Grammar— Basic Concepts & Common Mistakes

INTRODUCTION

Grammar is a Latin word which refers to the study of the form and arrangement of word, sentences and phrases. This is why, first of
all, we’ll describe what a word, sentence or phrase really means:
(1) WORD – Word is the basic unit of a language, and blocks of words join together to form a sentence. A word can be divided into its ‘stem’ (the basic part which contains the meaning of the word) and its ‘inflection’ (the ending of a word which could identify whether it is singular or plural, or which tense is it in)
For example: In the words ‘Cats’ and ‘Talked’ the stem is ‘cat’ and ‘talk’; whereas infinitives are ‘s’ (showing that there are more than one cats) and ‘ed’ (indicating the past tense).
(2) SENTENCE – A sentence is a group of words which communicates a complete thought. The various parts of a sentence are:
(A) Subject: If we were to say in layman terms, the subject of a sentence is a name, person or thing about which the sentence is speaking. To know the subject of a sentence, ask who or what before the verb used in the sentence.
For example, in the sentence: ‘Sheela is singing a song’, if we have to determine the subject, then we must ask, ‘Who is singing the song?’
The answer is Sheela and that is our subject.
(B) Predicate: In simple words, we can say that a predicate is what remains in the sentence after removing the subject, so
Sentence – Subject = Predicate
Predicate is basically everything that’s been written about the subject.
For example: our predicate in “Sheela is singing a song”
will be: is singing a song.
As you can see, every sentence contains a subject and a predicate.
(C) Object: It is a person or a thing on which the action of the verb takes place in the sentence. Thus, it is something upon which the subject acts. We can find out the object in a sentence by asking who or what before the subject of the sentence.
For example: in ‘Sheela is singing a song’, if we ask, ‘What is Sheela singing?’, we get the answer as ‘a song’. Thus, the object of the sentence is ‘a song’.

(3) PHRASES AND CLAUSES
PHRASES
A phrase is a small group of words that forms a meaningful unit within a clause. There are several different types, as follows:
(A) Noun Phrase- A noun phrase is built around a single noun, for example:
* A vase of roses stood on the table.
*She was reading a book about the emancipation of women.
(B) Verb Phrase- A verb phrase is the verbal part of a clause, for example:
* She had been living in London.
* I will be going to college next year.
(C) Adjective Phrase
* An adjective phrase is built around an adjective, for example:
* He’s led a very interesting life.
* A lot of the kids are really keen on football.
(D) Adverbial Phrase- An adverbial phrase is built round an adverb by adding words before and/or after it, for example:
* The economy recovered very slowly.
* They wanted to leave the country as fast as possible.
Prepositional Phrase- In a prepositional phrase the preposition always comes at the beginning, for example:
* I longed to live near the sea.
* The dog was hiding under the kitchen table.


Of course, we also use the word phrase to refer to a short group of words that have a particular meaning when they are used together, such as rain cats and dogs, play for time, or a square meal. This type of phrase is often referred to as an idiom.

CLAUSES

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb (and usually other components too). A clause may form part of a sentence or it may be a complete sentence in itself. For example:

• He was eating a bacon [clause]
• She had a long career         but she is remembered mainly for one early                                   [clause]                                            [clause]

A) Main clause- 

Every sentence contains at least one main A main clause may form part of a compound sentence or a complex sentence, but it also makes sense on its own, as in this example:

• He was eating a bacon [main clause]

Compound sentences are made up of two or more main clauses linked by a conjunction such as and, but, or so, as in the following examples:

• I love sport               and                      I’m captain of the local football                                           [main clause]    [conjunction]                  [main clause]
• She was born in Spain      but                           her mother is                                                                [main clause]          [conjunction]         [main clause]

B) Subordinate clause- 

A subordinate clause depends on a main clause for its Together with a main clause, a subordinate clause forms part of a complex sentence. Here are two examples of sentences containing subordinate clauses:

• After we had had lunch, we went back to [subordinate clause]    [main clause]
• I first saw her in Paris, where I lived in the early [main clause]           [subordinate clause]

There are two main types of subordinate clause: conditional clauses and relative clauses.

(i)         Conditional clause

A conditional clause is one that usually begins with if or unless and describes something that is possible or probable:
If it looks like rain                    a simple shelter can be made out of a plastic sheet                     [conditional clause]                                [main clause]
I'll be home tomorrow      unless the plane's delayed for hours.                                                                       [main clause]                       [conditional clause]

(ii)          Relative clause

A relative clause is one connected to a main clause by a word such as which, that, whom, whose, when, where, or who:
I first saw her in Paris,       where I lived in the early nineties.
         [main clause]                   [relative clause]
She wants to be with Thomas,         who is best suited to take care of her.
               [main clause]                         [relative clause]
I was wearing the dress     that I bought to wear to Jo's party.
          [main clause]          [relative clause]
Using Relative Clauses- Have you ever wondered about when to use that and when to use which or who in this type of sentence? In fact, for much of the time that is interchangeable with either of these words. For example:

• You’re the only person who has ever listened to
• You’re the only person that has ever listened to
• It’s a film that should be seen by
• It’s a film which should be seen by everyone

When referring to something, rather than someone, that-tends to be the usual choice in everyday writing and conversation in British English. However, there is one main case when you should not use that to introduce a relative clause. This is related to the fact that there are two types of relative clause: a restrictive relative clause and a non-restrictive relative clause.

C) Restrictive relative clause 

A restrictive relative clause (also known as a defining relative clause) gives essential information

about a noun that comes before it: without this clause the sentence wouldn’t make much sense. A restrictive relative clause can be introduced by that, which, whose, who, or whom. You should not place a comma in front of a restrictive relative clause:

• She held out the hand which was
• She held out the hand that was

[main clause]             [restrictive relative clause]