward


  • A good understanding of grammar is essential for effective communication.
  • Incorrect usage of grammar can change the meaning of a sentence, or make a sentence unclear as shown in the table below:

    • Sentence

    Intent

    Tom likes football more than I.

    Tom likes football more than I do.

    Tom likes football more than me.

    Tom likes football more than he likes me.



    Parts of Speech arrow_upward



    Noun

  • The name of a person, place, animal, or thing.
  • Can be the subject or object of a sentence.
  • Examples: Woman, Tom, USA.

    • Pronoun

  • A word that is used in place of a noun.
  • Examples: he, she, it.

    • Verb

  • An action word.
  • Examples: play, laugh

    • Adjective

  • A word that describes, modifies, or adds to the meaning of a noun or pronoun.
  • Adjectives answer the questions "how many?”, “what kind?”, “how much?”, etc.

    • Adverb

  • A word that describes or modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb.
  • Examples: carefully, quickly, wisely.

    • Preposition

  • A word that indicates the relationship of a noun to another word.
  • Examples: to, at, with, for, against, across

    • Conjunction

  • Words that join clauses or sentences or other words.
  • Examples: and, but, when.

    • Interjection

  • A short exclamation, sometimes inserted into a sentence.
  • Example: oh! Ouch! Hi! Well


    • Putting words together arrow_upward



    Combination

  • Description

    • Phrase

  • An expression that contains a single thought.
  • Words make up phrases
  • Phrases make up sentences.

    • Prepositional phrase

  • Used to add details and accuracy to the sentences
  • Example: “The Park is next to the hospital.”

    • Sentence

  • The basic unit of writing.
  • A sentence has a subject and a predicate.
  • The subject is the actor or focus in a given sentence. The predicate modifies that subject; it is what is spoken about the subject.
  • Example: “My mother rocks!”(‘my mother’ is the subject, ‘rocks’ is the predicate.)


    • Sentence Forms arrow_upward



    Form

  • Description

    • Declarative

  • A statement that declares a fact
  • Example: The Sun provides the Earth with heat and light.

    • Negative

  • A negative statement.
  • Example: The bag is not there.

    • Interrogative

  • A question.
  • Example: Is the Sun source of all of the Earth’s energy?

    • Imperative

  • A command.
  • Example: get up and move!

    • Exclamatory

  • Expresses sudden or strong feelings, such as surprise, wonder, or pity.
  • Example: boy, you need to lose weight!

    • Sentence Fragment

  • A phrase that acts like a sentence but gives an incomplete meaning.
  • Example: in the park
  • A clause that has a subject and predicate but depends on another sentence for its meaning.
  • Example: “which I want to eat.”


    • Types of Sentences arrow_upward



    Simple Sentence

  • A sentence with one subject and one predicate.
  • Example: “She is my sister.”

    • Compound Sentence

  • A sentence with two or more subjects or predicates that have independent meanings.
  • A sentence with two or more independent clauses.
  • Example: “Both Mars and Earth are celestial bodies.”
  • If we separate the clauses in the above example:
    • Mars is a celestial body.
    • Earth is a celestial body.
    • Both the sentences stand independently, thus it is a compound sentence.

    Complex Sentence

  • A sentence with two or more subjects and predicates where one sentence depends on the other for its meaning.
  • A sentence with one main (independent) clause and two or more dependent clauses.
  • Example: “The book that is black is a math textbook and now it belongs to you.”
  • We have one independent clause and two dependent clauses:
    • Independent clause:
    • The book is a math textbook.
    • Two dependent clauses:
    • “that is black”
    • “now belongs to you.”


    Verbs arrow_upward



    Passive vs. Active verbs

  • A verb is active when the subject performs an action described by the verb.
    • Example: “The visitors watched the tiger.”
  • A verb is passive when the subject is the recipient of the verb/when the subject doesn’t appear.
    • Passive verb construction is non-specific.
    • Example: “The tiger was watched by the visitors.”
    • Example: “Mistakes were made.” (It is unclear who made the mistakes.)


    Tenses arrow_upward


  • A category that locates a situation in time, to indicate when the situation takes place.
  • Things can happen now (present), in the future, or in the past.
  • The verb ending changes to show when the action occurs.
  • We use variations of the present, past and future tense:


    • Thank You from Kimavi arrow_upward


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