English Grammar Rules

• Grammar


  The way words are used, classified, and structured together to form coherent written or spoken communication
• Fundamental elements of English grammar

  • Parts of Speech
  • Inflection
  • Syntax
• Main parts of speech

  • Nouns
  • Pronouns
  • Verbs
  • Adjectives
  • Adverbs
  • Prepositions
  • Conjunctions
• Nouns


  Words that identify or name people, places, or things
• Pronouns


  Words that represent nouns (people, places, or things)
• Verbs


  Words that describe the actions—or states of being—of people, animals, places, or things
• Adjectives


  Words that modify (add description to) nouns and (occasionally) pronouns
• Adverbs


  Words that modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, or even entire clauses
• Prepositions


  Words that express a relationship between a noun or pronoun and another part of the sentence
• Conjunctions


  Words that connect other words, phrases, or clauses, expressing a specific kind of relationship between the two (or more) elements
• The other parts of speech are harder to classify in comparison to the seven primary categories
• Direct object


  The noun that receives the action of the verb
• Indirect object


  The person or thing who receives the direct object of the verb
• Indirect object


  • "Please pass Jeremy the salt."
  • "I sent the company an application for the job."
• Object of preposition


  Nouns that are part of a prepositional phrase
• Object of preposition


  • "Your backpack is under the table."
  • "I am looking for work."
• Predicate noun


  Nouns that follow linking verbs to rename or re-identify the subject
• Predicate noun


  • "Love is a virtue."
  • "Tommy seems like a real bully."
  • "Maybe this is a blessing in disguise."
• Common noun


  Nouns that identify general people, places, or things
• Proper noun


  Nouns used to identify a unique person, place, or thing, signified by capital letters
• Common nouns


  • "He sat on the chair."
  • "I live in a city."
  • "We met some people."
• Proper nouns


  • "Go find Jeff and tell him dinner is ready."
  • "I'll have a Pepsi, please."
  • "Prince William is adored by many."
• Nouns of address


  Nouns used in direct speech to identify the person or group being spoken to
• Nouns of address


  • "James, I need you to help me with the dishes."
  • "Can I have some money, Mom?"
  • "This, class, is the video I was telling you about."
• Concrete noun


  Nouns that name physically tangible things
• Abstract noun


  Nouns that name intangible things like concepts, ideas, feelings, characteristics
• Abstract nouns


  • love, hate, decency, conversation, emotion
• Countable noun


  Nouns that can be counted individually
• Countable nouns


  • a cup, two cups, an ambulance, several ambulances, a phone, 10 phones
• Uncountable noun


  Nouns that cannot be separated and counted as individual units
• Uncountable nouns


  • "Would you like tea?"
  • "Do you have any information?"
  • "We bought new camping equipment."
• Collective noun


  Nouns that refer to a collection or group of multiple people, animals, or things
• Collective nouns


  • "The flock of birds flew south for the winter."
  • "The organization voted to revoke the rules that it had previously approved."
  • "The set of tablecloths had disappeared."
• Attributive noun


  Nouns used to modify other nouns, creating a compound noun
• Attributive nouns


  • "The boy played with his toy soldier."
• Compound noun


  A noun composed of two or more words working together as a single unit
• Compound nouns


  • water bottle, dining room, backpack, policeman
• Noun phrase


  A group of two or more words that function together as a noun in a sentence
• Noun phrase


  • "He brought the shovel with the blue handle."
• Nominalization


  The creation of a noun from verbs or adjectives, usually through the use of suffixes