grammar

Grammar

Grammar is the way we arrange words to make proper sentences. Word level grammar covers verbs and tenses, nouns, adverbs etc. Sentence level grammar covers phrases, clauses, reported speech etc.

Grammars: Sentence Structure and Types of Sentences

Sentence structure is the way a sentence is arranged, grammatically. The sentence structure of your writing includes where the noun and verb fall within an individual sentence.

Sentence structure depends on the language in which you're writing or speaking. It's common in English for a simple sentence to look like this: "She throws the ball." In this case, the sentence structure is "Subject, verb, object." There are many ways to make the sentence structure much more complicated while still providing a framework for the information you're conveying and being grammatically correct.

Types of tenses :

1. The Present Tense:

The verb that refers to the present time is said to be in the present tense; as

I write this letter to help you.

2. The Past Tense:

The verb that refers to the past time is in the Past Tense.; as

I wrote this letter yesterday.

3. The Future Tense:

The verb that refers to the future time is in the Future Tense.; as

I shall write another letter tomorrow.

Note:

Sometimes a past tense may refer to present time and a present tense may express future time; as

I wish I knew the answer. (I’m sorry I don’t know the answer.) Past Tense – Present time.

1. The Present Tense:

(a) Simple Present Tense

(b) Present Continuous Tense

(c) Present Perfect Tense

(d) Present Perfect Continuous Tense

2. The Past Tense:

(a) Simple Past Tense

(b) Past Continuous Tense

(c) Past Perfect Tense

(d) Past Perfect Continuous Tense

3. The Future Tense:

(a) Simple Future Tense

(b) Future Continuous Tense

(c) Future Perfect Tense

(d) Future Perfect Continuous Tense

Type of clauses:

Independent and Dependent Clauses

An independent clause is a clause that can stand alone. You can think of this as a simple sentence. There is a subject, verb, and complete thought. For example, if I were to write: 'John passed the ball,' I would have a complete, simple sentence. I have a subject, John; a verb, passed; and a complete thought, the ball. Although independent clauses can stand alone, we often join them with other clauses to make more complex sentences. Complex sentences allow us to use various types of sentences in our writing, which is important. We do not want to bore our audience by having the same type of simple sentence structure throughout!

A dependent clause is a clause that cannot stand alone; it depends on another clause to make it a complete sentence. You can recognize a dependent clause because it starts with a subordinate conjunction. A subordinate conjunction is a word that joins ideas together and shows the relationship between ideas. Some of the subordinate conjunctions that you may already know are 'because,' 'although,' 'where,' and 'after.' Subordinate conjunctions may represent time, cause and effect, and contrast.

It is important to remember that a dependent clause is not a complete thought. For example, if I were to write, 'Because it was not his turn,' this would not be a complete thought. Your audience does not know what happened because it was not his turn. To make a dependent clause a complete thought, you should combine it with an independent one: 'Because it was not his turn, John passed the ball.'

Relative Clause

There are three main types of dependent clauses: relative, noun, and adverbial.

A relative clause is an adjective clause that describes the noun. It is important to remember that a relative clause is not a complete thought! They are used in sentences to further describe the noun.

You can identify a relative clause by looking for three main components:

1. It will contain a subject and a verb.

2. It will begin with a relative pronoun or relative adverb. These would include 'who,' 'whom,' 'whose,' 'that,' and 'which' for a pronoun and 'when,' 'where,' or 'why' for an adverb. Looking for these signal words can help you identify this type of clause!

3. The relative clause will function as an adjective, answering questions about the noun, such as: 'Which one?' 'What kind?' 'How many?'

There are two ways to write a relative clause. First, you would have a relative pronoun, subject, and then verb. For example, 'when we go to the movies.' 'When' is the relative pronoun, 'we' is the subject, and 'go' is the verb.

Second, you would have a relative pronoun as a subject followed by the verb. For example, 'who walked out of the store.' In this example, 'who' is our subject and 'walked' is the verb. Or for another example, 'that swarmed us.' In this example, 'that' is the subject and 'swarmed' is the verb.

Noun Clause

A noun clause is a clause that plays the role of a noun. For example (noun clauses shaded):

·         I like what I see.

·         I know that the tide is turning.

·         I've met the man who won the lottery.

(Not all agree this is a noun clause. See Note on the right.)

Compare the three examples above to these:

·         I like cakes.

·         I know London.

·         I've met Madonna.

The words in bold are all nouns. This shows that shaded clauses in the first three examples are functioning as nouns, making them noun clauses.

Like any noun, a noun clause can be a subject, an object, or a complement.

In a sentence, a noun clause will be a dependent clause. In other words, a noun clause does not stand alone as a complete thought.