The Briefest English Grammar and Punctuation Guide Ever!

PART 1

Grammar

Preface to the grammar guide

When English speakers begin to learn other languages they often find themselves being taught via methods that assume they have a basic knowledge of English grammar.

Some of us, however, have come through a school system that taught little or nothing of the way our language is structured. We recognise when things ‘sound right’ or ‘sound wrong’ but we cannot say why. We now want to study a second language, to read it or speak it or both, and we are nonplussed when the teacher says, ‘In German the verb comes at the end of the clause’, or ‘That’s the indirect object.’

I hope this small guide will fill a gap and give you the basics, whether you want to learn another language or not, and if you do, whether your aimed-for second language is Spanish, Anindilyakwa, New Testament Greek, Swahili or anything else.

Don’t forget that many languages don’t have direct equivalents of all our classes of words or all our grammatical structures. Some systems of grammar are simpler than the English system, some are more complex, and some are simply different.

Intro

How do we identify and classify words and groups of words? Whatever the language, it’s a matter of function.

Quite often there is overlap. Words don’t always fit neatly into the categories we think they should be in. Sometimes a group of words performs the function of one word, and some words have more than one function. But by and large the outlines in this book cover most situations. As you go through it you will find new meanings for some common English words – which simply indicates that grammar has its jargon just like any other field of study.

Sentences

Sentences are groups of words that make complete sense. When you give me a sentence I know you have told me or asked me something complete.

Sentences can be short …

•Anwar lives there.

•Where are you going?

or longer.

•Sedimentary rocks, wherever they are, tell us about ancient climatic conditions, and geological events that happened in the area during the time the sediments were deposited.

Sentences can be statements …

•Susan hasn’t paid her rent for two months.

•All these toys were made by Uncle Joe.

or questions …

•Are you well?

•Have they finished painting the house?

or commands.

•Come to the office at ten.

•Stop!

Here’s an exercise

(the only one in the book).

Which of the following are sentences and which are not? Can you tell why? Full stops and capitals have been omitted.

the house on the hill

he’s finished the story

in the cupboard

but whenever we see him

she won the award for the best supporting role

they don’t know where you are

down the street and over the bridge

completed only months before

when she ran across the line

it’s made of cotton

shake the bottle well before you open it

made from 100% cotton

the lady who lives next door

he found it on the floor behind the sofa

she’ll tell you how to make it

If you can tell which are sentences and which are not, by ‘intuition’, that’s enough for the present. You can come back to it later with a bit more knowledge.

Clauses and phrases

A clause is a group of words containing